Chapter 133 – The Dragon-Scale Sword
Bi Fan had fought fourteen rounds so far, and had won all fourteen of them. As long as he was able to win his final fight, he’d become the champion, without any reservations whatsoever.
If one considered the opponents that Bi Fan had beaten so far in the tournament, Mo Nan, Ji Ying Lan, Jing Feng and Luo Sheng, Bi Fan’s victory was almost confirmed.
“Brother Bi Fan, since you’re the new champion, shouldn’t we celebrate?” Jing Feng smiled.
“Definitely! I’ll throw a party later.” Bi Fan said.
Bi Fan started meditating to restore his energy. Even though his final opponent wasn’t a very strong fighter, Bi Fan had no intention of being careless, since he didn’t wish to take any chances at all.
The final round was announced, and Bi Fan’s last opponent for the tournament was an ‘Enormous Strength’ layer martial artist.
This man was carrying the same idea that Lu Jia had, and wished to beat Bi Fan in order to make a quick name for himself.
Such students, weren’t interested in beating the renowned martial artists of the Sect for the sake of stealing the limelight, but only wanted to gain good favors from the Sect, so their practice could go more smoothly.
If one fancied becoming strong, then one would require a huge amount of resources, and knowledge.
Xiang Wen Tian, for example, even though had never a.s.sociated himself with any Sect, was rumored to have procured the treasures of an ancient Sect, The Dragon and Phoenix Sect, which is probably the reason that he was able to promote his strength so quickly.
“Brother Bi Fan, nice to meet you.”
“Brother, nice to meet you.” Bi Fan smiled.
This man started with the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’, since it was the strongest skill that was known to him.
“Oh…” Bi Fan was already one of the most proficient fighters in the ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ skill inside the Quinyang Sect. The ‘Fufeng Double-edged Sword’ of ordinary disciples, like his present opponent, was far too flawed in his eyes.
“Brother, you’ve got it wrong. Here, this is how it works.”
Bi Fan cast out the same moves in his opponent’s style, but even then, quickly gained an upper hand.
In less than ten strokes, Bi Fan had suppressed his opponent to such as extent, that the man, left with no other option, admitted his defeat.
“Bi Fan! You’re the Champion! Bi Fan, you’re so cool!….”
“Bi Fan! Bi Fan! I love you, you’re my hero!”
The Quinyang Sect disciples were going crazy, as they continued to shout and scream.
Bi Fan closed his eyes, as he listened to the cheers; he was mesmerized.
Once upon a time, Bi Fan’s body was so weak and thin, that he would suffer endless bullying at the hands of Zhu San and the other orchard boys.
Bi Fan wouldn’t even be able to object, and would have to conceal his feeling within his heart. He would, later, go back to his room at night, and he would weep in silence in one corner.
Bi Fan would practice till he’d faint, in the hope of being able to defend himself, but to no avail.
A little over a year ago, Bi Fan could have never imagined that he’d ever be able to win the Disciple’s tournament; even dreaming of his present reality was a luxury at that point in his life; one that his reality wouldn’t allow him to afford.
Bi Fan felt as if he was dreaming, as he simply couldn’t believe that he had beaten every Niemen (outer) Disciple in the Sect, and had established himself as the champion of the Disciple’s tournament.
Like winning the last year’s Selection tournament, Bi Fan didn’t care much about this one either. He didn’t much care about the limelight, and just wanted respect.
Bi Fan simply didn’t care about his achievements.
If an ordinary man had reached Bi Fan’s position, and in the manner in which Bi Fan had accomplished it, then the said person would definitely have become complacent.
Bi Fan’s mind, however, was playing a completely different tune: “I will practice even harder now. I like being praised, I like being respected. I will not allow myself to get bullied again… I will become even stronger.”
Even in this moment of achievement, Bi Fan’s heart cried of the humiliations that he had suffered in the past, and it simply wouldn’t allow him to forget his past.
Some people, however, saw it differently; they saw a man on the stage, motionless, with an intoxicated look on his face, and closed eyes, and they simply couldn’t help but feel disdain for the champion.
“Look at him. Bi Fan hasn’t even been crowned the champion yet, and he’s already bathing in the cheers. I won’t believe in him unless he wins the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament.”
The speaker was clearly quite jealous of Bi Fan, since his tone was quite harsh.
“Bi Fan, go take a hike! What are you proud about, huh?”
This voice was even sharper, and the man clearly seemed to hate Bi Fan.
