Forgotten One

They took their time walking to the festival grounds. They walked the cold stone path, people were running around and laughing. They were talking and telling jokes, the atmosphere today was very lively and warm.

There were a lot of stands open trying to sell clothing. They took out their most luxurious items and put them in the front for others to look at. Some of the dresses look like a fairy would wear them. They were embroidered with various colours and designs.

Some people were even at the stands. They were still trying to prepare for the later stages of the festival. A few of the girls he saw during the trials were also waiting at the stands. They started to blush as Lei Shu and Tian Fu walked by. "Brother Tian, what do you think about the surroundings."

Lei Shu was obviously hinting at the overly bashful girls. "Brother Lei, you know I prefer brown colours."

The two boys gave the snow-white skin females a glance and walked off. "Hahaha, I usually prefer white but right now I'm really fiending for some brown, I guess you were right Tian Fu."

They walked giddily until they reached a completely wooden building. As soon as they walked in, Lei Shu's voice rang out.

"My good sir, 2 cups of your finest whisky.

PLOP PLOP PLOP

Their cups were filled to the brim. Tian Fu's eyebrows rose, "So this is what you meant by brown." They lifted their cups and brought them together. They each took a sip as they enjoyed the flavour.

The whisky was about 1000 years in age and it was only their worst whisky. Their best is the 10,000-year whisky. The smell jumped out from within the cup and filled their nostrils. The scent was slightly strong, it had a cinnamon aftertaste and an initial spicy note. They sipped on their cups until they were completely empty. When they finished, they both got up and stumbled out of the wooden building. They were a bit tipsy but nowhere near too drunk.

They took their time looking at the various stands of things that were far too much for them to afford. They walked and walked continuously until they were a bit tired. They looked up and noticed that the skies had darkened quite a bit.

They walked towards the courtyard and they were instantly met with warm orange lights. The lights were bright and intricate lanterns, they were put up around the perimeter of the courtyard and the walkway to it as well. They followed the path which had a red carpet leading them towards a large lifted stage. They met with the rest of the group and when they raised their eyes, they met with the Sect Master herself.

Her brilliant green hair looked dazzling in the glow of the lantern. Her piercing violet eyes looking over her subordinates. "Today you all should know why I have brought you here. Today is the day of the Dragon Lantern Festival. This day should be filled with love, passion, respect, and discipline. Hopefully, you've had your time to do your sightseeing and maybe even sparking up some conversation as well. Well, if you haven't had the chance, you'll have it later on but right now you have to wait. Right now, we are officially starting the battle of the Dragon Lantern Festival. This battle is used to show the great new blood of our sect. Also, winning the competition will bring the eyes of many maidens upon you, so do your best! This battle isn't too formal so we can start the battles by just getting onto the stage. The person will stay on the stage until they are beaten."

Lei Shu and Tian Fu could use their energy to help them come to their senses and sober up but they wanted to enjoy the altered state of mind. They took their time finding a seat and sitting down to enjoy the battles. A few females' disciples were walking around the crowd with plates in their hands. The plates had a few snacks on them. One of them looked to be some sort of sushi, it was rice and some sort of pink fish. The other plate had a sort of spring roll, one was made from vegetables, one meat and the last had a creamy custard. The final plate had light yellow sea noodles, they grew near the Aegan Islands and the Jade Dragon Sect prepared them specifically for this event. Lei Shu took some noodles and the custard-filled spring roll.

The spring roll had a refreshing crunch upon the first bite. After the crunching finally stopped, he began to savour the custard filling. It was sweet and resembled a cream cheese filling. The noodles were absolutely refreshing, and the bright red sauce gave them a sweet and sour taste.

Tian Fu really enjoyed alternating between eating the noodles alone and dipping the ends into the sauce and letting them sit so he can get a mouthful of flavour.

Lei Shu let out a small burp before he heard a loud THUD.

He looked up at the stage and saw that a skinny handsome practitioner just dropped a large fat man down in one palm thrust. His strength was evident when compared to that man, a few women started to grow interested.

A large uproar could be heard and before anyone knew it, Ting Ting had lept onto the stage. "Ting Ting is here to battle."

The man across from her started dripping in sweat. Nowadays, the average sect member would know a bit about Ting Ting. She was the outer sect princess. She looked like a doll; she was fun-sized, but her strength was anything but fun. She would get what she wants through her own strength and she would also lord over those in her own way with overwhelming power.

