Yu Xiang bit back a groan of pain as he fought with all his might against the cruel pull of gravity, which seemed to be dead set on bringing him to his knees.

But as much as he wanted to just sit down and curl into a fetal position until he stopped hurting all over, he simply had to keep his back straight.

It was a matter of dominance.

Yu Xiang had just face tanked a direct last resort attack from his self appointed rival, so acting like it had done little to no damage would undoubtedly deliver a not insignificant amount of mental damage to Su Rong.

What’s that? This is extremely hypocritical since he lamented over young cultivators being too prideful just a while ago? It’s something really immature for someone of his actual age?

Listen, that’s completely true and correct, but shut up.

The bastard had just tried to blow him up, so he was entirely justified in his pettiness.

Fortunately for him, he was saved from face planting in the dirt by his best friend.

Lin Fen hurriedly made his way towards him, crushing countless pretty flowers under his sandaled feet in his haste, but still not even reaching a fraction of the mess their fight had created.

Even discounting the huge patch of blackened ground left in the wake of their last exchange, one could still perfectly track their actions through nothing but the collateral damage they had left behind.

Cracked stone and burned grass marked the places where Su Rong had used his movement technique, long twisting lines of crushed vegetation formed a path created by Yu Xiang’s own skill, and upturned dirt and unrooted plants showed where they’d met each other’s attacks head on.

The green eyed cultivator almost felt guilty about ruining such an idyllic scenery.

His mind was brought out of these morose thoughts as his feline companion finally reached him, instantly pressing his side against him, giving Yu Xiang the chance to stealthily lean on him as the young alchemist pretended to examine him for wounds.

“Did you really have to go this far?” Lin Fen asked him in a chiding tone.

Yu Xiang smiled unrepentantly down at him, which only made the feline cultivator grow annoyed, something he promptly showed as he pressed one of his fingers against a particularly tender spot on the green eyed cultivator's chest.

A shiver went down Yu Xiang’s spine as he repressed a wince.

The fine green robes that had previously covered his upper body had been completely incinerated by Su Rong’s last explosion, which left his battered chest uncovered and exposed to the elements.

This wasn’t really a problem for someone like him who had begun refining his body, and they’d already been filled with holes and tears during his previous fights anyway, but it did highlight one thing in his mind.

Now, Yu Xiang would not call himself boneheaded, stubborn, overly headstrong, or any other similar adjectives, so when the Heavens sent him not one but two clear signs, the giant snake fang barely missing his vitals and this last explosion, then he was more than ready to listen.

It was time for him to learn a defensive technique.

One couldn’t predict all possibilities, so Yu Xiang had decided to focus all of his efforts on just a couple of techniques that could be applied widely enough to be useful in any situation.

This had, unfortunately, come back to bite him in the ass when he found something he could not speed away from, punch through with his lightning or deflect.

But this was fine, he had learned his lesson.

“Well well, that was quite the explosive end to this bout.” Elder Chao’s horrible attempt at a pun broke the young reincarnator out of his reverie.

Su Rong grimaced as his two companions reached him and helped him up from the still smoking ground.

The elder continued speaking calmly as if this kind of chaotic outcome were just routine for him. “As this was the last match I will now announce the ones among you who have been deemed ready to join the hallowed ranks of the Inner Disciples.” He was the perfect incarnation of grace and poise, standing with his back straight and with an air of controlled power swirling around him.

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In an instant his energy erupted from his body, engulfing the entire mountain peak in a bubble of power.

Before Yu Xiang or any other disciple could even begin to panic at the unexpected situation a strong feeling of relief spread through all of their bodies.

The green eyed cultivator watched in amazement as the numerous bruises he had accumulated during the day simply vanished and even Su Rong’s charred arm slowly regained color and feeling.

Elder Chao cut off his awe inspiring show of power and skill only once they’d all been healed up, after which he gave a nod of satisfaction.

One of his assistants, who must’ve arrived while Yu Xiang was fighting since he had failed to notice them, handed him a rolled up scroll which he promptly unfurled.

“Disciple Fen Lin.”

The feline cultivator perked up as his name was called, his grey ears standing up at attention on top of his scalp.

“You have passed the examination.”

A sigh of happiness escaped his friend’s lips as he slouched in obvious relief, which made Yu Xiang himself smile.

