The planet sized platform, reinforced to withstand devastating attacks, was split with a loud boom. The aftermath of the first true High Technique of the match left the entre crowd gaping in shock.

It was widely known that High Cultivators operated on an entirely different dimension compared to weaker cultivators. Yet for the residents of the mainland of the Republic of Lasvania, protected as they were by the might of the Lone Powers, High Cultivators were simply highly placed government officials or influential people with advanced cultivation. That recent advancements in cloaking technology had made it much easier for them to restrain their presence simply made matters worse.

Yet now they truly realised, that the High Ministers they made fun of or the one’s whose directives they often ignored, could destroy the planet with a single technique.

Somewhere in the pocket world, a certain High Cultivator who was often the subject of ridicule, took in the situation. Though he tried not to, the emotions coming off the collective crowd were impossible for him to avoid reading.

He felt their absolute shock at the reality of a High Cultivator’s power and couldn’t help but smile.

Perhaps that’ll show them.

* * *

Xiao Lee had to admit, of all the things he had been expecting to see when he turned his attention back to the fight, the quickly separating pieces of the massive stage was not one of them.

He had no illusions about his strength. He was at the absolute bottom of the barrel. Yet to think a single cultivator could so effortlessly destroy his entire planet was almost depressing.

It became even worse when he realised these were considered among the weakest High Cultivators. A fight between Lone Powers would happen at a scale he likely could not even comprehend.

Still, his resolve strengthened. He was Xiao Lee, the youngest Ascendant in history. He had watched a battle between Great Lords as a mere core formation cultivator and then he did not despair. There was no need to feel hopeless now.

He was Xiao Lee, and he would do what he did best.

He would advance.

On the stage, the fight went on. Though the Major’s spatial technique had been devastating to the environment, his opponent came out relatively unscathed through a combination of impressive reflexes and shielding befitting a genius High Cultivator.

Uncaring of the damage, the Major pressed his advantage, a barrage of spatial blades many kilometres wide driving the Beacon backwards. Again, the space around was locked to stop him from escaping.

Just as it seemed like the offensive would be successful, Thayne stopped moving. The other man’s eyes widened for a moment and Lee’s new senses showed him something shifting in the fabric of reality.

“ENOUGH.”

At his command, the seemingly unstoppable wave simply ceased to exist, written out of reality by the will of a High Cultivator. The spatial lock that prevented teleportation also vanished as if it was never there to begin with.

He spoke again with an outstretched hand just as the Major recovered from the backlash of his foiled attack.

“OBLITERATE.”

The wave of light that came out this time was many times more powerful than even the planet breaking technique. As Lee felt the overwhelming intent weaved into it, he had no doubt the entire pocket dimension would have shattered if it was not so heavily reinforced. As it was, there was a visible quivering that worried him,

Thankfully, the world quickly repaired itself and was visibly strengthened.

When the light cleared, all that was left of the stage were a few pieces floating around in space. The Major’s armour was completely gone, and his body was smoking.

Much to the relief of Lee and likely everyone else in the stadium, the man was wearing a set of khaki shorts that seemed like an informal version of the official military uniform, so they were not subjected to a full view of a High Major’s nakedness.

Other than the superficial damage, however, the man did not seem terribly hurt as he faced off his opponent once more. They both spoke at the same time.

“CONFINE.”

“SINK.”

As the two intents clashed, their techniques fighting for dominance of the world, rents formed in space all around them.

Lee reached out with his senses and quickly realised with relief that the space they were ripping were separate from the actual reality of the realm, which still held strong. They had somehow managed to overlay a more fragile space over the unbreakable pocket dimension.

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Eventually, the spatial technique found purchase and the space around Thayne folded to form an egg-shaped prison that even Lee’s new senses could not penetrate.

That victory did not come without cost though, as the world caved in around the Major. Though he managed teleport at the last moment, he came out clearly bruised and battered. From the way he winced, it was obvious that something was broken.

Still, he was a High Cultivator, and it was an effortless thing to heal himself from such minor injuries. When he was back in shape, the spatial cage moved towards him and shrunk until it was barely larger than its occupant.

As part of the rules of the game, trapping your opponent for a certain amount of time was a viable way to achieve victory. The amount of time depended on the cultivation level of the fighters. It was a single second for the current fight, which was a long time considering the entire thing so far had only lasted for several seconds.

The countdown was activated, and as the crowd watched the numbers tick down, the Beacon’s loss seemed increasingly inevitable.

That was, of course until Thayne Lorax reminded everyone why he was called the Shining Beacon of the Orion. In an instant, the spatial cage burst open in a flash of light that once again put him back in the fight.

