Jasmine had never stared death in the eyes before. It had all happened in the blink of an eye—she had been entirely focused on holding the frontline as Serena had instructed when a spike in Qi drew her curiosity. She hadn't even had time to process the spectacle of a miniature blue star manifesting between Celeste Starweaver's fingers before she pointed at her, and there was a flash of light and an immense force that slammed into Jasmine's entire body and swept her off her feet before sending her spiraling through the air like a ragdoll.

Instead of being graced with death, Jasmine 'bounced' off the arena's wall with enough whiplash to leave a dent and almost detach her limbs before she hit the ground hard and tumbled a few times across the grassy sands before finally coming to a stop against a rocky outcrop.

Blinking away the stars in her eyes and groaning, Jasmine rolled over and tried to stand on her shaky legs. Her whole body felt numb and refused to respond. How am I not dead? Jasmine wondered as she looked at her still intact arm shrouded in the light shield. I doubt this light shield can block having a star hurled at it. Jasmine thought back and realized the dark water rushing around her body was gone. Serena's shield must have saved me.

Jasmine managed to move her body enough to peek over the stone outcrop she had been thrown behind, and her jaw dropped at what she saw. The arena was practically divided in two by a meter-deep trench of molten rock and glass. It looked like a path to hell as the grass on either side was ablaze, throwing up plumes of dense smoke mixed with a haze caused by water pouring into the trench and instantly turning to steam.

Master warned me that I might not last long against Celeste as she's a half step into the Star Core Realm, making her almost a full realm above me, but to think the gap between us was this vast. I didn't even have time to react before I would have died. Jasmine gulped. If Master is another realm above Celeste, and then Ashlock is another above that... Just how powerful are Nascent Soul Realm cultivators?

Jasmine deeply respected her Master, but sometimes, she forgot just how powerful Stella was.

Stella often acts quite lazy, and I rarely see Master go all out in a fight. If she were to join the battle, would Celeste even last a second? Jasmine pondered but paused as the ground trembled. Following the feeling, she glanced to Serena Blacktide's side of the trench, and her eyes widened in disbelief as the smoke parted to reveal a churning wave of black water surging upwards and looming over the arena like a rising wall.

Jasmine expected it to crash toward Celeste's side of the burning trench. But instead, the water reared up, towering as if pressed against an unseen barrier, its dark surface churning ominously. What is the point of this... oh. Jasmine received her answer as she looked toward a whistling noise from the sky and saw multiple fiery chunks of rock descending from the heavens like the wrath of a vengeful god, each one trailing embers and cosmic dust. The meteors slammed into the churning water with thunderous force, hissing violently as they gouged through the inky black waves before crashing into the earth below that now looked like the sea bed of an ocean.

Jasmine had to catch her footing on the rocky outcrop to avoid falling over from the following earthquake. Though unable to completely halt the meteor's wrath, the water had blunted their impact, sparing the arena from utter devastation. Jasmine couldn't even imagine what would have happened without Serena's defensive measures. Would a shower of molten sand and rock rained upon me and ended my chance to do anything? This is ridiculous. How can cultivators be this powerful?

Despite her disbelief, the exchange between the two Soul Fire Realm cultivators wasn't done. The wave pulled the meteors up through itself to the forefront before the towering wave crashed down like a godly flood toward Celeste's side of the arena. As the wave washed out across the land, it extinguished the grass fires, and an intense gale pushed the smoke aside, revealing a figure trudging toward Jasmine.

Sam was alive and making his way through the madness toward her. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth, but his light shield was very much intact. He had also survived Celeste's attack.

Either Celeste protected him somehow before her attack, or I took the brunt of it with Serena's shield, and he was simply thrown aside by the sheer force of a hurled star. Jasmine concluded and found herself grinning from excitement. This meant they could have their more appropriate battle to the side while the two Soul Fire Realm cultivators burned their precious Qi to hurl techniques at each other.

Sam came to a stop a few meters away. As a teenager a few years older than her and a boy, he was notably taller than Jasmine and had clearly trained hard by his impressive physique, which Jasmine believed only Douglas matched. His cult of the All-Seeing Eye cloak had suffered from the throw, as had his sandy blonde hair caked with dirt.

"Pick it up, " he said. His tone was sharp, and his gaze was firm, if not a little domineering.

"What?" Jasmine lowered her raised fists in confusion. Did he not come to fight?

"Your whip," he gestured with his chin to the side. "Pick it up."

