Tournament 5
Ling Qi's eyes flicked over to where Gu Xiulan stood half facing away from her in the second arena, once again immaculate in appearance. The only sign of her recent troubles a few dark, spidery scars half hidden by cosmetics and the thread of gold veil she wore these days, and the tight cloth wrap on her arm.
Ling took a deep breath then, and turned her eyes to Gan Guangli and Ji Rong. This was the more dangerous fight, and the one she stood to gain the most from watching. Xiulan would scold her if she abandoned an opportunity just to watch her. Besides, she was confident her friend could win. Perhaps it was arrogant of her, but she didn't think Chu Song could take Xiulan in a fight, not without a full realm advantage.
She was distracted from her thoughts then as the air around the arena's began to grow hazy and distorted, like a heat mirage despite the cool day. Her eyes widened a moment later as her gaze flicked to the now glowing gemstones set in the pillars which sat at the corners of each arena. That was right, there had been formations on those…
As if reading her thoughts, Sect Head Yuan spoke then. "Honored guests, what you see before you now is the craftsmanship of our esteemed Master of Formations and Head of the Talisman Department, Elder Sima Jiao," he said, a touch of pride entering his voice. "It will provide our disciples with a more varied and realistic battlefield on which to display their talents. Of course, it will not impede your enjoyment of the event. Simply focus your attention upon the disciples you would like to watch, and the formation will ensure you a splendid view."
Ling Qi frowned at the implication, and tried to focus her thoughts on both Xiulan and Gan Guangli, only to wince as her vision exploded into conflicting smears of color… It seemed that was beyond her. Managing to hold back from shaking her head, she instead focused on Gan Guangli, and the steadily darkening air around the third arena seemed to clear before her eyes, revealing her peer in Cai's service.
Within the formation Gan stood now in a misty scrubland at the top of a hill, fog curling around his knees as the tall boy peered around, his full face helm as he peered into the dark gaps between the scraggly trees which served to obscure his view. He stood alone, which meant given the previous size of the arena, space was being bent for this, making the formation much larger on the inside.
She supposed that meant that her idle plan of flooding the entire arena with mist was probably out. She frowned as she watched Gan Guangli crouch down and press his hand against the ground for a moment. While she could hear the crunch of dirt under his armored boots though, it seemed like her ability to sense qi within the arena was stunted. Perhaps that was a good thing though, if she had to fight with the press of powerful auras in the crowd looming over her, things could get more difficult, like trying to fight with a blinding light shining in her eyes.
A moment of focus shifted her view to Ji Rong, who was even now speeding through the undergrowth, legs blurring as he ran beneath the trees, sparks crackling around eyes that darted around with a wary alertness that she hadn't noticed before in the scarred boy. Han Fang too was moving through the woods, though the bald boy's movements were entirely silent despite his bulk, and she had to focus continually for her eyes to not slide away from him, guided by threads of wind that wrapped around him like a cloak.
Lu… whatever his name was, Feng perhaps? Proved to be the most active as she turned her attention to him. Even as her vision refocused he was dropping down from the trees, his long silken black hair fluttering like a flag as a male disciple she didn't recognized let out a choked scream, scrabbling at his throat before the stronger boys knees struck his back and drove him into the ground. Ling Qi grimaced as the boys struggles ceased a moment later, the wire coiled around his throat glowing crimson in the mist, and jagging lines of qi erupted from the pinned boy to coil around the Sun second's arms.
A moment later the boy faded like a ghost from beneath him, and she heard the Sect Head call out a name. She felt a flash of pity for the poor boy, the very first one out. She focused her attention back on Gan Guangli then, and found him still standing atop the hill he had started on. He stood ramrod straight, his spike gauntleted hands clasped together and his head bowed, almost as if in prayer. His height and bulk were only just beginning to grow, inching upwards at a snail's pace, but she knew that would change once the fighting properly began.
Then, first one disciple, then another began to emerge from the trees below, dashing up the low slope of the hill. It took a moment for Ling Qi to recognize them vaguely from the time when she had decided to help Guangli with training his followers. They gave only hasty bows before forming up around him, raising the shields and straight swords they were armed with, but as they fell into position around Guangli, she saw their stances firm up almost imperceptibly at the same time that the taller boys armor began to take on a greater gleam.
For at least another few minutes, the scenes remained much the same, interrupted by the occasional crash or flash of light from the forest, which she took as her cues to look in on the other boys. Lu Feng's tactics were brutal and unfair, but Ling Qi had trouble not noticing some resemblance there. No eerie music followed him, but he appeared and disappeared from the mist like a phantom, and his foes often didn't even glimpse him before their limbs were tangled in his wires, and the bands of qi coiling around his arms grew more solid with each defeated opponent.
