92 Chapter 91: Brute Rabbi (1/2)
The coliseum was a huge mess.
For the preliminary rounds, particularly because these were ”only” the group stages, the academy had decided to lay aside the training facilities as temporary arenas. As a result, most of the matches – almost all, in fact – were taking place in the training facilities instead of the massive coliseum that was located in the main campus building.
That did not stop the other students from milling around the tight confines of the training facilities' interior. While the matches would be recorded and available for viewing if we download or stream them in our tablets, there was nothing that could beat the atmosphere of actually spectating the fights in person. Hence, most of the students were tightly crammed within the narrow corridors, pressing their faces against the transparent screens.
I would have been among them, but unfortunately my match was scheduled as one of the firsts. Bidding farewell to my friends – most of whom had matches of their own – I proceeded toward the room that I was assigned to.
”Let's see…room 603. Ah, here it is!”
Stopping in front of the designated room, I glanced around at the growing crowd of spectators. It seemed they weren't here to watch my match, but rather the matches in the neighboring rooms. Already those duels had started and I could hear elemental clashes of qi colliding against each other with deadly force.
They're really going at it, I thought, feeling slightly nervous. After almost two years in isolation, this was the first time I was dueling against a schoolmate.
Speaking of which, who was my first opponent?
”Oh…Tu Zi Yi.”
The name was vividly portrayed on the screen of my tablet. Glancing at her homely face, I briefly wondered how far she had progressed over the last two years since we last had a duel. Tong Xue had told me she had polished her skills and warned me not to let my guard down. Even though Tu Zi Yi was a Two Star Constitution cultivator, she was still a formidable opponent.
I recalled how she easily crushed me the last time we fought. It was shortly after she had received artificial qi.
Would today be a repeat of that?
Stepping into the room, I saw that it was empty. The thick, reinforced walls seemed to close in on me, giving off a slightly claustrophobic feeling. The training rooms were not as vast and spacious as the official coliseum.
Only the finals would be taking place in the coliseum. The twenty-four preliminary matches would all take place here, in the training facilities.
”Looks like you're here!”
I blinked at the voice and turned to look around, but saw nobody. Instead, I spotted a speaker at the corner of the room, which was accompanied by a security camera that slowly revolved and tracked my movements.
”Teacher Cai Pan?”
I recognized the voice. It was definitely the teacher who usually refereed most of the official duels in the coliseum.
”Yup. Good luck with your match…the both of you.”
Turning around, I saw that my opponent had just arrived. Tu Zi Yi stepped into the room, greeting me with a nod.
”Good, now that the both of you are here, you can start any time the both of you are ready. Just give me a head's up when you do.”
”Roger that.” I saluted. Tu Zi Yi also nodded.
”Understood.”
I glanced at her, waiting for her to give the signal, but unlike me, Tu Zi Yi wasn't impatient to start the match. She merely smiled.
”It's been a while since we last fought, haven't we?”
”…yeah.”
”But you…haven't used martial arts in a while, I heard? Shortly after our last duel, you…had an accident and weren't able to use martial arts for almost two years.”
That was the official story that had spread around the academy after the Chinese Parasol Tree incident. I had let people believe what they wanted because I couldn't be bothered to explain to them the truth.
And this misconception benefited me more anyway.
”Well, something like that.”
”Do you have some tricks up your sleeve, though? Considering that you have no intention of surrendering.”
Evidently Tu Zi Yi remembered the outcome of our last duel, and how she one-sidedly crushed me. And since that was the result, I was in no position to say anything about that. It would just make me sound like a sore loser.
So I just smiled and shrugged.
”I would rather try and fail than not try at all. Besides, it's not a guarantee that I would lose.”
”True.” Tu Zi Yi nodded. ”But you should know, I'm much stronger than I was two years ago. If you haven't undergone any tremendous improvement, you…don't stand any chance of winning against me.”
What was this? Trash-talking the opponent before the match? Trying to lower my confidence, or provoke me to anger so that I would get all reckless and be more prone to mistakes during the match? I'm afraid that wasn't going to work on me.
”Well, let's not waste any time and begin then.” I gestured for her to ready herself, and was about to call out to Teacher Cai Pan when she nodded and formally cupped her hands. Realizing that this was the tradition for all official matches, I returned the greeting and also cupped my hands. Lowering my head, I waited for Tu Zi Yi to introduce herself.
”My name is Tu Zi Yi. I have practiced kicking techniques for 5 years. I specialize in the Lunar Rabbit Divine Kicking techniques and the Lunar Fang Shadow Kicking techniques. My estimated inner qi is approximately two and a half sexagenaries. I'm from the Lunar Rabbit Sect, and a student of Wu Ling Academy.”
…uh, yeah. I know. Then again, I remembered that this was tradition. All sorts of formalities. It was only proper etiquette to introduce yourself right before a formal duel. So I nodded and bowed my head politely.
