The arena floor vibrated even before the fight was begun.
Gao Ming remained centered, rotating his shoulders, the massive size of his frame creating minute waves of unease through the crowd. His naked fists radiated a faint, inner light as his Seismic Qi began to vibrate, a low throb resonating beneath the earth like the warning growl of an approaching earthquake.
Standing across from him, Bai Xuan closed her eyes, inhaled. The air around her stirred. Pebbles floated up from beneath the cracked stone ground beneath her boots, tracing a deliberate circular motion around her. Her Telekinetic Qi was unseen, but all felt its pressure on the air.
The referee waved his hand. The crowd was quiet, held their breath in unison.
"Begin!"
No sooner did the signal drop than the ground ripped open.
Gao Ming plunged forward, the earth shattering under his heel as he sprang, a great cracking punch blazing through the air and striking Bai Xuan.
Air between them rippled. His fist crashed into an invisible wall with a crack of splintering glass, shock waves rippling across the arena. Bai Xuan's eyes snapped open, her hands rose slightly as her Qi created the wall of condensed energy.
Gao Ming grinned. "Not bad."
Without hesitation, he drove his other fist into the ground. An earthquake shock burst outward, stone slabs shattering as the quake vibrated like a ripple.
Bai Xuan leaped, her shape sent flying by a robust telekinetic shove. Dust burst beneath her as the quake consumed the floor.
She outstretched from above. The debris Gao Ming had torn loose shot upward with her voice—pieces of stone whirling like bullets.
With a flick of her arm, she hurled them to the ground.
The gust howled as the salvo spilled toward Gao Ming.
But the third-year didn't move. His legs exploded open, the Qi flowing through his arms. He spun up, a shockwave quivering from his fist. The energy burst in mid-air, dissolving the flying stones into dust before they could land on him.
The crowd applauded at the spectacle, half cheering Gao Ming's raw force, half stunned by Bai Xuan's relentless initial assault.
"Classic Gao Ming—straight on, all the way!" someone shouted.
"And Bai Xuan not backing down!" another bellowed.
Bai Xuan floated down elegantly, her telekinesis breaking her fall. She moved forward, her hands stretched out as if pulling on strings. The shattered dirt surrounding Gao Ming trembled—then great wedges of splintered stone shot upwards, hovering menacingly.
She clenched her fist.
The slabs shot inward like jaws of teeth-shattering power.
"Come on then!" roared Gao Ming.
He spun, both arms flashing out in a deadly arc. His Seismic Qi burst outward in every direction, a shockwave of energy blasting. The stone slabs shattered in mid-air, spraying fragments out.
But Bai Xuan was already upon them. She plunged forward, her Qi driving her, and with a sweep she swept the shards themselves, spinning them into a death storm that whirled Gao Ming around like a blade hurricane.
"Is that all?" spat Gao Ming.
He dropped himself, striking both fists on the ground.
The stadium was a roar as the earth ripped, a red-shuddering shockwave breaking out. The shredded debris flew away like leaves in a typhoon, dust and stone erupting into the air.
Half-strangled on the smoke, half-screaming with fear, the crowd leapt to its feet.
When the dust cleared, Gao Ming stood still, his chest panting, his arms vibrating with the pulse of his Qi. Bai Xuan took several paces back, her shield trembling feebly about her.
Her lips tightened. She had expected nothing less.
The fight continued.
All the fights were more boisterous, more rapid, more forceful. Gao Ming's fists crashed with earthquake-like explosions, his every punch excavating craters in the ground. The arena shuddered at every step he took, his untrammeled brute force unstoppable in its thrust.
Bai Xuan responded with precision. Invisible arms wrapped around detritus, batted shockwaves aside, and returned them. Her telekinesis twisted the very air to her will—shattered ceramic was employed as projectiles, clouds of dust were used as concealment, and Gao Ming's own shakes were twisted into weapons against him.
Gao Ming had once swooped a hammerfist down on her. Bai Xuan had arrested it in midair—not with her hands, but with her Qi. The ground in front of her feet had cracked with the tensile strain, her teeth clenched because she had held him immobilized for a moment.
"Incredible," growled Gao Ming. Then he screamed battle and poured more power into his strike. His grip of nothing snapped, and his fist punched a crater in the ground where she had stood.
She'd already blown herself back from the flames, sliding down the arena floor on her feet, breath short but eyes ablaze with fury.
The clock ticked off minutes, though to cheering crowds it would have seemed seconds. Both fighters were testing the limits of their power.
Gao Ming gasped, sweat glistening on his body. His knuckles were bruised from the impact of his own seismic shots.
Bai Xuan was gasping for breath, her face twisted white as blood dripped from her nose. Sustaining her telekinesis against such raw strength was consuming her.
Neither of them faltered.
They again met in the middle of the arena. Gao Ming rushed forward, fist balled up, the earth cracking at every stride. Bai Xuan pushed both hands forward, her Qi aggregating into a glowing wall, thicker than it had been.
The impact was catastrophic.
The barrier shattered like glass. Gao Ming's fist forced through, inch by inch, his bellow shaking the arena. Bai Xuan shrieked, her telekinesis straining to reinforce the barrier.
For a moment, the world stood still—brutal strength against immaterial will, both sides tensing to shatter the other.
Then—
The barrier exploded.
But first, Bai Xuan deflected the power. Gao Ming's fist sailed by, thudding into the ground and tearing a jagged gash in the arena floor.
Bai Xuan seized the moment. Every loose chunk of stone leapt up together, hundreds of fragments merging into a titanic sphere of debris hovering above her head. With a bellow, she hurled it down at Gao Ming like a falling star.
The crowd gasped.
Gao Ming did not flinch.
His fists were a brilliant white, his body shuddering with Seismic Qi. He swung upward.
The meteor detonated.
The concussion of rock and energy enveloped the arena, shockwaves rattling the stands. Heads were shielded, dust on the air.
When the smoke had finally cleared—
Gao Ming remained standing. His knees bent, his fists relaxing, chest puffing.
Bai Xuan was down on one knee, blood oozing from her lip and nose, her hands quivering with her telekinesis struggling weakly.
The referee gazed at them, waiting, wavering.
Gao Ming rose slowly, his shadow looming in the billowing smoke. He took one slow pace towards her, fists tightened.
Bai Xuan tried to rise, but her legs buckled under her. The last remnants of her Qi collapsed, and the pieces she had displaced fell in a futile pile on the ground.
The referee raised his hand.
"Winner—Gao Ming!"
The arena was a cacophony of sound, shaking the foundations to its core.
Some yelled his name, others cried for Bai Xuan in dismay, but none could argue the spectacle that had just been seen.
Gao Ming panted, dropping his fists, with sweat flowing freely. He glanced once at Bai Xuan, who smiled weakly, with a look of agony even as she lost.
"You're strong."
"So are you," he responded, facing the crowd, holding his fist aloft.
The stadium erupted in his name.
And in the stands, Lian watched quietly, a shiver running down his spine. That's the calibre I have to deal with next…