Han Fang on the other hand, was much louder when he did strike, and most of the true disturbances came when his hammer splintered a tree or cratered the ground with a thunderous boom. He was prowling the edges though, striking out ruthlessly only to put down lone foes, hanging back where others were moving forward. Ji Rong surprised her though. He had not, in her sight, stopped for a fight even once, unless you counted using a second realm disciples head as a springboard when the boy got in his way. His expression of focused determination worried her a bit.
In any case, with this amount of time she had figured out the layout of the terrain they were fighting in. Gan's hill stood near the center, with the scrubby forest radiating out in every direction for at least a kilometer or two, with walls of impassable fog forming the 'edges'. By now though, Gan Guangli was no longer passively marching, three more disciples, an archer, a spearman and a girl with an odd fan-like weapon had joined up with him, and they had begun to march on an unerring path headed for Lu Feng's current position.
She wondered how he knew where the boy was, but there no answers for that at the moment. It wouldn't matter though, because Ji Rong was going to catch up to them before they reached him. She could see the very moment when Gan Guangli realized it too, his gaze snapping over in the direction of the unsubtle qi of her fellow commoner. "Steel Rampart, now!" Gan Guangli's voice boomed in her ears as the six of them moved as one to face the threat. Two shields crashed together at their edges, forming a wall in front their looming leader as Ji Rong erupted from the mist like aluminous bolt, scattering the mist in his wake. Lightning crackled in his now shoulder length, shaggy hair, and the stormcloud embroidery on his loose robe roiled and rumbled like the real thing.
A pale arrow, it's barbed head aglow with toxic purple light, was snatched out of the air before it could hit him, the scarred boys luminous aura sparking and hissing where it met poisonous qi in the instant before the arrow was reduced to charred ash, and then he was upon them. A sound like a temple gong rang out as his fist struck gleaming metallic qi spread in a wave from the two locked shields below him, but it only took an instant for cracks to spiderweb out from the point of impact.
But then, like a striking serpent a spear lashed out from behind the spear wall, piercing the metal qi with nary a ripple to bite at Ji Rong's flank, forcing the boy to twist away, only to be buffeted by a gale that stripped the leaf from every tree for a dozen meters around, driving him back to the ground in a crouch. Yet despite that, when the fist of a giant came down like a gleaming hammer from above, he rose to meet it in a single twisting motion, driving his own lightning wreathed fist into Gan's gauntlet clad hand with a cracking boom of thunder, halting it even as the ground beneath him cratered downward, shattering for meters in every direction.
The snaking spear came for his throat but was batted aside by his free hand even as he trembled under the crushing force of Gan's fist. Blades of wind descended on him from every direction, visible only as distortions in the air, but they lost cohesion the moment they reached his flaring actinic aura. "You can't hold me down this time!" She heard him snarl, and in that moment she was almost blinded by the flash as Ji Rong dissolved into lightning.
She saw Gan's balance shift for just a moment as the force pushing back against his fist vanished, staggering him, and struggled to follow the movement of the crackling bolt of raw qi that had been Ji Rong as it zigged and zagged, first to the left, and then to the right, and then straight up, all in less time than it took to blink, only to resolve back into his form right as his sandaled heel crashed into the top of Guangli's head like a descending bolt from the heavens, slamming the now three meter tall boy into the ground with the force of a falling tree. Too their credits, his subordinates scattered, avoiding being crushed by his bulk. Ji Rong brought his hands together in midair and discharged a bolt of roiling plasma right into the fallen giant's back with a victorious snarl.
The blast fizzled in his hands as a booming warcry blasted the fog from the vicinity and a golden hand seized him by the throat,, and swung the scarred boy away, smashing him bodily through one of the trees still standing with a splintering crack. As she watched, Gan Guangli climbed to his feet, gleaming armor scuffed and dirtied, the fading phantom of a serene many armed figure fading like morning mist from the air behind him. "You are still too arrogant Ji Rong!" Gan Guangli shouted, even as his subordinates began to regroup around him. "Do you…"
Whatever he was going to say was lost as the boy with the spear having just taken up his position next to Gaungli suddenly thrust his spear upward, it's tip still aglow with metallic light, right into the pit of the giant's arm. Gan Guangli let out a howl of pain as crimson qi surged up through the boy's arm and through the spear, and in that moment Ling Qi glimpsed the nigh invisible wires corded around the boys arms and throat, in the instant before they dissolved under the power being poured through them.
