The girl was currently enveloped in golden flames! The heat so intense that it would not take to long for it to melt the stone underneath her, Kou was very shocked for a moment but quickly she calmed down. The heat did not actually harm the girl. In fact, it seemed to surround her, and caress her gently like a mother. The flames were so thick and hot that it was almost impossible to actually look at it.
Kou felt like she was being watched by the flames, but ... strangely she did not feel like she was in danger. Fire was her natural weakness after all, but she just felt a gentle touch of heat now.. that the flames seemed to have stabilized themself. With her head slightly tilted she came closer, the flames engulfing her too, she just felt normal. The heat was not particularly comfortable, but it was not attacking or damaging her, in fact, it was as if she was gently touched.
"Mh.." Kou pushed her paw into Ning Jiao's face, very unceremonial waking the girl up with multiple paw strikes.
The girl's eyelids were so heavy she bearly managed to open them, but once she saw the flames they shot open her eyes going back and forth in panic. It took a few seconds for her to realize that nothing was happening as the golden flames were gently brushing over her hair.
"Little Xue, what is going on?" Ning Jiao's question left Kou somewhat dumbfounded because she was just about to ask the same thing. How the heck was she supposed to know? If you went about broad knowledge, the only thing she was confident about was alchemy, she had spent years training it and researching it. As for things like this, she would guess it was some kind of blood-line power? The flames looked somewhat similar to the flames Ning Yu had used back in the sect, he even could produce wings with them...However, the difference in power was astounding, if Ning Yu had these flames, Xiu Shihong, Kou, Hei Tian? They all would've lost miserably!
Kou could clearly feel that if this heat was actually her enemy she might have a tough time with it... and Ning Jiao was not even in the 4th realm! She was fresh in the third! What kind of power was that even supposed to be?!
Ning Jiao stretched out a hand, and the flames flowed into its palm at her will, she had a very confused and very fascinated expression on her face. "It moves as I want, and it is so warm and nice, its like mum hugging me before she died."
Kou curled her nose slightly, for a moment the picture of Bingqing appeared in her mind, she was confused for some reason but quickly shook her head and glanced at the girl. "Try turning it on and off again, to see if you can control it." The girl did as she was told, and quickly the flames vanished, and .. just as fast they reappeared.
Now Kou kinda felt jealous. She actually had to work to get her own powers to work, but this amazing power just turned on and off at a whim, and the moment it turned on it coated Ning Jiao, as if it wanted to protect the girl. "That's weird, it moves without me doing anything... I can tell it what to do, but it does things without me too.."
Kou curled her nose slightly she kicked a pebble towards Ning Jiao, usually, the girl would be too absorbed in her new power to avoid it, but the flames caught it mid-air as if they were solid and threw it to the side. Kou let out a sigh, this girl... she was truly blessed, she was a bit younger then Kou herself, but... she probably would overtake her in power quite quickly... Well, she would not complain.
To much...
Ning Jiao kept her newly gained powers a secret, it was quite clear that she had hit the jackpot when it came to the bloodline. Even Ning Yu who had been the young prodigy "until now" could not keep up with the intensity of her newfound power. Kou knew what Ning Yu was capable off, even after he reached higher levels his bloodline power would not be this strong, she was quite sure of that.
A few days went past and Kou saw a giant wall in front of her. She had no idea how to teach the girl how to use her fire. She could control it well, but that didn't mean she had any expertise in actually attacking with it. Just using it as a giant sledgehammer of flames, was probably pretty devastating, but it also ate up a lot of Qi.
Kou knew quite well how finesse and specific techniques could enhance any power into a sharp sword. But, it was Fire! Even if it did not burn her she still felt rather annoyed around it. It was her natural enemy and predator...
Therefore she left Ning Jiao to figure it out on her own how to use it, simply giving the girl a few pointers that probably could be useful. Like trying to think outside of the box, Fire was nice and all, but what could she actually do with it, could she form it, could she create things?...
Then she left the girl alone for the remainder of the days until the tournament, to train on her own. It wasn't beneficial to have someone nag around all the time. She had to find her own way just like Kou did. Just doing what Kou told her too would just leave her damaged once Kou was not around anymore.
...
There was a banquet, it was the evening before the start of the tournament. Ning Jiao did not participate, the girl was all tuckered out and was currently sleeping, all cuddled up. But Kou wanted to take a look at their opponents for tomorrow, as everyone else would be there. Nobody complained about the small princess not attending, after all, she was supposed to be very shy.
