~~~

Feng Zhi runs with all his might.

He held back while he and Feng Hao were still inside Imperial Cloud City. His father’s attention might have been on Qing Jin's match, but there was always a chance he might notice Feng Hao moving further away instead of closer. Even after crossing the city gates, Feng Zhi made sure to keep his Qi low. One could never be too careful when dealing with Emperors.

Once the giant fire sword appeared in the sky, Feng Zhi discarded all pretenses of subtlety.

"Elder Brother, wait!" Feng Hao yells over his shoulder. His eyes are wide as he looks at their father's technique on the horizon. "What's going on?! What's happening in the city?!"

"Something dangerous," Feng Zhi says, trying to decide how much or how little to tell Feng Hao. Too little would make him uncooperative. Too much would incite him to do something reckless. "We need to get as far away as possible."

"I can help!" Feng Hao protests.

Feng Zhi snorts.

"Assess yourself properly," Feng Zhi rebukes him. "Do you think either of us could make any difference in that mess?"

As if on cue, a tremor runs through the earth, and a shockwave that clears out every cloud in the sky leaves their ears ringing.

"The best thing we can do right now is get somewhere safe," Feng Zhi continues. His voice becomes softer. "Little Brother, we'd all grieve if something happened to you."

"What about Brother Jin?" Feng Hao asks. "This is related to him, isn’t it? Wouldn't we grieve if something happened to him? Shouldn't we try to help him?"

Feng Zhi bites his tongue. That idiot brought all of this on himself, but there is no way he can say that. For whatever reason, his younger brother likes and respects that man.

"Qing Jin is–"

Every one of Feng Zhi's instincts suddenly screams at him. Before he realizes what he is doing, Feng Zhi tosses Feng Hao away. Unfortunately, it is already too late.

A blade of fire surges from his robes.

Feng Zhi's heart nearly stops as the fiery blade cuts Feng Hao. The world slows down as sheer panic pushes him into a state of complete clarity. He sees everything happening slowly. The relic that gave him victory over Huang Shing and allowed him to fight Qing Jin is not burning his brother.

Just the seals on his skin.

As the moment is burned into Feng Zhi's eyes, his mind starts making connections. The sword is a relic of the Crimson Cloud, and Feng Hao is the one chosen by the Crimson Cloud. This wasn't an activation caused by his will. It was the Crimson Cloud manipulating the relic from afar for its own ends.

The damned thing is going to burn for daring to use him to hurt his little brother!

"Brother," Feng Hao calls out to him, unharmed yet in shock. His Qi is literally steaming the air around him. With the talismans gone, there is nothing holding back his breakthrough. "I think I…"

"Hold it in!" Feng Zhi says, tossing the relic away and rushing over to his side. "You cannot allow yourself to make a breakthrough right now."

His eyes slide over to the seals. They are nothing but ashes. The few that remain stuck to Feng Hao's skin border on useless. If Feng Hao undergoes a breakthrough right now, his connection with the Eternal Flame will grow stronger than it already is, and he will become a conduit between it and the Crimson Cloud.

"But if I-"

If Feng Hao allows himself to go through a breakthrough, he might be able to make a difference. Feng Zhi sees the thought forming in Feng Hao's head before he even utters it.

"There are Emperors there," Feng Zhi says. "One or two breakthroughs are not enough, but your cultivation will be damaged if you advance right now. You could permanently stunt your growth!"

Feng Hao looks conflicted. For a moment, Feng Zhi fears the worst. However, the wild energies around Feng Hao soon start shrinking. Sweat shines on his brother's forehead as he tries his best to hold back his Qi. Unfortunately, it is not easily done.

"Brother," Feng Hao says, his face red from sweating. Steam rises from his body. "I don't think I can… It's too much!"

"Don't give up!" Feng Zhi says, using his own Qi to try to contain Feng Hao's energy. Madness under most circumstances, yet what else can he do now? "Contain it!"

Even as he speaks, doubt starts brewing in Feng Zhi's heart. Feng Hao's power is too great. The more they try to hold back his breakthrough, the greater the pressure on his body. Gold flames already flicker around Feng Hao, urging him to take the next step. It starts to dawn on Feng Zhi that short of seriously damaging Feng Hao's cultivation, there might be nothing he can do to stop this.

However, before he can dwell on that terrible choice, a flash of light appears before him, tearing him away from Feng Hao. Golden flames rise around Feng Zhi, fully intent on destroying whoever intends to harm his brother.

"Calm yourself," the interloper says, "though I suppose asking a Feng to show self-control is too much."

"You!" He cries, staring at Shi Qingxia. "How are you alive? …What are you wearing?"

Feng Zhi trails off. Feng Hao's Qi has suddenly stopped raging for some reason. His brother looks as lost as he is, staring at his previously steaming hands in confusion.

"What did you just do?!" Feng Zhi asks her.

"I put one of these on him," Shi Qinxia says, holding up a small talisman which she then immediately sticks to Feng Hao's skin.

"Hey!" Feng Hao yells. The talisman is stuck to his forehead, making it hard for him to see.

"It's for your own good," she says, taking out another one and repeating the process. "These aren't quite as sophisticated as what you had on you, but they'll do the job. They better, considering what they cost. You'd think the Five Blessings House would have given us a discount."

"The Five Blessings House?" Feng Zhi is torn between confusion and anger as he stares at the scene before him. As usual, anger wins out. "What's going on?! Explain!"

"Qing Jin told you to get out of the city, didn't he?" Shi Qinxia asks him, still putting talismans on his brother. "Did you think that was all he did? The moment he knew about the problem, he commissioned these from the Five Blessings Group and had instructions sent to us through their office. None of this was part of the original plan, but it might work better this way. Come with me. You'll be safer that way."

"Go with you? Where?"

Shi Qinxia points up.

Feng Zhi and Feng Hao follow her finger. A second later, Feng Zhi's eyebrow begins to twitch dangerously.

"I hate him so much," Feng Zhi says.

