~~~

"Xiao Shuang of the Divine Frozen Palace vs. Qing Jin of the Eternal Flame Clan!"

The two are in motion before the announcer has finished speaking. Gold lightning surges in Liu Jin's hands. At the same time, Xiao Shuang unleashes a wave of ice. Liu Jin's lightning splashes harmlessly against it, instantly overwhelmed by the mass of deadly spikes that is soon inches away from his face.

[Ground Contraction]

A single backstep takes Liu Jin multiple yards away. The ice follows after him. Gold lightning turns purple, breaking through ice like a divine spear and heading straight towards Xiao Shuang.

It snaps.

Before it can reach Xiao Shuang, the temperature drops, and the purple lightning slows down, turns brittle, and shatters. Though the sight makes no sense, that is what Liu Jin's eyes perceive. Immediately after, the shattered ice around the ring rises and accelerates towards Liu Jin.

[Rumbling Thunder God's Cloud]

Arcs of purple lightning spread around Liu Jin, branching out like the veins and arteries in the human body until they form a misshapen sphere around him. Every shard of ice is destroyed and melted before it can reach him.

Xiao Shuang blinks.

"That is new," she notes.

"I just have not used it in a while," Liu Jin says.

"How flattering," Xiao Shuang says, making no move to attack.

A gigantic block of ice falls on Liu Jin.

There is no buildup. No warning. It simply appears out of nowhere, already accelerated far beyond what natural gravity alone can accomplish. When the block crashes into the ring, it does so with such force that it is left embedded in it. The entire Crimson Cloud Arena is left trembling by the force of the impact.

Liu Jin's Qi cannot be felt.

The seconds pass, and there is no sign of him. Many in the arena begin to murmur, wondering if maybe this is it.

"So quickly? Surely not!"

"Is it that surprising? After all," someone in the lower seats says, "The difference in cultivation is too much."

Of course, those with greater skill immediately realize the Emperor's mysterious movement technique is at play once more. The strongest among them can even see the way he moves behind Xiao Shuang without giving away his presence. A small needle shines between his fingers as he moves to strike.

Learned people recognize he is targeting a special acupoint at the base of the neck. Should he succeed, Xiao Shuang could be left knocked out for the rest of the day. It would be the quickest final in the history of the tournament.

Xiao Shuang turns.

Even though Liu Jin's Qi is perfectly disguised. Even though the needle is mere millimeters away from her skin. Xiao Shuan turns and catches Liu Jin by the wrist. Red eyes widen in surprise. Blue eyes shine with power.

[Annihilating Frost Wave]

~~~

"Yes!" Meng Yue says, jumping as Liu Jin is devoured by a wave of ice. "That's my disciple!"

Usually, Bai Lianshi would scold her for such a display, but not today. She understands why Meng Yue wants the fight to end as quickly as possible.

"She could sense him?" Fu Lihua asks. The girl leans forward, her pink eyes shining with interest. "But that would mean…"

"She can command her upper dantian," Shao Zhilan says. The member of the Five Fairies looks at Meng Yue. "Impressive."

"Naturally," Meng Yue says, preening. "Xiao Shuang's talent is immense."

It is far from an exaggeration. Everyone has three dantians, but few are those who master all of them. The lower dantian controls the body. It lays the foundation of one's cultivation. The middle dantian controls the link between the body and the soul. Mastery of it is essential to develop higher skills. Then there is the upper dantian. Some say it governs the mind, but that is not strictly true.

The upper dantian controls vision.

As one grows in cultivation, the five senses of the human body stop being enough. People begin to rely on their ability to sense Qi above all, but even that is insufficient. A different, greater type of awareness is required to comprehend higher mysteries.

That is what the upper dantian unlocks.

"It is certainly impressive that Sister Shuang can sense Emperor Qing Jin. However, and I mean no disrespect when I say this, Lady Meng Yue," her disciple, Bai Wen, begins to say, "But what if he can go beyond the Fifth Step?"

