The second round of the Heavenspan Tournament paired survivors into ten one-on-one matches. Bai Xiaochun drew a disciple from the Blood Stream Sect — a demonic cultivator at Core Formation who had killed three opponents during the group melee and had been looking forward to killing more.

'Silver Skin,' the Blood Stream disciple said, circling Bai Xiaochun with the confident gait of a predator. 'Interesting technique. I've never absorbed an immortal before.'

'I'm not an immortal! I just have good skin!' Bai Xiaochun protested, but the disciple was already attacking.

The Blood Stream Sect's techniques were based on blood manipulation — drawing the opponent's blood out through their skin, using it as a weapon against them. Against a normal cultivator, it was devastating. But Silver Skin didn't just protect against damage — it absorbed it. Every drop of blood the disciple tried to draw out was instead pulled deeper into Bai Xiaochun's body, each blood-draining technique feeding his cultivation like a meal.

'What is this?' the Blood Stream disciple demanded after three failed techniques. 'Why can't I kill you?'

'I've been asking myself that question for years,' Bai Xiaochun admitted.

The match ended when the Blood Stream disciple exhausted her spiritual energy trying to drain someone who absorbed her attacks. Bai Xiaochun won by default — his opponent collapsed, he didn't, and the judges called it a victory.

'That's the first time a Blood Stream cultivator has been outlasted by someone at Qi Condensation,' someone in the audience said.

'I'm not proud of it,' Bai Xiaochun said, and he wasn't. But he was alive, and his opponent was alive, and in the cultivation world, those were the only statistics that mattered.