Friday, May 18, 2018

True Martial World - Chapter 146: Unwillingness and Persistence

This middle-aged man was dressed in a red robe. Beside him was a fourteen-year-old youth. This youth was wearing a flying fish robe and had a Yanchi saber by his waist. His outfit was identical to Yi Yun's.

This meant that the youth was also a Kingdom Knight!

"Oh? General Yan!?" Zhang Tan noticed the middle-aged man and faltered. He was about to call the personnel to attention when the stout man raised his hand, motioning Zhang Tan to not announce it.

Zhang Tan could only nod as the middle-aged man carried on watching the match between Hei Sha and Ji Chang.

At that moment…

"Cha!"

With a swish, a Frost Metal Blood Ball had brushed past Hei Sha's arm.

With an ear-piercing sound of torn cloth, a piece of animal skin flew up. The wind from the ball's rotation had ripped off Hei Sha's sleeve.

The piece of animal skin was completely shredded in the air while Hei Sha's bronzed arm began to ooze blood!

The power of the Frost Metal Blood Balls was understandably strong judging from the outcome of that simple brush!

The middle-aged man frowned slightly. He gently shook his head, feeling sorry for Hei Sha.

Yi Yun saw that and frowned slightly, "Hei Sha will not beat Ji Chang. If he persists on, he will definitely get injured. The earlier he admits defeat, the better."

In fact, it was clear who was better. Hei Sha may have a better foundation, but his techniques were greatly inferior to Ji Chang. There was no meaning to compete any further.

Yi Yun even suspected that Ji Chang could handle the thirteenth level of difficulty.

It was apparent that Hei Sha could not hold out much longer, and after a while, he was hit by the Frost Metal Blood Ball again.

Typically, warriors in the Frost Metal Blood Balls array would shout for the array to cease when they realize they could no longer handle the barrage of attacks. To persist any further would result in him paying a very heavy price.

To simulate real-life combat and life-and-death battles, the Jin Long Wei made the offensive strength of the blood pearls very high. Being hit once would result in serious injury!

There were even cases of training in the Jin Long Wei where a soldier had died in the Frost Metal Blood Balls array due to bad luck.

By persisting even with his injury, Hei Sha was equivalent to dancing on the tip of a blade.

Any mishap could result in him being hit by the Frost Metal Blood Balls in weak spots like the head or eyes. The consequences would be disastrous!

"Cha!"

With another swish, a second Frost Metal Blood Ball brushed past Hei Sha's shoulder, tearing the animal skin. This hit was more serious as the Frost Metal Blood Ball changed direction due to the contact. Hei Sha's shoulder immediately split open!

The sons of the vast wilderness familiar with Hei Sha looked with tearful eyes!

"Hei Sha!" These youths and men were not young. Seeing Hei Sha in such a predicament, they clenched their fists so excessively till they shook!

Despite having suffered two injuries, Hei Sha persisted by gritting his teeth and enduring the pain. He still summoned all his spirit to dodge the attacks of the Frost Metal Blood Balls.

He did not want to admit defeat. Men that left the vast wilderness could be defeated or killed in battle, but they could not admit defeat!

To reach this stage, he had consumed too many resources of the Blackrock tribal clan. His tribe had saved bits and pieces of food, allowing them to exchange for resources to let him grow.

He had left the vast wilderness and entered the Jin Long Wei. He was burdened with the hope of numerous people of the Blackrock tribal clan!

He wanted to make great contributions, allowing the Blackrock tribal clan folks to lead a better life. How could he just give up here?

To say "I admit defeat" and jump out of the array was simple, but he had his own principles. Ever since he left the vast wilderness, he had been despised, looked down upon and suppressed!

And now, this was a battle where he could prove himself. He may have lost in terms of strength, but he could not lose in terms of courage!

If not, how would he have the qualifications to compete with those children of the large family clans?

The warriors of the vast wilderness were extremely agitated. Their first foray into the central plains was like a child coming into the city from a rural village.

They brought with them ignorance, hesitation, their tribe's hope, and the dreams of making a triumphant return. They stood alone with little power against the scions who had family backgrounds and abilities far greater than them.

Hei Sha's persistence stirred the hearts of empathy among the sons of the vast wilderness!

However, the array was cruel. It would not change due to the wishes of people.

"Cha!"

Hei Sha's other arm was scratched too!

At this point, Hei Sha had three wounds. Ji Chang smiled coldly as he knew Hei Sha was at his limit.

"Cha!"

The fourth wound!

At that moment, the whistling sounds of the Frost Metal Blood Balls, the laughter of the scions, the anticipation of the sons of the vast wilderness… disappeared. Hei Sha spewed a mouthful of fresh blood and his body flew out.

The fifth Frost Metal Blood Ball had ripped the muscles in his chest, breaking his ribs and was embedded within his chest!

The Frost Metal Blood Balls would reduce its speed upon hitting a person's body. But this did not prevent the serious injury of rib fractures! This was the cruelty of the Jin Long Wei training.

At the moment he flew out, Hei Sha had instinctively covered his head with his arms. A Frost Metal Blood Ball had shot Hei Sha's thigh, nearly piercing it!

In the Jin Long Wei's camp, there were numerous injuries in the recruits, including a 2-3% mortality rate!

"Stop!" Big Ear Liu shouted and the array immediately stopped.

A few doctors immediately rushed over to tend to Hei Sha's injuries.

Hei Sha's injuries were serious. Even with high-grade medicines, he would still need to lay in bed for four to five days.

Ji Chang glanced at Hei Sha as his mouth formed an arc. He circulated the Qi within his body, evaporating the sweat on his forehead immediately.

He rubbed his wrists saying, "There's still some speed to spare. Too bad you lack the technique. But this isn't your fault. There is little heritage in the vast wilderness, and you can't learn many techniques. So most of the time, you are competing with strength and brute force."

"If you were to fight with similar savages, you would naturally be at an advantage, but when you meet someone with martial art skills, then you won't be able to hold out!" Ji Chang gave a few pointers.

Upon hearing this, the Jing State Young Masters Faction began applauding, "Ji Chang's pointers hit the nail on the head!"

"Indeed, Hei Sha lost to technique. But in the vast wilderness, there aren't many techniques." The Jing State Young Masters Faction echoed.

"Any sons of the vast wilderness willing to come up?" As Ji Chang asked, his eyes swept with mixed intentions towards Yi Yun.

Indeed, Yi Yun was his final target.

So what if he had stepped over Hei Sha?

Yi Yun was a Kingdom Knight. By stepping over a Kingdom Knight, it would be a release. What made you a Kingdom Knight and not me? My strength is greater than yours, and I'll purposely smack you in the face!

Not only Ji Chang was looking at Yi Yun, many of the sons of the vast wilderness were also looking at Yi Yun.

However, unlike Ji Chang's provocation, these sons of the vast wilderness looked at Yi Yun with a form of anticipation.

They had all lost. Even the fastest, Hei Sha, had lost to Ji Chang, so they wouldn't do.

Their only hope was Yi Yun, who had come out of the vast wilderness like them.

Him being a Kingdom Knight meant that he was no ordinary person.

Hei Sha had multiple injuries in his chest, resulting in severe blood loss. However, even as he was gasping for breath on the stretcher, Hei Sha still looked up at Yi Yun with great difficulty.

Yi Yun looked calmly at Hei Sha in the eye. Although he did not know Hei Sha and he had never spoken a word with him, Yi Yun felt that he had to do something for him.

It was the respect a warrior deserved.

After all, Yi Yun had come out from the vast wilderness. He may not have a strong sense of belonging with the vast wilderness, but he did share the same homology as these sons of the vast wilderness. He could see the resilience and suffering of the people of the vast wilderness. Just like Jiang Xiaorou who persisted on.

Maybe one day, they would not suffer from low self-esteem due to their vast wilderness backgrounds, but use it as a form of honor!

With this in mind, Yi Yun walked towards the array.

"I shall compete with you." Yi Yun said lightly.

Ji Chang was overjoyed. He laughed loudly, "To compete with a Kingdom Knight is a great honor!"

The Jing State Young Masters Faction were excited. They could finally see how great a so-called vast wilderness Kingdom Knight could be. Stepping over a Kingdom Knight would definitely feel good.

"Don't you need to rest?" Yi Yun asked Ji Chang.

"Thank you, Kingdom Knight, for worrying about me. But it was just a warm up, so I do not need any rest. As for you, do you need to warm up?" Ji Chang exuded extreme confidence in his words.

It was tit-for-tat between the two!

"Interesting!" At that moment, Yan Menglong suddenly laughed. None of the Jin Long Wei recruits had recognized him ever since he came. If so, Ji Chang would not have dared to continue clamoring.

Hearing this voice, Ji Chang stumbled. Noticing Yan Menglong's dressing, he immediately realized the identity of Yan Menglong!

