Liang Song blanched. “An Imperial Inquisitor here? How? Dongfang Hong had done everything he could to avoid the gaze of the imperial...” The man paled and shook his head. “And I dare not say a word.”

Jidihu flashed a bleak smile. “Come now, Little Liang. No matter how good your former master’s preparations, there are certain bells not even he can unring.”

Liang Song’s eyes widened. He slowly pulled out a talisman of Gold. He locked gazes with Hao Chan. “I would challenge you, but you could refuse it. Couldn’t you?” He turned to catch Alex’s glare, Linzi’s smirk. “All three of you could.”

“Silence!” Jidihu hissed. “Dongfang Hong is speaking!”

“Observers and contestants! Welcome to what will be the final match of the one hundred and seventeenth annual Royal Phoenix Competition, where the true elites among all of CuiJing Province and her neighboring territories will be found! As you already know, all the contestants that have made it to this day will be feted with prizes and accolades worthy of their accomplishments, and all of them are more than welcome to stay on as esteemed students and instructors of this, the greatest academy in all of CuiJing Province!”

Alex grit his teeth at the bastard’s melodious voice, a soothing baritone that spoke of warmth and good humor, with a presence that compelled feelings of deference and profound respect. At least if one didn’t know better. For a man like that to show his favor to supplicants in awe of his majesty… Alex hated to say it, but he could easily see how most would be honored to serve, and feel a deep and abiding love for their prince.

Especially if they couldn’t sense the rot behind his almost fatherly smile.

“Unfortunately, one of our earlier contestants has been disqualified. As this is the final day of the trials and it would be grossly unfair to ask any of our champions to fight more battles than any other in this, our final our, our final match of the day will include all of our remaining contestants!”

Alex stiffened, eyes widening with outrage. “If that bastard dares call me disqualified...”

Panheu chuckled softly. “It’s not you he seeks to keep from fighting on, disciple.”

Alex furrowed his brow. “But why wouldn’t he? He clearly despises...” Alex froze at the look his mentor was giving him, instantly understanding. “Of course. His blather about fairness was clearly bullshit. He’s had no problem with anyone who fell out of favor with him fighting back-to-back matches, let alone the same number of matches for a given ranking, since this farce of a competition started. He doesn’t want me disqualified. He wants me dead.”

“Correct,” Jidihu said with a sigh, giving a frustrated shake of her head as her hands waved a handful of inked cloth receipts. “And the smirk the money changers gave me, refusing to honor a thousand spirit pearls worth of bets… had it not been so imperative that we keep cover, he and his clerks would already be a past tense.”

Liang Song gave a fatalistic nod. “Of course he would immediately seek to smear your name, disvalidate your wagers, and isolate your disciple in a single move, master. Divide and conquer was always his favorite military doctrine. And now all the pieces left on the board are his own, save for Alex himself.”

Jidihu flashed a smile that chilled even Alex to see as she tapped the tip of her exquisitely sensitive nose. “Rest assured, Liang. Should those fools refuse to honor our wagers after this final match… they will find the price they pay far steeper than whatever favor they hoped to gain with the Red Prince.”

Alex turned back to Dongfang Hong as he finished his speech. “...Of course our champions are free to make whatever alliances they like, or come to whatever accords they deem fair in their pursuit of glory and prestige. For Gold Titans are far more than simple warriors of the battlefield. All too often, the fate of cities, provinces, even entire nations rests squarely on their shoulder. Thus, the arts of tactics, diplomacy, and negotiation become every bit as important as their individual prowess on the battlefield!”

He flashed a patronizing smile at the crowd entire. “And I think it only fair, before our final battle, that you all glimpse once more the prizes that our champions of the ring will be risking it all for.”

With a flourish of his hand, the hard-eyed men flanking the Red Prince’s throne in the stands revealed prizes on silken cushions that left Alex both slack-jawed with awe, and chilled to the quick.

Awed because the treasures, including piles of spirit pearls, elixirs radiating fearsome spiritual energies, and multiple gold tier artifacts, such as a guandao crackling with the essence of lightning and a fangtian ji whose half-moon axe-heads radiated the essence of sharpness so intently Alex could feel it even from here, truly were some of the most exquisite artifact he had ever seen, or heard of. Yet what left him truly breathless was the sight of an actual Jade tier treasure, along with half a dozen Gold tier cultivation tomes. The treasure Long Wang himself had promised, should Alex make it to Baidushi in time.

