Chương 36: Volume 2 Chapter 9

Though the ground within the arena had looked sandy and unstable from a distance, Calvin found the footing to be more than adequate as he headed across the field to where the flying Inner disciple was waiting. The individual grains were packed tightly together, interlocking almost like tiny tiles, and the surface did not deform significantly beneath his weight. He left only the faintest of footprints in his wake, and scuffing his heel against the ground left little more than a shallow line in the sand.

The ambient qi in the arena was unnaturally smooth and placid. It was slightly richer than in the stands and lacked almost any sort of character at all, but it didn't flow and swirl like ambient qi was typically wont to do. The formation around the field stripped it of any sort of latent affinity and controlled its motion just as surely as it remade the fighting surface after every bout.

It made sense—the sect wanted its disciples fighting on even footing—but it felt vaguely stifling and unpleasant even if it would have theoretically made for a good place to cultivate. Instead of a lake teeming with life, it was like a deep, still puddle. The sort you never drank from, no matter how clean it looked or how thirsty you were. He watched Cao Yunfei's approach even as his opponents watched him in turn. Yunfei's pace was smooth and unhurried, his robes pristine and his expression cocky.

Though the duel had not yet begun, he had his aura flared and it pressed down on Calvin's shoulders like a tangled curtain of vines and branches. Calvin ignored it for now, his own qi coiled tightly within his spirit. There was no reason to give his foe a chance to gather information before their battle began, and turbulence within Yunfei's aura gave away his apprehension even if his face did not.

Though it had been a full month since their last encounter, Calvin didn't think Yunfei's cultivation had grown in any meaningful way. His aura had all the weight of a peak Foundation realm cultivator, but not the mass. It felt flimsy, hollow. Like a sword carved from basswood rather than forged. His attunement was harder to judge, but didn't seem overtly exceptional.

A mild wood attunement, enough to strengthen related techniques, but not so much that it weakened the Fire and Water aligned techniques commonly used in alchemy. What was new was the weapon hanging at his hip. Calvin couldn't get a good look at it, half-hidden beneath his robe as it was, but it looked like a large knife or perhaps a short sword.

It had an inwardly-curved blade and any qi emanations that might have given away its function or power were thoroughly concealed by its leather sheath and the noise of Yunfei's aura. In the past Yunfei had fought with a saber, a Foundation realm weapon with a blade of refined jadewood, and that was what Calvin had prepared for. Lulu was not an expert, but she'd spent some time demonstrating what she remembered of Yunfei's martial arts and they'd discussed methods to counter them.

The weapon he carried now was most certainly not the same blade, nor even a saber. That was moderately concerning. Yunfei did have the resources to potentially acquire the sort of weapons that would make this duel significantly more complicated. But that was extremely unlikely, and he would be severely limited by the strength of his own cultivation. If he tried to use a weapon powerful enough to truly change the course of this fight, his spirit would shatter under the pressure after only a bare handful of moves.

It would be extremely dangerous, but Calvin thought he'd be able to outlast that. Probably. Much more likely, it was something like Lulu's new spear. A weapon that straddled the line between the Foundation and Core realms. It would certainly make Yunfei more dangerous, but that just meant that he needed to be careful. He'd been planning to do that regardless. The fact that it wasn't a saber was rather promising. Yunfei had spent a decade dueling on and off with a saber in hand.

There was no way he was nearly as familiar with this weapon as his usual armaments, even if it was of much higher quality. Either way, the strategy remained the same. Ideally, he'd be able to keep his distance, bombarding Yunfei into submission with a rain of Noonday Sparrows. If that proved insufficient, he had his other techniques and methods to fall back on.

Though it wasn't the reason he'd purchased it, the Vermillion Tide Seal was a potent counter to many Wood-aligned techniques, and reintegrating his attunement into his Foundation had noticeably improved the power of some of his Eight Peaks Martial Arts. He still wanted to avoid using the Nine Gates in public, but he was fully prepared to use [The Gate Turns in Place] to counter a surprise trump card, whether it be a weapon, secret technique, or otherwise.

