Cultivation World - Grand Tournament Stadium
"Second match!" the announcer's voice boomed across the arena. "Representing the Golden Phoenix Federation, Huang Wei! Facing the formation master of the Northern Kingdoms, Zhou Lin!"
Huang Wei glided onto the arena floor like liquid fire, her golden robes flowing around her perfect figure as she took her position. Across from her, Zhou Lin appeared far less impressive—a thin, scholarly young man carrying what looked like a briefcase filled with formation discs and spirit stones.
"Begin!" Marcus called out.
Huang Wei immediately burst into flames, her body becoming a living torch as phoenix fire wreathed around her form. "Phoenix Rebirth Flame!" she declared, launching herself forward in a streak of golden fire that left a trail of molten stone in her wake.
Zhou Lin responded by throwing dozens of formation discs into the air around him. "Thousand Layer Defense Array!" The discs activated simultaneously, creating overlapping barriers of qi that formed a complex geometric pattern around his position.
Huang Wei's fire struck the first barrier and exploded in a brilliant display of heat and light. But as each layer absorbed and dissipated her attack, Zhou Lin was already activating his counteroffensive.
"Earth Prison Formation!" he called out, slamming his hands against the ground.
The arena floor around Huang Wei erupted into towering stone walls that closed in from all sides, each one inscribed with binding formations designed to contain her flames. But Huang Wei simply smiled, her body blazing even brighter.
"You cannot cage fire," she said, her voice carrying melodic confidence. "Phoenix Rising!"
Her flames exploded outward with such intensity that the stone walls simply melted, creating a pool of molten rock around her feet. Zhou Lin's formation discs began to crack under the heat, their qi matrices destabilizing as the temperature rose beyond their design limits.
"Yield," Huang Wei said gently as she walked through the cooling lava toward him, her body still wreathed in flames that made the air shimmer. "Your formations are impressive, but fire consumes all things given time."
Zhou Lin raised his arms in surrender as his remaining defenses crumbled. "Winner: Huang Wei of the Golden Phoenix Federation!"
Earth - Tim's Apartment
Tim and Riku sat on his couch, both of them having called in sick to avoid any distractions during the tournament. Riku had shifted to lie down with her head resting in Tim's lap, absently chewing gum while tossing a small rubber ball up toward the ceiling and catching it with lazy precision.
"She's terrifying," Riku observed, watching through Varek's eyes as Huang Wei acknowledged the crowd's cheers. She blew a small bubble with her gum before popping it. "That wasn't just winning—that was a demonstration of absolute superiority."
"The temperature she generated," Tim said thoughtfully, his hand unconsciously moving to stroke her hair as they talked, "that was hot enough to melt formation-grade stone. And she looked like she was barely trying."
Riku caught the ball and held it, tilting her head to look up at him from his lap. "At least I won't have to face her until later rounds. If I make it that far."
"You will," Tim said with quiet confidence, his fingers gentle as they played with strands of her hair. "We will."
Riku smiled at the certainty in his voice, then resumed her lazy ball-tossing routine. "I like this confident version of you," she said, blowing another bubble. "It's very attractive, sensei."
Cultivation World - Grand Tournament Stadium
"Third match!" the announcer declared. "Representing the Diamond Fist Confederation, Tie Gang! Facing the sword cultivator of the Western Deserts, Chen Dao!"
Tie Gang stepped into the arena like an avalanche given human form, his enormous frame casting shadows across the stone floor. Chen Dao appeared almost fragile in comparison—a lean young man with multiple swords strapped to his back, each one humming with different elemental qi.
"Begin!"
Chen Dao immediately drew all six of his swords, each blade blazing with a different element—fire, water, earth, air, lightning, and ice. "Six Element Sword Storm!" he called out, launching into a spinning attack that created a whirlwind of elemental destruction around Tie Gang.
The assault was devastating. Fire clashed with ice in explosions of steam, lightning arced between the water and earth blades, while wind and flame created a tornado of cutting qi that would have shredded most opponents.
