Searing Palm

Hues of violet and orange decorated the sky as the sun was about to set. However, the hubbub in the Clan Arena was the loudest it had been in the week. Nie Gan was also there sitting among the audience. Originally, he had come here in hopes of signing up for a match. Nevertheless, he was quite surprised to find that his half-brother Nie Yan was about to fight against the Third Elder's son, Nie Hou. 

"Nie Yan… I wonder how strong he actually is. I guess there's no harm in purchasing some tickets." He thought to himself as he lined up in the queue. While he knew Nie Yan since he was Nie Lan's brother, he had never seen him actually fight. After about a quarter of an hour, he finally got his ticket. Normally he'd feel bad about spending on such an unnecessary thing, but since he was serious about fighting for Nie Sang's inheritance, it would be beneficial to know the strength of his rivals.

"It's gonna be a great match." Stated an aquiline nosed, middle aged clansman as he sat down besides Nie Gan. Although many knew who he was, Nie Clan was a large clan. That, coupled with the fact that Nie Gan's features were extremely plain and average, made it so that many clansmen actually did not recognize him most of the time, even when they had seen his face before.

"Who do you think will win?" Nie Gan questioned, trying to get some information from the aquiline nosed man before the match started, seeing as he looked more knowledgeable.

"Nie Yan, naturally; he better. I placed my bets on him." Confidently declared the man, taking out a piece of paper onto which the amount of his bet as well as the potential payoff.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Nie Hou's spell, Five Senses Sealing is nothing to be scoffed at." Chimed in a petite, short haired woman. She did not have the symbol of Nie Clan on her dress, which meant that she was an outsider. Upon closer inspection, Nie Gan actually saw a tiny insignia on her belt; it belonged to one of the three trade guilds in Gray Ridge Marquisate.

They did not continue the exchange, for both Nie Yan and Nie Hou stepped onto the stage, while the host explained some trivial things like their ages and cultivation. What surprised Nie Gan was that Nie Yan's cultivation was actually lower than he had imagined, while Nie Hou's was higher. Their cultivation was at 7th stage and 8th stage Qi Condensation respectively.

Not too far off, but in a much nicer section where many spectators had their own individual balcony, Nie Lan was frowning.

"Humph. The Third Elder spent a pretty penny to buy him a Qi Diluting Pill. It's no wonder he could surpass Nie Yan. But if he thinks this is enough to beat him, he must be delusional." She voiced her thoughts, although she was slightly biased towards her brother.

"You are right, Lan'er. To think they would sacrifice his future potential in such a wasteful manner. And for what? All to vie for a share of your father's worldly inheritance." Added a beautiful woman whose skin was so white it resembled porcelain in a subtly disdainful tone. Her most remarkable feature was her round, gray eyes that made everyone feel as if they had been thrown into a pool of glacial water when stared at.

On her head, a stylish crown made of Gold Essence, a material highly sought after by cultivators, showed her status. She was none other than the Marchioness of Gray Ridge Marquisate, Mu Xiu'er, and also Nie Lan and Nie Yan's mother. Although she had taken to using her original surname lately after her husband's death, everybody in the clan still addressed her as Nie Xiu'er.

Surprisingly, she looked only a couple of years older than her daughter. Naturally, this was related to the difference in lifespan. At Foundation Establishment, cultivators lived up to 200 years. Thus, even though she was about 50 years old, she still looked like she was in her twenties.

SLASH!

Everyone in the arena held their breath upon seeing Nie Hou attack Nie Yan, initiating the match. He swung his slim tipped spear, causing green colored energy ripples to fill the stage and dashed at Nie Yan to shorten the distance between them. The speed with which he swung it and dashed was such that most viewers only saw a blur. 

Fortunately, owing to his 5th stage Qi Condensation cultivation, Nie Gan could still see everything with enough detail, but if he were still at the 3rd stage, that would have been impossible.

For about a minute or so, Nie Yan nonchalantly evaded all of Nie Hou's attacks. From this, Nie Gan and the more observant people in the audience gleaned that he was a profoundly cautious individual who analyzed his opponents before taking action.

About halfway through the match, Nie Yan took out a sword and met Nie Hou's spear head on.

SHROOM!

The clash of Qi created a shockwave that stunned most of the audience, the aquiline nosed man and the short haired woman besides him included. Even Nie Gan himself felt short of breath before he circulated his cultivation base. On the arena itself, Nie Hou was sent flying twenty feet or so, while Nie Yan barely even backtracked a couple of steps.

This exchange finally established who held the upper hand, causing Nie Gan's curiosity regarding Nie Yan to be further piqued.