“Bi Fan actually managed to win the Championship?” Yan Yu Si couldn’t believe it either. Her face was beaming a proud, and surprised, smile; she seemed very happy for Bi Fan.
Ling Xin Ya was equally surprised: “Bi Fan only became a Disciple one year ago, and has already managed to win the Disciple’s tournament in such a short time. The heavens must really like me, ah… they’ve given me such an amazing Disciple.”
Ling Xin Ya’s proud smile was attracting the envy of the elders around him, but they tried to hide their grimaces.
Yu Qing Yang, on the other hand, was very pleased with Ling Xin Ya: “Deputy, you must focus your attention of training Bi Fan up. I consider him to be the future of the Sect, along with Mo Nan and Jing Feng. He could even become my successor one day.”
“Head of the Sect, they all have just started out. We have so many core Disciples, who are extremely talented in their own accord. Like, Luo Sheng’s elder Brother, Luo Xiong. He’s one of Quinyang’s first-cla.s.s talents, and isn’t very far away from Yan Yu Si.”
Even though the contest was over, Bi Fan didn’t step off the stage for another ten minutes. He just stood there motionlessly for a while, before he, finally, and slowly, stepped off the contest stage.
His walk had become even more vigorous, which was a clear indication that his confidence was beginning to reach new heights.
“Brother Bi Fan, congratulations!” Jing Feng came up to Bi Fan to congratulate him. Jing Feng’s words seemed very sincere, and his face was beaming in a radiant smile.
Even though Bi Fan had beaten him, Jing Feng wasn’t a stingy person.
“Thank you Brother Jing Feng!” Bi Fan nodded.
Bi Fan had set a remarkable record, and shortly, found himself surrounded a flock of young Disciples, most of whom were practically worshipping him.
As for the older Disciples, most were jealous of Bi Fan, and didn’t want to look at his face.
“Brother Bi Fan, can you give us a few tips?”
“Yes, Brother Bi Fan, we all want to learn from you.”
“Sure, if there’s anything that you don’t understand, then you can always consult with me.” Bi Fan was enthusiastically waving his arms, as he tried to greet his supporters and fans.
A while ago, Bi Fan had no friends, which is why he had always cherished this feeling of friendship.
Bi Fan considered Jing Feng, Blue Dragon, w.a.n.g Zhong, and Lone Leaf to be his Brothers, and treated them as such.
At present, Bi Fan found himself in a position, where he could help other people, which made him even happier, since he had never considered himself a lone-wolf.
As he watched Bi Fan help out the other, lesser talented, Disciples, Yu Qing Yang couldn’t help but feel even more pleased.
Yu Qing Yang said in an undertone: “Bi Fan is not only a great talent, but also a good man. As long as he doesn’t face any insults within the Sect, his character will remain as pure as it is today, and he’ll take the Quinyang Sect to new heights in time.”
Since he had already made up his mind, Yu Qing Yang decided that he’d talk to Bi Fan later, in private. He wanted to establish a good relationship with Bi Fan early on, since Bi Fan, at present, hadn’t come in contact with the outside world much. Forging a good relation with Bi Fan would allow him to retain Bi Fan in the Sect, against outside interests.
Bi Fan was a once in a millennium genius, and if he lost Bi Fan now, then the Quinyang Sect would suffer greatly. There would no-saying as to when the Quinyang Sect would be able to get such an amazing chance again.
Mo Nan was also important since he had learnt Xiang Wen Tian’s ‘The Sword of the Land’ skill, but his raw talent, was no match for Bi Fan’s. Even Jing Feng was not at par with Bi Fan.
Mo Nan and Jing Feng were both, once in a lifetime finds, but Bi Fan, was in a league of his own, and Yu Qing Yang had this already made a very firm division in his mind, with regard to their respective talents.
Once the contest was over, the rewards were awarded. Bi Fan received a good quality weapon, The Dragon-Scale Sword. The Dragon-Scale Sword was a good weapon, and would prove out to be an excellent replacement for his current weapon, the purple-feathered sword.
Bi Fan was also awarded a good amount of Dan pellets, but he didn’t care much about them.
Bi Fan looked around for Yan Yu Si, and realized that she was already walking towards him.
Bi Fan couldn’t help but feel nervous all over again, while the pa.s.sions of his heart started to heat up again.
Today, now that Bi Fan had won the championship, he had finally taken the first step in reducing the gap that separated him from Yan Yu Si.
If he continued to progress at this pace, then one day, he might even be able to catch up with Yan Yu Si.