As they ascended the stairs, Xun kept an eye on the disciples from the other sects, just in case they decided to take out their competition early. Even with the elders, one or two fewer cultivators participating in the tournament probably wouldn’t get them in too much trouble.

“Hey, Xun,” Zhanghao approached him, “How do we do this?”

“The tournament?” Xun glanced around and found that the crowds around the group stages were the thickest. That made sense, the weaker disciples probably banded together in the hopes that they could eke out a few wins to get onto the leaderboard. “Let’s go try our hand at the individual stage.” He smiled at the group. “After all the training that you’ve all been through, I expect everyone to last at least three matches. Let’s not lose face for the spirit farm.”

Maybe I love being the demon instructor a bit too much for my liking. Xun’s mood turned morose as he remembered his old sect, and the mistakes he had made that led it to eventually self-destruct upon his death. Maybe if I had balanced that with a bit more personal attention and less focus on the training? Bah, what am I thinking about right now? Let’s focus on the here and now. The past is the past. It is only the present that I can touch.

Pengzi jolted Xun from his thoughts.

“What about me, Brother Xun? Will I be able to compete in the singles arenas with my chickens? After what the Twin Beast sect disciples did…” On his head, Rice Twenty-two clucked in agreement. After taming the spirit beasts, Pengzi allowed his favorite of the flock to claim its place on his head. Secretly, Xun wondered how Pengzi dealt with things when he had to go to bed at night, or what Zhanghao thought of the chickens sitting on Pengzi’s head.

“You know, Pengzi, I once heard of a cultivator that lived a long time ago.” Xun reminisced, trying to get their minds off the gruesome spectacle they had witnessed. “He hated fighting, so he ran away from his sect and became a farmer, tending to chickens. Somehow, he managed to reach eternity by the Path of the Earth and the Chicken. His punches were said to have sent his enemies from one continent to another.”

Rice Twenty-two clucked, intrigued. It even pecked Pengzi to show how much it loved the idea.

Pengzi responded by swatting at the bird. “You dumb chicken. That only happens in stories. If we ran off to the middle of nowhere, the first thing that I’d do is stop farming. And then where would you get the spirit rice that you so love?”

Xun laughed as he saw the bird puff up its feathers in horror and frantically shake its head in a very human-like way.

“Rice Twenty-two is a bit more intelligent than the others,” Zhanghao said, joining the conversation.

“But he listens to my commands,” Pengzi said quickly. “I promise, Xun. He does. Look. Twenty-two, kowtow.”

The chicken clucked and reluctantly left its post atop Pengzi’s head. It flapped to the ground, turned around, and performed a deep bow, holding the position until Pengzi brought it back up.

“Right,” Xun said as he thought about Pengzi’s original question. “Tamed creatures don’t count against the one-person limit. You’ll be fine to participate with just Rice Twenty-two. And see how the Twin Beast Sect doesn’t set their spirit beasts loose around them? They have special storage bags that can hold spirit beast. If you get the chance to beat one of them, make sure to grab one of their storage bags.”

“Grab their storage bag?”

“What are they going to do? Fight you up to get it back? You already beat them up.”

Pengzi considered things for a second before nodding.

“Okay, now listen up, this is important,” Xun spoke to the rest of the group. “I know all of you have trained extremely hard, but never let your guard down. And remember, there are always crouching dragons in every sect. Dying a needless death here serves no purpose, so if you have the choice between death and yielding, always yield. No amount of face is worth your life. I would rather people think me a coward, rather than a fallen hero.”

Thoughts of his old sect resurfaced unbidden, and he locked them back in the dark corners of his mind.

“One more thing, use the system, but do not become part of it, or you will be forever trapped within your own mediocrity, lording your measly power over those who have even less.”

Startled by the uncharacteristic seriousness Xun suddenly displayed, the others mutely nodded and followed behind him, silently digesting his words.

—

The latest demonic sect disciple collapsed to the ground, heaving.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I surrender! I surrender!” he gasped between shallow breaths.

The female Twin Beast cultivator sneered down at him. “Is this all your sect has to offer? Where is the power that took down the Nine Thunder Sect? Or did you kill them by sheer incompetence?”

The crowd of the arena roared at that, both in indignation and in delight, as spectators from each sect expressed their opinion on the matter. On the ground, the disciple clenched his fists, but didn’t dare attack her. The rules were clear, once one side surrendered, they were protected by the elders. But if the loser attacked after that, the other cultivator could do with as they wish. That was why she was provoking him right now. She wouldn’t be held responsible if he made the first move.

Xun approved of the self-restraint. He may be weak, but he isn’t stupid and doesn’t care about face. With that kind of disposition, one day he might even become a elder.

“Is there no one else who wishes to challenge me for the stage?” the Twin Beast Sect cultivator bellowed as the man at her feet stumbled away. “That makes it four wins. Four stupid Sacred Gate cultivators that have fallen to me.”

