Three Stage 3’s, four Stage 2’s, four Stage 4’s, and even a single Stage 5. All close quarters weapon users. Shuren’s eyes darted around as the dust exploded in the air, examining the Qi aura of each fighter. In the distance, he saw a giant golden hippo madly running around, with a blue-haired man wobbling on top. He must’ve gotten a crystal as well. I’ll deal with him after.
Coughs resounded around Shuren, with a few backing off. He felt their confusion and fear, and that was more than enough for him.
“Perfect.”
With a casual swing, Shuren slapped the Stage 2 on his right with his staff, smashing his forehead. He had no time to react. Falling down with a crushed head, his body disappeared and Shuren’s bangle hummed.
The sound of his defeated opponent’s groan alerted the rest in the dust motes clearing away, encircling Shuren. But none communicated with each other. After all, they were just involved in a free-for-all battle. How could there be trust in a competition to enter the sect?
Most of them had simple steel sabres, some with spears and even broad swords. All weapons Shuren had more than enough experience handling with.
The primal roar of a man came behind Shuren, with the force of a Stage 5, slamming down his broadsword in an attempt to solidify his status. A barbaric move, Shuren easily dodged to the side.
The dirt crumpled around Shuren, and the man actually let go of his broadsword to dash forward for a punch. He isn’t as brutish as I thought.
Shuren tensed his legs to ensure stability, weaving out of the way. With an arc, Shuren ended up behind the man in a breath, staff raised in hand.
A single downward swing to the brain.
For a Stage 5, his control of Qi is lacking.
The Stage 5 brawler fell to the floor, body dissipating with a brilliant blue light. The rest who stood their ground fighting the two strongest in their group backed off, wary of Shuren.
Why did Shuren easily beat this Stage 5 within a single blow?
Because he had focused too much Qi aura on his offences, without leaving enough for his vitals.
It came down to the role of the Qidense Realm. To master the flow of Qi, until it became as natural as breathing. A resource to control, calculate, and calibrate density throughout your body, interior and exterior.
Before Qi could enter their Talisoul, a hallmark of Rank 2, Qi would reside within their external body. Right now, Shuren and the rest could effectively use it only as an aura, manipulating it to strengthen parts of their body. Bolstering defences, reinforcing muscles for offence and strengthening flexibility with durable tendons.
If they wanted to increase the strength of their right jab, Qi would be manipulated to move around parts of the right arm, hand and wrist. In return, there would be less Qi to form around your vitals, limiting your defences.
Rank 1 Cultivators must learn to balance their control of offence and defence. Combine that with timing, shifting the density of their Qi aura, and the speed and flexibility of changing the Qi aura around their body, a stark difference would be apparent in those who came from a life of fighting and training, to those who did the bare minimum.
That is why the innate talent, such as their Talisoul Grade, did not matter as much with combat in Rank 1. Though they would be valued higher due to the potential in the future.
Shuren not only had the highest stage amongst the group here, at Stage 6 in the Qidense Realm, he also had an Iron Grade Talisbody, which meant he trained his body to its peak for years. But the most important factor was his tutorage and training regimens in the main Liu Clan for most of his life, teaching him to control Qi with ease.
These advantages were the most apparent in Rank 1, where it could be argued you hadn’t even begun your true journey as a cultivator, having not found a Path.
Shuren lowered his body, dashing towards the pair of fighters nearest to him. Trails of dirt exploded behind his each step.
In his periphery, the mad golden hippo ran towards the desert, ignoring Shuren entirely. What a ridiculous beast.
With staff raised over his shoulders, barely the wisp of aura covering his arms, Shuren swung.
None would get in his way,
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If there was unity amongst the menial labourers, merchants and aristocrats, it was at the aerial battle stadiums of dirt that dripped with ethereal clouds beneath. A moment to forget their differences, they bet the same coins, shared the same laughs, shouted the same cries and debated their speculations. Chinks of copper taels resounded across the wooden tables set up for the gamblers.
But when the majestic lights of blue intersect with the veils of rainbow clouds, all the spectators had been at a loss for words. Until after a moment, a floating sculpture crafted with immaculate detail, shaped into an island filled with icy mountains to raging volcanoes, wild jungles to harsh deserts. The cloud mirrors were soon replaced with the visages of each region, alongside the finalists battling each other for their points.
To drum up the commotion even more, an opaque rectangular crystal levitated to the side, inscribed with the ranks and points of the top performing fighters.
And after seeing the fan-wielding man take out ten fighters on his own, many paid attention to Shuren utterly demolishing a dozen fighters. The levitating ranking crystal shifted numbers and names constantly, without even a second of rest.
