~~~

The sun shines over the Crimson Cloud Arena. Though recent fights have proven dangerous to members of the audience, every single seat is already occupied. The barrier around the ring has been reinforced to withstand the skills of the four strongest fighters this generation has to offer. Even if it hadn’t been, the people would have still come to watch. No one wants to miss what is about to happen.

Liu Jin is no different.

He watches from the shadows, his Qi perfectly hidden. The sheer concentration of high-level cultivators in the arena, the very same people who are trying to find him, makes it extremely easy to conceal his presence. Life is full of little ironies.

The fight about to happen is another such example.

Xiao Shuang and Lu Mei. When Liu Jin first took over the Storm Dragon Empire, he’d been worried that their respective Sects would try to pit them against each other, but things never came to that. Instead, the girls became friends, only putting on an outward facade of enmity to satisfy the expectations placed on them. Their fight should have been nothing more than a friendly duel.

And yet…

“Xiao Shuang of the Divine Frozen Palace vs. Lu Mei of the Eternal Flame Clan.”

The arena becomes colder the instant Xiao Shuang appears. Many in the audience came dressed in warm clothes precisely because they expected this to happen. However, the cold around Xiao Shuang is more than mere temperature. It is intent, a declaration and a warning. Nothing will stop her from reaching the final, and anyone who tries will regret it.

Lu Mei takes it all in stride. Her Qi brims with warmth and confidence as she walks, moving so gracefully she almost seems to flow over the ring. Her golden eyes shine as she looks at her opponent. There is no fear there. No hesitation. Her aura flares in anticipation.

Heat and cold meet, causing small whirlwinds to appear around the ring, a prelude of what is about to happen. The usual Lu Mei would not care about trying to defeat Xiao Shaung, but that is no longer the case. Two of the strongest talents in this generation are about to give it their all to win this fight.

All because of him.

Liu Jin smiles bitterly. In the end, it wasn’t the Divine Frozen Palace or the Eternal Flame Clan that turned the two against each other. This is all the result of his actions. He exposed himself to the world, predicting their safety but failing to account for the emotional toll his actions would take on them.

He should have predicted Xiao Shuang would suffer, but he hadn’t. He was so busy thinking of large, overly complicated things that he forgot to take into account what is most important.

Now, he can only watch as two of the people most dear to him fight.

~~~

Sparks appear in the ring as Lu Mei’s and Xiao Shuang’s energies brush against each other. Though they have yet to move or make a sound, a whole conversation has already gone by.

“Isn’t this interesting?” Lu Mei says, one hand on her hip and a casual smirk on her face. “Aren’t you going to ask me to surrender?”

“I want to,” Xiao Shuang says. Just by speaking, she causes frost to appear over the ring. “However, I know better than to underestimate your resolve.”

Lu Mei’s smirk widens.

“A compliment. How nice. I wish I had one to give you, but the truth is, you look quite terrible.”

Xiao Shuang does not react to the taunt, but she is blessed enough to have several people who get angry on her behalf. Lu Mei feels the bursts of lethal intent aimed at her from all over the ring, especially from the Divine Frozen Palace’s box.

Who is she to insult Xiao Shuang? Who is she to comment on her beauty? Xiao Shuang’s face is hidden behind a veil, and even if it wasn’t, the face of a member of the Divine Frozen Palace cannot be anything less than breathtakingly beautiful. That is what all those prickling looks seem to be telling her.

However, Lu Mei can see much better than all those people. Beyond the cold. Beyond the terrifying Qi. She knows her friend, and what she sees in her is worrying for reasons that have little to do with their impending fight.

“Do you think I will respond to taunts?” Xiao Shuang asks her. Her Qi rises, but she has yet to reveal her full strength. Considering the Crimson Cloud Tournament is a gathering of the strongest cultivators of their age, that Xiao Shuang has managed to keep her cultivation hidden thus far is incredibly impressive.

“You know better than to think I am insulting you,” Lu Mei tells her. “I just never once thought you were quite this weak.”

A wave of cold hits Lu Mei across the face like a slap.

“Weak?” Xiao Shuang asks.

“What else am I supposed to call you?” Lu Mei asks. “Dear, you might be trying your hardest to seem like an impenetrable wall of ice, but to me, it looks like you are falling apart. Does it take so little to make you crumble?”

Xiao Shuang’s cold blue eyes peer into hers.

“I am treating things with the appropriate seriousness,” she says. “You are not. One must wonder whether you even care.”

That wipes the smirk from Lu Mei’s face.

“I am going to let that one go in light of our history,” Lu Mei says. Her Qi rises dangerously as she speaks.

“There is no need for that,” Xiao Shuang says. “I have no intention of taking back my words. You do not care enough.”

Gold flames roar around Lu Mei.

Earth Realm, Level Eight.

“Oh dear,” Lu Mei says, her smile stiff. “You really should not have said that.”

She raises her hand and aims it at Xiao Shuang.

[Incandescent Scorching]

A golden sun is unleashed on the ring, forcing Xiao Shuang to summon multiple walls of ice in front of her. They barely slow down the fire, but they give her enough time to launch a counterattack. Her Qi spikes, and a wave of cold slams down onto the ring, instantly snuffing out the flames.