The two gladiators faced each other once again, the frustration clear in the Major’s body language.

When they exchanged strikes this time, both sides were noticeably more reserved with their attacks. Though they still used very destructive attacks, they were a far cry from the world breakers that were flying around earlier.

Lee did not know if there was any specific reason for that. Perhaps the intensity of the attacks had started to take its toll on even them.

For the next few seconds, both sides were at a stalemate, neither managing to get an advantage. It was a cycle were neither side seemed interested in using powerful attacks and yet the lesser ones they preferred had minimal effect on their opponent.

Eventually, Thayne looked like he was tired of the pointless exchange and went all out with a technique. This time though, it seemed even more powerful, something Lee thought was ridiculous.

When the Beacon acted this time there were no spoken words, nor did his hands leave his sides.

No, this technique was, according to what Lee felt, a direct manifestation of the man’s path.

Though the specifics of what it did was difficult to perceive, even with the new senses, the effects were clear for all to see.

What little parts of the stage had remained simply ceased to exist. Space was bent and twisted in complex shapes as a result of the endless weight the technique carried.

Gravity, the Lasvanians called it.

Most notably though, was the man floating in the centre of it all. From the way his limbs were twisted out of shape, there was no doubt a few bones were broken. He lay unmoving for a moment before the limbs started popping back into place, although the healing was slower than before.

Unfortunately, his opponent was not done with him. Thayne punched from his position thousands of kilometres away. His hand, driven by an invisible weight, bent and parted the space around it.

The long distance between them was bridged instantly and the fist came down on the Major instantly.

Perhaps, if the soldier was in better condition, he could have locked the space around and prevented the hit from landing.

Or perhaps, if the space was not deformed and twisted for kilometres around, then it would have been easy to simply teleport away; even broken as he was.

Alas, it was not to be.

When the punch hit the Major, it was immediately obvious to everyone that the fight was over. The twisted angle the body was in when it stopped its flight was only further confirmation.

“There you have it. The winner of tonight’s Games and the reigning High Gladiator champion, The Shining Beacon of Orion, Thayne Lorax!!!!”

The world immediately switched back to normal speed after the announcement. There was a brief moment of quiet as everyone got used to being back in control. The silence was immediately swallowed up by the sound of hundreds of thousands of people cheering Thayne’s name.

The prodigy was always the favourite to win. Apparently, there was a big incident a few decades ago that made him famous and well loved.

Xiao Lee, for his part, was mourning the loss of his temporary High Cultivator senses. The world felt muted and without colour compared to what he experienced during the fight.

The underlying space beyond even qi that he so easily sensed, was lost to him now.

He turned to his companions, most of whom were celebrating Thayne’s win.

Only Bornie and Lisa didn’t join in, albeit for different reasons. He knew Bornie had wanted the Major to win, something about how he was a valiant defender of the state.

Lisa just didn’t care.

He personally didn’t focus on who won. He was simply glad to witness the unrestrained power of High Cultivators. That was, after all, the reason it had interested him.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” July told Bornie with mock sadness. “Which is why I’m going to ignore the fact that I predicted it. “

“It was a non-lethal fight,” she defended. “The Major is trained to kill monsters.”

“All I hear are excuses, Bornie.”

She glared at him, something he ignored and continued teasing her relentlessly.

They left the suite shortly after that. July suggested they go somewhere to celebrate and even Lisa did not disagree.

The burden of choosing were to celebrate fell on Jessica, who suggested a very fancy restaurant in a small city on the coast.

The city was essentially a large luxury resort. It was privately owned, and there was an exorbitant entrance fee. According to July, it was simply a way for the wealthy to feel special about themselves and was built as a more exclusive alternative to the neighbouring government run resort that was completely free.

He said it with a touch of scorn and no one disagreed with him, which meant he was likely correct.

The actual length of the match had been just under a minute so they spent hours at the restaurant mostly just doing nothing and stuffing themselves with food.

Jessica alone ate more than her body weight in Master tiered meat, he was sure. No one found it surprising, so he chalked it up to tremann anatomy.

It was a fun experience, all in all. Though he had to spend most of his willpower to avoid cultivating the energy from all the food he ate.

Lisa was quiet throughout, and he suspected she didn’t share his opinions about not cultivating during an outing with friends.

Still, all good things come to an end. Their celebration was eventually over, and they all parted ways. Jessica had left stuffed but smiling, something they were all thankful for.

As he got to his room, he vaguely remembered some things he had to do, like look up who Love was and ask Lisa for updates on his status as a Fifth touched.

At the moment though, the only thing that took up his focus was cycling the oh so sweet Master level qi that was sitting dormant, waiting for him to devour it.