He quickly responded by cupping his fists, "Greetings General Yan, I am Ji Chang! May the General forgive me for my public rashness!"

In front of Yan Menglong, Ji Chang maintained propriety without being servile or bumptious.

Yan Menglong laughed, "Being young and rash and being contentious might not be a bad thing. I do wish that my army has absolute obedience in the battlefield, but to not show obedience to anyone during training! Engaging in combat is great!"

"Since you are competing today, I'll add some flair to it. Anyone can compete in this match. Whoever finishes in first place by suppressing everyone will be allowed to the enter the Divine Capital's top grade armory and choose two weapons. Whatever you like can be taken away. In addition, I'll give two desolate bone relics!"

After Yan Menglong said those words, the young warriors present immediately lit up!

To enter the Divine Capital's top grade armory and choose two weapons? And two desolate bone relics?

The Divine Capital's top grade armory was an extremely high-level armory that was filled with weapons made with excellent workmanship. They were made with valuable materials and inscribed with arrays on them, making them priceless!

Even the teenager beside General Yan seemed interested. Many people had noticed the teenager. He had come in together with General Yan and he wore a flying fish robe. It meant that he was a Kingdom Knight, making his stature extraordinary.

Weapons… Desolate bone relic…

In the array, Yi Yun gently clasped his fists. This was a great surprise. He was lacking a weapon. The Yanchi saber was a standard weapon of the Jin Long Wei. Hence, in terms of quality and other aspects, it was not excellent.
True Martial World

True Martial World - Chapter 145: Start the array

As Yi Yun was deep in thought, he saw a young man wearing red, standing beside the heptagonal array.

This young man was about fourteen years old and he was luxuriously dressed, apparently not of ordinary birth.

"Start the array, I'll try my moves!" The youth was extremely confident. "Frost Metal Blood Balls array, begin it at difficulty level ten!"

As the youth said those words, a few other youths beside him laughed, "Hahaha, Young Master Ji Chang has great bravery, to begin right away with level ten!"

"This Frost Metal Blood Balls array is dangerous, if you are not careful, you can break your bones!"

As they said, they lit up the array.

Beside the heptagonal ground was a stone platform with were rows of red crystals embedded in it. The crystal's red color deepened along the row and the highest crystal was blood red.

There were three rows of crystals, with ten crystals forming a row, resulting in a total of thirty crystals.

The group of people lit up ten red crystals, which was also known as difficulty level ten.

This tenth level of difficulty tested a warrior's reaction to the attacks by ten of these Frost Metal Blood Balls. Ji Chang was just fourteen years of age, as expected of the saying, heroes emerge from youngsters!

Once the array was switched on, the Frost Metal Blood Balls immediately began flying at extreme speeds!

Each blood pearl left behind a faint reddish blur. They moved quickly, forming random lines that were dazzling to behold!

The youth took a deep breath and rushed in!

The youth tossed and turned within the array like an agile leopard. The ten blood pearls did not even manage to touch his sleeves.

After the array was lit up for fifteen minutes, it slowly weakened.

The red-shirt youth walked out unharmed from the array.

His face was slightly flushed red and clearly, he still had a lot of remaining strength.

"Young Master Ji Chang is so strong, as expected of the Jing state's Sunan examination's third place!"

"Of course! The southern examination was filled with powerhouses. Young Master Ji Chang is different for him to be ranked third. If I must say, Young Master Ji Chang should be made a Kingdom Knight!"

The few Jing state young masters echoed one another and praised each other. They were the young masters of from the state of Jing, so complimenting each other was a matter of course.

These young masters were 13-15 years of age. Few children of large family clans would join the Jin Long Wei above the age of fifteen.

It could be said that they were in the prime of their youth, bright and valiant. It was the period they thought they were the center of the world.

"I say, the few of you, do you want to try?"

The few young masters looked towards some youths nearby.

These youths had rough skin. They wore clothes made out of animal fur and were physically stout. From the beginning to end, they had never opened their mouths and had been silent in the corner. They had a weak presence.

They were much older. Even the youngest was seventeen years old. Several of them were over twenty years of age.

Clearly, they were warriors from the vast wilderness.

The warriors of the vast wilderness lacked resources. Hence, their cultivation speed could not compete with the speed of the young masters from the Jing state's large family clans. Furthermore, many of these sons of the vast wilderness could only join the Jin Long Wei above the age of sixteen since the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom almost never held the kingdom's selection in the vast wilderness.

For example, Hu Ya entered the Jin Long Wei at eighteen years of age.

For a warrior, a young age was an advantage.

With everyone being at the same level and equal strength, a fourteen-year-old would naturally despise an eighteen-year-old.

The warriors of the vast wilderness had already arrived in the Jin Long Wei camp a few days ago.

For the past few days, they had been ostracized by the Jing state young masters.

These highborn young masters naturally formed a faction also known as the Jing State Young Masters Faction. They were large in numbers and powerful. Naturally, the Jin Long Wei members that came from the vast wilderness were in an inferior position.

When choosing the barracks, the Jing State Young Masters Faction occupied the best spots in the barracks, and the sons of the vast wilderness had to occupy the corners.

When the bone relics were distributed, the Jing State Young Masters Faction received the majority, while they received the least.

Even during meals at the canteen, the Jing State Young Masters Faction would pick all the expensive meat with greater energy, leaving the low-quality meat to them.

During their visit to General Yan, the Jing State Young Masters Faction immediately surrounded the Thunder Sky Drum and the Frost Metal Blood Balls and entered the array to train and spar, while the sons of the wilderness were ostracized to the side.

Actually, seeing the Jing State Young Masters Faction's strength, these sons of the vast wilderness had to acknowledge their strength, but it didn't mean that they were afraid of them.

The sons of the vast wilderness had a wildness within them!

They grew up in the harsh environment of the vast wilderness, so they did not easily admit defeat. Having been provoked, how could they bear it any further? A tanned youth stood forward.

He was about seventeen-years-old and he was lean. His glances were like bolts of lightning.

He gave off the feeling of a wolf that came from the vast wilderness. "My name is Hei Sha from the Blackrock tribal clan. If you want to challenge me, I'll take you on!"

"Hehe! Challenge?" The scions smiled upon hearing those words. "We aren't challenging you. You don't have the qualification to make us challenge you. It's all a game!"

The Jing State Young Masters Faction's arrogant words made Hei Sha pop a vein on his forehead!

Game!?

"Alright, I'll play with you!"

It was not a spur of the moment decision for Hei Sha to go on-stage. Within the Blackrock tribal clan, he may not be the strongest, but he was the fastest!

In the Blackrock tribal clan, he had the nickname of black lightning.

If it was to beat the Thunder Sky Drum, he might not be up to it, but he was filled with confidence when it came to the Frost Metal Blood Balls array!

"Come on up!" Ji Chang said as he saw loathing in Hei Sha's eyes. "Let's do it together so that it will be fair!"

With that said, Ji Chang glanced at Yi Yun from the corner of his eyes.

This glance was not obvious, but sharp Yi Yun was able to sense it. Yi Yun suddenly understood that this Ji Chang was unconvinced of his status as a Kingdom Knight from the vast wilderness, hence he imposed on those sons of the vast wilderness.

The Tai Ah Divine Kingdom gave great importance to stature. Although he was from the vast wilderness, Yi Yun had much higher stature as a Kingdom Knight than the Ji Chang, who was from a large family clan!

Whether it was Ji Chang or the other Jing state scions, none of them could provoke Yi Yun publicly. If they came into conflict and came to blows, an inquiry would prove that they were insubordinate, landing them in trouble.

Hence, they did not dare to flaunt in front of Yi Yun, but their indignation made them target the warriors from the vast wilderness and gain an upper hand against them. Those were the thoughts on their minds.

How could the Jing state scions, celebrities that came from large family clans be oppressed by a bunch of savages from the vast wilderness? After experiencing fierce battles, they had failed to obtain the title of Kingdom Knight. What made Yi Yun special?

Just as Hei Sha and Ji Chang stood in the middle of the array, Ji Chang said suddenly, "If I were to say, ten levels of difficulty is too boring, what do you think?"

Hei Sha raised his eyebrows. He suddenly realized that Ji Chang did not go his all previously. He still had more to spare!

By first appearing weak to prevent the opponent from shying away, then luring him into battle before raising the difficulty was a way to defeat the opponent in one swoop!

Hei Sha immediately understood Ji Chang's thoughts. Indeed, the moment he stepped into that array, there was no way to back down. He had to accept it even if Ji Chang had made the difficulty even higher!

A simple trick to appear weak before forcing him into a dead end!

Although this trick was simple, don't forget that Ji Chang was a fourteen-year-old child. He was extremely scheming!

These scions were not simple folk!

Hei Sha took a deep breath as his wizened face burned with fighting spirit.