The prince favored the gasps and sharp murmurs from the crowd as he spoke on.

“For all that our contenders are expected to fight with absolute conviction, all those who triumph in this final contest will be permitted to leave with at least one of the prizes you have seen! And for those who wish a different boon, they have but to ask! Should titles, glory, and an opportunity to serve as an elite soldier of my forces be what our champions desire, then that boon too shall be theirs! A boon that I shall happily offer every Gold that stood with pride upon the arena sands these past three days... and any Gold in the crowd below that would dare embrace the glory of righteous conquest and march by our side!”

It was for those words that Alex dared this ring, for all that the crowd of sycophants deafened them all with their cheers. For Dongfang Hong was now doing nothing to hide his true purpose and motivation, or hiding the fact that he would happily poach the golden elites of an entire kingdom to switch allegiances and march under YanTu’s banner, even as he dared to claim an entire province of ZhengTu nation.

Yet no matter how captivating Dongfang Hong’s honey-laden baritone voice might be, there was no mistake the smirking malice in the ring announcer’s voice when he caught Alex’s gaze after Jidihu led him back down to the arena sands once more. Malice perfectly matched by the pair of cultivators glaring so intently at the silver-haired youth now among them. And Alex couldn’t help but flash an equally wicked smile right back. Because he knew there was only one way this fight could end, and they knew he knew it as well.

“You’re Brave, Ruidian, I’ll give you that. But you’re a fool if you think you’ll be permitted any of the prizes above. You face true masters of the elements now, filth. Not bumbling idiots who can do nothing more than swing their fists!” sneered a wujen with the pinch-faced countenance of a Yidushian noble, wearing tight fitting silks and surrounded by a howling storm of Water and Wind.

His sneer turned to a look of absolute disdain when Alex refused to flinch or cower before him. “And still you stare, as if you were our equal!?” The Water and Wind using cultivator turned to a hot-eyed Fu Lan floating by his side, the cultivator Alex was determined to put down like a rabid dog, no matter what else happened this match.

“This piece of trash must be put in his place!”

Fu Lan glared at Alex with unmitigated hate, before laughing like the psychopath he was. “We’re those your friends I burned, Ruidian filth? Fools who dared stand against the righteous might of our headmaster and lord? More importantly, do you actually think you have a chance against someone like me, a true Gold, while you’re nothing more than a land-bound Silver?” The man snorted his contempt. “Don’t worry, fool. You’ll get your wish. Even if you’ll spend the rest of your life regretting it… short as your life will be!”

But Alex was no longer paying attention to the psychopath's declarations, all his focus now on the cultivator who had entered the same gate Alex himself had.

He braced himself for an immediate three-way assault, but the newest arrival didn’t hide his contempt for the pair of floating wujen, glaring at the pair on the far side of the ring before meeting Alex’s gaze, his hands flashing. “Lord Dongfang Hong made it clear we were free to set up teams, and split the rewards. So I propose we work together. You distract them, I will strike from behind. Survivors split the prizes. Are we agreed?”

Alex flashed a bleak smile as he took in the handsome mixed blood that could so easily pass for Ruidian himself that just happened to have emerged from the same gate he had. The cultivator lacked any epicanthic folds to his light brown eyes, his dirty blond hair showcasing fiery highlights. But the quality of the fine silk cultivator’s robes he wore, swirling with multiple deep Silver enchantments, was unmistakable. And the jeweled rings upon his fingers were nothing short of exquisite, each of them crackling with spiritual fires of their own.

Alex swallowed, sensing true peril here in the smiling countenance gazing at him with almost brotherly concern. Two lost Ruidian cultivators doing all they could to prosper in a world where everyone else seemed dead set on killing them.

And the man actually knew handsign, which implied JiangHu contacts at the very least.

Alex smiled, ignoring his instincts screaming at him, having sensed how carefully the hand phrases had been put together in a place and time where any declaration had the weight of oath, an entire cultivation base the price of violating pacts forged now.

But if there was even the slightest chance his offer might be genuine...

