Chapter 329: Vision

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Feng Zhi walks into the ring.

The crowd’s cheers boom around him with deafening intensity, but Feng Zhi only pays attention to the person in the center of the arena. Though he is dressed in the gold and black of the Eternal Flame Clan, it is hard to think of him as one of their disciples. Not with everything that has happened. Once an annoyance, then a possible danger, now… an ally? Feng Zhi would rather not dwell on the issue too much.

The one constant about Qing Jin is his ability to cause headaches.

“I have made things hard for you.”

Feng Zhi’s eye twitches. Qing Jin has the annoying tendency to speak as though he could read his thoughts, and he does it with unnerving accuracy. Multiple times, Feng Zhi has wondered if maybe Qing Jin really is capable of something like that. Then, he remembers all the other times Qing Jin could not predict basic responses and realizes how foolish the notion is.

“Do not try to apologize for actions you do not regret taking. If you had the opportunity to relive these days, you would do the exact same things,” Feng Zhi says. His aura flares around him with force.

Earth Realm, Level Eight.

“True,” Qing Jin says. “I saw your match with Huang Shing. You both fought well.”

Qing Jin’s aura rises as he speaks. As always, it is annoyingly subtle. It drifts around him like morning mist. Before one realizes it, it already surrounds all. A looming presence that appears out of nowhere. A sudden cloud that darkens a sunny day. That is how intimidating the presence of the Emperor of the Storm Dragon Empire is.

Earth Realm, Level Nine.

“I have no need for your compliments,” Feng Zhi says.

Less than four years ago, Feng Zhi had been Qing Jin’s superior in cultivation. The notion seems almost laughable now. Though there are several bets in Feng Zhi’s favor, Liu Jin is the clear favorite in this fight, and Feng Zhi cannot disagree with that assertion. In fact, he feels some of the estimates regarding his chances of victory are a little too generous.

The fight against Huang Shing took a toll on him. The physical and spiritual damage may have healed, but the mental exhaustion remains. By comparison, Qing Jin had a much easier time against his opponent and…

Feng Zhi smiles.

Who is he trying to fool?

The difference between them might be one mere level of cultivation—and there is nothing mere about that—but Liu Jin has something else beyond that. It is not a technique, a relic, or the value of whatever Inheritance he has that makes him stronger. It is something deeper, something Feng Zhi was lacking until his fight with Huang Shing.

However, can someone who has hit his first bullseye compare to a master bowman? Feng Zhi is not sure about that. His cultivation, the relic, his Dao. Those are the tools he has at his disposal. They will have to do. Even if he knows the odds are small, he just needs to make that small probability into reality.

If he is not willing to try that much, how can he call himself a cultivator?

“Feng Zhi of the Eternal Flame Clan vs. Qin Jin of the Eternal Flame Clan!”

Feng Zhi strikes first, bringing his arms forward and unleashing the Eternal Flame. It rushes towards Qing Jin while also wrapping around Feng Zhi’s body to protect him. The precaution serves him well. Not even a second passes before Feng Zhi feels lightning strike behind him and be devoured by his flames. He immediately turns around, trying and failing to catch a glimpse of Qing Jin.

[Art of the Roaming Thief]

That is what his Uncle and Father called it. A movement technique capable of such impeccable stealth that even Emperors will not be able to find Qing Jin once the tournament ends. Feng Zhi is not sure how much he believes that, but he can at least admit his senses are not enough to locate Qing Jin despite knowing he is in the ring with him.

However, that’s the thing. He knows Qing Jin is in the ring with him.

Feng Zhi’s golden flames explode all around him, making him look akin to a volcano as he fills the ring with fire. He is using more power than he’d like, but this is the best way to handle this fight. Under any other circumstance, Liu Jin would be able to go in and out of the city without him realizing it, but in this tiny square, there is no place for him to run.

Feng Zhi wonders if that’s on purpose.

Because it is safer to try to capture Qing Jin within the confines of the tournament, the other Sects have avoided acting in a more overt manner. It is safer for them, but it is also safer for Qing Jin. It allows him to avoid dealing with Emperors for as long as the tournament lasts. Did Qing Jin take that into account?

Why is he even asking?

Of course, he did.

With steam flaring from his nostrils, Feng Zhi tosses fireballs around the ring. The orbs of golden flames do not fade or crash. Instead, they remain floating two feet above the ground, increasing the temperature and turning the ring into molten rock.

More lightning tries to strike Feng Zhi. The bolts appear from random places around the ring, but his flames burn them before they can touch him. If he were fighting Chen Guo, that man would have already tried to break through his flames to face him, but Qing Jin is not like that. His fighting style is unnervingly methodical. He’ll poke and prod for as long as possible, trying to solve him like a puzzle and deliver the finishing strike once he does.

Feng Zhi can use that.

He always knew this would be a battle of endurance. That is precisely why it doesn’t matter if he can score a hit on Qing Jin early on or not. In fact, he’ll probably tire himself out if he tries. Right now, the only thing that matters is turning the battlefield into one most advantageous to him. The one that will give him what he needs the most.

Heat.

Feng Zhi brings his hands together, willing his flames to burn with more strength. The air inside the ring starts to twist and turn, becoming so distorted that Feng Zhi can barely see beyond the tip of his nose. Even the barrier seems to quiver under the heat, and many of those in the lower seats of the arena start moving up, deciding that watching the match on their feet is preferable to fainting in their seats.

Strong as Qing Jin is, even he cannot protect himself from the heat that scorches the arena. He can make as many snakes as he wants to block the flames, but heat remains a constant. No matter what he does, it will begin to wear him down.

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Thunder roars.

Feng Zhi smirks as purple lightning bolts begin falling around him. He spreads his hands out and widens his barrier of flames, shaping it into a sphere that easily burns the deadly bolts.

At least, that is what it should have done.

Feng Zhi winces as some of the current manages to pierce through. Once upon a time, the Eternal Flame gave him a definite edge, but Qing Jin’s purple lightning is every bit as pure. No matter, his shield has to hold. Feng Zhi cannot let Qing Jin think that he can be dealt with at a distance. The only way Feng Zhi can win is if he draws Qing Jin close enough to negate the advantage of his movement technique.

The fiery orbs floating around the ring shine brighter in response to Feng Zhi’s will. The heat they emit has nearly finished turning the ring into molten rock. Amid such a hellish landscape, Feng Zhi brings his hands together and focuses on a single word.

Cleanse.

It is faint and hesitant, yet Feng Zhi taps into it all the same. After what is fire if not a way to burn out impurities? And in this ring, within these four corners, there is only one impurity that blocks his way.

Qing Jin.

Not for the first time, Feng Zhi feels glad that he once harbored hostility towards Qing Jin. It makes it extremely easy, some would say satisfying, to think of him as something that needs to be burned away. The heat in the arena intensifies in resonance with his Dao, melting everything within the barrier.

“I am impressed. Not many would be able to call upon their Dao so quickly after discovering it. I couldn’t.”

Qing Jin appears in front of him as though he has been there all along. Perhaps he has. His body is protected inside one of his snake constructs, but Feng Zhi can see the sweat on his brow. That is why he is making his presence known. He is incentivizing Feng Zhi to attack him directly instead of using heat to overwhelm him.