Eight
Ash put his left hand behind his back, his right hand hanging at his side. He looked out to the onlookers.
They had invited everyone of value and worth personally, but they had also opened the ceremony to the entirety of the city. Given that the ‘citizens’ of this world were those in the ‘Refiner’ realms, it was a strange thing for Ash to view.
People who would absolutely be given much better treatment if they were born to a different world.
Smiling, he could once again hear the echo of his personal wish. To find those who were overlooked and would be lost based on their situation. If anything, you’d likely find even greater unseen talents here, then you did in the other realm.
Because everyone here was already a Cultivator. Just lacking foundations and backing.
Debts and Relations.
“Welcome. Welcome… I am Lord Sheng,” Ash said and held his right hand out. His voice carried perfectly by the pre-set formations and enhancements made to the amphitheater. “Welcome to the Sheng Sect. We are officially opening our doors tomorrow morning. Today is merely to showcase us as a sect and some of the things we’re proud of.
“I personally am possible of crafting Golems, Enchantments and Enchanted items, creating Transference papers, and… repairing Dantians, enlarging small Dantians to be large enough to open, or in some cases… creating a Dantian from scratch.
“These are just some of the abilities I carry personally. There are portions and parts of my abilities and skills that’ll be taught to future generations of students. As of course I will age and die. There will need to be those in the Sheng Sect that can carry on with my abilities.
“There are many other experts and specialists in the Sheng Sect that also will eventually hand over their own abilities. To push the next generation of Sheng Sect disciples along.”
Ash had slowly turned around and looked to the crowd as he spoke. Trying to move his gaze around the crowd and meet as many eyes as he could.
As he did, he noted that a great many of people had snacks or hand held food.
Popcorn, sandwiches, corndogs, hotdogs, hamburgers, and a variety of snacks and chips. There were also many with drinks in hand.
It was what he wanted.
People needed to know that the Sheng Sect was indeed like every other sect, but that it did have it’s unique offerings available.
“The basic questions I expect you will wish to ask, I will answer,” Ash continued. “There will be no inner or outer disciples. There is only disciples. There will be no combat allowed in the sect outside of the sparing ring, tournaments, or sponsored events.
“Theft or assault will likely be met with outright expulsion and other punishments.
“Attempting to take control over another, harm another, or disrupt the studies of another, will result in outright expulsion or other penalties.
“All Sheng Sect disciples will be expected to fight regularly during sponsored sparring and events as well as to put their life on the line for the defense of the sect.
“We will hold our ideals close and true and if someone attempts to subvert them, there will be issues. We of course will hold respect and deference to the City Lord for things involving his city, and our Realm Lord, for things involving our Cultivators.
“Next. We will first welcome a number of exhibition fights from my sect Masters.”
Ash gestured to the side at all the Brides and Sheng Cultivators who wished to demonstrate.
“Afterward I will—”
“When will you move ahead with the duel!?” shouted Xan Nie, interupting Ash outright.
“I was going to say that I will be having a duel with Xan Nie for taking his fiance as one of my wives later. It seems that duel will be happening now,” Ash remarked and then moved over to where Shuang was. He pulled off his outer coat and handed it over to her, then moved to the center of the platform and gestured to Xan. “Come then. Let’s get this out of the way.”
“And the wager!?” called Xan a moment before leaping out of his seat and landing before Ash.
“Yes, we did have a wager. I’m putting up the Foothills of Xi Cao and this very sect, or sixty-thousand Awakened Stones,” confirmed Ash. “They’re putting up a daughter of their clan as well as ceding rights to the foothills. I will select who I wish to take amongst them. This is in response to the fact that I took his fiance as my wife.”
“I won’t be fighting you, Ash. My family elder will fight you, as he’s on par with a sect master, I will fight my ex Fiance,” Xan declared, lifting his head as if he were proud of that. He’d also refused to address Ash as a sect master, or Lord Sheng.
It was most certainly an attempt at a snub.
“That’s fine. Though the wager is only on myself and your elder, not you and Jia,” Ash allowed with a wave of his hand. “If you like, we can have a secondary wager for your own fight but that’s… just not going to be included when the original terms was a single duel.”
“What?” asked Xan, sounding confused. Then he shook his head. “Then the duel will be myself competing with Jia, that’s all.”
“That’s fine. I understand your Elder doesn’t feel that he can measure up to me. I don’t blame him,” Ash said with a flat smile. “If I were him, I wouldn’t wish to face Lord Sheng either. I’m a reasonable and merciful man so I’ll let your Elder go.”
Turning away from Xan, Ash found Jia with his eyes, and gestured to her and left from the center stage. This was apparently a fight Jia would be taking up for herself.