Jasmine followed his gesture and saw her whip sprawled out among some grass, with the latter third of it flailing around in a rushing river. If not for the thorns coating it that had dug into the river bank, it would have surely been swept away by now.

"You're letting me get my whip?" Jasmine asked suspiciously. "You're an earth cultivator. If I'm unarmed, you could defeat me in seconds."

Sam shrugged, "That would leave a sour taste in my mouth. I have been training night and day for this moment, and I won't let the cataclysmic battle between two peak Soul Fire Realm cultivators steal this from me."

"But..."

"Pick it up. I won't ask again." Sam said as he flashed a sword tip wreathed in brown soul flames from the long sleeve of the cult cloak.

Jasmine kept Sam in view as she backed up to her whip. Crouching, she curled her fingers around its mithril handle and felt it welcome her nature Qi like a warm glove. "You know, this kindness toward me in battle won't win my Master's respect."

Sam smirked as he brandished his sword, "We will let our weapons do the talking." The ground under him cracked as he flung himself forward with his sword primed over his head. Jasmine threw herself to the side on instinct. She heard the sword whistle past her ear as Sam rushed past where she had been standing and crashed into the river behind her like a raging bull.

Jasmine backed up, putting some space between them as Sam stood knee-deep in the river, unfazed by its intense current, and turned to face her.

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"Um, sorry about that. If I hadn't dodged and met your attack, you wouldn't have gotten wet..." Jasmine trailed off, unsure why she was apologizing.

Sam snorted as he trudged through the river and heaved his body up out of the water. "It's not your fault. I'm used to my targets not moving. It's hard to find people to practice receiving your attacks out on the farm when you are the strongest, and our crappy wooden swords shatter after one exchange."

"Right." Jasmine slowly nodded. He must have trained against a wooden post or something.

Jasmine hadn't put much thought into it until now, but her training routine had likely been far different from Sam's or anyone else.

If I had to guess, I likely got better tuition than any cultivator, comparable to the heirs of noble families. Not only did my Master train me personally. She also had Elaine conjure up illusions to practice against, and I also had unlimited access to Ashlock's pills and fruits. In comparison, Sam had to teach himself on the farm... this feels unfair.

Jasmine smiled wearily as she watched Sam remove and discard his soaked boots into the river. Once he was done, he turned to face her and frowned.

"You're pitying me?"

"Huh?"

"That soft gaze you're giving me," Sam scrunched his face in disgust. "That's not how one should view an opponent. Do you believe you are better than me because of your training and background?" Brown soul flames flickered angrily across Sam's shoulders and down his sword that gleamed with water. "Don't be so arrogant."

Jasmine was taken aback. "I was just thinking about the difference in our training routines. I wasn't looking down on you—"

Sam exploded toward her, and Jasmine barely had time to cross her arms across her face to block the fist. The force felt tame compared to Celeste, only managing to knock her back a few steps.

"If you look down on others all your life, you will be blindsided when the little guy you pitied shows his true colors," Sam said as he made space between them rather than pressing his advantage. "Believing you are untouchable is what gives you the arrogance to overlook those quietly building a staircase behind your throne to reach even greater heights."

Jasmine's gaze hardened, and she gripped her whip tightly. Just where had this village boy gained such insights? He had changed so much since she saw him a few months ago from atop her Master's flying sword. From a scrawny kid to this?

I haven't experienced this extreme of a change despite my Master's efforts. This boy—he's dangerous. If I lose and Master takes him in, he will definitely overshadow me.

"Good, that's the look I was seeking." Sam raised his sword between his eyes and stared her down with a smirk, "Suspect all or lose your kingdom from under you. That is the Mudcloak way."

The Mudcloak way? Jasmine felt a suppressive aura similar to enlightenment emanating from Sam, followed by him again charging at her. Jasmine wasn't sure what he was talking about, but this time she was ready. There was no way she would be caught off guard by such a straightforward attack for a third time.

Like a snake waiting to strike, her whip resting outstretched in the grass between them lashed up at Sam. Noticing the attack just in time, Sam blocked the strike with his sword.

He has more raw strength than me, so let's try a different approach. Jasmine didn't direct her whip to coil around the blade and try to pull the sword out of his grasp this time. Instead, she had the whip's tip arc down and dig into his hands. Sam's earth Qi flared in response to resist the thorns from piercing his skin, and he kept charging at her.

Ah! Jasmine turned to run, and to her surprise, despite the size difference, she could maintain some distance. As they ran together across the grassy fields with the backdrop of Celeste and Serena orchestrating destruction, Jasmine silently thanked Stella for forcing her to train her stamina by running laps around the mountain peak daily.

