…
"Sun Jing!"
"Liu Huan!"
The audience cheers with such rage.
Half of the audience are on Sun Jing's side, while the other half are on Liu Huan's side.
"The biggest battle yet." An elder mutters, wiping his forehead.
"Are you sure?" A big man next to him chuckles.
"What do you mean?" The muttering elder speaks up, his eyebrows raised as he takes in the other elder's size.
"That spear… might just be able to go up against the blade, or rather, the sword." The big man tilts his head while smiling.
"Spear? Sword?" The muttering elder grinds his teeth in anger. "Speak in coherence!"
But by the time he turned his head, the big man was already gone.
"Stop confounding me! This godforsaken sect!" The muttering elder shakes his head. "What a big guy, is he an elder I know?" He adds, still surprised by the other's mysteriousness.
Back at the stage, Sun Jing and Liu Huan stare each other down.
"So you're not going to speak? That's fine." Liu Huan whispers.
"Why am I whispering? Haha, I've changed!" He starts yelling, pulling his right arm back.
"Begin!"
An ominous bell rings out, and Sun Jing rushes at Liu Huan.
"Hrahhh!" He roars, seemingly taking steps on air as he marches his way towards Liu Huan.
"Tun! Tun! TUN! TUN!" His steps grow louder and louder.
It's almost rhythmic; his steps are near poetic, so much so that scholar disciples who had picked up on it immediately turned to their books.
"This! Is this the Jin Zhan Shi technique!?" A scholar stutters, sketching down a paragraph in a matter of seconds.
"It is! It is! And we thought it had been lost!" Multiple scholars share excitement as they jot down multiple notes.
They all reside in the serenity peak, as they can study techniques without any hindrance.
Returning to the battle, Sun Jing sends out a brave punch, leaving the rest of his body defenseless.
"How bold." Liu Huan's grin fades, replaced by a swordsman's expression.
Stoic, cold, forceful.
Shing!
Liu Huan's sword slashes towards Sun Jing's shoulder, while Sun Jing's punch connects with the also defenseless Liu Huan.
"They're both defenseless!" An elder's breath quickens. "In all my years, I've never seen such a fight between qi gathering cultivators!"
Boom! Clink!
Sun Jing and Liu Huan remain in place.
Liu Huan's sword stops right at Sun Jing's shoulder, while Sun Jing's punch causes Liu Huan to tremble slightly.
"Bleaghhh!" Liu Huan vomits blood.
He leaps back, retreating.
Falling on one knee, he clutches at his stomach, where the punch had hit.
"You… also have a purpose?" He looks up at Sun Jing.
At this moment, the audience's noise is cancelled out.
"You… as well?" Liu Huan continues.
Sun Jing remains silent, continuing to march through the air.
"Hahh… haha, what a lion—or should I say, what a dog you are." Liu Huan slowly stands up, getting into another stance with a short inhale.
"Though… you did make one common mistake." Liu Huan's eyebrows relax.
Sun Jing stops right in front of Liu Huan, and then pulls his right arm back. The sound of muscles stretching fills the air
"You underestimated the sword; you overestimated me. And that is what caused you to lose." Liu Huan's voice is almost a whisper now.
It's almost as if he wasn't here at this competition, rather, he was back in his abode, cultivating.
Because he didn't have any desires. Any urges, any commitment to anything.
He was calm… too calm for battle.
That's when Sun Jing suddenly paused, and started questioning his life.
"You see," Liu Huan slowly starts walking around the frozen Sun Jing. "The swordsman doesn't cultivate himself, he cultivates the sword; the sword wields the cultivator in battle, not the other way around."
"You made one vital mistake, which caused you to lose your life."
Sweat starts dripping down Sun Jing's body, pooling at the ground.
"This is where your life ends. Rest in peace, Sun Jing. You were a great cultivator, quiet, but brave." Liu Huan completes his speech, slowly drawing his sword.
Shiiiinngg…
Liu Huan points the blade right at Sun Jing's heart, before thrusting forwards.
Splat!
The sword effortlessly penetrates through Sun Jing's flesh, cutting his heart cleanly in half before exiting through the other side.
Liu Huan's gaze bores coldly into Sun Jing.
"Any last words?"
Ding!
Another ominous bell rings.
"The fight has ended. Liu Huan is the victor." The blue crystal cleaves through the grey silence.
The audience is in utter shock. Looking at the stage, Liu Huan stands coldly, with his blade stabbed through his opponent, Sun Jing.
Yet, no blood surrounds Sun Jing.
"You are right." Liu Huan returns his sword to its sheath.
"I am Liu Huan of the sword peak." He slowly turns around, walking to the exit of the colosseum.
"Do not forget my name." Liu Huan exits.
"Liu Huan is the victor?"
"Did Sun Jing die?"
"How come he isn't bleeding!?"
The audience's reaction comes shortly after, with most being completely surprised.
"What happened?" A first layer qi gathering cultivator mutters, completely lost.
"It was like… a flash." A disciple next to him also mutters.
"What a battle!" The audience picks up, cheering.
The handsome disciple with the long eyebrows shakes his head, sighing. "Amazing. Liu Huan took down Sun Jing that easily…"
Shi Wuying laughs, so loud that it irritates some disciples around him.
"Ah, hehe." He licks his lips and swallows, clearing his mouth. "Turns out Liu Huan was the daddy, while Sun Jing was his bitch!"
Shi Wuying turns to another disciple. "Haha, what a great battle, but you know, I could easily take down both of them at the same time, yeah, my master said I could do so." He shrugs.
"Who's your master? This man seems very presumptuous!" The disciple he had turned to yells.
"Oh? My master? It's me, I'm my own master." Shi Wuying rolls his eyes.
"Y—you? Stop playing games!" The disciple spits.
Shi Wuying glares at the elder stands.
"All these elders? I could definitely take them down." He confidently utters.
"Are you a traitor or what?"
On the other side of the stands, Fatty Wang nods.
"Knew it. To think we started cultivating around the same time… is talent really… that important?" He ponders.
"Brother Liu allowed brother Xuan into the sword peak right? He would definitely be excited with this battle." Zi Rougang nods.
"Ah, brother Xuan, I wonder how he's doing." Fatty Wang smiles.
"This competition will be over soon." Zi Rougang mentions. "What will our lives be like in the sect? Will we grow into elders, or…"
"Haha, I'll definitely become the sect leader one day." Fatty Wang continues smiling, imagining his future.
"May this sect which had nurtured us live a thousand years!" Zi Rougang sighs, holding deep gratitude for this sect which had enabled him to become a cultivator.
"May the Great Whirlwind Sect live a thousand years!" Fatty Wang joins in.
Over in the elder stands, a big man watching Fatty Wang and Zi Rougang mysteriously chuckles.
"May the Great Whirlwind sect live a thousand—no, a million years!"
…