The announcement of the three finalists—Li Wei, Li Yue, and Bai Ye—hung in the air, but the true battle had already shifted from the arena floor to the secluded clan pavilions. The atmosphere there was thick with a tension far more dangerous than any Qi technique.
In the Bai Clan pavilion, Clan Head Bai Feng's face was a thundercloud darker than any his daughter could summon. He slammed a fist onto the armrest of his chair, the wood groaning in protest.
"Two! The Li Clan has two finalists!" he seethed, his voice a low growl meant only for his most trusted elders. "And that boy… that Wei. Fist Intent! Since when does a backwater clan like the Li produce a monster who can comprehend Intent at the Qi Gathering realm? They haven't been 'patient,' Tao, they have been deceitful. Hiding a weapon like this, letting us believe he was a cripple… this is a declaration of war by subterfuge!"
An elder with a scar running down his cheek leaned in, his eyes glinting. "The Li Clan's rise is our decline. We cannot allow this. If both of them, especially that Wei boy, enter the Azure Lotus Sect, the balance of power in this region will shatter for a generation. We will be eclipsed."
Bai Feng's eyes narrowed to slits. "Plans must be laid. The tournament cannot be the end of this. Accidents happen on the road home. Ancient ruins can be… treacherous. That boy cannot be allowed to live. He is an aberration that must be corrected."
A similar, though quieter, conversation was happening in the Yun Clan's pavilion. Clan Head Yun, a man with sharp, intelligent features and hair the color of iron, steepled his fingers. The usual placid calm of the Misty Vales was gone from his eyes, replaced by a sharp, calculating coldness.
"We profoundly underestimated the Li Clan," he stated, his voice soft yet cutting like a blade of ice. "Li Yue we knew was talented, but this Li Wei… he is not just a talent. He is a monstrous genius. His very existence upends the natural order we're trying to maintain. The Bai clan are right to be fearful, but they are blunt instruments. Raging storms only make the hidden serpent strike more effectively."
He turned to his aides. "Our approach must be different. We cannot confront this directly. We will observe, we will learn, and we will find his weakness. Every power, no matter how ancient, has a price, a flaw. We will find it." His gaze grew colder. "And if the opportunity presents itself to remove this variable without implicating the Yun Clan… we will not hesitate. The mist does not fight the mountain; it simply waits for erosion to do its work."
Back in the Li Clan pavilion, the mood should have been triumphant. Instead, it was fraught with a different kind of tension. Clan Head Li Tao received the grudging congratulations of his elders with a stiff nod, but his mind was racing.
This has gone too far, he thought, a cold knot tightening in his stomach. The boy's display was too much. He has drawn the hungry gaze of every vulture in the sky. He could feel the weight of the Bai and Yun clans' hostility like a physical pressure. His initial plan to have Li Wei eliminated in the tournament was now impossible and foolish. The boy was now a public asset, one that every rival wanted to break.
"We must protect them," he announced to his council, his voice firm, forcing a confidence he didn't feel. "Li Yue and Li Wei represent the future of our clan. Their success here guarantees the favor of the Azure Lotus Sect."
But inwardly, his thoughts were darker. This boy is a double-edged sword. He brings glory, but he also brings the envy of empires. Can our clan even contain a being like him? Or will he be the flame that burns our house down in his ascent?
The three clan leaders, through glances and the tension in the air, understood each other perfectly. The tournament was no longer the main event. It was the spark. The Li Clan had unveiled a treasure they could scarcely protect, and their rivals had already begun to sharpen their knives, waiting for the moment the Azure Lotus Sect's gaze turned away.
The finals would determine a winner, but the war for the region's future had just begun in the whispers of the pavilions. And at the center of it all was Li Wei, a sovereign who did not yet know the size of the kingdom he threatened, or the number of thrones that now saw him as their primary enemy.