"No one wants to hear you posture Guangli," Lu Feng's dry voice echoed from the midst as his puppet slumped limbs still jerking spasmodically as his spear dropped from nerveless fingers. "Do you think anyone finds your nonsense endearing?" Ling Qi could hear the scorn in his voice as she focused on him, finding the boy clinging to a tree branch high in the canopy, through a wispy veil of leaves that was likely much more convincing without the formations viewing function.
Then half of a splintered tree slammed into the still shocked shield wielders, sending their booted feet grinding backward through the dirt toward their wounded captain. "Tch, took you long enough pretty boy," Ji Rong spat along with a mouthful of blood as he stalked back into the clearing.
"Hmph, you speak as if i am not the reason that you were only fighting six on one," Lu Feng griped, his voice echoing from everywhere at once.
"Such villainous tactics," Gan Guangli growled, standing straight, even as his right arm hung useless at his side, blooms of crimson and lilac flowers blooming through the gaps in his armor. "I would ask if you had pride Lu Feng, but I already know the answer!"
"Feh, keep your bullshit to yourself," JI Rong said darkly, cracking his knuckles. "That creep has one thing right, I don't want to hear it."
"My ladies regret is wasted upon a thug like you," Gan Guangli replied with a scowl as his remaining subordinates gathered around him, eyeing each other warily. "I shall smite you…" Ling Qi almost missed it as his good hand twitched, fingers forming a symbol, and the archer and the fan wielding girl both spun toward Lu Feng's position. The wind howled as a miniature tornado sprung up around the tree he was hidden, ripping dirt and grass from the ground as it spun up entrapping the wire wielding boy, even as a sizzling arrow spun from raw black tar-like qi shot through it unhindered, piercing straight through the branch Lu Feng was hidden on and piercing directly through both the bracer that was raised to block it and the forearm wearing it.
To his credit, Lu Feng only snarled as the toxic qi sizzled in his wound, a corona of light like a thousand petalled lotus springing up behind his head to blast away the tornado. And free him from it's buffeting winds.
Below, the other combatants were not idle, as Ji Rong sprang forward with a loud warcry, repeating his earlier charge… but the rough boy was not foolish, where before, he had crashed directly against the shield wielders defense, this time he was prepared, twisting in midair to use their shields as a springboard and launch himself over Guangli's head, escaping the now four meter tall boys grasp by the smallest of hairs.
Despite the warning shout from Guangli the fan wielding girl was not fast enough to avoid the descending bolt that Ji Rong transformed into, screaming as his feet crashed into her back and sent lightning coursing through her limbs. Ling Qi winced as the boy raised his foot and stamped down a second time, hearing ribs break as he put the girl out of the fight for good.
There was no more talking now, no more time for it as the remaining combatants clashed amidst booming thunder and flashing light, reducing the terrain to little more than scorched wasteland.
Yet despite the flashiness of the display, Ling Qi was quickly coming to an unpleasant realization.
The right handed shield wielder was the next to fall, as Ji Rong caught his blade in one hand, earning a bloody gash in his palm before slamming a lightning charged knee twice into the boys groin, while Gan's remaining arm was tangled in the now scowling Lu Feng's wires. His right arm was growing worse, twitching spasmodically as flowers continued to push out from the gaps in his armor, their petals dripping with fresh blood.
Gan Guangli bellowed furiously then, his armor flaring gold as once again golden hands formed in the air behind him, attached to arms that were more like sinuous whips. Three lashed out, two battering Ji Rong's defenses and driving him back while the third struck out at Lu Feng, swelling to titanic size and smashing him into the ground, palm first…
Yet it wasn't enough, Ling Qi couldn't help but think. Even with her senses muted, Ling Qi could sense that Gan Guangli's technique was highly draining from the way his aura dimmed and his chest heaved with exertion as the phantom limbs faded. Now towering four meters tall, he hurled himself at Ji Rong even as the boy contemptuously dodged a brace of arrows fired by Gan's remaining allies.
Gan Guangli moved with impossible grace for something as big and bulky as he was, but with only one arm, with his continuing wound, it simply wasn't enough. Ji Rong was an actinic blur, and he only seemed to be growing more confident with each successful dodge.
It all came to an end a moment later, when a sizzling wire of crimson qi snaked out from the palm shaped crater to coil around Gan Guangli's ankle, and give it a single, sharp tug as the giant recovered from a swing of his massive fist. Gan Guangli stumbled then, falling to one knee, and then Ji Rong was there, both of his palms pressed against the scuffed expanse of Guangli's chestplate. A blast of lightning as thick as a man's torso erupted from her peers back then, his cry of pain drowned out by the boom of thunder that erupted a moment later.
Like that, Gan Guangli fell.
The two of his allies who had remained standing didn't last long after that.
