บท 163: Sword of fractured space.
Yin Long didn't know a lot of people, and he was on good terms with even fewer people. After he reached out to Fang Yau, the only other person he actually had to contact was Xiao Yin Yu. Only the two of them had the right to tell him who was and wasn't off-limit, especially since Lan Yun wasn't taking part in the competition and wouldn't have any relationship with any of the people he might target. So the list was made, six people were marked as off-limits, everyone else was fair game.
Yin Long pulled back his senses and finally focused on the arena around him, his eyes gleaming dangerously. The battle that had originally been going on atop the stage seemed to have halted, all the people in the arena actually looking up at the sky. Yin Long matched their actions and raised his head, finally noticing the message that had been carved into the sky.
"Two interlopers have broken into the premises and intruded upon the competition, bounty issued. Their general location will be marked and can be checked through the provided silver scale, removing one interloper grants enough points to reach the second arena as well as a weapon of choice, removing both interlopers grants enough points to reach the fourth arena as well as a pill and a weapon provided by the Dominion Deity."
The Province Championship did not have a lot of rules, but that just meant that it was extremely strict about the few rules it actually did have. 360 competitors, no more and no less, that was what the competition allowed. 180 from the provinces and 180 handpicked from the rest of the dominion, they were the stars that everyone was supposed to pay attention to. Anyone who tried to break in and ruin this set-up was trying to break the fundamental rule of the competition, and that would never be allowed.
The message undoubtedly drew a lot of attention, especially the rewards that were offered. The Dominion Deity was the highest authority in the Dominion, whatever they gave out would be extraordinarily valuable. Of course, the people taking part in this competition weren't fools, they could tell that things weren't as simple as they wanted them to be.
You'd have to slip past the senses of the Warden of the Waste if you wanted to enter this land, you'd have to evade an honest to god Province Emperor. And doing so was also the same as challenging the Dominion Deity's dignity, this was the second-greatest competition in the Dominion after all, second only to the Six Dawn's Baptism.
To do so was nothing short of foolish, but no fool would be able to evade a Province Emperor and enter this land. So things were fishy and the situation was muddy, it wasn't something any of them wanted to rush headfirst into, gathering information first was the most important thing.
Yin Long lowered his gaze again after memorizing the information, practically tossing it to the back of his mind. It wasn't something he was all that interested in, the points weren't that important to him, and the weapon was even less so. Being able to choose a pill was nice, but Yin Long didn't really care that much about it, his own sword had always been the core of who he was and the path he walked on.
The other people in the arena also slowly looked away from the message, they would first have to get through this arena, after that they could think about engaging in secondary events. The battle on the stage quickly started up again, but both sides were obviously holding back a little bit, not willing to bring out their true trump cards in front of so many prying eyes.
The battle ended before long, both sides holding back enough that they failed to arouse Yin Long's interest. But right now he felt that it was for the best, he wanted to focus on something else, wanted to focus on a path that felt very distant to him. If his interest was roused then he feared that he might slip into his usual mannerism, and that mannerism wasn't too suited for the image he was trying to force upon the countless eyes that were watching him right now.
The stone stage was cleared of people so Yin Long took a step forward, vaulting over the railing that separated the seating area from the stage and its surroundings. He strode towards the stage after he landed, his every step drawing the attention of the remaining spectators. He had stepped out, but no one else followed him, and this could only mean one thing. He stopped at the centre of the stage and brought out a transparent silver sword, his words confirming what people had already guessed.
"Anyone is fine, so just come."
He hadn't sent out a challenge to anyone in particular, instead, he was challenging everyone present, whoever wanted to fight was welcome. It was a good way to make sure that you got to fight someone, but it was also risky since you couldn't guarantee the strength of the person you went up against.
Even normal competitors would find it somewhat risky and only do it in an emergency so it was inevitable that some people would be a bit dumbfounded as they saw Yin Long do it. His cultivation was low, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that he had the lowest cultivation of everyone in the competition, he hadn't even reached the realm of the Earthen Doors. And yet, he wanted to send out an open challenge like this?
