The Yellow River Saga [ Epic Cultivation Fantasy Series]

Power, thick and cloying, filled the air of Baixian city.

Yu Chen felt it pressing down on him like a living force. To the few qi condensation cultivators skulking around the edges of the road it was far more oppressive. They kept their heads bowed as they moved, wary of looking up lest a stray glance offend one of the Foundation Establishment cultivators that flocked to the city.

It lay at the confluence of three tributaries, an auspicious location that made it a magnet for cultivators looking to advance to a higher stage. It was the gateway to the Yellow River proper, the birthplace of countless legends. New faces arrived every day, imagining they'd be the next.

The visitors strutted through the streets like peacocks in their arrogance, feigning indifference to the pressure in the air. It was an act, of course. Their gaze never lingered on the Golden Core cultivators who called the city home, filling it with their domineering aura.

Any one of them would have been revered back in the Golden Mist sect. They'd have been considered a respected elder, one of the hidden powers rarely seen in public. But here they lived like citizens of any other city–owning property, running businesses, and providing services to the various residents and visitors to the city.

The city was a test for the weak, a crucible for the strong. It was a place countless immortals had shed blood over in a desperate attempt to carve out a place of their own. Years of endless battles had resulted in a city balanced on a knife's edge, divided into a series of concentric rings that constantly shifted as people rose and fell in power.

The docks ringing the outer edge of the city were the first layer, a bristling, hedgehog-like mass of wharves and quays and piers that saw a thousand ships arrive and set sail daily. It was a wild place, a no-man's land, a thin strip of wood and metal through which an endless influx of resources and cultivators flowed but no one group laid claim to.

Past that was the outer ring, home to hundreds of smaller sects and clans within the city. It was a chaotic warren with borders that constantly shifted as land traded hands. It formed the largest part of the city and was a source of endless wonders filled with not only the most extraordinary of goods, but the strangest sights Yu Chen had ever laid eyes on.

Land wasn't the only thing the sects fought over. They competed in a thousand different ways, and architecture was just another battle. One fought with vast pagodas of glittering bone, towering obelisks of humming black stone and things stranger still, marvels of human creation few could truly envisage.

Then came the inner ring. It was the smallest section of the city, but the most peaceful. The land there hardly ever changed hands. It was home to a dozen odd sects powerful enough to claim a swathe of land next to the heart of the city itself. They ruled over the other cultivators like lords and were considered by many to be the true power in the city.

But there was one last building, situated in the very center of the city itself.

The Riverlord's palace. He was the most powerful cultivator in the city, but he was nearly a myth. Few people had ever laid eyes on him, and some claimed he didn't exist. Even so, he was the dream of everyone who came to the city. They fought tooth and nail just for a chance to meet him, for a single opportunity to receive his blessing and earn his favor.

Yu Chen had been in the city for two weeks now, long enough to learn there was only one way to do that.

"HAAAAAAA!" Sun Yuan roared, spinning his sabre in a vicious arc. What once would have been a simple swing now unleashed a blistering crescent of energy that roared across the stage.

His opponent paled, taking one step back and then another before turning tail and leaping off the stage.

"I concede!" the young man shouted over his shoulder, his voice cracking with fear in the afternoon air.

The judge snorted in disdain, his brows furrowing at the words. His robe fluttered in the wind as he swung his hand, effortlessly dissipating Sun Yuan's attack.

"Red advances!"

Sun Yuan raised an arm at the words, showing off the red rag wrapped around his bicep as he waved at the surrounding crowd. He smiled as they hooted and hollered, some cheering him on and others booing his opponent. When he finally made his way off the stage, however, his face was full of disappointment.

"Coward," he muttered, just loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

Yu Chen shrugged at his words. The tournament was restricted to those in Foundation Establishment, but that didn't mean everyone was equal. Sun Yuan's opponent had been an outer disciple of one of the smaller sects in the outer ring, strong enough, but lacking experience their group had forged in life and death battles.

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The outcome was about what he'd expected.

"A win's a win," Yan Ziqi sighed, running a hand through his hair.

He was the only one in their group who'd lost a fight so far, and it still stung him. Not everyone was so weak, and he'd been the victim of some young scion from an empire that lay upstream of one of the tributary rivers. Even Xue Lan was undefeated, thanks to the strange mix of sword techniques and formation patterns she'd practiced. She was slowly forging her techniques into a style all her own, one unique enough to confound most of the people she came across.

"Yan Ziqi's right," Yu Chen said, slapping Sun Yuan on the shoulder. "That's your fifth win, right? You're not so far off from reaching the inner ring."

"It's not that impressive," Sun Yuan complained, rolling his eyes, "I haven't had a single good fight yet."