Ji Chang still had more to spare but he was still pretty confident of his movement ability.

Alright, we shall battle it out in this array!

"Eleven levels of difficulty, begin!" Ji chang casually waved.

One of the Jing state young masters faction's members was by the control panel of the array. He laughed, "Ji Chang, tell me if it's not difficult enough, I'll add more for you."

With that said, he pressed the eleventh crystal!

"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!"

Eleven Frost Metal Blood Balls began whistling through the sky. The eleventh difficulty had one additional Frost Metal Blood Ball than the tenth difficulty, and they were even faster now.

The extreme speeds made the Frost Metal Blood Balls emitted a sharp whistling sound.

Ji Chang and Hei Sha began moving at the same time!

Both of them were extremely fast, leaving behind shadows. It was hard for people to distinguish the shadow from the person!

Yi Yun watched Ji Chang and Hei Sha by the side. Their every move could be seen clearly by Yi Yun. It was as if they were moving slowly in his eyes.

"To be able to make it to the Jin Long Wei elite, they sure aren't simple," said Hu Ya, who was standing beside Yi Yun. On this journey, he was a man of few words.

Yi Yun nodded, "Yes, this Hei Sha's speed is very fast, and he is actually a little faster than Ji Chang. This should be his talent."

"Unfortunately, Hei Sha makes a lot of unnecessary moves. Hence, his evasive actions have perhaps less than 40% efficiency. As for Ji Chang's evasive efficiency, it's as high as 60-70%. This great difference cannot be bridged with a slight improvement in speed."

As Yi Yun said that, Ji Chang suddenly shouted, "Add more, twelve levels of difficulty!"

Under the high-speed evasion, Ji Chang was able to distract himself and speak. He laughed arrogantly.

"Alright!" The man by the array's control panel made a nefarious smile before pressing the twelfth crystal!

Twelve levels of difficulty!

The Frost Metal Blood Balls' whistling sound became higher in frequency. Together with one additional Frost Metal Blood Ball, Ji Chang and Hei Sha were under great pressure.

Sweat began to appear on Hei Sha's forehead!

At that moment, a stout middle-aged man appeared by the square's entrance. With a smile on his face, he noted with interest of the scene within the Frost Metal Blood Balls array…
True Martial World

True Martial World - Chapter 144: Thunder Sky Drum

It had to be said that the shocking power of a Kingdom Knight was great.

Especially among the young elites present. Who didn't want to be made into a noble or render meritorious services?

Kingdom Knight was the starting point for everyone. But some people might never reach this starting point in their entire lives. Now, Yi Yun, a child shorter than them by a head was a Kingdom Knight.

Suddenly, many eyes were cast on Yi Yun.

Most prominent was the glittering eyes of the six youths behind Big Ear Liu as they looked at Yi Yun.

Without words, there wouldn't be martial arts. In this world where strength mattered the most, no one seceded from each other.

"This kid came out of the vast wilderness as a recruit and he has already been conferred the title of Kingdom Knight. I chose from so many geniuses in the large family clans and they were only Jin Long Wei elites!"

"Hmph! You are just picking a general among dwarfs. In the vast wilderness, the warriors are generally of low standards, so the occasional talent isn't odd. Even if they were astounding, with our standards, we could easily sweep them up in the Cloud Wilderness."

"This Kingdom Knight conferment must be child's play!"

The people used Yuan Qi to discuss privately. Due to the difference in status between the nobles and the commoners, they did not dare question Yi Yun.

In the Cloud Wilderness, most of the people in the kingdom's selection were just to make up the numbers. Most of them were eliminated after the first round.

But in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, all the young talents participated in the kingdom's selection. Most of them were nurtured by big family clans and were all considered elites. The selection's battles were elating scenes, with rounds of fighting, competition and tragic outcomes!

So the young talents that stood out among the large family clans had especially great superiority complexes.

They felt that they were better than others.

In fact, their superiority wasn't unfounded. Under normal circumstances, the young talents from the vast wilderness could not be compared to the talents from the central plains.

"I see. So this kid is from the Cloud Wilderness. What's your name, little bro?" Big Ear Liu touched his stubble and watched Yi Yun with a smile.

"I'm Yi Yun," Yi Yun cupped his hands.

"Oh… Yi Yun." Big Ear Liu nodded. "Interesting. Young Fella, we will be competitors in the future!" Big Ear Liu said without any niceties.

By the side, Zhang Tan said, "This might not happen. Shallow waters cannot hold a dragon. After Yi Yun passes recruit training, he is unlikely to stay under me. I don't think I can keep him."

The outstanding warriors of the Jin Long Wei had special arrangements. Those that stood out to the point of alarming the Jin Long Wei commander would be given special appointments by the commander. As such, Zhang Tan would not be able to keep Yi Yun under him.

Big Ear Liu could tell what Zhang Tan meant. His big ears trembled and he looked at Zhang Tan with an incredulous look. "Zhang, you sure are confident!"

"Hahaha! You too!" Zhang Tan's words were full of pretense, making Yi Yun speechless. While in the Tao tribal clan, Zhang Tan appeared extremely serious, but now in the Jin Long Wei's camp, in front of his rival, he was also pretty good at shamming.

It seemed like when soldiers get together, they liked to brag, expressing their troop's or their own strength.

But this bragging would arouse the competitiveness of others. Big Ear Liu was extremely disgruntled. He said to Yi Yun, "Little bro, take a look around. It will be a while before General Yan arrives"

Big Ear Liu patted Yi Yun on the shoulder and gave him a meaningful glance.

The Jin Long Wei square was large, spanning a distance of more than a thousand feet.

The most conspicuous item was the large war drum in the middle of the square. The drum's surface was black. It needed about seven to eight men encircling it before they could carry it.

The drum was placed on a bracket and the bracket was thirty feet tall and made of black iron. The metal legs were buried deeply into the ground!

In front of the drum, was a raised platform. A person could stand on the platform to hit the drums. The drumstick was a purple-colored femur of a beast and one end of it was connected to the drum's bracket with a metal chain.

The drum was very impressive!

Big Ear Liu noticed Yi Yun's interest in the drum and said by his side, "This is the Thunder Sky Drums! I'm not sure if you have seen the battles between armies. Soldiers will line up in a row and wait. When the order is made to charge, a specialist drummer will drum on it. This is what it means by rousing the spirit with the beat of the drum! And when the soldiers are withdrawn, a drummer will beat the gongs, hence the saying beat the gongs and withdraw the army."

"This Thunder Sky Drums is our Divine Capital Jin Long Wei's war drum! During a war, it is brought to the front lines. When it is drummed, it will cause the heavens and earth to tremble. When our soldiers charge, they will gain strength from the drum beat, giving them greater morale and multiply their combat strength!"

"So this is a war drum!" Yi Yun touched his cheek as he carefully looked at the drum.

In the era of cold weapons, wars needed drums. One reason was to give the signal to charge, the second reason was to boost the morale of the soldiers. For armies, the importance of having a good drum mattered greatly.

Big Ear Liu carried on, "This Thunder Sky Drum's drum skin is made of Heaven Ox's hide. This Heaven Ox has the bloodline of the divine beast, Kiu Ox. It can be considered a primordial desolate beast. Its hide is impervious to swords and resistant against fire! Back in the day, the Divine Capital city's city lord killed a Heaven Ox. He soaked the leather in solution for ten years, and after ten thousand thrashes, this hide was used as the war drum skin."

"Every beat on this Thunder Sky Drum will result in a vibratory force in response. Warriors without a solid foundation would not dare beat it because the aftershock can tear them apart!"

The divine beast, Kiu Ox, looked like an ox but it only has one leg and it had a deafening roar. Records indicate that an ancient emperor used its hide for a drum and used a thunder beast's bone, which created a sound that could be heard throughout Heaven and on Earth, impressing the whole world.

Big Ear Liu slapped the Thunder Sky Drum's bracket and said proudly, "How is it? Do you feel the drum's magnificence? When the Jin Long Wei is not at war, this Thunder Sky Drum is kept in the square. The members of the Jin Long Wei who are undergoing training will find pride by beating it!"

"Usually, an early stage Purple Blood warrior can barely beat it once or twice before finding himself exhausted after. The rebound shock can really tear you apart!" Big Ear Liu said with an expressive smug look.

After listening to the introduction, Yi Yun had a surge of hot blood rising. No one knew what sort of desolate bone that heavy and thick drumstick was made from. It made Yi Yun want to pick it up and give a try at knocking it.

"Look there," Big Ear Liu pointed to the side. "The Thunder Sky Drum tests a warrior's physical resilience and strength, while that array over there tests a warrior's movement!"

Yi Yun looked in the direction that Big Ear Liu pointed at and noticed that beside the Thunder Sky Drum was a vacant ground. On the vacant ground, there was a large array demarcated.