Lu Mei suddenly appears at her flank, moving with speed far beyond what someone in the Earth Realm should be capable of. Gold and blue eyes meet just before Lu Mei unleashes the Eternal Flame once more. Xiao Shuang wraps herself with cold and ice, her aura growing as she pours more power into it. Heat and cold explode upon contact. Mist is scattered over the ring as Xiao Shuang is blown back by the force of the explosion.

“Are you really in any position to talk about taking things seriously?” Lu Mei’s voice shouts from within the mist. “Do you really believe you can fight me while hiding your cultivation?”

[Binding of the Condemned]

Chains of flame appear on all corners of the ring and chase after Xiao Shuang. She summons a wall of ice to defend herself, but the fiery chains immediately pierce through it. One wraps around her wrist, slowing her down just enough for the other chains to trap her remaining limbs.

“Is this it?” Lu Mei asks as she makes more flaming chains appear around Xiao Shuang. “You could barely defeat Fan Bingbing while keeping your cultivation hidden. What made you think you had any right to step into the ring while trying to hide your power?”

Despite her state, Xiao Shuang meets Lu Mei’s gaze calmly.

“As I thought, you do not care enough,” she says.

The chains around Xiao Shuang immediately tighten. Smoke rises from her clothes, yet the girl refuses to flinch.

“Oh?” Lu Mei says, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

“If you really cared,” Xiao Shuang says without flinching, “You would have tried your hardest to defeat me right now.”

Something breaks.

The solitary sound echoes throughout the suddenly silent city. A man near the city walls sighs, and his breath comes out as white vapor. A glass of beer over at a bar suddenly shatters, and the beer freezes on the floor. The sunny sky darkens as the clouds become heavy. Snow begins falling over the city.

Heaven Realm.

Level Three.

~~~

“That’s not…”

Ruan Chenshu cuts himself off. What point is there in saying it is not possible when the truth is right before his eyes? The girl from the Divine Frozen Palace hasn’t just reached the Heaven Realm. She’s in the third level of it. It is borderline unprecedented.

His gaze shifts to the Wandering Wind. Unsurprisingly, she remains unperturbed. She probably realized the girl’s true power from the start.

However, if this is the power of the Divine Frozen Palace’s strongest disciple…

~~~

“That is potentially troublesome,” Lord Feng Gui says, frowning as he looks at the ring.

“Is it?” His wife asks. She tries to sound dismissive, but he can see the nervousness in her eyes. “Certainly, she is impressive, but by the time he reaches her age, our son will be-”

“Our son is our blood. It is expected of him to be impressive,” Feng Gui says. “He has been given every privilege since before he would walk.”

He points to the fight.

“That girl has been with the Divine Frozen Palace for less than a decade.”

Certainly, she has been tutored by Meng Yue and must have received all sorts of resources to boost her cultivation. However, investment does not guarantee results. Feng Zhi is proof of that. If the girl continues to grow at this pace, she will soon become someone who cannot be overlooked.

Considering the results achieved by her brother, it seems the Xiao bloodline was blessed far beyond their station.

