More people than Chang Heng could count filled the empty space around the “Colosseo” -he had no idea why they didn’t just call it coliseum-, the huge, circular structure that was used for his incoming fights, public speeches, sanctioned duels and more.

  Made entirely with stone, with huge arches for entrances, it reminded him of those white stone houses his father loved.

  He thought he’d walk with the whole clan, but instead, only Old Man Ling was by his side, the patriarch two steps in front. The reason was simple: they were both letting out freely their auras, and no mortal could stay close, except for a group of children that followed them, his sister as its leader.

  The crowd parted around them, faces of fear or respect on them, with some annoyed ones.

  He remembered how the pressure made him fall on his knees the day he met the patriarch.

  A whole month…

  And in that month, he had been subtly feeling that same pressure almost all the time, be it up close or from afar. It still weighed on him, forcing his head to look down and his back to bend, but it was much more manageable.

  He sneaked a look at the old man.

  He had the same stony face as always, but the slight curve of his lips told him that the man didn’t like their situation at all. Despite all his power, he was, in the end, still a reclusive person, a loner by choice.

  Chang Heng, too, wasn’t particularly pleased with all the stares they received. He just… wasn’t used to it. He had been the one looking at others for years, and now that the roles had switched, he had no idea how to approach them.

  As he lost himself in thought, he noticed other groups walking towards the Colosseo, with the auras of one or two Cultivators in them. A family, a group of giggling girls, loud boys with parents following them, and especially, a larger group staring at them.

  It was made entirely of Cultivators, their age and sizes variable, with an old woman, a middle age man, and a young boy at the front, all wearing black uniforms.

  The woman led them, her aura shooing away the people between them as she approached, looking at Old Man Ling with a smirk on her face.

  “Ling, my old friend. How long has it been since we last met? Or even better, how long has it been since you last left your hideout?”

  The old man didn’t show any reaction to her words, but Chang Heng was sure that he found her blatant disrespect-

  “Uh, hi… I guess it has been at least a century. I don’t remember who you are. I don’t have an hideout.”

  He said it with his usual flat voice and expression, she didn’t bother him any more than the crowd that looked at them.

  “I’m Xie San, the woman who beat you time and time again for years.” She said this while fuming, her teeth grinding so much that the boy couldn’t help but doubt her, even with his poor social skills. “Don’t think that you having a higher Cultivation means you are in any way my peer now.”

  “Are you sure? San is a man’s name.”

  He replied matter-of-factly, and completely ignored the second half, not giving her words even a thought.

  As soon as he thought this, the pressure she released spiked, from a passive, natural presence, to something angry and intentional. The boy was having a harder and harder time staying standing up with every passing word.

  “Bah! You are the same as always. I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve said this very thing- a century has passed, grow up! Why are you even here, out of your damp little hole?”

  “I haven’t counted them either. I’m here to back my descendant Chang Heng to participate in his first tournament. It can be quite a shock, from my experience.”

  The pressure stayed constant, some of the weaker Cultivators in her group ending with their ass on the floor.

  “Hum. I guess we are here for the same reason then.” There was a look of challenge in her eyes now. “Let’s see which of our grandsons will win. I apologize already if my Xie Mo will hurt your grandson too badly. A swan will still be a swan, even in front of a lowly frog.”

  She walked away without giving the old man a chance to answer, her entourage following behind her.

  The boy by her side looked at Chang Heng- Xie Mo, as he just learned- with something in his eyes that he couldn’t quite understand. He just knew it made him… worry for the kid. Like he wanted to intervene, help him somehow.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “She seemed nice. She even apologised, it’s rare for Cultivators.” Old Man Ling said to him in complete, naive honesty. “Now let’s keep going. I don’t like all these people staring at us. Your sister and her friends were a few too many already before we came here.”

  They all resumed walking, catching up to the patriarch, but his mind was still at that small, bald boy.

  …

  After some quick formalities, Chang Heng ended up on the lowest ring of seats surrounding a sandy arena, on the side reserved for the boys and girls who would fight. None of them sat close to each other, except those few who shared the same uniform.

  While outside the Colosseo it felt as if the place was crowded, on the inside it was the opposite, with almost a third of the seats empty, making his anxiety slow down a bit. With fewer people watching, there would also be less of a humiliation if he ended up making mistakes.

  Before his mind went back to the challenge his cousin gave him, a huge, fat man started talking from the best-looking part of the stands, the one where all the most important figures of the city sat, chosen by the City Lord- the same person who was beginning their speech, apparently.

