Zixin took a swig from the jar of rice wine he had ordered and grimaced. He had asked the waitress for the strongest one, because he thought that, as a cultivator, he could easily handle it, and he’d wanted to look tough in front of his friends. Now he was reaping the consequences, having to drink this sour swill while Qiao had chosen the sweetest one and Chonglin had just straight-up gone for a juice.

  Disciples didn’t get to drink alcohol in the sect, so he’d had no idea how it would taste. He wouldn’t have been so keen to drag the other two into a restaurant otherwise. At least the delicious slices of grilled meat provided a good enough distraction, so Zixin grabbed another one. Chonglin, who had just done the same grinned at him.

  “Gotta get down that taste somehow, am I right? I told you to be careful.”

  “Smug idiot… how would you even know how it tastes?”

  “Some of the others got their hands on a barrel a few months ago. You know I had to try.”

  “What? Why didn’t you get me?”

  “I tried, but you were preoccupied with training. Anyways, how about another competition?”

  Zixin perked up. He was always in for a competition.

  “What do you want me to beat your ass at this time?”

  “You didn’t beat… anyways, wanna see who can eat more of these?”

  “I think you underestimate how hungry I am from training.”

  “I trained just as much as you.”

  “Oh yeah? Let’s see about that. Qiao?”

  Qiao raised an eyebrow and snickered.

  “Thanks, I’ll pass.”

  “Your call. You can be the referee then.”

  Zixin raised his arm to call for the waitress. They were going to need more meat.

  …

  “I… ugh. I cede.”

  Zixin groaned as he held a hand to his stomach. He felt like if he put one more piece of meat in there, he’d burst.

  “Well, who beat whose ass now?”

  Chonglin was as smug as ever, not seeming bothered in the slightest by the inhuman amount of meat he had just consumed.

  “I… I ate more before we started…”

  “Yeah, sure. Any more excuses?”

  “… Honestly I’m just happy I’m not the one who has to fight in the tournament tomorrow.”

  “I try not to think of that… I can’t believe it starts already; the time went by so quickly.”

  “You’ve done everything you could. Just need to focus now and everything will be fine.”, Qiao, who had just silently sat back and enjoyed their quarreling so far, chimed in.

  “You’re right. I never expected to get this far in the first place. Everything here is just a bonus.”

  “I don’t think… hey, do you hear that?”

  Zixin’s attention had been caught by a strange noise from outside. It was a low rumble of sorts, rather distinct, but difficult to describe.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “What sound?”

  Chonglin went silent, listening for a while.

  “Oh, I know what you mean. Happen to know what that is, Qiao?”

  “No idea. But I think it’s growing louder.”

  Qiao stood up and headed towards the next window. Zixin followed her. She was right, it did grow louder. They looked outside but couldn’t make anything out.

  “Um…” Chonglin had remained at the table. “I think the floor is vibrating.”

  By now, Zixin could make out the direction the noise was coming from, so he leaned further out of the window. The restaurant they had picked was a good distance away from the city, so he had free visibility in every direction. Like this, he could finally spot the source of the noise.

  “By the heavens, you have to see this!”

  In the distance, but quickly closing in on them, was a massive horde of riders on galloping horses. They pulled up a cloud of dust and dirt behind them and seemed to roll towards the city like a wave larger than anything they had seen during their time at sea.

  “Wow.”, Chonglin who had quickly joined them commented. “Who is that?”

  “I think that’s the Roaring Thunder Sect. They’re the only group that uses horses on such a scale. Unless one of the cities has gone to war, but I don’t think they would dare disturb the tournament with something like that.”

  “Makes sense. They’re the last of the great sects that hadn’t arrived yet. I heard their patriarch is the strongest cultivator of the alliance.”

  “What? Stronger than the Patriarch or Elder Wei?”

  “I think so.”

  “That’s crazy. I can't even imagine it.”

  Zixin stared at the approaching horde with even bigger eyes now. The closer they came, the more details he could make out. The horses were all dark grey or black, as were the clothes of the riders. They were clearly cultivators from the way they dressed and looked, but they seemed a little more… wild than the ones he knew. They were also openly carrying weapons; spears, halberds, bows… everything. It was honestly a little scary, even though he knew they were just here for the tournament.

  As they passed by the restaurant only some fifty meters or so away, the walls shook, and the roaring noise was almost deafening. When they reached the city, they split in the middle, riding around it on both sides and disappearing from Zixin’s view.

  For a long moment, nobody said anything. Many of the other guests had understandably been a lot more scared than them. From their perspective, this had been an unknown armed army riding towards their city. Many of them had tried to find hiding spots and were now sheepishly returning from them.

  Chonglin was the first to break the silence.

  “That was… quite the entrance, huh?”

  “I think that was exactly the point.”

  “Should we… just head back for the day? I don’t think I can relax here anymore after that.”

  “Agreed.”

  …

  Liu Wei stood next to Patriarch Long Zhao, his hands crossed behind his back. They didn’t say a word as they waited for the approaching cultivators of the Roaring Thunder Sect. The Horses didn’t show any sign of slowing down as they raced forward, but neither of them moved a muscle. They were several centuries too old for cheap intimidation tactics like these.

  When there were only about two dozen meters between them, the horses abruptly slowed, the first of them coming to a stop just two meters before them. One had to admit that this was an impressive show of control, especially from those further back.

  After a couple second of standoff, a large and muscular man swung himself off of the largest of the horses, a wide grin showing through his bushy black beard.

  “If it isn’t old Long Zhao! And Liu Wei as well, what an honor to be greeted like this.”

  Like most cultivators of his level and standing, he practically emanated a feeling of power. His was not like the cold dominance of Jinjing Liqiu, nor was it like the radiant heroism of Long Zhao. Instead, it was a feeling of untamed, overwhelming might.

  “Patriarch Xing Zhou. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Ha! Is it? Because I’m told that very often and I have the feeling not half of the people saying it also mean it.”

  “Patriarch Zhou, allow me to comment that you haven’t changed in the slightest.”

  “But you have, Liu Wei. You’re stronger than the last time we met, much stronger, but that’s not all. I heard that you’ve broken through, but I can feel that there is more.”

  The grin had vanished from his face, replaced by a concentrated stare. When he continued speaking, his words were quiet and intense.

  “You have changed, and your fire has rekindled. It burns brighter than ever, doesn’t it? Unafraid and daring, ready to consume all. Perhaps one day…”

  He stayed silent for a moment before his grin returned.

  “Well, we shall see. I would really like to exchange pointers with you some time.”

  Liu Wei didn’t let the man’s words throw him off. They were strange enough, and he would think about what he meant later, but he had expected something like this. Xing Zhou was well known for his eccentric personality.

  “I’d be honored to. Perhaps we can do so after the tournament has concluded.”

  “Oh, that… Well, perhaps.”

  He inexplicably broke into laughter.

  “It was nice meeting you two, but I don’t want to bore my people. Let’s talk more in the days to come!”

  Without waiting for an answer, Xing Zhou returned to his horse and signaled his group to follow him. Then, they rode around the two and off onto the tournament grounds.

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