There was all manner of distinguished and good looking young people. Obviously, the proportions were kinda uneven, just about 10% were female. Most were young lords, the next clan heads, and such.
Her eyes drifted over all the very self-absorbed young silk-pants, before they naturally stopped on a small group, her eyes becoming a little brighter for just a moment. It.. was Xiu Shihong, Hei Tian - and Wu Xiao! She also saw Li Zhi behind Xiu Shihong, wearing some kind of uniform.
Kou was currently standing in the rafters.. and she had to push the urge down to greet these people. While she had no deep connection with Wu Xiao, she saw him as one of the few friends. And the other 3 were close enough to family, at least in her eyes.
....
Xiu Shihong was quite surprised when she met the young lord of the Wu clan. Their families were quite neutral towards each other usually, but he seemed quite tranquil, what surprised her, even more, was his massive jump in cultivation, he actually was at the very crisp of breaking into core-formation! Apparently the rumor that he had been stuck in the early realm was indeed just a rumor.
She was also very happily surprised to find Hei Tian here. She had lost contact with him a while ago. It was... surprising to see the young boy she remembered now more resembling a man. His long brown hair and green eyes along with his handsome face made quite a few ladies blush. But Xiu Shihong greeted him like the friend he was, with a good old smack on the shoulder.
The boy had a wry smile on his face, his eyes seemed quite intense as they glanced at her. "Shihong, you... Ah, I suppose I won't be able to catch up anytime soon." He was still just at half-step into core-formation. Actually he and Wu Xiao probably were on equal terms in power.
Both males eyes each other for a moment, but the wry smile and Hei Tian's face was quite disarming, and Wu Xiao felt like he might get along with this one just fine. "You can always improve if you have a goal in mind if you think about it that way, the way Miss Xiu improves is quite beneficial for you, Mister Hei." He tried to cheer the other one up a little and grinned.
Hei Tian gave a surprised look and laughed for a moment before his eyes went to Xiu Shihong's back, the girl was currently talking with Li Zhi a few steps away... "Well... I won't get anywhere if I can't look her in the eyes, that's for sure, so you are quite right fellow Daoist Wu, I will keep this in mind."
The two of them engaged into a conversation while keeping their distance from the other .. young lords.
...
"He, Shihong..You sure you will win this one? There is a bunch of strong guys here.." Li Zhi was a warrior by now. She was in the fourth realm, which was quite impressive for her age and status, in fact, each of their group was quite impressive, everyone that was comparable to them was already in their mid to late twenties, while they had not even reached 18!
"Mh, I will. And I will crush all the Ning that I come across too. That's gonna be quite fun." Yep.. she did not come here to prove herself in the eyes of the elders or for the honor of her clan. She came here to find a nice excuse to polish some Ning faces with her fists. There was no other reason for it.
"It has been a while since I got to punch that scumbag Ning Yu, he ain't even here... disappointing."
...
Ning Yu was distressed, he was so stressed his hair was disheveled and he felt like he was losing quite a bit of it. Usually, the Xiu clan never participated in this! They were on the other side of the kingdom and did not really care about what was happening in the capital, so why was that ogre here! He had signed up to clean up his name a bit, and show his power. He would've easily won if not for her!
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And the worst! He was not even allowed to resign! And his father had been quite clear in his words, he had to give his all, or there would be huge problems! He bit his lower lip. Its all that god damn elders fault! He would be watching the fight and father was hoping for him to take Ning Yu as a student and take him to the land beyond the barrier! What a piece of crap! He did not even want to go! He was fine with being a prince here! He would just get mercilessly get smashed into the ground! He would be humiliated once again!
Just why was the world against him so much? All because of that stupid fox-girl! He was happy she died, she very much deserved it! Everyone that stood against him should die! The included the damn Shihong and that Elder! As well as these other dirty outlanders!
"Mh~" A voice suddenly rang out behind him, a voice so chilly he froze in place.
Some weird dark tendrils actually suppressed him as he wanted to turn around and burn the intruder.
"W..What do you think you're doing! This is the Royal palace!" Finally, he managed to turn around but instead of a person, there was just a mirror with a dark silhouette in it. "Mh, You want power, right Ning Yu? Enough power to crush Xiu Shihong, and even your elder brother? Enough power to convince your father that you should be the next leader, right?"
