As it was a weekend morning, there were many middle school students from Wu Ling Academy who gathered in the spectator box, overseeing the coliseum from behind that ma.s.sive reinforced gla.s.s window above.

I wasn"t going to flatter myself. I knew the majority of them weren"t here to witness my official match against Qi Fu Ren. Plenty of them were here to spectate the other matches, and a few of them were in fact involved in the matches lined up for that morning, using the academy dueling system to settle disputes and grudges.

As always, the coliseum was huge. Like before, it was an enclosed s.p.a.ce ten meters high, and a hundred meters long and wide, surrounded on all four…no, six sides by reinforced concrete. The only thing to break the tedium was the huge double gates from which both combatants emerged from, as well as the gigantic window above, near the ceiling.

Even though this was only the middle school section, the coliseum had been designed to withstand even adult masters" attacks. If there were too many matches in a day, the high school students would sometimes come over to use ours.

"Am I a bit too early?"

Being one of the combatants lined up for the matches arranged today, I had gotten up early to prepare, and now it seemed that I had reached the arena way ahead of time. Stepping into the spectator box, I saw a ma.s.sive crowd hustling together to watch the current match.

"You Sheng Zhe, you s.n.a.t.c.hed away my childhood sweetheart. I refuse to live under the same sky as you. Today, at least one of us will be crippled!"

"Hmph, Shi Bai Zhe. What makes you think you"re good enough for Mei Nu? Since you don"t fear death, then I will make sure you regret ever messing with me."

Even as the two duelists were locked in an intense match, they traded barbed words. By the time I reached the window, I saw that Shi Bai Zhe was already injured, with blood running down his gashed cheek.

However, his injury didn"t diminish his bloodl.u.s.t and he lunged forward with his sword.

"Die!"

Incredibly sharp qi aura surged from his blade as Shi Bai Zhe thrust his sword at You Sheng Zhe. I wasn"t sure I recognized that technique.

"Oh, isn"t that the Soaring Sky Sword Style?"

Tong Xue, as mysterious as ever, showed up right when I was wondering about that. He smiled as he gave me an encouraging pat on my shoulder.

"You"re here early."

"So are you."

"Got to gather information, after all!" Tong Xue replied with a laugh. I nodded and turned my attention back toward Shi Bai Zhe and You Sheng Zhe.

Oh, not bad…

Shi Bai Zhe"s Soaring Sky Sword Style was nearly perfected, the blinding azure qi flickering around his blade. I was reminded of the Ghost Claws that the Ghost Bear wielded, and to a certain extent, my own Ghost Shadow Sword. Similarly, Shai Bai Zhe"s Soaring Sky Sword Style appeared to create dozens of phantom blades that slashed at You Sheng Zhe from multiple directions. Despite staring down countless blades, You Sheng Zhe remained unmoved.

"Heh. Shi Bai Zhe, for you to have cultivated the Soaring Sky Sword Style to such an extent, I"ll admit that it"s impressive. No wonder you dared to challenge me. Unfortunately, I have also mastered my Soaring Cloud Beheading Sword Style to the extent where I can wield its full power!"

I glanced at Tong Xue, exasperated. "Is it just me, or are these combatants being too talkative? Who the h.e.l.l brags about their skills, techniques and to what extent they have mastered them in the middle of a duel!?"

"Dunno." Tong Xue shrugged indifferently.

"…I guess they feel the need to explain to their audience what skills they have mastered and how proficient they are, so that we can get a better understanding of what"s going in the fight? But in reality, n.o.body cares about that, they just want to see the action."

"Then stop rambling and just watch the fight," Tong Xue advised. I blinked, realizing that he was right, and shut up.

You Sheng Zhe countered Shi Bai Zhe"s strike almost perfectly, a ripple of dark blue light bursting from his sword and shattering the multiple mirages of blades. In a single blow, he repelled Shi Bai Zhe"s a.s.sault and even launched his own attack.

Thud!

"Gaaaaaah!"

A disembodied arm flopped helplessly onto the ground as a fountain of blood spurted across the arena. Red stained the dark blue lance of qi before dripping onto the ground in a rain of blood. Across the coliseum, Shi Bai Zhe collapsed.

"Ugh…ugh…"

He clutched his right shoulder with his left arm, attempting to stem the bleeding from his stump. He writhed about miserably on the ground, wailing and screaming from the pain and shock. His expression contorted in pain and despair, he stared helplessly at You Sheng Zhe.

