After stepping through the door, Xuan found himself immediately blasted by a heat wave. For a second, he thought he had returned to the volcano or the desert, but soon realized that was not the case.
'This is… an arena?'
Near the corners of the room, four totems of fire stood, igniting and illuminating the chamber. Surrounding them on the walls were gated cells, holding unknown entities within. Across from Xuan was a door that most likely led to the next area, and it was already open—in other words, he could choose to leave whenever he wanted. But of course, he wasn't going to do that without seeing what this place was about first. Above the door was the roman numeral I, symbolizing 'one'. It hovered there like a sigil made of fiery orange Qi, further adding to Xuan's suspicions.
The arena was perfectly still, as if awaiting the challenger—in this case, Xuan—to say he was ready. Silently, Xuan closed his eyes and acknowledged it.
'… Let's begin.'