"What's Nie Yan's spell?" Nie Gan asked the aquiline nosed clansman beside him, who eagerly answered.

"Nobody knows. In his three matches, he hasn't made use of it." 

"Forfeit. I do not wish to hurt a fellow clansman." Nie Yan compelled. Unlike Nie Shan and others, he did not find much enjoyment in crushing opponents whose cultivation was simply inferior. Even more so when it was a fellow clansman.

Nie Hou stood up, swallowing some blood so as to not show any apparent weakness. There was a victorious grin on his face, but in his eyes some resentment could be seen.

"Forfeit? I cannot afford to lose. My father and our clan branch have invested too much in me. But you wouldn't understand that. You are just so used to taking however many resources you need without anything being asked in return that you forget it's not like that for the rest of us." His words were barely audible to the audience, but they still resonated with many, Nie Gan included. 

The divide between clansmen from branch families and those of the main family was just as large as that between external clansmen and bloodline clansmen. This was an indisputable fact. 

A branch family like Nie Hou's, whose leader had become an Elder, was quite rare. Even then, Nie Hou had access to much fewer top quality cultivation resources when compared to the likes of Nie Yan and Nie Shan. This was no secret, and precisely because of it, many felt that Nie Hou reaching his current cultivation was a more astonishing feat than Nie Yan doing it.

"Now tell me, how does my Five Senses Sealing feel?" Inquired Nie Hou in a gloating tone, simultaneously using his divine sense to convey the words to Nie Yan. All of his earlier attacks were just a façade meant to hide his true intention, which was to cast this spell onto Nie Yan.

Only upon hearing his words did the audience notice that Nie Yan was behaving weirdly. Normally, he'd not have allowed Nie Hou to say his monologue before finishing the fight. It dawned upon everyone that the only reason he had allowed it was because he had been afflicted by Nie Hou's spell.

"Your spell is nothing, just a parlor trick. I can cover the whole of the arena with my divine sense." Nie Yan said with disdain. It was true that Five Senses Sealing was not a very high level spell. In fact, it was only useful for Qi Condensation cultivators. Anyone above that would have a strong enough divine sense to counter its effects. However, Nie Yan was somewhat alarmed. Firstly, he was boasting. His divine sense could only cover about half of the arena. Secondly, it was taxing to keep it active. Thirdly, he simply was not used to being blind. Taste, touch and smell were still inconsequential, but sight and hearing were not.

Nie Hou did not even bother to answer, seeing Nie Yan could not hear him, and using his divine sense to communicate was just a waste in his current situation. Without further ado, he grabbed his spear and pointed it at Nie Yan. A beam of watery qi came out of the spear tip, clearly aimed for his opponent's vital spots.

The ruthlesness behind this attack caused many among the audience to hold their breath. In spite of his current state, however, Nie Yan made several hand seals in quick succession, as his body let out his medium-quality Qi. 

The quality of the Qi referred to how dense it was. Someone with low-quality Qi like Nie Hou might have the same amount of Qi as that of someone with medium-quality Qi like Nie Yan, even when there was a whole stage of difference between his 8th stage and Nie Yan's 7th. Going further, someone with high-quality Qi at the 6th stage would have the same amount of Qi as both Nie Yan and Nie Hou. 

What this meant in practice was that although Nie Yan's overall capacity was lower, since his Qi was denser, his total Qi pool was about the same. The spell that he cast just now created a bright, orange colored finger above him. It was so large that it looked like just its fingertip could squash Nie Hou with ease. Heatwave after heatwave came off its surface, causing the air to become distorted and the ground to crack. Nie Hou's Qi beam simply evaporated into thin air.

The audience was deadly quiet. Even Nie Gan's pupils had shrunk upon seeing this spell. Having seen Nie Shan's, he felt that this one was actually much more domineering and tyrannical. As the aquiline nosed man had said, nobody had seen his spell before. Thus, everyone was left slack jawed upon it being displayed.

In less than the blink of an eye, the finger swiped in Nie Hou's direction. A shrill scream could be heard as the spear in his hand was partially smelted, and the defensive magic item he was wearing was burnt to a crisp.

FWOOM.

He was sent flying for about seventy feet, the smell of charred flesh filling the arena. Most of the audience stood up, as if doing so would allow them to see past the thick dust cloud that had formed from the impact of Nie Hou's body against the arena's wall.

The finger that Nie Yan had created through his spell disappeared after this single attack, dissipating into a cloud of smoke and ash. As for Nie Hai, no one knew whether he was dead or alive.

Sigh.

