Jasmine hadn't been enjoying her time while waiting for the tournament to start. Her Master was busy hunting down the person crazy enough to attack Ashlock's offspring in his own city, so she was left alone in the Red Village.

Too nervous about the upcoming fight to cultivate, she tried to ask some of the people in this village if they wanted to spar, but they all turned her down.

"Spar with the Princess's disciple? What if you get hurt? Will I be hunted down and my whole family slaughtered?"

No, Master isn't that crazy... Sol can heal me.

"Waste my Qi on sparring? Are you crazy? Do you think Qi grows on trees?"

The Qi in here is so dense. Can't you just cultivate it back?

"You just want to figure out my techniques beforehand, don't you?"

No, I don't even know who you are. It's just practice...

These were just some of the answers she received, and no matter how much she retorted, they brushed her off. So here she was, sitting alone in the Red Villages tavern, eating the free food to kill time.

Master and the others were always so open and willing to help me. Is this how cultivators usually are? Selfish and suspicious of everyone else? I just wanted to practice using my new whip.

Jasmine hadn't expected making friends, let alone a simple conversation partner, outside of the Ashfallen Sect to be such an insurmountable task. She glanced around the room, and any eyes she caught quickly looked away. They fear me.

The story of Stella killing the rogue cultivators in the mine and earning the title 'Princess of Slaughter' was famous in Ashfallen City. In addition to tales of how effortlessly Stella disposed of the cultivators terrorizing the citizens, there were also stories about the Princess of Slaughter's bloodthirsty disciple.

Jasmine stabbed her fork into the potatoes. The rumors around her were honestly even more ridiculous than Stella's, and her recent transformation from absorbing the poison plant into her soul wasn't helping her beat the allegations of being a demon. Everyone was interested in her, but nobody dared to get close. As if she were a poisonous cactus or something.

So, that was her current situation. Jasmine sat alone yet was the center of attention. Everyone was stealing glances at her from their tables, yet nobody dared to come and talk to her.

That's why she was so confused when a masked woman suddenly appeared and asked if she could sit opposite her. Everyone else also seemed to share her confusion, especially when the woman asked if she knew anything about Stella.

"She's your M-Master?"

Jasmine wanted to punch herself, seeing the woman's reaction. Here she was, lamenting that nobody would talk to her. Yet when someone finally had the courage to, she just had to scare her off with her Master's name.

"Yes, she's my Master," Jasmine said dismissively, "Why do you want to know about her?"

The woman looked around and seemed deeply uncomfortable from all the stares she was receiving. "Urm, I only arrived in the city a few weeks ago, and after learning about the t-tournament, I entered closed-door cultivation. S-so I never had a chance to learn much about this place."

"Oh?" Jasmine narrowed her eyes. Darklight City and Ashfallen City saw almost no visitors from outside cities. The airship routes were closed, and as far as outsiders knew, there was little here worth going through the hassle of visiting for. Stella had warned her that cultivators were more dangerous and crafty than monsters in the past, and Jasmine hated it, but she couldn't help but mirror the suspicion of those around her. "What reason did you have for coming here?"

"I'm looking for something..." The woman frowned, "My sister. She ran away from my sect, and I have spent the last few years searching for her. I drift from one city to the next, looking for clues."

Jasmine didn't have a sibling, but she could imagine how terrible having her family run away would feel. "I'm sorry about that, really." Jasmine said, "Does she have a name or any defining features? I could ask my Master about her for you."

The woman seemed startled at that suggestion, "N-no, it's quite alright. I wouldn't want to trouble your Master. She seems very busy."

"You wanted to know stories about her, right? Wouldn't it be better to see her in person?" Jasmine pushed her chair back and hopped down, as it was just a little too high for her legs to reach the ground. The trouble of being only eight years old. No matter her cultivation realm, she was still held back by the limits of her small body. "Most of those stories are made up anyways," Jasmine muttered as she glared at the people watching.

"Right..." The woman seemed a bit bewildered.

Determined to kidnap her new friend, Jasmine grabbed the woman's hand and led her outside. The air outside felt refreshing as they left the tavern and the intense stares behind them.

"You're the first person who dared talk to me," Jasmine smiled. "I'm Jasmine. What's your name?"