“It’s smart tactics for us to try to take our enemies unawares!” Alex agreed aloud, the melodious words on an elite dialect flowing across his tongue.

His would-be partner flashed a relieved smile. “Indeed it is, kung fu brother. I’m glad you understand that. You may call me Hanz Qiang.”

“Please, call me Alex. It’s nice to meet someone going by a Ruidian name,” he said, ignoring the bitter clench in his gut, already knowing what his first move had to be when he looked up and spotted the satisfied smirk from the wujen hovering twenty feet in the air by Fu Lan’s side, standing upon a cloud of fine watery mist that Alex sensed would block a surprising amount of damage all by itself.

Qi Perception check made!

You have successfully placed one gate warded against all intrusion (including yourself, or so you hope!) Precisely fifty feet away from you. This barrier is impermeable to everything save light and sound!

Alex didn’t bother looking his would-be partner’s way, both of them having said what needed saying. Anything more would be utterly counterproductive. All his attention was now on the fire cultivator whose hands were even now coalescing an orb of fire that was pulsating as the wujen forced more and more Fire Qi into it, until the brooding red flame had turned to a brilliant fiery gold plasma, at which point Fu Lan smirked and slowly ascended a good thirty feet upon boots that perfectly matched what Dongfang Hong’s elite Silver tier troops wore.

Artificer enhanced Perception check made!

Alex’s eyes widened in genuine dismay, now sensing that the supposed Water and Wind cultivator was anything but. It was his boots that was generating the misty cloud of air. He was almost sure of it. And the hard, almost serpentine look in the man’s gaze, eyes lit with inner fire all their own… made it clear just how perilous Alex’s situation truly was.

He stole a glance up at the grandest seats in the stadium, seeing the look of a master chess player about to take is enemy completely unawares on Dongfang Hong’s smug features.

Alex quickly looked away, his worse fears confirmed.

And the ring announcer thought nothing of giving the Red Prince’s lackeys all the time they needed to prepare a deadly killing spell before the match had even begun, though the smirk he sent Alex’s way spoke volumes.

All those present were gazing at Alex with the bemused contempt of cultivators who had the privilege of watching all his fights, oozing the confidence of men who had already analyzed their prey.

They knew how he fought. Always allowing his opponents to strike first, fighting defensively until he finally had the measure of his foes, only then wearing them down. Sometimes relatively quickly, and sometimes, such as against the Deep Gold Titan blessed by fortuitous encounters, far closer to half a glass of desperate combat than not.

They had probably already deduced that he was fairly good at dodging a fair number of attacks being sent his way, especially if he could sense his foe coming.

Of course Alex had no way of knowing any of this for certain. But with the way the experienced Golds, Dongfang Hong, and the announcer were gazing at him, like old hands carefully analyzing a mark, Alex had no doubt it was true.

And even if it wasn’t…

Well, good thing that memories of a dear friend and his apothecary lessons had inspired him to make best use of his biochemical mastery back on day one. Because even the humblest of alchemical concoctions could shine at the right place and time, even when fighting against Golds.

“Are all of you ready? Excellent! Let the final round begin!”

The air abruptly flashed with a beam of plasma searing through the air with blinding intensity. The exact mirror of the plasma blast that had once been Li Jaw-Long’s own.

A heartbeat later there was a surprised scream, and a thick puff of smoke.

Smoke blown away by a massive burst of plasma. The exact mirror of the stream that had been deflected off a barrier dividing the arena none of them could yet see, right before the far third of the area blazed with a storm of fire. A blazing maelstrom that was stopped cold by Alex’s barrier, trapping the heat and flame just a few dozen feet from the wujen that had thought to make short work of Alex.

Yet it hadn’t stopped the stream of plasma that had cut through the smoke from Alex’s own side.

A stream of death unleashed by Alex’s would-be partner.

A scowling Hanz glared at the thick black smoke that his own stream had blazed through, before turning his head to lock gazes with Fu Lan. “Where the hell is he!? An apothecary smoke bomb should be no defense from our Gold tier killing arts! He should be dead!”

But a bug eyed Fu Lan was jabbing right at Hanz.

Hanz, who was the farthest thing, obviously, from a wild Ruidian cultivator in desperate need for a friend, froze in sudden understanding, spinning around while screaming a quick furious chant.

