1 Chapter 1

Streamers billowed in the wind as youths in a myriad of colored robes chattered and roamed around Heavenly Jade Fortress' grounds. The festive mood has been going on for the past few days due to the large influx of visitors into the sect, in fact the festival-like celebration would continue on for the rest of the week. The disciples were the happiest about this arrangement, especially since they'd get the rare opportunity to buy cultivation materials that could only be found in the other sect's territories, or even better for many of these youths, an opportunity to increase their comprehension in their cultivation through watching or, hopefully, even participating in the inter-sect tournament.

"What are you looking for?" The Auburn haired youth was startled by someone snapping their fingers in front of his face, he looked towards his friend, Da Tuo, the one who proposed the question and was impatiently waiting for his answer.

"Nothing. I'm not looking for anything, okay?" Of course, his next actions betrayed his words as he quickly began scanning the crowds yet again.

"You should be asking, -who- is he looking for." The rotund youth, Yi Long, or as many called him, Fatty Long, proceeded to snicker at his friend.

The long-faced youth immediately grimaced before snorting, "Hmph. If he's looking for someone we already know who it is. No need to ask him shit." The two glanced at each other and nodded before glancing at the youth currently anxiously glancing around.

"Ah~ And to think we wanted to spend the festival with this loser." Fatty Long scratched the side of his nose as he not-so-subtly tried to look casual.

"Uh-huh. Who would have thought that instead of taking it easy because 'that' person is nowhere to be found, he's choosing to actively search for him." Da Tuo placed both of his hands behind his back, starting to whistle as he waited for his friend to go into one of his Cheng Lei focused tirades.

"What a waste of this festive atmosphere." He sighed, shrugging his shoulders, his fat cheeks jiggling. "Oh, well. Nothing we can do about it. Our dear old friend's life revolves around him."

The last sentence immediately caught the attention of the bandana-wearing prodigy. "Oi. My life does not revolve around Cheng Lei, okay? He tried to kill me! Not once, not twice, not three times, six! Six times! As evidenced by the fact that he's nowhere to be seen he's obviously plotting something against me, okay? One day, I swear, he's just biding his time, he's going to pop out of nowhere when my guard is down and bam! Your friend is dead!-"

His two friends shared a knowing look while he was in the middle of his rant before they both tuned him out. Fatty Long scanning the food stalls, and Da Tuo was comparing the prices between different stalls and mentally comparing the prices of their products.

Cheers erupted behind them and the pair quickly glanced back at the tournament grounds, Fatty Long spit on the ground because of the results. "Shit. Senior Xu Jiang lost. Ah... Another win for the Verdant Gale Sect."

Da Tuo rolled his eyes, "Well of course senior lost, he was up against Mo Ran, you know, the girl with that special body constitution, the one who is the direct disciple of their sect head?" He tapped his index finger against his lower lip as he tried to recall it, "She's cultivating one of their top tier cultivation techniques...Ah! The Corrosive Yin Cleaving Script! It's because of her Corrosive Yin!" He smacked his fist into his palm once the information surfaced.

"Who cares about that?! I'm not done talking, I bet you guys weren't even listening to what I was saying. One day, you two are going to be like, 'Boohoo, I should have listened to Zhang Di when I still had the chance, at least that way he might have at least gotten a proper burial'-"

Fatty Long looked at Zhang Di like he was an idiot before putting his hand on his shoulder, "Dude, calm down. He hasn't even insulted you in the last three years, and some of those incidents could be considered accidents, I mean getting thrown off the back of his spirit beast is to be expected when you snuck on in the first place. He probably didn't even know you wer-"

"That's beside the point! I know he knew I was there, okay? He snorted and then that stupid bird bucked and I was sent hurtling to the ground! It's a good thing that merchant was carting animal furs, I could have died if I didn't land in his cart! He's been after me since day one, he's obviously planning something big that's why he-" Zhang Di's breath was starting to hitch.

Da Tuo snapped a finger in front of Zhang Di's face cutting him off, "You're getting too worked up. Follow after me," He inhaled and carefully watched as Zhang Di followed his instructions, "Breath in and out, in and out, in and out, good..." He patted Fatty Long on the back as if to comfort him, or maybe he was telling him to tap out and leave it to him. Fatty Long got the message and wandered off somewhere.

