Awakening the Divine Spark

Lee didn’t count the days he was locked in the tower. And the locked part probably wasn’t really true.

He didn’t go out, though. He witnessed the Midsummer Festival from his window, but after glancing at the crowds full of joy below, he went back to his desk, ignoring the singing and dancing that went on through the night.

The next New Year’s celebration passed in a similar fashion, and finally when the following Midsummer Festival arrived, Lee stepped out from the library for the first time. He would’ve stayed longer, but Junior Elder Shen came over last night, and said that he had fooled around for long enough.

From her Lee learned that the news of the sect master’s condition had finally spread, and that he and Xiao Lian weren’t in danger anymore. To Lee was more surprising that the old man was somehow still alive, not that someone would use such information as a political instrument.

Of course, all in all Lee couldn’t care less and only wished to be locked up in his room, but apparently to take minds of people form the depressing news, every outer disciple from the younger generation had to take part in the event that would follow the yearly Grand competition.

At this moment not many people knew about it, though.

Lee joined the spectator seats only when the elemental masters were about to duel. He witnessed outer disciples spar a year and a half ago, and wasn’t particularly interested in that.

Of course, he couldn’t be compared to most of them, but he knew that in due time he would inevitably reach that level. And more importantly, no one mattered before they began to wield any form of elemental power.

Lee sat, hidden behind his hooded cloak, and watched the first contestants come forth. From the description on the stone slates they both were wind cultivators, and it was an unexpected pairing.

The initial starting spots in the tournament were decided by contestants drawing lots, and one could end up fighting anyone, be it their friend or someone they didn’t like.

All semi finalists from the inner competitions of the nine halls took part, and Lee was happy to notice both Chi Yanzhen’s and Li Hanchen’s names on one of the slates. Apparently the two friends were still going strong and he was curious to see whether this time he could recognize anything they did during their spars.

The first match began with strong gusts of wind blasting arena and the spectators in their seats felt as if a storm had arrived. But it was to be expected with who the fighters were.

Once again Lee felt nostalgic witnessing the incredible speed of wind cultivators. It was almost as if he was back in the underground pyramid, except there was no four-armed guy here and this time there were two wind element wielders going at each other.

"Did they also finally let you out?" Lee asked when another disciple sat next to him.

The guy’s face was also half-hidden, but Lee immediately recognized Xiao Lian’s black hooded cloak. Somehow he managed to find Lee in the sea of few thousand present people.

"You couldn’t find a seat anywhere further from the arena, could you?" Xiao Lian complained, but the joyful tone of his voice revealed his actual mood.

"How was I supposed to make sure you noticed me otherwise?" Lee widely grinned, "I couldn’t you let you join the survival training alone. Although I’m surprised you were allowed to return to the sect at all."

"Oh, you already know about training?" Xiao Lian sounded surprised, and said, "Dad said the Hall of Justice caught the pretty elder sister half a year ago. She tried to escape, but was killed somewhere in swamp in the end."

"Blackwater?" Lee asked. To think that elemental lord died just like that was mind blowing, but surely it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

"I guess." Xiao Lian said, "I only overheard a few things, but everyone is going to take part in the survival training. I had to come."

Lee noticed Xiao Lian glancing toward a group of outer disciples across the arena. They were all girls, intoxicated by the performance of the two wind elemental masters.

"You’ll get your chances." Lee said, guessing his intentions.

"I guess ... they almost didn’t let me go, you know?" Xiao Lian said, "Turns out you’re some kind of a thief, but then again you didn’t steal anything. I didn’t understand that part. My father didn’t want me anything to do with you, but uncle insisted that your resourcefulness might teach me a thing or two ..."

This part came as a surprise to Lee. He was too busy with his own problems to recognize that someone who had the elder of the Refining Hall as his uncle was surely looked after. Apparently after the Hall of Justice got the information on him breaking in Lunax’s vault they informed the Xiao clan.

"Do you know anything about the world we’ll be deployed to?" Lee asked.

"It’s a secret. I think father knew, but didn’t tell me." Xiao Lian said, "You want to properly prepare, right?"

"We can’t really do anything about it for now." Lee said, "Let’s watch the match. There should be an announcement afterwards. Then we’ll know more and can exchange the contribution points for some useful things. More importantly – I’d like to go grab a bite. It’ll probably be our last good meal in months."

"As long as there are beasts, you can always roast them." Xiao Lian said.

"Nah, buddy!" Lee grinned back, "This time you’ll have to learn how to cook yourself!"

More than a year had passed since Lee witnessed two elemental masters spar, but the difference in his perception was stunning. He couldn’t explain why, but probably because of the information he had absorbed and the long nights spent in meditation allowed him to discern the moves the elemental masters were making.

He even criticized them for acting exceedingly flashy and ineffective, but despite that the following matches were actually interesting to watch.

Lee already had a theory that everything came down to basics. Every attack, parry, evasion.

And he was lucky he could study, well technically copy, the basics for more than a year, over and over again, be it physical or elemental moves. Lee was absolutely certain that currently there was no other outer disciple who knew as many techniques as he did.

The only problem lie in the fact that all this knowledge was theoretical. He lacked the practical instinct and muscle memory people drilled in countless days of practice, but that what the survival training was for.

And even though Lee was reluctant to leave his room, he was looking forward to get back in the wild again.

The following matches were thrilling to watch. Lee wondered how it would be when he increased his own abilities enough to fully recognize what the guys in arena were capable off. Unfortunately becoming like them had to be postponed to his next life. Swallowing the two sparks destroyed any real advancement he could’ve had in this one.

Most of the entertainment that this competition brought was destroyed when in the fifth match Chi Yanzhen went against a disciple form the Sect Affairs Hall.

Lee already hoped to see the two friends compete with each other, but a strong wind blast literally threw Chi Yanzhen out of arena and he lost the match without the actual battle. The guy was upset, angry and disappointed, but no matter how he felt, when he got up, his ragged looks proved his opponent was stronger.

The fact that it was another wind element wielder was unusual, but no one cared about that. The disparity in strength between the two competitors was too obvious. From the side it looked like a junior elder came to bully an inner disciple, but it was impossible an elemental lord would be allowed in the competition.

Li Hanchen was next to fight and, thankfully, it was much more interesting. His fan club went crazy the moment he stepped in the arena, but his annoyed look spoke a thousand words. The guy clearly was upset to not be able to fight Chi Yanzhen in the next round.

"That’s his new signature move. Ice Shackles." Xiao Lian expertly commented.

The moment the match was allowed to start, Li Hanchen dashed toward the opponent, but instead of directly attacking him, smacked the ground next to opponent’s feet. If one looked closely, they could see the guy’s feet get covered in a thin layer of frost in an instant and streams of thin vapor surrounded them.

If anyone missed that, the guy grimacing in pain and his movements becoming sluggish were obvious, though.

Li Hanchen’s opponent was a fire elemental master, and quickly recovered by covering himself in thick red flames, and forcing Li Hanchen to take few steps back. The initial fire burst was so intense even Lee and Xiao Lian felt heat despite them sitting at the very back.