A Region of Odd Talents

After the battle, Old Man Sun stepped forward. Looking at the state of the stage, he decided to return the brick to its regular size and replace it with another brick. Under the watchful eye of the crowd, he dug into his chest hairs and produced a speck of what appeared to be dust.

Only, this was not dust but a very tiny brick. With a simple gesture from his fingers, he forced the brick to grow while tossing it onto the ground, quickly making yet another stage. This one was smoother and of a darker color, with decorative engravings and faint grey markings.

"This old man is quite strange. What sort of magic is this?" Someone in the crowd became curious. Having never seen Old Man Sun perform such an act, even the villagers were taken aback.

"Do you think he could make anything grow with that skill?"

"So it seems. What did this esteemed brother have in mind?"

"My wife always complains to her girlfriends about my ...shortcomings... Maybe that old man can help a brother out."

The man who had said that received a huge number of odd looks and awkward glances. He cleared his throat loudly and pretended to have never said a thing. Instead, he returned to looking up at the stage and awaiting the subsequent audition. At this moment, a man was approaching the stage with a chicken in hand, proud and puffed up.

Meanwhile, further away from the village, a young white-haired woman was walking with an elder, helping him along the way as they neared the village.

"Oh, Xue'er, you shouldn't be late. Leave me here, I can use my divine will to observe you from afar." Giggling girlishly, and smiling widely, Bi Xue said, "No way, Father. You have to be there to witness it all. I'm going to wow everyone and be accepted as a direct disciple of the Young Master, and you'll be right there with me, okay?"

"Sigh! Heavens above, you have given me a daughter that is too filial for her own good!"

At a snail's pace, Yan Longxi limped along the way with his daughter at his side, supporting him on the left. A tear fell from his right eye, unseen by Bi Xue. Together they continued, with Bi Xue excitedly giggling and saying things like, "Just you wait father," and, "Promise you won't go crazy when you see just how talented your daughter is."

Yan Longxi could not fight the tears; they continued coming. It was not that Bi Xue did not notice, but that she was also shedding her own share of tears.

For quite some time, they had been struggling alone with no possible way out. Their hope was shot, their options nonexistent and their chances more than slim. Now, though, they had a real chance.

A gift straight from Heaven above in the shape of an unbelievable opportunity!

"Xue'er, no matter what happens, promise me you will not allow this dying old fart to limit your growth. To ask for something so selfish as divine healing for me would surely cause you to fall from his good graces-"

"I do not care, father! Even if my request causes me to lose my status as a direct disciple, I will still choose to ask him to heal you. That is the only reason I am doing this."

Yan Longxi wanted to say more, but the words just didn't come. He could only rely on his divine will so look at his daughter, smiling dotingly and trying his best to pick up the pace.

As they were walking, they felt a tremor beneath them, spreading out across the surface of the earth. They both could immediately feel where the source of that tremor was; it had originated from somewhere within the village.

Bi Xue and Yan Longxi could not know this, but the quake started when someone appeared on the stage. Before this, Hu Feng was demonstrating the intelligence of his chicken, showing everyone how it very closely followed his commands. It would stand on one leg, it would dance and flop around while interchangeably flapping its wings and such and such.

Once he was eventually booed off the stage, someone had tossed out two smoke bombs and filled the immediate area around the stage with thick smoke. Once the person leapt from where they were to the stage, the sheer weight of their landing shook the stage, the ground beneath it, and the earth for many miles.

Lin Fei snorted coldly and thrust out a palm, blasting away the smoke to reveal a tall fatty in tight black clothing. There was a headband with a metallic plate on which was inscribed, "Steal! Steal! Steal!"

"Hihaa! Behold, sniveling whelps! I, Ton Lon, am here to grace you with my talents! Behold! Wuhpsshhh!"

Following his obnoxious onomatopoeia, there was a flash of light and smoke. After that, in his hands, he held a stretched out pair of underwear, decked out in purple hearts.

"See? I have, in an instant and no less, seized that man's," he pointed to a random man in the crowd, "stinky drawers!"

Following his words, the audience grimaced, groaned, let out 'ohh's and 'waaa's in endless numbers. The man whose underwear was stolen felt around for a minute before he cried out, "Hey! Give those back!"

Ton Lon smirked, then flung the underwear in the air. After another flash of light, the underwear vanished and the man let loose a soft and delicate 'Ooouuu' sound.

"Now, applaud."

In silence, the audience looked at him, at each other, then began to shout at and berate him. Others took off their slippers or shoes, stoning him with them while cursing and telling him to get off the stage.

"You swine! You dare perform such a distasteful act in the presence of the Son of Destiny!"

Even the guards and Lin Fei, who was compensating for his mistake of a few days ago, rushed to the stage in order to grab that fatty and toss him off the stage. To their surprise, Ton Lon laughed gleefully and tossed out two other tiny bombs. They emitted disorienting flashes of light that allowed Ton Lon to slip away.

Looking on from above, Logean Wuji could only facepalm and shake his head. Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er took note of the situation, promising to teach the fatty a lesson.

"I have to say, the fatty does have quite the talent. He exercises impressive control over the laws of time and space, but seems to use that for stealing. What an odd sprout."