“Disciple Feng Liu.”

The other sect born disciple stepped forward as he waited for the elder’s verdict.

“You have passed the examination.”

Feng Liu bowed in gratitude to the elder.

“Disciple Xiang Yu.”

A moment of silence passed as a twinge of trepidation entered the young reincarnator’s heart. He even saw Su Rong lifting his head expectantly in the corner of his eye.

“You have passed the examination.”

Su Rong slouched in defeat, his head hanging low, but the elder simply continued.

“Disciple Su Rong, you have passed the examination.”

The fiery cultivator’s head shot up so fast Yu Xiang almost heard his neck cracking, the young man’s expression twisting in a comical display of bewilderment, happiness, and total confusion.

Elder Chao kept up with his roll call, every person he named was promptly promoted, until he had called all of the present examinees.

“Congratulations to all of you, and let me be the first to officially welcome you into the inner circle of our great Sect.” The elder gave them all an encouraging smile, while the newly minted inner disciples looked at each other in clear confusion.

Yu Xiang rolled his eyes, did they really expect the elder to simply discard promising disciples just because they’d lost a single match?

...Although he had been concerned too, even if for just a moment.

<<<>>>

A shadowy figure covered in a traveling cloak walked near the eastern border of the Greatest Empire’s lands.

A thick hooded cowl prevented any kind of facial identification, and the clothes the figure wore under their cloak made it so the contours of their body couldn’t be easily distinguished so not even if the figure was a man or a woman could be confirmed through observation.

The clearly suspicious individual ran through grassy plains and small forests at a speed only achievable by cultivators, once more cementing their unusualness as no treasures or hidden spaces could be found in this particular region due to its low amount of ambient spiritual energy.

But still, the figure kept running with a clear purpose in its steps, until finally, something caught its attention.

A flicker of light, like that of a dancing flame.

The shrouded figure immediately changed direction, speeding up in an instant, but no sound was emitted by its movement and no footprints were left in its path.

The figure swiftly arrived at its destination.

Houses were burning, the cloying stench of burning humans filled the air alongside large clouds of smoke and wild screams of despair.

The figure carefully made its way through the burning village, seemingly searching for someone.

An unhinged laugh stopped the figure in its tracks and made it turn to the side, where the village opened up into a small square.

“If it isn’t the Magistrate’s little shadow!~” An unpleasant voice graced the shadow’s ears, making it grimace under its many coverings.

A small tower of bleeding and broken bodies laid in the center of the village square, both humans and animal corpses acting as materials for the depraved construction, and atop the heretical structure sat a man.

He would’ve been called handsome normally, with his lean muscles and pleasing face, but his looks were marred by dirt and dried blood that seemed to linger on his skin. A curtain of fiery red hair was similarly caked in filth and the maniacal smile which split his face like a toothy gash was the rotten cherry on top of the dung pie of a man.

A weapon, if it could even be called that, was stabbed in the dirt in front of the corpse pile.

It was longer than the wild man was tall, with its blade and its handle being the exact same length, the figure wasn’t sure if it was an unusually thick spear or a weirdly proportioned greatsword, the only thing it was sure of is that it was disgusting.

The weapon appeared as if it was made of naked flesh. It pulsed like it had its own heartbeat and its surface glistened like fresh blood was running over it at all times. The cloaked figure could see numerous running streams of blood originating from the corpse pile leading towards the planted blade which drank from them hungrily.

The shadow swiftly reached into its cloak, which made the blood covered man’s grotesque smile widen even further.

A sealed scroll was held in its grasp as it retracted its hand, which it promptly threw at the mad cultivator.

The bloody man caught it from the air with no problem.

“Haha! Thank you kindly little shadow.” He said in his oily voice. “But where are my manners! Are you perhaps hungry?” With that he lifted the severed haunch of a cow from his throne of corpses, still dripping with blood.

The mad cultivator let out a chuckle as the cloaked figure remained silent. “If you prefer it cooked then feel free to roast it wherever you want! After all…” He opened his arms in an inviting gesture. “This whole place is burning to the ground!”

A maniacal laugh escaped the bloody cultivator, which the figure took as its cue to leave.

But even as it left the gruesome ruin behind the insane cultivator’s laugh still lingered at its back.