The Roaring Fists was only the first section of the Roaring Art. The general idea was to have explosive Qi when attacking, and that’ll trigger a roar as the Qi rushes out through the pores.

 

"Junior, are you going to the Gladiator Ring?" asked a petite man with a friendly smile and a bright orange robe. His eyes twinkled with curiosity, but something about his mannerisms made Whis uneasy.

 

Whis' eyes widened as he took in the stranger's appearance. Though the man's demeanor was affable, whis could sense an aura of strength and confidence that belied his jovial exterior – the fourth seal of the Foundation Realm. At this moment he was able to determine a persons’ cultivation based on the aura given off, alone.

 

“What’s a gladiator ring?”, Whis kept his guard up as he asked.

 

The fatty only got closer and his smile wide, he didn’t mind whis’s vigilance, if anything it only showed how novice he was. And that meant more profit for he him, he was qian-zai (salesperson), so attracting people to the ring was his job and would even get a commission.

 

“It is the place where cultivators go and battle each other”, the fatty explained raising his finger, he looked like a knowledgeable geek. Whis realizing that he was genuine followed the fat while he explained further

 

The Gladiator ring had three quarters:   mortal, warrior and unfettered. Each quarter had a cultivation limit except for the unfettered, that’s where cultivators would challenge those of higher levels and sometimes of lower levels. For each battle, people would make bets and if you won, you’d get a percentage of the profit.

Hearing this, whis` eyes lit up – he could earn money. Which reminded him, where was the loot he stole from the royal treasury? He reached into his pockets and felt around, but nothing was there. Panic began to set in, until he looked the ceiling and recalled – the air tubes. He sighed, and followed the fatty into a door.

 

‘The loot is safer there, anyways’, he thought.

 

What welcomed him was more shocking than seeing a whale on land, the door opened to stadium. There were neat rows of stone chairs, forming a circle. Above the rows were some deluxe, cushion coated and attractive row of chairs. He immediately figured that those were designated for the higher echelons. However, the shocking thing was not this, the area of the stadium exceeded those 5 ships.

 

“Little Fatty, how come there’s a large space in here”, whis asked hurriedly.  His cold, calm and collected visage had dropped.

 

“This ship belongs to the Hundred Mile House,” the fatty explained.

“They control the entire transport business. Their wealth and power are immense. They commissioned the creation of a void ring-like artifact that could hold people and had the volume of a mountain. To create such an artifact, countless experts had to work together.”

 

Whis was truly stunned. The world he had entered was full of magic, but now it seemed that all this magic had tangible applications. This ship alone could be worth countless mountains of gold. How many more like this, did they have?

 

He didn’t want to contemplate anymore; his head was too small for such a calculation. He could now understand why money wasn't the primary driver of this world. The true power was cultivation, magic, and knowledge.

Whis listened quietly as the fatty continued to explain the facilities and rules of the ring. He had so many questions, but held them back, knowing it was better to just listen for now.

…

 

Meanwhile, back in the cabin, Lila had paid whis a visit. She wanted to see if her 'fat sheep’ was healthy before she slaughtered him. In her hands, was a platter of grapes and if one looked closely, they could see a faint red glow. They had been spiked.

 

She entered the room slowly, not arousing suspicion. However, the room was empty, she took a 360degree scan but nothing to be found. Strangely, even the bad had not been touched.

 

She placed the tray on the wooden table, as she leaned forward, she notices a peculiar white sheet stuck under the bronze cup on the table. Lila meticulously raised the cup and pulled the sheet, she then proceeded to unfold it. Her visage went cold, her anger could be seen from her veined, jade hands as she clutched the letter.

 

“Cute Lila”, the letter read

 

” I am grateful for your help earlier, but I am sorry I couldn’t say this in person. Last night I decided to reconcile with my master and accept my mistake.”, her body was trembling, her aim was not to get along with whis, but to milk him dry of his belongings.

 

She then looked at the last sentence, “The handsome young master (^_~)”

 

She couldn’t take it anymore and shredded the letter. Her plans had been ruined. The hand she had borrowed from those perverted men from Blade sect could not be returned. Once you arouse a tiger’s appetite by waving a chunk of meat Infront of it, and later lose it, you can only cut your arm in compensation.

 

For years she had been working with those goons and she now knew their characters – it’ll be best if she avoided them. Her mood was ruined and she banged the door stomping away.

 

…

 

The Gladiator Ring

 

“So junior, what’s your name?”, the fatty asked as he finished his tour.

 

Whis contemplated for a while, deciding whether to give out his name. He knew he was a wanted criminal so a real name was not an option, however as if it knew what he was thinking the mask sent a message again to his brain. He couldn’t help but read loud the contents.

 

“Phantom Blade!”, whis said shockingly. The fatty was stunned but soon kept his cool.

 

“You can call me, Brother BingBing”, the fatty said proudly, emphasizing on the ‘brother’ part. But whis seemed to be in his own world.

 

The phantom mask, the sent out some more words. They seemed to be a map, whis was amazed and stopped the vision in his mind. He was met by fatty’s curios gaze.

 

"But you, Junior, don't you think the name is a little farfetched?" BingBing said, displeased.

 

"Just tell me your real name - it isn't nice to lie," he sneered, his voice overbearing and charged with Qi – threatening.

 

Whis immediately sensed the violence hidden within, even though he was angry he knew he wasn’t strong enough and didn’t want to grab attention. So, he just lightly chuckled.

 

“I was thinking of a stage name”, Whis quickly came up with an excuse, a skill he had honed since entering this world.

 

“My name is Yang Shi”, whis continued in a natural tone – showing no fear or nervousness. However, he had concluded one thing, the fatty wasn’t a good thing.

 

‘I don’t even think there’s a sense of good or bad in this world’, he sighed inwardly. Whis was beginning to understand that, in this world, the strong preyed on the weak. His previous experiences were a stark contrast to the norms of this place.

 

BingBing smiled and walked to a stand. Sited inside was an old man with disheveled clothes, his appearance not dignified but his visage breaking with experience – he couldn't be underestimated.

 

Elder Li," BingBing greeted, cupping his fists in salute. The old man merely nodded, but his eyes glinted with surprise before quickly returning to their usual stern gaze.

 

“My younger brother here, wants to temper himself in the ring”, BingBing continued, winking at the elder. Elder Li pulled out a jade token and said, "Battles start in a few minutes. What's your friend's name and cultivation?"

 

As he said this, he picked up a brash and a bowl of ink. Whis stared intently at the old man's movements - there was something strange about that brush.

 

Sensing the glare, the old-man actually let out a chuckle, and rhetorically asked, “what an interesting lad?”

 

“Precursor, are you a rune master?”, whis asked. His sharp gaze never leaving the bowl of ink. He seemed to recall some memories from the previous whis.