Shaking his head, Tong Xue offered an explanation. "Shi Bai Zhe is one level lower than You Sheng Zhe. Although he had no confidence of winning against You Sheng Zhe, he clearly believed that he could at least hurt the latter."

Unfortunately, Shi Bai Zhe couldn"t even put a single scratch on the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I had a feeling it wasn"t merely because of the levels, though. The levels had no meaning to me. For me, the greater reason was Shi Bai Zhe"s mentality. He had already decided, even before the match began, that he would lose. The moment he didn"t believe in himself, what chance did he have of winning? The difference wasn"t just the levels of the two, but also their att.i.tudes and confidence.

Shi Bai Zhe trembled, almost in tears. You Sheng Zhe stared down on his pathetic form and barked out in cruel laughter.

"Ha ha! Don"t think I"ll let you off even after I cut off one of your arms. I"ll slowly cut all the qi vessels on your limbs and destroy your dantian. I"ll cripple your cultivation…see if you"ll be able to cultivate again after this!"

"You…!"

Despite losing an arm, Shi Bai Zhe hadn"t officially surrendered yet. That was why Teacher Cai Pan did nothing. He could do nothing until Shi Bai Zhe was completely incapacitated (unconscious, for example) or voluntarily admit his defeat.

Knowing that, You Sheng Zhe had decided to taunt him, to provoke him so that he wouldn"t give up.

"Idiot!" I yelled, banging both fists against the gla.s.s window. "It"s a trap! Don"t fall for his provocation!"

Unfortunately, the gla.s.s was reinforced and soundproof, so Shi Bai Zhe couldn"t hear me. The gla.s.s that served to prevent interferences of any kind blocked out my voice, thus impeding Shi Bai Zhe from making any rational decision.

"Guoooh!"

With a roar, Shi Bai Zhe picked up his sword with his remaining left hand and lunged at You Sheng Zhe. The latter merely chuckled, clearly enjoying his torment of his weaker, both physically and mentally, opponent, and slashed.

Swoosh!

You Sheng Zhe"s sword disappeared into a blur, almost too fast for the human eye to follow. The next thing he knew, Shi Bai Zhe fell over and howled in agony, blood spurting from his leg. I narrowed my eyes when I realized that it wasn"t a simple injury.

You Sheng Zhe hadn"t just cut Shi Bai Zhe"s leg. He had severed a qi vessel. The flow of qi was cut off from the leg and Shi Bai Zhe was no longer able to stand up. Grinning, You Sheng Zhe raised his sword and plunged it toward Shi Bai Zhe"s abdomen.

He intended to destroy his opponent"s dantian.

Shi Bai Zhe turned pale with fear at the sudden realization, and was forced to roll away. However, he didn"t manage to get away unscathed, and the blade cut through his side, rupturing his stomach and causing a torrent of blood to spill out from the grievous wound.

"Aaaaah! AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Don"t run away! Aren"t you going to get revenge me for stealing your childhood sweetheart?"

You Sheng Zhe was laughing as he swung his sword down to stab Shi Bai Zhe again.

"W…wait! I surrender! I give up!"

Blubbering, his face covered in tears and snot, Shi Bai Zhe pathetically shouted. Before the blade could reach his dantian, Teacher Cai dashed out and grabbed the blade with his bare hand, stopping it a millimeter away.

"!"

You Sheng Zhe didn"t expect that. He had thought he would be able to deliver the finishing blow before Teacher Cai intervened. But he was even more surprised that Teacher Cai actually caught his powerful Soaring Cloud Beheading Sword Style with nothing but his bare fingers, and his blade didn"t even leave a single scratch or mark on the teacher"s flesh.

Just how powerful were the teachers when compared to us?

"The match is over," Teacher Cai informed You Sheng Zhe plainly. "You have won."

"…"

You Sheng Zhe stared at Teacher Cai for a moment, then nodded and withdrew his sword. He stalked out of one of the two double doors at the bottom of the coliseum. Already waiting for him was a beautiful schoolmate who was from cla.s.s 3-3, and was among one of the more popular ones. Apparently. But I couldn"t even remember her name, nor did I remember seeing her before. And I was certainly going to forget about her after this chapter.

"Ah~ and here I was, thinking I could cripple that loser and end his hara.s.sment once and for all." You Sheng Zhe shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Come on, Sheng Zhe," the beautiful girl comforted him. "Forget it. Poor Bai Zhe is already halfway to becoming a cripple, and I doubt he"ll ever be able to challenge you again."

