Depthless Hunger

Chapter 139: Facing Another Cultivator

During their first week in the city Kai had gone off to engage in random activities, because of course he couldn't contain himself. Zae Zin Nim had been a bit annoyed by his tendencies at first, but now she thought of them as a fond oddity. It just seemed to be in his nature to seek out miscellaneous adventure, and considering that he usually came out of it with some more power and resources, she wasn't going to complain.

For her part, she remained focused. She was a cultivator, which meant she was a combat specialist. Her fastest path forward was always going to involve battle.

The fact that there were fights going on in the Crystallier Arena every single day had originally impressed her, but her opinion had rapidly waned. All too many of the crystalliers there were young fools who simply wanted to waste time with their friends or show off. Even the matches were often more about ego and status than skill.

Anyone could challenge anyone, and there was some money to be made, but Zae Zin Nim judged that it largely wasn't worth it for her. The only reason she had come with Kai was that she had an agreement to fight a Ruby Crystallier. That match could well be interesting and potentially even grant her the Ruby rank when she won, which would open more of the city for her.

Those thoughts were pushed aside when she realized that someone was yelling at Kai. He'd been leaving the ring after another victory when some woman jumped out at him.

"Another match, right now, no rest!" She put up her fists and built crystalline gloves over them. "You'll pay!"

"If you put up double the usual, sure." Kai rolled his shoulders and backed up to return to the ring. "What am I paying for?"

"I am Airgini of Romastir! You disgraced my brother! Get over here and I'll wipe that smirk off your face!"

Oh, it was some relative of the crystallier he'd beaten before. So far it didn't seem like Krysal had too many extended blood vendettas - the merchants let the crystalliers fight each other, but put their foot down if the conflicts got in the way of business. Hopefully the woman would get her anger out and then they could put it behind them.

If it kept escalating, they could just kill the family later.

Zae Zin Nim watched the fight because Kai was in it, even though it wasn't particularly interesting. Kai danced around his opponent, letting her land a few blows that did no good while striking back directly against her crystal cultivation. Once she would have disapproved of the fact that he didn't end it immediately, but now she appreciated how he prolonged the match without making it clear that he was toying with his opponent.

He wasn't testing the limits of his power, just training his fundamentals. When she saw a step backward, she knew that it could have been a massive leap with his full strength. His ineffective sideways swipe was exactly the same motion that could have sent a claw through his opponent and half the stands. Since he wanted people to continue challenging him, it wouldn't do to crush them, and he found a way not to waste that time.

What was she going to do with him, in the long term? On Cloudspire or even Rosemount, he would be advancing more rapidly, yet she feared what that might do to him. As much as she wanted to believe in what she knew of him, part of her couldn't help but imagine him turning into her father and so many other arrogant cultivators.

And if Kai became like them, with his monstrous potential...

They did need to leave eventually. Her short term plan was to keep helping his advancement until he could go toe-to-toe against any Nascent Foundation cultivator, which would be enough that going to Cloudspire wouldn't be suicidal. In that time she hoped to be able to break through to the next stage herself, and combined they would have enough leverage to seize real power.

Meanwhile, Kai seemed to be very concerned about details in Krysal. Hopefully he could get all of that out of his system while training and then they could leave. Until then, at least it was serving as an adequate environment to continue her cultivation.

Finally Kai ended it, using a little more of his power to slam his opponent into the arena floor. He wiped himself off with a towel as he walked back to their seat and sat down beside her. "How long until your match?" he asked.

"She was supposed to be here already," Zae Zin Nim said, "but seeing as she is a Ruby Crystallier and I am a newcomer, I believe I have to wait."

"You think she won't come? It seems like there isn't much benefit to her, just risk."

"I put up five thousand Eagles on the fight. I believe that will motivate her."

The next two people to fight one another were a young man and woman who had very unusual styles that seemed to be derived from dancing. Zae Zin Nim was mildly interested until she realized that they were just flirting with one another. All that spinning around and brushing one another... ridiculous.

That was another problem with the arena: young crystalliers who came just to play around.

Despite her best efforts to ignore it, the flirting made Zae Zin Nim uncomfortably conscious of Kai beside her. She should have been disgusted by his sweat, but she'd grown accustomed to the masculine scent. He always seemed so respectful, she had no idea how he thought of her. That made her all too aware of her mangled skin - as a young woman everyone had always praised how flawless it was, which had been more an annoyance than anything, and now that she might want someone to notice, she was ruined.

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"Hanelay Cloudspire!" Someone across the arena stepped forward between matches and called out her false name. "I would like to challenge you to a match."

For once a distraction was welcome. Zae Zin Nim didn't move before investigating the man's soul.

Name: ???

Total Power: 101

Crystal Cultivation: 1520 (56)

Physique Level: F-3 (36)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

>

Barely a crystallier. However, he appeared respectful and winning would earn a small amount of money, so she stepped out to face him. The man gave a reasonable imitation of a proper bow and then launched a qi attack.

This one didn't use any crystal weapons or armor, instead emitting qi more like a proper cultivator. Zae Zin Nim met him technique to technique. She wouldn't draw out the fight like Kai, but it seemed that her opponent simply wanted to test his qi against a superior opponent. Because she could respect that, she defeated him with several well-placed palm strikes instead of humiliating him.

