That bastard Northerner had thrown dirt into his face, just the kind of underhanded move he should have expected from an insolent cur like this Hen Ri. All the Clans were watching him; the fools were even taking bets on who would be the victor. Ti Hua swore to the ancestor this would not be a fast fight; he would gut this pig and hang his skin in front of the Rising Star Inn.

Henry thought throwing the dirt at Ti Hua's face was a masterful move, a chef's kiss. This would be one of those rare fights that Henry would enjoy. Meeting the Hua cultivator had cemented how much of an asshole he was—a sick, pampered, arrogant asshole. This fight had to be devastating. He needed to send a message that he wasn’t someone to fuck with.

Ti Hua unsheathed his daggers and began to spin them skillfully. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. These were the Phantom Blades belonging to the Hua clan. The daggers emitted a faint glow before vanishing completely. He lunged at Henry, swinging his left hand, sending three daggers flying toward him from different angles.

The crowd gasped as the Northerner evaded all three daggers spinning through the air before delivering a flying roundhouse kick to Ti Hua's face. Henry felt his foot impact with a satisfying crunch.

Ti Hua disengaged quickly before Henry could follow up with another strike.

This Northerner was dangerous and skilled; Ti Hua thought as he wiped the blood from his mouth. He couldn’t let his guard down; he had a feeling this Northerner was full of tricks. How he dodged his blades proved that fact to be true. Ti Hua dove in again, this time striking with a flurry of kicks and punches, sending a whirlwind of blades at Henry. They came close to cutting but always missed the target at the last moment.

Henry was flaring his combat precognition as he effortlessly let the blades sail past him. Ti Hua was strong, and Henry saw how this attack would have spelled doom for many cultivators before him. It was so telegraphed, though it showed that the clan cultivator had never had to fight someone he could not overwhelm with sheer strength.

With a thought, two iron knuckle dusters appeared on Henry’s fist, and he smashed them together before letting a bit of ki trickle to his legs. In a burst of speed, Henry charged at the clan cultivator. Throwing a quick jab, he was shocked to find a dagger materializing to intercept his punch. If it were not for the protection on his hand, the blade would have impaled his fist.

Henry was working on a limited ki budget. He had allowed himself two gold coins for this fight, giving the rest to Mui to place bets for him. He had to fight conservatively, which meant not using his flashier attacks. Henry upped the intensity of his punches, and soon, sparks were flying where his fist struck blades. His onslaught made Ti Hua flinch from trying to block all his strikes. Dashing back and forth like a man-sized jungle cat, Henry advanced like a raging storm.

Ti Hua was starting to falter. His concentration was waxing and waning due to the ridiculous number of punches and kicks this Northerner was sending his way. He could feel the tide of the battle shift. This Hen Ri pushed him, and it showed as some strikes got through his bladed defense. He felt a punch graze his side, and suddenly, his arm locked up of its own accord. With shock, he realized that he could not shift his arm or even close his fingers.

One of Henry’s punches clipped Ti Hua, and judging by the shocked look on his face, he must have realized that his left arm was now useless. Perfect Henry, though, letting out a predatory smile. Henry faked a kick and then threw a liver punch. A blade appeared to intercept, but at the last moment, Henry pulled back and spun a backhanded strike that hit the Clan cultivator on the side of his head.

Ti Hua felt the light turn off on the right side of his head where Henry had struck him. What was going on? He started to panic. He could not see from one eye, and the Northerner knew this as more and more punches and kicks came from his blind spot. He had to defend himself as he poured ki into more blades. His reserves were getting low, but he had to push his opponent off of him. He needed time to think.

Henry gave him no time.

More punches and kicks rained down on Ti Hua. A kick to the thigh made one of his legs lock up. An elbow to the temple shut down his hearing. Two punches to the chest sent Ti Hua stumbling down to his knees. Henry loomed over him, staring down like some vengeful old spirit.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The crowd had slowly gotten quieter. This was not a fight; this was an execution. People tried to pull back their bets, but the bookies just smiled at them like wolves at sheep. While people were impressed by this Northerner's combat prowess, they were more in awe of his ki control—at least, the ones who knew what he was doing.

