Once Cixi felt that Akiza had enough mastery over the shaping of her elements she returned with Cixi returned to Labyrinthos, they started seeing people from other schools in their uniforms. "This is real bad," said Cixi. "There's so many people."

"Is it really that bad?" Akiza asked.

"The schools are all in a competition to acquire more power," said Cixi. "Usually, they settle for the development of secret skills and techniques for their school, but something like an Emperor Stage Artifact is another story altogether."

"What makes them so valuable?" Akiza asked.

"When Artifacts are at the Emperor Stage, they amplify more than just basic attacks," said Cixi. "They become part of your Armatization, they increase the power of your Domain even further. It's like getting a weapon that is just as strong as you."

"Is that why there's suddenly so many more people?" asked Akiza.

"Did you remember?" Cixi asked. "Normally, Emperor Stages appear in large numbers, but in the Labyrinth, there was just one. That means you could single it out and fight it by itself without interruption from others. As long as you can beat the other people in the Labyrinth, it is almost a guaranteed Emperor weapon."

"It just seems like they're trying to do so much for just a small item," said Akiza.

"A single Emperor Stage Artfiact is worth a tremendous amount of money," said Cixi. "If you sold it, assuming they did not kill you for it first, you could probably live comfortably for a lifetime."

"It did not seem like much for Masa and Mune to work on it though," said Akiza.

"I think that's because we're on good terms with Himiko and them, so we're an exception," said Cixi.

"I think we should get away from here for a while," said Akiza. "If there's so many people fighting, we might not be able to find what I'm supposed to be looking for."

"But the problem is that there's also a chance that you can only find it when people are fighting," said Cixi.

"What do you mean?" asked Akiza.

"When Internal Energy is applied to an object, it sometimes changes," said Cixi. The Labyrinth itself is huge, but if there are people fighting all over, then they will be releasing Internal Energy into the environment. Perhaps the Internal Energy will react with something and only then will you find what you are looking for."

"So we use the other people to help us?" asked Akiza.

"Yes," said Cixi. "For now, lets leave the weapons that Masa and Mune made at their shop. After all, it's something that would only make people chase after us okay?"

"Okay," said Akiza.

The two headed into Labyrinthos. Himiko was at the front desk registering people from numerous schools. There was a sudden increase in the number of people who wanted to enter because of the news of the Emperor Stage creature. "So what should we do?" Akiza asked.

"Let's take it slowly," said Cixi. "First, I'm going to pretend to be training you, so you will continue to fight weak enemies in the Labyrinth."

"Okay," said Akiza.

"We will use that excuse to walk around, but we will avoid any fights with the other schools okay?" Cixi said in a tone that made it seemed like she was asking a question when she was really telling Akiza not to do something.

"Okay," said Akiza.

"Let's go then," said Cixi. The two headed to the back and entered the Labyrinth.

There were far more people running around near the entrance to the Labyrinth than before. Most people were organized into matching uniforms, signaling that they belonged to a school. "Alright, go ahead," said Cixi.

"Okay," said Akiza as she started to head into the ruins.

It was here that she saw a Jiangshi. It was fighting with a man from another school. She decided it was best to avoid them and went around them. She circled around them to go deeper into the ruins of the city.

"I don't feel anything different here," said Cixi.

"Me neither," said Akiza. "I feel a lot of different people with Internal Energy, but nothing that stands out."

"There must be something that we're doing wrong," said Cixi.

"Halt!" someone shouted.

A man in a blue and white robe approached them. "This is the territory of the Blue Dragon Clan."

"There's no marked territories in Labyrinthos," said Cixi.

"There is now," said the man as he drew his sword.

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Akiza could feel his power. He was someone at the Emperor Stage.

"So it's become like this huh?" said Cixi. "You people are going around claiming lands that belong to others as your own. I'm sick of people like you."

Akiza saw that Cixi was angry. Cixi's face changed entirely. Akiza had never seen Cixi angry like this before. It was almost as if she had a personal vendetta against him.

"If you're going to trespass into our lands, you will perish," said the man. "Everyone we have a trespasser!"

Three others appeared. Two in the Lord Stage, one in the Emperor Stage. "You take the ones in the Lord Stage," said Cixi. "I'll take this one in the Emperor Stage."

Akiza instantly activated her Armatization. With a sword in hand she flew towards the two men. "It's just a little girl," said one of the men. "I'll take care of her then we can all join the boss."

Akiza could tell that she was being underestimated, but that was to her advantage. They would probably not use their full power in the first attack. "Rising Phoenix Strike!" Akiza's new attack was enhanced because of her ability to shape the elements. She decided to make the front of the attack sharp so that it would pierce through defenses and weapons. What used to be a fist now resembled something like a claw.

BOOM. The moment Akiza's attack came into contact with the man, the man bent into a 45 degree angle. The man coughed up some blood as he was sent flying. BOOM. There was a second loud noise as the man was sent crashing into the ruins. Akiza could see that there was blood dripping out of the man's mouth. He was injured internally. Even if he could get up, he would be severely injured.

The second man instantly raised his guard. He knew that Akiza was not someone to be underestimated. Akiza flew towards him and swung her sword. The man parried the attack with his own and raised his leg for a kick. Akiza raised her arm to block it. BANG. The blow of the kick was still enough to knock Akiza back. As strong as she was, the man was bigger than her and that weight advantage gave him a little more power than her.

There was a sudden chill. Cixi had released her Domain. It was strong enough to overwhelm the man that she was fighting. The man Cixi was fighting had released his own Domain that turned the ground near him to something like sand, but Cixi's Domain overwhelmed the man's causing the ground near the man to freeze solid. The man in front of Akiza felt it too. He was not used to fighting in a Domain. Akiza had been exposed to it on multiple occasions. She was either used to it at this strength or Cixi was purposely directing it to reduce its influence on Akiza.

The man in front of Akiza was weakened. He raised his sword, but he was slower than before. Akiza was able to dodge it easily. She could see that the man's hand had turned a little pale. Akiza charged forward with her sword. The man raised his sword, but he was weakened. CLANG. In a single hit, Akiza knocked the sword out of the man's hand.

"Don't kill me please," said the man.

"I won't," said Akiza. "But I don't know if Master will."

"Get out of here," said Cixi. "Don't go around claiming land that belongs to everyone."

The two men picked up their injured friend and ran away. Cixi was strong for an Emperor Stage. Akiza could tell. Cixi's Domain was one that was fully developed at the peak, but required Divine Energy to progress further. "You did well," said Cixi as she put her hand on Akiza.

"Thank you," said Akiza.

"Now, let's get back to searching," said Cixi.

"Isn't it too dangerous to continue anymore?" asked Akiza.

"No, we're fine," said Cixi. "If we meet someone we cannot beat, we can just back off. These people are not here to hurt us, they're here for an Emperor Stage Artifact. If they weaken themselves fighting us, when an Emperor Stage does appear, they will be unable to fight others who are competing with them for it."

Akiza remembered how strong the Lich was. Cixi and Akiza were barely able to beat it. Some schools brought over three Emperor Stages to try to fight it together, but many did not have that many people, so they brought over an Emperor Stage and a few weaker people at the Lord Stage to help. If other people were doing the same, it was going to get messy real fast. If the fights in the Labyrinth carried over outside of school, they were going to have an even bigger mess after this resolves.