Chapter 38: Group Two
Three weeks had gone went by in the blink of an eye. Gao Yan, Rong Ming, Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long were still participating. Today was the day the final eight were going to be decided. Although Hui Yue was curious about his own fight, it was nothing compared to the group eight final.
Wang Ju Long was going up against Rong Ming. This match-up was a fight which caused significant discomfort for Hui Yue, as Rong Ming had been his friend for so many years. On the other hand, Wang Ju Long was someone whom he yearned to fight against in this tournament.
Hui Yue sighed deeply as he calmed his conflicted inner self and looked at the stage in front of him. Now was not the time for him to worry about a fight scheduled this afternoon. He should concentrate on the opponent standing in front of him.
Today was the day the strongest eight for the tournament were determined. It was obvious that, although Hui Yue’s group was not as strong as some of the others, it would be impossible for him not to go up against a strong opponent at least once.
The opponent Hui Yue was matched against today was a year older than the friends he usually hung around with, and his opponent’s rank was that of an eight star Disciple.
This particular youth was vicious-looking as he glared at Hui Yue, his opponent. Within the group, Hui Yue had needed little effort thus far, picking off the easy opponents, thus leaving the higher-ranked to this guy. No wonder this youth felt more and more hostility towards Hui Yue after each drawing of the numbers that decided their matchups.
Today, he no longer had to keep his rage bottled. He had the chance to face off against a so-called genius. Looking at his opponent, Hui Yue felt the malice that was aimed at him In return; his sky-blue eyes flashed with an ice-cold killing intent.
Although Hui Yue was of a lower rank, he had no intention of letting such a weak student best him. He would not let anyone stand in his way to enter the finals! He gripped his hands tightly as he gave the customary bow towards his opponent. A flash of decisiveness appeared within the sky-blue eyes, and a sneer appeared upon his lips.
“The final battle of group two begins NOW!” the judge yelled, allowing his voice to sound out through the multiple mountain tops. So far the battles were still held in the minor arenas. Only one match took place at a time, causing everyone to watch the two youths on this particular stage intently.
As soon as the voice had sounded, the older boy instantly scuttled towards Hui Yue; he was silent like the wind, and his qi had draped itself nicely around his fist. The previously quiet air crackled with energy as the fist moved, inching closer to Hui Yue with impressive speed.
A sudden attack such as this did shock Hui Yue. He had already activated Velocity Flow and, while wielding his skill to perfection, he barely managed to escape by a hair’s width, rushing backward.
Seeing Hui Yue escape such a swift attack caused everyone within the arena to fall silent. No one moved a muscle as they saw a smaller youth using such high-ranked martial arts skills.
Although Hui Yue had fought against stronger opponents before, none of them had been as strong as this one. Hui Yue had to admit that he had underestimated him. Relief flooded his senses as he made a successful retreat.
After feeling the raw power from the older boy’s fist in the brief exchange, Hui Yue knew that he could only withstand one attack at most while relying solely on the fortification of his body. His brain swiftly calculated the various options that were available to him, including Qi Guard.
Hui Yue swore silently as he created a copy of himself by using his perfected Velocity Flow. Suddenly, two white-haired boys were standing on the stage. Both white-haired boys seemed as strong as the originator.
Using the Velocity Flow copy was an apparent attempt to buy himself some time while considering his options. But in using this copy, he knew that his opponent would be on the defense for some time.
Although the aura and the feeling were the exact same, Hui Yue was perfectly aware that his double was nothing more than a clone without combat ability, nor did it have any defense against destruction. What it could do was confuse the opponent to stall for enough time in order to use his next skill.
Hui Yue sighed. There was only one option that was available to him. Hui Yue was currently fighting against a much stronger opponent. His only chance to win was to stay alive until he was able to deploy perfect attacks of his own.
Within Hui Yue’s dantian, the qi cyclone erupted with force. It sped up with immense velocity, making it impossible to see the individual qi threads. After having swirled rapidly for a few seconds, qi started to leave the swirl, and it traveled through the meridians before it slowly exited through the pores of his skin, coating it in a translucent pearl-white glistening protective layer of qi.
This action was an ability that belonged to the experts of the middle dantian; it was a protective spell that every cultivator would learn. Even so, this was an ability which no one had ever seen performed by relying on qi.