Ji Rong spat to the side as the last shield wielding boy slumped bonelessly to the ground. "You look like shit pretty boy," he commented, glancing at Lu Feng.
"Savor this moment," His companion replied, he did indeed look terrible, one eye was swollen shut, and his clothing was badly shredded, his whole torso looked like one giant bruise. "It is the only time in which you will be able to say you are more handsome than I."
She scowled as she saw Ji Rong roll his eyes and turn away from the crater where Guangli had fell before his body had faded away. "Like I care," he replied irreverently. "So, are we done then, or…?
Lu Feng opened his mouth to respond but he never got a chance. The once handsome boy as consumed by a massive plume of dust as something slammed into him with terrible, thunderous force, ripping yet another crater in the pockmarked field. It only took a moment for her to make the connection to what had just happened.
Sure enough, as the dust cleared, she saw Han Fang standing there, one foot on Lu Feng's back as he raised his hammer, it's head speckled with blood and hair. Ji Rong had already fallen back into a fighting stance, his expression suddenly wary. The mute boy simply rolled his shoulders and cocked an eyebrow, slapping the haft of his hammer into his palm in response.
A grin began to break out on Ji Rong's face, and then….
A loud, piercing gong sounded, and Ling Qi's vision of the fight faded, leaving her once more looking at the arena normally. It was over then.
She glanced at the other arenas, and found each one clear, leaving only two disciples standing. Unsurprisingly, Sun Liling and Kang Zihao stood victorious in the first, and in the third, she saw Wen Ai and a handsome boy she vaguely recognized from the girls party. In the second though…
Chu Song still stood, nursing a dozen ugly looking burns… but Xiulan was still standing as well, though she looked worse for the wear, her hair badly askew and a scowl on her face. Her back was wet with blood, where someone had driven a blade into her side. She was also cradling her bad arm gingerly, Where her wrist was bent at a bad angle.
Her gaze then moved to Cai Renxiang, whose expression might as well have been carved from stone. She didn't even need words to understand. She absolutely couldn't afford to lose or give a bad show now.
She listened with half an ear as Sect Head Yuan spoke, congratulating the victors on their prowess and praising their ability… as well as indicating that the injured should get promptly to the infirmary, where the rest of the disciples had been sent.
As he spoke, she stole another glance at Cai Renxiang. The girl's day had been pretty poor so far, she knew. Between her mother's 'good news' and now this…
It might have been impulsive, but in the end, Ling Qi couldn't just do nothing. With her long sleeves hiding the motion, she let her fingers brush the back of her liege's hand, drawing her attention. Meeting her gaze without turning her head, Ling Qi did her best to project confidence into her expression. Without words, there was only so much she could do, but…
She caught something in the other girls gaze and received a shallow, nigh invisible nod in return, and though her expression didn't change, Ling QI thought she saw the other girls shoulders straighten almost imperceptibly.
There wasn't time for much else as they were called to their respective stages. Bai Meizhen and Cai Renxiang going to the first two stages, along with a large number of very unfortunate second realms. Han Jian went to the third along with most of the remaining older disciples, and Ling Qi went to the fourth,along with Shen Hu, and a miscellany of other disciples, the vast majority of which she was pretty sure had been Sun supporters.
None of them looked very happy to see her, though Shen Hu glanced at her with an expression of vague interest. The young man had been cleaned up pretty well, wearing a pair of baggy black pants held up by a grey sash rather than a ragged bearskin. He still hadn't bothered with anything else though. Did he idolize Elder Zhou or something? She glanced away from him with a huff, of course she would be the only one in the second round to get peer competition. There was no use complaining though.
Ling Qi took a deep breath as the formations began to light up and the arena blurred and faded away.
Only to laugh as she found herself standing ankle deep in the snow, atop a stony cliff, a slow rain of snowflakes veiling the sky from her sight. It seemed Elder Jiao was playing around again, because she recognized these cliffs.
Now, she needed to decide how to handle this.
Okay, here we go, for this I am going to be giving you guys some latitude to vote strategy. I'll provide some examples below, but you are free to do write ins. there will be a two hour moratorium on voting for this.
[] Whiteout Nightmare: With your newest technique it is trivial to set up your mist fully before you even enter combat, do so and sweep down the mountain like a lower realm version of your mentor Zeqing. Spare any Cai supporters smart enough to stay out of your way, but don't focus on them. Fight Shen Hu if he comes at you, but don't seek him out.
[] Moonlit Shadow: Stick to using Sable Crescent Step to take out your enemies as quickly and painlessly as possible, giving them no chance at all to fight back if able. Support any former enforcers, leaving them until the very end unless they provoke you. Seek out Shen Hu and try to take him out if at all possible
[] Write In
So there are your examples. Please don't give me giant paragraphs full of conditionals, just a general outline of the sort of tactics and objectives you would like Ling Qi to focus on.
