The next day arrived all too quickly. As I walked through the bustling crowds, Song Song walked beside me. Her presence was a constant comfort, and I didn't have to be paranoid. We moved with purpose as we approached the looming structure of the Colosseum.

Song Song had a smile on her face, which was unusual in public. Of course, her smile unnerved people even more. Her happiness wasn't unfounded, and despite how creepy she came off, she had a reason to be happy. She had broken through to two-star Foundation Establishment. It came as a surprise to both of us. Still, it seemed like she was very compatible with her element, and her cultivation talent was top-tier.

Now that I thought about it, I had never asked Song Song how many spirit roots she had. Though her talent was top-notch, I had no idea how good it actually was.

"You really need to rush and break into two-star Qi Gathering. I am a whole stage above you, and my cultivation speed is still somehow faster," Song Song teased me.

"I couldn't care less about what pace other people advance at," I shrugged.

There was literally a system of talent in this world, where those with a higher count of spirit roots had an absolute advantage in cultivation speed.

"Lame," Song Song shook her head. "You should be acting all angry and cursing at the heavens about how they were unfair."

That was the same as crying about how some people were born rich, and I was born poor. It was useless and a waste of time. How many books could I read during that time?

Okay, that was a weird time measurement. Had I been reading too many books recently?

"Just thinking of someone acting like that gives me second-hand embarrassment," I said.

Song Song looked disappointed when she saw that no matter what she said or did, it wouldn't get a reaction out of me.

When it came to these kinds of things, I was fully prepared and wouldn't be surprised if Hu Jin became a Nascent Soul Cultivator in a couple of years through some bullshit method.

With people making way for us as we walked, we reached the Colosseum with relative ease. The crowd parted like a sea, allowing us to advance unhindered toward the grand entrance.

We parted ways as we approached the exit leading to the seating part of the Colosseum. With Song Song heading toward the fighter section, I went with the crowd.

I felt a tug on my sleeve as soon as Song Song was out of sight. I looked toward the source and saw my fiancée staring at me with an unreadable look in her eyes.

Oh, right, I had kind of forgotten about her after yesterday.

"You weren't in the mansion yesterday," I remarked.

"My Azure Frost Sect called me," she said, leaving it at that. Her gaze trailed toward where Song Song had left, "Not to sound paranoid, but what exactly is your relationship with Song Song?"

"Friends," I immediately answered.

"It didn't look like friends. You're close with her, too close. She is the kind of woman who would rip off the head of anyone who got in her way, or even if they had a voice she didn't like. However, for some strange reason, she puts up with you. Oftentimes, she even listens to your orders," she explained her suspicions.

"Orders? That is a bit too far-fetched. If I tried to do something like that, my head would be rolling before I could say—chicken," I said.

If I gave Song Song an order, was she likely to listen? Yes. But I couldn't let other people know that. We needed everyone to think she was still the same ruthless Song Song. At least until this tournament was done.

Man, I was really becoming a—Don't worry, she's just a friend—kind of guy.

"How would you feel if I hung around some guy from the Ye Clan, which is the equivalent of the Song Clan in your sect, all day long?" Fu Yating tried to put me in her shoes.

Sadly, she didn't know that would work perfectly for me. It was just the excuse I needed to end this sham of a marriage. Also, Ye Clan… that was interesting. Was she related to the clan?

"If you want, you can come and hang around us. Nothing is stopping you. Don't worry, Song Song won't lay a finger on you despite her reputation," I offered Fu Yating.

Her face was hard to read, and I was afraid she might already have begun scheming our downfall. But I knew where she was coming from with this jealousy, and it was natural.

"From now on, I'm going to stick around like a leech," Fu Yating said.

We walked side-by-side through the crowd until we reached the stadium and sat next to my cousins, who were already there.

"What took you so long?" Liu Bo jokingly asked.

"Well, who knows when Fu Yating and I will see each other again after the tournament. The next time we see each other could be on our wedding day," I smiled. "So, we were planning where to hang out and see the views around here. Get to know each other and all that."

They nodded and didn't comment further. Fu Yating also played along and tried to lean her head on my shoulder, but she was too short and just leaned on my upper arm.

Stolen novel; please report.

I was truthful when I said I planned to go on a date. However this arranged marriage played out, it would hurt no one if we got to know each other. We could even end things on good terms.

After everyone settled down, the higher-ups of the sects were on an upper platform.

The announcer declared the fights that would be happening today. It seemed like no one from the Blazing Sun Sect would be fighting each other. Undoubtedly, the organizers had tried their best to avoid having people from the same sect fight each other. There were many ways to manipulate the tournament results, like having one side give up and allowing their fellow sect disciple to move on without using any Qi or tiring out, contrary to their opponent, who would be tired after a hard fight.

"Today's fighting will continue until only the two finalists are left!" hollered the announcer, his voice loud and reverberating through the arena. He was using an interesting technique to make his voice louder. "The first fight will be between Ye An from the Blazing Sun Sect and Wu Kang from the Azure Frost Sect!"

Ye An stepped on the stage, and opposite her stood a short guy with beady eyes, a flat nose, and a somewhat stocky build. Before the fight began, the short guy bowed his head toward Ye An.