A lot of people knew of her by now and the man in front of her was quivering in fear. Ting Ting was taking her time brandishing her mace. She swung it around a few times before pointing it at her opponent. She was truly a menacing opponent. Her opponent continued to circle around her, waiting to pounce, waiting for her mace to make the wrong turn.

Ting Ting's eyes met with her opponents and she stopped swinging. "You're no fun, your eyes never leave my weapon, in that case…"

THUD

Ting Ting dropped her weapon and sprung off her left foot. She dashed towards her opponent with incredible speed. "Get ready, I'm coming in."

Ting Ting jumped into her opponent and stuck her fist out. Her first almost made contact with her opponents' stomach when it instead, met with her hand. The sound reverberated throughout the stage and even Ting Ting herself was shocked. She was blown back 2 steps and her opponent was sent back more than 5.

A ghastly voice came out from her opponent. "So, Miss Ting, how did that strike feel."

The man grew excited after surviving the strike and he dove in to follow it up. He dished out 3 palm strikes and as he threw them out, he caught nothing but air. "Oh ho ho, pretty girls like you always did run from me.."

Ting Ting flipped backwards and stretched her toes into a point. Her foot grazed the bottom of his chin mid flip and left a large cut across his throat.

The man reached for his throat and grew a bit afraid. Only now did he remember that even though this was a Sect Festival, it did not have any rules that came with it. This meant that death was an option unless someone came in and stopped it.

Ting Ting kept her piercing green eyes on her opponent as she watched him stand there in a daze. She lifted the mace from the ground and when it was finally left the floor, an indentation could be seen in the ground.

She lifted the heavy mace as if it was a sheet of paper. She took her time walking over slowly to her opponent. She spun her mace and he suddenly left his stupor. He threw his arms up in front of him in order to block the oncoming attack. The mace broke through his defence but didn't cause too much damage. He was only sent back 3 steps.

This time Ting Ting was prancing and sidestepping as she leapt with her mace. It looked like an intricate dance, she looked as if she was performing for everyone watching her. By the time people focused on her again, she was already near her opponent once more.

She pranced to the left and her opponent almost instantly, almost instinctively, blocked in that direction. In the middle of the air, she spun her body and also changed the direction in which it was travelling. Instead of his left, she was now closing in on his right. She spun her mace and it was far too late for her opponent to react in time. Ting Ting even had enough time to talk, "Get ready, this is the last strike."

It was already too late; the mace came in on his right and it was inches from connecting.

SNAP SNAP SNAP

The sound of broken ribs rang out. The mace connected cleanly on the right side of his body. His entire body went flying off of the stage into the crowd. His body looked slightly mangled and he was gripping his stomach as he laid on the floor. He looked at the shadow of a little girl on the stage in front of him, his eyes were shaking as if he saw a death god. He was carried away to the healing hall.

Ting Ting was thinking about something until she felt the wind around the stage change. Another challenger had made it onto the stage and a familiar voice could be heard.

"May I have the opportunity to challenge Miss Ting."

The sound of a whip crackled in the air and Ting Ting was surprised to see Tian Fu challenging her on the stage. He looked a bit more refined and m.a.t.u.r.e; he held his whip affectionately in his hand and kept his eyes on it as he spoke.

Ting Ting wasn't scared in the least. "Don't think that only you have been training for this Festival. Today we will find out who is stronger between us two."

Some girls in the crowd had their eyes on Tian Fu. Some of the females already had their eyes on him from the trials but now they were a bit more. His fans weren't plenty, but they were growing.

The match began and Ting Ting kept her mace this time. She slung it over her shoulder and went straight to prancing. "This is my own self developed movement technique. It's not complete yet because I haven't broken through to the Mind Forging realm but, it's still enough for this Festival."

Tian Fu struck his whip out in order to stall for time and prevent Ting Ting from closing in too quickly. His eagle-like eyes were closed in on her legs. He watched for any patterns in her movement, although the majority of her body didn't have a pattern, her feet did. He focused on her feet and saw that she landed at the same angle every time, this angle allowed her to spring up so fast and keep moving.

Tian Fu's eyes flashed, and he began his onslaught. His whip never had time to rest, it was constantly being sent out by him. His Whip would constantly hit the ground onto which Ting Ting was about to land.

Tian Fu was using his whip and guessing where she would land. From that point, he would strike before she could land and this would cause her to land and take the strike or land in a different position, making it easier to knock her off balance.

Tian Fu looked like an expert and some of his followers had already begun to voice their opinions. "Tian Fu will win this battle, he's respectful, calm and quick-minded, no one comes close!"