Hockey rinks were one thing. Football stadiums were a rank above that. A stadium of Valhalla's Colosseum was an entirely different beast. The deafening roar of the crowd swept the world, a sea of eager spectators waving flags and banners. In the highest reaches of the stadium sat Dasha, Rehan, and Salah.

Frank too, because somehow, Rehan convinced him to tag along.

Peering down at the common masses, with a single look, Dasha could tell these people had put a steak on the battle.

Dasha put a fist to his cheek. "Who did you bet for?"

"I don't bet," Rehan replied. "Ooh, ooh, here they come."

From the tunnels, two figures walked. A casual, almost humble strut, yet Dasha's Qi went into a spiral at the sight of them. On the left was a crowned man that could only be described as ethereal. Robes woven by a white fabric and embroidered with gold threads spelling out celestial motifs. His sleeves connected, the Imperial Crown of the Qing Dynasty era atop his head, he stopped and waited.

To his opposite was a sword-wielder. A flamboyant man with an open smile, a condescending look, and a striking sword at his waist, accompanied by the long, flowing crimson hair that cascaded down to said waist.

An attractive man that garnered a concerning amount of attention from the ladies. A single scar went down his lip and his eyes were redder than his hair, sharp and almost feral too.

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and eccentric characters, welcome to the most exquisite showdown of the century! Is there any need for introductions? Any need for a reason? In one corner, we have the Emperor himself, leader of the Imperial Sect, the master of secrets! And challenging him is Li Tianlu, the rising martial artist of the Golden Generation! A Sect Leader versus a Great Elder! Who will prevail?"

Magic amplified his voice, bouncing off the walls and into his ears. The electric thrill was palpable and, as the two came closer, the screams and shouts doubled. Banners were waved accompanied by loud, three-hundred men chants. Dasha was glad he took Rehan up on his offer. If he had stayed, he wouldn't have been able to analyze the fight properly.

The checkered platform functioning as the battle arena was large but perhaps insufficient. The crowd went into an uproar as a barrier between them and the platform was erected, the arena changing in its entirety from a simple grey platform to a valley. Space and time twisted and the impossible nature of the environment came into being. A vast, ancient valley of green and rock.

[ Li Tianlu vs the Kangxi Emperor!

Location: Western Rift Valley

Win Condition 1: Till one fighter cannot fight

Win Condition 2: Till one fighter is dead ]

It was like looking into a snow globe from the outside-in. The barrier acted like a camera that zoomed into their faces and supersized them for the audience. Rehan elbowed him, smiling, as if to say, "Cool, right?"

"I think it's cool," said Frank.

The barrier wrinkled and zoomed in on the handsome face of Li Tianlu. His animalistic grin and eyes rose slightly.

"Are you ready to lose, old man?" asked Li Tianlu, holding the hilt of his sheathed sword.

The Kangxi Emperor replied without rising to his provocation, "Do not be a bore, boy. You started this. See it through to the end."

The commentator's voice drawled out, "Aaaaand….begin!"

Boom!

The barrier trembled.

Arm against arm, Li Tianlu and the Emperor clashed. The towering cliffs looming on the sides shook.

In a swift move, Li Tianlu drew his single-edged blood-red sword, a dark rhombi pattern on both sides of the blade. The sheath must have been airtight, because as he eased it out, the wind started to pick up. Then he swung it. At the direction he casually swung, a sizable piece of the mountain toppled off cleanly, like an apple cut. The reactions from the audience were one of awe. Chants spread like wildfire. Beside him, Rehan applauded lightly.

Li Tianlu backed away with graceful steps, while the Emperor lunged forward, meeting Li Tianlu's blade with a powerful punch. The clash sent echoes reverberating through the valley.

How was he seeing this? Was he supposed to be seeing this?

Then everything made sense. The barrier. It was slowing them. Translating the fight into something tangible.

Li Tianlu twirled like a dervish, his sword moving like a flash of crimson lightning. He was testing the Emperor, gauging his speed and strength, till he had enough and smirked. A red lightning coursed through his blade and he unleashed a flurry of red projectile strikes. The Emperor weaved and dodged, the uneven terrain disrupting his footwork even though it didn't seem like it.

