I sat cross legged on the stone platform to watch the end of the final quarterfinals battles displayed on the formation screens. There were only a few fights left, with many of the cultivators already defeated, some taken away by medical staff because of the damage they took to their spiritual manifestations. My eyes kept wandering back to Wei Lin's screen, and I frowned at what I saw.

  Wei Lin had his opponent cornered against a wall, pulling his opponents spiritual manifestation out using those dark tendrils from his black market stall. The opponent was crying for mercy, but Wei Lin just kept pulling energy with an almost smug look on his face. His eyes had that reddish tint again, but it was stronger than before.

  "You friend seems to be headed down a questionable path," Azure said. "His demonic qi influence grows stronger with each use of that black market technique."

  I didn’t answer out loud, just watched as the last screen flickered to show my own battle ending.

  My spiritual manifestation stepped out of the portal, that feeling of my consciousness coming back together hit me all at once. The memories of the Mortal Martial Realm poured in properly now: the feeling of pure martial energy, the weight of those Heaven-Breaking techniques, and most importantly Jinghui’s memories and emotions.

  Poor kid. I’d given him the ability to get revenge on his brother, to break free from that temple that had weakened him for so long. But power without wisdom often leads to tragedy. All I could do was hope he’d make better decisions than seek bloody vengeance. Maybe Master Hong could guide him, help him find a better path. The old monk loved his adopted son, even when duty required otherwise.

  “Master, the Xuan Yi energy you used in the Realm of the Chosen still needs to be adapted significantly before we can use it effectively,” Azure said. “It is based on beliefs creating reality, while your standard qi manipulation is based on physical laws. However, I have analyzed potential synergies with your new martial qi.”

  “What kind of synergies?” I asked mentally. I was seriously interested.

  “The martial qi emphasizes manipulating physical laws through absolute conviction - believing you can break the laws of reality and doing so. Xuan Yi creates reality through pure belief. If combined, you could potentially create techniques where your martial prowess is increased by how strongly you believe in your victory. For example, a palm strike that gets stronger as you become more certain of victory.”

  That sounded both incredibly powerful and extremely hazardous. The Realm of the Chosen showed me the results of un-checked belief systems. Still, if I could manage to harness it...

  I heard movement behind me and turned my head. Earth Fist Liu walked slowly towards me. His face was pale and tired looking. He had that look of having had his spiritual manifestation forcibly broken. He stopped at a respectful distance and bowed low.

  “Ke Yin” he said, in a voice that was surprisingly steady. “Thank you for the fight. I will return to challenge you again when I am stronger. The pain of this loss…is simply another rock to lay upon the foundation of my endurance.”

  I nodded respectfully. Liu followed the Dao of Endurance; each loss was another obstacle to endure until he became strong enough to handle it. In a way, it was admirable, but looking at him, I felt a pang of guilt. The chasm between us would only continue to grow. By the time he reached Pseudo-Elemental Realm, I would likely be in Elemental Realm or beyond. Some mountains were simply too steep to climb.

  “I’m looking forward to it,” I said anyway, because what else could I say? Destroying someone’s dao with brutal reality wouldn’t help anyone.

  Liu seemed pleased with my response and bowed low again, before turning and walking toward the medical pavilion. His teammates ran to support him, and I turned my focus back to the arena as Elder Wan stood up.

  "Disciples of the Azure Peak Sect," he said, "We extend our congratulations to the four cultivators who have qualified to move into the semi-finals of this tournament. Luo Yichen, Wu Kangming, Wei Lin, and Ke Yin have each displayed tremendous skill, adaptability, and tenacity."

  The audience cheered loudly. I looked at my three fellow semifinalists, wondering which one I preferred to face. Wu Kangming stood with perfect posture, that ancient sword ring glinting on his finger. He wanted that promised duel with me, and honestly, I think that duel deserved to be the finals. Both of us have progressed so much since that first fight in the Fallen Realm.

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  Luo Yichen looked worried but resolute, his hand resting on the hilt of the Mirrorwater Blade. Fighting him would be easy, not because he’s weak, but because I wouldn’t need to restrain myself. No emotional attachments, no risk of corrupting a friend with unknown energies.

  And then there was Wei Lin, grinning wildly into empty space with those red-tinted eyes, probably already counting his profits and calculating odds in his spiritual marketplace. Fighting him would be a nightmare. I couldn’t use my sun energies without risking him absorbing them into his stalls. That corruption would spread throughout his entire cultivation base, and unlike his ‘regulated’ demonic qi exchanges, he’d have no framework for handling energies from a completely alien world.

