A chaotic symphony filled the eastern reach of the Cloudy Valley. Vendors hawked their wares, buyers bargained prices, and, as was the case any time cultivators were involved, the percussion of battle was ever present the background.

This was the eastern reach of the Cloudy Valley Sect, and the occasion for this gathering of mortals, cultivators, and immortals only occurred once every four years. The Outer Sect Trials. A time of festivity, ambition, fear, and dread.

For the peasants, it was a reprieve from their mortal lives. For merchants, an opportunity for business. For the sects, a chance to bolster their numbers. And for all together, it was a source of brutal, bloody entertainment and an escape from the mundane monotony of the everyday.

“I heard it will be especially bloody this year.” One boisterous merchant called out, followed by cheers of jubilation from the crowd.

Jin Yahui clenched his fists. The voices of the mortals disgusted him, filled not with sorrow, but excitement. They didn’t understand the desperation that would bring so many to their deaths today. To them, it was all a game, the victims merely fools who didn’t know their place in the world.

He glared at the offender, unleashing such a despairing aura that the man’s face went ghost white and he fell on his hands and knees, gasping for breath.

Jin Yahui despised the Outer Sect Trials. He loathed the ruthless disregard for human life, the way the mortals took pleasure in the misfortune of their countrymen. He detested the betting on the life and death and the thought of the young throwing away their lives chasing an unattainable dream.

And most of all he hated that the man was probably right. The Outer Sect Trials were always a bloodbath. But given the relatively low casualties in the last trial, this year’s was certain to be worse.

For the sect, brutality was a strategy. If there was nothing to lose, then there was nothing to stop every mortal with a heartbeat and a pair of legs from trying their luck at the path of immortality. Brutality was a filter that sorted out all but the strong and the fearless. There was no place for the weak or cowards in the Cloudy Valley Sect.

And so, every four years, hundreds of young men and women would die here chasing a dream. They sought a life of power and immortality, where they would no longer be trampled over. A life where they held the reins of power and controlled their own destiny.

But that’s all it was. A dream. An illusion. A lie.

For every one in a hundred that made it through the trials, only one in a hundred amongst them would have any useful potential. The rest were little more than slaves, chained to the sect by a promise of opportunity right in front of them, but always just out of reach. Their lives would be full of hardships, and, if they managed by some miracle to live beyond their youth, the sect would discard them once they grew too old and feeble.

For the one in a hundred of those talents skilled enough for a greater purpose, ninety-nine of every hundred would never amount to anything more than cannon fodder. For the sect, their talents were enough to be worth cultivating, but not enough to spend resources on. They would receive instruction on the basic techniques and then left to spend the majority of their lives in seclusion to cultivate at a snail’s pace.

Amongst these talents, only one in a hundred once more would gain any official position within the sect. And then again, only one in a hundred could hope to ever advance beyond the foundation establishment realm. And on and on it went. Even the Cloudy Valley Patriarch was only a client to the mighty Cloudy Mountain Sect.

The most prudent lesson in the martial world was that there is always someone stronger. The sooner one realized this, the less enemies they made, and the more likely they were to keep their life.

Jin Yahui had learned this lesson all too well. And perhaps too late, as the one who’d taught it to him was Li Hui, the demonic fist. The enmity between them had only grown with time and fate had seen to make Li Hui more than a worthy rival.

There was a time when he’d laughed at fighting Li Hui. The youth had risen from nowhere, rising to prominence on his development of a new martial style that only had one move, the demonic fist. The style was a mockery at first of course. Crowds of disciples laughed behind Li Hui’s back and Jin Yahui had laughed with them. He’d laughed all the way up until the prick’s fist broke his shoulder and nearly tore off his arm.

The Demonic Fist technique was unlike anything Jin Yahui ever faced. It had the power to churn the ambient Qi in the air, making it chaotic. That was the secret of its success. Nothing like it existed in conventional techniques until the Immortal Transcendent Realm.

Nearly every style and technique in the cultivation world relied on ambient Qi. Even for core formation cultivators, who had a reservoir of Qi separated from the world, few practiced techniques that completely severed connections to ambient Qi. The power of a cultivator’s dantien paled compared to the forces at work in the natural world. That’s why most techniques tapped into this power, and also why all Li Hui’s peers were powerless before him except for practitioners of eccentric styles.

Jin Yahui’s own movement technique Steps of the Stalking Lynx, relied exclusively on ambient Qi.

On that fateful day when he had faced Li Hui, Jin Yahui was one of those powerless. He’d crippled himself before the punch landed as he tried to execute his movement technique in that bath of turbulent chaotic Qi. All he could do then was watch in horror as his arm was nearly blasted off.

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It’s in the past now. He thought, reigning in the quivering in his arm. He had a movement technique that used the Qi in his core now. Li Hui couldn’t use the same trick on him again, at least not to the same effect.

Besides, that arrogant bastard had only recently entered seclusion. He could breathe a sigh of relief. Li Hui wouldn’t pose any threat to his Sister’s Outer Sect Trials.

Suddenly, a subtle change in the ambient Qi caught Jin Yahui’s attention. Without even looking down towards the winding path below he could tell that the first Martial Initiate was approaching.

A minute later the crowd realized it too as the youth came into sight.

“Look!” An old eagle-eyed merchant exclaimed, “There’s the first intiate coming up now!”

All eyes turned to look at the young woman who came bounding up the Path of Mortal Ascension. Her steps were light and graceful. With his spiritual sight, Jin Yahui could see the harmony between her movements and the ambient Qi.

Mid-grade spiritual root. He assessed, and a movement technique. No doubt the girl already had a sponsor within the sect. Few geniuses came this far without someone taking notice of their talent.

