The competition continued, it was ruthless and efficient like a grinding wheel crushing grain.
The sun climbed higher, turning the entire arena into a baking oven. The stone tiles were radiating heat that made the air shimr with mirages. Disciples were sweating through their robes, they were fanning themselves with their number plates, and chugging water skins. The sll of unwashed bodies and hot stone filled the entire plaza.
Group B took the stage next. It was a ss of fire and shouting.
A beautiful girl nad Li i dominated the group. She was small, vicious, and wore red robes that looked like they were woven from dried blood. She used a long red whip that were made of braided beast tendons. (CRACK! SNAP!)
"Dance for !" she scread out loud, while lashing out.
She fought with a hulking brute with an axe. The brute charged. Li i flicked her wrist. Then The whip wrapped around his ankle. (Yoink!) She pulled. And He face-planted. (SPLAT!) Then she whipped his backside until he surrendered.
She beat three guys in a row, while leaving welts on their faces that looked more like angry red snakes. She took the Group B crown without even breaking a sweat, while stepping on her defeated opponents like they were just stepping stones.
Group C was a bit boring, but effective.
It was dominated by the guy nad Zhang Wei. He wore mirror robes, he has so kind of mirror elent. he's a Qi realm Cultivator. He didn't even fight properly. He just stood there, angling his chest to catch the sun.
(FLASH!)
"My eyes! I can't see!" his opponent scread out loud, while covering his face with their hands.
Zhang Wei would then calmly walk over and push them off the stage. (Thud.)
"Strategy is also strength," Zhang Wei declared smugly, while adjusting his mirrors. The crowd would alway boo him. They threw rotten fruit at him. But he just used his mirrors to reflect the fruit away. For A win was a win.
Finally, the day had gone far and the sun was directly overhead. It was noon. The hottest, and brightest part of the day. Even Shadows were non-existent.
Elder Xuan Yi stepped forward, while he wiped soot and sweat from his forehead with a clean handkerchief. He took a peek at his list. Then He suddenly frowned. He looked at the list again, while tapping the paper with a blackened fingernail.
"Group D!" he bellowed. "Step forward!"
Then Four disciples walked onto the central staging area. They looked rather tough.
One even had a giant double-headed axe that dragged on the ground, and carving a jagged groove in the stone. (Scrape...)
Another cultivator had a silver spear that glinted dangerously in the sun.
A cultivator looked more like he hadn't slept in a week, he was twitching and muttering to himself, while he held two jagged daggers.
There was even a massive woman with brass knuckles who cracked her knuckles loudly. (Pop! Pop!)
But there were five spots in group D. But only four cultivators were here.
"Where is the fifth disciple?" Xuan Yi asked, with his voice sounding dangerous.
The Enforcer with the clipboard looked rather nervous. He scanned the crowd, And scanned the waiting area. "Uh... Elder. The fifth contestant is supposed to be Yin Zhe. He... he is not here."
Silence.
Then, the murmurs and side talks started. (Buzz... buzz...)
"Yin Zhe? The joker?"
"The guy who got lucky against Lin Xue?"
"He probably ran away. He knows his luck ran out."
"Coward! He probably saw the axe guy and wet his pants!"
"YIN ZHE!" Xuan Yi shouted, his voice was amplified by the talisman. It echoed off the mountains like the roar of a dragon. (YIN ZHE... ZHE... zhe...)
Nothing. Just the sound of crickets chirping in the heat and the wind howling through the quiet valley. A tumbleweed even blew across the stage.
"He only has ten seconds!" Xuan Yi growled out loud, his patience was snapping. "If he does not appear, he is disqualified and banned from the competition for cowardice! I will strike his na from the registry myself!"
"Ten!" the crowd chanted, happy to see soone fail. They loved a public execution. So pitied Yin Zhe.
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
Bao Zi chewed his fingernails until they bled taphorically. "Oh no. Oh no. Yin Zhe, you idiot! Where are you? Did you get lost in the bathroom or sothing?"
Ren Tie crossed his arms with a calm face, while staring at the main gate. "He wouldn't run. He's too shaless to run. He enjoys the attention too much."
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Disqualify him!" a disciple from the inner court shouted, while cuping his hands around his mouth. "Get the trash out of here! He's wasting our ti!"
Xuan Yi raised his hand to strike the gong and end it. The mallet hovered inches from the bronze surface.
"One..."
[Whistle...]
It was a faint and tiny sound. It was High pitched. Like a tea kettle boiling far away. Or a missile falling from orbit.
[WHISTLE...]
It got louder. While sounding Sharp. And Piercing.
Everyone looked at the gate. But No one was there. The Enforcers looked around in confusion.
"Up!" soone scread out loud, while pointing a shaking finger at the sky. "Look up! Above the sun!"
Hundreds of heads tilted back. (Snap!) Necks craned. Hands shielded eyes against the glare.
There, up high in the blinding blue sky, there was a black speck. It was plumting toward the arena. But it wasn't falling like a rock. It was... More like surfing.
(WOOOOOOSH!)
The speck grew larger in their vision. It was a person. A person standing on a black object.
It was Yin Zhe.
He was standing on the flat side of the Roaring Tiger sword. His knees were bent, and his arms held out for balance like he was riding a wave in the ocean. Imagine those free fire gas battle Royale. His long black hair was whipping around his face like a dark tornado. His robes were flapping so hard that they sounded like gunshots. (FLAP-FLAP-FLAP!)
But that wasn't even the weird part. That wasn't the part that made the Elders freeze.
The weird part was that in his right hand, he was casually holding a large, steaming, and half-eaten at bun.
(CHOMP!)
He took a bite. Mid-air. While falling from the sky at terminal velocity.
"Is... is he eating breakfast?" a disciple asked in confusion, his voice cracking. "Is he having a snack while falling to his death?"
Yin Zhe steered the sword with his feet. or so it looked from below. He leaned left, and the sword banked left, while cutting through the air with his sword. He leaned right, and the sword banked right. He spiraled down toward the arena like a hawk diving for a mouse, while using the montum to bleed off speed.
"Coming through! Hot soup! Coming through!" Yin Zhe scread, with his mouth full of bun crumbs. "Make a hole!"
(ZOOOOOM!)
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