This array resembled a huge heptagon, and a dozen burning flame balls floated above it.

These round balls were red and not connected to anything. It could fly around freely in the air, which interested Yi Yun.

"Haha, these balls are called Frost Metal Blood Balls. In the deep sea trenches, there are huge Blood Oysters. These Blood Oysters are fierce beasts and can swallow a shark! The Blood Oysters will absorb the frost metal dust in the ocean and merge it within itself to form a metallic pearl called a Frost Metal Blood Ball! A Frost Metal Blood Ball the size of a fist weighs more than a hundred catties and can be used to make weapons and other magical objects. It's worth a fortune!"

"Look at those Frost Metal Blood Balls. A rune has been engraved on each of them. Using the array's power, the Frost Metal Blood Balls can fly in the air at extreme speeds. If one hits your body, it will cause a serious injury! If you are unlucky, you can even die!"

With Big Ear Liu's introduction, Yi Yun looked wistfully at the dozen Frost Metal Blood Balls.

There were rumors that under a full moon, a giant oyster will float on the sea surface, and by borrowing the moonlight to temper its body, it would condense a pearl.

This was the so-called "Bright Moon over the Sea Shedding Tears"

This pearl was an amalgamation of the giant oyster's essence. If it was picked and brewed with herbs, drinking it down would be great for one’s body.

Yi Yun did not expect that the Jin Long Wei camp used such a treasured pearl in an array to test a person's movement skills.

Looking at the empty ground's heptagon array, Yi Yun understood the principles of the array. A warrior would stand on the empty ground and attempt to avoid the attacks of the Frost Metal Blood Balls. Whoever had better movement speeds would avoid them better.

A Thunder Sky Drum and a Frost Metal Blood Balls array were tests that covered the two basic aspects of a warrior. Just from this, it could be seen that the Jin Long Wei's camp had a great heritage. Both the Thunder Sky Drum and the Frost Metal Blood Balls array were extremely expensive. In the Cloud Wilderness, they would have been labeled treasures.
True Martial World

Dual Sword God - Chapter 60: The Ten Pseudo Chosen, Brothers Conflict!

With the rise of Xiang Shu claiming the Pseudo Chosen Title, so followed the remaining top class geniuses. The battles were intense as most of these individuals were of the same league of strength, however, only a few individuals were proven to stand far above the pack.

Feng Yu, Dai Lin, Hui Ying, Xin Qing, Zang Xu, Xia Rou, Ye Wang, Wuqi Shouqi, and the Southern Wasteland Youth each defeated all of their following opponents with relative ease, displaying an utterly crushing might that deterred all remaining foes.

Now, each of them had successfully gained a bronze token and was currently standing within the outer square looking at the Ancient Dragon for signs of change.

The Major Influences and Rogue Practitioners remained in silence as they felt a strange atmosphere lingering in the air, as the Feng Clan and Divine Prophet Group stood on high alert for any moments of unexpected change.

Buzz!!

A loud buzzing sounded throughout the area and the eyes of the Ancient Dragon Construct started to glow once more in a bright white and black light, soon the voice of ancient times resounded throughout the battle arena once again.

"The War for Pseudo Chosen have now been completed! Now the War for True Chosen shall begin, each Pseudo Chosen will regardless of their defeat be allowed entry into the Ancient Dragon Battlefield and your tokens will allow for you and ten individuals to enter the outer regions of the battlefield. If you win your opponent and become a 'True Chosen,' you shall be allowed to enter the inner regions with 100 individuals. Lastly, for the 'Chosen One' Title you will be allowed to bring a maximum of 1000 individuals to the central battlefield regions." said this Ancient Dragon as its eyes glowed seeming to be looking around at everyone's reaction.

As the Major Parties heard this, a bright gleam shone in many of their eyes, as the Xun Yanshan, Xin Zhu, the Midnight Temple, the Southern Wasteland and the Feng Clan observed in silence.

"Allowed entry with ten times the individuals for each token, it seems that this battlefield is as the rumors say a very ruthless place..." muttered Feng Yunlong as he thought about the hidden details.

"No matter, where there are risks there are also good opportunities. With the resources stored in this Pre-Calamity Era Mystic Realm, we should be able to recover most of our strength at the fast rate," said Feng Junling standing to the side.

As the influences discussed amongst themselves, the Ancient Dragon continued to speak once more.

"Good! Present Your desired titles and the True Chosen Wars will commence!" the voice said as it resounded throughout the world once more.

As it said this, a sound echoed inside of the minds of the Pseudo Chosen who after a short while each willed their thoughts to the Ancient Dragon, after a while there was another change in the battle arena.

Rumble!!!

The Chosen Battle Arena started to shake once again as the Pseudo Chosens were now placed to stand on top of a Bronze Square surrounding the five Silver Squares and Golden Square.

Puuii!!

A bright light then shone from each of the bronze squares which then began to draw a new chart above the battlefield, soon a series of lines interconnecting with each other were depicted as the battle match ups were finally revealed for all to see.

The Major Influences and Rogue Practitioners couldn't help but grow tense as they saw the current battle matchups.

"It's... it's actually that faction from the South!!!!!" a man said in shock as saw the title regarding the Southern Wasteland Group.

"A Star Body Practitioner! To think that clan from the Golden Dragon Empire is also here! Who would have thought?" said another influential character in shock.

"That girl, no wonder her fighting style was so strange. It turns out she was a Mage after all..." said another as he observed a females name on the listings.

"Such a terrifying set of matches, I don't know who will claim the top in this kind of listing!" exclaimed a rogue practitioner.

"I would have never thought that geniuses belong to those Major Influences were actually those famous characters.." said an influential figure who looked in shock at the names displayed.

The Townlord also looked at the names with fear in his heart, as did the affiliate powers such as the Sheng Imperial Clan and Xuan Imperial Clan only the Xin Clan and Tang Clan did not feel too many deep oppressions from the names.

Of course, the Feng Clan remained indifferent to all as they calmly observed their surrounding along with the white-robed men seated around the white-robed woman. She turned her gaze towards the Feng Clan and a deep look shone in her eyes.

"Em. This will be an intense bout far above the level of the previous wars..." said the scholarly looking man as he observed the listings. They were as follows:

[Unknown Hui Ying Vs. Weapon Prodigy Wuqi Shouqi]

[Spear Child Zang Xu Vs. Shadow Child Xin Qing]

[Blue Thunder Dai Lin Vs. Southern Revolution Faction's Nei Dongyuan]

[Red Haired Swordfiend Feng Yu Vs. Star Body Ye Wang]

[The Ghostly Xiang Shu Vs. Arcane Mage Xia Rou]

Feng Yu looked at the names in surprise as he didn't think that everyone would reveal their details so suddenly.

Dai Lin who saw the names on the list couldn't help but grip his fists in excitement as he spoke.

"It looks like this is where the true battle begins..." he said in a soft but deep voice.

Hui Ying remained in silence as he observed the paring at the top of the list, as each of the Ten Pseudo Chosens scoped out their competitions.

After a while, the Ancient Dragon eyes glowed with a bright light once more filling its voice in the area. "True Chosen Wars commence!!!!"

Puuii!!!

Quickly, the bronze squares of Hui Ying and Wuqi Shouzhi began to move towards a silver square, soon combining with the silver square creating a large battle platform.

"Oh!! Its the Genius from the Weapon Clan fighting once more so soon." said Influential figure.

"This Unknown Youngster he's up against is called Hui Ying, I've never heard of such a clan before" muttered an individual.

As these Influences and Practitioners conversed, the two individuals finally faced each other.

They stared at each other as if they didn't need to speak to convey words, however soon the silence was broken.

"A dog who left its home is not a good dog but a mutt that needs punishment! Do you know how angry father was when he found out you had disappeared?" said Wuqi Shouzhi through voice transmission message, as he looked at Hui Ying with a hint of hatred.

Hui Ying hearing this smiled with a trace of mock on his face, "What do my matters have to do with him? And When was it your place to tell me about my position?" he said with indifference.

"It became my place when you came into our clan as nothing more than sheltered trash, renegades of some eradicated unknown clan from distant lands. Nothing more than stragglers eating away at my families resources. You should know your place and your standing as you and that vagabond sister of yours are now properties of the Wuqi Clan." said Wuqi Shouzhi with a smile on his face.

"Say what you will about my family, but it will serve you no good! I have my own matters to handle, as such, it is not your turn nor the clans to tell me what I need to do?" replied Hui Ying with a firm and indifferent look on the face.

"Ha Ha Ha! Is that so, very well then. I suppose you do not care about what will happen to that adorable little sister of yours then am I correct?" replied Wuqi Shouzhi.

A terrifying, murderous intent quick arose from Hui Ying's body quickly surrounding the body of Wuiq Shouzhi.

"Such terrifying murderous aura!!" said a common practitioner.

