In a VIP room of the arena.
“Please! May I ask of you to save my arena? I will be forever in your debt!” Standing in front of a middle-aged man and a child, the manager implored them as he bowed in front of them.
The two were an elder and a disciple of a sect from outside the kingdom.
The Arsia Kingdom held a neutral stance toward sects. It wasn't because there wasn’t anything to gain by attacking them—there were, in fact, countless treasures hidden in every sect—but purely to survive. An average kingdom couldn't hope to survive against serious attacks from most sects. On the other side, cultivators from the sects rarely bothered with them, as most kingdoms lacked anything worth of their time.
The manager had been told that the two visited the kingdom temporarily because they were heading to the Jungle Kemister, but he didn’t know why they were heading to such a terrifying place.
However, he didn’t care about such things. Only one thing mattered to him: the child—barely twelve years old—was at the Acupoint Opening phase, making him the perfect counter for Shu Himo.
“Is this Shu Himo strong?”
Noticing the expectations hidden beneath the child’s tone, the manager replied immediately.
“Yes, he is at the Blood Strengthening phase, and yet, even the Acupoint Opening phase cultivators could not last more than a few seconds. He can do a weird instant dash, which gave him an absolute advantage toward his opponents.”
The child smiled at those words. “That’s interesting! I will follow you, lead the way.”
-----
“The winner is Shu Himo! This is his twenty-fourth win so far—will he be able to reach the twenty-fifth? His next opponent will be a prestigious person, a disciple of a sect! Welcome to our stage, Ru Seji!”
Following the announcement, a young dog-child walked on the stage. Red dog-like ears and a slightly fluffy likewise red tail. Baggy dark pants and a sleeveless leather armor. A purple dagger hung on his back, a red gauntlet worn on his left hand.
An imposing feeling radiated from him as his short hair swayed to the wind, leaving the audience breathless.
Shu Himo raised an eyebrow. The feeling that the child gave him was several times more threatening than the one from the assassins who had ambushed him.
“His cultivation is at the Acupoint Opening phase”—the announcer continued—”and he is capable of overwhelming Dantian Core Formation realm cultivators!”
With such an introduction, the audience began to harbor doubts about who would win. Some believed Shu Himo’s win streak would be stopped.
But how could he give up? A single loss would mean losing every single BS points from the quest!
“So you are Shu Himo…” Ru Seji smiled as he walked slowly toward him. “Please don’t disappoint me, give me some fun!”
Shu Himo smiled, likewise excited for the upcoming battle. “Same goes for you!”
Those words startled Ru Seji for a moment, who then broke into laughter. “Hahahaha! Let’s do it!”
Without waiting for the announcer’s start signal, Ru Seji plunged toward Shu Himo, his momentum akin to a rhino’s charge. His red gauntlet shone under the sunlight as he sent a punch toward his opponent.
Albeit surprised by his speed, Shu Himo didn’t waste a single moment. He used [Hopper] to dodge to the side and a second [Hopper] to skip behind his opponent. Just as he held the sword to slash however, he found a dagger advancing toward his neck.
Startled, he bent immediately to dodge. Sliding on his knees, he advanced toward Ru seji and slashed toward his legs.
A smile grew on Ru Seji’s lips as he jumped to avoid the slash. He sent a kick toward the sword’s hilt, but Shu Himo used [Hopper] to avoid the attack.
The thrust gained from [Hopper] sent Shu Himo darting into the distance, skimming over the ground. But even in such high speed, his eyes darted back to check his opponent, finding Ru Seji giving chase. A light smirk grew on his face as he stretched his hand, grabbed the ground by its cracks, and twisted backward to send a flying kick toward his opponent.
Ru Seji was surprised to have been noticed, and hurriedly raised his arm to block. He had expected to resist the kick easily, but he widened his eyes as he got thrown back five meters. His eyes shifted to his arm. While it wasn’t broken, he felt an intense pain coming from it.
Shu Himo wasn’t unscathed either. His hand was in pain and his fingertips were bleeding slightly. The maneuver he had used to stop his dash was still out of his body’s capabilities.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds seriously, but they soon burst out laughing.
“I didn’t expect you to be this strong!” Ru Seji smiled.
“Right back at you, I’m having so much fun!”
Their words left the audience in shock. Ru Seji’s elder, meanwhile, fell deep in thought.
“But even if you’re this strong, until you reach Acupoint Opening phase there is one thing you will always miss.” Ru Seji added.
“Oh?” Shu Himo raised an eyebrow.
Ru Seji raised a hand as he spoke.
“Magic spells.”