When he was only a few steps away from where she was waiting, Calvin felt the overseer's aura brush against his spirit and stopped, adopting a casual stance––feet some distance apart and hands folded behind his back. Yunfei reached the center only a few steps later, one hand falling to the hilt of his blade while the other was curled into a fist at his side. Their eyes met and Calvin smiled. Had this been a less public forum, he might have feigned a yawn, but not directly in front of a Core realm cultivator.

Instead, he glanced over to where Gwen was sitting surrounded by his friends, then winked at Yunfei. Yunfei's aura rippled, his grip on his weapon tightening and his knuckles standing out in sharp contrast beneath his pale skin. However before he could respond, the overseer spoke.

"You are Cao Yunfei and Calvin of Six-Swan Pond?" she asked, her voice soft and melodious, carrying just a hint of an accent that made each word sound oddly rhythmic. Calvin turned, giving the overseer his full attention. She was the picture of a veteran cultivator, her features bearing the ageless perfection common to many of the more senior cultivators he'd encountered within the sect. Though she looked to be in her early twenties, in truth she could have easily been ten times that age, if not older still.

Core realm cultivators could live for hundreds and hundreds of years and didn't visibly age until their twilight years unless they wanted to. Furthermore, the sect's typical policy for how long one could remain a disciple did not apply to those in the Core realm and beyond the same way it did to those in the Foundation and Gathering realms. It was entirely possible she'd been cultivating in the Inner sect since before Calvin's great, great, grandfather was a twinkle in his father's eye.

Though she lacked Ariadne's breathtaking, impossible beauty, she was certainly striking. Her skin was a deep, golden bronze, her eyes orange like fiery coals, and she was bald but for a single extremely long, thin braid wrapped into a high bun and held in place by a net of pearls. She carried herself with absolute confidence, her expression smooth and dispassionate.

Beneath her robes she wore a pale yellow blouse with a conservative neckline and an emerald green wrap skirt that went down past her knees, but neither did much to disguise her figure. Calvin had never seen her before, but her identity was easy enough to guess. Adetola was a well known Inner disciple, a long time member of Fire Peak. Though she'd placed in the top fifty during the last Inner disciple tournament and the top hundred for several before that, she was a relatively common sight in the Outer sect.

She had several relatives she was said to visit frequently, and often oversaw duels as she was now.

"Indeed, senior sister," Yunfei confirmed stiffly, presenting his disciple's token.

"I am, senior sister," Calvin answered, raising his braceleted hand. She pressed two fingers against the orb beside her, the golden light within pulsing like a heartbeat. The ambient qi of the field rippled and, though nothing had touched it, the jade token hanging from Calvin's bracelet rocked back and forth several times as though caught in a stiff breeze.

"Very good. Have you both dueled before?" She looked first at Yunfei, who nodded sharply, then at Calvin. Calvin shook his head.

"Not officially, senior sister."

"Then I shall briefly go over the rules before we begin, though I hope you have both thoroughly familiarized yourself with the policies outlined in the sect guidebooks." She paused for a moment, tracing her fingers down the surface of the orb floating beside her.

"Sanctioned duels within the Eight Peaks sect are meant to test its disciples and settle disputes, not senselessly kill and cripple. Thus, duels are fought beneath the aegis of the Golden Arbiter's Veil. The technique is not foolproof, but shall trigger if it senses that either of your lives are in peril. Attempting to circumvent an opponent's barrier is grounds for investigation, censure, and potentially expulsion from the sect.

"The duel shall end under one of three circumstances. A fighter may surrender verbally at any point during the duel. Continuing to fight after such a surrender is grounds for disqualification. Otherwise, the duel continues until one fighter is unable to continue or a barrier is triggered. You are permitted to use any method, technique, or weapon not banned by sect policy or Imperial law, but may not request or accept active interference from those not participating in the duel.

The duel shall begin on my technique, after I have confirmed that both fighters are ready to begin. You are forbidden to use any active techniques until the duel has officially begun. Fighters must begin the duel at the designated locations on either side of the arena.