"Uh," the woman glanced around quickly, "My name? It's... Daisy."

"Daisy, huh? You're also named after a flower like me?"

"That's right."

Jasmine grinned. They had another thing in common!

"Don't worry, Daisy, there is nobody in this world that my Master and her Father can't find. I'm sure they will be able to find your sister in no time." Jasmine said proudly.

The woman nervously chuckled, "Is that so..."

***

Serena felt her heart pound in her chest like a drum as the little girl led her toward the arena, dominating the skyline. It was a truly colossal structure that left an impression. Serena had looked for an opportunity to ditch the girl and run, but there were too many eyes on them. Despite it being so early in the morning, a stream of people headed toward the arena, likely to participate in or watch the Qi Realm fights today.

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All of them parted and stared at her as she passed.

"It's the Princess's disciple."

"Keep your voice down, or she will tear out your throat."

"Would she really do such a thing?"

"Are you kidding? She casually followed the Princess into that den of thieves and relished in their screams as they died despite being so young."

"No, it's far worse. She's a demon that feasts on human flesh."

Serena looked at the little girl leading her as she listened to the rumors.

Maybe those stories are mostly made up, as Jasmine claimed. I can't imagine such a sweet kid doing all those things they are saying.

Jasmine appeared unfazed by the gossiping, as if she didn't even hear them. Serena searched the faces of those making the remarks and noticed none were wearing the cloaks from the cult of the All-Seeing Eye.

It seems some of these mortals aren't too accepting of how things are run around here. Serena mused, but she couldn't blame them. This place and the people in charge were crazy. I do wonder why they are bothering to participate in this tournament in the first place. Do they have no plans to join the Ashfallen Sect?

Then Serena remembered the fierce storm outside compared to the pleasant weather here. There was also free food and housing. There was also no rule saying they had to participate. Some people were here just to watch the fights and would then head back home through the portal at night. Serena looked down the road, running parallel to the arena, and saw people going in and out of the still-open portal leading back to the Ashfallen Trading Company's building.

I still need to deal with that mustache man. Serena thought as she glanced away. But let's first see what the Princess is like in person. I didn't expect to encounter her disciple, but this isn't so bad. So long as the Spiritual Nullification Pill lasts long enough, they shouldn't be too suspicious of me.

"A shame such a cute girl has been turned into a demon by that evil god-worshiping Princess. What a terrible Master to be stuck with..."

Serena had been lost in thought but felt Jasmine pause and turn to glare at a man in the crowd.

"You can say what you want about me," Jasmine said, letting go of her hand and walking toward a smirking man. The crowd stepped away with haste to give space to the green-haired girl. "But don't spout such nonsense about my Master. She is a great person and Master to me."

"I disagree." The man crossed his arms and glared at Jasmine. "You're just brainwashed like the rest of these cult freaks."

Jasmine tensed up and balled her fist but then relaxed and took a long breath. "Okay, could you explain your hatred for the All-Seeing Eye? What have they done that makes you despise them?"

The red-faced man with a strong smell of alcohol sneered, "We all thought cultivators were heaven's chosen to lord over us. From birth, we were told that the gap between us and the cultivators was bigger than heaven and earth. Us mortals groveled in the mud and toiled away as their slaves while they enjoyed the fruits of our labor." The man raised his voice so all could hear, "But that was all one big lie, wasn't it?! With a simple pill, we also became cultivators and realized it was nothing special. You aren't heaven-chosen; you were all hoarding a power meant for all."

Serena's eyes went wide. What was this madman talking about? Mortals turned into cultivators? Such a thing wasn't possible. Cultivators were heaven's chosen, and that had been a fact since the dawn of time.

"Why are you accusing me of this? I was a mortal once too—" Jasmine started but was cut off by the man.

"Why the sudden change of heart? Why gift us mere mortals the power to defy the heavens? Out of the kindness of your cold hearts?" The man snorted as he swayed on his feet, "Don't make me laugh. The Princess of Slaughter isn't so kind."

Murmurs spread throughout the crowd.

"Think about it, people," the man shouted even louder, "When have you ever heard of cultivators sharing resources with the common man? They are selfish beings in human skin. Using their Qi directly affects their progress in cultivation, so such acts of kindness make no sense! They have to come from a place of greed... or fear."

