"Why exactly do we have to share the same rank as someone whose name is not even on the Pillar."

Cao Rong, the fifth seat, pushed himself forward in his chair and looked at Hou Yi.

He was the biggest of all of them, built like he was wearing his military jacket over solid muscle rather than under it.

The whole room turned to look at Hou Yi the second he said it.

"Just because the angel said you were something special doesn't prove you're in the same rank as us."

Cao Rong added, pointing down at the ground as he said it.

"None of us ever saw you in the other space. All ten of us spent years struggling just to channel Chi, getting where we are the hard way, and now you pop up out of nowhere to take the credit? I don't think so."

Hou Yi stared at him for a moment, then turned to General Zhou, who sat completely still.

He was staring back with a blank look that said this was on Hou Yi now, and he had no intention of stepping in to stop Cao Rong anytime soon.

Hou Yi understood immediately.

I see. So that's how it is.

People did not start running their mouths for no reason. Someone always had a hand in it.

Hou Yi stood up slowly, set his cane in front of him, and looked down at Cao Rong.

"And who are you to question me?"

He kept it off his face, but he felt the sting of being accused of slacking when he knew that wasn't true.

Five measly years. What is that compared to the decades I spent in isolation with no way to even build my body back up? If hard work and determination alone made someone great, I don't know a single person who has outdone me.

"You cocky bastard!"

Cao Rong shot to his feet, worked up now.

"I am Lieutenant Cao Rong, Commander of Chen Dong's military force. If you're really this so-called Rank 4, then fight me and beat me."

The challenge came out of nowhere.

Hou Yi had no real interest in accepting, he had nothing to prove. But he had to. Backing down would only raise questions about his credentials and invite more of this from others down the line.

"What, are you hesitating? Don't worry, since you're crippled I'll give you a handicap and go easy on you."

Cao Rong said with a smug grin.

Hou Yi let his displeasure show in a single look but said nothing. He had already made up his mind.

"Only those prepared to die have the right to speak of battle. Do you dare stake yours?"

Hou Yi said, and the room instantly went still. Every chair turned toward him to see if he meant it, and the smile dropped clean off Cao Rong's face.

He had not expected Hou Yi to take it this far. He glanced at Zhou Zhixia, but even the general looked caught off guard. Zhou had only meant for this to play out as a spar, something to show Hou Yi he could be ganged up on if he kept this up. But fighting to death was never on the table until he brought it up.

"That's crazy. Personally, I wouldn't take that level of disrespect."

Wen Fang, sitting in the third seat, said it loud, dragging the words out on purpose.

He wore no uniform. Just streetwear, a heavy windbreaker over a red shirt with silver chains hanging out, braids, and sunglasses. From the look of him he was thoroughly enjoying this, grinning ear to ear.

Cao Rong glared down at him.

"Wen Fang, if you're getting involved, keep your mouth shut."

He said sharply, but it did nothing to Wen Fang.

Wen Fang turned his head left and right, like he was checking whether Cao Rong might be talking to someone else, before turning back to face him.

"Bitch, who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Try that shit again and see what I do."

He pointed straight at Cao Rong.

"Besides, weren't you just running your mouth about a challenge a second ago? You backing out now?"

Wen Fang dropped back into his seat, satisfied.

Cao Rong had talked himself into a corner and there was no backing out now. He had no idea what Hou Yi's skill even was, but he would have to take the gamble.

"Who said I was backing out. We'll have a match in the training area, in front of all the recruits. I'll expose this man and prove there's an actual standard for being in the top ten."

He shouted, pointing a finger at his own chest.

"Very well. Is there anyone else who feels the same way?"

Hou Yi asked calmly. It was more rhetorical than anything, he was not expecting anyone else to take him up on it. But another hand went up, and the whole room turned.

"My name is Jia Shuren. I'm ranked sixth."

He wore a uniform too, but unlike Cao Rong's, his actually fit, tailored close to his frame, hair cut in a tight buzz.