Hearing his assessment, Ye Hong and Ling Ji'er nodded, praised his knowledge and smiled superficially. However, beneath the surface, they were even more convinced that they absolutely had to hunt down that fatty.

After that, a number of other people had come forward to show off their talents.

There was a very tiny man, a Dwarf if you will, with a long and luscious beard. His demonstration consisted of him standing on one leg, hopping and spinning around while consistently taking sips of a strong drink. Eventually, once he was well intoxicated, he messed up, fell on his ass and was ruthlessly removed from the stage.

"Tch! Enough of this crap!"

With a snort, the Supreme Master of the Fist, Gouki, leapt through the air and landed on the stage. His barefooted self was soon joined by his students, the similarly dressed burly men.

"Listen all. I am Gouki, and we are martial artists, cultivating the Dao of Murderous Intent! These fists know no equal!"

"Umu!" Collectively, his students stood with their arms folded and loudly voiced their agreement.

"We challenge any of you that dare to call yourselves true fighters! Come forth and taste defeat!"

After that, Gouki brought his fists together and slowly circulated the murderous energy and allowed his countenance to glow. He appeared to be surrounded by a mass of blood and gore that lingered around him like a pungent odor, overpowering and deathly.

In response to his bold challenge, the sword wielding woman and her students seemed to fly through the air and glide down onto the stage most elegantly. Gouki scoffed, folded his arms and watched as they lined up before him and his students.

"I am Yuenu, of the Southern Forest, hailing from the Proud Heaven Empire's State of Yue. We are the Celestial Sword Maidens, and we will accept your challenge."

Gouki smiled, allowing his beastly teeth to peek out for just a moment. In his red eyes, pure delight and unrestrained excitement billowed forth. Endless power filled his fists as he tightened them, then he nodded.

"Let us see whether or not you are true fighters. Come! I will represent the Murderous Intent and take you on!"

"Osu!" Gouki's students bowed then stepped all the way back, stopping only until they were at the opposite end of the stage, then sitting down to observe.

Yuenu turned her head to the side and nodded, signaling for the other Celestial Sword Maidens to do the same. Gouki frowned when he saw this, then said, "I would not mind facing you all at once."

Yuenu bowed courteously before stepping forward and saying, "That would be anticlimactic. You would lose far too quickly."

Once she had said that, she raised her sword over her head and brought her other hand before her, making a different sword seal gesture with her fingers. Gouki once again stomped down into his signature stance, allowing the murderous energy to explosively surge. His heels were raised and his muscles tightened, then his body blurred.

"Houu!" All Yuenu could hear was Gouki's deep voice before his figure straightened up and came rushing toward her. She slashed outward horizontally, meaning to cut him in half by the waist. Instead, her sword passed directly through his blurred body, then his blurred body passed directly through her.

Loud gasps and exclamations of shock filled the plaza once the onlookers realized that Gouki had teleported through Yuenu's body and arrive behind her.

"Hei!" His guttural voice sounded out once again, then his hand came down in a swift and powerful chop. The murderous energy around his hand became almost like a blade that would surely slice open Yuenu's back. The woman gasped, but then formed a different sword seal and thrust her sword behind her.

What seemed to be a desperate, blind attack was actually a precise strike that parried Gouki's hand and provided her with enough force to perform a front flip while also turning herself around to face Gouki.

However, he was already gliding through the air like a ghost, arriving behind her yet again .This time, she barely managed to evade his fist, but was instead grabbed and thrown over his shoulder, landing on her back.

Having no time to express her shock due to a swiftly descending fist, Yuenu raised her sword and blocked with the hilt. While holding that position, she formed a new sword seal then used her fingers to speedily rotate the sword by the hilt. The blade spun in a circle until the tip was pointing toward Gouki's chest, then was thrust forward in the blink of an eye.

Gouki snorted, sidestepping the blade but losing control of the situation. Yuenu was already a few feet away from him, standing tall.

A large number of onlookers had been unknowingly holding their breath, and were only just realizing. Gouki, though seeming full of rage, also seemed to be strangely happy. As for Yuenu, she was forcibly calming herself while doing her best to maintain a steady circulation of energy.

Logean Wuji nodded slowly, pleased with what he had seen so far.

"These two are skilled fighters. One represents the Dao of Murderous Intent, while the other is quite a capable sword cultivator, a living expression of the Sword Dao. With just a little enlightenment, they could easily transcend mortality."

Back on the stage, Yuenu had just sliced a blue fireball in half, only to see Gouki rushing toward her like a raging demon. She hurriedly raised her sword, meeting his fist before being pushed back by a few feet. After that, she took another step back while also bringing the sword around her, transferring it to her other hand, and chopping down with it.

In her left hand, the sword seemed to become many times more quick and powerful. Even her aura immediately changed, surprising Gouki to the point that he almost gasped.

"Well done, Gouki. You have forced me to give this match my all. Come forward and be the first to perish by way of the White-Ape-Slaying Sword!"

Gouki snorted, releasing a torrent of steam through his nostrils. As he did so, he raised his left leg and brought his right arm to his chest. Soon after, azure orbs of light began to gather and swirl directly in front of him, slowly merging into one.