Path Of The Dragon (A Dark Fantasy Cultivation Wuxia Xianxia Progression Series)

Chapter 40 Shadow And Poison

The final day of the tournament blossomed into being with a beautiful sunrise. A sunrise filled with sparkling rays of hope, happiness... and the promise of revenge.

As always, Jie was cultivating. Just as she had every day since coming to this world. She drew in deep breaths of the cool morning air, sucking in vast quantities of Essence and refining it within her dantian.

Jie refined yet another strand of dragon lightning qi much as she had countless times before. The small flickering strand joined the rest of the roiling storm of crackling blue qi within her dantian and the entire storm flashed with dazzling blue light as it rumbled like thunder. Her speed, strength, and power skyrocketed, and Jie smiled as she broke through into the ninth star of the Adept rank. Just in time for the finals, too.

She hoped it would be enough for what she had planned.

She let out a slow exhale as she opened her eyes and stared at Ming's meditating form. Would Ming be okay with what she was going to do? To put her life in danger as she planned? After all, if she just broke Chen Huo's bones, he'd be all better within a day. No. That was unacceptable. But a wound that might just haunt him for the rest of his life?

Yes. That was more like it. It'd also enrage the entire Chen family though.

"What would you say, Ming?" Jie asked. But, as usual, there was no response from the dragon. Just his slow, steady breathing and the constant flow of Essence that streamed into him like a maelstrom.

Jie sighed. Maybe she was being foolish. Maybe she should play it safe. But, Ming wasn't one to say things he didn't mean. He'd said that she'd have to walk through fire and death. He'd told her over and over again that in times of life and death, she would be pushed to break through her limits. Would he want her to do this? Or would he be angry at her?

"I guess it all depends on what results I get then. Isn't that right you old snake?" Jie said with a smile, "I'll use this to get stronger and you won't argue with my decision. Take care, Ming. And... I'll find a way to heal you. Like you healed me."

She closed her eyes and resumed cultivating. Her fight would only start at noon. She'd need to be there a bit earlier though to watch who would win third place. Ithilix and Pan Zhanshi were competing after all, and she wanted to watch her new... sort of friends. Was Ithilix a friend? Were the Pan siblings her friends? What did it mean to have friends anyway...? It'd been so long... she didn't even remember ever having friends.

Well, she'd show her support for them anyway.

While Jie cultivated beside Ming, Elder Li strolled past her residence on his way to the arena. As he did so, a cold shiver ran down his spine as he suddenly felt all the Essence around him being drawn into Jie's residence like a river flowing into a bottomless pit.

The feeling lasted only a moment before everything snapped back to normal. Elder Li shook his head, wondering if he'd imagined the sensation, and continued on his way.

Hours later, Jie stepped inside the arena. It was much the same as before, although now the benches were far taller and further away from the center stage.

That, and there were only a handful of people on the arena floor. Pan Zhanshi and Ithilix waved to her from one of the benches as Jie entered the arena.

She caught Pan Tian's eyes in the stands and the older girl gave her a wave and a smile.

Jie found herself smiling and waving back as she sat next to Pan Zhanshi and Ithilix.

"You're here early," Pan Zhanshi said.

"I saw the third-place fight starts around this time," Jie said, "I didn't want to miss it."