Xun patted Zeran’s shoulder, “Okay, you’re up. Think you can defeat her?”

“I think so,” Zeran said, determination filled her eyes.

“No, that’s wrong,” Xun said. “You’re determined to win. That’s not enough. You need to be desperate. Only then do you win.”

Zeran looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

“You’ll see soon.” Xun raised her hand and shouted, “Disciple Zeran of the Sacred Gate Sect would like to challenge you.”

Under Xun’s push, Zeran leapt to the stage and landed opposite to the Twin Beast cultivator. She watched warily as two wolves prowled around the corners of the stages.

“Zeran, which path did you take?” the Twin Beast cultivator asked.

“The sword path,” Zeran said as she drew the sword.

“Oho, so you’re a traitor to the Nine Thunder Sect huh? How does it feel to live among those that killed your friends and family? I know that I wouldn’t have such thick skin to kiss up to them.”

“Are we here to talk or to fight?” Zeran asked coldly.

“Thin-skinned.” The Twin Beast disciple smiled, baring her teeth. “Then, let me help you rejoin your friends. Down in the underworld.”

The wolves snarled as they leap forward, approaching Zeran from both sides. From her countless duels with the chickens, she knew the perfect counter to such a move. Zeran first took a step forward, forcing the wolves to change their trajectory, and then slid back at the last possible moment. The beasts were carried by their momentum and had to scramble to avoid colliding with each other.

Zeran used the momentary pause to strike. In a split second, she infused her sword with zhen and stabbed twice. Both times at the wolf on the left. In a fight against multiple opponents, she learned to try and take down one before the other.

A green glow appeared on the wolf’s fur and bounced Zeran’s strikes away. That was no matter. As the two wolves prepared their next attack, Zeran began unleashing a flurry of strikes. The wolves tried their best to defend and find an opportunity to counterattack. But Zeran never gave it to them. She kept thrusting, slashing, and chopping. Eventually, she wore down the wolves’ innate zhen defenses and began landing blows that drew blood.

“You scum of the earth,” the Twin Beast cultivator cursed as she rushed forward with two spears.

“I’ve been waiting for this,” Zeran screamed.

Her words forced a pause in the cultivator’s movements, and Zeran capitalized on the opportunity to bring her sword up. And then she slashed down. The Sword out of the North Mountain was quickly becoming her favorite move.

In her flurry of blows, she had paid extra attention to the wolf on the left. The accumulated damage was just slightly worse on that one than the other. As she guided the strike toward that beast in particular, the right wolf jumped in front of her sword, taking the attack on its head.

Zeran finished the swing and jumped back. The wolf seemed unhurt by the attack.

To the side, Xun shook his head. She wasn’t desperate enough. Not yet.

Realizing that she was tricked, the Twin Beast cultivator rushed forward to join her wolves while also throwing in a taunt, “Is that all a traitor like you can do? Resort to these dirty tricks? You shame the sword in your hand.”

Zeran attacked again. This time, she had to fend off strikes from all three. The wolves had near perfect coordination with their owner. They’d defend when she was attacking and they’d attack when she was defending. There weren’t any openings that Zeran could exploit.

After a couple of attempts to break through the defense of the cultivator, Zeran realized that they were luring her into a trap. Their fighting style was one where they wore their opponent down. The previous demonic cultivator she had seen was drenched in sweat when he surrendered.

It was one thing to know what one’s opponent was planning, it was an entirely different matter to use that knowledge. Zeran kept fighting, looking for an opportunity to disengage or turn the tables. Nothing like that ever came. With every strike, she was losing a bit more zhen than the combined might of her three enemies.

Swinging her sword in a wide arc, Zeran forced the wolves and cultivator to dodge back. Then she sent another North Mountain slash at one of the wolves. Once again, it was taken by the wolf in the head. She felt the impact and made sure to place enough zhen within the spirit sword. There was a large noise as the sword connected with the wolf but it simply retreated a few steps, shook off the attack, and rejoined the fight.

As Zeran was once again enmeshed in the tactics of her opponent, a sense of desperation started to take hold of her. For the first time in the fight, she thought that she was going to lose. And that thought tasted bitter. There was nothing she wanted more than validation of all of her hard work. Now, it seemed like she was going to be defeated at her challenge.

“Bronze heads and tofu waists.” Xun’s voice came through the din of the fight and somehow made their way to Zeran’s ears. She gave the words a quick spin and understood his meaning. The wolves had spent their defenses on their head. That was why her strongest attacks hadn’t done anything when her weaker attacks had drawn blood on their body.

But once again, knowledge was not the same as execution. Every time she tried to attack the body of one of the wolves, her other two opponents would step in to either defend the attack or strike at her to force her to abandon the effort.

Slowly but surely, Zeran’s zhen began dipping lower and lower. She quickly went through half of the zhen in her aperture and it didn’t seem like her opponents were tired at all.