“It was close,” Ishin replied.

  He remembered how He Chao had cautioned him to avoid the Iron Mantis.

  “You should have lost,” the Iron Mantis member growled. “Throwing that spear was a dirty trick.”

  “It was effective.” Ishin had little time for this nonsense. He’d done what he needed to win. “Why do you care anyway? Is she your friend or lover?”

  Ishin didn’t really care which.

  The last assertion made the man even angrier. “Sister.”

  Great. Even worse.

  Before Ishin could respond, the brute slammed a hand onto his burned shoulder. Ishin gasped in pain and nearly lost his footing.

  He’s fast.

  Ishin forced his third eye open and learned that his adversary was at the third layer.

  Not good.

  Applying pressure, the Iron Mantis forced Ishin to his knees. Ishin grabbed at the man’s wrist with his free arm but was unable to budge it. The man was stronger than Ishin—without a doubt.

  “Get off me,” Ishin growled.

  He was getting angry. Both at this thug and the fact that none of the bystanders were doing anything to stop him.

  “Serves you right for what you did,” the man said. “My sister almost died because of you.” He applied more pressure, causing dark spots to form in Ishin’s vision. “Your arm is the bare minimum I will take from you.”

  Grinding his teeth, Ishin felt his anger continue to spike—until that part of him deep down surfaced. He was going to murder this fool. His sister had been weak and had lost. Ishin hadn’t intended to defeat her in such a bloody manner, but he did not regret winning.

  And I will not lose here.

  Again, Ishin tried to stand. He nearly strained his leg muscles in the attempt, but the pressure holding him down only intensified—unnaturally so. His enemy was using qi to enhance his strength. Ishin felt his knees starting to give out from the effort—and then suddenly a vice-like grip squeezed on his shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain.

  “That’s right,” the man spat. “Suffer. Just like she is.” The grip tightened until it punctured Ishin’s flesh, tearing muscle.

  No!

  Ishin roared to himself. He was not going to be crippled by this pathetic excuse of a man. Anger drowned out the pain until Ishin felt a cold, ruthless instinct take over. He was not helpless—and if any threat stood in his way, Ishin would annihilate them.

  Ishin began to cycle his qi in the only technique pattern he knew. It was hard and slow, but the unrelenting anger and desire to destroy this man somehow brought enough focus for him to gradually get the necessary cycling patterns in place. Ishin barely managed to raise his palm until it was in line with the man’s chest.

  The whole time, the thug continued his onslaught, nearly reaching the bone of Ishin’s shoulder. Clearly, he was unconcerned about Ishin’s movements.

  Lightning qi began to noticeably move through Ishin’s meridians. It started to accumulate toward his extended palm, finally drawing the thug’s attention.

  By then, it was too late.

  “What is that—”

  The thug was cut off as the full force of the Pale Azure Lightning Strike was unleashed at point-blank range. A condensed bolt of azure lightning with a white center shot through the Iron Mantis member and continued onwards, striking the tiled roof beside the infirmary. Rubble rained to the floor.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A scorched hole the size of a melon was burned through the thug’s chest. He only gasped out, “The hell—” before collapsing to the side, dead.

  Ishin’s own meridians were exhausted from the technique. It felt as though his insides were shaking from shock and straining at the edges. He’d never managed the technique before but hadn’t expected it to be this taxing.

  Faint cries could be heard from the onlookers. Now people were taking action. Someone wearing Dueling Pit colors rushed over to the dead man’s body, checking on him. Ishin didn’t need to wait to hear a prognosis.

  In fact, he couldn’t.

  His body finally gave out, and he fell unconscious.

  *                     *           *

  Hou Lei sat on the sixth row of the Dueling Pit stands, a broad smile on his face. Thick arms were crossed in front of his chest, resting against soft muted teal cotton robes. From his vantage point, Hou Lei watched as Dueling Pit porters tended to the collapsed spear fighter and the man’s recent victim.