Wasting no time, Jia leapt down from her seat. Gliding through the air and landing at the central stage.
She didn’t present Xan a martial salute and instead walked ten feet away from him. A normal distance for a duel and then she readied herself.
“Jia Sheng the Bound, once Jia Fu, is ready for this duel,” she called out. Water swelled up around her and began forming itself. Shifting, stretching, thickening, and thinning, all at the same time in multiple directions.
Taking up position at the edge, Ash let his left hand remain behind his back, his right hanging down at his side. He would watch without interfering. He had absolute faith in Jia.
Xan pulled out a spear and held it out in front of himself. As if it were all he needed to fight Jia directly. A faint glow of yellow and green began to trail away from the steel tip of it.
It was clearly some type of enchanted weapon.
An older man of the Xie faction lept from the seats and took up a similar position to Ash behind Xan.
Then Xan shot forward. A thrust of his spear moving out in front of him at blazing speed. It was fast enough that Ash couldn’t deny it was an entirely lethal and aggressive attack.
Jia had a brief look of surprise in her face and then lifted herself off the ground with the water. Her body shifting as she did so. One arm coming forward, the other backward, and her legs swinging upward. Her bootheels now pointed to the sky as her hair fluttered about her in the water.
The water around her shot forward and met Xan directly. Multiple strands of it wrapped around the spear shaft and others went to grasp at Xan directly.
Spinning his spear, the young man dodged backward immediately. Though in a way Ash hadn’t expected.
In giving his spear a twirl, he stuck the end of it into the ground, and shoved. Causing himself to tumble end over end through the air and land a good twenty feet away from Jia.
Her water had been dispersed in the attack, but all it’d done was cause it to flow backward. Even as other tendrils went forward in an equal and opposite reaction.
Fricking fluid dynamics. Always was a real weird mental place to go to.
Jia’s body moved down to the bottom of her water column even as it rolled forward. Multiple tendrils and spears of the water gliding forward toward Xan.
As if realizing he was at a disadvantage, the Nie heir spun the spear around himself, then swung it toward Jia. Several bright yellow bolts of Qi shot forward. All of them aimed to where Jia was currently.
Yet not one even touched her. Her body had rolled through the water in a way that reminded Ash of getting stuck in a wave at the beach. Where you get tumbled along as it drug you across the sand.
In Jia’s case, she ended up doing a sliding motion across the ground of the arena, her chest lightly grazing the ground with how close she was to it. All of Xan’s projectiles shooting right through her water construction and exiting the other side.
Each part of the water construct that was hit turned into a bubbling morass of water and then came away as steam. As if it’d been struck with so much heat that it instantly boiled.
Jia slid to the side, rolled head over heels, and pushed her hands against the ground. SHooting herself upward to the top of her water creation and coming out the top of it.
As she exited, she spun, her arms coming out in front of her.
Two different balls of water came free from her hands. Though Ash couldn’t tell at this distance, he got the distinct impression it looked like water, but was likely more akin to ice.
Slipping back into the water after her spin, Jia, slid through her construct and ended up on the backside middle of it as it flowed across the ground.
Both orbs slapped into Xan and Ash got his answer. They struck him, but blew apart. They were entirely water and fluid only. Though likely a bit firmer than just water by itself.
Not waiting, Xan pulled his spear behind his back, pushed his left hand out in front of himself, and threw a wall of green Qi toward Jia.
A wide smile crossed Jia’s face and she weaved tot he side at the edge of her water, while the rest of it, makes a strange O shape. The square wall of Qi passes right through the opening and into nothing, while Jia’s water reforms it’s shape.
Jia slid through the water, tumbling one way with a spin, and her arms flinging out as she did so. Two more balls of water came out straight for Xan.
Bringing his spear about, Xan knocked one to the side, then the second one straight up. Yet each split as he struck them, water splashing across him. Spraying across his shoulders and head for the latter, and his legs and feet for the former.
Squawking, Xan jumped away from that spot. As if there were a problem, only to hit the ground and roll around on it.
“Ah yes, the lazy donkey roll,” Ash remarked to himself. “What a stunning defense.
Xan came up off the ground and seemed to be alright now. He’d rubbed himself against the stones in what Ash assumed was an attempt to get the water off. Wherever it’d struck him, his skin had become bright red, or his clothes had partially melted away.
Acidlike water. That’s just rough.
Not hesitating, and appearing actually somewhat brave, Xan charged forward again. His spear moving forward in a series of rapid thrusts. Each one created an explosive detonation of where it struck.
Apparently Jia assumed it was definitively dangerous and had lept free from her summoned Qi water. Launching out of it like a dolphin breaching the sea-scape and flipped backward.
She landed on her feet as the spear struck the water. It didn’t do much other than pierce it.