"Remember what Elder Xu told you, your lungs aren't fully healed from that injury, and you shouldn't be getting too worked up over stuff like this or else you might pop a vein. I'm not going to give you possible alternative interpretations of Cheng Lei's actions, I wouldn't dare guess what runs through his mind. But-" He quickly shot Zhang Di a look as that fool immediately grew indignant at the utterance of 'But'. "- Enjoying yourself doesn't mean your guard is down. You're not the only one who has to fight in the tournament, he's just as obsessive as you when it comes to cultivating and even more obsessive when it comes to winning. He's most likely focusing on his fight and learning how to best use his new cultivation."

"Hmph. He's fallen behind." The auburn hair youth seemed to brighten up at the thought that Cheng Lei must have gone crazy trying to catch up before the tournament.

"Plus, if you keep him on your mind, you won't be able to focus on your fights." Fatty Long interjected after he returned with a few skewers of roast meat. Da Tuo reached for one only to have Fatty Long pull it away and stick out his forked tongue at him.

"Honestly, I find it suspicious that I was cleared to fight in the tournament, but apparently, thinking about Cheng Lei is a no-go and bad for my lungs. I mean, I'd have a shortness of breath while fighting too, so I don't think it makes sense to only stop me from-" realization dawned on him. "Do you think he was lying to make me-" A licked-clean skewer was thrown at him and prematurely cut off his rant.

"Elder Xu hates Elder Bai's guts, there's no way he'd cover for Zhang Di. He has a good relationship with you and Elder Gao, he might be telling you that because he's worried for you. Wasting energy on thinking about that waste of space isn't good for your psyche." The words of wisdom coming from Da Tuo's mouth were not the most convincing, mainly because he had barbecue sauce slathered over his mouth, and he was speaking while Fatty Long was trying to pry the kebab that was rightfully his out of Da Tuo's death grip.

"Yeah, who knows what crazy conspiracy theories you'll come up with next." Fatty Long quickly changed strategies and suddenly dive-bombed his face towards the skewer, resulting in Da Tuo quickly placing a hand over Fatty's forehead in an attempt to hold him back.

"My conspiracy theories are not crazy, okay? They are ONE HUNDRED PERCENT grounded in reality, okay? Cheng Lei HATES me there is no way he's not just biding his time. You don't attempt to kill someone six times and then just give up! There must be something I'm not seeing-"

Fatty Long's face was inching nearer and nearer to the meat in Da Tuo's hand, he made biting movements the nearer he got, and because Da Tuo's other hand was preoccupied with holding Fatty Long's head back. Fatty can now execute phase two of his plan due to the reduction in opposing strength. He quickly tugged backwards even using Qi in his strength, quickly overpowering Da Tuo and prying the kebab out of his thieving friend's clutches.

"What the fuck, Fatty! You could have stabbed yourself in the eye with that! That was risky as-" Da Tuo frantically exclaimed. He couldn't believe that that glutton would go so far just for a stick of barbeque, while he did admit it was delicious, he was just so bewildered that his fat friend would take such a big gamble.

"Om nom. OM NOM. OM NOM NOM NOM!" Fatty Long chortled causing his cheeks to jiggle while he ate his food in the most obnoxious way he could manage.

"Group B match number 34, Zhang Di of the Heavenly Jade Fortress against Wang Zuo of Great Celestial Sun!"

"Haghck-!" He started pounding on his chest with a fist, because laughing while eating isn't one of the smartest things to do, and getting startled while doing the not-so-smart thing was a great way to choke.

"Oh, It's your turn!" Da Tuo shoved Zhang Di, quickly knocking his friend out of his stupor. He pulled his collar and brought Zhang Di's face closer to his before pointing a finger with his free hand at his face and speaking in a grave tone. "You better not let that Cheng Lei throw you off your game. I bet money on this fight." He brusquely let go of Zhang Di, rubbing the sauce that was on his hand onto his friend's outer robe. "You better not lose."

Zhang Di laughed once he realized his friends were up to their usual antics. Briefly wondering why he was so focused on Cheng Lei, he went out to the festival to have fun with his friends, not waste his time immersed in paranoia and anxiety. His friends were fine, he was fine, for now, he should take it easy and not let him ruin his day. At least, until that bastard shows his face again. Da Tuo was right, just because he was enjoying himself didn't mean his guard was down.

He hit his fat friend on his back, causing the hunched over individual in need of a Heimlich maneuver to end up averting disaster and sent the chunk of meat lodged in his airways to splat against the ground.