~~~

Meng Yue steps outside the regular flow of time.

It has only been a few seconds since the battle began, yet most of the audience has already fled the Crimson Cloud Arena. Sister Lianshi and Feng Shang are nowhere to be seen, and Elder Chen of the Infinite Mountain Sect has begun fighting Elder Xue of the Eternal Flame Clan. The Wandering Wind is watching, but not doing anything.

None of it matters right now.

Her opponent is Feng Gui.

A single step places her in front of him. Her fist is ready. Her Qi thirsts for battle. Feng Gui's frozen face is the perfect target.

She is the one thrown back.

Meng Yue stops herself in the air right before she leaves the arena. She rubs her jaw, confused yet intrigued. The world is still frozen, yet Feng Gui definitely moved just now.

Golden flames burst to life in front of her. A blast of cold snuffs them out.

Another blow falls on her.

At that exact moment, she counterattacks.

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Feng Gui and Meng Yue are thrown back by each other's hits.

"Clever," Meng Yue says, looking at the frozen Feng Gui as she rubs some blood from her mouth. "You are destroying the time it takes for you to attack and evade, but it seems you lack precision."

Feng Gui does not answer. His body remains frozen in time.

Meng Yue sighs. She raises her hand, and a frozen lotus appears on it.

Golden fire burns the sky.

It does not burn Meng Yue's body, but she feels it burn something far more important. The boundary between her spatial realm and the true world is destroyed with a single flare. Time destabilizes, and her technique ends.

"As expected, you're a very frustrating woman," Feng Gui says, brushing some hair out of his forehead.

Meng Yue huffs and crosses her arms.

"I should be the one saying that. Why pretend you can't move? Isn't it better this way?" Meng Yue replies.

"Destruction cannot be carried out senselessly, especially when time is involved," Feng Gui says. "That is exactly why I do not want to involve myself with a brute like you. We can both interfere with time. The more we fight, the greater the effects. It is ill-advised."

He is not wrong. She makes time. He destroys it. There are consequences for that. Even as he speaks, time and reality ripple around them, much to the confusion of several fighters. Down in the city, a vase falls and shatters only to become whole the next second.

"You're such a hypocrite," Meng Yue says. "If it were only you who could do this, you'd abuse it however you wanted."

"Naturally," he replies shamelessly.

Meng Yue laughs.

"Annoying. You're so annoying," Meng Yue says, yet she smiles. "Why does someone like you have to be such a good opponent for me?"

"Believe me, I hate it even more than you," Feng Gui replies.