"Why did he suddenly release such a dark intent? Could it be they actually have some sort of grudge?" said an influential character.

The Major Influences observed in interest at the battle platform seeing the two Pseudo Chosen's stand-in silence, as if they were discussing amongst themselves until the sudden release of murderous intent.

Feng Yu and Dai Lin looked at the scene with a deep gaze as they observed the rage-filled expression of Hui Ying and the mocking expression of Wuqi Shouzhi.

Hui Ying looked at Wuqi Shouzi with dense killing intent as he spoke out in a loud and terrifying voice. "What have you done to my sister?!!!!!" as he roared a powerful aura released itself from his form, in an instant his cultivation base soared to the peak of Body Training with wisps of Aura scattering from his body. His muscles bulged as his hair became longer making him take on a strange change.

Wuqi Shouzi looked on with a trace of fear. However, he soon recovered his expression and spoke once more. "Ha Ha! What good will come from trying to fight me? You think we wouldn't be able to find where you hid your sister if we could so easily trace your whereabouts? You are truly naive, You have two options, return to the family or accept a punishment which naturally will be applied to that sister of yours as well.."

Hearing this Hui Ying recovered his state of mind, calming himself down as his powerful energies receded into his body changing back to normal.

The Rogue Practitioners and Major Influences looked on in shock.

"What? What kind of strange power is this?" said Xun Yanshan as he looked at Hui Ying in shock.

The Midnight Temple Strange Man and Southern Wasteland Unknown Man eyes were stunned as he looked at Hui Ying.

Zang Xu gripped his spear firmly as a sharp light shone in his eyes filled with the excitement for battle, as the other Pusedo Chosens felt a tinge of fear in their hearts.

Feng Yu and Dai Lin were also shocked by the scene.

"Brother Ying, it seems you've hidden your strength really well.." muttered Feng Yu as a looked at Hui Ying."

on the side of the Feng Clan, Feng Junling, Feng Yunlong, and Feng Xingyu looked at Hui Ying with a deep gaze.

"This brat is of no ordinary lineage, that was war saint prestige. How could this be?" said Feng Junling as he looked at Hui Ying in surprise.

Back on the battle platform, Hui Ying who had finally calm down his emotions spoke.

"Ha Ha! You did well, and you came fully prepare too. Well done. However, you've also underestimated my own preparations." as he said this, he took out a strange looking talisman emitting strange fluctuations in the void and crushed it to pieces.

"Oh, Shit! It's a space token!!! Hui Ying you son of a bitch!!!" roared as he launched a counter space locking ancient talisman, however, it was too late.

Hui Ying's form became ethereal as his figure started to float towards the void slowly fading away as he looked towards Feng Yu and Dai Lin before saying.

"Brother Yu, Brother Lin, sorry I couldn't see this trial out with you guys to the end. It seems my problems have caught up with me sooner than I had expected. However, I believe that one day we will meet again, so until then take care," as his voice resounded throughout their mind, his figure became more transparent.

He then looked towards Wuqi Shouzhi and spoke. "Wuqi Shouzhi of the Wuqi Weapon Clan, Pass my words on to your father: 'The day My Arrow descends is the day Wuqi Clan ends..."

"Ends!.... Ends!.... Ends!..." his voice reverberated throughout the chosen battle arena as all Major Influential Characters looked up in shock as the form of Hui Ying then vanished, fading away into the darkness of the night.

As the Common practitioners and Major Influential characters were tossed into a clamoring state, a few individuals had certain thoughts of their own.

Feng Yu looked at the form of Wuqi Shouzhi on the battle platform with a hidden seed of hatred boiling in his heart, as the white-robed woman looked towards the location Hui Ying vanished as she muttered in her thoughts.

"Destiny divines and so it follows...." her voiced faded into the wind as a considerable commotion soon followed after.
Dual Sword God

The Legend of Futian - Chapter 26: The Stubborn Young Man

The big chiefs of Qingzhou Academy were staring at Ye Futian, almost as if they were looking at a monster.

He could inscribe the scrolls so quickly that it was definitely important. It meant that this boy possessed an insane control over the perception of Spiritual Qi. Therefore, even without the scrolls, he was still able to initiate spells that were

above his level and plane.

"Looks like we missed someone on the List of Excellence for the Fall Quarter Exam, and this guy is now on probation. Anyone mind explaining that?" The Director of the Hall of Thunder Element questioned these decisions, giving Shi Zhong a cold glance.

Shi Zhong looked really awkward. Yu Sheng had been so powerful in the previous battles, while Murong Qiu had been wholly intimidated by the enemies. Ye Futian just made Shi Zhong's situation worse with this talents.

Ye Futian kept inscribing with absolute focus. Yun Tianhao, however, was mad. His matrix had no advantage against the inscriptions and it was humiliating.

Yun Tianhao initiated spell attacks continuously. In fact, a lot of them were actually over the Plane of Awakening level. Ye Futian seemed to be unaffected by the attacks. He blocked every attack from Yun Tianhao with a swing of his inscribing pen and kept working on the scrolls. Soon, another scroll was coming into form.

He finally finished the scroll and laughed slightly. At the moment he dropped his pen, a horrifying thunderstorm burst out of the scroll, roaring towards Yun Tianhao.

"Frost Barrier!" Yun Tianhao sealed his body with the frost he had summoned. He almost looked like an ice sculpture. Frost Barrier was the top-level water-element defense spell in the Planes of Awakening.

The thunderstorm was raging down from the sky. However, rather than attacking the frost barrier, it was the matrix under Yun Tianhao that was the focus of this attack. The patterns of the matrix were being scraped and destroyed.

"Be careful! He's aiming for your matrix!" someone from Heiyan Academy tried to alert Yun Tianhao.

At the same time, Ye Futian stood up. He charged toward Yun Tianhao like the wind. He was so fast that Yun Tianhao had no time to defend himself with his matrix.

Yun Tianhao stood up straight. Coldness flowed around him, absorbing the power of the universe, and he was turning his own body into a matrix to generate spells.

All the space around him began to freeze. His hair began to turn gray and white, along with his eyebrows. He looked directly at Ye Futian as frost condensed into sharp lances right in front of his body.

"Die!" Yun Tianhao had lost his mind. He had decided to kill his opponent, and the frost lances were aimed at Ye Futian's heart.

However, at the same time, a flame burst in front of Ye Futian. Soon, countless flames suddenly started to appear.

"Grand Meteor?" The people of Qingzhou Academy were confused. The Grand Meteor was, in fact, the most basic spell of all attacks and its power was truly limited.

The question was, where did it come from?

Had Ye Futian controlled the fire-element power in the same space to initiate that? It was impossible, because it required the level of elemental power perception that did not belong to a cultivator in the Plane of Awakening level.

"He was at the highest level of martial arts power perception and thunder-element power perception."

People were now reminded of his talents in power perception. In fact, they now believed that he also possessed talent in fire-element power perception, which could be at the highest level as well.

Of course, the Grand Meteor did not serve as an attack. Yun Tianhao briefly lifted his hand, and his frost engulfed all of the flames in front of him. However, more flames were flying around his field of view. He suddenly realized that Ye Futian was blocking his sight with the flames and approaching him.

Yun Tianhao considered this distraction useless. He was ready for any possible attacks.

Suddenly, Ye Futian bolted to his side. At that moment, Yun Tianhao shouted with extreme anger. All of the frost lances floating in front of his body rushed at Ye Futian without any hesitation.

While he attacked, Ye Futian's entire body was bathed in fire, and he almost looked as if he was glowing like the sun. All of the frost lances melted and vaporized the moment they reached his body.

Ye Futian's body was more than a furnace that evaporated all coldness.

Water-elements could counter fire-elements in a fight. However, when the flame was hot enough, it worked the other way.

"No! Tianhao, go back!" the eagle-eyed leader yelled at Yun Tianhao. However, Ye Futian was just too fast. His body pounced into the air. Then he rushed at Yun Tianhao with all the flames around him, like a roaring fire dragon. A fire dragon seemed to posess Ye Futian's body during this attack.

All the frost defense was gone. Yun Tianhao realized that there was nowhere he could escape to. The matrix on his body started to absorb any surviving frost power around the area to cushion the inevitable attack.

A dragon roar shattered through the space and the frost barrier. Yun Tianhao was thrown into the air by this attack. The flame even penetrated his skin, and his whole body was scorched.

An influential member of Heiyan Academy rushed forward and caught Yun Tianhao's body. Soon, many others gathered around this boy. They all looked incredibly nervous.

A flow of blood gushed from his mouth. He felt a bit better and mumbled to the people surrounding him, "I won't die."

His arrogant eyes looked toward Ye Futian coldly. He had actually lost to someone in the same Plane of Awakening.

Ye Futian was also looking at him. He started talking calmly, "Someone once told me, a Mandate Sorcerer never loses, right?"