  “Good morning, citizens of Green Leaves City. Once again, I am Liu Peng, the Lord of this lovely city. It’s an honour to be here. After yesterday’s eliminatory rounds, we are now here to witness the prowess of our future heroes and protectors of our peace. Give them a round of applause!”

  The audience cheered for them, calling names of their friends and family who had awakened in the last year. Particularly loud were those of the local sects, their voices enhanced with Qi. Lucky for them, only those in the Acclimation and Second Awakening stages were screaming, those more powerful silently watching from their private booths or behind the City Lord.

  As soon as he started speaking again, a sliver of his aura was let out, and everyone got silent.

  “This is a quite special year for our youngest generation of fighters. Few will remember, but when I was a kid, this tournament was held every four years, as there weren't enough Cultivators to warrant any more.

  When I stepped in as City Lord, it was held every second year. In the last decade, we've had enough young people to not only hold it every year, but also had to host a special event yesterday just to make the number of participants smaller!

  The exceptional nature of all you people is showing itself, and the local powers are starting to recognize our value. So, before I keep going, I want to thank you all. For the spirit you've shown for years, the strength we carry inside as a collective to keep striving…”

  From his high, rich, embellished booth, the huge man bowed, his head lowering to the same height as his belly.

  The kids smiled at the sight, but the adults had more mixed looks. Some found his thanks appreciated, others improper that a man in such a high position and with a Cultivation so powerful would bow to mere citizens.

  He eaised his head, his face unbothered, his expression showing the same pride as before.

  “And for letting me be your guide and protector.”

  He bowed again with no regards for those who judged him.

  “Now, I'll introduce you to the boons that these young man and women have already given us…”

  He talked of the various great merchants moving in their city, the increased support they would receive during the beast waves, and more.

  His words came out slow, but praised all that needed to be praised, and even those who didn't; from the grand sects, to lone wandering merchants, everyone was appreciated.

  “Lastly, they got us the attention of one of the greatest sects not only in our region, but in our whole kingdom, the Sacred Wave Sect! They even sent us one of their Elders, Elder Lung Rong!”

  A woman stepped to his side. Her hair were a dark shade of gray, but her face didn't show signs of aging, her skin of a pearlescent white accentuating her thin lips, elegant nose nose, and long eyelashes, of a dark black contrasting her gray eyes.

  She wore a simple and traditional uniform, blue in colour with golden edges. The only detail was a sash she wore, of a light gray with one four-pointed star embroidered, and a few smaller ones below it.

  The crowd didn't need to be asked to start clapping her entrance.

  Her face remained a mask of calm despite all the noisy cheering.

  When the noise stopped, she finally started speaking, Qi in her voice.

  “It is an honour to be here. Green Leaves City is a cornerstone of the local…”

  Chang Heng barely heard her words. His focus was instead divided between her beauty and the aura she subtly spread.

  Just like the City Lord, she was a step above Old Man Ling. He was at the peak of the Mortal Purity stage, the third and last of the Mortal Reforge realm.

  .

  That meant that she and the fat man were in the Dao Communion realm, but he had no way to gauge what stage. He didn't even know what they were named.

  But the two felt on almost equal levels of power, and as he thought about it, he slowly stopped caring for her looks.

  He had heard stories of people so much above him in the past.

  In the Acclimation stage, he had seen firsthand men and women build wood houses on their own, or destroy them with their bare hands.

  Years earlier, he had heard of a rampaging man in the Second Awakening bringing down an entire palace during a fight, without even aiming to.

  The prowess of those is the Mortal Purity was seen only during the beast waves, the craters left outside the walls proof of it.

  There was just one story of the lone Dao Communion man of their city. During his first year, a tribulation for them had happened, the first Spirit Beast that ever attacked, a being far above anything their greatest fighters could handle. The newly appointed City Lord stepped in, and fought it for five days and five nights straight.

  No one had seen the fight as it happened, but for the whole time, Green Leaves City had been covered in a golden dome that no monster could break through.

  There was a reason the man called himself a Protector.

  Chang Heng had no idea how people like that lived, so distant from him.

  What were their fears, what worried them, the kinds of problems they had to face, what did they actually do with all their strength. How did it feel to be able to live for hundreds of years? What kind of aspirations could they dream of, having achieved so much already just by having earned so much power?

  He had no answers, but knew that, one day, he could get to know them, if he lived long enough.

  The woman was talking of how the Sect could make the people safer than they had ever been as if it was nothing, while also giving a chance for greatness to many more young Cultivators than they usually did.

  The boy barely heard her words, as his mind was tugged in a myriad of different directions.