To the uncultured cultivators in the crowd, they only saw Ti Hua pausing after what looked like some very weak hits. To the more veteran fighters, Henry was blocking the Hua clansman’s ki points with frightening efficiency. Each point was blocked with the most minimal amount of ki. It was invisible to his opponent, making it even more insidious.

The assorted cultivators from the various clans were sweating, looking at this fight. The Northerner was playing with someone they had all thought was a shoo-in for the later rounds of the tournament. Word was sent out to gather as much information as they could from this rogue cultivator.

Mui sat in silent awe as he watched Hen Ri toy with Ti Hua. He knew that the Northerner was blocking Ti Hua’s ki points, but doing something like that with such precision and with such ki control was shocking. It had been such a short time since their last fight, and not even a month had passed. How had Hen Ri grown like this in such a short time? Mui felt his blood churning with passion. He wanted to test himself against Hen Ri to show him how much he had grown in their brief time apart.

Guan Li sat relieved as Hen Ri loomed over Ti Hua. She had to admit that she was not expecting the fight to go as it had. Hen Ri was everything she had hoped he would be. Her sisters had been watching him with greedy eyes, seeing that this cultivator would be worth adding to their collections. Those harpies still couldn’t stomach that he had ignored them in favor of her. They thought, why would anyone favor her when they had peerless beauties like them to choose from? Those harpies still thought they could seduce him. She knew he wasn’t like that, at least that was what she hoped. After the fight, she would have to ask him what his intentions with her were.

Henry looked down on Ti Hua, who was scrambling around, now blind and deaf with a pair of paralyzed legs. He knew this man was a monster and should be put down, but Henry could not shake his pity for him. In this world, power dictated everything, and he could have very well been in the same position as this wretch. Henry pushed down these strange emotions as he grabbed Ti Hua’s hair, the cultivator was still trying to struggle in vain but Henry held him tight. He would make it quick.

His fist fell like a meteor but never found its mark as it rebounded off a wall of force.

Henry saw a woman and a man resembling Ti Hua standing behind him. The women struck multiple points on Ti Hua’s body, and he was freed from all the locks that Henry had placed on him.

“Brother Tai, Sister Va, what are you two doing here?”

“We were running some errands and heard you were fighting some Northerner, so we decided to check in on our dear brother,” the woman said, dusting dirt off Ti Hua.

“What a shock it was when we discovered that you had gotten into a scrape with some Nothern barbarian,” the man said as he dispelled his shimmering shield that was holding Henry’s fist in place.

“Hey, no fair man, three on one, that's gotta be cheating,” Henry said.

“Oh, my apologies, good sir. Please refrain from further brutalizing my younger brother here any further,” the woman said without actually sounding like she meant any of it.

“This is kinda bullshit. Are all the Hua clan cowards?”

Henry was heated. Why did these two have to come and ruin his fight? He had Mui wager the rest of his money on this match, and now they were rescuing Ti Hua before he could get his payday. Henry could not have that; he had to double down.

The two cultivators' eyes hardened as they looked at Henry.

“Our brother is in no position to fight, and we, as his elders, will admit that this is his loss,” the woman says before leaving.

“ His loss but not my victory? What a bunch of assholes you Hua cultivators are.”

Henry knew that he had to double down.

“Come on, fight me now, or are you two chickens?” Henry started to cluck like a chicken as he marched in place.

This elicited laughter and jeers from the crowd.

“We will be seeing you, Hen Ri of the north, at the rookie tournament. We will remember your words, and we will make you eat them,” the woman said before motioning to someone in the crowd.

A random flunkie ran out, presenting a silk purse to the woman.

She threw it at Henry’s feet.

“Those are your winnings from the bookies; we know this is all a game to you, but we are deadly serious. You have made an enemy for life tonight.”