Ling took a deep breath then, and turned her eyes to Gan Guangli and Ji Rong. This was the more dangerous fight, and the one she stood to gain the most from watching. Xiulan would scold her if she abandoned an opportunity just to watch her. Besides, she was confident her friend could win. Perhaps it was arrogant of her, but she didn't think Chu Song could take Xiulan in a fight, not without a full realm advantage.
She was distracted from her thoughts then as the air around the arena's began to grow hazy and distorted, like a heat mirage despite the cool day. Her eyes widened a moment later as her gaze flicked to the now glowing gemstones set in the pillars which sat at the corners of each arena. That was right, there had been formations on those…
As if reading her thoughts, Sect Head Yuan spoke then. "Honored guests, what you see before you now is the craftsmanship of our esteemed Master of Formations and Head of the Talisman Department, Elder Sima Jiao," he said, a touch of pride entering his voice. "It will provide our disciples with a more varied and realistic battlefield on which to display their talents. Of course, it will not impede your enjoyment of the event. Simply focus your attention upon the disciples you would like to watch, and the formation will ensure you a splendid view."
Ling Qi frowned at the implication, and tried to focus her thoughts on both Xiulan and Gan Guangli, only to wince as her vision exploded into conflicting smears of color… It seemed that was beyond her. Managing to hold back from shaking her head, she instead focused on Gan Guangli, and the steadily darkening air around the third arena seemed to clear before her eyes, revealing her peer in Cai's service.
Within the formation Gan stood now in a misty scrubland at the top of a hill, fog curling around his knees as the tall boy peered around, his full face helm as he peered into the dark gaps between the scraggly trees which served to obscure his view. He stood alone, which meant given the previous size of the arena, space was being bent for this, making the formation much larger on the inside.
She supposed that meant that her idle plan of flooding the entire arena with mist was probably out. She frowned as she watched Gan Guangli crouch down and press his hand against the ground for a moment. While she could hear the crunch of dirt under his armored boots though, it seemed like her ability to sense qi within the arena was stunted. Perhaps that was a good thing though, if she had to fight with the press of powerful auras in the crowd looming over her, things could get more difficult, like trying to fight with a blinding light shining in her eyes.
A moment of focus shifted her view to Ji Rong, who was even now speeding through the undergrowth, legs blurring as he ran beneath the trees, sparks crackling around eyes that darted around with a wary alertness that she hadn't noticed before in the scarred boy. Han Fang too was moving through the woods, though the bald boy's movements were entirely silent despite his bulk, and she had to focus continually for her eyes to not slide away from him, guided by threads of wind that wrapped around him like a cloak.
Lu… whatever his name was, Feng perhaps? Proved to be the most active as she turned her attention to him. Even as her vision refocused he was dropping down from the trees, his long silken black hair fluttering like a flag as a male disciple she didn't recognized let out a choked scream, scrabbling at his throat before the stronger boys knees struck his back and drove him into the ground. Ling Qi grimaced as the boys struggles ceased a moment later, the wire coiled around his throat glowing crimson in the mist, and jagging lines of qi erupted from the pinned boy to coil around the Sun second's arms.
A moment later the boy faded like a ghost from beneath him, and she heard the Sect Head call out a name. She felt a flash of pity for the poor boy, the very first one out. She focused her attention back on Gan Guangli then, and found him still standing atop the hill he had started on. He stood ramrod straight, his spike gauntleted hands clasped together and his head bowed, almost as if in prayer. His height and bulk were only just beginning to grow, inching upwards at a snail's pace, but she knew that would change once the fighting properly began.
Then, first one disciple, then another began to emerge from the trees below, dashing up the low slope of the hill. It took a moment for Ling Qi to recognize them vaguely from the time when she had decided to help Guangli with training his followers. They gave only hasty bows before forming up around him, raising the shields and straight swords they were armed with, but as they fell into position around Guangli, she saw their stances firm up almost imperceptibly at the same time that the taller boys armor began to take on a greater gleam.
For at least another few minutes, the scenes remained much the same, interrupted by the occasional crash or flash of light from the forest, which she took as her cues to look in on the other boys. Lu Feng's tactics were brutal and unfair, but Ling Qi had trouble not noticing some resemblance there. No eerie music followed him, but he appeared and disappeared from the mist like a phantom, and his foes often didn't even glimpse him before their limbs were tangled in his wires, and the bands of qi coiling around his arms grew more solid with each defeated opponent.
