The preliminary matches had cleared the stage of the weak, leaving the arena floor vibrating with the residual energy of the elite. The crowd's whispers died down as the first true Peak Match was announced. This was the moment everyone had been waiting for,the collision of those standing at the absolute summit of the Qi Refining Realm.
"Qin Yu versus Tie Kun! Arena 1!"
Qin Yu stepped onto the stage, his azure robes fluttering. He looked far more composed than he had a year ago, his eyes sharp and focused. Opposite him stood Tie Kun, a Huge man with skin the color of tanned leather. He carried a double bitted axe that looked heavy enough to crush a carriage.
"Begin!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
They collided three times in the blink of an eye. The speed was so great that the lower level disciples could only see flashes of blue and brown light. Hanyuan leaned forward, his eyes tracking every movement. He could clearly see the staggering progress Qin Yu had made; his Spiraling Water Arts were no longer just a sequence of moves but a constant, flowing defensive and offensive loop.
Tie Kun grinned, his voice booming like a landslide. "Haha! The first place will be mine, scholar boy! Mountain Crushing Axe!"
He swung the massive weapon in a vertical overhead strike. The air groaned under the weight of the Earth element Qi infused into the blade.
"Water Spiral Sword!" Qin Yu cried out.
BOOM!
The sword and axe met. A massive shockwave rippled across the arena, cracking the reinforced tiles and sending a cloud of dust into the air. Hanyuan watched with growing interest; Qin Yu wasn't meeting the force head on but was using the spiral of his water Qi to deflect the brunt of the heavy strikes.
The duel stretched on, the intensity rising with every heartbeat. Finally, during the twenty first exchange, Tie Kun overextended his swing. It was the slightest opening, but for the focused Qin Yu, it was enough.
Slash!
Qin Yu's blade blurred, sliding past the axe's handle. The edge cut deep into Tie Kun's shoulder, severing the muscle and painting the stone with blood. Tie Kun let out a grunt of pain, his axe clattering to the floor as his arm went limp.
"Winner: Qin Yu!" the referee shouted.
Hanyuan was genuinely surprised by his efficiency, but as the shock wore off, an intense, burning fighting spirit radiated from his obsidian eyes.
"Next match: Feng Yue versus Zhao Yao. Arena 2!"
Zhao Yao walked up the stage, her red robes a stark contrast to the blue themed arena. Opposite her, a fourteen year-old girl ascended the steps. She was a vision of cold elegance, with flowing blue hair and deep cerulean eyes. At her waist was a slender longsword. As she unsheathed it, a chilling Peak Qi Refining aura gushed out, momentarily turning the humid air into a light mist.
She is using Water Qi, just like Qin Yu, Hanyuan observed, but hers feels colder, like the depths of a frozen lake.
"Begin!"
Clang!
The sound of steel on steel was frantic. Zhao Yao's saber and Feng Yue's sword met fiercely, clashing five times in a single breath. Sparks of fire and water erupted between them.
"You are still too weak to win against me," Feng Yue remarked coldly. Her voice carried no malice, only the flat statement of a fact.
She twisted her wrist, channeling her Qi into a devastating surge. "Flowing Tide!"
A physical wave of blue Qi erupted from her blade, crashing forward like a tsunami. Zhao Yao gritted her teeth, swinging her saber in a desperate counter. "Fire Bird Slash!"
A flaming avian form soared from her blade, meeting the wave. The two techniques clashed violently, shockwaves radiating outward until the relentless pressure of the Flowing Tide simply overwhelmed the flames. The water crashed against Zhao Yao's chest with the force of a falling building.
Zhao Yao was launched out of the arena, her eyes rolling back as she fainted immediately from the internal shock. The medical disciples didn't wait, they rushed onto the sand with a stretcher, already applying healing pastes to her chest.
Hanyuan didn't look at the medical team.
He sat down in a cross legged position right there in the waiting area and closed his eyes. The surrounding noise,the cheers, the cries of the injured, and the booming announcements, all vanished as he entered a state of deep meditation. He began to circulate his Qi, harmonizing the lightning in his blood with the ice in his bones. Every cell in his body prepared for the upcoming Battle.
Hanyuan's eyes snapped open at the sound of his name, the violet sparks in his pupils receding as he transitioned from his meditative trance to a state of absolute combat readiness.