"As acting overseer, my authority over the ongoing duel is absolute. If I direct you to stop fighting, you will stop fighting immediately. Continuing after you have been directed to stop is grounds for disqualification. If you believe your opponent is cheating or violating the rules, bring it to my attention immediately. Understood?" Calvin nodded.

"Yes, senior sister," he and Yunfei chorused.

"Good. Any questions?" He shook his head. None of it was new information to him.

"Then we will begin shortly. I shall now apply the Golden Arbiter's Veil." She extended her hand, palm down and fingers half-curled. The other remained on the orb, two fingers pressed against its surface. The orb flared brightly, golden light shining off from it like the sun, and Calvin's skin and spirit tingled as he felt the technique wrap around him like a warm blanket. He couldn't get a sense of its power or potency, the qi so carefully shaped that not a single droplet escaped the bounds of the technique.

After only a moment, the sensation faded into a distant, barely-noticeable pressure less noticeable than the weight of his clothing. Without another word, Adetola shot up into the air, stopping high above the arena. Behind Yunfei, Calvin saw a patch of sand reshape itself, pale yellow grains bleeding into a ruddy red circle that indicated where Yunfei would stand. He knew a matching circle was no doubt forming behind him, but he was in no hurry to head there just yet.

He turned back to his opponent, facing Yunfei who was openly scowling at him. The older disciple opened his mouth to speak, but Calvin beat him to the punch.

"Having any regrets yet?" he asked mockingly.

"A disciple in the top hundred losing to someone without a rank is just so embarrassing. You spent so long clawing your way up, and now you're headed right back to the mid thousands." That wasn't actually necessarily true. Losing to someone vastly lower ranked was extremely bad for your rankings, but the system was not quite so unforgiving. Yunfei was unlikely to lose more than a few hundred ranks at most, but it would certainly take him some time to regain his former rank if he ever did.

Yunfei's scowl turned into a sneer.

"You are a disgrace to cultivators everywhere. It is appalling that the empire allows wretched scum like you to cultivate at all, much less tarnish the prestige of a Great Sect with your existence. You infringe on the sacred bond between master and student, teacher and disciple. It appalls me that one such as you is even qualified to stand on the sand across from me, that I must call you 'fellow disciple'. It falls to this Cao Yunfei of the Cao Consortium to correct you."

Calvin waited patiently for Yunfei to finish, then dramatically fanned his face with his hand.

"Oh my. Big words from a big, strong man who shakes down his own students for spirit stones. Never in my years have I seen anyone half as brazen and shameless as you. To protect one's juniors from those that would seek to cripple and rob them is a senior's duty, and the only shame I see is that anyone ever considered you qualified to teach when you are a master of nothing.

It's no wonder your family foisted you off to the first sect that would take you in another province rather than be forced to deal with your incompetence themselves every day." Yunfei took a half step forward, teeth barred.

"I came here seeking just to educate you, as is my duty as your senior, but I see your tongue is as slanderous and presumptuous as in our first meeting. I shall enjoy cutting it from your rotten mouth!" Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Calvin sighed heavily, shaking his head ruefully.

"Yunfei, Yunfei, Yunfei. Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's only slander if it's not true? Otherwise, it's just called keeping people informed." He put his hand over his heart.

"Oh, look at me. Already a better teacher than you'll ever be." He didn't bother waiting to hear what Yunfei would say to that. Pre-battle taunts were an important part of dueling, but as far as he understood things it was important to engage in them in moderation. Too much was just as bad as too little. He wasn't fully satisfied with his performance, but it would do. He'd certainly elicited a good reaction out of Yunfei. His opponent would be angry, and anger could make it hard to focus and make optimal choices.

He turned around and strode away from Yunfei, not stopping until he reached his circle of red sand. By the time he turned back, Yunfei was done sputtering at his back and headed towards his own starting location. Turning briefly towards the stands, he could see Lulu leaned against Wallis's shoulder, visibly laughing even if the formation around the field stopped him from hearing it. Gwen had moved to sit directly beside Ariadne, displacing several of the hangers-on with whom she'd arrived.

