The previous whis spent most of his time in the royal library studying the art of calligraphy. It was only a pity that he couldn’t sense qi. Because if could, he would break through the barrier into a rune master. This profession was the most awe trucking, one letter could bring a rotten piece of wood to life.

The old man sighed instead of answering directly, “Let’s forget the past, I am now only an inscription master”, he said with hidden emotion

“what’s your cultivation?”, he asked, not giving whis just to question him

“Peak Mortal Realm”, whis exclaimed, he wouldn’t mention his eccentric cultivation level. In others eyes they’ll only sense the mortal realm. Since his current level had more to do with his internal balance than his qi output.

The elder quickly bought it, he had already identified whis’s cultivation and was confirming. He dipped the tip into the ink. As the old man's brush touched the edge of the badge, the pattern began to glow with a faint green light, and a soft hum filled the air.

As Whis watched the old man's movements, he felt a surge of excitement and anticipation.

“Your name?”, The old man spoke matter-of-factly, his eyes never leaving the brush in his hand. His movements were smooth and precise, as if he had done this a thousand times before. He seemed completely unconcerned with Whis's reaction, and almost bored by the whole process.

“Yang Shi”, whis let out, he didn’t want to miss the art of the old man.

In an instant, Whis's name was engraved on the badge. The old man tossed it across the table, and it landed in Whis's outstretched hand. It was as if his name had been burned into the metal.

"With your current cultivation level, you can either go to the mortal quarters or the unfettered one," the old man said, a glint of amusement in his eyes. He stroked his shaggy beard, and a knowing smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“But suggest you stay at the mortal’s stage for a while longer”, the old a finished and quickly waved his hand. Signaling that they should leave. Whis just cupped his hands and bowed, it was his first. At the moment he looked like a kid who had just seen a magic trick. Elder Li nodded curtly.

…

“Brother Shi, let’s make a deal”, BingBing gave out a smug smile as he put his hand on whis’s shoulder. Whis forced a smile, though annoyance simmered beneath the surface.

“Enlighten me, Senior Brother Bing”, whis quickly used a closer tone, in his heart he was sneering. A sly smile played on Whis's lips. He was more than happy to play along, at least for now.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I have a list of participants, I’ll let you target the weak ones and we share the profit, 50 – 50 “, the fatty Bing laughed slyly.

Whis immediately scoffed, “30 – 70”. He wasn’t going to be pushed around, he was the one who was going to shoulder most of the dangers so he might as well have the larger piece.

"30 – 70?" Bing said, feigning surprise. He knew whis was no pushover. He decided to back off a bit, “Fine, 40 – 60”.

“40 – 60”, whis repeated as he considered the offer. That was still more than he would have preferred but his chances were slim as a mere mortal realm participant. He finally relented, his tone no longer polite “Fine, hand it over.”

"Agreed”, BingBing said taking out a thick parchment from his robes. He unfolded it, revealing rows of names and details, from age, to gender, to cultivation realm, even weapons and techniques.

Whis was impressed by the level of detail, he was going to have a lot to study. “How come there’s a lot here?”, he asked.

“That’s a secret, this is how I make living “, the fatty said with a sense of mystery, walking away

“So, it only makes sense that, I would have refined the skill with years of practice”, his voice reached whis’ eyes before disappearing into the distance.

Whis looked at the list and calculated, after some minutes he ripped the list and disposed it. He had already memorized the contents; his mind was sharper now.

He then walked into an empty ring, the bleachers where filling with people

‘Looks like it’s now morning’, whis exclaimed, realizing he hadn’t slept ever since reaching this world. He wondered if it had to do with his soul opening. He shrubbed the matter away as he handed his badge to an old-lady in another stand, she was the ring leader.

The way the gladiator ring was constructed was simple. It had four compartments, each one with each one ring leader, who would accept bets and also oversee the matches.

The moment the lady received his badge, her countenance went grim and casted a glance at whis, she announced

“Yang Shi, peak Mortal Realm, zero battle experience, any challengers?”

‘Newly born calves are not scared of tigers’, she murmured, she could sense the inexperience in whis’ eyes. She continued with her announcement

Although peak Mortal Realm was the highest cultivation in the Mortal Realm, the lack of battle experience would reduce the risk to almost a middle Mortal Realm and a lot of people agreed on this calculation

“I’ll challenge him!”, a tall burly man stood out of the crowd. The moment his voice boomed across the ring; the crowd went silent. He was known as blood butcher, his name alone carried him fame.

“Blood Butcher, you can have your turn after me” another tall man as agile as a monkey and instantly leaped into the ring. His acrobatic movement stunned whis.

“Look the kid is shaking, he-he”, a maniacal laugh escaped from the terrace. It was Blood Butcher, he had now taken his sit, and was enjoying whis fearful gaze.

Whis trembled upon the presence of the tall man and the crowds’ rebuke. This might very well be the first battle in his, wait, in his and the previous whis lives. They both never participated in fights, why? It wasn’t necessary, whis spent all his time coding on his laptop while the other spent time writing books and studying literature. When he saw the confidence grin on the tall man, his heart shook. He intuitively wanted to run, but he knew the rules.

You either fight and live, or refuse and perish

This was the gladiator ring. Two contestants, one will die the other will live and enjoy the glory. Whis heaved some air out, flexing his muscles. His body took the stance of the first level of Roaring Fists. His fists crossed each other and his body leaned forward, his heart was palpitating. He could feel the adrenaline rushing in his veins.

“Place your bets”, the old lady’s voice resonated, and crowd was wild with joy. This match was certain – they thought. Casting a bet was easy one would just instill some Qi into their tokens and the amount of QI equal the amount.

This world used a currency called crystal cores. These where minerals with a dense and high-quality QI. The jade tokens would absorb that QI and calculate the equivalents

After everyone was done betting, the old-woman frowned, no bets on Yang Shi (whis). She just frowned as it was normal, no one would throw away, and a rare chance like this rarely com. However, the thought of whis dying in the ring made her frown disappear, these were the consequences of rushing into a gladiator ring without killing some beasts. The usual flow was that, cultivators would kill some beasts in the wild as practice and then visit the ring. But what she didn’t was that whis had just rose up from nothing to peak mortal realm in one night, if his talent was not outstanding enough, the fact that he also had opened his soul was another key point. It increased his perception.

“Begin”, the old lady shouted