People were suspicious, the smart would always be when it came to strange situations like this. But at the same time, some of them knew that this was a chance they had to take advantage of. Not everyone here was equal, there would be stronger and weaker people everywhere, there would always be a weakest who had no chance of continuing forward. And to these weakest, Yin Long's challenge was a shining beacon, a chance for them to proceed forward onto greater rewards.
"I will accept your challenge."
Someone quickly spoke up after Yin Long made his challenge, not even allowing ten seconds to pass. A blue-haired and brown-eyed girl jumped over the railing and strode towards the stage, her head held high in a casual, if somewhat relieved, manner. But Yin Long could tell that her muscles were pulled taut, likely from a mixture of wariness and worry that she might miss this chance to move on. She was at the 2nd Earthen Door so some might think it strange that she was wary here, but no one that could participate in this competition was simple, not even the weakest among them.
The girl stopped a few tens of steps away from Yin Long, her arrival robbing the others that had been hesitating of their chance. The battle technically started the moment she stepped on the stage, but she didn't attack right away, her eyes narrowed slightly as she observed him. Yin Long also didn't attack straight away, taking advantage of this slight lull.
"Yin Long, swordsman, wanderer."
A very simple, almost curt greeting and introduction. But there was no real need to introduce yourself to your enemies here so Yin Long could still be considered rather respectful. But he didn't do it to be respectful, something the girl didn't know as she nodded her head in response.
"Shao Lin, bow-wielder, Four Hearts Alliance."
Yin Long's eyes sharpened slightly when the girl finished her introduction. Four Hearts Alliance, it was one of the organizations that Yin Yu said paid special attention to Lang Huo's rise, it was one of his targets.
"That's good, that means I won't have to give up on learning something new..."
A bit of Yin Long's actual thoughts slipped out in a mutter after he heard that she used a bow. A ranged weapon was not compatible with a sword, their ways of being used were so different that there wasn't really anything he could learn from it. He shook his head lightly to toss the thought aside, raising his sword and pointing the tip at Shao Lin's throat as he raised his foot to move forward.
"Come, do your best to survive."
A bare-faced threat laced with arrogance, that was the only statement that could be used to describe Yin Long's words. But to him it was an honest warning, it wasn't like he had anything personal against Shao Lin, he would just have to be rough with her due to the goal he was trying to achieve.
Shao Lin's eyes narrowed slightly due to Yin Long's remark, but she still acted quickly, her weapon appearing in her grasp the moment Yin Long raised his leg to move forward. Her arm flashed and her fingers danced a few times, three arrows flying in quick succession, one aiming directly for Yin Long while the two others cut off any escape path.
Another arrow was placed on the bow, the wind that blew across the stage shifting subtly so that Shao Lin could move the already flying arrows at a moment's notice. But Yin Long kept walking as normal, as if he couldn't even see the arrows that tried to reap his life. But then, just as the arrows were two or so metres from him, his arm moved.
His wrist flicked slightly, his sword drawing a clean line through the air. And as they got close to that line, the arrows vanished, a subdued grating sound barely audible. Shao Ling's eyes narrowed sharply for a second before they shot open, her legs quickly bending as she jumped back with all her might.
Six arrows appeared out of thin air where she had just been standing, whizzing through the air and just barely missing her. But then they simply vanished again, reappearing a bit behind her. She twisted her body awkwardly to avoid them, the wind around her picking up to deflect the arrows, her own arrows. But they vanished again before the wind could blow them away, appearing just beyond the wind, mere centimetres from her skin.
Her expression darkened as she grit her teeth, stony scales growing from her skin and blocking the arrows. Her entire frame grew sturdier as the scales spread out to cover her, the six arrows stuck between some of her scales. Three of the arrows faded, dissipating into the surrounding space, leaving only the three arrows she had personally shot.
"Space, you use spa...?!"
She wanted to call out what she had realized, but when she raised her head she saw that Yin Long was already right in front of her, barely three steps away. She rushed to raise one of her arrows, attempting to use it as a dagger, but it was at this time that Yin Long's world crumbled.