Ning Yu's eyes opened wide...
...
Kou spend a few moments observing her friends before shaking her head. Now was not the time to just show up and say hello, all of that had to wait until after she rescued Shi Shi and took down whatever held her where she was...
Still, there was no one that seemed really outstanding aside from that group... Well, there was that Ning Prince, also... some giant guy with muscles that seemed to almost burst whenever he moved, but she did not really care about the giant, The first prince, however, could be a problem... well, let's just hope someone else pushes him out of the way first, a fight between Xiu Shihong and him would probably be pretty amazing.
She was still fairly happy with herself, nobody really seemed too strong for her to handle, and Ning Jiao actually could pull her own weight now, so that was even better.. just once more did she glance at her friends, and for a moment it seemed like her and Xiu Shihong's eyes meet. But that was impossible... she stood still for a moment before sneaking out again.
Xiu Shihong stared into nothing for a while, she felt like someone had been watching her, she was so absorbed in searching for it that she totally ignored the voices of her friends and Wu Xiao. Just with Li Zhi giving her a good shake did she snap out of it. "Ah, I'm sorry.. I kinda lost myself in thought there..."
....
Giant bells were ringing and all of the capital city could hear them. The tournament was held in the largest arena in this city. It was enormous and at least a million people were seated. The number might be large but the population of empire city was a bit more than 100 Million, so it as in fact not even 1 percent and a fair bunch of these people actually came from elsewhere.
There was seating for honored guests, like the larger sects and people in core formation, slightly raised seats for important people from different backgrounds, and there were the common seats for the normal people. Obviously these people still were rather well off, you wouldn't find a baker or seamstress in these folks, they were all merchants and things like that.
There was no place here for the common folk, they could only watch from the outside, standing before a large array that gave a somewhat shaky image of the arena. It was the "Goodwill" of the emperor that made that possible...
But nobody complained, a number uncountable by mortals had gathered here, to watch the fighting, many bets were placed, and if someone was lucky with his bets, maybe next year he would sit among those rich folk inside?
Next to the most prominent both for bets handled by the largest trading company Fu Tengfang was currently taking on bets. Li Zhi had him play with his connections to his father so they could make some extra money... that crafty girl! He grinned to himself. While their relationship had not yet blossomed quite as much as he wanted, there were quite a few tender words spoken, and his hearth was already firmly placed in Li Zhi's hands.
Still, the crystal clear blue eyes and long white lashes that blinked at him in .. some manner of confusion for a moment before hiding back under a cloak were.. quite breathtaking. He had to reaffirm his feelings for a moment before he woke up out of his frozen state.
The ...person in front of him had small and jade-like hands and ... simply shoved a large pile of Spiritstones over the table. "Everything on Ning Jiao." Her voice was..quite pretty, albeit a bit scruffy for someone with such pretty hands, it gave the impression as if she was trying to hide her normal voice. "Ah, of course..." He was a bit stunned about the amount and bid. Nobody bid on the young princess, she clearly just attended out of a flying fancy. Nobody would let her win. They would try to woo her at best...
Stinky young masters! They could be inside and could look at the beauties fight while he had to stand out here and take bets... Oh well, it was all for his and Li Zhi's good... so he was able to put up with it! He quickly handed the women that had named himself "Xue" her card. With this, she could access her winnings if she got any. Which was impossible.
Still, he felt a bit nostalgic for some reason as he watched the cloaked figure vanish between the masses... why was it that it seemed familiar somehow, and.. why did he feel like there would be another loss...?
...
Kou snickered to herself as she slipped back into the arena, past the guards, and back to Ning Jiao's quarters. It was just fair to relieve people of a bit of money. She had investigated a little and knew that she would make her biggest winnings at that stand. Just because it was the Fu stand! The biggest trading company in the empire! Even the rich folks inside would send down bets! And the winnings were quite outraging...
Ning Jiao was quite pale when the tiny fox came back inside. She did not wear her flowing lotus robes this time and opted for a red cheongsam and black silk pants, her hair was done in a long pony-tail. And while she still looked cute to a T she also had something heroic about her now! It was quite the look and Kou found that Jiao looked a lot better in clothes like these, in fact, Kou herself liked that style a lot.
Neither of them really cared for the round before theirs, so they sat quietly, Kou sitting on Jiao's lap while enjoying being brushed by the girl. It was quite nice. And cathartic for both of them, it calmed the nerves of Kou and Jiao so neither of them would enter the arena as a nervous bundle.
