The atmosphere in the Fourth Plateau's Arena of the Sun was electric, a deafening roar of thirty thousand voices bouncing off the white jade walls. The air was thick with the scent of ozone, expensive incense, and the underlying tension of a thousand hidden agendas. High above the arena floor, the VIP balconies were draped in the shimmering banners of the Great Sects, including the ominous silver crescents of the Moon Sect and the burning emblems of the Golden Sun.
For the elite of the Central Continent, this tournament was a game of prestige. For Qin Feng and Ye Chen, it was a walk through a minefield.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Discerners of the Path!" a commentator's voice boomed, magically amplified to reach every corner of the stadium. "We begin the Duo Category preliminaries! On one side, we have the rising stars of the Iron-Clad Pavilion, the Iron-Mountain Brothers! And their opponents... the newcomers who have set the betting dens ablaze with laughter... the Eclipse Duo!"
A wave of mocking laughter and jeers erupted from the stands as Qin Feng and Ye Chen stepped onto the sands of the arena.
Qin Feng looked deliberately unremarkable. He had donned a set of patched, leather-reinforced miner's clothes, and his Eclipse Sunderer was still wrapped in its scorched, dirty cloth. He looked like a man who had wandered into a palace by mistake. Beside him, Ye Chen was a pillar of white silk, her face veiled and her aura suppressed so tightly it felt non-existent.
[DING! Quest Started: The First Bloom of the Eclipse.] [Objective: Win the first round in under 60 seconds.] [Bonus: Do not reveal Ye Chen's Moon-Sect sword techniques.] [Warning: Elder Inquisitors are scanning the arena for 'Moon-Ice' Qi.]
Opposite them stood the Iron-Mountain Brothers, two giants nearly seven feet tall, clad in heavy plate armor that hummed with 8th Layer Foundation Qi. They carried massive war-hammers that glowed with a dull, earthen light.
"You're the miner who insulted Young Master Solari?" the elder brother, Tie Gang, sneered, slamming his hammer into the sand. The shockwave made the ground tremble. "I'll make a deal with you, peasant. Kneel now, apologize to the Sun Sect, and I'll only break your legs. If we fight, my hammer won't leave enough of you to bury."
Qin Feng didn't answer. He didn't even unwrap his pickaxe. He simply stood in a relaxed stance, his eyes fixed on the "veins" of Qi circulating through Tie Gang's armor.
"Ten seconds," Qin Feng whispered to Ye Chen.
"Five," she replied, her hand resting loosely on her scabbard.
"BEGIN!" the referee roared.
The Iron-Mountain Brothers moved with surprising speed for their size. They lunged forward in a pincer movement, their hammers glowing with the 'Mountain-Crushing Strike'. The weight of their combined Qi created a gravitational pressure that was designed to pin an opponent to the ground before the blow even landed.
[ACTIVATE: Vein Seeker — Structural Flaw Detection.]
In Qin Feng's vision, the world slowed. He saw the glowing red lines where the brothers' Qi synchronized. Their strength was their armor and their mass, but their weakness was the rigidness of their formation.
Qin Feng moved.
He didn't retreat. He charged straight into the center of the pincer movement. To the audience, it looked like suicide. But as the hammers came down, Qin Feng performed a low, sweeping slide. He used the handle of the wrapped Sunderer to strike the ground between the two brothers.
[SKILL: Seismic Pulse — Disruption.]
The vibration traveled through the sand, hitting the brothers' feet at the exact moment they released their strike. Their balance shattered. The two massive hammers, intended for Qin Feng, slammed into each other with a bone-rattling CLANG that sent sparks flying fifty feet into the air.
While the brothers were stunned by the recoil of their own weapons, Ye Chen moved like a blur of white light. She didn't draw her sword. She used the scabbard.
Thwack. Thwack.
Two precise strikes to the brothers' helmets. She didn't use her ice-Qi; she used pure kinetic force enhanced by Qin Feng's Eclipse Resonance. The impact sent the giants reeling backward, their vision swimming and their heavy armor suddenly feeling like a lead coffin.
Qin Feng was already behind Tie Gang. He rose from his slide and delivered a palm strike to the center of the man's back-plate.
[SKILL: Eclipse Inversion — Internal Shock.]
The vibration passed through the armor without damaging the metal, instead detonating inside Tie Gang's lungs. The giant let out a wheezing gasp and collapsed forward, his 8th Layer Qi flickering out like a spent candle.
His brother tried to swing his hammer one last time, but Ye Chen was already there. She caught the head of the massive hammer with her bare hand, a feat of strength that made the commentators fall silent. Her white glove didn't even tear. She gave the hammer a sharp twist, disarming the giant, and then tapped his forehead with two fingers.
The man slumped into the sand, unconscious before he hit the ground.
The arena went from a roar to a dead, suffocating silence.
"Match over!" the referee shouted, his voice trembling. "Winners... the Eclipse Duo! Time: 28 seconds!"
[DING! Quest Completed!] [EXP Gained: 60,000! Level 7 Foundation: 65% to Level 8.] [Face-Slapping Multiplier x50: You have humiliated the 'Iron-Clad' favorites without even drawing a weapon.]
Qin Feng slung his wrapped Sunderer back over his shoulder. He didn't look at the crowd. He didn't look at the unconscious giants. He looked directly up at the VIP balcony where Young Master Solari sat. Solari had stood up, his face pale and his knuckles white as he gripped the railing.
Beside Solari, a dark-robed figure, the Elder Inquisitor, was leaning forward, his eyes narrowed behind his mask. He hadn't seen the Moon-Sect's ice, but he had seen the way Ye Chen moved. It was too refined, too perfect for a rogue.
"We were too fast," Ye Chen whispered as they walked toward the exit tunnel.
"No," Qin Feng replied, his voice a low growl. "We were just fast enough to let them know that the 'miner' is coming for their thrones. Let them speculate. By the time they decide to act, we'll be on the Fifth Plateau."
As they disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel, the System chimed one last time.
[WARNING: Target 'Young Master Solari' has initiated a 'Death Bounty' against you.] [New Objective: Survive the Round of 16 'Assassination Match'.]
Qin Feng smiled. He hadn't felt this alive since the day he first picked up a tool in the mines. The hunt was finally on.