  He hadn’t seen everything, but no one had missed the bolt of lightning streak through the far end of the pit. It was the cause of Hou Lei’s white-toothed smile.

  A few times a week, when Hou Lei wasn’t training at the Eight Oaths Resolve School, he visited the Dueling Pit in the Western Quarter. The bouts were entertaining to watch, and Hou Lei had even entered a few himself to test his skill. He always needed to ensure he wasn’t dressed in his disciple robes—no respectable disciple from one of the Three Martial Schools could be caught in the Western Quarter—but that didn’t stop him from visiting.

  Normally, the fights before the evening weren’t terribly interesting. Hou Lei had been at the pit for two hours and hadn’t seen anyone particularly impressive. There had been a water cultivator dressed in leather armor. He didn’t look like a disciple from one of the martial schools, so Hou Lei assumed he was from one of the city’s noble clans, trying to secretly test his skills. Hou Lei had watched the fight but hadn’t been impressed. It had been clear that without the armor, the noble youth would have lost.

  Instead, Hou Lei had been intrigued by the exploits of a curious spear wielder.

  Hou Lei first caught a glimpse of Ishin at the end of his fight against the dual-wielding sword cultivator. There were always many fights going on throughout the Dueling Pit, so it took something special to draw Hou Lei’s attention to any single match. What had drawn his focus was the sudden gasp of another spectator sitting beside him. Curious, Hou Lei had followed the woman’s gaze to see a spear protruding from one of the combatants.

  That was interesting.

  While the Dueling Pit fights could be brutal, they often weren’t fatally so. Sure, it happened—but the rarity of such results was enough to warrant attention. What Hou Lei found even more curious was that the match had ended by the spear cultivator throwing his weapon to fell his opponent. Hou Lei didn’t wield any weapons, but from what he understood, those who did were very reluctant to ever relinquish them in combat. Yet here, one had—and achieved devastating results.

  To Hou Lei’s delight, the spear wielder had not only basked in his victory but returned to the Registration Booth. This time, Hou Lei watched Ishin’s second fight from the start. It had been fun watching him struggle—trying to advance on the fire cultivator but failing to make ground. Hou Lei thought the fight was over. He saw the fire cultivator preparing a final technique, one that would consume the spear wielder.

  And then, Hou Lei watched Ishin throw his spear again to achieve victory in the same bloody manner.

  This time, though, the spear wielder showed admirable compassion, allowing the porters to leave the spear inside his opponent to prevent her from bleeding out. Hou Lei knew from experience that not many fighters in the Dueling Pit would have been so kind.

  Without a doubt, Hou Lei was impressed. The fight had turned out to be a real comeback from behind. He couldn’t think of many people at his own school who could have managed such a feat.

  Hou Lei was truly intrigued, but still wanted to know more about the spear wielder’s cultivation. He hadn’t seen Ishin use any techniques, and from this distance, Hou Lei’s third eye wasn’t capable of accurately perceiving his realm.

  He had at first hoped the spear wielder would seek out a third fight, but then watched as Ishin made his way toward the infirmary instead. While disappointing, Hou Lei recognized Ishin’s wisdom in seeking healing for his injury.

  If that had been all, Hou Lei’s attention would have drifted elsewhere.

  But then something else occurred.

  Hou Lei hadn’t watched the encounter from the beginning, but he saw the end. He watched as a bolt of lightning shot through a large brute who had confronted the spear wielder. The lightning hadn’t just pierced the man—it had continued onward, blasting a hole through the Dueling Pit’s wall behind them and destroying a clean line through the tiled rooftop.

  He’s a lightning cultivator! And a strong one.

  Lightning was a rare aspect for an Initial Realm cultivator due to its difficulty. It was so rare that Hou Lei didn’t actually know anyone foolish enough to aspect their first cultivation with the turbulent element. But there was one truth about lightning cultivators:

  Their Immortal Path excelled at destructive offensive power.

  The technique Hou Lei had just seen bore testament to that fact.

  It was for this reason that Hou Lei smiled.

  A rare opportunity has just presented itself before me.