During the Bureau’s Tribunal, I had declared that I was the Supreme Elder of the Amorphous Blade Sect, but what exactly did this mean? What duties and responsibilities did this title entail?

A Supreme Elder did not involve themselves in petty politics or administration. They existed for one purpose: to serve as a final line of defense. If anything threatened their sect's survival—whether from within or without—the Supreme Elder was there to save it, or if necessary, avenge it.

Just before dawn on the final day of the year, Kan, JiuLi, YuLong, Meng LuYao, and I returned to the dry lakebed north of the Broken Spear Outpost to face our Heavenly Ascension.

We had five matches ahead of us, and according to the Bureau’s regulations, they all had to be completed before sundown for our Ascension to be considered a success. As fights between cultivators rarely lasted more than a few minutes, this rule wasn’t really about the matches themselves. It was there to limit how long we could rest between them.

Just as the sun crested the rim of the lakebed’s crater, Kan stepped on stage to negotiate the rules of our match against the champions of the Second-Class Tournament. Moments later, he returned, wearing a lazy grin. “One-on-one fights. No special rules.”

As everyone nodded in acknowledgment, I couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised that things were starting off so smoothly.

With our strategy already decided, YuLong stepped onto the stage without a word. A few minutes later, he stepped down, and Kan took his place. Once Kan was finished, Meng LuYao went up. Then, less than ten minutes after the match began, the Bureau’s representative announced our victory. It would have been nice if JiuLi could have used this first round to gain a bit more combat experience, but we wanted to keep the details of her new weapon a secret.

After checking in with YuLong and Meng LuYao, Kan announced that our team was ready for the second round. Then, he stepped forward to begin negotiations with the champions of the Eight-Star Tournament.

When Kan returned, he shook his head in displeasure. “They wanted a group match. I got them to agree to one-on-one fights, but only so long as we sent our people up first.”

Though not ideal, this was well within our expectations.

We kept the same order as before—YuLong first, then Kan. However, having already seen what these two were capable of, our opponents chose to send their weakest fighters against them. The moment the bouts began, these cultivators immediately surrendered, handing us two effortless victories. Then, they sent their strongest member to face Meng LuYao.

This was a decent plan, but unfortunately, they weren’t skilled enough to make it work. The good Eight-Star Sects were all in the kingdom’s capital, vying for a chance at promotion. The groups that had come here were little better than Second-Class, Nine-Star Sects. Even against the strongest of such a group, Meng LuYao was still able to claim victory without much difficulty.

Having won our second match without anyone expending much energy, Kan quickly checked in with YuLong and Meng LuYao. Then, he announced that we were ready for our third match. This time, however, when Kan returned from his negotiations with the champions of the Seven-Star Sects, his face was set in a deep scowl.

“A group fight. They refused to consider anything else. Then, when the only condition I raised was no use of blessings, they pounced on it without hesitation.”

I looked over at our five opponents, who were grinning like they had already won. Less than a second later, I found the problem.

“Be careful. They all have Rank 2 weapons. One clean hit, and your guandao will be destroyed. If that happens, we’ll be in trouble. Even if we can still win this fight, it’ll only make the next one all the more difficult.”

After everyone signaled their understanding, I walked onto the stage, unstrapped a bundle of sticks from my back, and snapped them together to create a short, wooden stool. Then, I sat down.

JiuLi stood to my left, and Meng LuYao stood to my right. Kan and YuLong, meanwhile, planted themselves directly in front of me.

Upon seeing this, the champions of the Seven-Star Tournament hesitated, but only for a moment. We had already agreed not to use our blessings, so even if my sitting down held some deeper meaning, it would, at most, be some strange type of qi attack.

Either not seeing me as a threat or deciding that I wasn’t worth provoking, our opponents chose to just ignore me. Two rushed at YuLong, while the other three divided themselves among my teammates.

Faced with the threat of Rank 2 weapons, my teammates couldn’t afford to block, and they couldn’t afford to be blocked—either could shatter their guandaos. They could only dodge their opponents’ blows while slipping in counters wherever possible.

Neither Kan nor YuLong had much of an impact in this fight. Instead, the first to finish off their opponents were Meng LuYao, who was throwing out splinters of wood, and JiuLi, who was twisting her guandao around like a snake. With all the dodging and weaving they needed to do, this fight lasted more than half an hour, but once these two moved over to assist Kan and YuLong, it quickly came to an end.

By the time the last of the Seven-Star team finally conceded, my companions were utterly exhausted. So, when the Bureau’s representative announced our victory, Kan didn’t even consider rushing into our next bout. Instead, everyone sat down next to the arena and began cultivating to restore their energy as fast as possible.

Hours later, with the sun high in the sky, I looked over to where the ten members of Blackblade Hall were already waiting for us. Five carried Rank 1 weapons, while the other five carried Rank 2 weapons. Unlike the last group we faced, however, each of these weapons was soulbound, so our opponents would be able to use them to full effect.

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With any other match, Kan could have used the pre-fight negotiations to block our opponents from using such weapons. For this match, however, the rules had already been set by the Bureau. It was a duel to the death, with no limitations on tools, techniques, or blessings. If we surrendered, our opponents would be free to release us or execute us at their discretion. We could avoid this by fleeing the arena, but then, we would immediately be demoted to a Second-Class Sect with no protection from the Lord of Black Point.

If that were all, I might have still believed that YuLong and the others could pull off a miracle. However, when I saw that three of the black-robed cultivators had energy bodies filled with those strange impurities, I knew we were in trouble.

The biggest issue was our lack of information. We didn’t know what our opponents were capable of, so we didn’t have any way to counter them. I could step in and take care of things personally, but that would undermine Kan’s position as our Sect Master. He and the others needed to be the ones to win this fight. My job was just to provide them with the tools they needed to succeed.