Rank 1. Wu Ming. 300 points. Rank 2. Huang Shi Junyu. 250 points. Rank 3. Aerestia. 200 points. Rank 4. Liu Shuren. 170 points. Rank 5. Zhou Yan. 135 points. Meanwhile, Tez had jumped from Rank 350 to Rank 100, amassing 80 points in total.
A young man of sixteen with sharp blue eyes, his shoulders draped with his black hair, slammed down a hefty pouch with a beaming smile, “One hundred taels of silver, to proclaim my cousin Liu Shuren as the number one winner of the finale!”
The surrounding crowd quietened their clamouring. A young girl took the initiative, grabbing the hem of his crimson ornate robe.
“Young master, you are also from the Liu Clan?” She asked, her eyes gleaming with awe as she shuffled closer to the young man, staring at his ocean blue eyes.
He put his arm around her as naturally as he breathed. “Of course I, Liu Wei, come from the main branch alongside him. It’s only a matter of time before he reaches first as his rightful place!” He continued to blather on, and the men handling the bets urged him to continue.
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A rugged, tanned farmer nonchalantly pushed his way towards the betting table, humming. His hand played around with a bulging coin purse, ready to up the stakes.
“One hundred taels of silver. I bet on the blue-haired easterner to reach the top ten,” he said, his rough, calloused hand tossing the coin purse. He took off his straw hat with two holes cut out, wiping the sweat off his head and orange fuzzy ears.
I may as well get some more funds while I’m at it. With this line of thinking, Kraus abandoned tilling the fields for the day.
Liu Wei narrowed his eyes at the Vulfoan farmer, murky with aversion. He had already seen the pathetic state of the blue-haired contender flitting about the stage, barely fighting his opponents like a real cultivator.
His cultivation level had long been spread to the crowd. One of the weakest of the fighters, a mere Stage 2 Qidense Realm brat having just touched upon the path of Qi. To think the farmer could place him anywhere near the ranks of his cousin, someone at the cusp of Stage 6 Qidense Realm, was an absurd joke in of itself.
Liu Wei scoffed at Kraus, his hand grabbing another hefty pouch. “Hmph, I’ll bet another hundred silver taels your easterner kid won’t make it anywhere near top ten,” he said as he slammed it on the table, the thud once more silencing the chatter of the observing crowd.
Those nearby looked towards the floating island. It was not difficult to find who he bet on, as only a single tanned blue-haired person was amongst the fighters. The state of his worn out leather garments almost made some pity him. A few even laughed at him. Clearly a downtrodden traveller from the ocean side.
“Tell me, farmer. What makes you think that kid will even make it that far?” Liu Wei chuckled, resting an arm within his robe.
Kraus grinned enough that his fangs were visible.
“Just watch and see.”
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“You’re the one coming second, right,” Shuren said with his staff in a reverse back stance. After dealing with the bunch of trash at the borders of the jungle, he investigated further.
But all he saw were cluttered weapons and feathers embedded everywhere, with nobody in sight. Which only meant they had all been utterly defeated. Fatally.
A young man waving a fan stood on a tree branch, looking down on Shuren. “Friend, there’s no need for us to fight. For I’m only worth 35 points.”
Shuren had realised with each person he killed, that they were worth about half of their stage times ten. So a Stage 5 fighter yielded 25 points, but a Stage 4 beast yielded exactly 40 points. Which meant only one thing.
His opponent was a Stage 7.
Huang Shi Junyu. Presumably a man with high status in the Huang Clan, which produced the best Weapon Smithers in Cloud City.
“There is no reason for us to fight. In fact, I wish to foster a friendship with a young member of the Liu Clan such as yourself,” Junyu proclaimed with sincerity, but removed his fan waving at his head.
Three needles shot out, a blur as it zoomed across towards Shuren.
He smacked them all away with a casual wave of his staff. A warning attack.
We could fight here, and I can take him out eventually… But attrition is also a major component of this test. There’s far too many variables to consider in this exam. Shuren rested the staff on his shoulder, glancing at Junyu with an expression of resignation. “You speak wise words, friend of the Huang Clan.”
Shuren ignored Junyu, refusing to entertain a longer conversation. Running across the jungle, Shuren climbed and jumped through the trees to gain the vantage point. The fiery realm of dark red ground with pulsating veins of orange magma was strewn across the lands, leading up to the volcanoes in the distance.
Junyu watched as Shuren left the scene. His eyes narrowed to examine him, with a smile rising on his face.
“Liu Shuren… Now where have I heard that name?”
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With each straggler he found in the region, Shuren made quick work of them with a quick skirmish. Worth 10 points each. Sweat clung to his back, the sweltering heat of the volcanic region far fiercer than the desert, forcing him to avoid the ponds of lava and boulders with steam coming off them, rolling down the slanted rocky hills. “I’ll head up higher. It’s too obvious those volcanoes have something valuable.”