Meng Yue does not answer. A moment of silence falls over the ladies of the Divine Frozen Palace. At the same time, a burst of purple lightning breaks the ice apart.

"Whether the Emperor can go beyond the fifth step or not, my dear disciple," Bai Lianshi says, "is something we all want to know."

~~~

Liu Jin's wounds seal themselves shut as he makes his way out of the ice. His body temperature rises by several degrees, and the nerve endings that transmit temperature changes are muted. While Liu Jin already modified himself before the match to be more resistant to ice and cold, making direct contact with Xiao Shuang's Qi allows him to make more precise alterations.

"You can use your upper dantian. That's impressive," Liu Jin says as the lightning melts the ice around him.

"You cannot possibly tell me you did not consider the possibility, husband," Xiao Shuang tells him, her voice cold.

Liu Jin only smiles.

Most cultivators never master their upper dantian, but the Crimson Cloud Tournament is a gathering of the generation's strongest fighters. Of course, he expected it. Now that the possibility has become realized, Liu Jin feels every gaze in the audience waiting for his next move.

Waiting to see if he can go beyond the Fifth Step.

It is the reason why so many of those wishing for his capture have not been more overt. If he can go beyond the Fifth Step, then more forceful means would have resulted in Art of the Roaming Thief vanishing for several centuries. They could not possibly risk that, so Liu Jin remained safe under the structure of the tournament.

Xiao Shuang's Qi spikes with anger.

A wave of cold hits Liu Jin, blowing him away. As Liu Jin twists his body in mid-air, Xiao Shuang is already upon him, riding on a wave of deadly ice.

"Husband, do you mean to tell me," Xiao Shuang says through her Qi as her ice meets Liu Jin's lightning, "that, all this time, you have been relying…On a Bluff?!"

Liu Jin neither confirms nor denies it. He merely pours more power into his lightning, annihilating all the ice and further incensing Xiao Shuang. The ice around her grinds against itself, producing more spikes and trying to power through Liu Jin's lightning. It is a contest that, regrettably, Liu Jin knows he cannot win.

He jumps back.

The instant he does, Xiao Shuang's form blurs. Ice covers the entire ring, and Xiao Shuang seems to glide over it with impossible speed until she is right in front of him. Liu Jin cannot dodge in time. Her hand touches his chest and freezes it. The cold permeates through his muscles and seeks his heart, but right before it can, lightning shoots through Liu Jin's organs, heating up his body and breaking the ice. The whole thing does not last more than a fraction of a second.

It is enough. Sharpened hail falls on Liu Jin, leaving countless gashes all over his body and pinning him to the ground.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I must admit," Xiao Shuang says, "When you told me stories of your travels, I knew you had been blunting the harsher aspects of it for my sake. Even so, I thought you had been reckless at various points. I told myself that maybe that was the result of my ignorance, but now I see it is worse than I thought. Is this how you have been living all this time, husband? Balanced on a knife's edge?"

Liu Jin dearly wishes he could deny it, but how could he ever tell Xiao Shuang such a shameless lie? How many times has he been at the mercy of the powerful? How many times has he almost died? How many miracles has he needed to stand where he is? Every time he looks back at his life, he cannot help but think of Xun Huwen's words.

Faced with his silence, Xiao Shuang's frown grew deeper.

"The more I see, the more convinced I become that this is the right course of action," she says as Liu Jin's wounds seal shut before her eyes. "Why must you fight me, husband? The Divine Frozen Palace will keep you safe. It is for the best."

Her words are cold enough to make snow fall on the ring, yet Liu Jin can feel the warmth beneath them. Xiao Shuang cares so much that it makes him feel incredibly guilty.

However, guilt is not enough reason to change his mind.

His wounds mend. His Qi rises.

"If I only wanted to be safe, I'd have hidden in a cave," Liu Jin says as his Qi morphs into the shape of a snake.

The snake advances.

Xiao Shuang is ready for it.

[Path to the Frozen Hells]

~~~

Shi Qingxia whistles as she looks at the horizon. Even from so far away, Liu Jin's and Xiao Shuang's energies can be felt clearly. Already, the weather is a few degrees colder than it was mere moments ago, and the earth rumbles lightly due to the power of the combatants.