"Ha ha! Since Mei Nu says so, then I"ll let him off!" Guffawing loudly, You Sheng Zhe arrogantly turned back to the arena and waved scornfully. "Shi Bai Zhe, you can come and try to take revenge on me in your next life!"

Shi Bai Zhe was no longer in any condition to muster up a response. He was still staring hollowly at the ground, his eyes lifeless and empty, as a medic escorted him to the infirmary. Teacher Yi Liao might be able to reattach his arm with the current advanced medical facilities, but the severed qi vessel in his leg would take a lot longer to heal.

"I feel sorry for him. His childhood sweetheart got s.n.a.t.c.hed away, then he loses an arm, and then gets a qi vessel in his leg cut. He"s basically a goner."

"Official matches are pretty scary, huh? The moment it begins, it"s not going to end until at least one of the combatants are crippled or dead."

"But his childhood sweetheart sure is something, huh? She actually hooked up with You Sheng Zhe. How sly…"

"To be honest, You Sheng Zhe is superior to Shi Bai Zhe in every aspect. If I were her, I would leave him for a better person too."

There was some sympathy for Shi Bai Zhe, but it was drowned out by callousness. Here, in Martial City, only those with strength were recognized. The weak was culled or bullied. It was the most stupid system I had ever heard, but apparently it was supposed to be a given for all wuxia worlds. I call bulls.h.i.t on that, but…

"Oh? Isn"t the match already over? Why is everyone still hanging around here?"

One of the spectators was confused when he saw that the majority of the spectators had remained to watch the presently empty arena.

"There"s another match later."

"Oh, interesting! I guess I"ll stick around and watch that too!"

"Hmm? Do you know who"s fighting in the next match?"

To be fair, most of the spectators didn"t know who the combatants were, or who were dueling. They were just here to watch the matches and learn a few techniques or strategies here and there. Unless they had interest in a specific person, matchup or martial art, they rarely memorized the list of scheduled matches.

A few of them did know, however, and when proudly showed off their knowledge when they heard the questions circulating around.

"Didn"t you hear? The next match is between the second-strongest disciple of the revered White Tiger Sect and some guy who spent two months surviving in Sen Lin Forest."

"Oh? Qi Fu Ren? He"s fighting against somebody?"

"Who?"

"Two months in the Sen Lin Forest? Oh, that random guy who brought back the Shadow Leopard and the Diamondback Crocodile?"

"Ah…I remember him. An interesting fellow. Does anyone know anything about him? Like the martial arts he uses?"

"I saw him taking the level 4 test the other day. It seems that he specializes in kicking techniques and footwork."

"Huh…how is that supposed to help him against Qi Fu Ren? That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is already at the fifth level of the Qi Essence Stage, you know? If he doesn"t have any proper elemental techniques, he"s only going to get electrocuted before he gets near!"

"But he did survive two months in the Sen Lin Forest, and up to now there"s very little information regarding him. This Fei Wu is a pretty mysterious person."

Uh, no? I wasn"t? Why was everyone treating me like I was some kind of alien? I attended cla.s.ses every day. Granted, I didn"t stand out that much, and furthermore getting level 4 at this stage of the year wasn"t that unusual, so there was no reason to collect any information on me, but I wouldn"t call myself "mysterious."

"Furthermore, Qi Fu Ren just decisively defeated Luo Bin the other day. Does this Fei Wu really stand a chance?"

There was a laugh. "Actually, that"s the interesting thing. Fei Wu saved Luo Bin from Qi Fu Ren the day after those two"s match, and challenged him then."

"Oh? Fascinating."

I listened to all the discussion with a sense of detachment, but didn"t go over to speak up. I had to admit, it was kind of funny listening to other people talk about me when they didn"t realize I was just behind them, eavesdropping. Not that eavesdropping was a good habit, but whatever. It also gave me a chance to see who talked about me behind my back.

That way, I could plan my vengeance, like I did while lurking in a certain Discord server and reading the comments people had about me.

"But does anyone know what level this Fei Wu is? Is he also the fifth level of Qi Essence Stage?"

"Nah, he just took the level 4 test the other day. So he"s level 4 at the most."

Someone should tell that idiot that the test"s levels did not correspond to the levels of cultivation stages. Otherwise there would exist levels 6, 7, 8 and 9. Level 5 was the highest level regarding tests and resource distributions for now.

"Mei Nu, did you hear about this?" You Sheng Zhe asked arrogantly as he swaggered up to the spectator box, transforming from partic.i.p.ant to spectator. "There seems to be quite a few reckless people lately. First, we had Luo Bin, then we had Shi Bai Zhe, and now this Fei Wu? All of them overestimating themselves and challenging people who are stronger?"