Nie Gan felt that if he had truly died, it would be a terrible waste. After all, 8th stage Qi Condensation was formidable even in the clan as a whole. As he was about to stand up and leave, the person acting as referee used some sort of spell to clear the dust. He had not intervened because the fight was going well right up until Nie Yan made use of his spell. By the time he did so, he had not had enough time to stop the fight.

Everybody saw Nie Hou's state. He was actually still alive. With the exception of his charred robes, destroyed defensive treasure and his burnt hair and forearm, he seemed fine. It was quite unbelievable, but when he got out of the crack in the arena's wall and stood upright, a loud cheer erupted across the stage.

This cheering, however, was not because they supported Nie Hou. Or rather, they supported him only so long as he gave them an interesting fight. If Nie Yan won, most viewers wouldn't really care. The only ones who cared were those like the aquiline nosed man who had gambled.

"Is this all you have?" Although Nie Hou looked fine, in reality he wasn't. Those with a good eye cpuld immediately see he was limping, that one of his arms had remained unmoving since he got out of the crack, and that he had a very faint trace of blood coming out of his mouth, which he wiped away quickly. Seeing no reaction from Nie Yan, he became impatient.

"I wonder if you're always so passive… Maybe if I take this out you might get serious for once? I can get you more action than that weak twink you hang out with, haha!" Mocked Nie Hou, pretending to unbutton his half burnt pants.

The audience burst into laughter. It was widely known that Nie Yan did not have a very straight orientation. Even though Mu Xiu'er had done everything in her power to sweep these rumors under the rug, Nie clansmen were not the kind to forgive. Actually it would have been no big deal if it were any other person, so long as they fulfilled their duties to the clan with a woman. But Scions were not judged by the same standards, for better or worse.

Nie Yan's calm and collected countenance underwent a drastic transformation. Nie Hou's provocation had turned this fight personal. He would not have minded if he had been spat at, insulted for his body, for his features, or anything else. But his love life was his reverse scale. 

Ever since it had been found out he was in a same-sex relationship, he had always worked harder than anyone, Nie Shan, Nie Dan, and Nie Lan included. This was all because he believed others would stop looking at such an irrelevant thing. By now he knew this was a naïve form of thinking. No matter what he did, he'd always be the deviant, degenerate son.

His eyes became bloodshot, and he circulated his Qi to its very limits, going so far that tiny cracks started appearing inside his meridians. Within moments, the red hot finger from before came into being once again.

However, this time there was actually the outline of a second finger behind it. The powerful spiritual energy fluctuations shocked everyone present.

Sitting in the most luxurious zone, Nie Xiu'er's face paled. With a wave of her hand, her Foundation Establishment cultivation base turned into an invisible force that she directed at her son with the intention of stopping him from completing this spell. She wasn't the only one to act. Nie Hou's father, the Third Elder, also flew into the arena without a care for losing face, intent on protecting his son. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Nie Yan's two fingers bore down on Nie Hou. In an instant, the arm he raised to defend from this unprecedented attack was burnt to nothing, and he was pressed onto the arena's floor, which had signs of turning into lava. The Qi defenses he raised were useless, and evaporated as soon as they came into contact with the fingers.

Luckily for him, Nie Yan coughed a mouthful of blood and trembled. Clearly, this attack had cost him quite a bit to execute. Due to him running out of Qi, the two fingers dissipated into nothing as Nie Hou's father came to his aid. The white haired man glared daggers at Nie Yan, but seeing Nie Xiu'er was already behind him the Third Elder did nothing.

"We will remember this." Was the only thing he said before he picked up Nie Hou's seemingly lifeless body and flew out of the arena.

No one uttered a word. Most of the audience was left slack jawed at the events that they had just witnessed. Nie Gan was no exception. He laughed inwardly at his own naivety.

"To think I actually believed I could contend against such a monster. That spell would have been a threat even to someone at the Great Circle of Qi Condensation…" He thought, self-deprecatingly. In spite of this bucket of cold water, he was not discouraged. They all had a headstart on him, it was comprehensible that they were all much stronger. But strength wasn't the only important quality one needed to become a Marquis. It was just one of many, and after seeing the Third Elder leave with his pent up rage, he smiled. 

It seemed there was a new ally to be made. He was also extremely curious regarding Nie Yan's spell. From the back of his mind, a name came to him; Searing Palm. It had been one of Nie Sang's characteristic spells, coupled with the Thrashing Wind Wheel. Thanks to these two spells, he had earned the nickname "Searing Wind". Normally, he'd have felt envy. But now he knew that his path was not to become a mediocre spell cultivator who relied on powers he did not understand. No, he was meant to rediscover powers long lost. He was meant to become the first puppetmaster of this era.