Han Fang on the other hand, was much louder when he did strike, and most of the true disturbances came when his hammer splintered a tree or cratered the ground with a thunderous boom. He was prowling the edges though, striking out ruthlessly only to put down lone foes, hanging back where others were moving forward. Ji Rong surprised her though. He had not, in her sight, stopped for a fight even once, unless you counted using a second realm disciples head as a springboard when the boy got in his way. His expression of focused determination worried her a bit.
In any case, with this amount of time she had figured out the layout of the terrain they were fighting in. Gan's hill stood near the center, with the scrubby forest radiating out in every direction for at least a kilometer or two, with walls of impassable fog forming the 'edges'. By now though, Gan Guangli was no longer passively marching, three more disciples, an archer, a spearman and a girl with an odd fan-like weapon had joined up with him, and they had begun to march on an unerring path headed for Lu Feng's current position.
She wondered how he knew where the boy was, but there no answers for that at the moment. It wouldn't matter though, because Ji Rong was going to catch up to them before they reached him. She could see the very moment when Gan Guangli realized it too, his gaze snapping over in the direction of the unsubtle qi of her fellow commoner. "Steel Rampart, now!" Gan Guangli's voice boomed in her ears as the six of them moved as one to face the threat. Two shields crashed together at their edges, forming a wall in front their looming leader as Ji Rong erupted from the mist like aluminous bolt, scattering the mist in his wake. Lightning crackled in his now shoulder length, shaggy hair, and the stormcloud embroidery on his loose robe roiled and rumbled like the real thing.
A pale arrow, it's barbed head aglow with toxic purple light, was snatched out of the air before it could hit him, the scarred boys luminous aura sparking and hissing where it met poisonous qi in the instant before the arrow was reduced to charred ash, and then he was upon them. A sound like a temple gong rang out as his fist struck gleaming metallic qi spread in a wave from the two locked shields below him, but it only took an instant for cracks to spiderweb out from the point of impact.
But then, like a striking serpent a spear lashed out from behind the spear wall, piercing the metal qi with nary a ripple to bite at Ji Rong's flank, forcing the boy to twist away, only to be buffeted by a gale that stripped the leaf from every tree for a dozen meters around, driving him back to the ground in a crouch. Yet despite that, when the fist of a giant came down like a gleaming hammer from above, he rose to meet it in a single twisting motion, driving his own lightning wreathed fist into Gan's gauntlet clad hand with a cracking boom of thunder, halting it even as the ground beneath him cratered downward, shattering for meters in every direction.
The snaking spear came for his throat but was batted aside by his free hand even as he trembled under the crushing force of Gan's fist. Blades of wind descended on him from every direction, visible only as distortions in the air, but they lost cohesion the moment they reached his flaring actinic aura. "You can't hold me down this time!" She heard him snarl, and in that moment she was almost blinded by the flash as Ji Rong dissolved into lightning.
She saw Gan's balance shift for just a moment as the force pushing back against his fist vanished, staggering him, and struggled to follow the movement of the crackling bolt of raw qi that had been Ji Rong as it zigged and zagged, first to the left, and then to the right, and then straight up, all in less time than it took to blink, only to resolve back into his form right as his sandaled heel crashed into the top of Guangli's head like a descending bolt from the heavens, slamming the now three meter tall boy into the ground with the force of a falling tree. Too their credits, his subordinates scattered, avoiding being crushed by his bulk. Ji Rong brought his hands together in midair and discharged a bolt of roiling plasma right into the fallen giant's back with a victorious snarl.
The blast fizzled in his hands as a booming warcry blasted the fog from the vicinity and a golden hand seized him by the throat,, and swung the scarred boy away, smashing him bodily through one of the trees still standing with a splintering crack. As she watched, Gan Guangli climbed to his feet, gleaming armor scuffed and dirtied, the fading phantom of a serene many armed figure fading like morning mist from the air behind him. "You are still too arrogant Ji Rong!" Gan Guangli shouted, even as his subordinates began to regroup around him. "Do you…"
Whatever he was going to say was lost as the boy with the spear having just taken up his position next to Gaungli suddenly thrust his spear upward, it's tip still aglow with metallic light, right into the pit of the giant's arm. Gan Guangli let out a howl of pain as crimson qi surged up through the boy's arm and through the spear, and in that moment Ling Qi glimpsed the nigh invisible wires corded around the boys arms and throat, in the instant before they dissolved under the power being poured through them.
"No one wants to hear you posture Guangli," Lu Feng's dry voice echoed from the midst as his puppet slumped limbs still jerking spasmodically as his spear dropped from nerveless fingers. "Do you think anyone finds your nonsense endearing?" Ling Qi could hear the scorn in his voice as she focused on him, finding the boy clinging to a tree branch high in the canopy, through a wispy veil of leaves that was likely much more convincing without the formations viewing function.