"Those two are really going at it," Shi Qingxia says.

"He has become strong," Ye Zheyu says. The large man sits on top of a large boulder. Just like Shi Qingxia, his gaze is fixed on the city on the horizon.

"That goes without saying," Shi Qingxia says. "He's far surpassed what we were at his age."

She looks at Yong Zhunyi as she says that. The ashen-haired man is standing to the side with his eyes closed, yet she knows he is paying more attention to the fight than either of them.

"His opponent is strong," Ye Zheyu says as a tremor reaches them. "Too strong. Do you think he can win?"

"This is no time for doubts!"

The voice that cuts through the air belongs to neither Yong Zhunyi nor Shi Qinxia. They are spoken by a man wearing dark armor.

He is Lei Kong, leader of the Lei Clan and a devoted follower of Liu Jin.

"We can only trust our Lord right now," he says with severity.

"Don't speak to us about lords and stuff," Shi Qinxia scoffs. "We only work for the guy because it's convenient."

She waits for a moment, then adds, "However…"

~~~

Xiao Shuang watches from above as an avalanche falls on Liu Jin. Purple lightning rages around him, trying to melt down the ice and snow, but there is just too much. No matter what he does, more just keeps falling, burying him in its depths.

[The Lash of Winter]

The snow hardens into ice and raises Liu Jin up while a wave of cold blisters his skin. His Qi spikes, and a burst of lightning breaks the ice. His form blurs over the snow, yet walls of ice rise to cut off his path, trapping him in a box. There is a moment of silence before white poisonous Qi melts the ice, and countless snakes slither out of the box. They rush towards Xiao Shuang, but she merely needs to rise higher to avoid them.

Because she's in the Heaven Realm.

Floating in the sky and glowing with white Qi, she has become the personification of winter, a divinity in the flesh here to mete out judgment.

[Ground Contraction]

Liu Jin blurs across the air. Lightning flows around his body as he accelerates. However, Xiao Shuang is even faster, dodging his charge with little trouble.

Because she is in the Heaven Realm.

Sharpened hail falls on Liu Jin. He immediately hardens his aura to endure it and tosses a spear of lightning at Xiao Shuang, but she meets it with a wave of cold, distorting its path, before diving straight at him. The impact knocks Liu Jin back. His aura can barely put up a defense.

She is in the Heaven Realm, and he is not. That is the simple truth of this fight.

Those in the Heaven Realm are fully free of all the burdens of the Earth Realm. Their bodies have been hardened to a different extreme. As a consequence, the gap between the Earth Realm and the Heaven Realm is much greater than the ones before.

If Xiao Shuang has not hurt Liu Jin more, it is simply because she did not want to.

"Do you understand?" Xiao Shuang asks, looking down at him from the air. "Husband, you are amazing, but I am stronger. Do not force me to go beyond this."

Liu Jin pants slightly, grateful for the opportunity to mend his body and gather himself. He knew it would be like this. The barrier presented by Xiao Shuang's cultivation is too high to be overcome by simple skill.

"Why haven't you already?" He asks.

"Perhaps for the same reason you have not," Xiao Shuang replies.

He has yet to use his Dao. That is what her eyes seem to be telling him. Liu Jin smiles. In the end, they are both similar. They fight while being too scared of hurting each other. Xiao Shuang might have inflicted multiple injuries on him, but it has all been largely performative. She could have done far worse.

He could have done far worse as well.

Looking directly at Xiao Shuang, Liu Jin removes a single needle from the back of his neck and holds it up in front of her.