His tentative friend was holding the younger woman's hand reassuringly in a surprising display of intimacy that was drawing envious stares even from Yunfei's side of the stands. He waved and Lulu jumped out of her seat to cheer. No one else reacted quite so flamboyantly, but Gwen did wave back before blushing and looking down at her feet. Ariadne waited a moment, then pointed at Yunfei and drew her finger across her swan-like neck. Calvin nodded sharply in acknowledgment and focused back to the fight at hand.

Once the battle began, the barrier would turn hazy from this side, blurring the outside world into a blob of color while allowing those outside to clearly hear and see the goings-on within. Yunfei had taken his place while Calvin had been distracted. He had yet to draw his weapon, but he had adjusted his robes back and shifted its place on his belt so the sheath would not interfere with his movement. His back was straight as a post and his head was tilted slightly back so he stared at Calvin down his nose.

Calvin wasn't entirely certain, but he thought Yunfei might be wearing the nicer sect robes, the ones the wealthier members of the Outer sect wore. They looked practically identical to his eyes, but cost orders of magnitude more. If so, he hoped he'd be able to thoroughly ruin them before he won. One last twist of the knife. He breathed slowly and deeply, his qi circulating through his channels in fast-flowing rivers. Only three Gates turned within his spirit, but each was as solid as a fortress wall.

These would last through the fight and beyond, not shatter the moment they encountered a hint of turbulence. He'd learned since the last time he'd gone into battle. Quantity was good, but not when it came at the cost of quality. Someday he'd be able to maintain nine fully-formed and stable Gates, but that time had not yet come. For now however, three would suffice. He felt his Foundation thrum beneath his skin and his body felt practically weightless, qi infusing every inch of skin and muscle.

The constant ache in his bones faded to the back of his mind, still there but set aside. The transformation of his bones was well on its way, with only a small fraction of his ordinary marrow left untouched. His qi flowed through his veins with an ease it never had before, permeating his muscles and enhancing his strength and speed beyond that which the weight of his spirit alone could manage. The overseer's voice rang out, carried to his ears by the arena's formation as though she stood directly beside him.

"Disciple, are you ready?" Calvin nodded.

"I am, senior sister." In the distance, Yunfei's lips moved, though he was too far away and spoke too quietly for Calvin to hear him, or perhaps the formation deadened the sound.

"Very well. Then you may begin when my flame touches the sand." High above, a flame burst into existence at the exact center of the arena, a vibrant yellow that bled into an eye-searing emerald green at the edges. It floated weightlessly for several long moments, then began to sink down towards the earth at what felt like a steady crawl. Calvin watched it for a breath, gauging its speed and the distance it needed to cross. Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One. The flame touched the sand and vanished.

Calvin's aura erupted in the same instant as he flared his qi, clashing violently with Yunfei's in a cascade of lavender and olive sparks that filled the air like stars. He pushed Yunfei's aura back with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop, seeking to crush the other cultivator into dust. Yunfei was most dangerous when given time to prepare and position, and Calvin had no intention of giving him that time.

Yunfei staggered, a pair of pills spilling between his fingers to fall tumbling across the sand, and Calvin immediately pressed his advantage. His qi flowed together almost faster than he could shape it, the technique taking form in an instant, and a blazing sparrow shot forward, wings spread and beak tipped with a spark of metallic gold. A moment later it was joined by another, then another, and another.

For all that Calvin was unimpressed by Yunfei's cultivation, the other disciple did have a great deal more combat experience than Calvin did, owing to his greater age and time at the sect. He regained his balance quickly and countered without hesitation. His hand dipped into a pouch on his belt and in a burst glittering yang qi he threw two pills into the air towards where the sparrows were coming from.

After less than a second the pills burst into billowing clouds of green-white smoke that shot forward to meet the oncoming sparrows. The first sparrow vanished into the smoke without so much as a ripple. The second erupted on contact, blasting a gap in the tendrils of smoke. The remaining two split around the smoke, circling towards where Yunfei was standing. The smoke chased after them, defusing out into the air but successfully driving both sparrows to crash down into the sand some distance from their target.