He then settled into one of the couches provided by the academy, laughing boisterously. Mei Nu shrugged.

"Didn"t you hear? This Fei Wu is the one who just returned to the academy about a week or two ago, after surviving two months in the Sen Lin Forest? And furthermore, he made a big impact during the practical training last week, bringing the monster cores of a Rank 5 Shadow Leopard and a Rank 4 Diamondback Crocodile back."

"Ah…I"ve heard of him."

Amused, You Sheng Zhe caressed Mei Nu in an area where all good young men were not supposed to touch. Mei Nu twitched, but aside from rolling her eyes, did not push her current beau away in disgust.

All the debate and discussion were silenced immediately when everyone spotted Qi Fu Ren and his two flunkies, Hu Shuo and Ba Dao, strolling toward the preparation room adjacent to the bottom level lf the arena.

"Oh! They"re finally here!"

"Eh? Isn"t that…?!"

But the three middle school students weren"t alone. Accompanying the trio was an elderly man dressed in traditional robes. He looked about fifty, but possessed a robust const.i.tution that emanated an air of strength and authority.

"That"s Elder Hu! An elder from the White Tiger Sect!"

"An Elder from the White Tiger Sect actually came to spectate!?"

To be honest, it was not unusual. The students" official matches were open for all to view. Consequently, a lot of the adults, masters and elders from the various martial arts sects attended and watched. Usually they would be here to observe their disciples" progress, to stamp their authority, or to learn and gather intelligence on the techniques of rival sects" disciples. But it wasn"t very frequent either, which was why everyone was so excited.

"Kick that trash"s a.s.s, boss!" Hu Shuo urged Qi Fu Ren.

"Yeah! Teach him his place!" Ba Dao agreed. Qi Fu Ren grinned and cracked his knuckles menacingly.

"I"ll make sure to cripple him."

"Don"t go too far," Elder Hu reminded him. "Or you"ll end up causing trouble for the White Tiger Sect."

"Yes, I understand, Master." Qi Fu Ren nodded and cupped his hands respectfully. Despite being the delinquent who loved bullying others, he was intelligent to recognize those above him in strength, and had no qualms sucking up to them. Or obeying them.

The four of them then disappeared into the preparation room at the bottom level, fading out of sight and hearing. Fortunately, with my protagonist"s privilege, I could somewhat tell what happened within the enclosed room and provide a sort of critical foreshadowing for the readers.

"One more thing." The elder quietly pressed something into Qi Fu Ren"s palm. "For insurance."

Qi Fu Ren glanced at the thing in his hand, and then he looked up with a scowl.

"Master, I don"t need to rely on something like this to win."

"It would be good if you don"t," Elder Hu agreed calmly. "But better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

"…"

Qi Fu Ren was unable to refute his master"s

While the quartet were inside the preparation room, closed off from the eyes and ears and others, the crowd was stirred by the uncommon sight and murmuring excitedly.

"Where is Fei Wu? Why is he not here?"

"Maybe he got scared and ran away."

"Hah! That might be true! I"ll make sure to make fun of him when I see him."

"Go ahead and make fun of me."

The guy who said that froze and slowly turned around. I c.o.c.ked my head at him and beckoned for him to speak up.

"Go on. Didn"t you say you"ll make fun of me when you see me? You"ve seen me. What are you waiting for?"

"Ah ha ha ha…it was a joke, just a joke. Please don"t take my words seriously."

The schoolmate lowered his head and tried to hide behind his peers. I regarded him with scorn, and then stalked toward the preparation room.

"Heh, that was hilarious," Tong Xue whispered as he caught up with me. I shrugged.

"Fei Wu!"

Turning around, I caught sight of Tang Qi Hong. She was running up to me, followed by Zhu Jiao and Ban Zhang. It seemed that my friends had all gathered to watch me fight, probably to provide moral support and cheer for me.

"Good luck!"

"Thanks."

"Yeah, kick that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s a.s.s," Zhu Jiao added when he caught up. Ban Zhang frowned at his choice of words, but didn"t disagree.

"Do your best."

"Don"t be reckless! Be careful, okay?" Tang Qi Hong was grabbing my hands. Tong Xue was whistling and mischievously giggling, but I ignored him and nodded.

"Thanks." I gripped her hands back. "I really appreciate your support."

With that, I spun around and proceeded toward the preparation room.