Continuing to run and observe his surroundings, Shuren noticed a cave in surrounded by weapons. A clear sign of a battle. The closer he got, the louder the sounds of metals clashing could be heard.
“Sounds like only two fighters left. Now’s the perfect chance.” With resolve, Shuren jumped in the hole, leading to another sprawling ruin. Though this time, it was far larger than the one he found in the desert, with magma flowing at the bottom and a single platform. There, a boy and girl were clashing with short swords, with a blue crystal rested in an altar.
I can’t tell from this far. I’ll need to get closer. There was a limit to how much he could sense someone’s cultivation level. It was most effective the closer he was, as far as his natural senses could reach.
Shuren focused on reaching the bottom, leaping and vaulting off the platforms and levels of the sprawling ruins. Naturally, his presence was detected by the two, slowly backing away into a defensive stance.
Shuren didn’t care.
He leapt off one of the open corridors, aiming straight towards the platform surrounding by spitting magma. If he missed, it was certain death.
But mid fall, he tensed his right arm with all the force he could muster, shooting his staff out like a spear towards the girl.
It pierced right through her stomach.
Blood seeped out, the staff staunching most of the flow, but the girl reeled back, clinging to it. Shivering from the far too realistic pain, she gritted her teeth and clenched her jaws to not let out a sound.
He saw the boy run towards her in an attempt to deal with her himself. Likely, he also wanted to get rid of Shuren’s only weapon. But gravity worked faster than his legs.
Shuren had already landed on the platform. The blue crystal shone ever so brightly, and a small flame of intrigue welled up inside Shuren. Anticipation at what other advantage he would receive. The first was already quite useful.
And he’d need everything he could get to become the first out of the thousand participants in the Fractured Realm.
Landing closer to the girl, Shuren raced to the girl, grabbing his staff at the end once more. “I’ll make it quick. Let go.”
She refused to yield, and Shuren felt the swing of a blade behind him. He could only sigh.
There was no way a sword would hit him that easily.
Shuren spun around in an arc, slamming the back of his fist into the boy’s face. With a crack, he lost his balance. Shuren didn’t relent.
With a forward kick to his opponent’s hips, though it didn’t break from the boy reinforcing it with Qi, he fell flat on the ground.
Shuren crushed his wrists, disarming him permanently for the rest of the battle. He’d only recover once he was kicked out the realm.
He strode towards the girl. There was no expression on his face. Everything was in his control.
He didn’t need to ask this time, yanking the staff out of her chest. Within the next breath, he slammed her head, and a blue light took over her body in a blink. Likewise, he did the same to the fallen boy, still shivering from the pain of losing his wrists. “This test is almost as ruthless as the one in the Liu Clan. At least there’s the luxury of no true death in this one.”
Flicking the blood off his staff, Shuren grabbed the azure crystal that hummed with sigils and formations Shuren couldn’t understand. But reading the altar, he realised its value.
“A spatial teleportation artifact?! If this thing could work in reality, its value would be unsurmountable! But, it seems it only works within this Fractured Realm.” Shuren expressed his shock, before looking towards the map that appeared in front of him.
He could see the entire outline of the island from here, with a list of all the slumbering beasts set around the map. He could choose to teleport anywhere, but also choose a spot that would get him points as well.
“There’s a group of Stage 4 beasts lurking at the peak of one of the volcanoes. There’s even a Stage 8 beast crawling at the base of the volcano range as well… I’ll head for the Stage 4’s.”
Pressing the map exactly where he wanted, the crystal in his hand disappeared into rainbow motes, and his entire vision and scenery shifted. With a sense of vertigo, Shuren could feel even more heat sweltering in his body. He breathed out steamy air, and even that action felt stifling.
A glacial white scorpion sliced its pincers, facing towards Shuren. But seeing the contrast of his ice-like exterior at the peak of the volcano was quite strange. Exactly what kind of creature is that?
Shuren couldn’t even identify a single one of these. If this were the Kallas Jungles or Volkahor Mountains, or even the region surrounding the Unhallowed Monolith, he’d easily be able to recognise most of the fauna.
Shuren held his metal staff firmly, readying himself fo-
Every cell in his body screamed, and Shuren turned back with his staff in a guard stance, barely stopping a sword that dug into him.
“Oh. You actually reacted,” a man with messy brown hair said, with a deep smile on his face.
The scattering of the glacial scorpion also came closer, preparing to back stab Shuren.
This guy… He’s Stage 7… No! Stage 8!
Shuren didn’t allow his surprise to show on his face, instead glaring at him.
“So you’re Wu Ming, the first ranker.”
“Hahaha, good guess! You’ve been stalking me or what?” Ming retorted with a playful grin.
The first ranker in front, and a group of Rank 4 Beasts at the back.
No further words were needed. It was either fight.
Or die.