…
Fatty Wang's inspirational voice echoes, causing the many disciples in the stands to shake their heads and sigh in respect.
Bai Xiao looks on blankly, feeling as if a thousand bolts have struck his wounded heart; giving it that spark of life which it had once pursued so diligently.
"But I… have never once pursued such a thing." Bai Xiao's voice trembles, yet it doesn't tremble in nervousness as it had trembled before, no, it trembles in redemption, it trembles in a way that breaks through nine layers of white stone.
He looks down at his hands.
These are not the hands of a mortal, or of a sullen farmer sowing weeds.
Ego.
These are the hands of a cultivator.
Of a man that can break through boulders—no, a man that can break through mountains!
One that doesn't fear the heavens, what's the point of worship if you yourself are immortal!?
"Ego."
Bai Xiao looks at his hands once again, and then puts them down.
He feels something beating in his chest, though he knows.
It isn't his heart.
Cultivator Ego.
The culmination of a cultivator's challenges, his breakthroughs, his tribulations to get to this point.
What gives a cultivator status to look down on others? To look at them as if they were mutts crawling around a den?
Ego!
Their ego defines them as a whole! If I must yield, let me yield with honour, if I must kneel, let me kneel to myself!
So what is a cultivator without ego?
A shell!
Bai Xiao's gaze lands on Fatty Wang, and then he smiles.
"You're right, brother Wang, I do have a name." He turns around. "A name that will soon echo through the world in utter reverence."
His bright blue eyes shine with a light, as if he had just disregarded the humiliation from before.
"My name is Bai Xiao. The Harbinger of Wrathful Calamity" He mutters foolishly to himself, lost in the depths of his imagination.
"The harbinger of what? Brother, you're blocking the way." A stubby disciple complains, waving his hand at Bai Xiao.
And then his jaw drops, a snicker escaping his mouth.
"W-wait, aren't you that crazy disciple! The one who tried fooling even the sect's elders!" His breath quickens.
"What?" Bai Xiao looks at him with an ominous frown.
"Haha, yeah, that's you isn't it?" He shakes his head.
"Just letting you know, my master called you a freak, that's not a good thing." The stubby disciple clicks, waving his finger.
Bai Xiao then dismisses him, walking back to his seat.
"You gotta live with this." From behind, that gruesome voice echoes.
"Freak? No, harbinger…" Bai Xiao mutters to himself as he takes a seat, already washed away of his humiliation, and past self.
After a brief intermission, the next disciples to fight are announced.
"Sun Jing, versus… Liu Huan!" The blue crystal shines, before dimming.
The audience booms loudly after the announcer finishes, excitement in the air.
"Liu Huan? That Liu Huan?"
"Sun Jing! Haha, no way!"
"Two legends, I wonder who will win?" A handsome disciple with long eyebrows speaks.
"It's Liu Huan. He will win. The man is a marvel." Next to him, a cold woman whispers her words.
"Haha, you're wrong. Sun Jing will kill that bastard, without a single pant or grunt." To the far left of the cold woman, a pretentious-looking disciple snickers.
"We'll see." The cold woman finishes, leaning back in her seat.
"How cold, huhu." The pretentious disciple continues. "So silent, as if you're an assassin."
"Whos to say she isn't?" The handsome disciple chuckles.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Isn't she Cheng Lian? That slut from the assassin guild?" Another disciple speaks up.
"Slow down, what are you talking about?" The pretentious disciple's nose wrinkles. "Whos a slut?"
"Hehe, I heard her father gave her a child, and she threw it down a ravine!"
"What nonsense is this?"
The pretentious disciple, and even the handsome disciple look at him with disgust.
The one who had just spoken was actually Shi Wuying, a disciple known for spreading harsh rumors.
"Fabled lies." Cheng Lian mutters, watching Liu Huan walk out with narrowed eyes.
"None of you understand the implications of this fight." She continues.
"What implications? That Liu Huan will get all romantic with his daddy Sun Jing and we'll have the joy of throwing tomatoes at two proud talents? Hahaha!" Shi Wuying laughs, falling down to the ground.
"Very brave." Cheng Lian snorts, "How does such a battle concern you?"
"Hm?" Shi Wuying pauses.
"You'll just be a lame servant left to clean up Sun Jing's pathetic blood, blood that reeks of feces and misery."
"Poof! How dangerous!" Shi Wuying licks his lips.
Throughout the audience, many conversations are taking place, with some even being as disrespectful as Shi Wuying.
This is because in the Great Whirlwind sect, you may be as disrespectful as you want to a disciple.
You can of course resolve this with a death pact, a battle to the death, but you can decline this.
"Liu Huan is just so pathetic! That man is carried by the heavens, Sun Jing built himself off of nothing!" A red face disciple slaps his chest and pleads.
"What great talent? I hope you may all insult this man, he is of demonic origins I tell you!" He continues with spittle flying everywhere.
"You're just jealous, aren't you?" Another disciple comments, causing some to laugh.
Of course, the battle is soon to begin, with Sun Jing, a man of great height and bravery, stepping up against Liu Huan.
"Liu Huan of the sword peak. Fight me." Sun Jing speaks, the only words he will speak throughout this entire competition.
"Granted." Liu Huan dismisses him, drawing his blade.
"I'll be there to clean this mess up, don't hold back." Liu Huan continues, getting into a stance.
Sun Jing doesn't even blink in response, only standing coldly with his fists out.
"I heard you like lions?" Liu Huan starts speaking nonsense, causing the audience to frown in confusion.
"Lions are like big dogs to me, they bark a lot, but really, one cut is all it takes to draw dirty blood from them." Liu Huan takes a step forward.
"I see you as a lion. Do you feel like that's a good thing?"
He smiles, arrogance emanating from him.
It's as if golden lions start swirling around Sun Jing as he also takes slow steps forwards.
The battle of Sun Jing versus Liu Huan, the Golden Lion versus the Arrogant Sword.
…