Tie Gang stood in the centre of the elemental chaos, his arms crossed as the various sword attacks struck his body directly. The crowd gasped as they watched fire wash over him, lightning strike his chest, and razor-sharp wind qi slice across his exposed skin.
When the storm cleared, Tie Gang stood unchanged. Not a mark on his skin, not even a singed hair on his head.
"My turn," he said simply.
Tie Gang moved forward at a walk—not a charge, not a leap, just a steady, inexorable advance toward his opponent. Chen Dao launched attack after attack, his six swords working in perfect harmony to create barriers of elemental destruction, but nothing slowed the mountain of muscle approaching him.
When Tie Gang reached striking distance, he threw a single punch.
The air exploded. Chen Dao's six swords shattered like glass as the shockwave from Tie Gang's fist passed through them. The young sword cultivator was launched backward nearly a hundred meters, landing in a heap against the arena's protective barriers.
"Winner: Tie Gang of the Diamond Fist Confederation!"
The crowd was silent for a moment, awed by the casual display of overwhelming power, then erupted in cheers mixed with nervous laughter.
Earth - Tim's Apartment
"Okay, that's just unfair," Riku said, shaking her head as they watched Tie Gang walk offstage. The sword cultivator was a broken mess against the arena wall, his bones clearly shattered from the single devastating punch. "Six elemental swords and they didn't even scratch him?"
"Diamond Body cultivation," Tim mused, remembering what Marcus had told them about the confederation's techniques. "He's probably spent years conditioning his skin to be harder than most weapons."
"My saber techniques work by understanding the Dao though," Riku pointed out, her voice carrying unconscious pride as she caught the ball and held it. "Dao cuts can probably penetrate any physical defense."
"Probably," Tim agreed, though his voice carried a note of concern. "But if Varek misses, or if his technique is countered..."
Riku blew another bubble with her gum, letting it pop before tilting her head to look up at Tim with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Then I'll get hit by someone who can shatter swords with his bare hands." She pulled the gum from her mouth, stretching it slightly. "Want some? It's strawberry flavored."
Tim looked down at her with raised eyebrows. "Are you seriously offering me your already-chewed gum?"
"What?" Riku grinned innocently. "We've kissed. This is practically the same thing. Plus, it's really good gum."
Cultivation World - Grand Tournament Stadium
"Fourth match!" came the announcement. "Representing the Crimson Crater Kingdom, Varek of the former Flaming Saber Sect! Facing the poison cultivator of the Southern Swamps, Doku Kei!"
Earth - Tim's Apartment
Riku sat up straight, her hand finding Tim's and squeezing tightly. "This is it," she whispered, her voice tight with nervous energy.
Tim noticed Riku's face become more blank and distant as she focused entirely on the cultivation world, her consciousness shifting fully toward Varek as he stepped onto the arena floor. The familiar confidence radiated from his form despite the magnitude of the moment, and Tim concentrated more on Lia as she looked with worry at Varek in the arena.
Cultivation World - Arena Floor
Varek walked to his position with that characteristic swagger, but his eyes were focused entirely on his opponent. Doku Kei was a thin, pale young man whose green robes seemed to writhe with living patterns. Most unnervingly, his fingernails were black as obsidian, and the air around him carried a sickly sweet scent that made nearby spectators unconsciously lean away.
"Varek!" someone in the crowd shouted. "Show them how the Flaming Saber fights!"
Varek grinned and waved, but his hand never strayed far from his weapon. This wasn't the time for showboating—Doku Kei's reputation for ending fights with a single scratch meant that one mistake could be fatal.
"Begin!"
Doku Kei struck first, his black fingernails extending into claws as he launched himself forward with inhuman speed. "Thousand Poison Claw Strike!" he called out, his hands becoming blurs as he attacked from multiple angles simultaneously.
Each strike left trails of green qi in the air—poison so concentrated it was visible to the naked eye. Where his claws passed, the stone floor began to hiss and bubble, the ancient rock dissolving under the corrosive effect.
