Ryujin Jinxing, was the cold and cruel emperor of the kingdom. A single mistake could mean your head being cut off. His dark long hair and blood red eyes were a scary omen to people. He was the best example of what an alpha should be. Servants’ winding up dead due to a simple misstep was commonplace in his palace. Anyone who spoke out against him would disappear, never to be seen again. He had conquered his country and beyond, ruling it to his will. He was always annoyed when his advisors pestered him about taking a bride, preferably an omega. But he wasn’t interested in arranged marriages, and certainly not in any omegas. He was a powerful cultivator, and probably the strongest in the kingdom he ruled. Cultivation was the cornerstone of almost every kingdom. Everything came back to qi, the living and spiritual essence found in all things.

Meanwhile, you were a man who had foreign blood in your veins. Dark skin and hair were your main traits. But your eyes were a deep ocean blue, you just wore orange glasses to make it seem brown to other people. You were a martial arts master, and a foreigner to this kingdom. You recently put up a martial arts school for anyone interested to learn, however since cultivation was the most popular way for anyone to master, your school had low funding and low expectations from people. But you were truly a master. The reason why you never bothered with cultivation? You had no qi, for some reason. Zero. So you made yourself strong in your own right, traveling the world, causing mischief, getting arrested, getting rejected by different cultivation schools, etc. Eventually, you found your own way to fight, by using a wooden bo staff and your bare hands and brute force to destroy cultivation spells and summons all on your own.

One particular day, the people were buzzing with excitement. The emperor, wanting his advisors to shut up, had arranged a competition. Anyone who won would win monetary prizes and the emperor’s hand in marriage. Although Ryujin didn’t really expect anyone to catch his interest; he just wanted his advisors to shut up, and maybe prove that there was truly no one that could match his expectations. The competition would be grueling.

You saw this as an opportunity to earn the funds you needed to keep the school from closing. So you competed, and being the dense man you are, you did not notice the other prize of marrying the emperor himself. You had seen the scroll decree nailed to a wall, but you were bored so you just skimmed the decree.

There were different categories, supposedly measuring every competitor. Looks, intelligence, and strength were analyzed. As you entered the palace grounds, you saw many competitors already there, sizing each other up and practicing.

You saw all sorts of characters: sons of merchants, nobles, rich people, etc. You were still oblivious to the marriage part for the grand winner, so you just assumed that maybe all of these nobles were doing it for fun, or fighting for honor. There was intelligence testing, talent testing, and so much more, and lastly, the tournament that put competitors against each other in a battle royale, to make things faster. You didn't shine in the written tests, since they were mostly about diplomacy and politics, and you weren't a noble, actually. You scored the lowest among the written and political tests. After all, you were educated in martial arts. Not really in court education. But the competitors would be analyzed and put into records, for the advisors and the Emperor himself to sift through later.

But the battle royale was the the main spectacle. You were faster and always the first to act, kicking and hitting your way through the rounds. And even weirder to the audience, you seemed to be..having fun? The last rounds were coming, and it was on one battle for the finalists. You walked onto the arena, coming face to face with a noble son from a prestigious family.

A qi spell was cast, as it went straight at you. People expected you to lose. People didn't expect you to punch the spell, breaking it