'Speed, power, technique…they have everything.'

They were calculating everything in their head. Footwork, future movement, the flow of their Qi—everything.

The Kangxi Emperor entered close-range to deliver a palm strike with a low mutter. Kazi couldn't hear it but Rehan and Frank seemed to recognize the eerie glue. Dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge. The martial artists anticipated each other's movements and for a second, no contact was made. They were both utilizing Qi Sense to the highest degree. Predicting, predicting, predicting, and consequently, dodging, dodging, dodging.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The Kangxi Emperor was on the offensive and kept trying to hit with that one-palm attack. Li Tianlu was focused, disregarding his own blade just to avoid the palm; as if he had trained for this.

Clang!

The palm strike met the tip of his sword. The Kangxi Emperor's palm was cancelled out. The crowd on the side of the Imperial Sect were hushed into silence.

Thus, began the chants for Li Tianlu.

The Kangxi Emperor leaped back and up, and didn't come back down. He glided through the air like an ice skater, a single arm raised defensively.

Because so far, that was all he had used. One arm. His left arm.

Dasha immediately understood. The crux of a martial artist was their technique. In a public stadium like this, his form and techniques could be scrunitized and possibly imitated with sufficient study.

"Just using one arm, huh!?" Li Tainlu grinned and launched himself into the air—and climbed. He didn't fall down, he glided further and further up, his sword raised ignited with a fiery aura. He flew way higher than the Kangxi Emperor and disappeared into the clouds.

The sky darkened. The very world began to breathe and unleash terrible winds.

Finally, the globe zoomed in to the man in the sky, to the one who was attempting to surpass the Emperor. "O Dragon of old! Enlighter of the darkness! Pass me your torch and execute this moon!" The marks on the metal blade glowed, then disappeared. Red lightning expanded from it and transformed into a massive Chinese dragon, and descended down upon the Emperor. "Zhulong's Illumination!"

The Emperor brought out his other hand and declared, "Heaven's Command…"

Nearly standing up, Rehan exclaimed, "No way! He's seriously using Heaven's Command!?"

"...Celestial End."

The Kangxi Emperor fell from the sky down to the ground but he did not lose. The giant red monstrosity was stopped in its tracks by the palm of the Emperor. Electricity spread and the valley smouldered, smoke rising everywhere. The ground cracked beneath him as the snout of the dragon began to dissipate, following the rest of his body.

Li Tianlu teleported to the Emperor's exposed side and swung his sword. The blade landed and the Emperor was blasted away. The swordsman chased after him but the Emperor recovered fast. He closed the gap before Li Tianlu could and delivered a rapid barrage of punches that seemed to strike from all angles.

Bam! A hard glowing fist struck his ribs, blood spewing from his nose, and forced the momentum of the battle to stop. Li Tianlu took three steps back, holding his chest, and coughed.

The Emperor observed him. "Is that all?"

Li Tianlu laughed. "If you weren't capable of this much, I would be disappointed, Emperor. How about this?"

In the brief seconds of conversation, he healed himself. His bent chest regained its normal shape, confirming Dasha's theory.

'So they've done it. They have reached the Nascent Soul, where their souls have been nurtured to the point of affecting their physical bodies. This is the last stage before immortality.'

Incredible. Truly incredible. He had learned so much from this battle and he was going to continue to learn from it.

Li Tianlu took a step back and an electric surge erupted underneath his feet. The spectators were flabbergasted. From the lightning, multiple copies of himself materialized. Not two or three, but over thirty clones. The valley was filled with dancing crimson silhouettes, and the Emperor's eyes scanned his surroundings.

"A magician's trick?" the Emperor noted. "How disappointing."

"Don't care! Less talking, more fighting!"

Fists struck empty air as the illusions dissipated one by one. While Li Tianlu's clones let him come close to the Emperor, it wasn't never definitive. With two arms, the Emperor was seemingly untouchable. A wise, otherworldly being who used his Qi to its utmost efficiency.

