"Yin and Yang… Revolution."
Wang Fu closed his fist and settled into his martial stance. Beneath his feet, his Qi surged outward, forming a rotating yin–yang trigram that pressed down on the arena.
"Is that a martial domain?" someone shouted.
A martial domain is the extension of a cultivator's martial will. When mastery reached a certain height, one could manifest a small world governed entirely by their art—within it, every technique is amplified tenfold.
Great grade techniques can have domain though; it is not guaranteed that the art might have it.
The greater the Qi, the larger the domain.
The deeper the mastery, the deadlier its deployment.
Naturally, Wang Fu lacked both the realm and the mastery required to form one.
But the Battle God Supreme Physique that he possessed shattered those limits.
This allowed him to bypass the requirements and unleash a domain despite not having reached the Martial Sovereign Realm.
"Yin and Yang… Resolution."
Lian responded calmly, stepping into an open-palm stance. His Qi flowed outward, not violently but smoothly, forming a simple circular field, perfectly balanced, neither suppressing nor overwhelming.
"So that's a domain…" Lian thought.
The pressure wrapped around him like invisible hands.
"It feels like I'm standing in the palm of his world."
His eyes narrowed.
"So much for keeping my cards hidden. Looks like I'll probably have to use blade resonance to end this."
"Does this still feel like a spar to you?" a disciple whispered.
"No," another replied, voice tight. "It's like watching two masters fighting for dominion. If this continues, someone's going to be seriously injured."
Their murmurs faded into silence.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely.
For Lian and Wang Fu, the world seemed to slow to the brink of stillness.
When the River of Koi passed overhead, they both launched their attacks.
Wang Fu's fists multiplied.
They came from every direction—above, below, left, right—like a thousand strikes descending at once, each one overlapping the next.
"Damn…" Lian thought.
He met the storm with open palms, redirecting what he could, guiding attacks into each other, dispersing their force.
"So, this is the effect of his domain…"
"It's like I'm fighting a thousand people at once."
—Bang!
Another strike slipped through, bashing Lian.
"Tsk… the attack potency has increased too… a few more hits like that and I'm finished."
"AHHHHH!"
Wang Fu roared, pouring everything he had into the assault. Flash Step erupted beneath his feet as he pushed it beyond its limits, stacking speed atop speed.
To Lian, it felt like standing before a solid wall of fists.
But that power came at a cost.
Blood streamed from Wang Fu's nose, dripping onto the stone below.
"Die… die… DIE already!" Wang Fu screamed in his mind.
"Ahhh, yes… that's it," Lian murmured.
"I can feel it again."
"HUUUU—"
He inhaled.
Then exhaled sharply.
Dum… Da… Dum…
His heartbeat slowed.
The world followed.
Everything stretched every motion, every fluctuation of Qi became clear, precise.
No matter where Wang Fu's attacks came from, Lian could now see them before they landed.
He intercepted.
He redirected.
He neutralised.
"Let's end it."
Lian reached into his Spirit Book and drew forth his blade.
The moment it left its sheath, it resonated with the Qi saturating the air.
Stiiiiiiinnnnnn—!
A sharp, piercing hum ripped across the arena.
"Ahhh!"
The disciples cried out, clutching their ears and squeezing their eyes shut.
"Now this is one hell of a match," the half-asleep boy muttered, finally opening his eyes as he stepped toward the arena.
"A Supreme Bloodline versus Blade Resonance… now I want to fight too."
"Huu…"
Lian exhaled and raised his blade high.
Using the back of the blade, he swept it through the air—deflecting every remaining attack with effortless precision.
"Oho—!"
Wang Fu coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth as his domain began to tremble.
"Yin and Yang Resolution: Soul Slash!"
Lian roared.
He vanished from where he stood—reappearing directly in front of Wang Fu, his blade already in motion, cutting straight for Wang Fu's neck.
CLANG!
Sparks erupted.
Instead of flesh, Lian's blade collided with another blade.
"Woah—woah, brother," a lazy voice drawled.
"Were you really about to kill him? Don't you know it's against sect rules to kill another disciple?"
The half-sleeping boy stood between them, casually blocking Lian's strike.
He had short, roughly cut grey hair, and though he was standing fully upright now, his eyes remained half-closed, a soft, amused grin plastered across his face.
BOOM!
The impact exploded outward.
Wang Fu—standing behind the sleepy boy—was hurled backwards, his body snapping through the air with brutal force.
Though the blade had been blocked, the momentum of Lian's slash hadn't been fully nullified.
Using Yin and Yang Resolution, the force still passed through, violently ejecting Wang Fu from the clash.
"When did he get here…?" Lian thought, his focus never once shifting toward Wang Fu.
"I saw him during the fight—he was all the way over there. Yet he arrived in time…"
"His speed… It's terrifying."
"Ahhh… damn," the grey-haired disciple laughed, rubbing his wrist.
"I really thought I blocked that completely. Guess I underestimated it—some of that momentum still slipped through."
He glanced at Lian, grin widening slightly.
"wuuuuu… that was dangerous, I thought I was going to die."
"Hey—hey—hey! What the f*ck is going on?!"
"When did Wang Gu get there? He blocked that strike?!"
The murmuring exploded.
No one knew what to focus on,
The fact that Wang Fu had lost,
or the fact that the lazy slacker Wang Gu had mastered Flash Step to such an extreme degree.
Too many surprises had stacked on top of each other.
"Wang Gu…" Lian said, pulling his blade back slightly.
"So you're his brother, huh? So what are you trying to avenge him?"
"Hahaha," Wang Gu laughed lightly.
"Nothing of the sort. Though we share the same master, he's nothing more than a stranger to me."
He sheathed his sword halfway, then glanced back at Lian.
"Still… I'd like to spar with you sometime."
Then, as he turned away, he added casually,
"Be careful, though. Our elder brothers don't like anyone with the name Wang losing."
"They might come looking for you."
With that, he walked off.
"Damn it!"
Instructor Lin leapt forward, rushing to Wang Fu's side.
Wang Fu was coughing violently now—blood splattering onto the arena floor as his body twisted in agony.
"His meridian pathways are twisted…" Lin muttered grimly.
"That was reckless. Damn it… damn it!"
He forced Wang Fu into a cross-legged position and pressed his palms against his back, sending Qi surging into him.
"Concentrate!" Lin barked.
"If your Qi pathways collapse, you'll never cultivate again!"
Carefully, he guided Wang Fu's Qi, expelling the medicinal backlash from the Meridian-Scorching Pill.
As Lian turned and walked down from the arena,
countless eyes followed him.
No one spoke.
"He did it… he really beat Wang Fu. He's not someone to be underestimated."
"Even if he entered through back channels, with that kind of strength, any sect would have taken him."
Moments later, Instructor Lin straightened up, exhaling deeply.
"Your Qi pathways are twisted," he said grimly.
"It will take two years to fully heal. Go meditate now—if you push yourself, the wounds will resurface."
Wang Fu struggled to his feet, his face deathly pale.
The backlash had been severe.
Before leaving, he shot Lian a sharp, venomous glare, then turned away, limping heavily as he walked off.
"Huu… that was close," Instructor Lin thought, sweat dripping from his brow.
He raised his voice.
"Winner: Bo Lian."
He shot Lian a sharp eye but remained silent.
The other spars continued afterwards, but this time, Lin made certain they remained light.
No other fight even came close to that of Lian and Fu.