Chương 57: Water Serpents

Cultivation World - Grand Tournament Stadium The arena floor had seen three more spectacular battles since Varek's victory. A Dao beast tamer had overwhelmed a formation specialist with a pack of thunder wolves. An earth cultivator had literally buried his opponent under a mountain of stone. Most dramatically, a wind cultivator had created a tornado so powerful it had thrown his opponent clear out of the arena entirely.

Now, as the sun held high in the sky, the announcer's voice boomed across the stadium once again.

"Next match! Representing the Crimson Crater Kingdom, Lia of the former Flowing Water Sect! Facing the string blade master of the Eastern Trading Cities, Wei Qian!" Earth - Tim's Apartment Tim sat up straighter on the couch, his hand finding Riku's as they watched through their other bodies. Riku was back to lounging with her head in his lap, but her relaxed posture had shifted to alert attention.

"This is it," Tim whispered, feeling Lia's nervous energy as she prepared to enter the arena.

"She's got this," Riku said confidently, though her grip on his hand tightened slightly.

"She is a boss bitch." Cultivation World - Arena Floor Lia walked onto the arena floor with fluid confidence, her purple eyes scanning the crowd before settling on her opponent. Wei Qian was a thin, wiry man who looked more like a performer than a warrior. His most striking feature was his hands—each finger had a thin metal ring attached to several nearly invisible strings that stretched back to pouches on his belt.

"Interesting," Lia murmured, noting the unusual weapon setup. Wei Qian smiled, his fingers dancing in a complex pattern that made the strings hum with barely contained energy.

"You're famous for your shadow techniques, Ice Queen. But shadows require darkness to exist."

"Begin!" Wei Qian's hands exploded into motion, his fingers conducting an orchestra of death as hundreds of small daggers erupted from the pouches at his belt. Each blade was connected to his fingertips by gleaming strings of qi, creating a web of cutting edges that filled the air around Lia like a storm of silver death.

"Thousand Blade Web!" he called out, his fingers moving in intricate patterns that sent the daggers dancing through the air in complex formations. Lia immediately activated her Void Strider Steps, disappearing into the grey mist between spaces to avoid the initial assault. But when she emerged three meters away, Wei Qian was ready for her.

"Light Charm Activation!" he declared, and suddenly every dagger in his arsenal blazed with brilliant white light. The effect was immediate and devastating. The arena floor, which had been marked with natural shadows from the afternoon sun, became a blazing field of illumination as hundreds of light-enhanced daggers eliminated every patch of darkness. Lia's eyes widened as she realized the tactical nightmare she was facing. No shadows meant no shadow attacks, no places for the shadow leech to phase into.

Worse, the dancing daggers created a net of qi strings that limited her movement options, forcing her into increasingly small areas where void stepping became nearly impossible.

"Clever," she admitted, drawing her staff as the daggers began to close in from all directions.

"But I'm not just shadows." She tried to summon her usual water serpent, but Wei Qian's web of blades forced her to constantly dodge and weave. Every time she began to form a technique, razor-sharp steel would force her to abandon the attempt and focus on survival. The strings attached to the daggers weren't just for control—they were cutting weapons themselves, creating invisible barriers that sliced through the air.

Lia found herself trapped in an ever-shrinking cage of death, unable to advance or retreat as the glowing blades herded her like a predator cornering prey. @CultivationNews:"Ice Queen struggling against string blade techniques! Light charms completely neutralizing her shadow abilities! #TournamentUpdate" @BattleAnalyst:"This is brilliant strategy. Wei Qian studied her techniques and built perfect counters. Lia looks helpless out there." @ShadowTechniques:"Without shadows, she's just another water cultivator.

This fight is over." Lia's frustration mounted as another attempted void step was blocked by intersecting qi strings. The shadow leech writhed restlessly against her chest, desperate to help but unable to properly function in the blazing illumination that surrounded them.

"What's wrong, Ice Queen?" Wei Qian taunted, his fingers conducting the deadly symphony of blades that danced around her.

"Not so impressive without your shadow tricks?" That's when Lia's expression changed. The frustration disappeared, replaced by cold determination and something that looked almost like satisfaction. She stopped trying to dodge, stopped attempting to escape the web of blades, and instead planted her feet firmly on the arena floor.

