A young child, barely past his first decade, stands on a mountain. Next to him, with his back straight and eyes hard, is a man whose physique has been sculpted to perfection.

If a wandering cultivator were to pass by the mountain, they would be shocked by the sight, for more reasons than one.

They would struggle to comprehend that the child, young he may be, is well into the core formation realm. Or they might notice the ancient air and aura of danger around the man and realise that they are in the presence of an old monster.

Maybe if our wonderer is even more knowledgeable, they may realise that they have passed not just any old monster, but the Dragon Lord of the Lightning Peak Sect,

They might notice, if they are observant, the two openly hostile Great Lords facing off far in the distance.

And if they think hard enough about why the Dragon Lord and his disciple are watching the ensuing battle so keenly, then perhaps, they will not be surprised when that disciple becomes a Great Lord himself in another decade.

----------------------------------------

“We need to celebrate.”

Lisa sighed in response to that, a reaction Xiao Lee could understand well. Though his outward expression betrayed nothing, his emotions mirrored hers perfectly.

But this is what you wanted, he told himself.

Yet his earlier resolve to make more time for friends and things outside cultivation was nowhere to be found. He wanted nothing more than to turn away anything that was not directly tied to his cultivation, something Lisa beat him to.

Alas, their guest was having none of it.

“I didn’t come all the way here to be told no,” Bornie said stubbornly. “Besides, this isn’t just for you. Our last outing was a mess and Jessica’s still sulking. It’ll help cheer her up.”

She was back on her feet after nearly a week of resting. She would need some time before she could cultivate though. Thankfully for her, she was not particularly obsessed with cultivation, so it didn’t affect her nearly as much as it would have hit him.

Lisa sighed again and the expression on Bornie’s face made it clear she knew she had them. They all felt some level of guilt for Jessica, considering what had happened, and none of them was going to refuse something that would help her.

“You’re not going to drop this, are you?” Lisa asked.

“Of course not,” was the enthusiastic reply. “You guys successfully got a prisoner out of the Fifth Republic. Those guys are crazy fanatics. You really deserve something special.”

“Does giving us peace of mind not count?”

“No, it doesn’t. Relax, it’ll be fun. We’re going to watch a Gladiator match. Louisa and July have already made big plans.”

“You know how I feel about the Gladiators, Bornie,” the annoyance was clear in her voice. “I don’t want anyone complaining about my mood when we get there.”

“Don’t worry. We all understand your feelings,” Bornie reassured. “No one will complain. You have too little faith in us Lisa.”

“It won’t be the first time.”

Bornie looked away awkwardly for a moment before turning to Lee with a warm smile.

“I’m sure you’ll love the Gladiators. The match next week is between two High Cultivators.”

“They will fight against each other?” he asked with interest.

He had no idea where that would even happen, given the amount of destruction a battle between Neophytes caused.

“Yes, they will. The games are usually happen in a pocket dimension and the audience is protected from all damage.”

“Do High Cultivators fight there often?” he asked, his interest captured.

Perhaps it was something he should start paying attention to.

“Oh no,” she answered. “It’s usually just Masters. Today’s match is rare. It’s very high profile, and there’s going to be a lot of very important people.”

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He frowned at that. The last party he had attended had enough socialising with important people for a few months at least.

“Relax,” she said, likely noticing his reaction. “Most people that matter won’t be doing much public socialising. Though there’ll likely be a few of backroom deals finalised here though. We’re just there for the match.”

“Oh,” he said, relieved. Now that he was not worried about having to socialise, the idea of the games was beginning to seem increasingly enticing.

“You’re interested,” Lisa spoke up, staring at him keenly,

He thought she looked a little disappointed when he gave his assent, but the expression passed too quickly for him to confirm. It felt a little strange to him. She might not think High Cultivators were impressive, but for someone with his background, they were beyond gods.

The chance to see them in action, to have a better sense of the power he was aiming for, was impossible to miss. None knew how useful it could be like he did.

Bornie, of course, was even happier with his response.

“See,” she said to Lisa who rolled her eyes. “He gets it.”

“Fine then. We’ll go to the games next week. Now please, some of us have things to do. So please, if you could excuse us.”

* * *

The week flew by even faster than he expected,

He had cultivated almost non-stop for most of the time. He had made some progress, yet it was painfully clear that even with his natural talent and the quality of the qi, advancing to High Neophyte would be a matter of years. It really put into perspective how much time the energy from the High Chicken had saved him.

