Hanyuan swallowed The high rank healing pill he had purchased earlier, it dissolved in his gut, sending warm, rejuvenating currents toward his shattered ribs. He kept his eyes closed, forcing his Qi to knit the bone together even as the sounds of battle roared around him.
"Even if I lose the next round, I won't go down without a battle", he vowed.
Suddenly, a cold, sharp voice pierced through his meditation. "Arena 2: Qin Yu versus Mu Rongbing!"
Hanyuan's eyes snapped open. He looked at the seat beside him, Qin Yu's face was as pale as a ghost, his hands shaking so violently he couldn't even grip his sword hilt. He looked toward Hanyuan, his eyes pleading, but there was nothing to be done.
Qin Yu walked onto the stage as if he were approaching the executioner's block. Mu Rongbing stood waiting, her pink hair whipping in the wind.
"Begin!" the referee shouted.
"Get out of my way, nerd," Mu Rongbing sneered.
She didn't even draw her sword. She blurred, before Qin Yu could even activate his Spiraling Water Sword, her boot slammed into his solar plexus.
CRUNCH!
The sound was nauseating. Qin Yu was launched across the arena like a ragdoll, skipping twice on the stone before slamming into the heavy perimeter wall with a wet thud. He slid down, leaving a smear of blood on the stone, and immediately went limp.
"Winner: Mu Rongbing!"
"Is... isn't that too harsh?" whispered a disciple in the front row, his voice trembling.
"I feel bad for Qin Yu," another muttered. "He's a genius in his own right, but he just ran into a monster. His luck was truly rotten today."
Before Hanyuan could even process his friend's defeat, the announcer called the next match. "Bai Hanyuan versus Ji Mei. Arena 3!"
Hanyuan's jaw tightened. Ji Mei was an 8th layer expert, sixteen years old and a known master of the sword. He looked at the medical disciples carrying Qin Yu away on a stretcher and took a deep, shaky breath.
He climbed the steps to the arena. Ji Mei stood at the far end, her long brown hair tied back in a high ponytail and her emerald-green eyes reflecting the sun like cold jewels. She looked at Hanyuan not with mocking disdain, but with the flat, professional boredom of a butcher looking at a calf.
"Begin!"
Hanyuan moved first, desperate to reclaim the initiative. He unleashed four lightning fast thrusts, his Spear blurring as it aimed for her throat and heart. Ji Mei didn't even move her feet. With a flick of her wrist, her sword moved like a shimmering silver ribbon, parrying every strike with effortless grace.
Hanyuan grit his teeth, pouring sixty percent of his remaining Qi into his next move. "Star-Point Piercer!"
The concentrated ray of frost Qi roared toward her. Ji Mei's eyes narrowed slightly. She swung her sword in a heavy, overhead slash, coating the blade in a dense, dark green Aura.
CLANG!
It felt as if a sledgehammer had collided with Hanyuan's Body. The Impact was so intense the Cold Cloud Spear was wrenched from his numb hands, flying three meters away to clatter across the stone. His right arm felt as if the bone had been pulverized.
Ji Mei didn't pause. She stepped into his guard, her blade coming down in a vertical arc.
"Azure Cloud Footwork!" Hanyuan roared, twisting his body frantically to the left.
He moved with precise speed, but against an 8th layer expert, it wasn't enough.
Squelch!
The blade bit deep into his right shoulder, carving through muscle and scraping against the bone. Hanyuan gasped in pain. He lunged toward his spear on the ground, his fingers inches from the shaft, but Ji Mei was already there.
Her sword flicked out again, a horizontal flash across his chest.
RIP.
A massive, jagged gash erupted across Hanyuan's torso. The white fabric of his robe turned crimson in an instant as blood sprayed the arena tiles. The force of the strike launched Hanyuan five meters back, where he crashed across the stone and came to a stop at the edge of the platform.
"Ji Mei wins!" the referee shouted, stepping between them.
Ji Mei sheathed her sword without a word, her cold green eyes turning away as if she had already forgotten his name.
Two healing disciples hurried onto the stage, their hands glowing with green life energy. As they rolled Hanyuan onto a stretcher, he felt the cold stone beneath his back and the agonizing heat of the gashes on his chest.
" I'm still... too weak", he thought.
The pain reached a peak, and Hanyuan's vision flickered and dimmed. Before he could hear the ranking or find out about Qin Yu, the world surrendered to a heavy, dreamless darkness. He fainted as the medicine was applied to his Chest.
The sun was a pale, blurred disc through the window of his stone hut. Hanyuan lay motionless, his body encased in heavy medicinal bandages. Every breath was a effort with the sharp stabs of pain radiating from his cracked ribs. His arms felt like heavy, useless logs of wood, numb and swollen beneath the wrappings.
He had expected to wake up in the Sect's medical pavilion, surrounded by the groans of other failing disciples. Seeing the familiar ceiling of his own courtyard brought a small, painful chuckle to his lips.
"At least... now I know," he whispered, his voice a hoarse rasp. "The 8th Layer isn't just more Qi. It's a different level of speed entirely. Ji Mei didn't even use a Spirit-grade art to defeat me."
The door creaked open with a rhythmic, steady weight. Elder Qi stepped inside, his silver-blue robes shimmering softly. He looked at the mangled boy on the bed, his expression unreadable as he stroked his long goatee.
"Elder Qi," Hanyuan gasped, trying to shift, only for his vision to flicker with white spots of pain.
"Stay still, Hanyuan," the Elder said, his voice melodic yet firm. "Your arms have multiple fractures, your ribs are splintered, and that slash from Ji Mei's blade was deep enough to nearly nick your lung. It was a messy fight, but you didn't disgrace the name of our Clan."
Hanyuan sighed, a bitter taste in his mouth. "I lost too quickly. I didn't even touch her."
"You lost to a sixteen year old at the 8th Layer," Elder Qi corrected him, pulling up a wooden stool. "But you fainted before the final tallies. You placed 23rd in the total rankings out of nearly four hundred disciples.
Hanyuan blinked. Twenty third. It was better than he had hoped, yet far from the top ten. "What about Qin Yu? And who... who won the pill?"
"Your friend Qin Yu is still in a deep sleep in the medical wing," Elder Qi said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Mu Rongbing's strike caused severe internal bleeding. It will take him at least a week to walk again. As for the champion... it was Kong Xuan. He and Mu Rongbing turned the arena into a wasteland. It was close, but Kong Xuan held out. He has claimed the Core Building Pill. Within the month, he will likely break through to the Mortal Core and join the Inner Sect."
Hanyuan's knuckles clenched. The gap between him and the peaks seemed to be still huge.
Elder Qi set a steaming wooden bowl on the nightstand and placed a high grade jade phial beside it. "I've prepared a medicinal soup from Bitter Root and Spirit Bone Marrow. It will taste like dirt and poison, but it will keep your meridians from shriveling. The pill is a Tier 2 Great Restoration Pill. It was sent by the Sect for those injured in the top twenty-five."
Hanyuan nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Elder."
"Rest, Hanyuan. The 23rd rank brings its own rewards. Once you can walk, go to the treasury. You have earned a larger monthly stipend and a one time bonus of fifty spirit stones." With those words, Elder Qi's silhouette flickered and vanished into the mountain mist.
Hanyuan struggled to a sitting position, every movement a battle of willpower. The mushroom soup was indeed revolting, bitter enough to make his tongue go numb,but as it slid down his throat, a dull warmth spread through his chest, muting the agony.
He swallowed the Tier 2 pill, feeling the potent medicinal fire rush to his fractured bones. He closed his eyes, centering his Qi.