I AM GOD!

It was a colossal structure the size of a modern stadium made from pristinely cut blue boulders, green flags with curled snakes on them fluttered in the wind atop the highest arches of the arena.

The inside of the arena was filled with excitement as tens of thousands of disciples seated on the many stone benches shouted and cheered. Their eyes glued to the center of the stage where the final stages of the current martial compet.i.tion between the Silent Valley sect and the Martial Fist sect were being held.

Closest to the arena, there were several VIP seats that looked like small palaces.

Inside one of those palaces, the Martial Fist sect headmaster was watching the battles on stage with a calm expression as he drank from a large wineskin. He was a large burly man with rippling muscles, calloused fists and a long black shiny beard that shone in the sunlight.

"Headmaster Lu, aren"t you worried?" A gruff voice sounded beside the headmaster.

Lu Meng took another sip from his wineskin and chuckled. "Worried about the Sun boy? Nope, old Manlou you worry too much. You"ve been far too jittery every since you took shelter at my sect 8 years ago. You know, I"m still curious about what happened to you...those injuries weren"t light."

Beside Lu Meng, Bat Manlou shivered fearfully as he replied. "Headmaster Lu, you don"t want to know...it"s for your own good so stop asking about it."

Lu Meng was still curious but chose to mention it again at another time. [He"ll explain eventually, I just might have to ask another thousand times..] He thought.

Turning his eyes towards the arena, he saw Sun Xi fighting against the second strongest core disciple in the Silent Valley sect Jin Cang.

Using his spear, Sun Xi swept all of Jin Cang"s attacks aside while counter attacking with double the ferocity of his opponent.

"Very good." Lu Meng nodded as he took a bite of a bread stick from the nearby table.

"I"m not worried about the fight with Jin Cang, I"m more worried about this Dong Mu...there"s something off about him." Bat Manlou commented as he bit into a chicken wing.

Lu Meng agreed, with a look of seriousness he replied. "I"ve had my spies check up on that child and what they found was extremely fishy but the leads were a dead end. All I know is that when he was born there was a sudden surge of power in the Dong family which allowed them to swiftly destroy and replace the Sun family."

As the battle continued between Sun Xi and Jin Cang, the difference in strength between them was gradually showing.

Although both were late foundation realm cultivators half a step into the innate realm, the difference in their cultivation techniques was like night and day. Clearly, Sun Xi"s technique was far superior as he barely broke a sweat while Jin Cang was hanging on by thread, all his hidden weapons and poison techniques were all for naught.

"He"s hiding his cultivation realm again that cheeky brat." Bat Manlou remarked with a scoff.

Lu Meng chuckled. "Either he"s being cautious or no one has come along that"s strong enough to push his limits."

"I have a feeling Dong Mu will be the one to do that..." Bat Manlou added.

The battle finally came to an end when Sun Xi knocked Jin Cang off the arena platform with the b.u.t.t of his spear.

Both Lu Meng and Bat Manlou clapped as the audience cheered and booed. Many exchanged money as there was betting going on between the disciples.

"Well done, well done." A loud clear voice sounded from the other end of the arena, opposite Lu Meng and Bat Manlou.

A middle aged man dressed in a gold and green robe inlaid with decorated with metal snakes stood up and clapped. His eyes were narrowed and sinister and his nose had a slight hook to it, his frame was thin but packed full of power. The audience chatter quieted down as they focused on the man, he was the headmaster of the Silent Valley sect Zuo Ning.

"You have defeated the last compet.i.tor and are thus due a reward...what is it you desire? Treasures, resources or maybe new weapon?" Zuo Ning eyed Sun Xi curiously.

Sun Xi eyes focused with resolve as he took a deep breath and shouted. "I desire a life and death battle with Dong Mu!!"

Zuo Ning smiled knowingly as he muttered. "The young sure are brave.."

He cackled and replied. "Very well child, I know of the feud between your fallen Sun family and Dong family. Let the grievances end with this final battle."

Behind him, Dong Mu and Jiang Ying appeared.