But Varek was already moving, his extensive combat experience allowed him to dodge attacks he couldn't even see. His understanding of the Dao of Light while still in its lower ranks allowed him to feel the truth behind each attack, allowing him to perceive many feints.
Instead of drawing his saber, Varek flowed between the poison strikes like water, each dodge perfectly timed to avoid the deadly claws by mere millimeters. To the crowd, it looked like an elaborate dance—death and grace moving in perfect harmony as neither opponent could touch the other.
"Impressive dodging," Doku Kei hissed, his voice carrying the sibilant quality of serpents. "But you cannot avoid me forever!"
"Who says I'm avoiding you?" Varek replied with a grin that was all confidence and sharp edges.
Doku Kei's eyes widened at Varek's response, confusion flickering across his pale features as he continued his relentless assault. His poison claws struck again and again, each swipe leaving corrosive trails in the air that made the arena floor bubble and hiss.
"What do you mean?" Doku Kei demanded, pressing his attack harder. His black fingernails extended even further, becoming foot-long talons dripping with concentrated venom. "Stand still and fight!"
Varek continued his flowing evasion, but now there was something different in his movement pattern. Instead of random dodging, he was gradually guiding Doku Kei's attacks, drawing him into increasingly aggressive strikes that overextended his reach.
"I'm not avoiding your attacks," Varek said calmly, sidestepping another claw swipe that left a smoking furrow in the stone. "I'm studying them. Learning the rhythm. Finding the perfect moment."
Doku Kei snarled in frustration, pouring more qi into his technique. "Poison Dragon's Fury!" Both hands became writhing masses of extending claws, striking from every conceivable angle in a final desperate assault.
That's when Varek moved.
His saber appeared in his hand, the blade seemed to move slow as his understanding of the Dao of the Saber guided its path. In a single, perfect motion that lasted less than a heartbeat but seemed much longer, he stepped inside Doku Kei's guard and swept his weapon up vertically.
The cut was so precise, so perfectly timed, that for a moment nothing seemed to happen.
Then all ten of Doku Kei's black fingernails and fingertips fell to the arena floor with soft clicking sounds, severed cleanly at the base.
Doku Kei stared at his hands in shock, then at the fingernails and tips scattered around his feet. Without his fingers he no longer stood and chance.
"Yield," Varek said quietly, his saber already sheathed. "You fought well, but the moment you overcommitted to that final attack, the fight was over."
Doku Kei looked at his powerless hands, then at Varek's confident stance, and slowly raised his arms in surrender.
"Winner: Varek of the Crimson Crater Kingdom!"
The crowd erupted in cheers as Varek lived up to his name and gained the Crimson Kingdom their first win.
Earth - Tim's Apartment
The moment Varek's victory was announced, Tim let out a whoop of celebration that would have been completely out of character for his old self. He grabbed Riku around the waist and lifted her off the couch, spinning her around his living room as she laughed in delight.
"That was incredible!" Tim said, his face bright with pride as he set her down but kept his arms around her. "The way you read his attack pattern, the timing on that cut—Riku, that was absolutely brilliant!"
Riku beamed up at him, her cheeks flushed with excitement and the afterglow of victory. "Did you see how perfectly the saber moved? I could see exactly where the cut needed to be made. The Dao comprehension makes everything so clear!"
"One cut," Tim marveled, his hands moving to cup her face as his eyes shone with admiration. "You defeated a poison cultivator with a single perfect cut. That was awesome!"
Tim pulled her into a fierce kiss, pouring all his pride and excitement into the connection. When they broke apart, both were breathing heavily.
"You were amazing," he said softly against her lips. "Absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of you."
Riku's smile was radiant as she looked up at him. "We make a pretty good team, don't we? Both worlds, all our crazy selves."
"The best team," Tim agreed, spinning her around once more just because he could. "My brilliant, dangerous, sword-wielding girlfriend who can cut through anything."
At the word 'girlfriend,' Riku's smile became even brighter, a soft warmth spreading across her features. She didn't comment on his slip-up, just let herself enjoy the happiness that bloomed in her chest at hearing him claim her.