~~~

"I am not really worried about him. The girl's strong. There's no denying that, but that guy…"

~~~

"Are you insane?" Shi Qingxia yells in Liu Jin's face.

Liu Jin thinks over the question.

"I am perhaps a little desperate," he admits. "However, I believe this is a good idea. Besides, it benefits you, doesn't it?"

"It is a stupid idea and deserves no consideration!" Shi Qingxia replies.

"Can you really do it?"

Slowly, Shi Qingxia turns to Senior Brother Yong. She had expected him to be just as dismissive of the idea. However, the way he looks at Liu Jin is a little contemplative for her tastes.

"Can you truly help us get to the Heaven Realm?" he asks.

Liu Jin nods. "It should not be impossible. You are flawless talents that are already in the middle of the Earth Realm and higher. Maybe it would be better if you spent more time in the Earth Realm to harden your bodies, but I believe we need as many strong cultivators as possible on our side. Besides, since there are three of you, that gives me at least three opportunities."

"Opportunities to kill yourself!" Shi Qingxia snaps at him. "If you want to give us resources, we'll gladly welcome them. However, we are not helping you kill yourself."

"Obviously, I am not going to attempt it straight away," Liu Jin tells her, looking at her as though she had said something unreasonable.

"He is right," says Yong Zhunyi. "He'll simply observe the first few times. Doing anything else would mean his death. Additionally, having our testimony of the experience will make it more feasible."

"I am glad you understand."

Shi Qingxia's eyebrow twitches dangerously as she stares at the two stoic men talking as though they were reasonable. Often, she noticed how isolated Yong Zhunyi was from the others and wished he had someone on a similar wavelength.

How foolish of her.

A large hand falls on her shoulder. Shi Qingxia turns around and sees Ye Zheyu looking at her with pity. The large man just shakes his head. The message is clear.

There is no helping these two.

~~~

Tribulation lightning falls from the sky, piercing the barrier around the ring as though it were paper and shattering several windows all over Imperial Cloud City. The lightning summoned by daring to rise above one's station is pure beyond comprehension. It will strike every single time someone makes a breakthrough in the Heaven Realm, and every time, their punishment will be fiercer and stronger. Cultivators often make several preparations before receiving it. Even after enduring it once, it is not something that can be taken lightly.

Liu Jin lets it strike him head-on.

Xiao Shuang's eyes widen, yet she can only raise her Qi to protect herself. She knew it was a possibility from the moment Lu Mei advanced her cultivation, but she truly did not want to believe Liu Jin would risk a breakthrough to the Heaven Realm in the middle of a fight.

No… More importantly…

Why hasn't the lightning faded yet?

Tribulation lightning is fulminating in its intensity, utterly without mercy, and incomparably swift, yet the energy in front of Xiao Shuang has yet to fade away. The lightning keeps convulsing in front of her, obscuring Liu Jin from her sight. She can only feel as his Qi swells due to the breakthrough.

The tribulation lightning.

The wrath of the Heavens.

It turns purple.

[Thunder God's Judgment]

Belatedly, as the gigantic bolt races towards her, Xiao Shuang's mind realizes Liu Jin hasn't just undergone a breakthrough. Her husband, in a burst of insane inspiration, held on to the tribulation lightning and harnessed it into an attack to use against her.

There is no time to block. The tribulation lightning burns through her defenses and strikes her in the chest.

~~~

"That guy is a monster."

~~~

Liu Jin pants as his body acclimates to his increased strength. He feels so much lighter, so stronger now. His regeneration is already working on healing all the damage done to him.

Harnessing the tribulation lightning into an attack had been a gamble, a very dangerous one, yet he thought it was necessary to have that option at his disposal. Of course, never once did he imagine he'd use it on Xiao Shuang.

Still, better to use that than to make this a clash of Dao.

"I see."

Liu Jin's blood freezes in a way that has nothing to do with the cold. Soft steps echo in the ring as Xiao Shuang walks out of the cloud of smoke and electrified air. Her robes are dirty. The veil covering her face is damaged.

However, there are no serious wounds on her.

Even though she is on the Third Level of the Heaven Realm, a surprise attack from tribulation lightning should have still accomplished something, yet Xiao Shuang's Qi is not diminished in the slightest.

Against his better judgment, Liu Jin cannot help but let out an impressed smile.

"Well, now…"

This…is going to be difficult.

~~~

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