"Mhh.." Kou had at some point started to purr slightly. "I will leave the fighting to you as long as you can, handle it yourself, Jiao. I will just stay out of sight in your bag while watching. Unless you need help I won't so fight seriously, if you can't beat these silk pants on your own I will cut down on petting time."
Jiao nodded solemnly her eyes showing a fiery blaze, it reminded her a bit of Xiu Shihong... which was worrisome, for her opponents.
...
Finally, it was their turn. Under thunderous cheering Ning Jiao stepped on the stage, she felt ..rather strange, there were so many men around all their eyes on her.. she could see the frowning face of her father high up, and the inquisitive gaze of the old man that sat next to him. A loud murmur went through the crowd.
"She really is here.. the Empire's flower.."
"She actually is as pretty as it was said."
"In a few years, her beauty will enchant everyone.."
"She has quite the cute outfit does she not?"
"What was the emperor thinking allowing her to attend.."
Kou was sitting in the girl's bag. It was a special bag made to hold spirit beasts inside, so it was quite comfortable for her. A Human could not come inside, but in her current form, it was nice and calming inside.
Their first opponent.. was a large man that looked far older then the 18 he was introduced with, he was in the late third realm, and is stature and build even put Elder Gui to shame, he was a mountain of muscle and his small beady eyes looked down at Ning Jiao with some unwillingness.
He only attended because the emperor had pushed him inside. To be his daughter's opponent, he had to put her down as gently as possible it was said...After that, he would just get beaten up by everyone else trying to impress the young girl. He felt it was quite unfair.. but then again, he had gotten a large sum of money.
Still, it was no joke about the "Aura" people talked off, this girl seemed so frail and small, he wanted to protect her not fight her, he had to pull his willpower together to resist.
Both of them meet in the middle of the ring, a translucent barrier that was held in place by 4 Core-Formation judges would keep any damage inside the Ring. Still, there were quite a few complaints in the crowd.
"What is that giant gonna do to the little girl."
"Isn't this too unfair?"
"How about I go in her steed and beat him up?!"
That was the power of cuteness... Not a single soul was on the side of the brute, everyone cheered for the young girl that was currently getting ready in fighting pose, it was quite adorable! She looked like a tiny rabbit ready to fight a big bad wolf!
The judges also had some conflicting feelings about this and dragged the start out a little, but there was no way to just call it off so they let out a sigh and gave the signal to go. BOOM.
Everyone was left flabbergasted. Even the high and mighty core-formation elders that clearly saw what had happened stood up with their mouths opened wide.
The second the fight had started the tiny girl that looked to frail and docile before shoot forward with mighty speed her tiny fist burying itself deep into the giant's abdomen, his massive muscles seemingly as soft as tofu before that tiny fist as its dug itself quite deep before the impact sent the man flying against the barrier, his eyes rolled back and his mouth open. He was K.O
There was unbearable silence in the arena got a few breaths before loud cheering, questions and curses were thrown about! This cute little rabbit was a tiny tiger instead! The man had not even tried to be defensive at all, and she had used this chance to end it. Obviously, if he had been on guard things would've gone differently!
At-least that was the masses thought of, Kou and some of the more distinguished core-formation elders knew that the man wouldn't have been able to resist in either way. This girl had monstrous strength in her tiny body. Some of them knew that she had a special body-type. That combined with the Ning Cultivation technique and her very advanced martial arts would've overwhelmed the man in seconds even if he was not unguarded.
"It seems like you have a young Tigress in your family, I'm intrigued." Next to the emperor, the old man that was a guest of honor was combing his long gray beard with an interested gleam in his eyes. "I look forward to seeing more."
Kou on the other hand had almost fallen asleep. Obviously Ning Jiao would win like that... After all, Kou trained her! She feed her all her high-quality pills, strengthening her body and Qi! And the girl's physical power was already quite good when they meet, she just never got the chance to use it! Now it was her time to bring all that bottled up energy out! Show everyone that she can kick some ass!
Kou snickered as Ning Jiao left the arena, under loud chatting and wild speculations, she made a note to watch the emperor looking very lost and very angry while he was trying to be friendly with that old man. Mh, well.. I suppose.. its a good thing, giving those Ning a bit of a smack Yun Kou!
Hehe... the rest of the tournament would be interesting.