94 Chapter 93: The tournament heats up (1/2)
”You actually won against Wu Hei Gui?!”
Tong Xue was staring at me in disbelief. I shrugged and gestured at his tablet, feeling a twinge of annoyance.
”You can watch the replay if you don't believe me.”
”It's not that I don't believe you, but…wow. Just wow.”
Tong Xue was shaking his head, thoroughly impressed. I shrugged and stared back at him, trying to maintain my calm façade. Honestly, I was screaming in joy inside, scarcely able to believe that I had managed to break Wu Hei Gui's impenetrable defenses.
”What? You won?”
Lian Rou showed up, fresh from her match, and her jaw dropped. Tong Xue waved her over to our position and nodded.
”Yup, he did.”
”Congratulations.”
Ban Zhang showed up out of nowhere and spoke behind me, almost shocking us with his appearance. If I hadn't sensed his presence and qi a few seconds ago, I might have jumped out of my chair.
”Thanks. What about you?”
”I won.”
”Me too.”
”Uh…”
Lian Rou was the only one who didn't seem eager to share the results of her match. No one inquired her further.
”Now, all that's left are…Qi Hong and Zhu Jiao. Where are they?”
”Oh, Qi Hong?” Lian Rou brightened up when I switched the topic. ”She won her match half an hour ago. She went back to the dorm to shower.”
”…”
We all glanced at each other, at a loss for words. As expected, Tang Qi Hong won her match almost immediately. She really was one of the more powerful students in school, what with her Four Star Constitution potential and all that.
”What about Zhu Jiao? Shouldn't he already have finished his match?”
”Well, about that…” Tong Xue looked a little troubled. ”He's fighting against Yu Wen Tian. It's a tough match for him.”
”Let's go cheer him on,” I suggested. No wonder we didn't see Zhu Jiao earlier this morning. He had to make a lot of preparations for his match against one of Snow Valley Sect's prodigies, Yu Wen Tian. I briefly wondered if Yu Wen Tian was closed to Yin Jing Jing. The two of them might know each other, being rated very highly among the sect and all.
”Good idea!” Lian Rou beamed.
”I'm down with that,” Ban Zhang agreed.
”Let's go! I know where his match is taking place.” Tong Xue offered to guide us there. As none of us bothered to read up on the other matches, we had to rely on him.
The moment we reached there, we just barely managed to catch a glimpse of a powerful, blinding explosion that seared our eyes through the transparent window. Apparently, Zhu Jiao had just delivered a punch with his golden gauntlets and forced Yu Wen Tian to parry his strike. Yu Wen Tian had swung his sword down to unleash a dominating blade qi that gave off the impression of piercing the sky, a move that he had used earlier to defeat his previous opponents.
The resulting clash culminated in a terrifying shockwave that battered the reinforced walls of the training room.
”Whoa!”
I couldn't help but gape at the incredible sight. A small tornado had whipped up from the collision, spinning around violently and blowing up their hair and uniform sleeves. Neither of them backed off, the both of them not even taking a single step backward as they confronted each other with determined expressions.
”Impressive…” Tong Xue murmured, awestruck.
”Both of them are worthy enough to enter the finals,” Ban Zhang mused.
”Hu…”
Yu Wen Tian took a deep breath as he freed his sword from Zhu Jiao's clutches. The two of them traded blows – Zhu Jiao delivering vicious punches and Yu Wen Tian slashing mercilessly – before they were each thrown back a few steps.
”Let's try this then!”
Narrowing his eyes, Yu Wen Tian thrust his sword forward. It wasn't a simple thrust, however. He was twirling and twisting the sword in his hand, and the azure qi wreathing his blade took the shape of a snake.
”Snow Serpent Strike!”
Really? Did you really have to shout out the name of your technique?
Nonetheless, the power of his sword style couldn't be underestimated. Even as Zhu Jiao parried Yu Wen Tian's strike with his gauntlets, the latter switched his pattern of attack, almost slipping through Zhu Jiao's defenses.
The Snow Serpent Sword Style was known for its many variations, yet maintained a brutal precision that aimed directly for the opponent's vulnerabilities. Furthermore, even from this distance and separated by a thick, transparent barrier, I could still sense the domineering aura that the azure serpent exuded.
”If I'm not mistaken, the Snow Serpent Sword Style is classed as one of the more complex techniques in the Snow Valley Sect,” Tong Xue whispered. ”It might not be among their strongest, but it's definitely still a high quality, above average sword style.”
That might sound contradictory – so why bother learning a technique that wasn't one of the most powerful? The answer was that the Snow Serpent Sword Style was most likely a prerequisite to elarning a stronger, more advanced technique further down the line. But for now, it was more than enough for Yu Wen Tian to domninate opponents of his generation.
That was what he had been doing all along, during this tournament.
…until now.
”!”
A golden aura of fiery yang qi burst from Zhu Jiao's body, expanding into a massive sphere that incinerated the azure serpent coiled around Yu Wen Tian's blade in an instant.
”What?!”
Yu Wen Tian withdrew in reflex, before Zhu Jiao's fist could hammer past his blade and into his face. Breathing heavily, he glared at Zhu Jiao.
”What the hell is that technique?”
”What, Golden Kirin Sacred Creature Arts?” Zhu Jiao shrugged. ”I'm pretty sure you should know about my techniques by now…especially if you bothered to do some research on me.”
”You…!” Yu Wen Tian spluttered, but he couldn't deny that. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before he switched his sword stance.