But it was already too late, a snarling Alex Bullrushing back down from considerable height right above his foe’s head, the one place Hanz hadn’t thought to look, before lashing out with all the fury of the storm, his fangtian ji cleaving right through his treacherous would-be ally in an explosion of lightning and gore. To be fair, his target was the golden collar radiating retributive enchantments Alex successfully cleaved through. Of course, to do that, he had to cleave through his opponent’s neck as well.

Golden Swan enhanced Spell Cleave modified by Storm Strike successfully ruptures multiple Silver Tier protective wards!

“That bastard cut down Qiang!” Fu Lan’s partner cried, his gaze one of horrified dismay as a now blood-soaked Alex kicked aside Hanz Qiang’s still frantically blinking head before readying himself for what came next.

“So we end this now! He cannot hope to parry our true might, no matter his tricks! Strike him dead with God’s Fire now!” Fu Lan roared, eyes locking on Alex from the other side of the ring with a furious snarl, his voice carrying perfectly well through the barrier Alex had raised. He was playing at being a weaker fire mage no longer, not bothering with fiery torments when obliterating plasma could instead deliver instant death as he unleashed a white-hot bolt of light that had once vaporized half of Alex’s body and still filled him with terror to this day.

So much so that Alex didn’t hesitate to cloak himself in smoke once more, even as the pair of beams from both Wujen’s attacks were perfectly deflected yet again. Because when fear and confusion took over in the battlefield, fury and just trying to power through uncertain resistance was perhaps the most instinctive reaction of all. Even for Golds. Especially for Golds who had never before had any reason to think that any foe would be able to counter an actual Gold tier Wujen Spell.

But Alex was already Bullrushing far above the impermeable gate dividing the arena in half… before pummeling straight down upon the second plasma-wielding wujen.

Bullrush chained 4 times! You have gained 320 feet of altitude!

You have embraced Stormflight! You are charging straight down to your foe! You have encased your legs in Dark Qi at additional cost!

Adderstrike transformed to Phoenix Strike!

Save versus oblivion made!

Temporary invulnerability at moment of impact achieved!

You have obliterated your opponent!

And how differently things might have gone had the Gold thought to look up just a second earlier than he did, his arm already arcing upward like the deadliest of lazers, eager to cut Alex in half.

An eyeblink before his skull exploded beneath a Dark Qi covered heel in an explosion of blood and brain.

For a heartbeat, Alex felt nothing but blinding white pain as the entire half of the arena erupted in retributive fire from the golden collar around the man’s neck.

Fire which his bloodlines and Qi Absorption now allowed him to absorb so much potency from, embracing that furious moment he claimed the potency of his foe as his enemy was sent hurtling into the River of Souls. His hope was that it would be at least as disorienting to Fu Lan as it was damaging to Alex, buying him that precious split second that might mean the difference between life and death.

And he was already leaping high once more, taking full advantage of his invulnerability on impact and dragon blood to mute so much of the titanic fireball that was the second Wujen being flash obliterated, choking back an agonized howl as so much flesh still charred to the bone was still power-healed in record time, thanks to the storm of potency now flooding his soul in the moment he had made his kill.

Now there was only one opponent left for Alex to face before the final battle, for all that the air was filled with screams of pain and dismay as the school’s own wardings were ruptured by beams of plasma that had cleaved multiple viewers in half, Silver tier wards all that prevented the fearsome generated heat from turning a handful of tragedies into scores or hundreds. Anyone who had failed to achieve Bronze would have been cooked by the heat in very short order.

As it was, the air was filled with smoke and fire, and had Alex not had the blood of dragons boiling in his veins he would be screaming with pain, even as Eternal Fox regenerated his burns.

Now all that was left was the final killer, the man responsible for burning Lord and Lady Xu alive, eager to punish them as much as kill them. He alone was still standing, for all that he coughed in the soot-filled air despite his Gold tier rank, trying to squint through the smoke and flames. A wicked smile coming across his soot-stained features when he sighted his target once more.

Alex smiled, giving the man a mocking wave after having once more divided the arena in half, he and Fu Lan on opposite sides once more. Only this time, he had taken an additional step, determined to make absolutely sure that his foe locked eyes with him at an exact 90 degree angle to his pristine ward that he himself dared not touch.