"Stop running," Sam yelled, and Jasmine felt an immense tug on her whip. Sam had stopped and grabbed the whip barehanded. The thorns dug deep, drawing blood, but Sam seemed content with his decision. As if he were a fisherman drawing in a catch, he pulled hard on Jasmine's whip, likely expecting her to come along with it.

Jasmine simply let go.

Sam seemed surprised by her decision to surrender her weapon, but he followed as he threw his sword to the side that was weighed down by the whip coiling around its hilt and once again barreled toward her while raising his clenched, bloodied fist.

This time, he was faster without the burden of his sword, so Jasmine gave up on running and stood her ground. She wreathed her fists in sickly green soul flames and prepared to meet his fist. If this blockhead wanted a fistfight, she would give it to him. With both of them grinning, they engaged in an intense brawl.

Unfortunately for Jasmine, their cultivation stage was on par, so she could not make up the size difference, giving Sam far greater reach, and the earth Qi made his fist hit far harder. After a brief exchange, she tasted blood in her mouth and had been knocked to the ground by a savage kick.

Sam drove his knee into her stomach and pinned her to the ground.

"Don't hate me for this," Sam said, raising his fist and striking down with the force of a smashing boulder. Jasmine desperately raised her palm to meet it and saw the light shield flicker. If not for it, such a hit would have likely shattered every bone in her arm. He kept up the punishment, and Jasmine gritted her teeth as she did her best to resist.

Just a little longer. Jasmine thought as she gasped from the pain. It felt like her ribs would crack under Sam's knee, and now she understood what Serena meant about frontline affinities. Sam hadn't felt very threatening at range, but up close? It felt like she was pinned under an immovable mountain. Sam's earth Qi significantly increased his strength, resilience, and sheer weight behind everything he did. Nature Qi seemed to pale in comparison; considering they were both in the early stages of the Soul Fire Realm, she had thought it would be a little closer.

"This feels like a primitive way of fighting," Jasmine said, spitting blood to the side.

Sam agreed by planting his fist into her cheek, shaking her vision. "Maybe one day we can fight like those two over there with grand techniques," Sam raised his fist high above, and his soul flames flared up once more. "But until then, this will have to do."

His fist descended once more, this time on her neck. While the hit did make breathing harder, Jasmine couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope—he was growing weaker. Looking up at Sam with a bloodstained grin, Jasmine croaked, "You can feel it, can't you?"

Sam's eyes narrowed, and his raised fist trembled as if he were struggling. "What did you do to me?"

"Didn't your mom ever tell you to be careful when playing in the forest? You never know what could be poisonous." Jasmine grinned as she looked at Sam's bloodied fist. "It looks like you got bit."

Sam looked at his fist strangely as her words set in, and then he panicked as her fast-acting, paralyzing poison set in. The thrill of battle and the fact that Sam was cycling his Qi had been holding it back from working until now. "What a cheap trick," Sam hissed through his teeth as he punched down, but Jasmine easily slapped it away. He had grown weak.

Jasmine reached up and clawed at his throat with her nails that were dripping in green poison.

Sam tried to wrestle her arms off, but he could not as she reinforced them with as much Qi as possible. Growing frustrated, he tried to stand up.

Jasmine allowed him to stand, but not before slugging him in the face, breaking his nose in a shower of blood, making him stumble away. She didn't feel bad at all. He hadn't held back from trying to beat the light shield off her.

Getting to her feet, she watched Sam sway on his feet while clutching his broken nose.

"This isn't exactly how I hoped it would have gone." Sam slurred his words as he seemed on the brink of passing out. He looked at her, but there was no hatred in his eyes. "I hope our next fight will have a different outcome."

Jasmine shook her head, "You think I'll overlook the 'little guy' again? Not a chance." She wreathed her foot in soul flames and kicked Sam in the stomach, sending him to the ground.

"Your Master should tread carefully, too," Sam said before passing out. The shield around him shattered, and not even a moment later, a portal tore into existence over his body, and an invisible hand picked up his limp body and carried him up through the portal.

Jasmine watched Sam go and spat a glob of blood to the side before wiping her mouth. The fight hadn't been pretty, but she had won. Rolling her shoulders and hissing as she tapped her bruises, she verified that the light shield hadn't yet broken, though it had faded from Sam's beating. If not for it nullifying his soul flames, he would have undoubtedly beaten her to death.

"I need to train harder," Jasmine clenched her hand around the handle of her whip before looking up at the distant destruction, "But first, I need to 'save someone' by switching teams."