Xuanhe-Yaoling Contest, Part One

"Welcome, everyone!" Xunahe Wuxin, the king of Xuanhe kingdom, said. "I thank every brave cultivator that accepted to come here today for this international event! Brave ones, you shall now prove your might in this contest, and show to everyone the brightness of our homeland!"

The cultivators of the Xuanhe kingdom, ranging from Qi Building to Core Formation, with the exception of Bai Zisheng, seemed nervous. It was perfectly normal, considering that a powerful Void Ascension cultivator had directly given them such a responsibility. Baotian was even more frightened than the rest, not only because his cultivation was the lowest out of everyone present but also because he could swear that the king had thrown him a few hateful stares.

'Ahh… Me killing one of the kingdom's two geniuses has definitely made him mad'

In the first place, he had only dared to come after being assured that every cultivator at the Nascent Soul realm or above that were implicated had signed a strict spiritual contract guaranteeing his safety outside of the matches.

'He really looks like he's struggling not to squash me right now'

Baotian quickly averted his gaze, not willing to take the risk, instead looking at the other participants while the king listed the rules. The contest would be divided into three rounds: one for Qi Building cultivators, one for Core Formation ones, and one for Nascent Soul's. 

'Hmm, beside me, every participant is late or grand perfection stage'

It was relatively logical: as they were only divided by realms and not stages, it would have been stupid not to send the ones of the highest stage to maximize the chances of winning. As he examined them, Baotian noticed the situation was relatively similar in the opposing side: everyone was either at the late or grand perfection stage with the exception of Hanliang, who was in the early stage of Nascent Soul. If Baotian had to guess, there had been limitations imposed on the level of the Nascent Soul cultivators to avoid too much loss if one of them was to die.

'And yet, the Lands of Yaoling sent their number one talent… Does their king just want to get rid of him because of his reputation or something like this?'

Baotian tried to look in the Spirit Beasts' king's direction but immediately renounced the idea, feeling the pressure he emitted: not only was it stronger than Xuanhe Wuxin's, but it was also filled with an incredible thirst for blood. Not even one directed toward him, but toward the world in general.

'Ahh… let's just avoid looking at a Void Ascension cultivator until I reach Core Formation' he thought.

Then, he reported his attention to his own team, and noticed something strange.

'There is no Nascent Soul cultivator on our side?'

It was strange… but Baotian was not particularly eager to ask the king for clarification, so he just assumed he would arrive later.

And so, the contest began. The first round was that of Qi Building cultivators, and the rules were simple: the first participant of each kingdom would be selected randomly, and they would duel. Once one of them was defeated, either killed or unable to keep fighting, a new participant of the loser's kingdom would be randomly selected. The winner could either choose to keep fighting or forfeit, and the kingdom that still had fighters left at the end would win the round.

"I will now announce the first participants!" the referee, a human cultivator at the Core Formation stage, said. "For the Lands of Yaoling, Ye Mu of the Fox tribe!"

From the side where the Spirit Beasts were standing, a grey fox, whose hair seemed longer than Baotian's arms, walked forward on its four thin legs. He seemed to be a male fox of a certain age, but his gaze was undoubtedly sharper than that of most cultivators of the Qi Building stage, and the pressure he emitted was well into the grand perfection stage. At a glance, Baotian determined that he was definitely among the three strongest of the thirty-three opposing Qi Building cultivators.

"And for the human Kingdom of Xuanhe… Zhang Baotian!"

As every gaze turned to him, the concerned person frowned:

'Ahh… of course he is, with this dogshit luck of mine' he thought.

He could see with a single glance that his 'teammates' did not have the slightest hope in him, some even placing bets on how long he would last before losing. He, of course, did not take offense…

"One thousand spirit stones on my victory" he said, throwing a bag on the table used to place bets, before getting on stage.

As he faced the fox, Ye Mu, he could hear a laughter echo behind him.

"Your comrades do not seem to place much hope into you" Ye Mu said. 

"They're not really my comrades honestly, we merely come from the same kingdom" Baotian replied, shrugging. "Most of them are righteous cultivators, the few demonic cultivators that were accepted are only there because the royal family would not care if they died during the contest"

"How sad for you. I truly hope you will be wise and know to give up during the match, I do not truly want to kill you"

His opponent didn't seem to consider the possibility of losing.

"That is really generous of senior, I too will try not to harm you too much during our fight if I can avoid it" Baotian replied, just as confident.