Calvin had time to create two more sparrows before he had to leap away from a web of roots that sprouted abruptly from right beneath his feet. They were the same olive green as Yunfei's qi and grew with an unnatural vigor, attempting to bind his feet and trip up his steps. More roots appeared practically the moment his feet touched the ground several yards to the side of where he'd begun, erupting from the sand like snakes, and these he burned away with a crude usage of [Fire on the Peaks].

Keeping half an eye on the ground, Calvin attempted to create another sparrow, but Yunfei was gone. A rapidly expanding cloud of smoke boiled where he'd been standing a moment earlier. Calvin could still vaguely feel him, the clashing of their auras marking his general location, but it wasn't enough to accurately direct a precise technique like the [Noonday Sparrow]. He hesitated for a moment too long, and it nearly cost him.

More roots were rising from the sand in a circle around him, vines with leaves covered in shimmering dust growing between them. The vines rushed at him and he dodged nimbly around them, fire turning any that got too close to ash, but the fine powder they produced refused to burn so easily. Calvin knew that he could not afford to let too much of the shimmering dust touch him, or it would fog his mind and slow him until he was easy pickings.

He leapt back, a burst of golden sparks launching him through the air like he'd been fired from a catapult. More sparrows formed around him as he flew, shooting towards where Yunfei had been standing in spiraling patterns meant to leave no room for escape. Simultaneously, fire gathered around his feet in a blazing corona tinged with just a hint of lavender. He landed hard, fire and sand erupting in a circle around him, burning away the circling vines and roots waiting beneath the ground.

This time the fire blazed bright enough to burn away the powder as well, bright flashes of teal fire appearing for an instant as Yunfei's technique was erased. Having bought himself a moment, Calvin focused, trying to identify where exactly Yunfei was. It was easier said than done. The smoke his pills had created interacted strangely with his aura and had spread to fill nearly a fifth of the arena, making it hard to pinpoint the boundaries of Yunfei's aura, much less his physical location.

Calvin might be able to smoke him out with enough sparrows, but that would be impractical. Plan A was a bust. He needed to get closer. He could work with that. He shot forward, moving erratically across the ground faster than Yunfei's vines could catch him. Clouds of mind-addling pollen hung in the air amidst tendrils of smoke and Calvin flowed around it or shaped fire to cleanse it where he could not.

Another technique joined the fight––clusters of thorns that erupted like the cult leader's clouds of bloody mist when he got too close––but he had been ready for them. The technique had an obvious tell, a ripple of qi before it went off he could feel within his aura, and he easily evaded each rain of thorns tipped with poison. As he neared the cloud where Yunfei was hiding, his aura pressed down on his opponent's with increased pressure.

Calvin carefully weighed the feedback his aura was giving him, adjusting his approach to rapidly narrow down Yunfei's exact location. Though he could not see through the cloud, he felt it as Yunfei got closer and closer, more so than his movement alone would account for. Thus, when a handful of pills shot towards him from the smoke, a sparrow was already there to meet them, a small but fierce fireball consuming them before they could fully activate.

When he was barely a few yards away from the edge of the primary cloud, Calvin stopped. The fire he'd gathered as he ran expanded out in a short-lived wave, clearing the ground around him of plants and scorching the sand. Typically this was the part of the fight where Yunfei would attempt to wear him down with cheap, debilitating attacks before coming out with his saber to finish off a weakened opponent, but he certainly wasn't going to let that happen. Yunfei was only a short distance away within the smoke.

Calvin could feel the number of roots and vines preparing to erupt around him or moving towards him from further across the field. The ground was flat and smooth, and he had a moment to act. He breathed in, gathering his qi, and then crouched down, slapping his palm against the hot sand. [Vermillion Tide Seal] A circle of symbols burned themselves into the sand and qi flowed out of his channels like water from a barrel tipped on its side.

