See you on the stage of life and death!
Li Tianshuo was enraged.
Spiritual Qi surged violently around him. He'd reached his limit; he could no longer stomach this arrogant brat trampling on his prestige.
Him!
He was the Second Leader of the Sky Tiger Gang. A genuine expert at the eighth level of the Spiritual Martial Realm! How could he let some upstart run wild in front of him like this?
"Boom!"
Power erupted off him in an instant, raw and overwhelming.
Zhang Lingxiao fell back a step as a massive Void Realm palm shadow came grasping down at him from midair.
"Heh. Breaking the Sect Master's own rules already?"
Zhang Lingxiao let out a low shout, swept his black greatsword free, and slashed straight through the descending palm.
"Boom!"
Blade met palm in the air. The Void Realm palm burst apart with a soft poof, dissolving into scattered motes of Spiritual Qi.
"You're asking to die! You worthless ant, I gave you two free moves, and you think that means you can fight a tiger?!"
Li Tianshuo laughed, wild and unhinged, and a second pair of giant Void Realm hands formed, fists closing together and driving toward Zhang Lingxiao. He came in behind them at a dead sprint, closing the distance to strike in person.
"Li Tianshuo! Stop this!"
"Zhang Lingxiao! Don't be reckless!"
A white shape cut across the sky at tremendous speed.
Zhang Lingxiao caught it out of the corner of his eye: a figure pale as a fairy, dropping down to land directly in front of him. Her back alone, slender and tall, was breathtaking. She raised a hand, light gathering around it, and a barrier snapped into being, swallowing both of them inside it.
The Void Realm fists struck the barrier and vanished on contact.
Li Tianshuo, already committed to his charge, slammed straight into the same barrier. It rippled under the impact and threw him backward like a slingshot.
"Who dares interfere when I'm about to kill someone?!"
The recoil hit him as his own punches turned against him. He hauled himself off the ground and looked up.
Standing between him and Zhang Lingxiao, dressed in white, was Ouyang Shishi.
"Why are you here?" Zhang Lingxiao recognized her instantly.
"If I hadn't shown up, you wouldn't have walked away from this." Worry was written all over her face.
"Li Tianshuo's nothing. Even with Spiritual Qi, he's no match for me," Zhang Lingxiao said, shaking his head.
"Li Tianshuo isn't the one you should worry about. Do you even know who leads the Sky Tiger Gang?"
"Who is the Sect Master?" Zhang Lingxiao smirked.
"You!" She was too furious to finish the sentence.
"Whoever leads them, it doesn't matter," Zhang Lingxiao went on. "I've already burned every bridge with the Sky Tiger Gang. What's left to be afraid of? Should I get down and beg him for mercy?"
Li Tianshuo's voice cut in. "Senior Sister Ouyang, why are you here?"
"Shut your mouth. This isn't your conversation." She didn't even spare him a glance.
Li Tianshuo's jaw tightened, but no real anger rose in him. Behind him, the Sky Tiger Gang members watched their Second Leader get cursed out by a woman and felt nothing close to outrage. Ouyang Shishi was the Great Leader's chosen woman. Xing Hu himself had eyes on her, and that alone put her above reproach.
With no way to touch Ouyang Shishi, Li Tianshuo turned his fury back on Zhang Lingxiao.
"You coward. Some seven-foot man you turned out to be, hiding behind a woman's skirts! If you've got the nerve, step out and finish what we started!"
Zhang Lingxiao stepped forward, gripping his black sword, unimpressed.
"The coward here is you. Second Leader of the Sky Tiger Gang, and you couldn't win a fistfight, so you broke the Sect Master's rules and called on your Spiritual Qi. All talk, no substance. If you want to fight, fight. Stop wasting my time."
"You slippery little thief, you want death, then. No Spiritual Qi this round. Let's finish it properly!" Li Tianshuo snarled.
Zhang Lingxiao shook his head.
"No. Use your Spiritual Qi. Better yet, let's settle this in the Life-and-Death Arena."
"There you can break the rules all you want and kill me without consequence. Why wouldn't you take that deal?"
"What's the matter, scared?"
His tone stayed level, like death itself meant nothing to him.
"The Life-and-Death Arena?" Ouyang Shishi's voice cracked with alarm. "Zhang Lingxiao, have you lost your mind? Li Tianshuo is in the eighth level of the Spiritual Martial Realm. Don't be so arrogant! You cannot beat him there!"
She couldn't stand the thought of this young Supreme Alchemist, a future pillar of Qingyun Mountain, dying on that stage.
"Li Tianshuo, don't you dare agree to this! If you do, you'll answer to me!" she snapped.
Li Tianshuo glanced her way. "Senior Sister Ouyang, I don't see how Senior Brother here can refuse a life-and-death challenge once it's offered. And even if Big Brother heard about it, I doubt he'd blame me for accepting."
He turned back to Zhang Lingxiao. "Fine. Life-and-Death Arena. Let's go, now."
He strode off toward the dueling grounds, a crowd of cheering Sky Tiger Gang members trailing behind him.
Zhang Lingxiao didn't hesitate, falling into step after him.
Ouyang Shishi bit down on her lip and followed, reluctant every step of the way.
***
By the time they reached the Life-and-Death Arena, every other fight in the dueling grounds had already stopped. Word had spread that someone was challenging the Sky Tiger Gang's Second Leader to a death duel, and a crowd had gathered fast.
Li Tianshuo, a genuine eighth-level of the Spiritual Martial Realm, being challenged by some nobody? Whispers ran through the crowd.
"Brat, I've already signed the contract. Your turn." Li Tianshuo tossed the contract talisman to Zhang Lingxiao with a smug grin, then leapt up onto the arena platform with a flourish.
Zhang Lingxiao caught the talisman and moved to feed it his Spiritual Qi.
"Wait!"
Ouyang Shishi caught his arm before he could.
"Zhang Lingxiao. Have you actually thought this through? Even if you kill Li Tianshuo up there, Xing Hu, the Great Leader, will never let it go."
Zhang Lingxiao's smile turned wicked. He leaned down, voice dropping low and teasing.
"Little girl, if you lose to me and end up as my maid, you won't need to worry about me at all, will you?"
"Unless you've already fallen for me, and you're hoping to become my Dao Companion instead?"
The words caught her off guard. His breath brushed warm against her forehead, and something in her chest lurched hard enough to startle her.
By the time she found her voice again, he'd already laughed, signed the contract talisman, and vaulted up onto the arena.
"That scoundrel flirting with me again, in the middle of all this!"
Ouyang Shishi watched his tall, lean figure standing on the platform, and something in her stirred that she didn't want to name.
Oh no. What is wrong with me? Could that idiot actually be right? Have I fallen for him?
No. Absolutely not.
I only care this much because he's a Supreme Alchemist. This is for Qingyun Mountain. For Grandfather.