Then, finally, the referee declared the beginning of the first match:

"May the contest begin, fight!"

Baotian barely had the time to create a blood sword and parry, blocking a single leaf that was directed toward his neck. The leaf, cut in half, missed his vital points but the first half cut a strand of his hair while the second one left a scratch on his cheek. Baotian looked down to see that the leaf had chipped his sword, and then back at the fox, who was now surrounded by dozens of leaves flying around.

"Ah. Damnation"

The leaves around the grey fox span around aggressively as the latter calmly stood among them:

"Please, fellow cultivator Zhang, I do not enjoy fighting and I do not wish to harm you" he said. "Just stand off the stage before I am forced to harm you"

Baotian, shaking his head, took out the Golden Owl Bow:

"I am really grateful for your kindness, senior Ye Mu" he sincerely said. "But if I had given up every time I was in danger, I would not have arrived this far"

He broke off the damaged tip of his blood sword, turning it into an improvised arrow that he fired toward Ye Mu. The latter, redirecting three leaves, successfully cut the trajectory of the projectile without moving a paw, and sighed deeply:

"Very well, fellow Zhang"

The next second, three more leaves flew at full speed toward Baotian but, this time, he was prepared and managed to dodge by gliding in the air, a blood mist under his feet. He attached himself to a new projectile and fired it toward Ye Mu with the Golden Owl Bow, flying toward him with grand perfection stage speed.

Seeing him approach, the fox moved his paws around, firing more of the leaves toward him. With what was left of his initial sword, Baotian deviated the first few ones but soon, the crimson blade shattered and a visible cut appeared on his shoulder. But as more came his way, he created another blood essence weapon, this time a spear, and feigned blocking the leaves with it. But instead, he used a basic wind spell, deviating them just enough with it so that he could dodge by twisting his waist and, instead of using the bow, directly threw the spear at Ye Mu, amplifying his throwing strength with a force control spell.

Surprised by this move, the latter narrowly avoided it, and the distraction allowed Baotian to approach, dragged by a projectile and enveloped in a layer made of blood essence and mud: Shooting Blood Dancing Armor!

Ye Mu blocked the projectile, but could not avoid the armor-clad Baotian, who pummeled into him.

'I got him!' Baotian thought, an air of triumph on his face as he kept striking the fox.

His triumphing expression quickly disappeared as a paw violently hit his head, creating cracks in his armor and nearly knocking him out. 

'That strength… insane! If it wasn't for the armor, my neck would have snapped!' he thought.

Spirit beasts were in fact known for their superior bodies, at the cost of poorer technicity. Seeing Ye Mu's frail body that was more hair than muscle, and the subtlety of his leaf blade spells, Baotian had presumed that that the fox was a special case, with strong points similar to humans. But as he now realized, it was a baseless prejudice!

"Argh…" he exclaimed as sharp fangs cracked his armor around his forearm, blood leaking from it. 

He managed to snap his opponent's jaws open and retract his arm before it became unusable. He then elbowed him in the face but, as he was ready to pummel him again, Ye Mu turned around and slapped his face with his tail, using a force control spell to increase the strength of the blow. Baotian, in pain and blinded, quickly backed down. When his sight returned, he saw that the fox had recreated his defense leaves flying around him: the opening Baotian had painfully created had been wasted.

'Ahh… this guy… is he some kind of genius that is talented in both body and technicity?'

The exchange had lasted less than two minutes, and they had now returned the same positions they were in at the beginning of the match. Both Baotian and Ye Mu were covered in varied injuries, and panting loudly.

"Ahh… I apologize for my earlier offer…" Ye Mu said. "I now see I was… ahh… lacking respect toward an equal"

"No… ahh… offense taken" Baotian replied, smiling weakly.

He had taken risks and used most of his trump cards, including his personal killer move, and it had not paid off, while Ye Mu had not used his own. 

'No… if he was a genius, he would have already broken through to the Core Formation stage' he realized. 'Meaning that he advanced his technicity to a level similar to a human grand perfection stage cultivator through pure effort!'

Baotian wasn't naive enough to think that such a person did not have a killer move hidden in his sleeve, not even mentioning a potential artifact.

'Or should I say in his fur?' he thought, his smile turning bitter.

One thing was sure: even if he did not use any artifact, the one he was currency facing was at the pseudo-Core Formation level.

"Now, let's resume our duel, senior Ye Mu" 

The fox, looking at him, nodded:

"Very well, let's do so"

And thus, the fight resumed.