Translated by Moe
Chapter 23 Martial Arts Test
Ling Hu is nineteen years old, a high-rank xuan pract.i.tioner, and cultivates the gray-order xuan skill, Fierce Tiger Secret Arts. He’s an expert in boxing, and his power is anything but ordinary. He ranked fifth in last year’s compet.i.tion, so his strength is self-evident.
Ling Guang is twenty years old, an intermediate-rank xuan pract.i.tioner, and cultivates the gray-order xuan skill, Heavy Blade Scripture. Last year, he relied on the strength of a low-rank xuan pract.i.tioner to achieved tenth place. He had originally believed that he could improve by at least two places this time around but didn’t expect to face against a high-rank xuan pract.i.tioner right from the start. He sighed at his bad luck.
The Patriarch and all of the elders sat along the perimeter of the elevated stage to watch the best of the younger generation compete in person.
Ninth Elder Ling Fu gave a simple explanation of the rules and declared the start of the match.
Ling Guang cupped his hands in salute and said to Ling Hu, “Please show mercy.”
Ling Hu responded politely, “Please!”
As soon as Ling Hu finished speaking, Ling Guang slammed his foot down, his body flickered as he shot forward. He moved with incredible speed, like a cheetah on the hunt, essentially preventing anyone from guarding against his attack.
When he was almost upon Ling Hu, he reached behind his back and brought forth a heavy blade.
Ling Guang is a direct descendent of the Ling Family, so his status is not low; he is using a first-grade, intermediate-level broadsword. The broadsword seemed to leave a trail of shadows as it hacked toward Ling Hu’s forehead.
The audience cried out in alarm. No one had antic.i.p.ated Ling Guang would launch a sneak attack and his blistering speed rendered people speechless.
The heavy blade emanated a chilling aura as it sped toward Ling Hu’s head. Any xuan pract.i.tioner of the same rank would most likely have been intimidated.
However, Ling Hu is one rank higher than Ling Guang and very familiar with his opponent. He was calm and unhurried as he raised both hands up to receive the attack.
Those who have never seen Ling Hu in action cried out in alarm.
“This guy doesn’t want to live. He’s using his bare hands to receive Ling Guang’s heavy blade.”
“Perhaps he overestimated himself and thought that he could win purely on his rank advantage. Looks like he’s about to lose both his hands.”
“What do you guys know? Don’t you idiots see something is covering Ling Hu’s hands?”
……
Ling Hu’s not brain-dead; he wouldn’t directly block the blade with his hands if he didn’t have the utmost confidence in himself. His hands were sheathed in a weapon that is uniquely his, a first-grade, high-level Gold Silk Glove. It is made from the hide of a second-level Mountain Boring Beast; low-grade weapons couldn’t even put a scratch on it. That’s why Ling Hu dared to defend with just his hands.
However, Ling Guang had prepared for this ahead of time. Just as his blade was about to fall on Ling Hu’s head, it suddenly changed direction and cut directly toward Ling Hu’s neck.
This move came as a surprise to everyone and left the onlookers below scared stiff. Even the elders on the platform watched Ling Hu with looks of appreciation, apparently quite satisfied by Ling Guang’s quick thinking and decision making.
“Nice try.” Ling Hu frowned and then flipped his left hand.
“Ding!” Weapons collided.
Ling Hu retreated half a step under the full might of the heavy blade, but his left hand remained unscathed. It can clearly be seen that his Gold Silk Glove is no common good.
Seeing his attack has failed, Ling Guang shouted, “Shadowless Heavy Blade!”
Countless blade shadows coalesced into a large, frightening blade beam as it shot toward Ling Hu’s body.
This is currently Ling Guang’s most powerful move. The gap between Ling Hu and him is too large, so he pulled out all the stops right at the start in an attempt to defeat Ling Hu when his guard is down.
Many of the Ling Family children spectating from the sideline cried out in fear. Most of them only have martial apprentice rank, and will hardly gain any insights from observing a match between xuan pract.i.tioners. However, the matches also represented an opportunity for them to gain enlightenment and advance their cultivation.