"You're right," she said, her voice carrying across the suddenly quiet stadium.

"I have been relying too much on shadows lately." Lia raised her staff high above her head, and her massive qi reserves opened like floodgates.

"Let me remind you what the Flowing Water Sect was really famous for." The qi that erupted from her dantian was staggering. Even the spectators in the highest tiers could feel the spiritual pressure as power poured out of her in waves that made the very air heavy. This wasn't the controlled, efficient qi usage of most cultivators—this was the unleashing of reserves of extreme depths.

"Infinite Water Serpent Army!" The arena floor exploded with water as hundreds of serpents materialized simultaneously. Not one massive creature, but an entire army of smaller constructs, each one perfectly formed and independently controlled. The sheer amount of qi required to maintain so many individual techniques at once was astronomical—something that should have been impossible for any Foundation Establishment cultivator. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent.

Report any sightings. But Lia wasn't any Foundation Establishment cultivator. Social Media Meltdown @CultivationNews:"WHAT THE ACTUAL F--- HOW MANY SERPENTS IS THAT?!" @QiMeasurement:"That's impossible. No level 4 should have reserves like that. The readings are off the charts!" @BattleAnalyst:"I count over 200 individual water constructs. Each one maintained simultaneously. This is Golden Core level qi usage!"

@ShadowTechniques:"I take it back I take it back I TAKE IT BACK" @WaterDaoMaster:" That's rewriting what we thought was possible for her cultivation level." Cultivation World - Arena Floor The water serpents moved like a den of snakes, each one targeting a different dagger in Wei Qian's web. Their strategy was elegantly simple—instead of trying to cut through the qi strings or overpower the light charms, they simply swallowed the blades whole.

Once swallowed the qi string was overpowered by the qi in the water serpent. Wei Qian's confident expression crumbled as he watched his weapons disappear one by one into the mouths of countless water constructs.

"This is impossible!" he shouted, desperately trying to recall his daggers.

"No one has qi reserves like this!"

"Flowing Water Sect cultivators shouldn't be looked down upon," Lia said, her voice calm despite the incredible strain of maintaining hundreds of individual techniques.

"We fight with overwhelming, inexorable force." The last of his daggers disappeared into the serpent army, their qi strings severed the moment they were consumed. Wei Qian stood defenseless in the center of the arena as hundreds of water serpent constructs surrounded him, their forms coiling through the air.

"Surren...!" Wei Qian called out desperately, but his voice was lost in the roar of hundreds of water serpents closing in around him. The serpent army struck as one, their hundreds of forms crashing into Wei Qian from every direction simultaneously. The collision was like watching a tidal wave made of living qi slam into a single point—water constructs coiling around his limbs, his torso, lifting him high into the air before driving him down into the arena floor with devastating force.

The impact cracked the spirit-reinforced stone in a spider web pattern extending thirty meters in every direction. Wei Qian's body hit the ground with a wet thud that made the crowd wince collectively, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles as he lay motionless in the crater created by his impact.

"SURRENDER!" came a desperate shout from the competitors' seating area.

"WE SURRENDER!" An older man in Eastern Trading Cities robes—clearly Wei Qian's mentor—had leaped to his feet, his face pale with terror as he watched his student's broken form.

"Please! He yields! He yields!" Marcus's voice boomed across the stadium: "Wei Qian has surrendered! Winner: Lia of the Crimson Crater Kingdom!" The water serpents dissolved instantly, leaving Wei Qian's unconscious form lying in the center of the cracked arena floor as medical cultivators rushed to assess his injuries. The stadium erupted in cheers mixed with shocked murmurs.

The casual brutality of Lia's victory—the way she had simply overwhelmed her opponent through sheer force—had left many spectators speechless. Earth - Tim's Apartment"THAT'S MY GIRL!" Riku shouted, jumping up off the couch with her fist pumped in the air. Before Tim could react, she grabbed his face and pulled him into a fierce, celebratory kiss that tasted like strawberry gum and victory. Her enthusiasm was infectious, her joy at Lia's devastating win pouring through the connection between their lips.