Truly it was a good thing his waiting time for the absorbers would be reduced to six months. Given all that he’d heard, he would have no chance of meeting his deadline without it.

Now though, it was finally time for what he’d been anticipating for the whole week. He had watched some previous fights to have an idea on what it entailed.

To say he was blown away was an understatement. Everything from how immersive it was, to the amount of qi being thrown around was mind blowing.

He had experienced memory recordings in Xenus and even seen normal videos with his neural processor. It felt like all his senses had been dampened all those times. The fights had shown him senses he didn’t even know he had.

He put on another pair of robes; this one black with vivid red patterns that danced around on the fabric. He had upgraded it, along with most of his clothes, to Lasvanian standards.

It was a big relief, not having to worry about the strength of a cultivator’s voice.

He went down when he was done to find Lisa waiting. She was dressed casually, like she always was, and her expression made it clear what she thought of the outing.

There was something strange about her. An almost ethereal quality that was definitely new. It was not his place to ask, though. So he simply followed her through the portal she opened, setting his curiosity aside.

They arrived at a large, dome shaped building in a compound that was filled with people. He knew it would be packed, but he did not expect it to be so full.

Though he could perfectly understand why. The prospect of watching High Cultivators fight was a big draw indeed.

He scanned the crowd for a moment before Lisa started walking towards a particular direction where the rest of their group was.

Bornie smiled when they got close.

“Hey,” she greeted. “Was worried you guys wouldn’t show up.”

“Well, we came,” Lisa said with a shrug.

“Hey Bornie,” Lee took over, knowing Lisa was done talking for the night and deciding to be proactive for once. He looked over to Bornie’s side. “Jessica. How are you feeling.”

“I’m coping,” she said, with a smile that was obviously forced. “Been a very stressful week. At least I can unwind now.”

Louisa walked up to them just then with a man he didn’t recognise.

“Oh what’s up Lee,” she greeted, then turned to the unknown man. “Hey, July, this is Xiao Lee. Lee, this is July.”

The man stared at him for a few seconds before seemingly coming to a realisation.

“Oh, Xiao Lee! The Ascendant Xiao Lee.”

Lee ignored the way the man, July, botched the pronunciation of his name.

“Yes, that’s who I am. A pleasure to meet you, July.”

The man, instead of replying, did something bizarre. He threw his hands up and glared at the four women

“Just when I thought I was finally going to get a regular friend that isn’t going to inherit a planet. Turns out it’s the youngest Ascendant ever. What happened to ‘he’s just a regular guy’. I shouldn’t even be surprised.”

Xiao Lee stared at the whole situation in confusion. He seemed like the only one lost though. Bornie looked a little guilty, while Louisa and Jessica looked smug. Lisa just looked bored.

“We weren’t wrong, “ the Saurabh heir defended pointlessly. “Lee is a mostly regular guy. He’s just a very dedicated cultivator.

Just then, a group of girls walked up to them.

“Oh Love, it’s Xiao Lee!,” one of them exclaimed. “We’re big fans.”

One of them did a traditional Wu bow.

“Master Xiao Lee, this one hopes you will be willing to take a picture with us? “

He purposely put aside the insanity of someone who was probably two whole realms above him calling him Master and replied with a smile.

“Of course, anything for a fan.’

He took a few pictures before they finally let go of him.

“Regular guy indeed,” July shook his head.

Lee thought he had an idea of what was going on and he had to agree with the man, that definitely didn’t make him seem like a regular person.

“We need to go inside, now,” Lisa said, matter of fact.

“What’s the matter?” Bornie asked.

“Those ladies are going to spread the word. This place will be full of fans wanting to meet Lee of we stay here for much longer.”

He thought that made sense, but looked at the line. Usually, the games allowed people to simply portal into the dome, but the match happening was too high profile for that. So there was a long line of people waiting to get in.

July noticed him staring at the line and smiled.

“Don’t worry about the line,” he said with a shoulder pat. “The good thing about hanging out with people whose parents run the country is that you get VIP access to just about everything.”

They walked to a separate entrance that was hidden the main one. Something beeped and the door slid open, letting them in undisturbed.

They walked through a series of hallways before Lee had to ask.

“The match will not start for another thirty minutes. Where are we going?”

July shared a smile with Louisa, like they knew something he didn’t.

“We have backstage tickets!” he exclaimed, and Lee could genuinely feel his excitement. “We’re going to see the fighters.”