After considering a few options, I knew what I needed to do, so I connected to an avatar in my inner world. “System, give me a secondary reset point. Bring me back to this moment the next time I die.”

Purchase confirmed. Cost 1 credit.

With everyone outside my inner world, the cost of creating a temporary reset point should have been significantly higher than normal. Thankfully, though, since everyone was still just a Martial Disciple, the ‘temporal anomalies’ involved were minor, and the added costs were rolled up into the minimum price of 1 credit.

Opening my eyes, I looked around at my friends, and a pang of sorrow shot through my heart at the thought of what was about to happen to them. However, I knew that this was the best way to get them the information they needed.

Stepping onto the stage, we took up the same positions we had used in the previous fight—me seated on my stool, my four sect members positioned around me.

This fight started much the same as the last, with our opponents dividing themselves up between my four teammates. Three of the fighters with Rank 1 weapons rushed over to YuLong, and two stepped forward to face Kan. JiuLi and Meng LuYao, meanwhile, were each met by the wielder of a Rank 2 weapon.

To my surprise, none of these seven cultivators was anything overly impressive—neither in skill nor in blessing. Even the best of them was worse than the weakest member of that Seven-Star Sect we fought. The only advantage they had was their numbers.

Therefore, it was rather strange that neither JiuLi nor Meng LuYao was making progress. Their opponents weren’t nearly as skilled as the ones they had just defeated, but neither woman was moving with the speed or precision they usually did.

I turned my attention to the cultivators whose bodies were filled with impurities. Instead of fighting, these three had chosen to step back and observe their surroundings, much like I had. At least, that’s what they appeared to be doing. As the fight dragged on, however, I noticed faint streams of energy emanating from these three and drifting over to surround my companions. With each breath YuLong and the others took, they absorbed a small portion of this energy, and their movements slowed.

Fifteen minutes into the fight, JiuLi reached her limit. Mid-strike, her legs buckled and she collapsed to her knees. Her opponent didn’t hesitate. One clean blow, and she fell.

Her killer didn’t waste any time, immediately rushing to join the assault on Meng LuYao. Then, once she was gone, they joined hands to take out Kan and, finally, YuLong.

When the dust settled and all four of my teammates lay dead, the ten members of Blackblade Hall turned their attention toward me, eyes gleaming with vicious intent.

Rising to my feet, I let my gaze sweep across the cultivators encircling me. Then, before any of them could react, I pulled on a combination of qi and soul power.

Five needles of compressed soul power lanced outward. Five bodies fell to the ground, their souls shattered.

Seeing this, the boisterous crowd, which had cheered at the demise of my friends, fell into shocked silence. I didn’t care. I just launched four more needles of soul power, causing four more bodies to fall to the ground.

I took a single step toward the leader of Blackblade Hall. He recoiled, scrambling backward in panic.

Drawing on my soul power once more, I activated the Spirit-Seizing Palm Technique.

An ethereal hand materialized, wrapped around the Blackblade Hall’s leader, and slammed him to the ground in front of me. Then, using energy vision, I carefully studied his body—mapping his filters, tracing his qi flows, and taking detailed notes on what his cultivation technique had done to him.

“Dual-element, as expected. Saber qi and… poison qi? Not just poison qi. Some type of combined saber-poison qi?” I cocked my head to the side. “Poison is an element, isn’t it? I didn't know you could combine elements and weapons like this. Interesting.’”

My flat, matter-of-fact voice unnerved the man even more than my casual slaughter of his teammates. “It’s too bad that you’re only a Disciple. There’s not much more I can learn from you.”

With a casual wave of my hand, I sent out a needle of soul power to destroy the man’s soul. Then, I looked up and began scanning the spectators.

“The… the winner is the Amorphous—”

The Bureau’s representative tried to say something, but I found my next target, so I didn’t pay him any attention. Staring at the Martial Master that I had detected outside of our room at that restaurant, I activated the Spirit-Seizing Palm Technique and pulled him on stage.

The Bureau’s representative scrambled backward. “What… what are you—”

I looked down at the Martial Master, studying him. His meridians were… strange. I’d never seen anything like it before. They were layered, with one set of meridians hiding inside another. If normal meridians were tubes, then his were tubes inside of tubes. The outer tube carried pure saber qi, while the inner tube was filled with poison qi. Without studying this man closely, I might have mistaken him for an ordinary saber cultivator.

“Your cultivation technique,” I said, dispassionately, “where did you get it?”

He tried to back away, but still locked in the grip of my Spirit-Seizing Palm, he could only slide his boots across the worn, wooden stage. “I… I…”

“You’re a poison cultivator. That’s not an element typically found on this island. Not in the Heroes Domain, not in the Nine Rivers Domain, and not in the True Martial Domain.”

Finally realizing the situation he was in, the man began laughing manically. “You’re dead. You’re all dead. When the Devil Saint—”

Nodding, I sent out a final spike of soul power, ending the man’s path of reincarnation. Afterward, I searched his body for a copy of his cultivation technique, but unfortunately, he hadn’t chosen to bring it with him. If I wanted it, I would have to visit Blackblade Hall myself.

This shouldn’t be necessary, though. Having studied both men’s energy bodies, I was relatively confident I could reconstruct the technique on my own.

As the stadium stared at me in shock—and a group of Grandmasters tried to decide whether they should intervene—I reached into my inner world, pulled out a memory orb, and made a detailed recording of the fight with Blackblade Hall.

Then, I took out a poison pill and headed back to make things right.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a Martial Disciple Peak – 0 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 58,987