Ten thousand voices rose in ear-splitting, clashing shouting across the raised galleries of the Grand Central Colosseum.
Spectators leaped onto stone benches, waving their wagering receipts in outraged disbelief. Elders from the Seven Sects argued fiercely across the pavilion dividers, their faces red with anger as they pointed trembling fingers down at the unarmored youth in the center of the ring.
“A fraud!” roared a high elder from the Heavy Earth Hall. It slammed his stone goblet onto the stone railing with enough force to shatter the granite rail. “The boy is using an invisible magic charm array! No mortal can dodge fifty in a row spear thrusts without circulating spiritual energy! Inspect his robes! Inspect his boots!”
“We inspected his robes before he entered the ring!” a Royal Judge shouted back from the central tower, waving a sheaf of checked check parchment. “He carries zero magic charms! Zero spiritual artifacts! His dantian holds no circulating breath! The Mirror of True Breath registered total zero!”
“Then explain how he defeated two chosen vanguards without landing a single blow!” another elder demanded, clutching his ritual robes in frustration. “Bao Shan collapsed from heat stroke! Liu Yun shattered his own wrists against the wall! Are we to believe the heavens themselves are fighting on behalf of an Azure Cloud stable hand?”