As she walked back to her seat, Zae Zin Nim reflected that this was a real change. Seeing so many people on Deadwaste, no lazier or worse than those from home, gave her a great deal to think about.

Before she could talk to Kai further, he was called out to fight another battle. Because his Power rating appeared relatively low and he was holding back, it was easy for him to keep inviting challenges. At least she could watch his technique in the process.

Instead, however, Zae Zin Nim found her attention drawn to the side. Finally, the Ruby Crystallier she had wanted to challenge had arrived. It was a mousy Krysali woman who nonetheless had over 200 Power. That should have been positive, yet there was something...

Not her, the man who stood behind her.

Instantly Zae Zin Nim sat bolt upright. Even though the man was fully shrouding his soul, she could tell that he was a Cloudspire native and a strong cultivator, likely at the Nascent Foundation stage. Worst of all, there was something familiar about his look. Could he possibly be from the Brightwind sect, sent to track her down?

It was utter lunacy, or so she told herself over and over again, yet it was hard to shake the feeling. This man reminded her of home and there was always a chance that he knew her sect. Her best hopes were the fact that she hadn't been widely famous when she left and the fact that this man had hopefully been living on Deadwaste for a long time. If this had anything to do with her father...

Kai finished his match and she immediately rose to her feet. He noticed something was wrong and gave a concerned look as she passed, but she remained fixated on the new arrival.

The Ruby Crystallier stepped closer, the other cultivator still on her heels. Zae Zin Nim forced herself to appear calm and watched her real opponent as the other woman stepped into the ring. Yet it still felt like a setup: instead of fighting, the woman gave an apologetic bow.

"Forgive me, but my superior has asked to fight you instead. The wager is nullified, so please exchange techniques with him."

With that, the woman stepped back and Zae Zin Nim found herself facing a much more dangerous opponent.

All the Krysali watching probably didn't think so, since he was a short man wearing simple robes. None of the muscles or fancy weapons or crystals that they usually respected. In fact, it seemed like he was a pure cultivator, with no crystal cultivation at all. Every sign looked bad even before the man spoke.

"My name is Ren Ziq Quen," the man said smoothly, "and I serve as Diamond Crystallier for the noble Lady Riuklina."

"Honored to meet you," Zae Zin Nim said, bowing by default. This man should be at the same stage as her, and yet...

"I understand that Lord Suortril tried to hire you, thinking that you could neutralize me and help him defeat his rival." Ren Ziq Quen finally lowered his shroud as he prepared his qi. "Shall we see how that would have gone?"

She numbly examined his soul and saw that it was worse than she thought.

Name: Ren Ziq Quen

Total Power: 462

Cultivation: Nascent Foundation 19% (257)

Divine Physique Level: E-0 (80)

Soul Level: 5 (25)

Transcendent Divine Body (+100)

>

Her first guess that been that Ren Ziq Quen had adopted one of the powers of Deadwaste, and her second was that he was an unusual sort of body cultivator. Instead, she saw that he had the Transcendent Divine Body from one of the hidden sects. She'd only heard rumors of how it required specific ancestry, long training, and years of abstinence from all vices.

In return it granted strength, and she was horrified to see that it was valued at 100 Power. Compared to that, her Coldfire Corona felt like a feeble defense. The only imaginable way that she could possibly fight him would be to break through to the Earth Soul stage, and that was too far beyond her to be realistic.

And then the worst of all: the Transcendent Divine sect operated near Brightwind sect territory. Cloudspire was such a large continent that she wasn't worried about cultivators recognizing her, but this man was only a stone's throw away from home.

"I believe that is a foregone conclusion." Zae Zin Nim bowed deeply and tried to suppress any nervous movements. "Is a demonstration of the obvious truly necessary? I will consider my five thousand forfeit if you would prefer."

"I'm not here for the money." Ren Ziq Quen gave her a narrow smile of superiority. "I'm here to make our circumstances clear."

"They are very clear." She bowed once more and then retreated. As soon as she did, Ren Ziq Quen and his Ruby Crystallier companion departed smugly.

Once she was back in her seat, Zae Zin Nim allowed herself to shiver a little. It had only been a close call, nothing truly disastrous, but it was an ugly reminder. Kai looked over at her in concern, and when she didn't offer anything, he spoke up quietly.

"You didn't want to try fighting him? He was stronger, sure, but it might have been interesting."

"It would have been futile." Zae Zin Nim shook her head slowly. "He can do everything I can, but the Transcendent Divine Body makes him wholly superior. That was what he wanted to make clear."

"You're sure?" Kai looked like he wanted to argue, but he could tell when she didn't want to talk and kept his mouth shut.

This was bad. She had thought about her time on Deadwaste first as a purgatory, then an opportunity to recover and rebuild herself. Now she was painfully reminded of all the realities of home.

If her father knew she was alive, would he send people for her? Would he be angry, or worse, want to use her as a pawn again? For once in her life, Zae Zin Nim was grateful that her scars ruined her appearance.

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