It was clear from his expression what he was thinking. Even though Yu Wen Tian did do some research on Zhu Jiao's abilities, he didn't expect Zhu Jiao's technique to be this strong. The firepower of the Golden Kirin Sacred Creature Arts had exceeded his imagination.
Of course, Zhu Jiao had kept the secret of his ghostly master. No one knew that the specter of Qi Lin had been the one teaching him the Golden Kirin Sacred Creature Arts all this while. They had assumed that Zhu Jiao had succeeded in restoring the lost Golden Kirin Sacred Creature Arts through his own natural ability and the school's resources. Zhu Jiao had allowed the misunderstanding to propagate – encouraged it even – and thus the existence of Qi Lin continued to be concealed. I was still the only one who knew about it.
However, neither Zhu Jiao nor Qi Lin was aware that I knew their secret. And I intended to keep it that way.
”I see. I don't have a choice then.”
A burst of powerful qi surged from within Yu Wen Tian.
”That's the Mystical Thunderbolt Body technique, level 8!” Tong Xue gasped. I stared at him with a raised eyebrow.
”How do you know it is level 8?”
”I can estimate it from the amount of qi that he's emanating,” Tong Xue explained. I frowned skeptically, but decided not to press for details. I would just be wasting my time.
”What technique is that?” Lian Rou asked, puzzled. Tong Xue jumped at the chance to show off his knowledge.
”The Mystical Thunderbolt Body technique. It's a kind of advancement technique to help you with your cultivation, rather than just give you combat techniques or fighting styles. It's…to help you increase your cultivation level and amount of innate qi.”
Ah…so that was what Heaven and Earth Formula was. rather than a combat technique, Heaven and Earth Formula was just an advancement technique that exponentially increased the amount of qi I had in my body and allowed me methods of increasing it further through qi absorption techniques or drawing natural qi from my surroundings, or even purifying the impure qi in my body to create a more powerful effect.
Well, I knew that already. No, honestly! I'm not lying!
In any case, that was why I needed to learn more combat techniques such as Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship or Shadow Steps for actual fighting moves. Otherwise I would just have plenty of qi but no way of putting it into practical use.
By executing the Mystical Thunderbolt Body technique, Yu Wen Tian's physical strength multiplied severalfold. Lightning crackled around his body, the golden currents of qi mixing with the azure snowy qi that was already curling around his sword.
Even though there wasn't much of a visible change, other than the potency and color of his qi, instinctively I could feel the potent dominant presence of his qi swirling outward to grasp and suffocate me. From the reactions of my friends as they gasped and paled, I could tell that they could feel the intangible effects too.
”Accept your defeat!”
Bellowing ferociously, Yu Wen Tian lunged forward as the golden qi expanded rapidly over his sword, interweaving with the azure qi, and he swung his weapon at Zhu Jiao.
It was clear that he intended to finish the duel with this single move, putting all of his strength in this final strike.
”Hmph. Just what I was waiting for.”
At the exact same moment when Yu Wen Tian cleaved toward Zhu Jiao, he also executed his mystical advancement technique, the Golden Kirin Sacred Body Constitution. In just a millisecond, his presence surged up forcibly, almost like a hurricane.
Don't ask me what level it was, I have no freaking idea. It could be level seven, eight or nine, or even one, and I wouldn't have a clue.
Anyway, Zhu Jiao stepped forward and raised both his armored arms, meeting Yu Wen Tian's powerful strike.
BOOM!
Another enormous explosion rippled across the training room, sending powerful tremors across the facility. Lian Rou swayed unsteadily, and Tong Xue quickly grabbed hold of her before she could fall over. Ban Zhang grabbed the railing below the window while I shifted my feet quickly as I instinctively activated my footwork.
Inside the room, I could see lightning and ice clashing with golden flames and earthly qi. As the collision of the two potent qi died down, I could see Zhu Jiao and Yu Wen Tian skidding away from each other, their weapons smoldering.
”Whoa…amazing…”
”Impressive.”
”I don't believe this!”
It wasn't just my friends. A huge crowd had gathered to watch the intense battle, mesmerized by the sheer power and display of ferocity from both sides.
It wasn't just the students. Even a few of the teachers were present, their eyes glowing as they spectated.
”Excellent. Excellent!”
An elderly teacher, Teacher Lao, was clapping his hands gleefully. From the perspective of the academy staff, the more talented students we had, the better. It would increase the prestige of the academy, especially as the ex-graduates gained fame and power, which would in turn increase enrollment and donations.
”I knew you were strong,” Yu Wen Tian admitted grudgingly as he lowered his fuming sword. ”But your power has surpassed my imagination.”
”I could say the same for you,” Zhu Jiao replied as he shook his smoking gauntlets, wincing from the slight pain.
”Hmph.” Yu Wen Tian drew a shaky breath, and then he lunged forward, thrusting with his sword. Zhu Jiao just barely managed to deflect the powerful strike away, and metal screamed against metal in a shower of sparks.
Bang! Wham!
The two exchanged furious blows, their arms disappearing into blurs as their speed and power rapidly increased. We could feel the vibrations even outside the room as the two clashed violently against each other, much like a pair of dragons fighting to the death. Or a vicious duel between a dragon and a tiger.
Only one of them would be getting out of this alive. Well, that was an exaggeration. The academy would do its best to ensure both survived.
Each blow found its mark, a sword cleaving at armor, or a fist banging against blade. More sparks flew as the two terrible oceans of qi clashed and collided, trying to engulf the other. Their blows were getting more violent, more…desperate.
Clang!