Dawn over The Convergence was not a gentle awakening but a sudden, brilliant ignition. The energy veins connecting to Nexus Peak flared with renewed intensity, casting the city in a kaleidoscope of shifting light. The spiritual cacophony of the previous day had not lessened, but Li Yao found his void essence had adapted, turning the overwhelming noise into a manageable background hum. His "Warding Emptiness" was learning to be more selective, like a gate that only opened for direct threats.
His jade token, warm in his hand, pulsed with a soft light, projecting a shimmering arrow that pointed towards one of the dozens of arena complexes dotting the city's outer districts. Liu Mei's token led her to a different arena, as did Jian's. The preliminaries were designed to scatter disciples from the same sect, testing individual merit over collective strength.
Li Yao's assigned arena was a colossal, open-air structure carved from a single, massive block of white marble veined with gold. It hummed with a potent stabilization formation, ensuring that the battles within would not reduce the city to rubble. The stands were already filling with spectators—lesser disciples, merchants, and independent cultivators here to witness the rise of new talents or the fall of old names.
He found the contestant's waiting area, a stark antechamber beneath the stands. Dozens of cultivators were already there, cycling their energy, sharpening their weapons, or engaging in silent intimidation. Their auras were a riot of colors and pressures—the fiery blaze of the Azure Flame, the watery flow of the Celestial River, the sharp glint of lone sword cultivators like Jian.
Li Yao, in his simple Verdant Mountain robes, drew little attention at first. He was a grey rock in a bed of jewels. He found a quiet corner and sat, not to meditate, but to observe. He watched the way energy coiled around a disciple practicing flame-whips, how it pooled at the feet of another gathering earth energy. He was studying the "ripples" they created, the unique signatures of their laws.
A loud gong reverberated through the complex, silencing the murmurs.
"The first round begins!" boomed the voice of an arena master, amplified by formation. "Combatants, heed the call of your tokens! First match: Li Yao of Verdant Mountain Sect versus Feng Lie of the Azure Flame Sect!"
A few heads turned in Li Yao's direction, some with pity. The Azure Flame Sect was known for its aggressive, overwhelming offensive power. A disciple from a defensive Earth-aligned sect like Verdant Mountain was at a severe disadvantage.
Feng Lie was already in the center of the sandy arena when Li Yao walked out. He was a tall, muscular youth with red-tipped hair, his robes emblazoned with a roaring flame. His aura was a visible heat-shimmer around him, and he cracked his knuckles, a confident smirk on his face.
"A dirt-grubber?" Feng Lie laughed, his voice echoing in the arena. "This will be a quick warm-up. Don't worry, I'll make it painless."
Li Yao simply took his position opposite him and bowed, as was customary. "I look forward to your instruction, Brother Feng."
The arena master's hand fell. "Begin!"
Feng Lie didn't bother with试探 (testing). He exploded into motion, his body becoming a blur of flame. He crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat, his fist wreathed in a roaring fireball aimed directly at Li Yao's chest. "Searing Fist!"
The crowd murmured. It was a brutal, straightforward opening meant to end the fight instantly.
Li Yao didn't move. He didn't block. He breathed out, and the three-foot sphere of his Warding Emptiness solidified around him.
Feng Lie's fist, and the roaring fireball around it, entered that sphere.
The result was anticlimactic and utterly bewildering.
The fireball didn't explode. It didn't even sputter. It simply vanished, as if it had never existed. Feng Lie's fist connected with Li Yao's chest, but the sound was a dull, powerless thud. The fierce, fiery aura around Feng Lie's entire body guttered out the moment he crossed the threshold. He was left standing, his fist pressed against Li Yao's robe, his face a perfect mask of stunned confusion. He felt... ordinary. The connection to the Fire Law he had cultivated since childhood was just... gone.
Li Yao looked down at the fist on his chest, then back up at Feng Lie's bewildered face. "An impressive charge," he commented. "Very dynamic."
Feng Lie stumbled back, staring at his own hands. He tried to summon his energy again. A flicker of flame appeared around his fingertips, then died immediately. Panic set in. "What did you do to me?!" he shrieked.
"I am standing here," Li Yao said calmly.
Enraged and terrified, Feng Lie charged again, this time relying on pure physical strength. He threw a wild punch.
Li Yao didn't nullify this one. There was no energy to nullify. He simply shifted his weight, letting the punch slide past his shoulder. Using the man's own momentum, he guided him gently past, and with a subtle nudge to his back, sent him stumbling face-first into the sand.
The arena was dead silent.
Feng Lie pushed himself up, spitting out sand, his face a blotchy red of humiliation and fear. He tried once more to summon his flames, failed, and looked at the arena master, his eyes pleading.
The arena master, a stoic elder from the Primordial Convergence Sect, watched with keen interest. He had seen many strange techniques, but never one that simply... turned a cultivator into a mortal for the duration of a fight.
"Winner: Li Yao of Verdant Mountain Sect," he announced, his voice echoing in the silence.
There was no applause, only a confused buzzing from the stands. It wasn't a victory of skill or power. It was a victory of... absence.
Li Yao bowed to the defeated Feng Lie, who was still frantically checking his dantian, and then to the arena master. As he walked back towards the exit, he could feel dozens of eyes on him, no longer dismissive, but sharp, analytical, and deeply wary.
He had won his first match. He had not thrown a single punch, not channeled a wisp of energy. He had merely been present, an unmoved center in a world of frantic motion.
Back in the waiting area, the other contestants gave him a wide berth. They had seen what happened. They didn't understand it, but they recognized a threat that their conventional training had not prepared them for.
Li Yao found his corner again and sat down. The void within him felt steady, unchanged. The fight had been less a test and more a demonstration. He looked around at the other anxious, powerful cultivators, their auras flaring with preparation and ambition.
He closed his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. They were all trying so hard to be something. He was looking forward to showing them the power of being nothing. The preliminaries, he suspected, were going to be very, very quiet.