"Begin!" the announcer declared.

"I give up," the Azure Frost Sect disciple raised his hand, stepped off the arena and left without saying a word.

That proved my suspicions. Ye An and the Ye Clan from the Azure Frost Sect were connected. If I were to guess, she was the clan leader's daughter.

There were two reasons I thought she was the daughter of the Ye Clan Leader. First, because the guy gave up and clearly showed respect toward her. That was the logical conclusion. Now onto the second and illogical reason: it was because Ye An was a jade-like beauty.

It was a shame I got to see no new techniques.

The next fight was between a guy from the Titanic Blade Sect and a girl from the Void Piercing Sect. It was a brutal fight, and neither held back. By the end, the Titanic Blade Sect guy lost an arm but still managed a draw as both fighters ended up bleeding out unconscious. Neither advanced further in the tournament, but no one died, and the arm could be reattached.

The fight after that was between a girl from the Azure Frost Sect and a guy from the Void Piercing Sect. It mirrored the first fight, with heavy injuries, but the guy from the Void Piercing Sect emerged victorious.

"It seems like this is leading to a total domination by the Blazing Sun Sect," the announcer said, who was also from the Blazing Sun Sect. "Anyway, the next fight will be between Song Song from the Blazing Sun Sect and Mo Ning from the Void Piercing Sect!"

Song Song's opponent didn't look like a fighter at all. He seemed more like a scholar with a fan in his hands. Also, he was very feminine-looking… or perhaps he was a woman in disguise. I didn't really care either way.

Did he use fan techniques? That was new for the Void Piercing Sect. From what I had seen, they mostly used spears because they worked well with their techniques.

In his previous fight yesterday, he used some strange cricket-like sounds to knock out his opponent. His element seemed to be sound.

Song Song already knew this, as she created two cogs from her own blood and put them in her ears.

"Begin!"

When the announcer's words left his mouth, Song Song created a dagger out of her own blood and swung it. It was a perfect replica of my Falling Moon Claw Technique, except it wasn't invisible. A crimson-red slash cut the arena in half and instantly reached its target.

The feminine-looking guy's eyes widened. He brought his hands up to block the attack and imbued his arms with all the Qi he could muster. However, the attack cut through his thumbs and left a sizeable nasty cut from his shoulder to his hip. Blood burst out like fireworks, littering the arena.

I had seen a fair amount of people being cut in this world. But it seemed like the feminine-looking guy was bleeding unnaturally. That was too much bleeding for an injury like that. It was as if his own blood was rushing to get out of his body.

Song Song smiled. The blood dagger in her hands contorted, extended, and turned into a long Jian sword. She charged toward her opponent, fully intent on decapitating him.

But just as she was about to get within reach, a Blazing Sun Sect Core Elder appeared in a black flash, wearing his dark uniform. He looked like a man in his thirties and caught Song Song's blood sword with his bare pale hands.

"The fight is over," he told Song Song. His voice was calm like the morning spring wind.

"But the guy hasn't given up," Song Song smiled, not showing an ounce of fear despite standing in front of someone who could easily squash her.

The Core Elder turned and looked at the bleeding disciple. The feminine-looking guy got the signal and grunted weakly, "I give up."

Song Song shrugged and turned around, dismissing her sword and the blood plugs in her ears.

Wait, if her hearing was blocked, how had she been able to respond to what the Core Elder told her? Either those blood plugs had been just for show, to intimidate and give her opponent the wrong idea, or perhaps she could read lips.

But suddenly, as Song Song was walking away, her eyes widened in shock. She grabbed at her ears, a look of pain etched across her face. In an instant, a burst of blood erupted from her ears, slipping through her fingers as she tried to staunch the flow. Her balance wavered, and she stumbled, struggling to remain upright.

I stood up and glared at her previous opponent.

"An attack after the fight is already over! That's against the rules!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the arena.

My outburst drew attention, but I didn't care. I focused all my rage on the feminine-looking guy. The noise around me faded into the background as I glared at him. He met my gaze with a twisted smile, revealing bloodied teeth.

"That was just a backlash from the fight. I didn't attack her," he weakly said.

This fucking guy!

Song Song's element was blood; there was no way she wouldn't have noticed a time-bomb-like attack within her own body. But I knew that saying such things now was useless. So, I quickly regained control over my emotions and sat down.

Song Song straightened her posture and looked at me, her gaze telling me something I didn't quite understand. No, I understood perfectly well, but I wasn't going to listen.

In the end, Song Song walked off the arena, and I whispered to my cousins, "I'm going to check on her."

"I'm coming along," my fiancée said.

I didn't care about any of that, as my gaze zoned in on the injured feminine-looking guy who was dragged away on a stretcher by some healers.

Though Song Song could regenerate, the eardrums were a delicate part of the body and affected balance. Her next fight was going to be the semi-finals against one of the strongest disciples among the four great sects.

These were brutal fights, and it wasn't strange for someone to die. Because of this bastard, Song Song wasn't in her best condition and could end up gravely injured or dying. Nobody was going to show her mercy!

Fuck!