Gasps were heard as some in the audience gossiped.

"Who is that beauty beside the young master?" Someone asked.

"I heard she is his future wife. She was originally engaged to someone else but the young master stole her away anyway." A nearby disciple replied with a hint of pity in his voice.

"Bah! The person she was engaged to was a mere commoner, not even cultivator. The audacity he has to think of keeping a beauty like her! As they say, "Beauty attracts disaster if one is not strong enough"" Another disciple commented in a disdainful voice.

"She looks a bit pale, is she sick? If she keels over, I"ll replace her in a heartbeat! Young master Dong Mu is so dreamy!" A female disciple with stars in her eyes remarked.

The female disciple beside her snorted and said. "You? Get over yourself, every time you look at a mirror, it cracks! I"m much more suited to be Dong Mu"s wife!!"

"You little!"

The two female disciples began verbally a.s.sault each other which later lead to hair pulling and slapping.

Nearby male disciples sighed in sadness, the envy when the looked at Dong Mu was glaring.

With all the eyes on her, Jiang Ying looked down at the ground despondently with lifeless eyes. Her beauty was like a wilting flower that would eventually fade away.

"That girl!"

Lu Meng heard a cry of shock come from his side. Turning his head to the side he saw a pale faced Bat Manlou who had a fearful expression. Frowning he asked. "You know that girl?"

Bat Manlou gulped nervously as he thought. [That girl is related to that loony woman! This is bad, i"ve gotta get outta here!] He looked from side to side vigilantly before whispering. "I have to leave headmaster Lu, I suggest you do the same."

Before Lu Meng could question him, Bat Manlou flickered and disappeared towards the nearby exit. Lu Meng stared in his direction with his mouth hanging open, eventually he snorted and took another swig from his wineskin.

Dong Mu inspected Sun Xi with indifference, his handsome brow raised as he said arrogantly. "Survive an attack of mine and I might consider you worthy enough of being my opponent..."

A fire lit up in Sun Xi"s eyes as he waved his spear and replied. "Fine!"

Dong Mu"s arm lit up with a green light which formed into an illusionary snake that coiled around his arm like a spring, ready to pounce. With a wave, the snake left his arm striking towards Sun Xi at blinding speeds.

"That"s the dragon snake technique!! He"s already cultivated it to perfection!?" A surprised disciple blurted out.

"Humph..of course, an earth grade technique like that is nothing to young master Dong Mu!" A female disciple said haughtily.

Sun Xi gripped his spear tightly, a glow of white light surrounded it. As soon as the snake was in reach of his spear, with just a flick of his wrist the spear tip slashed towards the oncoming snake like a bolt of lightning.

*Bang!*

A booming sound resulted from the clash between snake and spear. With little effort, Sun Xi dispelled the illusionary snake and stared defiantly at Dong Mu as he said. "Good enough?"

The audience was left in silence, many had looks of disbelief on their faces. Even Jiang Ying was surprised as she stared at Sun Xi. There was a budding hope in her heart that this Sun Xi might kill the wretched Dong Mu and she could go back to her beloved Qin Tian like a bird freed from it"s cage.

Dong Mu lips raised into a smirk as he replied. "Barely."

Sun Xi readied himself as he unleashed his full cultivation. The powerful aura of an innate realm cultivator flowed from his body.

"Innate realm at such a young age!? He"s a genius!" An elder from the Silent Valley sect muttered.

"Our Dong Mu is no push over either." Another elder quickly said.

"Trivial." Dong Mu said indifferently as the same level of power radiated from his body. As he was about to jump onto the arena platform and squash Sun Xi like a bug, a tearing sound came from the distance accompanied by a red flash of light!

Loud gasps of surprise came from the audience as the covered their eyes from the blinding red light.

Just above the arena stadium the red light came to a stop and hovered silently as two figures became visible.

"Who is it that trespa.s.ses the Silent Valley sect!!" Zuo Ning shouted angrily as he flew up into the air accompanied by eighteen elders.

"Things are getting interesting.." Lu Meng murmured.