  “During the break, semi-finalists may rest and recover,” Elder Wan continued. “We will reconvene in thirty minutes for the matches that will determine our finalists!”

  I stood up and stretched, deciding to check in with my parents during the break. The path to the Core Disciple viewing area was normally deserted, but today I was constantly stopped by other Outer Disciples.

  “Senior Brother Ke Yin!” a girl I’d never spoken to before bowed deeply. “Your mastery of those spiritual constructs was incredible! Would you perhaps offer some guidance on manifestation techniques when the tournament concludes?”

  “Thanks,” I replied politely. “I’ll be pretty busy after the tournament, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  Two more disciples approached as soon as she left, eager to talk about my battles and suggest that we form connections. I answered cordially, but kept moving. These very same people ignored me for months when I was just another Outer Disciple. Now that I had proven myself as a tournament favorite, all of a sudden everybody wanted to be my friend.

  The Core Disciple area was a welcome relief from the crowds.

  My parents sat with Liu Chen, and as soon as they saw me, they lit up.

  “Ke Yin!” my mother glowed with pride. “You were amazing! The way you created that dragon; I've never seen anything so beautiful and terrifying at the same time!”

  My father clapped my shoulder firmly. “Son, we’re so proud of you. Win or lose, you’ve already surpassed anything we could have dreamed of. But…” he squeezed my shoulder gently. “Give it everything you have. Show them the tenacity of will that brought you here in the first place. Remember, you wanted to be like a mountain for others to rely upon. Mountains don’t topple easily.”

  The reference to the original's childhood desire to be like a mountain made my throat tighten.

  “I’ll try my best, Father.”

  Liu Chen poked my arm lightly. “You better not lose before facing Wu Kangming! Rocky and I have a bet on who will win between you two. He thinks Wu Kangming's sword skill is unbeatable, but I told him you've got tricks he's never seen.”

  “Where’s Rocky, anyway?” I asked, looking around.

  “He's meditating in the outside the arena. He's been practicing that compression technique that master taught him. He can get himself down to about seven feet now without losing any power. He's determined to master it before the finals so he can sit with us without blocking everyone's view."

  That was really nice of him. Rocky always had a gentle side to his personality, despite his size.

  “Elder Wan calls for semi-finalists to return!” the announcement echoed across the arena.

  I gave my parents a quick hug and headed back to the staging area. The other three semi-finalists were already waiting for me. We exchanged polite bows. Wu Kangming’s face remained impassive, although I could tell he was unconsciously moving his fingers through sword forms. Luo Yichen was pale, probably realizing he'd have to fight either his sworn brother or one of us.

  Wei Lin, though...he was bouncing with excitement, a maniacal grin spreading across his face. I’ve never seen him so excited about anything that wasn’t profit related. But then I guess there was a lot to be gained from winning this tournament, especially for someone cultivating the Merchant's Path.

  “Now that we’ve settled the schedule for the semi-finals,” Elder Wan said, “we will be doing things a bit differently than we have in the past. Since the inner world we’ll be entering is a unique creation of the Azure Peak Sect, and designed specifically for testing disciples at the higher levels, both matches will be run sequentially instead of concurrently. Also, you will enter the world with your physical bodies instead of your spiritual projections.”

  Interesting. I leaned forward slightly. Using up inner worlds doesn’t seem likely; the Azure Peak Sect had existed for thousands of years and had gathered countless inner worlds from defeated enemies. So why the change?

  “The world you’ll enter is called the Proving Sanctum,” Elder Wan said. “The normal rules will apply: victory will come through surrender, incapacitation, or forcing your opponent from the designated battlefield. And as before, killing or permanently crippling an opponent remains strictly forbidden.”

  Elder Wan raised his hand and the formation screens changed to display the matchups.

  Match One: Wu Kangming vs Luo Yichen

  Match Two: Ke Yin vs Wei Lin

  Wu Kangming didn't change expressions at all, but his hand rested more firmly on his sword ring. Next to him, Luo Yichen went even paler, swallowing hard. Fighting his sworn brother and superior in front of thousands of spectators; that had to be tough.

  Wei Lin turned to me with that ridiculous wide grin on his face, his eyes glowing red in the light. “Don't even think about holding back on me, Ke Yin. I want to test everything I've learned against everything you've hidden.”

  I forced a smile back onto my face, although inside my stomach twisted with anxiety.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  I was already thinking about what I could and couldn’t use. Obviously no offensive uses of the sun energies, as he would absorb them into his stalls. The runes would have to be chosen carefully; nothing that could feed his market stalls in some unforeseen way. The qi-powered formations and techniques using plants should be safe enough.

  Damn. Of all the possible matchups, this was the one I had hoped to avoid.

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