40

"Emperor Ang Xi of the Tan Ang Province, announces a tournament of Sky rank will be held, in honor of his nephew Pef Xi. The winner of the tournament will have the honor of exchanging pointers with his Majesty himself!" The crier yelled from the mansion's roof, alerting the capital of the impending combat.

"Oh, Major Ang Shian will win again, isn't it?" a cute lady with curled black hair commented.

"No way, Major Shen Wu has returned from the Wall. His fists can split mountains!" a man with a fishing rod argued instead.

The rumours spread like fire into the capital, and by noon, the huge arena carved below the falaise, and overlooking the sea was full of a million people. Well, most citizens were just sitting very far, hoping to catch glimpses of magic skills or flying soldiers.

The qi cultivators could press closer, and the high ranks even got seats.

Soon the first fights began, wooden swords exploding in showers of cinders. Magic of various types collided and enchanted the public.

One could win by knockout, expulsion for arena, qi depletion, or forfeit, but generally the officers in the Guard knew their strength and didn't push too far.

Some 10 fights ended before Pef was called to his first fight.

He was armored in his Sky ranked breastplate and the glove, as head strikes were to be avoided in tournaments.

Some Guards still wore headgear of various sorts, as splinters or spells could ricochet sometimes.

Pef held his wooden sword gently, examining the opponent.

'Skilled duelist, minimal physical resistance, earth qi' he muttered to himself while waiting for the horn.

The glove ignored him, as this fight was below the standards.

The Major took a fencing stance, weaving his sword in circles. Pef sped up, splashing the man with a ball of water in the chest and obscuring his vision, kicked the back of his knee as he passed by, then stroke three times on the arms and lastly the man's back pushing him face down into the sand of the arena.

The defeated Major spat sand and stood up, glancing towards the Emperor's loggia.

"Technical win, Pef Xi!" the Emperor announced with a smile.

Xie waved gently, making Pef smile back.

"That must be the nephew, this Pef Xi. He looks too young" a spectator observed while eating his rice cracker.

"Stop speaking with your mouth full, you pig! And the boy is cute!" a matronly woman exclaimed while waving away rice detritus.

More fights completed until eight contestants were left, seven of them well-known heroes of the Patriarchy.

Major Shen Wu was paired with Pef the next round, making our hero grimace a little.

'White aura, trained body, seems to have fought beasts' Pef concluded in a rough estimation.

'Damaged knee and hip. Slow.' the glove commented in a disinterested tone.

'Curable, after Awakening?' Pef asked curious.

'Of course. Hmpf. Even limbs would grow back. You didn't think the Legion would be outdone by lizards, did you?'

Pef suspected, but he didn't know. Well, now he knew.

Pef stepped forward and let them man demonstrate some attacks, dodging or blocking them for a minute.

Then he lifted his sword.

"I forfeit!" Major Wu yelled and walked out dejectedly.

Pef waited as his turn would come again.

Major Yuan Peng stepped in, a muscled man with biceps larger than a man's waist.

Pef blinked and scratched his cheek.

'Anchor yourself to the ground, Aspirant. A hit would throw you into the sea' the glove advised him.

Pef tilted his head. As the Major began running with crushing steps toward him, Pef held a hand up, summoning a large ball of water, enough to make the man swim in midair. And slowly drown.

His qi was draining rapidly, but the opponent's air was even less.

Pef gestured to the side, ejected the nearly drowned man outside the arena. Then he waved at Xie as he stepped aside to let the other two contestants duel.

As he circulated his qi to recover, his palace became more solid. The sauna had filled with hot steams, the metal of the stove red-hot.

A rejuvenating energy flowed through Pef, for a minute.

When he opened his eyes, Major Ang Shian was standing undefeated in the middle of the arena, his opponent fainted at his feet.

Pef grinned and ran to take his place.

"Mister Pef, I hope we'll both enjoy this fight" the Major said with a wise voice.

"Guess it's time to show my skills, then" Pef answered with a pleasant smile.

"Amusing the public with tricks, won't work anymore" Major Ang concluded with confidence, his sword firm and posture indomitable.

Pef held his sword to the side, focusing to gain that fleeting moment of sword qi. He only needed a second. Half a second.

The horn blew and both men sped forward. At a meter away, Pef bound his front leg with gravity to the ground, and stepped aside, catching the Major on his descending forearms, and disarming him of the sword.

His own wooden sword exploded into splinters, but a real sword would have chopped the arms of the Major right off.

"Beautiful victory! Technical win, Pef Xi! And a superb demonstration of sword qi, for those you who didn't see it" The Emperor spoke with a loud qi enhanced voice, spreading the news to the spectators.

Pef rotated his elbows and wrists, feeling they had been strained immensely during the short fight.

Emperor Ang Xi then floated above the crowd and down into the arena, noticing Pef had changed position to face the sea.

"Afraid of a small bath, nephew?" the Emperor asked amused.

"Ah, no. This is to keep the public safe. My next attack would kill anyone, of lesser rank" Pef said politely.

"Oh? You still have a hidden card! How delightful. You already showed half of dozen skills" The Emperor said with a magnanimous tone.

"Be strong, Uncle. This might hurt a bit!" Pef yelled as the horn sounded.

Instantly, the sound stopped, the waves froze in the distance, and Pef gently sliced the air with his wooden sword.

The Cutting Skill was weaker than its maximum strength, due to the wooden sword, but it still dented the ornate Sky ranked armor, causing it to bulge inward for two palms, the shock pushing the Emperor far into the sea.

The sounds returned and Pef took off at speed, chasing after the Emperor.

In a second they both crashed a few hundred meters out into the sea, and then a Heavenly Lighting bolt fell from the sky.

Pef kept the Emperor up, and let him take the brunt of the punishment, intended for someone at Sky rank.

He didn't escape completely, and coughed blood and spilled his breakfast remains, while Emperor Ang Xi didn't fare much better.

A few seconds after, a dozen Guard Majors appeared, and fished them both out of the sea, and let them circulate qi and recover a little.

"H-hah, this hurts...But I guess I won..." Pef stuttered as his muscles still trembled from the electricity.

"Y-you're a moron, just like your father. You almost killed me, you imbecile nephew!" the Emperor sobbed and drew a pained breath.

"Still, it was fun right? We should fight again, one day" Pef managed to say before fainting.

The Majors present on the beach almost vomited blood, hearing the brazen youth claim a Heaven Defying skill was fun.

And that he wanted to try it again, on their precious Emperor.

"Come, let's return before people say whatever foolish things" Ang Xi said softly after storing his damaged armor.

His brother had also used a similar skill once, to gain his Emperor rank, but at least that moron was prepared and had a formation over the arena.

His idiot son hid under his Uncle, using him as a lighting rod.

However, the Heavenly energy wasn't all bad. His acupuncture pores had opened en masse, maybe even a dozen of them.

As his body healed, qi rushed in, and slowly pushed his qi rank higher, over half to Tyrant rank.He only needed to tour his thousand wives harem, a few times. Maybe a dozen times.

His moron nephew actually gave him a chance to advance to the next rank. Ang Xi hated having karma debts.

Now, he needed to help the nephew, damn the lunatic idiot!