This ability was not written into the leaflet. It had only been seen by a few people during the first fight against Wang Ju Long. The surprise was evident in the entire audience by the spreading gasps. Even Wang Ju Long narrowed his eyes in displeasure, as he noticed how much better his rival’s Qi Guard had become. An itch developed within him. He wished he was the one currently fighting Hui Yue. He wanted to know whether or not his Qi Lightning could break through such a seemingly impervious defense.
As soon as the Qi Guard appeared, the older boy who was running around without a protective ability, quickly threw himself at Hui Yue, in hopes of lowering his damage intake. What he found was that as soon as his fist made contact with the clone, the clone vanished into thin air.
Growling in displeasure, the older boy dropped onto the floor as he felt an incoming attack. Less than a second later, a leg appeared where his head had been moments before.
Attack after attack rained down on Hui Yue. He was as agile as a cat and managed to dodge most of them; allowing only two of them to graze his protected body slowly. Even though Hui Yue had an immense defense, he felt even the slightest contact. He couldn’t help swearing as he spread out his palm.
White strands of light gathered within Hui Yue’s palm before they merged into one knife. To defeat this boy, Hui Yue knew that he must use some of his hidden aces. Using one knife should be enough.
As the knife came to life within Hui Yue’s hand, an overwhelming pressure was applied to the combatant in front of him. The air was stifling. The blade was vibrating with an overbearing force that seemed to thirst for blood.
This reaction was unlike anything Hui Yue had felt before while training in the skill. Strands of power shot through his body. This match was no longer a practice fight, but a real battle and the qi from within him was beckoning Hui Yue to move forward, to attack, to slaughter.
This foreboding and deadly aura was spreading towards the audience. While the students became fearful, the experts were astonished! How did the qi of such a young boy contain such dense killing intent?
Hui Yue’s skillful use of Velocity Flow increased. He easily managed to evade a barrage of incoming punches. As he escaped the punches he did not retreat; instead, he advanced with each step, getting closer and closer to the opponent in front of him.
Looking at Hui Yue, one could see a sinister smile on his face together with a glint of killing intent within his eyes. This boy was filled with tyrannical energy, so overbearing that even the judge was left shocked on the sideline.
The knife within his left hand was swirling around, being played with within Hui Yue’s grasp. Hui Yue quickly sliced the opponent’s left arm, leaving behind a straight cut line out of which blood started to flow. The slash had been so quick that the older boy had had no chance to react. A feeling of immense dread was left behind. The cut line the weapon had opened was stinging with a raging pain as if it had been lit on fire.
Hui Yue ensured that the knife would not leave any lasting damage. He used his speed and agility to dance around the opponent before he allowed the Qi Knife to make a long slash on his opponent’s back.
At the exact moment the second slash connected with his skin, the older boy twisted himself and launched an attack. His attack landed on Hui Yue’s stomach, causing him to stagger backward one step.
Fortunately for Hui Yue, this second slash was much like the first. Again the older boy was drowning in pain as though his entire back was being burned.
Hui Yue suddenly brought himself back to reality. Although this was a real battle it was by no means a battle of life and death. The killing intent within Hui Yue’s eyes slowly withdrew. It was replaced by an intense thoughtfulness which was quickly analyzing the current situation.
Hui Yue understanding that his tempo had been broken quickly backed away, creating a significant distance between the two. During this entire time, the knife had not stood still. It continued swirling in Hui Yue’s hand, making him seem like a rogue waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
The entire audience was quiet. No one expected to see this genius child who already possessed some high-ranked martial arts skills suddenly reveal another unknown higher-rank skill.
Everyone present shuddered in the wake of this revelation of talent. This youth clearly proved much more promising than they had first expected, yet their astonishment was quickly replaced by awe and fear. How could such a young child possess such a broad range of high-ranked martial arts skills?
While the audience was intently watching the battle in front of them, Hui Yue’s opponent gritted his teeth. It was obvious that he had not expected Hui Yue actually to back up his title as a genius. Sweat was soaking his back. He stubbornly hung on to the possibility of winning due to having a larger qi pool.
The enmity between Hui Yue and the opponent was one which had been slowly building up for the last three weeks. Hui Yue somewhat understood the reason as to why he was disliked.