"Bai Hanyuan versus Lu Chen. Arena 4!"
Hanyuan stood up, dusting off his robes. Lu Chen, he mused. Sixteen years old. He freshly broke through to the 9th Layer of Qi Refining just last month. A Metal element saber user.
He stepped onto the stone stage with a rhythmic, measured pace. Lu Chen was already there, looking sharp in his grey robes. A heavy saber with a yellow tinted hilt hung at his waist. As Lu Chen unsheathed the weapon, the metal gave off a shrill, vibrating hum. He looked at the thirteen year-old Hanyuan with a look of Disdain.
"Bai Hanyuan, you were the talk of the lower rounds because you beat a few 6th and 8th Layers with your fists," Lu Chen sneered, rotating his wrist to make the blade catch the light. "But I am at the 9th Layer. The difference between us is like the distance between a cloud and the dirt. Surrender now, or you'll be leaving this stage on a stretcher."
Hanyuan didn't waste his breath on a retort. He simply lowered the tip of the Spear, a faint frost beginning to creep along the blue steel. "Is that so?"
Lu Chen's face contorted. He hated being ignored. "You asked for it! Die!"
Clang! Screech!
Lu Chen lunged, his saber becoming a blur of yellow light. Hanyuan met it head on. The collision of spear and saber sent a screeching sound through the arena, a testament to the friction of their Qi. They exchanged two violent blows, the impact of each making the air shimmer. On the third, they both recoiled, sliding back three paces.
"What the fuck is that strength?" Lu Chen shouted, his arms vibrating from the Impact. He expected to blow through Hanyuan's defense like paper. He didn't know Hanyuan's bones were tempered like that.
"Fine! If you want to play at being a mountain, I'll show you how to cut one down!" Lu Chen's aura surged, his Qi turning a sharp, metallic gold. "Slaughtering Saber!"
He leapt into the air, bringing his saber down in a heavy, vertical executioner's strike. The Metal element Qi sharpened the air around the blade until it could split a falling hair.
Hanyuan didn't dodge. He planted his feet, gripped the spear with both hands, and spun the shaft in a high speed blur.
"Whirling Silver Veil!"
A thick, crystalline curtain of frozen Qi erupted in front of him.
BOOM!
The metallic saber slammed into the wall of ice. A massive shockwave rippled outward, cracking the reinforced stone tiles of the arena floor. The Veil held for a split second before shattering into a thousand frozen shards. But the goal was achieved, the momentum of the Slaughtering Saber was broken.
As the veil dissolved, Hanyuan pivoted on his heel. He used the rotational momentum to launch a counter. He swept his spear in a wide horizontal arc, pouring his refined frost Qi into the move. "Silver Crescent Horizon".
Sou!
A massive wave of freezing energy, shaped like a crescent moon, slammed into the incoming Lu Chen.
BOOM!
Hanyuan slided back three steps, a thin trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth from the internal vibration of the metal Qi. However, Lu Chen was in a far worse state. The frost wave had torn through his armor, leaving a jagged, freezing wound across his chest. He tumbled across the stone, using his saber as a crutch just to keep from falling.
Hanyuan walked forward, his footsteps heavy and purposeful. He looked at Lu Chen's trembling hands and heaving chest.
"I can see from this battle that you have plenty of Qi, but you have no experience in a real fight," Hanyuan said coldly. "You swing that saber like a dancer."
"You... you brat! I'll.." Lu Chen tried to shout, trying to force his Qi to circulate through his frozen chest.
He didn't get the chance. Hanyuan's figure blurred. He appeared at Lu Chen's side and, with efficiency, swung the blunt, iron shod butt of his spear into the side of the youths head.
Thwack.
Lu Chen's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the stone, unconscious.
"Bai Hanyuan wins!" the referee announced, sounding slightly dazed.
Hanyuan cleaned the frost from his spear with a flick of his wrist and walked back toward the waiting area. The murmurs of the crowd had grown into a roar of shock.
On the balcony, Elder Qi stroked his goatee, a wide, proud grin on his face. "Did you see that, Su? He didn't win by luck. He won by logic. The boy's combat instinct is terrifying."
Hanyuan sat back down in his spot, closing his eyes to settle his vibrating meridians.