"Good, let's see if I can make you hate it a little more," Meng Yue says.

Ice and fire rage above the Crimson Cloud Arena.

~~~

Every single rational person has already left the Crimson Cloud Arena. Even those in the city below have already fled the surrounding districts. When faced with the overwhelming power of Emperors, that is all one can do. A peasant does not try to fight the storm or the quake. He can flee or he can hide. Nothing else.

And yet, a group of four still roams the streets.

"This seems ill-advised," Fan Bingbing speaks up. Her quiet voice is easy to hear in the now-empty streets of the city.

"Nonsense," Bei Hong replies. "This is exactly where we should be!"

Lu Mei buries her face between her palms. It pains her that she has been put in a situation where her thoughts are in line with Bei Hong. Even when Huang Shing laughs with the oaf, his laugh is noticeably nervous and with good reason. Her father ensured she would receive the best treatment possible despite her loss, but the same cannot be said for the others. It is the reason why she did not take Ten Zichun with them. These three are at least healthy enough to do some light sparring, but Ten Zichun can barely walk about.

All the same, none of them are remotely strong enough to be this close to an arena full of clashing Emperors.

"I understand that–"

Time ripples.

"I understand that–" Lu Mei suddenly stops, realizing what just happened. It is, unfortunately, not the first time. Further evidence of how reckless this is.

"I am never going to get used to that," Huang Shing says.

"You'll have to," Fan Bingbing says bluntly. She is not wrong.

Lu Mei sighs again.

"I know this is ill-advised," she says, pausing for a moment in case time decides to stutter again. It does not. "However, there is a point to this. This is where we’ll be of greater help.”

"You sound certain," Fan Bingbing says. She does not frame it as a question, but it definitely is one.

“I am,” Lu Mei replies.

For the entire tournament, Lu Mei has been trying her hardest not to think about Qing Jin's plans. She knows him well, so she feared that if she tried too hard to figure them out, she might end up succeeding. If that happened, her father or uncle could have noticed and used that information for their own ends.

However, as soon as the fight between Qing Jin and Xiao Shuang began, there was no longer any risk of that happening. Every piece was already in place, and every plan was already in motion. Thus, Lu Mei moved to gather all those she deemed trustworthy.

“Agents from the Temple of the Thousand Shadows are somewhere in the city,” Lu Mei says. Her father was quite helpful by sending that information to her before vanishing. “My Jin knew that would happen. By staying in the arena, he is forcing them to go through all of that to get to him.”

She gestures at the arena. The chaos and devastation raging in the skies make her point better than any amount of words ever could

"They're hiding now, waiting for the right moment to strike," Lu Mei says, before smiling. "I say we do not give them the luxury of choice."

Bei Hong's grin grows feral. Huang Shing's smile becomes a little more genuine.

"This seems ill-advised," Fan Bingbing repeats.

"Scared?"

"Not at all," Fan Bingbing replies. "Let’s root them out.”

~~~

Meng Yue and Feng Gui are fighting above the arena while Emperor Xiang and Shao Zhilan stare at each other intensely. Elder Chen and Elder Xue are locked in combat, but neither side is giving it their all. The two are still assessing the situation as are several other cultivators inside and outside Imperial Cloud City.

Ruan Haoran is one of them.

He waits outside the city in complete silence. His eyes are closed, yet he can see everything happening within the Crimson Cloud Arena with perfect clarity. Every attack. Every move. Every person. The old man perfectly keeps track of it all, waiting for the perfect opening, waiting for that one moment where everyone will be just a fraction of a second too slow.

He finds it.

In the blink of an eye, Ruan Haoran makes his way through the city gates and into the Crimson Cloud Arena with four Elders of the Ruan Clan trailing behind him. He had more with him, but Feng Shang's damned trick cost him some. Fortunately, it also removed two of the more troublesome persons from this battle.

With a roar of wind, Ruan Haoran advances towards the fiery dome in the ring. His Qi rises without restraint. There is no need for him to hold back in the slightest. His goal is not to capture the brat.

The Art of the Roaming Thief must be destroyed.

The rest of the arena immediately starts moving, but Ruan Haoran chose his moment well. They will be just a fraction of a second too late to stop him.

A corpse gets in his way.