Another gush of blood flowed out. Yun Tianhao had been considered the pride of Heiyan Academy since he was a kid and had never been humiliated like this.

However, he had lost anyway. He could not deny this fact.

"Who are you?" He stared at Ye Futian with all the strength left in his body, as if trying to etch this boy into his memory forever.

"I am Ye Futian."

The eagle-eyed leader frowned and asked, "I knew all the names that were listed on the Lists of Excellence for the Spring and Fall Quarter Exams during recent years. Why were you not one of them?"

He believed that something must be wrong for a powerful mage like Ye Futian to be a nobody in Qingzhou Academy.

The big chiefs of Qingzhou Academy felt uncomfortable about this question. Something was going on behind the scenes that had caused Ye Futian to be excluded from the List of Excellence. However, they could not answer the question with the truth.

Ye Futian took this opportunity to mock the big chiefs of Qingzhou Academy. "You know what? Not only am I not on the List of Excellence, but I am actually on a probation list now."

"You're the winner, but you don't have to humiliate me in such a manner." Yun Tianhao stared at Ye Futian. He thought Ye Futian was joking to make fun of him.

"He's telling the truth," Yu Sheng said, although it seemed like he was not satisfied by this truth.

The people of Heiyan Academy were confused, but soon the eagle-eyed leader began laughing and looking at the big chiefs of Qingzhou Academy with contempt. "Seriously, you put such a genius on probation? Boy, just quit your school and come with us. I promise you that you'll be the star over here."

The people of Qingzhou Academy felt ashamed by this invitation, especially the big chiefs. Their enemy was now inviting a student that they had decided to put on probation. What irony was that?

"Thanks for your consideration, but no," Ye Futian rejected them directly.

"Sure. Next time we see each other, it's going to be a real fight." The eagle-eyed leader sounded like he was threatening and warning him, then he turned back. "Let's go."

The group from Heiyan Academy glanced at the Qingzhou Academy group, then turned around and left. Even though they had lost, their pride seemed unharmed by the defeat.

Actually, the people of Qingzhou Academy weren't relieved either.

Their "top students" had lost all three fights. Without Yu Sheng and Ye Futian, their arena would have witnessed the worst humiliation in the history of the academy.

How exciting that one of the saviors of the academy's honor was currently on probation, and the other one had lost his first place on the List of Excellence.

They were standing together, and all eyes were drawn to these boys. Only moments ago, people had finally realized how powerful they were.

Before the fights, people believed they were just bad students with inappropriate arrogance.

However, they now believed that their "arrogance" was, in fact, well-deserved.

"Ye Futian, I apologize on behalf of the academy. We have mistreated you. I am glad that we have seen our mistake. Now, since we know that you have the highest level of talent in thunder-element, fire-element, and martial arts power, do you have any preference in the selection of a college?" Leng Qingfeng, the Director of the Hall of Swords, was now asking for Ye Futian's decision. The big chiefs had realized that with all of these talents and his scroll inscribing ability, Ye Futian would be the star of any hall he chose to attend.

Both the College of Martial Arts and College of Sorcery were waiting for his choice.

"And Yu Sheng, you are more than welcome to join the Hall of Martial Arts. I will accept you as my own disciple if you choose to join, I promise," the Director of the Hall of Martial Arts invited Yu Sheng.

"Consider the Hall of Metal-element, Yu Sheng, you would be a great addition for us," the Director of the Hall of Metal-element was also competing for the prized students.

Yu Sheng said nothing but looked toward Ye Futian. Ye Futian would make the final decision for both of them.

The big chiefs realized what Yu Sheng meant by this gesture. They understood that Ye Futian would decide their futures.

Everyone was watching Ye Futian, waiting for him to make the final call.

Ye Futian perceived the expectations that all of the big chiefs had of him. He started speaking slowly. "Are we done with what happened during the Fall Quarter Exam yet?"

This question indeed made a lot of big chiefs feel awkward and the students wondered how stubborn this boy was to stay fixated on the topic even at this point.

"This boy…" Qin Yi mumbled. Of course, he felt happy for Ye Futian and Yu Sheng, because their abilities had been confirmed to everyone at the school. There was no doubt that their futures would be splendid. However, why he did he continue to misbehave and bring up the topic of the Fall Quarter Exam again?

Leng Qingfeng looked at Ye Futian, and he was even more dissatisfied about the conspiracy from Shi Zhong. He said, "Ye Futian, we admit that we somehow made a misjudgement during the Fall Quarter Exam. However, you guys have totally proven to us how powerful you are. Let's just leave it in the past, please."

"Misjudgement, that's it?" Ye Futian was laughing because he was still not satisfied. He knew that something must have been going on behind the scenes during the Fall Quarter Exam that made Murong Qiu rank first place. What Leng Qingfeng said was only to appease him.

"What do you want?" Leng Qingfeng asked again.

Ye Futian bowed slightly and said, "To be honest, I am not even an official student at the academy. It is definitely not proper for me to say whether it was truly just a 'misjudgement.' We defeated Heiyan Academy only as a favor for the three years of education we received from Qingzhou Academy. As for becoming an official student, there is no need."

People were shocked by his decision. The whole arena was in silence. Nothing moved other than the falling snowflakes through the air. People finally understood how stubborn this young man could be.
The Legend of Futian

The Legend of Futian - Chapter 25: Unparalleled Gift

"The Hand of the Dragon from the Release of the Dragon Power book of battle tactics, formed from the artistic conception of martial arts!" said someone in the crowd.

The elders shuddered. Having the artistic conception of martial arts meant that sorcery had started blooming outside of his body. Cultivators in the Unmaker Plane were able to do this, but nobody expected Ye Futian, who was two planes behind, in the Mystery Plane, to be able to do this as well. What was even more shocking was the fact that he was using the Hand of the Dragon.

At that moment, many people were reminded of the Fall Quarter Examinations when Ye Futian defeated Ling Xiao and Yang Xiu with great ease. It seemed now that Ye Futian did not give it his all. He stepped off the battlefield and made Yu Sheng fight. This seemingly shameless move was not because he was afraid, but because he wanted to let Yu Sheng shine. It was also because of this that Ye Futian reacted the way he had when it was announced that Murong Qiu had gotten first place over Yu Sheng.

Almost everyone had underestimated Ye Futian.

Ye Futian took a look at the young swordsman in training who had fallen into the grasp of the Hand of the Dragon and spoke lightly, "Heiyan Academy came so far to pick a fight but is this all you guys have?"

All the disciples of Qingzhou Academy looked at Ye Futian. Even though he was still being as pretentious as always, it did not bother them as much as usual.

After the three previous losses, Qingzhou Academy was utterly humiliated. Now, they were going to gain back some honor with the help of Yu Sheng and Ye Futian.

The young swordsman gave Ye Futian a dead stare. He still could not understand how Ye Futian managed to have such quick reflexes despite having his eyes closed.

"Next!" shouted Ye Futian. The loud roar of a dragon accompanied the movement of his arm. With one quick, simple swipe, the young man was thrown back into the group of his peers from Heiyan Academy.

Nobody in that group looked too good. They had sent out three people and gotten three consecutive wins, but now, two of those three people had been defeated in the blink of an eye. If this was the result they left with after having come such a long way, it would be really embarrassing.

Yun Tianhao stepped up, looking more serious than before. He looked at Ye Futian and said, "You're worthy enough for me to step in personally."

Worthy enough? Ye Futian looked at him in disbelief. Yun Tianhao was more arrogant than Ye Futian.

"Make your move," said Yun Tianhao.

"You should make the first move. If I go first you won't have a chance to do anything." After hearing Ye Futian say this, Yun Tianhao's expression darkened. He then released his Life Spirit and took a step forward, a matrix forming underneath him. It was a Fire Matrix, able to endlessly absorb the world's Fire Elemental Spiritual Qi. Frightening fire boas revolved around the matrix. Yun Tianhao stood at the center pompously.

"How dare you act so presumptuously in front of a Mandate Sorcerer?" asked Yun Tianhao. As he finished speaking, a fire boa broke free from the matrix and raged toward Ye Futian.

Everyone from Qingzhou Academy had a change in expression. Yun Tianhao was able to control his sorcery outside of his body in the Awakening Plane. What's more, his spells were very powerful, perhaps even one of the most powerful in the Awakening Plane.

Despite what everyone thought about Yun Tianhao's powers, Ye Futian walked up to the fierce fire boa nonchalantly. No matter how strong Ye Futian was, wasn't he being a little too cocky disregarding its powers?

The fire boa approached, ready to engulf Ye Futian in flames. There seemed to be something clutched in his hands, and the next moment a force enveloped Ye Futian. Lightning and thunder surrounded him. When it collided with the fire boa, they both dissipated into the air.

"It's a spell scroll," said someone in the audience.