Except when the explosion detonated at the tip of the spear, the water roiled violently and blew outward in every direction. It left behind an open hole that then closed with a loud claping. Followed by a great deal of bubbles.
Did it cavitate, the water rush to fill the gap, and then generate heat? That’s kinda cool.
Scary dangerous, but cool.
Jia clearly had an idea about it.
This is a very dangerous fight.
Very much not a duel for honor or sport but… much worse.
Jia can’t kill him given our position, but it feels fairly clear that Xan is perfectly happy maiming or killing her.
Ash chewed at the inside of his cheek. He really didn’t like the way this was turning out. To be sure, he knew it’d be violent, but he hadn’t expected the man to try and outright kill Jia.
Turning his gaze to the Elder, Ash looked him over. Wondering how he’d react to his kin looking to outright kill Jia. He raised an eyebrow as the Elder met his gaze.
“Xan!” hissed the Elder, clearly realizing that everyone was watching. That everyone from the City Lord and the Realm Lord’s envoy, all the way down to the lowest refiner, watched Xan try to murder someone in a duel that wasn’t meant to be fatal.
Jia hadn’t stopped though. Her hands began to windmill about herself and long ribbons of water grew out from her. As she moved one arm one way, the other came around in a controlled yet equal way. Two long whips of water grew out from her arms and they snaked outward.
Then she flicked her arms, one then the other, toward Xan. Who had paled slightly at his Elder’s correction and then rushed forward once more.
The first whip of water cracked against Xan’s spear and knocked it partially to the side. Her second whip came around a half second later and knocked the spear-upward, and pushed the tip backwards.
In the next moment, Xan’s momentum and rushing force worked against him.
The butt of the spear stuck into the ground and Xan tried to keep going.
He ended up pole-vaulting himself forward over his own spear and crashing into the ground on his face.
Ash watched as Xan attempted to slow himself down by using his nose and lips as a physical brake against the ground. Or at least, that’s how Ash saw it.
Everyone else likely just saw Xan sliding across the ground on his face.
Jia lifted both of her whips, which transformed into wide and heavy looking clubs, and slammed both of them down atop Xan. Enveloping him in the thick Water Qi.
Before he could react Jia jerked him off the ground and Xan was airborne. Airborne and inside of her water.
He began to thrash about, kicking, flailing, and clearly screaming. Bubbles leaving his mouth quickly after it opened. His spear drifted away from him as he tried to swim from inside of the water.
“I consider the duel over,” Ash called out loudly, looking at the Elder. “Do you consider it finished, Elder Nie?”
“I consider the duel over!” agreed the Elder quickly.
Without much more than a flick of her hand, Jia released Xan. The water around him vanishing and giving him a chance to breathe.
Twenty feet above the ground.
With a short wail, Xan fell to the ground and bounced after he slammed into the stones. He lay still on the ground, though Ash was quite happy to see him breathing in and out.
“Now! More duels and exhibition matches,” Ash called out and clapped his hands. “I personally will welcome anyone to spar with me. Especially with basic martial arts! I have many known martial arts in my repertoire and can use them all and will be happy to teach them during the match.”
Walking over to the center of the area, Ash smiled, and looked out to the crowd.
“Oh, Elder Nie… I’ll be by to pick out the Nie daughter I’ll be keeping as a clan-servant later. Do make sure they’re all available for me to pick from. I’d hate to go back to the City Lord and Realm Lord Envoy later to see if the counted number of daughters matches the registry!”
Ash then smiled, and held a hand out to Jia who had joined him.
“Jia Sheng the Bound, originally of the Fu family, everyone. One of my wives!” Ash called out.
Xiuying rushed out from where she was in the stands and took up Ash’s left arm. He had no idea why she had decided to be there, but he wouldn’t argue it.
“This is Xiuying Sheng, another of my lovely wives” he called out, wondering if this was what Xiu was looking to have happen. “Now… let’s have those duels and exhibition fights! This is a ceremony after all! That means it’s a celebration!”
“Hi! Hi! Yes! Hello!” Xiuying said, waving her hand quickly around at everyone, completely forgetting the fan she held in her other hand. “I’m Xiu, Fortune’s Chosen! My husband is Lord Sheng, a Chosen One, I’m his wife, and I’m pregnant!”
Oooookay.
That’s like just pulling out all the aces straight out of the deck and then laying them down on the table.
I can’t imagine that—
Ash looked around and noted there were a great many surprised and shocked looking faces. People who seemed absolutely unsure of how to respond to it.
“We’re having a boy,” Xiuying said with a rapid fire giggle and a bounce. “Anyways. Exhibition fights! Cactus juice!”
Xiuying put an arm around Ash’s neck, kissed his cheek, and her foot-popped up behind her.