Ling Xiao looked at Ling Guang’s blade and murmured, “On the face of it, this move look to be quite formidable, but it is all flash and no substance. Executing this move with the use of a sword would have been almost pa.s.sable, but he’s using the brute power of the heavy blade to compensate for his lack of skill, and the move has lost its true essence.”
Standing off to the side, Ling Li cast a glance at Ling Xiao before reverting to the action on the platform.
On the platform, Ling Hu had started his fierce counterattack. Power exploded out from his body, and, after letting out an earsplitting roar, his fists transformed into enormous fist-shaped shadows.
“Tiger’s Roar in the Mountain Forest.”
“Ding! Ding!”
The blade shadow intertwined with the fist shadow, releasing a deafening collision of sounds.
Ling Guang had mustered all his strength for this move, and his body was exhausted, but Ling Hu seemed to have energy to spare as he shouted, “You’ve lost!” He deflected the heavy blade with one fist and struck out at Ling Guang’s stomach with the other.
“Bang!”
Ling Guang was still sent flying off the stage like a kite with its string cut.
“Pfff!” Collapsed on the ground, Ling Guang coughed up an entire mouthful of blood.
Fairly soon, two Ling Family bodyguards carried Ling Guang away.
Elder Ling Fu announced the winner on stage, “Ling Hu wins!”
“Wow! Elder Brother Ling Hu’s so powerful!”
“That’s right. I hope I can be just like Elder Brother Ling Hu one day. So awesome!”
“Elder Brother Ling Hu’s always been my idol. I don’t want to be just as strong as him, I want to surpa.s.s him!”
……
All the children of the collateral branches went wild for Ling Hu, applauding and cheering.
The following matchup was between two children of the Ling Family with low-level xuan pract.i.tioner’s strength. This fight can be said to be evenly matched. After a fierce contest, both combatants sustained such severe injuries that they had all but a.s.sured their mutual loss. In the end, the victor was decided, but he was deemed unfit to continue on in the next round of the compet.i.tion.
This match fired up the Ling Family children in the audience as a deep yearning to break through to xuan pract.i.tioner rank glowed in their eyes.
The compet.i.tion carried on with Elder Ling Fu announcing the matchup for the third match, “Ling Zhi and Ling Xing, please come up on the platform.”
When these two were called up, a palpable antic.i.p.ation filled the air. These two people are quite popular among the Ling Family’s younger generation.
“Pay attention to Ling Xing.” Ling Li whispered to one side of Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao nodded in response and then turned to watch Ling Xiao.
He saw a youth who resembled Ling Rui wearing a spring green dress uniform, perhaps twenty years old, with long and unrestrained hair falling this way and that, giving off a faint odor that was acrid like dirt. This is Ling Xing; Ling Rui’s elder brother and high-rank xuan pract.i.tioner. Last year, he only lost to Ling Li by one move, ending up in fourth place, a well-known figure among the children of the 18th generation.
On the viewing platform, Second Elder Ling Mo spoke to the Fifth Elder at his side, “Old Fifth, it seems quite likely that Ling Xing will be able to break through to xuan warriorrank within half a year!”
A proud look shown in Fifth Elder Ling Yan’s eyes as he replied, “Ling Xing works the hardest out of all the young’uns, but he’s still far worse than Kuang’er. Speaking of which, Zhi’er has done well for himself. He’s only fifteen this year and already broke through to low-level xuan pract.i.tioner, no less talented than Kuang’er was at that age!”
Ling Mo had revealed a faint smile before he shifted the subject, “You’d do well to watch over Ling Xing once you return and help him break through as soon as possible. Ling Li will not take longer than three months to become a xuan warrior.”
A dark look flashed past Ling Yan’s eyes as he looked at Ling Mo, but he spoke no further and nodded.
On the elevated platform, Elder Ling Fu declared the start of the match.
Ling Zhi cupped his hands and saluted Ling Xing, “Brother Xing, please be lenient!”
Ling Xing laughed, “I won’t use my weapon. If you can last more than ten moves, then we can consider this your victory.”
Ling Zhi is Second Elder Ling Mo’s grandson, and Ling Xing is Fifth Elder Ling Yan’s grandson. They are relatives of one another, and their relationship is extremely close and amicable.
