2. A Friendly Challenge

Hien Ro flinched as he sensed the unknown cultivator approaching. So it was today, he thought to himself, thankful that his master had warned and prepared him for the chance that this would happen. When Little Bug said that there was a chance something would happen, he typically meant something more like ‘this will happen, and this is how I wish for things to turn out,’ rather than ‘this might or might not occur.’

He flared his own Qi in response and greeting, as did his fellow disciples of Little Bug. Without a word, the others had stopped what they were doing all across Resh Fali. They had a few moments before the stranger arrived, and they spent it tensely exchanging nervous smiles.

“Master was right, as always,” Polkluk said cheerfully. As the ‘oldest’ of the disciples, Polkluk was not the leader. They had no leader aside from Little Bug. Even the title of First Disciple had been honorary. “But if he allowed the cultivator to come that means that he also managed to get them to agree to his terms.”

Thinking of the first disciple, Hien Ro felt a gaping wound. Like a severed hand, a part of him that simply wasn’t there any longer. It was a weakness of their group technique, the North Star Guiding Formation. They were a constellation, but one of the stars had vanished beyond the veil. They were diminished by the death of the spirit jaguar that had learned from their master at their side in a way that was profound and unending.

“But still we are strong enough to face this together,” Thaseus said, interrupting Hien Ro’s thoughts. Hien Ro glanced at the companion, whose family had once threatened his father-in-law’s life in order to win a tournament. That was how Thaseus had earned a way among them; he had cheated. Nobody ever forgot that.

Least of all Thaseus, who remained determined to show that he deserved his spot. Hien Ro reflected that the new patriarch of the Dios Clan had earned his spot a thousand times over.

“Yes, we are,” Hien Ro agreed. He turned to the others, exchanging looks that conveyed a thousand words of encouragement.

Hien Yara, formerly Yara Pocef. His wife, and more than his wife. The mother of his children, who were even now in the care of Di Sana. Beautiful and dedicated utterly to their growing family, she was the star that was closest to his own.

But their closeness was a pale comparison to the Dao companions. Arjun, Lahri, and Farun. Lovers and more than lovers, the three companions had been thrust together by fate before meeting Little Bug in the jungles of Ker’tath. And of course, Little Bug being the master of fate that he was, he had helped them understand and discover what they truly were to each other.

While the companions had distinct personalities, it was often easier to think of them as a unit, as they seldom did anything in isolation. However, for those who knew them, and being one of the Peach Blossoms, Hien Ro couldn’t help but know them, the differences were clear.

Arjun was quiet and steady, the rock, the foundation for the other two. Lahri was their passion, the driving force that crossed the distance between Arjun and Farun. And Farun was their ambition, keeping them driving forward as a unit.

Hien Ro allowed himself to grin, thinking of just how much the three of them had advanced their personal politics over the last five or six years.

If they were not flying, then Taimei would have been bouncing with a combination of excitement and nervousness. She was always eager to prove herself, even after having reached the golden path and elevated herself above the clan that had once looked down on her as being an illegitimate child.

Finally their was Lukal Lukal, a round faced young man with dark skin and a potent mastery of the spear and earth magics. He loved to tell a good story, and Hien Ro’s daughters loved him above all of the other disciples. Sometimes, Ro thought, even more than their own father.

Together, they were heralded as the Peach Blossoms, the personal disciples of Little Bug, he who had stood defiant against the darkness of the night that the stars went out. He who had turned back the darkness and corruption and purified the world. Individually they were among the most powerful cultivators in the world of Atla.

Together, they were matched only by their master.

Or at least that had been true before these new arrivals.

They heard him before he arrived, laughing boisterously. He stopped a thousand meters away from their formation and looked at them approvingly. “You are a righteous bunch are you not, standing to face my challenge!” he shouted. “I am Mioji. I politely request that you challenge me to a sparring match.”

Hien Ro swallowed. “Did our master not—”

“A friendly match, a friendly match. I just wish to get a taste of the strength of the strongest cultivators of planet Atla, that is all. Once you have demonstrated your strength to me I shall call an end to the match,” Mioji explained.