Perhaps it's fortunate that Eastern Port City fell all those years ago.

~~~

This goes a little beyond her expectations.

Lu Mei tries to keep a confident smile on her face as the mere force of Xiao Shuang’s aura covers the ring in frost. Even the Eternal Flame cannot seem to completely counter its effects.

“If I ask you to surrender now, will you do so?” Xiao Shuang asks, looking down at her figuratively and literally.

To float in the skies is the privilege granted to those who have crossed into the Heaven Realm.

“You should know better than to ask me that,” Lu Mei says.

“Indeed, I do,” Xiao Shuang replies, raising a single hand.

[The Path to the Frozen Hells]

The technique is something Xiao Shuang already used during her fight with Fan Bingbing, but the power is completely different now. Gigantic ice spikes rise all over the ring, trying to shred Lu Mei’s body to pieces. She summons golden flames around her body, her Qi rising as she wills the Eternal Flame to spread out and melt the ice.

However, something is wrong.

She can melt the ice before it touches her, but that is as far as her power will go. Her flames refuse to move as Lu Mei wills them to. The heat cannot spread. Even her aura cannot grow in size. Xiao Shuang’s power is constraining hers, locking her in a cage of coldness.

Lu Mei’s gaze searches for Xiao Shuang, meeting her blue eyes just before more ice spikes rise and block her view. There is no emotion reflected in those eyes. Just detached, merciless cold that wants to confine her in the dark.

That will not do at all.

Xiao Shuang’s eyes widen as Lu Mei’s Qi suddenly rises, and the ice in the ring starts being consumed by her golden flames. All the cold in the ring is suddenly gone, obliterated by the heat emanating from Lu Mei’s golden fire.

No.

Lu Mei’s golden flames are not fighting off the cold.

They are eating it.

Cold is the absence of heat, a different type of emptiness. To eat it, to consume it in any way, should be an impossible task, for how can one eat what is not there? Yet, the Eternal Flame is undoubtedly eating her cold and growing stronger because of it. Eyes glow within that fire, and mouths with jagged fangs bite down on her ice and crush it. They do not melt it. They do not evaporate it. They eat it, and each time it happens, Xiao Shuang feels her power diminish and Lu Mei’s grow stronger.

“So this is your Dao,” Xiao Shuang says, looking at the flames feasting on her ice. “I suppose I should not be surprised. You would not have been so confident otherwise.”

“That has little to do with it,” Lu Mei tells her. “You see, I have always wanted to have it all, so, despite the circumstances, I see no reason why I should begin to doubt myself.”

Xiao Shuang frowns. Cold begins to spread over the ring once more.

“That is the problem,” Xiao Shuang says. “That overconfidence is nothing but recklessness.”

A gigantic block of ice suddenly materializes over Lu Mei’s head. The girl’s flames immediately rise to swallow it, but she flinches at the sheer power contained within it. The ice shatters. Its fragments rain down over the ring like hail.

[Strike of Lamentation]

The blast of ice pierces through Lu Mei’s flames and hits her stomach, stunning her momentarily.

“You are not thinking!” Xiao Shuang shouts, seizing control of the falling hail and sending it after Lu Mei. “You believe everything is yours to claim without considering all that you risk losing! You should not be encouraging this!”

“It is called trust,” Lu Mei replies. The heat around her rises and consumes the hail. “That you cannot even do something so basic worries me!”

In a burst of speed, Xiao Shuang flies down and grabs Lu Mei by the throat. Ice begins growing from her hand and covering Lu Mei’s body.

“You cannot even defeat me!” Xiao Shuang counters, her ice growing sharp and wounding Lu Mei’s skin. “What makes you think you can do anything once this ring no longer matters?”

“I’d hoped… to count on your support,” Lu Mei says, smiling sadly. “It is clear that will not be the case.”

The comment cuts Xiao Shuang. Her aura weakens. In that moment, Lu Mei’s Qi rises and breaks the ice. Her flames blast Xiao Shuang away, but the girl immediately recovers. Her blue eyes shine with power as her aura seizes hold of the ring.

“If that is what you consider support, I have no interest in it,” she says, floating inches above the ring. “You are merely heading towards a path with no good end.”

“Is your way better?” Lu Mei wonders. “Do you believe you can just cage everything in ice?”

Gold and blue war against each other. The clash of their Qi causes cracks to appear over the arena. Neither side is willing to budge. They fully understand where the other stands, and that is exactly why they cannot accept one another.

“Very well.”

“I see.”

“If you are just going to encourage this foolishness…”

“If you only wish to hinder us…”

“Then get out of my way!”

Both girls shout as ice and flame erupt inside the barrier. Xiao Shuang rises on a path made of ice and summons an avalanche. A blast of fire immediately obliterates the ice and snow, but Xiao Shuang responds by creating a glacier under Lu Mei’s feet. The girl almost stumbles as the ice construct tries to slam her against the barrier. Her fiery chains wrap around it and shatter it before she sends them after Xiao Shuang.

[Annihilating Frost Wave]

A wave of ice explodes towards Lu Mei. Her chains try to push through, but the power is too great. Shards of ice wound her cheeks and grace the ring with her blood. Lu Mei breathes heavily. The difference in cultivation between her and Xiao Shuang is too much. She can feel the cold assaulting her on all sides. No matter how brightly her flames burn, the ice keeps gaining ground.

Greed.

Her Dao expands. She cannot allow herself to lose here. Not with Xiao Shuang in this state. If she cannot have it all, what is the point? Xiao Shuang’s power might be hard to consume, but that is not all that is around her.

The barrier begins to quiver.

Almost immediately, it strengthens, likely the Emperor’s work, but that is more than fine. Unlike Xiao Shuang’s power, the barrier is purely neutral energy. No, even better than that.

It is the energy of the Crimson Cloud, the other half of the Eternal Flame.

It is energy she is more than familiar with.

All the ice in the ring recedes as a fiery dragon rises around Lu Mei. Her aura roars with golden brilliance, forcing Xiao Shuang to take a step back.

"Are you mad?!" Xiao Shuang shouts at her.

Lu Mei merely smiles. She does not trust herself to speak. The dragon grows bigger as blood flows from her mouth. The barrier keeps replenishing itself, giving her an unlimited supply of power to draw from. However, her body can barely contain it.

So she doesn't.

[Opening of the Blue Lotus]

[Golden Majestic Devourer]

The attacks meet. Xiao Shuang unleashes a wave of pure white to match Lu Mei’s technique. Sweat shines on Xiao Shuang’s brow as Lu Mei’s golden dragon starts eating through her technique, gradually getting closer to her. Surprise and shock flicker in her eyes.

Resolution follows.

Dao meets Dao.

Brilliant gold is sublimated by purest white.

Silence falls over the arena. Xiao Shuang stands over Lu Mei’s defeated form.

“The Winner! Xiao Shuang of the Divine Frozen Palace!”

~~~