Without further ado, Ling Zhi brought forth his first-grade, high-level pike and shouted, “Then forgive my rudeness. Watch out for my spear.”
The pike’s movement was unpredictable like a snake as it drilled out, and in a flash, arrived next to Ling Xing’s throat.
Ling Xing showed no fear as he calmly bent over backward and avoided Ling Zhi’s pike by a hair’s breathe. At the same time, Ling Xing kicked up with one leg before Ling Zhi could withdraw his pike, and, using fifty percent of his xuan strength, sent Ling Zhi’s pike flying in the air.
Even without the pike, Ling Zhi did not give up. He leaped high into the air to grab the pike and then ferociously smashed down at Ling Xing below.
The pike gained considerable momentum, leaving a gray colored trace in the air along the path of the spear travel.
“Much better.” Ling Xing praised out loud, as he stood tall and straight, his eyes shone like torches. Ling Zhi’s strike hit empty air as Ling Xing dodged to the side like a phantom, grabbing onto Ling Zhi’s pike with one hand, and swinging his leg around at Ling Zhi’s shoulder.
Ling Xing’s deft movement dazzled the surrounding crowd of Ling Family children.
“Bang!” Having received such a powerful blow and his pike wrested away again, Ling Zhi staggered back two steps, his complexion somewhat pale.
Ling Xing threw the pike back to Ling Zhi and said with a smile on his face. “Junior Brother Zhi, you’ve lost!”
Ling Zhi caught the pike and nodded, “It was an honor losing to Elder Brother Xing.”
Ling Zhi is just a low-level xuan pract.i.tioner, but Ling Xing is a high-order xuan pract.i.tioner, there was just too much of a disparity in their strength. Even though Ling Xing didn’t use a weapon, he could still handily defeat Ling Zhi.
Elder Ling Fu proclaimed, “Ling Xing wins!”
As Ling Xing and Ling Zhi stepped off the platform together, Ling Zhi whispered to Ling Xing, “Elder Brother Xing, I’ll have to trouble you to teach that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Ling Xiao a lesson.”
Hearing that name, a sharp look flashed across Ling Xing’s eyes before he said faintly, “Humph! So what if he’s a xuan pract.i.tioner? He’s nothing more than a low-level xuan pract.i.tioner. I’ll use my own hands to turn him back into a cripple.”
Ling Xing’s family had held a grudge against Ling Xiao’s family for a long time; just recently, his younger brother Ling Rui had almost been expelled from the family. Ling Xing naturally will not let Ling Xiao off lightly.
Ling Li made his entrance in the following match, but his opponent was only a low-rank xuan pract.i.tioner. It was no contest; Ling Li sent him exploding out of the platform with one move.
The match following that was a contest between two intermediate-rank xuan pract.i.tioners. In the end, last year’s sixth place finisher, Ling Hua, was able to edge out a victory after more than one hundred moves were exchanged.
The final match of the round was fought between Ling Tian, an intermediate-rank xuan pract.i.tioner, and Ling Hong, a low-rank xuan pract.i.tioner. Ling Hong is the Sixth Elder’s granddaughter, seventeen years old, and only the second female of xuan pract.i.tionerrank or higher.
On the platform, Ling Tian crossed his arms in front of his chest as he said with disdain, “You’re not my adversary. I don’t want to make things difficult for you, so just concede.”
Ling Hong was born with an unyielding disposition. When she heard Ling Tian’s contempt, she instantly shouted, “You should mock me after you’ve beaten me, not before.” She ceased talking as she shook her white hands, taking out two sparkling and translucent curved daggers that appeared incredibly dazzling under the sunlight.
“That’s definitely the second-grade, low-level Twin Moon Swords.” Someone in the audience exclaimed when the daggers appeared.
“I’d never imagine that the Sixth Elder doted on Ling Hong so; she had only just entered the xuan pract.i.tioner rank and was immediately paired with these Twin Moon Swords. He’s spent quite the fortune.”
“With the Twin Moon Swords in hand, Ling Hong’s combat prowess has risen considerably. It won’t be easy for Ling Tian to win.”