Nevertheless, it was not Hui Yue’s fault that he had been gifted with great luck, or perhaps misfortune, across lifetimes. Neither was it his fault that he was now proving to be stronger than this young man in front of him.
Soon, the battle turned into unrestrained chaos. Every time his opponent let out a barrage of attacks, Hui Yue danced closer and made a few more slashes only to back away as soon as he completed his attack.
Each attack caused an uneasy feeling within Hui Yue to grow, but he forcefully suppressed it as he focused on the match in front of him. This uneasiness was the sense of thrill and excitement of wanting to kill an opponent.
These feelings were some which Hui Yue had experienced previously; yet now they were threatening to break free from their bonds, distracting Hui Yue.
Forcefully suppressing them once more, Hui Yue focused his entire attention on the match he was currently fighting.
Having taken one attack, Hui Yue understood perfectly well just how big a difference there was between the two of them in power. Fortunately, this older boy had a relatively average quality of qi, and his way of using it was far inferior to Hui Yue’s use of his superior qi.
The two stood with a large distance between them. Hate was shining out of Hui Yue’s opponent’s eyes, and the stage was covered in his blood. This sight was similar to that of Rong Xing and her opponent all those days ago.
Regrettably, for this person, Hui Yue had no intention of backing off or admiring his opponent’s perseverance. Not to mention, Hui Yue was the one who was definitely at a disadvantage according to theory. He was, after all, only a nine star Student ranked cultivator.
Studying the boy with shoulder-length white hair moving around with his pearl-white Qi Dagger brought fear into the heart of some family leaders who had come to watch the emerging geniuses.
All these family leaders quickly agreed that the boy on the stage was not a genius. He was a monster.
A silver monster who stood there with a cold expression on his face as he observed his opponent with slight disdain. It could have been an easy win if he had seriously injured him.
Hui Yue was not dumb. He had seen the hate and killing intent within his opponent’s eyes from the very start. Now he paid back the insult. Anyone who showed such contempt for Hui Yue, he would repay with the same contemptible treatment.
A smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face, but this was not the smile of an innocent ten year old with clean hands. It was the sinister grin of an adult in preparation of something evil. Turning his head from left to right popping sounds could be heard before he shrugged his shoulders.
“Are you going to forfeit?” Hui Yue asked, his voice as cold as ice, “or would you rather that I become serious?” Suddenly another set of lights appeared within the left palm. After a second Hui Yue was now dual wielding his knives, able to inflict double the amount of pain.
The two daggers within Hui Yue’s hands were emitting a baleful aura, causing the other boy to feel nauseous. Hui Yue had turned into an overwhelming presence.
Upon seeing the additional dagger within Hui Yue’s hand, a cold shiver ran down the spine of the older boy. Anyone close enough could see the sinister look within the younger boy’s eyes. It was obvious that this genius child was not as simple as they thought. Hui Yue gritted his teeth and hate roiled undisguised within his eyes.
This older boy was not the only one who was shocked to see the second knife appear. The entire audience was hushed. With baited breath, they observed everything which was happening in front of them.
Scanning the child caused all the high-ranked specialists within Riluo City to frown slightly. It was obvious the aura released from this child belonged to a nine star Student ranked cultivator.
This cultivation base also relied on human cultivation; making it clear to anyone who watched that Hui Yue was no magical beast in human shape which they had expected at first.
Nevertheless, no matter how much they looked at this child, there was something odd about the dantian cave. It felt as if they were missing something important every time they searched and a feeling of worry overwhelmed them.
The only way to hide something from an expert was to have a higher cultivation level than the expert. This child held some secrets that even they were unable to look through.
“I forfeit,” the opponent said between clenched teeth as his gaze filled with anger and despair. Hui Yue would not be shocked if this guy would do anything in the world for revenge, however, right now he just wished to get away.
Hui Yue let out a relieved breath.
‘Was it really that terrible?’ Lan Feng asked curiously, as he understood Hui Yue much better than anyone else.
‘What exactly did you expect?’ Hui Yue answered with a grumpy voice, ‘It’s the first time I cut another’s flesh. Even if it wasn’t deadly, it was still quite a nauseating feeling.’
‘Get used to it,’ was the only answer he got from the phoenix as the result of the match was shown. Hui Yue quickly removed both the Qi Guard and the Transforming Weapons before he slowly turned towards his friends and left the mountaintop arena behind.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone