Outer Sect Arena, Morning.
With the tournament set to start soon, the seating surrounding the arena was packed with disciples, eager to watch the spectacle of their strongest peers battling it out. Many even had bets running on who they believed would ascend to the Inner Sect this time round; besides the finalists who were guaranteed to ascend, anyone who showed notable skill could be selected.
The formation beneath the arena prevented any spells released inside from affecting the viewers and stopped the combatants from falling out; as for the combatant’s safety, there were multiple Elders within the audience ready to intervene should things take a turn for the lethal.
These Elders, unlike the disciples, weren’t here for entertainment but rather as talent scouts, hoping to find suitable disciples to bring into their factions. Since they didn’t know the names of the competitors or the match-ups, which were kept secret by the tournament organiser, they too felt a sense of anticipation akin to the disciples.
This made for a nerve-wracking experience for the competitors themselves, however, who were brought into separate waiting rooms in advance of the qualifier stage, leaving them clueless as to who they could be up against (barring those who’d publicly announced their participation, of course).
Naturally, the organisers was aware of how stressful this tournament design was; yet they continued it under the argument that this format recreated the conditions of an actual battlefield, where you’d have no guarantee as to who you’d face. While this was partly true, the bigger reason was that it simply made for better entertainment.
Cooped up in his small waiting room, Zeng Fei was not immune from the prevailing tension, especially since the chatter of over a thousand disciples was inescapable: a low drone like that of a mosquito’s buzz that frequently surged and fell high during moments of excitement.
Still, he remained largely composed all the same. He’d gone through exam season enough times to know that worrying about uncontrollable factors wouldn’t amount to anything this late into the process; better to place his faith in the preparation he’d done, and pray that it would be enough.
It helped that he was unimaginably powerful now compared to a month before, bolstering his confidence; for several days now, he and Pingu had been the uncontested Demon Kings of the Crooked Mountain.
And yet, despite having cut their way through over a hundred demon beasts, they had discovered a pitiable three demon cores in total, each belonging to separate species.
Despite having multiple cores, the option to fuse them was still greyed out, indicating that the cores needed to be of the same species to be fused together.
Of these new cores, the first one had been the most disappointing.
Growler Monkey (Second Layer Qi Refining): granting +2 agility, +2 dexterity, +1 intelligence, +1 perception
The stats themselves were not great, but the technique it unlocked was what really took the biscuit.
That’s Not Chocolate Rain - Level 1
Technique grade: Mortal
Positive modifiers: n/a
Negative modifiers: Low level
Ability effect: Form a dung-like object in your hand which can be fired at opponents.
[Emperor’s notes: This was a unique technique I took from someone who I initially thought to be a beggar, only for him to reveal himself as a rogue earth-elemental cultivator when I tried to rob him.
His name for this technique was stupid, so I renamed it so due to the fact it can be fired like artillery shells in quick succession, which makes it hard to dodge. Although the technique does almost no physical damage on impact, this is made up for by its considerable mental damage; it splatters and goes everywhere.
Still, the primary purpose of this technique is something else entirely: the turds, made from the user’s earthly qi, are used to create a connection between the user and their target, therefore acting as a medium to launch more devastating attacks from.
I discovered this firsthand after blocking the rogue cultivator’s excremental attack with a barrier, as he then cast Shattering Earth Steps through his turds to break down my barrier.
As surprising as that was, it’s really a one-time strategy as it can be easily countered once your target catches on to your game plan.
Unlocks Shattering Earth Steps when levelled up high.]
Granted, the explanation behind ‘That’s Not Chocolate Rain’ did make the technique sound more reasonable, at least in theory.
But when Pingu used it for the first time, it became clear the creator of the technique had put an unhealthy amount of effort into making the artillery shells as realistic as possible, covering senses from sight to stench to texture and even sound when forming the artillery shells! This wasn’t superficial scatological interest, but something that ran far deeper.
Zeng Fei had recoiled away and ordered Pingu to put the munition down; it just so happened, however, that they’d been having snowball fights in the domain recently, and so Pingu must have thought it would be funny to chuck this peculiar snowball at his master’s face.
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It went without saying the demon core had been removed immediately after, and that it had been to Zeng Fei’s delight to find out he could delete techniques from Pingu’s repertoire as well.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before they discovered another demon core.
Yang Rabbit (Third Layer Qi Refining): granting +2 strength, +3 agility, +2 constitution, +2 perception.
Pure Yang Phoenix Fist - Level 1
Technique grade: Mortal
Positive modifiers: n/a
Negative modifiers: Low level
Ability effect: When cast, charge up your fist to deliver a powerful fiery attack.
[Emperor’s notes: A core attack technique from the Creed of the Phoenix Tongue. Good pick-up for melee builds.
Each level up increases the qi cost by more than what a normal technique would experience, but this increased level-sensitivity also applies to the power of the technique. The first time I saw a Grand Elder use it, having watched her sect juniors perform it many times before, I believed it to be an entirely different technique until I interrogated the truth out of her.
Not linked to any other techniques, but this is made up for by various upgrades the technique undergoes when levelled up.]