It appears out of nowhere, an emaciated thing with its skin pulled tightly over its bones. Its face is a blank mask, and red robes cover its body. It has no hands. Instead, its arms end in deadly spikes.

Within the fiery dome, a frown appears on Liu Jin's face.

Ruan Haoran shatters the corpse into nothingness.

However, the corpse slows him down just enough. Time stutters around him, and Elder Chen steps into the gap. A wall of earth rises before Ruan Haoran. The old man grits his teeth and prepares to break through.

Magma rises under him.

The Elder flies up as multiple pools of magma erupt inside the ring.

"You would ally against me?!" Ruan Haoran roars as Elder Xue and Elder Chen block his way.

"I believe we just did," Elder Chen says. The man looks at him calmly. The walls of earth he summoned creep closer to the fiery dome, but a burst of magma melts them.

"I do not think it wise for us to trust each other," Elder Xue says, giving Elder Chen a warning glare. Her gaze shifts to Ruan Haoran. "However, you just made your intentions clear enough. I will not allow you to kill that child."

"The Art of the Roaming Thief cannot be allowed to exist," Ruan Haoran roars. "But very well, if you wish to interfere, it will not be me you face but the full might of the Ruan Clan!"

The Elders of the Ruan Clan advance on the two Emperors as he speaks, removing them from his way. However, that does not mean his path is clear..

Ruan Haoran is not the only one who has been biding his time.

"You overplayed your hand and lost the element of surprise," Dai Jie of the Divine Frozen Palace says as she descends on the arena. "You will never have another chance to capture the boy. Retreat and I will show mercy."

Faced with one of the Five Fairies of the Divine Frozen Palace, Ruan Haoran snorts and spits to the side.

“Why should I bother listening to the words of a coward who has been hiding in the sidelines?” Ruan Haoran asks.

"Sister Meng Yue is still fighting Feng Gui," Dai Jie says. The seemingly random statement confuses Ruan Haoran for a moment. "Do you not realize what that means? Neither of them believes there is any need to put a stop to their duel. You are not a threat."

Ruan Haoran attacks with a raging hurricane.

~~~

They are here.

It is not quite like the Qi of the Fleshcrafter, but Liu Jin could never mistake the scent of Qi tinged with death. Just as the Temple of the Thousand Shadows sent someone, so did the Death Fashioning Scripture.

"You almost died," Xiao Shuang notes.

"Almost," Liu Jin notes.

"You seem to rely a lot on almosts," Xiao Shuang counters. "What would have happened if there hadn't been someone around to save you?"

"In this situation, it was impossible for that not to happen," Liu Jin says. He senses Xiao Shuang's confusion through their bond. "Have you ever played a game of chance with Sister Bai Wen? Perhaps with Lady Meng Yue?"

"I have," she replies.

"Then you understand," Liu Jin says, remembering all those games Feng Zhuo played with him and Lu Mei. The cultivator would always roll the number he needed. He would always draw the best possible card. "Fate is not unknown for high-level cultivators. It is something they deliberately pull towards them."

"I am not unaware of it," Xiao Shuang says, "but that is exactly why this is so dangerous for us. Compared to them, we are but falling leaves that barely make ripples on a pond. Their value nullifies yours."

"Normally, you'd be right," Liu Jin says, testing out his arm. "But consider what the goal of the tournament is. All these people have been fighting for a prize."

"I know," Xiao Shuang says, irritation creeping into her voice. "It is you! You made yourself the prize, and…"

She trails off.

As expected, she needed little to understand. Nevertheless, Liu Jin decides to explain it anyway.

"Why is something valuable?" Liu Jin asks. "Is it intrinsic or is it decided by others? Every single Emperor in the vicinity has decided I am the most important thing in the entire city. Whether to kill me, capture me, or save me, it does not matter. They have woven their stories with themselves as the stars, and while they might counter each other’s value, mine only grows stronger.”

Because, though the various Emperors may see each other as foes, they could never see Liu Jin that way. He is too weak, too beneath them. He is an objective. A promising talent. A potential threat. A future concern.

Not an equal. Never an equal.

Thus, they never directly put their value against his. It never even occurred to them. They just took it for granted he would become theirs as long as they asserted themselves over the rest.

Liu Jin stands up. His Qi glows softly around him.

"Believe me when I say this, right here and now, I am at my strongest."

~~~