“If you swear by Atla that you will abide by those terms, and that we may be permitted to withdraw at any point, then we accept,” Hien Ro said.

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“Oh? So you’re the leader then?” Mioji asked. “Very good, very good. It’s exciting to see so many young cultivators such as yourself answering my challenge. Let us begin.”

“Wait,” Thaseus said. “If we’re not going to be holding back at all, and I believe that is what you wish for us to do, then we must go somewhere where the backlash of our attacks will not harm innocents.”

“Yes, yes, of course. How careless of me. Do you have a place in mind?”

“Yes,” Lahri said. “Follow us.”

And so they flew out to the east. Over the sea.

~~~~~~~~

“Father, father, they’re fighting,” Atla said.

“Who is fighting?” I asked. I sat in the same spot where patriarch Di Phon had once held audiences with his juniors of the Six Mountain Sect, before the sect had been corrupted by the Necromancer Ant and the power hungry Ko Ren. It was a beautiful house, and I sensed a profound dao in its construction.

“Mioji is fighting with your disciples.”

“Did my disciples agree to a sparring match?” I asked.

“Well, yes?”

“Then it’s alright. If Mioji pushes the limit of what the Peach Blossoms can handle, then you have my permission to interfere. But as long as he restrains himself to their level, let the match continue until the conclusion.”

“What if they involve mortals in their fight?” Atla asked.

“Is that likely?”

“Well, no,” Atla admitted. “But they’ve already killed a lot of fish. They’re fighting over the ocean.”

“I’m sorry, Atla. I know how you like fish. It’s okay to save them, but try to do so without interfering with the fight.”

“Right!”

~~~~~~~

Hien Ro staggered under the weight of the pressure. He grinned, feeling the other’s feel the weight through the North Star Guiding Formation. With their connection, they were able to reach the strength of a cultivator of the next stage beyond theirs, nearly a hundred times together as they were apart. While they were missing Xol, who had perished during the night the stars went out, they remained the strongest force on Atla save for Little Bug himself.

It was their strength that conjured the storm that circled around the combatants. It was their strength that caused the ocean to heave and churn. It was their strength that caused the lightning and the thunder.

When they had entered their collective formation, Mioji had raised an eyebrow, and then simply raised his own strength to match, then a half a stage higher. The bout that had followed, with techniques that would have leveled cities and exchanges of blows that would have cratered mountains, had lasted twenty minutes.

As strong as they were together this stranger had them outclassed. He knew it, and he was laughing. They fought over the ocean, miles out from shore. Already a storm was gathering around them called by the conflict of their Qi.

“That is a good expression!” he exclaimed as he unveiled his power. “I approve! That is the look that one should have against overwhelming strength! I am sure that you have never --”

“Master is stronger,” Polkluk said.

“Yeah. Much stronger,” Taimei agreed.

Mioji frowned, studying the nine disciples. “Well, I suppose he would be, being the lord of this world. But you must understand—”

“And his dao is far more profound,” Thaseus said, nodding. “I’ve seen enough. I concede that there is no way to win this duel. At this point we’re just killing fish.”

“Yes. We are making Atla very sad,” Lukal Lukal agreed.

Hien Ro bowed humbly in the air before the elder cultivator from another realm. “Thank you for the instruction, but these disciples request to withdraw from the match at this point. We thank you for the pointers.”

Mioji scowled, because he was just getting warmed up. “Where is your fighting spirit!?” He demanded. “Where is your pride?”

“We lost our pride the night that the stars went out,” Hien Ro said. “It died with the First Disciple, and he took it with him into his next life.”

The others all bowed to Mioji with respect, and then flew their separate ways. He scowled as he watched them leave, but he hadn’t been able to find any others on the golden path in this backwater.

“A stage eleven world without more than a handful of golden path cultivators,” he said, tsking. “Pathetic. Not even enough to get excited about.”

He vented his frustration by creating a new crater on the moon.

The storm that had been forming abruptly fell apart into white clouds and clear skies.

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