The area covered by his senses shrank violently, his world cracking and falling apart as it shrank. 500 metres became 200 and then 50, his world crumbling until only a pitiful area of 2 metres remained. A countless number of water-like drops floated in the air, countless reflections showing only him, a crumbled world that belonged to only him.
Shao Lin got the honour of being the first person who got to experience Yin Long's crumble world up close, the honour of being the first person that was truly enveloped by it. But if you asked her then it would perhaps be anything but an honour, it was nothing short of torment.
The air was heavy and sticky like mud, she felt like she would have to use almost all her strength just to raise her arm. Even her Qi felt sluggish and slow, meandering around inside her body and refusing to leave her skin. She could barely raise her arm and her Qi was almost refusing to listen to her, how was she supposed to mount a defence like this, much less attack?
But worst of all was perhaps the effect on her mind. She could see things moving beyond that little broken world, the movements of the spectators. They all moved so slowly that they were basically not moving at all, it was as if they were trapped in the same mud as her, it seemed like it would take them years to finish something as simple as taking a single step.
Only Yin Long seemed to move normally, a stark contrast to the almost frozen world around them. And then, then his sword moved, and the world moved along with it. The movements of the surrounding world seemed to return to normal as he raised his sword, only she remained stuck in that mud. It was as if the world was a broken clock, a moment frozen in time.
And his sword served as the hands of the clock. The clock would only move as long as his sword did, time would only move if his sword did. But she was exempt from this rule, she was not part of this world, not part of the clock. No, she was trapped inside the broken clock, her time would not move even if the clock did, her time had already ended.
His sword swung upwards, but Yin Long seemed to stifle a cough just as he struck so his sword veered slightly off-course. The blade cut through the arrow she held and severed three of her fingers, but not even her blood was allowed to flow freely within this broken clock.
But as she looked at her arm, she wasn't sure which sight scared her more. Was it the sight of her own blood failing to leave her body or the sight of faint cracks spreading up her arm, halting at her elbow? Or perhaps it was the sight of several copies of her arm, more specifically the cracked section, appearing around her original arm?
No, the sight that scared her the most was the sight of those cracked arms vanishing one by one. One copy after the other faded, dissipating into the surrounding space as if they had never been there to begin with. And among the arms that vanished was her own, her original arm. Starting from those cracked sections that spread from her severed fingers, her arm simply dissipated. It slid apart and became part of the space that was all around them, as if it had always been part of it.
The broken clock around her faded, the heavy and sticky air returning to normal. But she found no solace in this fact, she didn't even find solace in the fact that her blood now poured freely. No, she couldn't find solace in any of that because of the simple fact that her arm was still gone, everything below the elbow had vanished.
Space, the space that her arm occupied had cracked, fractured under Yin Long's blade and Qi. Then the fractured space slid apart, resulting in the sight of her arm multiplying temporarily. But when space finally repaired itself, her arm was no longer part of it, no, her arm was part of the fractured space that no longer existed. It now belonged to a completely different dimension, one she had no access to, one she didn't exist on.
She realized this almost instantly, she was no fool after all, she had access to many archives normal cultivators didn't so she was well learned when it came to the laws. And so she felt fear, absolute fear and terror. He had freely fractured space to multiply her arrows, even moving them about as he pleased, probably by shifting them between spatial cracks he had created and connected. And then he even fractured the space she occupied, had his blade not veered off course then her entire body may have slid apart and left this dimension, forever ceasing to exist. Defences didn't matter, armor didn't matter, it would all just become part of that fractured space.
"I... I surrender! I give, I give!"
Shao Lin stumbled backwards as she screamed, she wasn't even mentally calm enough to cover up what remained of her arm as she fled. Yin Long didn't chase after her, swallowing down a few mouthfuls of blood without anyone noticing. With Shao Ling decreeing her surrender, space around Yin Long started to twist again.
Lang Huo had more than enough points to reach the fourth arena, the only reason Yin Long hadn't been sent straight there was that he had to go through all the arenas one by one. Now he had finished the second so it was time to head on to the third, his gaze rising to the sky, towards the countless gazes of the dominion.
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