Jiang Tai did not look impressed.
That concerned Orion.
Most cultivators who saw the enormous gap between their realms reacted somehow.
Confidence.
Arrogance.
Pity.
Jiang Tai merely stood across the arena and adjusted the leather wraps around his hands.
Seven feet separated them.
Six minor cultivation stages did considerably more.
The crystal above the arena displayed the difference without mercy.
Orion Atlas — Radiant Daybreak Sect — 1st Stage Essence Gathering
Jiang Tai — Thunderclap Monastery — 7th Stage Essence Gathering
No weapon hung at Jiang Tai’s waist.
No sword.
No spear.
No saber.
Only his hands.
Orion glanced toward the audience.
Chen Rui noticed.
He mouthed two words.
Good luck.
Orion gave him a very specific gesture involving one finger.
Xuan Mei saw that too.
Her expression suggested they would discuss his manners later.
Wonderful.
The referee stepped between them.
“Ready?”
Jiang Tai bowed.
“Ready.”
Orion drew his sword.
“Ready.”
The referee dropped his hand.
“Begin!”
Jiang Tai vanished.
Orion’s instincts screamed.
His sword rose.
Too slow.
A palm struck his chest.
BOOM!
Orion left the ground.
The arena spun.
He landed on his back hard enough to crack stone.
For half a heartbeat—
He couldn’t breathe.
The audience erupted.
Jiang Tai hadn’t moved from where Orion thought he’d been.
Then Orion realized—
No.
He had.
That was the problem.
“Fast,” Orion muttered.
Jiang Tai lowered into stance.
Blue-white Essence crackled around his arms.
“Thunderclap Monastery’s movement art,” he said calmly.
“Lightning Crossing Step.”
Orion pushed himself upright.
“You could have waited until after hitting me to explain.”
“I did.”
“Fair.”
Pain radiated through his ribs.
Rao’s Immortal Body had taken most of the impact.
Most.
Not all.
Jiang Tai moved again.
This time—
Orion saw him.
Barely.
Radiant Step.
Golden Essence flooded Orion’s legs.
He shifted sideways.
Jiang Tai’s palm missed his sternum.
The air exploded anyway.
Compressed force slammed Orion’s shoulder.
He stumbled.
Jiang Tai pivoted.
Second palm.
Orion blocked with his sword.
The blade rang like a struck bell.
His arms went numb.
Third strike.
Orion ducked.
Fourth.
He retreated.
Jiang Tai followed.
Fast.
Not just fast.
Efficient.
Every motion placed him perfectly for the next.
Orion had spent two months learning fundamentals.
Jiang Tai looked like someone who had spent twelve years perfecting them.
A hand shot toward Orion’s throat.
Orion turned his blade.
Steel met palm.
Jiang Tai’s skin glowed.
The sword stopped.
Orion’s eyes widened.
Jiang Tai gripped the blade.
“Thunderclap Iron Palm.”
“Your sect has very literal names.”
Jiang Tai punched him.
Orion released the sword.
The fist struck empty air.
Jiang Tai’s eyebrows rose.
Orion stepped inside.
Daybreak Foundation Fist.
His fist crashed into Jiang Tai’s abdomen.
Golden Essence erupted.
Jiang Tai slid backward.
Three meters.
Four.
His feet carved grooves through the stone.
His expression changed.
Orion smiled.
“Found you.”
Jiang Tai looked down.
A scorched mark darkened his robes.
Then he looked up.
“So the rumors were true.”
“What rumors?”
“Your Essence possesses unusual purity.”
Orion rolled his shoulders.
“I was hoping the rumor was that I’m charming.”
“No.”
“Unfortunate.”
Jiang Tai disappeared again.
⸻
The next exchange lasted less than a minute.
It felt like an hour.
Orion recovered his sword.
Jiang Tai struck.
Orion blocked.
Retreated.
Countered.
Missed.
A palm hit his ribs.
Another clipped his jaw.
Blood filled his mouth.
Orion spat red onto the arena.
Jiang Tai’s breathing remained controlled.
Orion’s did not.
Six stages.
For the first time, Orion truly felt what that meant.
Lu Shen had been three stages above him.
His spear had given him technical superiority.
Jiang Tai possessed both.
More Essence.
More speed.
More experience.
More control.
Orion had only two advantages.
His body.
And the quality of what flowed through it.
Think.
Jiang Tai attacked.
Orion stopped retreating.
The palm came toward his chest.
He stepped forward.
Xuan Mei stood.
“What is he doing?”
Yue Ling watched calmly.
“Something dangerous.”
“That doesn’t narrow it down.”
The palm hit Orion.
Golden light erupted over his skin.
His body bent.
But he didn’t fly backward.
