As she stepped into the tent, a healer took the girl from Jie's arms and summoned green energy to their hands.

"It's not life-threatening. You should've taken her to the Arena Clinic," the healer chided Jie.

They then snapped Pan Tian's leg back the right way around. Pan Tian bit back a yelp before green energy suffused her leg, repairing it at a visible rate as the older girl let out a relieved sigh and sank back into the bed.

Jie watched them work and wished she could heal Ming so easily even as a dark, burning rage, settled in the pit of her stomach like a burning coal.

"I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. None of you should be in this tent. And next time, remember unless it's a life-threatening injury, they should be taken to the Arena Clinic or the Shrine of Healing," the healer said without looking up from Pan Tian's healing leg.

Jie glared at the healer, but since they were healing Pan Tian, she didn't argue and left the tent as they asked.

"That was foolish," Elder Shi said as she stepped out of the tent behind Jie, "you will be called before the elders for your actions. You may well be disqualified for this, and even I will have a hard time talking my way out of this one."

Jie ignored Elder Shi's words and focused on Chen Huo across the arena. He caught her gaze and smirked. Jie remained expressionless, as the smoldering rage mixed with bubbling hatred and grew with every passing second.

"I don't care if they disqualify me," Jie said. Her voice was so empty and cold that the healers standing outside the tent shivered despite her being so much weaker than them in cultivation level.

"Don't be foolish. It's an excellent place to test yourself and push yourself to grow," Elder Shi said, "I'll try to keep them from disqualifying you."

"I'll find other ways to push myself," Jie said. Her gaze remained unblinking and Elder Shi finally followed Jie's eyes and looked at the target of Jie's ire.

A smile quirked the corners of her lips. "You know... on one hand... accidents do happen from time to time. Even here in The Crimson Academy. But, no... accident... could ever be as degrading as being humiliated in front of a massive crowd."

Jie snapped her electric blue eyes to Elder Shi. Buried within them was profound anger. But, as she held Elder Shi's gaze, she saw the twinkle in the older woman's eyes and understood she wasn't insulting Pan Tian, but rather suggesting a more brutal humiliation for her enemy.

"Especially for people who care so deeply about face... losing it can be worse than losing an arm," Elder Shi said.

Then, Jie smiled. Her smile was cold, malicious, and tinged with sadistic joy. "Forgive me for my ignorance. Please help me stay in the tournament," Jie said with a bow.

"I thought you'd come around. Go for your next fight, then we must speak with the other elders right away. We mustn't give those who would see you banned time to win over others," Elder Shi said.

Jie did as Elder Shi said, returning to a bench and waiting to be called up. It only took a few minutes, and her fight took significantly less time than that. With five fights and five victories, she didn't need to stick around to know she'd go through as long as the elders allowed it. So right after winning her fight, she trailed behind Elder Shi on the way to a meeting with the other elders.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

For the first time, she wanted to participate in the tournament for a reason other than purely for developing as a cultivator. Now, she wanted revenge.

***

Although they were swift, Headmaster Siluvius and several elders were already there and waiting for them.

The room was a semicircle with the elders sitting on a raised dais and looking down at the pair of them. Jie guessed it was supposed to make her feel small. Like an ant being judged by gods. But she just felt it was a bit dramatic for a school.

"Elder Shi, I hear that your disciple interfered in a match between two other students. Is this true?" the Headmaster asked. His previous friendliness was gone as though it had never been there. Now, he was cold and domineering.

"No," Elder Shi said, "it's not."

Jie looked at Elder Shi. There were a hell of a lot of witnesses to the contrary. How was denying it going to work? Was there something she missed? Some factor of their society she was unaware of?

One of the elders stood up out of his chair. "Nonsense! I saw it with my own eyes!" he bellowed. His voice was reinforced with qi, making it supernaturally loud, and the pressure from the sound waves weighed on Jie's eardrums. No doubt if she'd heard things like this with her body back on Earth, she would've exploded.

"I believe what you saw was a fight that had already ended. My disciple was merely aiding a fellow student and making sure they got to a healer, so their wounds could be properly tended to," Elder Shi said.

"She caused an uproar! She publicly besmirched our academy, the Chen family, and a good deal of the audience! Her behavior is unacceptable! She must be expelled! And you! You aided her! Even going so far as to publicly overrule a judge!" snarled the elder.

Though Jie didn't care much for this academy, when she heard the elder speak of expulsion, her heart ached. She couldn't help feeling like she was failing Ming. He needed to focus on healing... she couldn't let herself get expelled!

She opened her mouth, about to object, but found Elder Shi staring at her with a look in her eyes that said 'Don't you dare!'

Jie snapped her mouth shut. Hoping that Elder Shi would be able to talk her way out of this.

"I didn't overrule the judge. I merely pointed out the fight was over," Elder Shi said.

Jie watched Elder Shi with wonder as she patiently navigated around and twisted the events and everything the elders said to serve her own purposes. In many ways, it was like watching a fight. But, entirely with words. Jie had seen things like this done in books and movies, but she'd never really had a chance to try anything of the sort herself, being unable to speak and stuck in a hospital bed.

Elder Shi argued so well that Jie began to wonder if it was perhaps another branch of martial techniques. What would such a technique even be called? The silver tongue technique maybe?

She continued observing the exchanges between Elder Shi and the others and watched as she used their own words against them, twisting the argument so much that nobody had even mentioned anything related to the arena or Jie in the last ten minutes. In fact, Jie wasn't quite sure what they were talking about anymore and half the elders seemed just as lost.

Only a few looked like they knew what was going on. Elder Shi, the Headmaster, and Elder Kanev. While Elder Shi managed to look outraged at the waste of her time, Headmaster Siluvius looked amused, and Elder Kanev looked increasingly frustrated. The conversation had turned to whether Elder Kanev had any dealings with the Chen family and what involvement he might have had in picking the judges.

The other elders latched onto the new subject with vigor and Elder Shi gestured for Jie to go. Jie backed away further and further, and finally left the building entirely.

She looked back at the building as she walked along the path back to her residence. "I need to learn how to talk like that," Jie said.

Jie returned to the arena to check on Pan Tian but found no sign of the older girl. It didn't worry Jie much, however, as she'd seen the healer tending to Pan Tian. Still, there was a part of her that wanted to make sure she was alright.

But, there was no telling where the older girl had gone and Jie had cultivating to do. So, she tried to shake such thoughts out of her head and headed toward her residence.

Along the way, she picked up a tray of food from the cafeteria for Ming to snack on in the rare moments when he wasn't entirely absorbed in trying to heal his internal injuries.

Once in her residence, Jie set the tray of food beside him then sat in the lotus position, placed a heavenly moon pill on her tongue, and cultivated once more.