For an instant nothing seemed to happen and he swayed drunkenly, his body unused to channeling such power so quickly. His arm felt like it was melting from the inside out and his fingers went numb, prickling like his hand had fallen asleep. Then, a wall of vermillion fire taller than he was erupted in a circle around him. The air in the circle heated so quickly Calvin could feel his mouth and skin drying out and he flooded his body with yet more qi to protect it.

The wall of fire hung motionless for a heartbeat, then collapsed outward like a cresting wave, sweeping away everything in its path. The fire roared like a living beast, heat making the air above it warp and ripple, and it moved with deceptive speed, rushing out to flood the arena. The seal beneath Calvin's hand blazed brightly, drawing in more qi to feed the technique and keeping a small circle around it free of flames. Yunfei's smoke didn't stand a chance, nor did his roots, vines, or pollen.

It all burned, flashes of color filling the air as his techniques and pills went up in smoke. Yunfei himself cried out in panic and shot out of his own smoke cloud to escape the onrushing flames, but he had been very close to the epicenter of the technique. Closer even than Calvin had hoped for. The hem of his robe was scorched in places, and he was barefoot now, having needed to hastily erupt out of his own shoes as they caught fire beneath his feet.

Had Calvin had more practice with the tide seal, he might have been able to control both it and fire more sparrows after Yunfei. Instead, he crouched over the seal, doing his best to direct the wave of fire after Yunfei as best he could. He was partially successful––the flames did move more in that direction than anywhere else––but not quickly enough to catch up with the fleeing cultivator. Still, the technique had more than done its job.

Practically the entire arena was on fire, the ground melted into black, brittle glass. Most of Yunfei's techniques would be useless for the next several minutes, and whatever traps he'd attempted to prepare within the smoke were, well, nothing but smoke now. Slowly, Calvin rose to his feet and stared down his opponent. Around him, the arena burned, smoke and heat haze filling the air.

"There's more where that came from!" He shouted, drawing on his bones to refill his somewhat depleted reserves.

"Ready to beg for mercy?" To punctuate his words, a sparrow shot forward, flying low to hide amidst the lingering remnants of his prior technique. Across the arena, Yunfei bristled.

"You savage wretch! You think to counter this Cao Yunfei with cheap tricks and fire techniques!?" He was breathing heavily, his aura flagging. He'd invested a lot of qi into his plants, and no doubts the cost of those pills was adding up. Volatile alchemical products like those didn't tend to store very well, so no doubt he'd had to cook them up over the last few weeks at the longest. How much more did he have to give? On the other hand, Calvin wasn't exactly fresh anymore, but he still had power to burn.

The Vermillion Tide Seal had cost him, but it was a cost he could pay. His arm already felt mostly fine, with just a bit of a tingle remaining, and his fingers moving as he meant them too. He hadn't actually damaged anything, simply briefly overwhelmed his nerves. The qi in the air was rich and even as he fought his bone marrow drew it in and converted it into something he could use. Plus, he'd doubtlessly started with more qi, his nodes deeper and more numerous than Yunfei's.

He wasn't inexhaustible, but under the circumstances, in a battle of attrition he'd bet on himself ten times out of ten.

"You've seen nothing yet! Nothing, I tell you! Behold, the might of the Cao Consortium!" And then he drew his blade. It was an odd looking weapon, its blade carved from glossy, varnished wood and its handle a curved branch still covered in bark. Like he'd surmised, its blade was curved inward and looked more like an oversized knife than a sword. Certainly a far cry from Yunfei's usual sabers. But the moment it cleared its sheath its power became clear.

It filled the air, heavy and oppressive in a way Yunfei's aura had never been. The fire around Yunfei was blasted back, revealing a clear circle of earth that stretched for some dozen feet in every direction. A genuine Core realm level weapon. Yunfei's lips were drawn into a tight line and his eyes slits. No doubt just holding the thing made his spirit shudder, but it seemed to be perfectly compatible with his cultivation. He'd get more use out of it than just any old Core realm weapon. Calvin grimaced.

He'd just had to tempt fate. Yunfei brought his arms down in an overhead swing.

"Die!"