“Hanz Qiang! Lu Jaw! Report!”

Alex felt his heart start to race as he smiled at his opponent through the haze and smoke.

“Sorry, Fu Lan. Neither of those fools will be reporting to you, ever again.”

Fu Lan’s eyes widened in furious dismay, locking on to Alex’s smiling form, never mind the clothes smoldering on his frame, then regenerating a second later. “You killed them? You? A pathetic Ruidian monkey? Impossible!”

Alex smirked. “Who are you calling a Ruidian? For all you know, I’m nobility. Like you,” he said. A shot in the dark. “Like Hanz Qiang,” he continued, more certain of that than ever.

Fu Lan’s face twisted in a snarl. “You killed Lord Qiang!”

Alex nodded. “That I did. The fool actually thought he could gain my trust. So of course I had to kill him first.”

“You will pay for that, maggot!” Fu Lan roared, trembling with fury as he jutted out his palm, filling the air with impossibly hot plasma.

Doing exactly what Alex had hoped he would.

Before shrieking in pain just an eyeblink later, cutting out his plasma stream when the Silver tier wards around his own body crackled and popped, white-hot light carving a smoking hole in his own thigh.

Before coughing on the sudden surge of smoke. The barrier that had been holding back the heat, smoke, and flame was now no more.

“My leg!” He screamed at the ruined limb spurting superheated blood, desperately clutching it with his hands, before his gaze snapped up to lock with Alex’s own, eyes widening with horror when he caught sight of the shark-tooth dao crackling with darkness, lightning, and killing intent.

“I submi—“

BLACKSWAN!

You have successfully cleaved through multiple spell wards and retributive strikes!

You have successfully decapitated Gold Tier wujen!

Experience earned!

Alex held back a tremble, stumbling over his opponent’s headless corpse drenching the hot sands in hotter blood as post battle shakes rocked through him. Knees going weak, he nearly fell to the ground despite his extreme strength. A gesture he soon turned to the ruthless and ever practical looting of his enemy’s headless body that seemed to be every cultivator’s right, claiming storage ring and belt pouch. Because why wouldn’t a Gold tier elite soldier have multiple storage rings holding a fortune in gold, platinum, spirit pearls and exotic treasures?

Alex choked back a grimace, heart still hammering, knowing better than anyone just how close he had played it. But he had seen the horrific results of not one but multiple Gold tier masters of flame equipped with the deadliest spell Alex had ever seen hungry for his head, willing to fight in perfect unison because no doubt they were, or had been, Dongfang Hong’s ultimate trump card. Killers capable of firing the equivalent of a plasma beam and mow down and slaughter countless opponents. Anyone without access to wards on the cusp of Jade, frankly.

Barriers Alex had only dared put up twenty or more feet away from himself. Wards that had refused all entrance to his opponents attacks. Yet no absorption at all had been in effect. Only reflection, this time around.

White-hot beams that had carved at least a handful of unlucky patrons free of their mortal coil.

And the shock of being struck by his own plasma beam had been enough to distract Fu Lan for that one priceless second needed to collapse a gate, Bullrush, and strike.

Giving his foe just enough time to inhale and scream for mercy… before his voice was cut off right before any quarter could be asked for or would ever be given.

Alex might have taken out three Gold tier wujen in record time… but his final target had done a smashing job of helping him out by crippling and distracting himself. Because folly as well as fortune were the provinces of the battlefield, and the fox as well. Equally humbling, Alex was pretty sure the tale might have ended on a far grimmer note, had he not had access to one of his old master’s most basic tricks to help even the most humble of JiangHu associates.

Because what worked better with Bullrush than smoke grenades? Especially when he wasn’t darting to the side, but blinking straight up. And even if the distant pair of wujen had been able to track him, the massive shimmering barrier he had up had prevented them from doing anything about it. And his supposed ‘partner,’ who of course had been setting him up, had been too close and Alex too fast for the man to track, which would have required Hanz jerking his head straight up.

Before Alex had blinked behind the man still scowling at the smoke, just an eyeblink later.

Then a single cut with ward-rupturing blade and Gold tier strength, and it was over. The first of three golden kills.

In less than a minute’s time.