The crowd shifted as Yan Shen and Lin Cang stepped onto the slate platform. It was the largest ring in the courtyard, reserved for matchups the proctor thought might be interesting.
Lin Cang cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and gave an exaggerated bow. "No hard feelings after, yeah?" he said with a grin. "You mountain types don't bleed easy, right?"
Yan Shen didn't answer. He simply met his opponent's gaze calm, level, unreadable.
The proctor gave a slight nod. "Begin."
Lin Cang moved fast, faster than most expected. He lunged with a palm strike infused with fire Qi, his left foot stomping forward to anchor the heat. The air around his sleeve distorted with raw energy. A clean technique. Practiced. Powerful. Flashy.
But when his palm met Yan Shen's chest, it stopped. As if hitting a wall made of anchored steel. A dull thump echoed, followed by the snap of pressure rolling outward. The sound didn't come from Lin Cang's Qi. It came from the air being pushed back by the recoil.
Yan Shen hadn't moved. Not a hair. He looked down, almost curiously, at the boy's hand still pressed against his chest. Then he lifted his own hand,slowly and flicked his wrist.
The air warped. A pressure ripple exploded out, like a whip forged from solid wind.
Lin Cang was thrown backward..clean off his feet. He rolled across the ring until he landed in a three-point skid, teeth clenched and wide-eyed.
Gasps echoed from the crowd.
"...He didn't even use Qi..."
"Did you see the ground under his shoes? There were cracks..."
Even the proctor leaned forward slightly, one brow twitching.
Lin Cang snarled, his pride ignited. "Alright," he spat. "You want real effort?"
His body dropped low. His Qi surged. Flames erupted from his arms as he slammed both palms together and dragged them into a sharp arc. A crescent of fire launched straight at Yan Shen's midsection. It wasn't refined, but it was powerful. The ring floor hissed under the heat.
The fire surged forward.
And Yan Shen stepped through it.
Not dodging. Not countering. Walking through it.
The flames wrapped around his shoulders, tried to bite into his robe, but the moment they touched his skin, the air shivered. A low pressure wave rippled outward. The fire was deflected. Not extinguished. Not blocked. Lifted up and away, as if the very pressure coming off his body denied its passage.
He stood before Lin Cang in the blink of an eye. Still calm. Still composed.
He tilted his head and spoke, not loud, not cruel, but firm. "Come on. Show me more. We're martial artists, aren't we? And as a fellow martial artist..." His hand dropped onto Lin Cang's shoulder, gently,almost like an instructor correcting a stance. "it's my duty to push you further."
There was no malice. But Lin Cang flinched like he'd been touched by a wild beast.
Yan Shen hadn't expected this feeling. Not the power. Not the crowd. The clarity.
Every movement around him registered like a diagram in his mind. He could sense weight, momentum, micro-adjustments before they completed. Instinct sharpened to an exceptional degree. He wasn't just fighting. He was reading.
And somewhere deep inside, something primal flickered.
This feels right. Not just to win. Not to dominate. To test. To pressure. To help them grow. That's what I was made for... wasn't it?
He had been forged for conflict. But not just destruction. Evolution.
He saw it now—how every strike sharpened the blade. Even if it wasn't his.
Back in the ring, Lin Cang dropped to one knee, panting and sweaty.
The proctor didn't wait for the second round. He raised his hand. "Yan Shen. Victory."
A murmur swept the crowd: this time with weight behind it. Whispers flew like birds.
"Did you feel that pressure?"
"He flicked his wrist,just flicked it and blew the fire apart!"
"I didn't even see him move..."
From the high balcony, a few robes stirred. A group of inner disciples watched in silence, expressions thoughtful. One leaned toward another. "That wasn't Qi. His body's doing something else."
"Some kind of special constitution?" another asked.
"Yes. Most probably it is something with his body."
None of them had seen something quite like this before.
But the sect would notice.
They already had.