Chapter 76 - A Display Of Hidden Strength (1/2)
The second day of the Cloud-Formation Pavilion tournament started quickly. All the contestants still in the race knew that with each passing round the difficulty would rise due to only the best fighters remaining.
By this point most of the fights still went according to predictions. It wasn't hard to know who would win before the fight had even begun. Still, a few unexpected outcomes made watching the process worth it.
Fu Xue won her fight easily. She was in the top half of the brackets, just like Jun Qian, but the setup was so that she wouldn't fight him until the last round deciding one of the two finalists.
Right after she exited the stage, the next two contestants took place in front of one another.
Next to Shin Sumi, a disciple who had already won his second fight sighed.
”How boring. Now Brother Inu is up against this guy. We all know who's going to win, can't we just send this guy to the Dark Fortress and move on? I'm here to watch Sister Chu.”
Yan Yan swiveled her head around, her beautiful eyes locking into those of the disciple who had spoken.
”You never know what can happen, fellow disciple. I have the feeling that this fight is going to surprise you.”
”Heh” her neighbor snickered. He wanted to retort but kept to himself. He hadn't payed attention to whom the person next to him was.
Despite his complete confidence in Brother Inu's win, he simply couldn't contradict this beautiful girl he had never seen before. The words he had formulated in his mind kept being stuck in his throat as he choked on them.
It was only after a long while that he finally mustered the confidence to talk to Yan Yan, this time with a cunning expression.
”If you are so confident in this nobody against Brother Inu whose rank has remained in the top fifteen for the entire past year, why don't we bet, Sister...?”
Ever since the end of the Rising Star Tournament, Bai Xuengen had remained discrete. Maybe it was his encounter with Bai Fulong and the time he spent with him and Lan Hui that had changed his ways. The proud yellow robed disciple from before had suddenly stopped flaunting his fighting prowess.
Now he remained in the shadow of others, waiting for his time to shine and claim back his fame. In fact, not many people knew about him even though he used to be in the top ten yellow robes back in the Shinsoo Gathering Realm.
But when everybody was fooled, how could Shin Sumi be too? She knew Bai Xuengen better than most. And with her acute Shinsoo reading ability, she could tell that he was a lot stronger than he appeared to be from a distance.
The l.u.s.tful disciple who had proposed a bet was starting to think that Yan Yan had not heard him when the pretty girl finally replied.
”What shall we bet then?”
His anxiety immediately disappeared, the man's confidence rose through the roof, thinking ”if she is headstrong enough to bet, it's as good as done, ehehe”.
”If your guy wins, I will give you two technique scrolls from my Rui Clan's set of passed down techniques. Hell, I'll even give you a high grade spirit stone with it.”
Shin Sumi almost laughed at the latest addition, ”A high grade spirit stone? Nuan can make me hundreds of them a day. I'll take the techniques though.”
”Is that fine?” the Rui clan disciple waited for her nod of approval, ”and if Brother Inu wins... you'll have a date with me, Rui Keshin!”
Shin Sumi was already expecting this particular proposition. Being a girl in the Immortal World, she had already learned a long time ago how to read a man's eyes.
Nevertheless how could she pass on such an opportunity to gain two new techniques?
”You're on, Rui Keshin” she simply said, now focused again on the fight at hand.
Bai Xuengen and Brother Inu were currently circling each other. Gauging one's opponent was a crucial part of the fight. Depending on their ability, sometimes all it took was a single high speed attack to gain the advantage needed for a one sided fight.
Not finding any flaw in the other's defence, the man surnamed Inu launched the first attack.
From one of his palms, a jet of water spurted out with incredible speed.
Almost caught up by the thin jet, Bai Xuengen avoided the attack at the last moment when he realized that his adversary's second hand was moving in a bizarre pattern.
”A single handed incantation...!”
Rui Keshin was hiding his smile. It looked to him like the bet was already won in advance. Inu Lei's technique was fearsome when unprepared.
Following the incantation, the jet of water suddenly stopped in mid-air, as if it had hit an invisible wall. Splashing against the formless surface, the water rapidly spread in all directions, closing on itself in the shape of a giant cube.
With the speed of a veteran fighter, Inu Lei crossed his arms, forming a circle with two fingers in front of his mouth.
Before Bai Xuengen could even realize, Inu Lei's breath through his magical incantation turned all the water of the cube into ice.
”Your fighter is now trapped in an ice cage. I'm pretty sure that's the end of him. When do you want our first date to happen, my lady?”
Shin Sumi ignored Rui Keshin as well as the rising temptation to bash his head in with her own fist.
Maybe she got excited at the prospect of two techniques from the Rui Clan but Shin Sumi knew she wasn't being stupid when she accepted the bet.
She had felt Bai Xuengen's progress ever since the Rising Star Tournament.
In the middle of the cube of ice, Bai Xuengen was still as calm as when the fight first started. Nobody, not even his adversary, could see his face and yet it was far from what they imagined.
Bai Xuengen was looking serene, neither happy nor angry. In fact he didn't seem to be fazed at all by the dire situation.
”I feel the outside breeze...” nobody heard him say in a very low voice, as if to himself.
It was obviously the twelve Core Development Elders who first felt Bai Xuengen's actions. From where they were sitting, any of them could see the entire stage with their divine sense as if they were standing in the middle of it.
Elder Purple Cloud even lifted an eyebrow, under the complicated gazes of some other Cloud Elders.
KZIIING!
The six ice walls imprisoning Bai Xuengen burst open simultaneously, pushing them aside like they were made of paper with a heavy wave of condensed Shinsoo.
Bai Xuengen revealed himself amidst the cloud of ice shards.
”I see the currents...” Bai Xuengen said softly.
Upon hearing these words nobody could discern, Elder Purple Cloud stood up from his seat for a brief second before he regained his composure.
At the same time, Inu Lei was himself shoved violently to the side, his feet leaving the platform as he twisted and turned in the air.
When Inu Lei finally rejoined the floor, it was his face that touched it first and he wasn't on top of the platform anymore but on the ground level of the hall.
Bai Xuengen left the platform to return to his seat next to the other contestants who started talking quietly among themselves.
”Bai Xuengen... I remember him now, he joined the Dark Sky Starry Sect two years after me. He wore a yellow robe at the time but spent almost his entire time in secluded training.”
”He got my blood boiling! I used to be really close with Inu Lei in terms of rankings... Now I want to fight him!”
Chu Erlong was gnashing her teeth. The last time she had seen him before these ranking matches was when he stood up to her and her gang in the underground ring of the Rising Star Tournament.