Jiang Tai’s eyes widened.
Orion’s left hand closed around his wrist.
“Got you.”
Jiang Tai twisted.
Too late.
Orion’s sword came down.
Not toward his body.
Toward the floor.
First Form — Dawn Breaks the Horizon.
Golden sword-light struck the arena beneath Jiang Tai’s feet.
Stone exploded.
Jiang Tai lost footing.
For one instant—
His perfect stance vanished.
Orion drove his shoulder into him.
Jiang Tai stumbled.
Orion attacked.
First form.
Second.
Third.
Nothing elegant.
Nothing advanced.
Seven Dawn Sword Forms.
The same basic Mortal-tier sword art Orion had practiced thousands of times.
But now—
Solar Essence filled every movement.
Jiang Tai blocked the first.
Deflected the second.
Dodged the third.
The fourth cut his sleeve.
The crowd roared.
Jiang Tai’s expression sharpened.
Thunder exploded.
His palm struck Orion’s sword sideways.
The weapon nearly left his hands.
Jiang Tai rotated.
A second palm hit Orion’s abdomen.
Pain detonated.
Orion coughed blood.
But his hand remained locked around the sword.
Jiang Tai stepped forward to finish the exchange.
Orion smiled through bloody teeth.
“You keep doing that.”
Jiang Tai paused.
“What?”
“Moving forward after that palm.”
Orion’s foot hooked behind his ankle.
Jiang Tai realized.
Too late.
Orion pulled.
Jiang Tai fell.
Orion fell with him.
They hit the stone.
The audience went silent.
This had stopped resembling a refined cultivator duel.
It looked like two men fighting behind a tavern.
Jiang Tai punched Orion. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Orion punched back.
Thunder Essence versus solar Essence.
A blue-white flash.
A golden flare.
Jiang Tai tried to rise.
Orion grabbed his robe.
Jiang Tai drove an elbow into his shoulder.
Orion’s grip weakened.
Jiang Tai stood.
Orion’s sword lay two meters away.
Jiang Tai raised one glowing palm.
“This ends it.”
Orion looked toward his sword.
Then at Jiang Tai.
Then—
At the bracelet on his wrist.
Sun.
Moon.
His breathing slowed.
“No.”
Jiang Tai struck.
Orion moved.
Not backward.
Forward.
Radiant Step.
One.
Two.
Golden light flashed beneath his feet.
He slipped beneath the palm.
Jiang Tai’s attack passed over his shoulder.
Orion’s hand touched Jiang Tai’s chest.
No fist.
No sword.
Just his palm.
Solar Essence compressed.
For two months, Orion had learned one lesson above all others.
Don’t waste power.
Guide it.
Refine it.
Compress it.
He released everything he had gathered into that single moment.
BOOM.
Golden light exploded.
Jiang Tai flew.
Ten meters.
Fifteen.
His body crossed the arena boundary.
The protective formation caught him in midair.
Silence.
Orion remained standing.
Barely.
The referee looked from Jiang Tai—
To Orion.
Then raised one hand.
“Winner!”
Noise detonated across the arena.
“ORION ATLAS!”
Orion exhaled.
His knees buckled.
He caught himself with one hand.
The world tilted.
Then someone was beside him.
Silver hair.
Cool fingers.
Xuan Mei.
She had crossed the barrier the instant the referee declared the fight finished.
Orion looked up.
“Hey.”
Her eyes moved over the blood on his face.
“You look terrible.”
“I won.”
“Those aren’t contradictory.”
Orion laughed weakly.
Then winced.
Xuan Mei put his arm over her shoulder.
Jiang Tai had already been returned to the platform.
He approached slowly.
Orion straightened as much as he could.
Jiang Tai cupped his fists.
“Brother Orion.”
Orion returned the gesture.
“Brother Jiang.”
A faint smile appeared on Jiang Tai’s face.
“That was unpleasant.”
Orion laughed.
“Agreed.”
“You are too strong for First Stage Essence Gathering.”
“So everyone keeps saying.”
Jiang Tai looked toward Orion’s bracelet.
Then toward Xuan Mei supporting him.
Understanding entered his eyes.
“Top ten?”
Orion nodded.
Jiang Tai smiled.
“Then keep climbing.”
He turned and left.
Orion watched him go.
Xuan Mei tightened her grip around his waist.
“You can admire him later.”
“I’m walking.”
“You are leaning.”
“Strategically.”
“Medical pavilion.”
Orion sighed.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Xuan Mei stopped.
Orion realized his mistake.
“…That slipped out.”
Her silver eyes narrowed.
Yet the corner of her mouth twitched.
[Affection: 46%]
Orion saw it.
And suddenly the bruises hurt slightly less.