"Shameless, how can he use spell scrolls in a battle?" the people of Heiyan Academy complained. Yun Tianhao continued to control his matrix, more fire boas danced through the air and charged at Ye Futian.

Ye Futian charged head-on at the boas with multiple spell scrolls in his hand. With a sly smile on his face, he threw the scrolls into the air, and more of the boas disappeared in the cloud of lightning.

Yun Tianhao growled in anger and continued to manipulate the matrix. More and more fire boas appeared in a frenzy. Suddenly, Ye Futian was holding a handful of scrolls on each side. People from both academies were dumbfounded. I guess that's one way to go about the situation...

"Stop." Yun Tianhao was not impressed.

Ye Futian stopped what he was doing and looked at Yun Tianhao who was still standing in the middle of the matrix. "You finally realized that you can't beat me and want to give up?"

Yun Tianhao had no words for Ye Futian. He stared at the spell scrolls in Ye Futian's hands and felt an urge to curse him out. Was this even a battle? How could Ye Futian be so shameless? How were they supposed to have a fair fight when he had fistfuls of top-grade spell scrolls?

How did Ye Futian even have the nerve to ask if Yun Tianhao wanted to give up because he was unbeatable?

"As a disciple of Qingzhou Academy don't you think it's disgraceful to use spell scrolls in a battle?" asked the eagle-eyed leader from Heiyan Academy. He could no longer stand what Ye Futian was doing.

Others from Qingzhou Academy felt ashamed of Ye Futian. Their opinion of him had changed not long ago, but now they realized that he truly was just...shameless.

However, Ye Futian did not seem to notice anything wrong. He remained arrogant as he stared at the eagle-eyed leader. "If he can use a matrix in a battle, why can't I use spell scrolls? If you guys know that you can't win, then just leave. Stop throwing a tantrum."

"He created the matrix himself. It's one of his abilities, so of course he's allowed to use it in battle," reasoned the eagle-eyed leader.

"Well, I also inscribed these spell scrolls myself, so it's part of my abilities as well. If he can use a matrix, then why can't I use spell scrolls?" Ye Futian retorted. Eagle-eye's expression darkened; he was speechless. Ye Futian's shamelessness was on a different level.

The people of Qingzhou Academy were dumbfounded. Had he just said that he had inscribed the spell scrolls? How could a seventh plane cultivator in Awakening produce top-grade spell scrolls such as those? Wasn't Ye Futian exaggerating a little too much? Yun Tianhao had also created a top-grade matrix, but it was because he was a Mandate Sorcerer. His Life Spirit was the matrix.

"It wouldn't matter if you did personally inscribe those spell scrolls. I created my matrix during the battle; but you came onto the battlefield with pre-inscribed spell scrolls. How could these be comparable?" said Yun Tianhao. He thought that Ye Futian was simply spewing nonsense.

"Since you won't admit defeat, I'll just have to continue to fight you until you accept it," Ye Futian spoke lightly. He then turned to the elders of Qingzhou Academy. "Will you please ready a pencil and some scroll paper for me?"

The higher-ups were surprised. Was Ye Futian planning to inscribe spell scrolls during battle?

"I'll get them for you," an elder responded and departed quickly. The audience was discussing quietly amongst themselves as they all studied Ye Futian. Could he really be an Inscriber? Did he really inscribe all the spell scrolls he used earlier? If what he said was true, then Ye Futian really was gifted beyond belief.

A short while later, the elder reappeared and handed a pencil as well as a stack of scroll papers to Ye Futian.

"Thank you very much," Ye Futian thanked him and began to lay out the papers in front of himself.

"What is he doing?" Everyone wanted to know. Inscribing spell scrolls was just like creating a matrix, you needed time. Yun Tianhao was a Mandate Sorcerer who possessed a matrix for his Life Spirit, so he was able to create the matrix quickly, and was able to use it immediately in battle. Even if Ye Futian really was an Inscriber, he wouldn't be able to mimic Yun Tianhao's speed and efficiency, would he?

If the opponent attacked with their matrix before you could finish inscribing your spell scroll, you would be as good as dead. However, it seemed that Ye Futian wanted to challenge the impossible.

Many people turned very serious. Although Ye Futian was shameless, his capabilities were not something people doubted anymore.

"Is he mocking me?" Yun Tianhao was furious when he saw Ye Futian laying out the papers. Even if he was an Inscriber, to do so while in battle with a Mandate Sorcerer using a matrix was a form of mockery.

"You may begin," said Ye Futian. He held on to his pencil calmly. He was being serious; it was as if a holy light was emitting from his person. This made people want to believe in him. It seemed like he was born with this aura around him.

Yun Tianhao took a step forward and released his Life Spirit once again. This time, it was no longer a Fire Matrix, but an Ice Matrix. The Water Elemental Spiritual Qi in the surrounding area began to be absorbed into the matrix. From there, it cooled into ice. A blizzard began where Yun Tianhao stood. He was in a world of ice and snow all by his own doing. One could feel the freezing temperatures from far away.

"Because his Life Spirit is the matrix, he is able to control all elements. His matrix is able to absorb all the different elements. He's too powerful," said someone from Qingzhou Academy. Even though the two schools were rivals, the elders of Qingzhou Academy could not help but be envious of Yun Tianhao's gift. He was truly a genius. No wonder Heiyan Academy had brought him here to gloat.

Even so, the young man whom Qingzhou Academy placed a ban on was facing Yun Tianhao fearlessly.

Ye Futian sat on the ground, covered in snow, and inscribed his scrolls quietly. He created his strokes at the speed of lightning. The pencil danced across the paper like a dragon in the sky. Lightning Spiritual Qi flooded into the pencil in his hand.

The bright lightning shone from the pencil. At that moment, Yun Tianhao made his move. A long icicle broke free from the matrix.

"Watch out!" screamed out many concerned onlookers. Despite their warnings, Ye Futian kept his head now and continued inscribing the scrolls. With every stroke, lightning flashed. In just a moment, a curtain of lightning appeared in front of him, stopping the icicle headed his way. The icicle fell to the ground and shattered.

"A defense spell, Lightning Shield," said someone in the crowd. Many people knew what spell Ye Futian had used. He was able to use this spell to defend against his opponent's attacks.

The ice on the ground cracked loudly. The Spiritual Qi continued to flow into the matrix, upon the completion of the matrix, Yun Tianhao raised both of his hands, controlling the icy world around him.

"GO!" yelled Yun Tianhao. At his command, countless icicles flew towards Ye Futian relentlessly.

"Finished!" Ye Futian completed his final stroke and lifted his pencil. The scroll followed the pencil and was lifted into the air. Once again, the Lightning Shield appeared and destroyed the attacking icicles.

Ye Futian had still not lifted his head. He was inscribing another scroll. The movements of his arms were extremely fluid. Coupled with his good looks, he had the female disciples swooning. Who knew he was this powerful?

Feng Qingxue kept her eyes on the young man sitting in the snow. She felt a slight sadness in her heart. She did not know why she felt this way. Ye Futian had just started to showcase his talents, yet it was already obvious that his gifts were unparalleled by that of any other.
The Legend of Futian

The Legend of Futian - Chapter 24: Who Was More Overbearing?

Yun Tianhao was mad. He was already arrogant enough about being a Mandate Sorcerer that he didn't expect there to be someone more arrogant than him.

However, the truth was, these two new challengers were the source of this feeling.

"Fools," Yun Tianhao spoke in a cold voice. The Spiritual Qi started to surround his body, but Mu Jiang stepped up and stopped him. "Let me take care of him," Mu Jiang said.

He then moved directly towards Yu Sheng to challenge him. He faintly felt that Yu Sheng was a threat, and he wanted to take matters into his own hands to prevent Yun Tianhao from a sudden failure. Yun Tianhao was the pride of Heiyan Academy, and they couldn't afford to lose this pride.

"Sure, take him down for me," Yun Tianhao nodded and stepped back. Mu Jiang started to control the frost energy from his surroundings, and he vibrated with all the power around him.

"Yu Sheng, make sure he has to be carried out." Ye Futian was mad about being called a fool by Yun Tianhao.

"Of course," Yu Sheng nodded, then stepped forward firmly. The earth was shaking from his sheer strength. Mu Jiang stared at the huge guy in front of him and started to get concerned. He could feel a horrifying mass of coldness flowing in front him, forming a storm to attack his enemy.

Yu Sheng stomped the ground and started to attack. Mu Jiang also initiated his spell. All of a sudden, an ice storm appeared out of nowhere, and Yu Sheng's body was covered with frost. Mu Jiang was trying to confine his enemy by trapping him in a prison of ice.

That was the spell, Ice Imprisonment.

"Look how powerful he is." People noticed that the ice on Yu Sheng's body was growing thicker. Mu Jiang was still in the Plane of Awakening, but he could already convey Ice Imprisonment without physical contact. This ability usually belonged to those in the Glory Plane.