Only a moment later Jin Yahui was left dumbfounded as the young woman ascended the cliffside that would kill so many today without even a moment of hesitation. Within thirty seconds, she was gone.

Jin Yahui was left stunned. The bloody falls were not so easy a challenge to surpass, even for talented geniuses. Years ago, when he had passed through the trials, Jin Yahui had been the first to make the ascent, and it had taken him minutes, not seconds.

As the excitement of the crowd died down, an explosion sent out a shockwave carrying an oppressive intent that disturbed the crowd’s excitement.

A moment of fear and awe swept over the mortals, while panic and rage came over the presiding disciples. Who dared to so boldly attack The Cloudy Valley Sect? Especially on such a day!

“That came from Senior Li Hui’s residence!” One disciple yelled, and all turned to see the cloud of dust and rubble emanating from the senior’s residence.

“Has Senior Li Hui come under attack?”

“Nonsense” another answered. “Who could dare attack a premier disciple of the Cloudy Valley?.”

“That must be the raging demon fist technique!” One disciple yelled who managed to stay on his feet.

Indeed it was. From Li Hui’s residence, Jin Yahui could only see a black hole of chaotic Qi that blocked his spiritual sight. It was much more violent and opaque than the last time he had witnessed it.

“Such a fearsome technique.” Some mumbled, though all thought the same.

But the amazement and awe soon turned to fear as giant pieces of stone rubble began to rain down on the crowd.

“Which fool angered Li Hui!”

“Senior Li Hui! has lost his temper!” an outer disciple cried.

But only a few pieces of shrapnel struck the crowd before the sound of metal against stone sounded out.

Flashes of light came overhead as a powerful sword aura slashed through the air, deflecting the mass of rubble from the crowd.

“Brother Jin Yahui!” The disciples cried out in admiration.

Who didn’t know the name of the disciple who cultivated an aura technique before the transcendent realm?

The man in question deftly jumped down from the perch he’d taken atop a pavilion.

“Hmph. Li Hui is as inconsiderate as always.” Jin Yahui spat out with contempt.

An akward silence drew over the sect members in the crowd. Jin Yahui was bold to so openly criticize Li Hui. Even if they were both premier disciples of the outer sect, Li Hui had garnered more favor with the outer sect elders. More than that, Li Hui was an inner disciple of the Late Core Formation Stage while Jin Yahui had only just broken through into Core Formation.

Still, no one rebuked Jin Yahui for his comment. After all, he had just saved a countless number of them from injury and Li Hui’s poor reputation was well known.

“Is this really the power of the demonic fist technique?” One disciple muttered their thoughts, and it captured the imagination of the crowd. From what they had heard, Li Hui could break boulders. No one said anything about him launching them across the sky! Wasn’t this too powerful for Core Formation Realm?

All had seen their Core Formation seniors battle, but the blast just now was simply too powerful! Even for Jin Yahui, a prodigy himself, simply deflecting such large boulders of rubble away from the street bordered on the limits of his strength.

“Brother Jin Yahui, was that really the demonic fist technique?”

It was a ridiculous question. To observe the essence of a technique from so far away? And at only the core formation stage? It was an impossible question. And yet, all eyes still turned to Jin Yahui with bated breath and awaiting an answer.

Moments passed in silence. When Jin Yahui did not answer, the crowd turned again.

“What a ridiculous question.”

“Who would ask a fellow disciple such an impossible question?”

“Trying to make Brother Jin Yahui lose face with such an impossible question? Don’t blame this disciple for teaching you a lesson.”

To the crowd, it seemed that even Jin Yahui’s Divine Qi sense had its limits. Jin Yahui, meanwhile, had remained silently staring at Li Hui’s residence.

What had he felt? He played the moment in his head over and over again. The power had that same disruptive and chaotic Qi he had already experienced once before, but this time it felt like the same magnitude of power as Master Tan Ru. But that couldn’t be right. Could it?

“Brother? Brother? Brother Yahui?” He felt a tugging at his robes.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Brother Yahui, the next initiates are about to arrive. Come, we need your help to make bets.”

Jin Yahui said nothing, but followed along regardless. Betting on the lives that would be lost on the Bloody Falls didn’t make him feel good, but he needed the money and his spiritual sight nearly guaranteed he would make a profit. At least he could say their lives would come to something. Better they have the money than the dregs of society.

A crowd of his fellow disciples surrounded him dressed in mortal clothes as he pointed out his winners and losers. It left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. But it had to be done.

“That boy on the far left with the floppy black hair. He’ll be the next one to fall. And that one right above him, he’ll be the next to the top.”

Following his words, Jin Yahui’s underlings dispersed through the crowd and into the betting rings. They blended in with the mortals and sought to bleed the crowd dry.

A minute later the black-haired boy lost his grip, plummeting towards the ground. His screams stopped a dozen meters down after striking a jagged rock that strung him up by his entrails. As if on cue, a moment later the other boy shouted out in victory after having successfully reached the summit.

Then, in only a moment, Jin Yahui’s world turned upside down. The world blurred into the background, and a deafening silence took over his mind. All his focus concentrated on a singular point in space where a young girl struggled up the canyon to the cliff face of the bloody falls. She had a terrible limp, and a weak resonance with the surrounding Qi and Jin Yahui knew beyond a doubt that she wouldn’t make it.

A voice pulled him back to reality.

“Holy shit. You guys are hardcore. Is this your idea of sport? A hundred bucks the girl with the limp falls. No way you can go rock climbing with an injury like that.”

It was Li Hui’s voice, and the girl with the limp at the base of the bloody falls was Jin Yahui’s sister.