”Fei Wu. I've practiced martial arts for about three and a half years now. As you probably already know, I practice Shadow Steps.”
Tu Zi Yi frowned, noticing that I had omitted a lot of information from my introduction. Despite her confidence, it seemed that she had done some research on me.
”Aren't you learning a sword skill right now?”
”Oh, that's right. Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship. Rest assured, I won't be using it against you. I'm ashamed to admit it, but my swordsmanship is not at the level where I can use it against competent opponents.”
”I see.” Tu Zi Yi smiled thinly. She craned her neck and noticed that I really wasn't carrying any sword with me. ”Even so, at least include it in your introduction. Otherwise you'll come off as being dishonest.”
I was already being dishonest, given how I made no mention of my Heaven and Earth Formula. That was something I needed to keep secret at all costs. Fortunately, it seemed that no one had caught wind of that.
”Right, sorry.” I smiled good-naturedly and beckoned for her. ”At your signal.”
”Of course.” Raising her head, Tu Zi Yi shouted toward the security camera. ”Teacher Cai Pan, we're ready to begin!”
”All right!” the almost mechanical voice boomed out from the speaker. ”The both of you can start the match immediately!”
Tu Zi Yi instantly moved, disappearing into a blur. Thunder Dash or something similar, it was a standardized movement technique for all Wu Ling Academy students who learned it in order to close in on the enemy.
Well, the hardcore Traditionalists did not learn it preferring their own traditional techniques from their own sects. Unfortunately, the Lunar Rabbit Sect was a tiny sect with little resources, so Tu Zi Yi had to make use of everything she could get from the academy.
”!”
Whoosh!
I barely ducked under Tu Zi Yi's first kick, her leg flying upward to connect with my skull. A sonic boom followed, a clear sign that her leg had been moving at a speed that broke the sound barrier. If I got hit by that…!
She's trying to end the match instantly in her first move!
Good thing I had fast reflexes, or I would be lying unconscious on the ground by now. Well, perhaps I wouldn't, but I would still be sprawled on the ground nursing a splitting headache. Taking the full brunt of that kick was no joke.
”!”
Tu Zi Yi scraped her foot against the ground and spun around with another kick. I managed to parry that with both hands, but her two and a half sexagenaries of qi was enough to push me back half a meter.
”Fu…”
I exhaled, but Tu Zi Yi was already delivering a roundhouse kick that threatened to floor me. I blocked that one as well, my hands trembling from the tremendous impact and my left ear ringing from the following sonic boom.
”…you…”
Tu Zi Yi gritted her teeth and switched her foot, kicking me in the midriff. I brought my elbow down and deflected her foot before it could reach me, and then used Tui to widen the distance between the both of us.
”You've really improved,” Tu Zi Yi admitted grudgingly as she stared at me. ”But even so, you aren't able to receive any artificial qi. How are you able to match me blow for blow, eeven though I have two and a half sexagenaries of qi?”
Obviously I had no reason to tell her. She might have a massive amount of qi from the academy, but I had absorbed the qi of over a hundred demonic martial artists. I had no idea how much qi that equated. But it should be way more than three or four sexagenaries of qi. Maybe. I didn't care.
After all, the exact quantity and numbers did not matter to me. All that mattered was that I wouldn't be pushed around by the sheer amount of force that my schoolmates possessed by virtue of having more qi.
”Hmm, but…you're forced into the defensive. So it's not as if you're on par with me.”
Tu Zi Yi's confidence reasserted itself when she realized that she had been attacking one-sidedly all this while. So perhaps there was still quite the gap between our abilities, or so she concluded. I smiled, allowing her to believe that.
”Hah!”
Tu Zi Yi delivered another kick, then swung around for yet another kick. Each and every time, I would effortlessly dodge her or block when she was too fast for me to evade. Dodging under a kick, I then dove to the side before she could kick me from below.
Tu Zi Yi was no slouch herself, swapping patterns in a somewhat unpredictable manner in an attempt to take me by surprise. It was a pity that I could read her attacks like a book, with the agitated flow of her qi visible to my senses like Christmas lights in the winter.
”Huff…huff…”
After what seemed like a few hundred failed kicks, even Tu Zi Yi had to step back to catch her breath. Panting heavily, she withdrew to what she believed was a safe distance and raised her head to glare at me.
”How are you dodging all of my attacks?”
”Not all.” I shook my hands exaggeratedly. ”Man, your kicks pack a lot of power!”
”This can't be right!” Tu Zi Yi seethed. ”You shouldn't be able to block a direct kick from me! Not with the amount of qi you have…”
She trailed off when she realized something.
”Or were you finally able to receive artificial qi?! Were you hiding that from everyone else? Is that why you haven't been fighting for the last two years? You were too busily cultivating and undergoing procedures to absorb artificial qi!”
”Sorry.” I made a cross with both my arms. ”But you're mistaken. I swear, I have not received any artificial qi at all.”