However, a golden glow burst out of Yu Sheng's body, and suddenly, the ice shell started to shatter. He now looked like the Almighty in this golden glow, and he was unstoppable as he reached closer to Mu Jiang.

"Imprison him!" Mu Jiang shouted, and another, stronger, ice storm burst out from his body. Yu Sheng was engulfed by the storm in a second. Qiu Yan had been defeated by the same tactic.

Yu Sheng was not affected at all. He got rid of the ice on his body by merely shaking his hand. A golden glow flowed down his arm. Mu Jiang tried to retreat. As a mage, when he let a warrior into his melee range and failed to attack, he could do nothing but retreat.

Unfortunately, he was just not fast enough. Yu Sheng's hand had already clamped onto his neck, and Mu Jiang's entire body was lifted into the air. People were in awe to see that Yu Sheng did this with such ease.

"Let him go," Yu Tianhao shouted at Yu Sheng. However, Yu Sheng ignored his words. He threw Mu Jiang to the ground and smashed his whole body. After a booming noise, Mu Jiang was screaming in extreme pain, and it sounded like his bones had been shattered.

Futian wanted the guy to be lifted out so he obviously couldn't be allowed to walk.

People were awestruck and fell silent. All eyes were drawn to the young man who was just as strong as the Almighty himself.

"That is some real power." The Qingzhou Academy students felt excited.

"So hot!" some girls exclaimed.

Mu Jiang, one of the arrogant intruders from Heiyan Academy who had defeated Qiu Yan in a second and intimidated Murong Qiu, the first place student in the Fall Quarter Exam, had just lost to Yu Sheng in such an embarrassing way. He was smashed with one hand. What an overbearing gesture Yu Sheng had made.

"Yu Sheng is going to attend my college. Whoever tries to take him away is going to be my enemy, for sure." The Director of the College of Martial Arts glanced at the other directors around him. He liked this young man so much that he believed he was meant to go to his college.

"So count me as your enemy. I want him." The Director of the Hall of Metal Element ignored his threat. He also believed that Yu Sheng would be a perfect student.

Ye Futian seemed to be the only one that was not shocked by Yu Sheng's performance. In fact, Yu Sheng had been able to defeat those who were even in the higher planes of cultivation.

"Who else?" After seeing the Heiyan Academy medical team take Mu Jiang away, Yu Sheng began to invite challengers again pridefully. Yun Tianhao was going to step up, but right at that moment, a hand landed on his shoulder and stopped him.

The head of Heiyan Academy group, the man with eagle eyes, had keenly perceived the immeasurable power of Yu Sheng. He had told Mu Jiang to challenge Yu Sheng and test his power. Now he had the answer. He just could not risk the future of Yun Tianhao. Even though Yun Tianhao was a Mandate Sorcerer and able to defeat those in higher planes of cultivation, Yu Sheng was a monster. Even a powerful mage like Yun Tianhao did not have a one hundred percent chance of winning against him.

"Okay, we concede," the eagle-eyed leader said. Yun Tianhao felt reluctant to concede, but did not say anything.

"Then get out of here," a director at Qingzhou Academy uttered.

"We only lost one after you had lost three. You have thousands of students in the planes of awakening in your academy, but only one of them can fight?" the eagle-eyed leader taunted them.

"At least that one's enough to sweep you all," Yu Sheng responded.

"You arrogant fool," Yun Tianhao said angrily. "If I ever reach the ninth plane of awakening, you will bow down to my power."

"Seriously, who allowed challenges regardless of planes? What now? You want to change your mind?" Ye Futian asked sarcastically.

Yun Tianhao glanced at Ye Futian and said, "If you want to challenge me, just step up and fight. Otherwise, stay a coward and shut up."

People were now looking at Ye Futian. They didn't believe he was as powerful as Yu Sheng, so he was going to humiliate himself.

Ye Futian frowned a little at the provocation. He laughed at the words "be a coward" and then stepped forward.

This humiliation would not be tolerated.

"Yu Sheng!" Ye Futian yelled.

"Yep," Yu Sheng responded.

"It's my turn." Ye Futian stepped forward.

Suddenly, Yu Sheng started laughing and pointing at Yun Tianhao and said, "This one's for you."

Actually, he had let Yun Tianhao stay in the arena intentionally for Ye Futian to show off.

However, why did he believe that Ye Futian would win?

Besides, how dare Ye Futian challenge the pride of Heiyan Academy?

The students had witnessed in person how powerful Yun Tianhao was. He was a Mandate Sorcerer who specialized in matrices, and he had defeated multiple challengers with only one strike from his matrix.

Ye Futian continued stepping forward until he was standing in the middle of the arena. Feng Qingxue looked at him, and she experienced a moment of déjà vu. The exact same thing had happened during the Fall Quarter Exam. He had been the underdog of all the students, but he had ultimately defeated Ling Xiao and Yang Xiu, the top-ranked students.

However, he was now challenging someone even more powerful, a Mandate Sorcerer from Heiyan Academy and the pride of all the students there.

Ye Futian made a peaceful introduction. "I am in the seventh plane of awakening, the Mystery."

"Only Seven?" Yun Tianhao was surprised for a moment, then responded, "You are too weak to challenge me."

He had a strong enough talent to say that. After all, he was a Mandate Sorcerer who had never lost a challenge from anyone in the same plane or lower.

"I feel the same way about you, but since you're asking for it, I'll give you the humiliation you deserve." Ye Futian peacefully conversed with him. "I don't mind if you take the challenge or not. All of you can take this challenge. You can take me on one on one, or you can take me on all at once."

"What the…" The Qingzhou Academy students were shocked. He didn't have to show off in such a dangerous way, did he?

Ye Futian had repeated the intruders' own words.

But, what if he lost? The students of Qingzhou Academy dared not think further.

"That's not funny at all." Yun Tianhao believed that Ye Futian was imitating him to mock him.

"Words are just words. Now you're the one acting like a coward," Ye Futian kept speaking, with an odd sense of confidence. He had his hands in his pockets and looked like he despised all of the Heiyan Academy group.

Yun Tianhao was incredibly mad at this gesture. He had never seen anyone act so arrogantly in front of him. However, he had seen two arrogant fools today, and the one talking now was only in the seventh plane of awakening. How dare he talk like that to a Mandate Sorcerer!

"I'll take him on." The swordsman who had defeated Li Qingshan with three strikes stepped up. Yun Tianhao nodded and backed down. "Take him down. Remember, never let him forget this fear."

"For sure, I will." The swordsman unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Ye Futian. "Three strikes—no more, no less."

He had made the same statement before while defeating Li Qingshan.

"I don't need three. You'll be down after one strike," Ye Futian said calmly. The students of Qingzhou Academy were already used to his arrogance.

They were just curious as to how this would eventually end.

The swordsman started laughing, and wind gathered over his body. He had specialized in both sorcery and martial arts, and was in the eighth plane of awakening, the Metamorph. How could he ever lose to a cultivator in the seventh Plane of Awakening?

The swordsman took the form of a shadow and disappeared. Snow was raging, and the attack was initiated. At the same time, Ye Futian closed his eyes.

The students of Qingzhou Academy were dumbfounded. Had he lost his mind? He had just closed his eyes while facing an imminent attack?

Even though most of the students hated Ye Futian, they didn't actually want to see him die. They had had a faint hope that this guy would save the pride of their academy, but it seemed that Ye Futian had just given up.

Thunder started gathering around Ye Futian's body, and a roaring sound burst out of him. The sound was almost like a dragon. He stayed still and let his power take care of the fight.

The blade was fast approaching his neck. However, Ye Futian seemed to be ignoring this attack. His eyes were still closed, and his body had not even moved an inch.

The blade came within inches of Ye Futian without actually hurting him. This attack was a diversionary attempt to draw away his attention, but Ye Futian just didn't move at all.

"Die, you fool." The swordsman was agitated by Ye Futian. He had been counting on him to flinch and move to the side so that he could make the second attack, which was solid. However, the arrogance of Ye Futian made him change his mind. Now, the blade was rushing right toward Ye Futian's throat.

Right before the blade touched his throat, Ye Futian started moving. He turned a little bit to his left, so subtly that the sword came through the air in front of his face. The audience was holding their breath at this evasion. How had he done that? Was it a reaction or merely luck?

The swordsman frowned. His attack combo had been changed, and there was no way he could further adjust his attacks. In other words, he could no longer win this fight. However, right after Ye Futian turned away, his hand reached for the neck of his opponent. A thunder dragon was roaring and burst out of Ye Futian's palm. The dragon wrapped around the neck of swordsman and lifted his body into the air.

"Seriously…." People were shocked by what they saw. Ye Futian had not touched his opponent at all, but he was in complete control of the thunder dragon that was totally overtaking the swordsman.
The Legend of Futian