Then half of a splintered tree slammed into the still shocked shield wielders, sending their booted feet grinding backward through the dirt toward their wounded captain. "Tch, took you long enough pretty boy," Ji Rong spat along with a mouthful of blood as he stalked back into the clearing.
"Hmph, you speak as if i am not the reason that you were only fighting six on one," Lu Feng griped, his voice echoing from everywhere at once.
"Such villainous tactics," Gan Guangli growled, standing straight, even as his right arm hung useless at his side, blooms of crimson and lilac flowers blooming through the gaps in his armor. "I would ask if you had pride Lu Feng, but I already know the answer!"
"Feh, keep your bullshit to yourself," JI Rong said darkly, cracking his knuckles. "That creep has one thing right, I don't want to hear it."
"My ladies regret is wasted upon a thug like you," Gan Guangli replied with a scowl as his remaining subordinates gathered around him, eyeing each other warily. "I shall smite you…" Ling Qi almost missed it as his good hand twitched, fingers forming a symbol, and the archer and the fan wielding girl both spun toward Lu Feng's position. The wind howled as a miniature tornado sprung up around the tree he was hidden, ripping dirt and grass from the ground as it spun up entrapping the wire wielding boy, even as a sizzling arrow spun from raw black tar-like qi shot through it unhindered, piercing straight through the branch Lu Feng was hidden on and piercing directly through both the bracer that was raised to block it and the forearm wearing it.
To his credit, Lu Feng only snarled as the toxic qi sizzled in his wound, a corona of light like a thousand petalled lotus springing up behind his head to blast away the tornado. And free him from it's buffeting winds.
Below, the other combatants were not idle, as Ji Rong sprang forward with a loud warcry, repeating his earlier charge… but the rough boy was not foolish, where before, he had crashed directly against the shield wielders defense, this time he was prepared, twisting in midair to use their shields as a springboard and launch himself over Guangli's head, escaping the now four meter tall boys grasp by the smallest of hairs.
Despite the warning shout from Guangli the fan wielding girl was not fast enough to avoid the descending bolt that Ji Rong transformed into, screaming as his feet crashed into her back and sent lightning coursing through her limbs. Ling Qi winced as the boy raised his foot and stamped down a second time, hearing ribs break as he put the girl out of the fight for good.
There was no more talking now, no more time for it as the remaining combatants clashed amidst booming thunder and flashing light, reducing the terrain to little more than scorched wasteland.
Yet despite the flashiness of the display, Ling Qi was quickly coming to an unpleasant realization.
The right handed shield wielder was the next to fall, as Ji Rong caught his blade in one hand, earning a bloody gash in his palm before slamming a lightning charged knee twice into the boys groin, while Gan's remaining arm was tangled in the now scowling Lu Feng's wires. His right arm was growing worse, twitching spasmodically as flowers continued to push out from the gaps in his armor, their petals dripping with fresh blood.
Gan Guangli bellowed furiously then, his armor flaring gold as once again golden hands formed in the air behind him, attached to arms that were more like sinuous whips. Three lashed out, two battering Ji Rong's defenses and driving him back while the third struck out at Lu Feng, swelling to titanic size and smashing him into the ground, palm first…
Yet it wasn't enough, Ling Qi couldn't help but think. Even with her senses muted, Ling Qi could sense that Gan Guangli's technique was highly draining from the way his aura dimmed and his chest heaved with exertion as the phantom limbs faded. Now towering four meters tall, he hurled himself at Ji Rong even as the boy contemptuously dodged a brace of arrows fired by Gan's remaining allies.
Gan Guangli moved with impossible grace for something as big and bulky as he was, but with only one arm, with his continuing wound, it simply wasn't enough. Ji Rong was an actinic blur, and he only seemed to be growing more confident with each successful dodge.
It all came to an end a moment later, when a sizzling wire of crimson qi snaked out from the palm shaped crater to coil around Gan Guangli's ankle, and give it a single, sharp tug as the giant recovered from a swing of his massive fist. Gan Guangli stumbled then, falling to one knee, and then Ji Rong was there, both of his palms pressed against the scuffed expanse of Guangli's chestplate. A blast of lightning as thick as a man's torso erupted from her peers back then, his cry of pain drowned out by the boom of thunder that erupted a moment later.
Like that, Gan Guangli fell.
The two of his allies who had remained standing didn't last long after that.
Ji Rong spat to the side as the last shield wielding boy slumped bonelessly to the ground. "You look like shit pretty boy," he commented, glancing at Lu Feng.