When they broke apart, Tim found himself caught between conflicting emotions. Pride in Lia's incredible display of power warred with a subtle irritation at being called Riku's "girl." Even though he was both Tim and Lia, even though he understood the complexity of their relationships across both worlds, something in his masculine consciousness bristled at the possessive claim. He was dating Riku, yes. And Lia was dating Varek.

But being called someone's "girl"—even by someone he cared about—struck against his male pride in a strange way.

"It was amazing," he said instead, pushing down the uncomfortable feeling as he focused on Lia's triumph. Riku was still glowing with excitement, bouncing slightly on her toes as she processed the victory through both her own joy and Varek's masculine pride in his girls strength.

"Did you see how she just... ended him? Just pure, overwhelming power."

"Yeah of course I saw," Tim replied with a chuckle. Cultivation World - Arena Floor Lia stood in the centre of the cracked arena, her purple eyes surveying the destruction she had wrought with calm satisfaction. The shadow leech sat in its usual position across her chest, writhing contentedly as it absorbed the residual qi from her massive technique. As medical cultivators worked to stabilize Wei Qian's broken form, Lia walked toward the edge of the arena with fluid grace.

The crowd's cheers washed over her, but her attention was focused on the royal viewing section where Varek was watching with obvious pride and admiration. Their eyes met across the distance, and Varek's grin was pure masculine satisfaction. His girl had just demonstrated why she was called the Ice Queen. Lia's own smile was small but genuine as she acknowledged his approval.

Whatever complications existed in their other world, here and now, she was exactly who she was meant to be: a cultivator of incredible power fighting for the kingdom that had given them sanctuary. The tournament continued, but the message had been sent. The Crimson Crater Kingdom's representatives weren't push overs.

Cultivation World - Tournament Stands, Merchant Section Kira sat in the middle rows of the merchant seating area, her brown robes and plain appearance making her blend perfectly with the other traders and suppliers who had paid for decent but unremarkable seats. Around her, genuine merchants cheered and gasped at Lia's overwhelming display of power, their conversations focused on the betting odds and the political implications of such a dominant victory.

But Kira's enhanced senses were focused entirely on the purple-eyed girl standing in the arena.

"Incredible!" the wine merchant beside her exclaimed, clutching his betting slip with obvious excitement.

"Did you see how many water serpents she summoned? That has to be at least level 6 qi reserves!"

"More than that," replied a spice trader from across the aisle.

"I've seen Golden Core cultivators who couldn't maintain that many simultaneous techniques. That girl is a monster." Kira nodded along with their enthusiasm, playing her role perfectly while her assassin's mind catalogued every detail of the combat she had just witnessed. The sheer amount of qi Lia had displayed was staggering—far beyond what the intelligence reports had suggested. More concerning was the casual brutality with which she had ended the fight.

Wei Qian never had a chance, Kira thought, watching as medical cultivators struggled to stabilize the broken string blade master. The moment she decided to stop playing with shadows and unleash her qi, the fight was over. Her silver eyes—hidden behind coloured contacts that made them appear brown—tracked Lia's movements as the girl walked off the arena floor. There was no exhaustion in her stride, no indication that summoning hundreds of water serpents had even strained her reserves.

If anything, she looked like she was just getting warmed up.

"Lucky thing she's fighting for the kingdom," the wine merchant continued nervously.

"Can you imagine facing that kind of power as an enemy?" Yes, Kira thought with cold professional assessment. I can imagine it perfectly.. Hmm, she mused, her mind already recalculating probabilities and adjusting strategies. Maybe she will survive long enough that I'll have to kill her myself. The thought carried no emotion, no personal animosity. It was simply a professional adjustment to changing circumstances.

The target had proven more dangerous than anticipated, which meant the approach would need to be more direct, more personal. Around her, the merchants continued their excited chatter about betting odds and political ramifications, completely unaware that they were sitting next to one of the continents most dangerous assassins. Kira smiled and nodded at their comments, maintaining her cover perfectly while her mind worked through revised elimination scenarios.

Five thousand spirit stones was a substantial payment, but it would be earned through careful planning and flawless execution. If the tournament chaos wasn't sufficient to create opportunities, then she would simply have to manufacture her own. The next few matches would tell her everything she needed to know about both targets' capabilities. Then she could begin the real work of fulfilling her contract.