Henry was reckless, vengeful, headstrong, and arrogant but also brilliant.

Fei was sure that Shi would be his undoing. His fourth son's skills worked beautifully together, and if not for his personality, he would have been a force to reckon with. Unfortunately, the boy was mentally unstable, which was a shame.

The fight had started just as Fei had predicted. Hen Ri was unprepared for Shi’s phasing ability and ki masking technique. All of the otherworlder's attacks were rendered useless. The boy looked stumped, trying and failing miserably to hit his son. Shi was playing with his opponent, which is something that Fei disagreed with. His combat philosophy had always been to crush his foe without mercy and with as much collateral damage as possible. He wanted no one to question who the winner of the fight was.

Things went sideways for his son when the other worlder realized the trick Shi was using. For a supposed idiot, Hen Ri was surprisingly observant in the heat of combat. Not for the first time, Fei wondered what Hen Ri had done in his past life. Otherworlders were always a conundrum until they offended some immortals and got split open to be examined.

The boy might have realized what his son was doing, but that did not necessarily mean he knew how to counter it. That was what Fei was thinking, at least until he watched Hen Ri do the unthinkable. Fei realized that it was partially Shi’s fault as to what had happened. He could forgive his fourth son's eccentricities, but why was he always licking stuff?

Fei blamed the mother for the young pup's indiscretion. She had been a vampire after all, it made sense some of that love of blood was passed on to Shi. Fei usually didn’t bat an eye at this kind of behavior, but to do it against a new opponent that you had no read on was just foolish.

The other worlder had somehow drawn out the trace amount of ki in his blood and used it to attack a Shi from the inside. Typically, this was impossible, but due to the nature of what Fei assumed was the legacy that was passed on to Hen Ri by his father, the boy ripped Shi's core apart. The foreign ki was voracious and Shi’s own body had no defense for something that malignant. Hen Ri tore through Shi’s core, and had it not been for Fei stepping in, his son would have been dead.

Fei was angry, but he was also curious. He wanted to study Hen Ris ki and why it behaved like that. He wanted to experiment on the boy and see what other things this version of his father's legacy had given the boy. Unfortunately, it looked like the otherworlder was not used to taxing his concentration in combat as he was now. Fei could see his cultivation waxing and waning.

Maybe he should step in and call an end to the matches. Perhaps he could hold up against San and Er, but Fei had very little hope that he would have any chance against Yi. He made up his mind and was about to call a stop to the match and have Shi get treated. That was until that fool boy again did something idiotic. He called out his last three children. Er already seemed to hold some hatred toward him, and San would always go whichever way her elder brother went. Yi was the real deal sealer on Hen Ri’s fate. She practically hummed with excitement.

Yi was his first child, and she was his pride and joy. Her mother was a mortal woman and could not handle the child's immense ki at birth. Fei had groomed her for greatness since birth; she was precious to him, and he would move the earth and the heavens to see her smile. Right now she was looking at Hen Ri with unveiled anticipation, just like how he yearned to study the boy she yearned to test herself against this stranger and his strange powers.

****

Henry was tired, not physically but mentally. He felt like he had done a bunch of math tests while trying to sort jelly beans. The fights had been fruitful, though; he had learned things that would serve him well and even got some nifty new loot. Draining the coins, he felt his ki replenish, the rush of pleasure was dulled, and Henry craved more. The gold madness was getting unwieldy because of the constant absorption of potential energy.

Henry had no time for the gold madness though he had just called out the last three cultivators, and they looked pissed. Well, actually, two of them looked pissed. The smaller fighter with the blonde hair had a weird look on her face. What was it? Was it excitement? Was she a weirdo like Shi, as well? Speaking of that sick puppy, he had been whisked off on a stretcher by Fei’s medics. He was still twitching and writhing, trying to claw at his chest.

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Henry knew what he did was something that would not be easily replicated. For one, what kind of idiot would lick their opponent's blood? Second, Henry was desperate, and his will and ki responded to his desire to win, which amplified his blood ki power. It felt like something else had taken over in that moment. Something darker and much more alien than the pure gold ki of Goldy’s legacy.

Eating as fast as he could, Henry watched his wounds still bleed profusely. There was poison in the wounds, and they kept his body from sealing the cuts. That Shi guy was quite skilled. His abilities and techniques worked so well together. Hell, all of Fei’s children's skills were top-notch. Henry didn’t want to admit it, but The Nothern Sky Breaker was a great teacher.

He couldn’t go into the next fight like this; he would bleed out from the poison. Sometimes, Henry felt so stupid and regretted not studying more in school. He had totally forgotten about the Unicorn Needle that he had in storage. With a thought, it was in his hand, and he stabbed it into the wounds. The thin ivory needle turned black momentarily, and he pulled it out of his flesh. At the tip of the needle was a little pea-sized black ball. This must have been the poison that was coursing through him. This could be useful, Henry thought as he stored both the needle and the ring.

Henry ate the last morsel of food and drained the pitcher of ice-cold water that was left there for him. Letting out a huge belch, he walked to the center of the ring, awaiting his next opponent.

“Damn, you almost killed Shi out there, he’s a freak, but he’s family, and you don’t do that to family,” said a tall woman.

She had bright blond hair and a sharp, angular face. Here, her limbs seemed too long for her body. She reminded Henry of a praying mantis. That wasn’t the strangest thing about her, though.

She had pointy ears.

“You’re a freaking elf that's so cool,” Henry said excitedly.

“And you are an asshole,” the elven woman said.

“I have a name you bastard, it’s San and I’m gonna beat the brakes off of you,” she said as she started to stretch.

“Well, I mean, you are, aren’t you? You even got the point ears and everything? Im not being racist I just never seen an elf before.”

“I’ve never seen a dead man talk so much before, so I guess we’re even,” San retorted sarcastically.

“Man, you sure are snippy. So, what kind of crazy-ass ability do you get? Ice Breath? Super Strenght? No, let me guess, you can make your limbs grow really long.”

San was silent as she looked at Henry, her eyes boring into his skull.

“Alright, sheesh, no one in this family has any humor,” Henry said and looked at Fei.

“Im ready when she is Pops.”

“You will begin shortly, but let me make it clear for the both of you. When I say stop, you will stop, or I will be very crossed,” Fei said, letting his ki push down on the two combatants.

This warning felt more like it was directed towards San than at him. Henry would have been offended if he hadn’t been fighting to keep standing under Fei’s ki.

“Fight,” Fei said as the pressure relented.

Henry spun his rings around him defensively, letting his battle precognition sweep the arena. He watched San like a hawk as he moved towards her.

The elven girl just yawned and cracked her neck and knuckles.

Henry sent two rings hurtling towards her, ready to follow it up with a punch. The rings went halfway across the ring before dropping down to the ground. Henry felt his ki connection to them sever.

San was on him in his moment of shock. She hit him twice in quick succession in the head, and Henry went down.

San was a desert, and his ki was water. Her presence dried up the reservoir he had built with those three coins. Nothing was left. He felt like his energy was evaporating. His battle precognition faltered, not having the ki to power them.

She loomed over him like a lion over a wounded gazelle.

“Sucks, doesn’t it, not having ki? That's just the beginning, big boy. You are in my world now, asshole, and in here, we fight by my rules. Right now, the rule is we fight without ki.”

“Fuck,” Henry said softly.