"I wouldn't say I share Lieutenant Cao's view exactly. I do believe you're a Rank 4, as the angels said. But I don't know if you're as strong as the title suggests. If you were, I don't see why your name wouldn't already be sitting at the top of the Pillar instead of General Zhou's."

Every neck in the room was craned to watch. Zhou Zhixia was the most rattled of anyone. Chairman Feng Xinghi had put him in charge of this committee, and he had already managed to put two of his own men on the line.

He might have been able to talk it down, but after Wen Fang's outburst making, Cao Rong double down on the challenge, there was no way to defuse this now without exposing that he had been the one to egg Cao Rong on in the first place.

And now Jia Shuren was jumping in on his own.

I forgot about this one entirely.

Zhou Zhixia thought, glancing at Wen Fang. Unlike most of the others, Wen Fang had never actually been in the military. Before all this he had been a thug, and a difficult one to work with even back in the other space.

Being one of the top names in the army beat staying a thug, so he had signed up once they returned to earth. But that was only on paper. He had no plans to act the part.

"Cao Rong, you gullible motherfucker, sit down, I can't see anything."

Wen Fang shouted, either not noticing Zhou Zhixia glaring at him or not caring either way.

"I understand. I can fight you both at once, if that's what you'd prefer."

Hou Yi said. With the cooldown on his cane, the cleanest way to take down two Chi users back to back was to fight them together, copy whichever skill suited the matchup better, and use it against them on the spot.

Otherwise he would need to hold his trump card for the second fight and win the first one clean, without using it at all. That seemed unlikely. Going up against one of the country's top brass, he was going to need every edge he had.

"I'd rather decline that. I don't think the crowd would read it in our favor either way, win or lose."

Jia Shuren said, raising his hand again. Unlike Cao Rong, he was calm and measured, and not about to fall for something this obvious.

...

"Everyone, please don't break the line, and enter in uniform."

Outside the base, thousands of people were filing through the main gate in lines of six. Some wore nothing but a jacket and a t-shirt, others dragged sleeping bags and trolleys piled with everything they owned. But every single one of them carried that same distinct aura of Chi leaking off them.

Once inside, everything they carried except the clothes on their backs was taken at a checkpoint, and their name, address, and starting Rank were logged.

After that they were herded into an open field, packed in like cattle, waiting for recruitment to begin.

Up on the top floor, Feng Xinghi watched it all.

"Sir, about four thousand have been processed so far, and two more transports are on the way."

A woman read off the report as he looked down over the crowd.

"We estimate roughly two thirds of all Chi users have registered."

"And the rest?"

"Unlikely to register on their own, sir. And right now we have no way to track them down."

Feng Xinghi let out a heavy sigh.

"Start the task force recruitment the moment the last transport gets here. Areas of high Chi concentration are going to start showing up everywhere, and we cannot afford to fall behind."

He said, but his attention had already shifted toward the raised ground of the training field, where a group was making its way across.

He squinted through his glasses, trying to make sure he was seeing it right.

Is that General Zhou? And are those the top rankers with him? Why are they heading out there now?

A knock came at the door that same moment, and a soldier burst into the room.

"Sir! You need to come now, Lee Hou Yi and Lieutenant Cao are about to fight!"

Feng Xinghi spun around so fast he nearly dropped his glasses.

"What? On whose orders is this happening?"

He said, already rushing out the door.

...

All eleven of them walked out onto the stage, more of a demonstration platform really, the kind the military used for festivals and other events.

Cao Rong and Hou Yi moved to the center while the rest stood behind them.

Off to the side, a group of soldiers had rushed over the moment word got out. They were from Chen Dong's military force, about twenty of them, all there to back their commander the second they heard a fight was about to start. They were already shouting from the ground near the stage.

"Commander, destroy that phony!"

"Show him no mercy!"

Hearing them chant, Cao Rong felt his confidence surge, forgetting for a moment exactly who he was standing across from.

"You hear that? If you apologize now, I'll let you off with a light beating."

He said with a laugh, settling into his stance.

"I'd ask you the same. Think about how they'll feel when you're the one who dies."

Hou Yi replied. The second fight was still up in the air, but the first one was already decided. He was going to win.