"Savor this moment," His companion replied, he did indeed look terrible, one eye was swollen shut, and his clothing was badly shredded, his whole torso looked like one giant bruise. "It is the only time in which you will be able to say you are more handsome than I."
She scowled as she saw Ji Rong roll his eyes and turn away from the crater where Guangli had fell before his body had faded away. "Like I care," he replied irreverently. "So, are we done then, or…?
Lu Feng opened his mouth to respond but he never got a chance. The once handsome boy as consumed by a massive plume of dust as something slammed into him with terrible, thunderous force, ripping yet another crater in the pockmarked field. It only took a moment for her to make the connection to what had just happened.
Sure enough, as the dust cleared, she saw Han Fang standing there, one foot on Lu Feng's back as he raised his hammer, it's head speckled with blood and hair. Ji Rong had already fallen back into a fighting stance, his expression suddenly wary. The mute boy simply rolled his shoulders and cocked an eyebrow, slapping the haft of his hammer into his palm in response.
A grin began to break out on Ji Rong's face, and then….
A loud, piercing gong sounded, and Ling Qi's vision of the fight faded, leaving her once more looking at the arena normally. It was over then.
She glanced at the other arenas, and found each one clear, leaving only two disciples standing. Unsurprisingly, Sun Liling and Kang Zihao stood victorious in the first, and in the third, she saw Wen Ai and a handsome boy she vaguely recognized from the girls party. In the second though…
Chu Song still stood, nursing a dozen ugly looking burns… but Xiulan was still standing as well, though she looked worse for the wear, her hair badly askew and a scowl on her face. Her back was wet with blood, where someone had driven a blade into her side. She was also cradling her bad arm gingerly, Where her wrist was bent at a bad angle.
Her gaze then moved to Cai Renxiang, whose expression might as well have been carved from stone. She didn't even need words to understand. She absolutely couldn't afford to lose or give a bad show now.
She listened with half an ear as Sect Head Yuan spoke, congratulating the victors on their prowess and praising their ability… as well as indicating that the injured should get promptly to the infirmary, where the rest of the disciples had been sent.
As he spoke, she stole another glance at Cai Renxiang. The girl's day had been pretty poor so far, she knew. Between her mother's 'good news' and now this…
It might have been impulsive, but in the end, Ling Qi couldn't just do nothing. With her long sleeves hiding the motion, she let her fingers brush the back of her liege's hand, drawing her attention. Meeting her gaze without turning her head, Ling Qi did her best to project confidence into her expression. Without words, there was only so much she could do, but…
She caught something in the other girls gaze and received a shallow, nigh invisible nod in return, and though her expression didn't change, Ling QI thought she saw the other girls shoulders straighten almost imperceptibly.
There wasn't time for much else as they were called to their respective stages. Bai Meizhen and Cai Renxiang going to the first two stages, along with a large number of very unfortunate second realms. Han Jian went to the third along with most of the remaining older disciples, and Ling Qi went to the fourth,along with Shen Hu, and a miscellany of other disciples, the vast majority of which she was pretty sure had been Sun supporters.
None of them looked very happy to see her, though Shen Hu glanced at her with an expression of vague interest. The young man had been cleaned up pretty well, wearing a pair of baggy black pants held up by a grey sash rather than a ragged bearskin. He still hadn't bothered with anything else though. Did he idolize Elder Zhou or something? She glanced away from him with a huff, of course she would be the only one in the second round to get peer competition. There was no use complaining though.
Ling Qi took a deep breath as the formations began to light up and the arena blurred and faded away.
Only to laugh as she found herself standing ankle deep in the snow, atop a stony cliff, a slow rain of snowflakes veiling the sky from her sight. It seemed Elder Jiao was playing around again, because she recognized these cliffs.
Now, she needed to decide how to handle this.
Okay, here we go, for this I am going to be giving you guys some latitude to vote strategy. I'll provide some examples below, but you are free to do write ins. there will be a two hour moratorium on voting for this.
[] Whiteout Nightmare: With your newest technique it is trivial to set up your mist fully before you even enter combat, do so and sweep down the mountain like a lower realm version of your mentor Zeqing. Spare any Cai supporters smart enough to stay out of your way, but don't focus on them. Fight Shen Hu if he comes at you, but don't seek him out.
[] Moonlit Shadow: Stick to using Sable Crescent Step to take out your enemies as quickly and painlessly as possible, giving them no chance at all to fight back if able. Support any former enforcers, leaving them until the very end unless they provoke you. Seek out Shen Hu and try to take him out if at all possible
[] Write In
So there are your examples. Please don't give me giant paragraphs full of conditionals, just a general outline of the sort of tactics and objectives you would like Ling Qi to focus on.
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