The Green-horned Python’s demon core was immediately swapped out for this; although Serpentine Slap had utility in blinding foes, it did so little damage that in most cases it was more effective for Pingu to throw out a normal slap than use the technique.
Moreover, Pingu had levelled Serpentine Slap to level 9 by this point, but this was still not high enough to unlock any of the Venomous Court’s linked techniques.
Then there was the third demon core they’d found.
Kung Pao Rooster (Third Layer Qi Refining): granting +4 strength, +4 agility, +1 constitution
Kung Ho - Level 1
Technique grade: Mortal
Positive modifiers: n/a
Negative modifiers: Low level
Passive ability effect: The user learns the basics of martial arts and gains increased efficiency of qi application across their strikes.
[Emperor’s notes: A technique I created early on by combining the forms and attacks found in multiple other martial techniques.
It also allows the user to apply qi more efficiently over their strikes, great for beginners.
Not linked to anything else; just something I used to quickly impart basic martial art knowledge to minions.]
This was the first passive technique Zeng Fei had come across, and upon Pingu ingesting the core, its effects were transformational.
No longer were his kicks awkward and clumsy; now, he could even jump and deliver flying kicks (which, admittedly, did look hilarious given Pingu’s short-limbed legs, but Zeng Fei stopped sniggering when he saw Pingu deliver a flying kick to a Growler Monkey and cause it to fall unconscious in one go.)
Pingu’s wings, already capable of forceful slaps, suddenly became capable of a far greater variety of strikes, especially potent when extra qi was used to pack more punch into those strikes.
The penguin’s glaring weakness in mobility was also partially done away with by the martial arts knowledge and his increased agility.
Pingu
Race: Emperor Penguin
Cultivation: Sixth Layer (2%)
Demon Cores: Yang Rabbit (Third Layer Qi Refining), Kung Pao Rooster (Third Layer Qi Refining)
Strength: 10 -> 24
Agility: 6 -> 15
Constitution: 8 -> 19
Intelligence: 5 -> 10
Dexterity: 2 -> 7
Perception: 7 -> 12
Martial Techniques: Pure Yang Phoenix Fist (Mortal) - Level 4; Kung Ho (Mortal) - Level 3; Serpentine Slap (Trash) - Level 9
It turned out that each time Pingu went up a layer, his capacity for demon cores also went up by a layer, therefore allowing him to equip two cores at once from the fourth layer onwards (since capacity was +2 layers from current true cultivation).
As for why Pingu didn’t have the Growler Monkey’s core equipped as well, even if just to get its stat bonuses, this was because his true cultivation was near the peak of fifth layer, which showed up as sixth due to the artificially gained cultivation from the equipped cores.
Pingu’s stats also rose across the board with each layer up, each attribute going up by 1 except for strength and constitution that went up by 2 - in turn further supporting the idea that Pingu was made for a brute/champion style build, not that of a fast and flighty dancer.
Altogether, this was why Zeng Fei felt confident they would come out on top with relative ease against any ordinary opponents; given how physically powerful Pingu had become, it would be over once the penguin closed in on the unfortunate disciple - akin to a heavyweight delivering haymakers to a flyweight.
Still, it was an open question as to how they would fare against the favourites to win the tournament - who all either possessed excellent footwork or defence techniques - or those who cultivated body refining techniques and could therefore be considered in the same weight class as Pingu.
Zeng Fei had been inside his waiting room for over an hour when an abrupt grinding sound interrupted his meditation.
Opening his eyes, he saw the stone wall in front lowering to reveal a route, giving him a sense of deja vu to when the door inside the spirit adviser’s cave had opened.
But where that had been a doorway into darkness, this passageway led to a bright arena at the end which had just been swept of the last combatants’ blood.
Zeng Fei composed himself, then made for the limelight. No matter who his opponent was, he was resolved to not lose until he saw Dong Fu’s face getting dragged through the dirt.
Simultaneously, Elder Ma called out the match-up, his voice imbued with qi to be audible to everyone in the area.
“This qualifier match will be between Dong Fu, a disciple at the seventh layer, and Zeng Fei, a disciple at the fifth layer. I wish them both good luck.”
Hearing the announcement, a girl in a waiting room opened her eyes. Her irises briefly flickered in shades of vermilion.
She frowned at the wall ahead of her for several beats before shaking her head and sighing deeply. Still, she was too distracted to return to meditation, so she spread her awareness out to pay attention to the fight; although she was too far away to directly observe the arena, she’d be able to catch the play-by-play commentary from the disciples watching.
In contrast, the audience’s response to the announcement was subdued: although people knew of Dong Fu, hardly any of them knew who his opponent was and hence were questioning how a fifth layer had even made it into the tournament; meanwhile, those that did know of Zeng Fei were questioning if they’d misheard the match-up.
This reaction applied to Dong Fu as well, who couldn’t quite believe his luck. Exiting his tunnel, he threw his gaze across the arena to the other open one, wondering if it really was the same weakling he’d crushed a month before.
There, he saw Zeng Fei stride out with a head held high and a grin so wide he appeared a reflection of the Cheshire Cat.