Li Tianlu was the same. Qi constantly surged his being. An insignificant red tint that no doubt bolstered his physicals and sword. His swings were rather reckless but done with an insurmountable amount of raw power. Judging by the Emperor's footwork, it seemed he recognized he could not overpower Li Tianlu's sword. Therefore, he shifted to martial arts and spacing.

Theory was becoming reality.

The illusions suddenly disappeared and combined into a single Li Tianlu, who reappeared above the Emperor with his sword gleaming. Metal met divine flesh and they clashed in close combat. The Emperor avoided his swings, coolly ducking and weaving, while Li Tianlu became a relentless blur of red metal.

Swing, swing, swing.

Swish!

Gasps came from the audience. Li Tianlu cut his crown. His precious red crown. The crown of the divine, of the great Emperor of China.

The Kangxi Emperor's expression changed—

"Ha!"

And Li Tianlu managed to slice his elbow. Blood was drawn.

Suddenly, the world flashed white and Li Tianlu, with a single step back, carried himself twenty metres back. His grin had widened and he relished the wind lashing at him.

The Emperor was enveloped in Qi so thick and dense that everyone could see it. Magicians, martial artists, weaklings, there was no exception. Its power was akin to a tornado, throwing rocks and causing the world to crumble. The Emperor touched his elbow, the cut cloth and blood and all, and tossed it aside.

"Heavenly Command…" The Emperor's words became a distinct echo. He breathed in, back curling and chest rising. "Roar of the Four Directions!"

Four fingers flicked up, the ring finger down, and thrust! The shockwave carved out the valley and struck Li Tianlu, freezing him in place.

He couldn't move in time as the Emperor closed the distance and readied a stance.

"Heavenly Command: Nine-Heavens Palm!"

First, a swift and precise strike to the forehead, causing a disorienting shock. Li Tianlu's eyes widened in pain.

Second, a powerful jab to the throat, robbing him of his voice and breath. His Qi became disconnected and wild, lashing out from the pores of his body.

Third, a palm heel strike to the solar plexus, yet the Emperor was so swift there was no time to keel over.

Fourth, a crushing blow to the ribs, driving damage directly into his lungs.

Fifth, a precise strike to the left kidney.

By this point, Li Tianlu's Qi was utterly dismantled. Unusable. His healing factor refused to heal him, tumbling inside his body and working against him. He was left at the mercy of the Emperor.

Sixth, a vicious strike to the right kidney.

Seventh, a heel turn changing direction, delivering a sharp elbow strike to Li Tianlu's spine.

Eighth, a relentless punch to the opponent's liver, leaving them gasping for air.

Ninth and finally, a final, open-palm strike to the temple.

Long red hair dropped to the ground. He had lost.

The martial arts the Emperor displayed were not flashy. It focused its efforts on internal damage. And yet…

"You are ten years too early to be challenging me, welp."

The valley. It was a shell of its former self. Each strike hit his enemy and combusted the land behind him. Boulders ripped from the cliffs, falling like rain. The Emperor's echoing words were a hollow reminder of its former state. He walked away, and as he did, the barrier dropped and the valley returned to being the grey platform it was.

The audience exploded into chatter and cheers. The commentator rambled on and on about the winner. He chanted the name of the Emperor. A chunk of the spectators followed. Li Tianlu's female adorers wept.

Dasha kept eyeing the winner—the Emperor of Chinese martial arts.

'So this is the level of ability I'm aiming for…'

It seemed almost impossible. Becoming a natural disaster capable of causing the very to tremble, it should have been impossible. Should, because in Dasha's view, nothing was impossible. If the Emperor could do it, so could he.

The crowd suddenly died down as they heard a sound.

…laughter?

On the ground was Li Tianlu, laughing his ass off. Arms and legs spread, blood escaping his nose and mouth, he was the epitome of the defeated. Yet here he was, laughing. Laughing as if he hadn't lost, as if he enjoyed losing.

His laughter rang throughout the stadium for what seemed like minutes, heard by everything and everyone.