"What could the cultivators possibly be scared of?" Serena asked. Greed, she could understand. If they really did have the ability to turn mortals into cultivators, raising them up to be used as pill furnaces or to use their souls as fuel to power demonic rituals was quite a good idea. But fear? What did cultivators possibly have to fear? They were the apex predators on the land that bowed to nothing but the heavens themselves.

The man's lips curled, "The Beast Tide. It comes for us all, even the cultivators."

Serena was confused. She had never heard of this beast tide, but it seemed the crowd had as the murmurs grew louder.

"It's said this will be the largest and most powerful beast tide in history, yet there has been no news about reserving spots on airships from the Redclaws or the Ashfallen Sect, which can only mean one thing. They plan to stay. Which would be a suicidal idea despite the sect's strength. But that's where we come in, right?" The man gestured to everyone around, "Hundreds of thousands of mortals, all turned into cultivators and pumped with pills. A questionable investment unless they all reach the Soul Fire Realm before the Beast Tide arrives. In that case, this will be the largest army of cultivators in the wilderness—no, actually in the entire realm, and you bet they will lay their lives down in the name of the god who so generously gave them this opportunity: The All-Seeing Eye."

Jasmine twisted her face in confusion. "I don't even know what to say!" she said quickly, stumbling over her words. "That's such a fabricated lie that's so far from the truth. I..."

"Is anything I said wrong?" The man shrugged and spread out his arms, "I've said my piece. You can silence me by killing me now."

Jasmine stared at the man strangely, "I never planned to kill you. We are having a civil conversation, are we not—"

"Because there are too many witnesses, right? There are not only mortals here but also a few cultivators from Darklight City's academy!" The man laughed, "Go on, it's fine. Silence me like the rest. Those in the mine figured out the truth and were labeled undesirables and slaughtered, weren't they?"

"More nonsense!" Jasmine stamped her foot, "They were stealing food and robbing people."

"According to who? You?" The man shook his head, "Don't make me laugh. That's like doing an internal investigation and finding yourself not guilty. Everyone who went to that service for the All-Seeing Eye emerged as crazy people. I saw it with my own two eyes how friends and family started worshiping trees and saying they would do anything for a giant fucking eye. The world has gone mad, and I will expose it."

"Hey man," a person wearing the cult's cloak stepped up, "What you said about the Beast Tide might have some merit, but the All-Seeing Eye is the real deal. I doubt we will even need to step in to defend this sacred land with him watching over us. I saw the extent of his power that night. It was truly godly. Some horde of monsters couldn't possibly compare."

"What was the nonsense story again? The Princess snapped fifty Star Core cultivators out of existence with black lightning? Come on, man, listen to yourself speak. What's more likely? Fifty Star Core cultivators present in a single location and being defeated so easily, or it all being an illusion?"

"I swear it was... real..." the person's voice trailed off as he frowned.

I have to agree with the man here. This place is too weird and ridiculous. Something ain't right. Serena glanced over the crowd and saw a mixture of reactions. Some looked at the man with hatred, while others seemed to deeply contemplate his words.

"Ugh, stop twisting my master's kindness into something vile," Jasmine said with an expression of irritation. "Stella saved the people of Slymere from certain death when they had been abandoned by the Voidminds. Grand Elder Douglas worked tirelessly day and night to build Ashfallen City for you all. Food was purchased with sect funds to feed everyone, and then the sect went a step further and gave mortals a path to become cultivators. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Yet all you do is spit in the face of my Master's kindness and spread made-up rumors."

"Little girl," the man leaned in, "Such kindness doesn't exist here in the wilderness. It's not the monsters you should fear." His eyes flickered between everyone present as he put on a crazed grin. "But it's each other. You sure listed a lot of acts of kindness your dear Master has imparted on us, poor mortals. So I ask again... what is her goal?"

Jasmine looked to the ground as she tried and failed to form a response.

"Do I need one?"

Everyone's heads whipped around to a teenager standing there with her arms crossed. Despite her youth, she had a domineering presence like no other and deep bloodlust hidden in her pink eyes, partially obscured by a fringe of blonde hair.

Serena didn't need to have met her in person to take a guess at who this was.

The Princess of Slaughter had arrived.