Serbo au Serbo grunted, and even Yan Ziqi had to reluctantly nod in agreement. Most of his fights were easy, even if he had lost one. These were only the qualifiers, however, the first step on a path that led to the Riverlord's palace.

It took seven wins in the outer ring tournaments to advance further, but if you lost three matches you were disqualified forever. That was only the first hurdle, however. There was a second, more harrowing elimination waiting for them in the inner ring. Only after that would the true tournament begin.

"Next!" the judge yelled out, sounding bored.

Yu Chen stepped forward at his words, a strip of red cloth similar to Sun Yuan's wrapped around one arm. He bounced from foot to foot before pushing off the ground and leaping onto the stage. A surly looking man clambered up the stage across from him, dragging a massive club covered with the teeth of spirit beasts behind him in one hand.

"Fight!" the judge shouted.

Yu Chen's breath misted in the air as he exhaled, thick with qi. He pushed, cycling his movement technique and shrinking the gap between them in an instant. His opponent was better than most. He blinked, taking a step back.

It wasn't enough.

He was on his second step when Yu Chen arrived, twisting his hips and swinging his fist into an uppercut that soared towards his opponent's solar plexus in a movement so smooth and practiced it seemed less like an attack and more like a natural extension of the world itself. His eyes sharpened, his qi responded, his blood boiled as he struck out, surging throughout his body like a sudden storm, a rockslide, a flash flood.

Wisely, he pulled his punch.

The fist stopped half an inch away from his opponent, but the qi continued. It coalesced, condensing into a point that exploded from the tips of his knuckles in a burst of force so violent it sent his opponent tumbling across the stage to lay unmoving in a crumpled heap.

"Point to red!" The judge called out, a grudging note of respect in his voice.

Yu Chen inhaled, the entire fight having taken place in the space of a single breath. Shaking his head he spun on his heel and leapt off stage. Sun Yuan slapped a hand on his shoulder, saying something he didn't quite hear. The others chimed in, but their voices were washed out and the words never reached him. His mind was too focused on the feeling in his hand.

A frown crossed his face. He understood all too well how Sun Yuan felt. The opponents here were so weak the fights were nearly meaningless. He yearned for a challenge, a real one. He needed it, it was the only way he could determine just how far he had come. He couldn't avoid the soft sigh that escaped his lips.

Perhaps he'd find a good fight in the inner ring.

Yu Chen no longer held these cultivators in his eyes. He'd set his sight on something so far in the distance he hadn't realized just how far he'd come. It was strange to imagine. Any one of them would have been considered a prodigy or powerhouse back where they came from, but here in Baixian city fewer than one in ten had the qualifications to make it past the outer ring.

The city would swallow the weak up like it had so many others. Only those blessed with enough talent and fortune to rise above their peers were allowed to advance towards the center where rewards awaited that would set them even further apart. The strong only grew stronger–cultivation was cruel in that way.

Yu Chen's vision was only one sort of strength; being raised in the city was also a tremendous advantage.

He whipped his head up as the shrieking sound of metal clashing against metal reached his ears. Xue Lan was on stage, her arms trembling as she forcefully redirected a blow that nearly pierced her chest. The man didn't let up, lashing out again even as she sought to recover. He wore robes far finer than any Yu Chen had ever seen, and a baleful aura rose off the masterfully crafted spear he spun in his hands.

But Xue Lan's sword was no worse, and she wielded it with enough skill to deflect blow after blow even as the attacks kept coming. Their time on the river had given her ample time to hone her skills, but her opponent wielded his spear as though he'd been born with it in hand.

The spear blurred as he stepped up his pace, and though Xue Lan managed to keep it from her flesh it was clear to everyone that he was only toying with her.

The man's eyes flashed the next time their blades touched. Xue Lan seemed to sense something, hurriedly cycling her qi to leap backwards. It was too late. A burst of electrifying energy shot out of him, racing through his spear and into her sword. She cried out in pain, fighting to escape, but the lightning racking through her limbs left her trembling and unresponsive.

A cruel smile crossed the man's face as he kicked the butt of his spear, sending it shooting forward on a path aimed directly at her thr–

"Point to Blue!" the judge yelled, freezing the spear in place with a lazy flick of his finger.

The man snorted, yanking his spear back with a frustrated expression before exiting the stage. Once she'd regained control of her body Xue Lan shuffled off as well, her face red and disappointed.

"Are you alright?" Sun Yuan asked, wrapping an arm around Xue Lan and giving her a consoling squeeze.

"Yes," she said in a quiet voice, raising up a sleeve to wipe at her face.

"I think he's a member of the Jade Garden Pavilion," Yan Ziqi said, his eyes following the man as he departed the stage.

That was one of the sects in the inner ring, wasn't it? Yu Chen licked his lips.

Maybe he wouldn't have to wait so long for a good fight after all.