Journey of the Immortal Grandmaster

The audience made sure to cheer in the pauses between each verbal strike. Such trash talking hadn’t been common during the tournament.

Without further ado, Yu Tao and Wei Muchen charged at each other for the first tussle. From an outsider point of view, it was quite artistic as lighting and bluish qi intermingled, surged, whirled and was projected in different directions.

The deep hatred was felt through the violence of every shock and explosion after explosion rocked the stage.

At some point, the two parted ways.

Wei Muchen tried to act cool. “Is that all you got?”

Yu Tao jeered. “I’m just warming up; I don’t want this fight to end so soon. But fine, how about you show me your strongest move?”

“You asked for it!”

Wei Muchen shouted and took his sword with two hands. During a pause of one breath with his sword pointing forward at a slight upward angle, dozens of azure qi swords were appearing around him in the same exact position. He raised his sword above his head and sword images followed his exact movement. Then after another shout, he slashed down with all his might and all the sword fused into one downward motion.

This was Wei Muchen’s pinnacle. He knew the danger Yu Tao posed. All his qi reserves condensed in one final move. Wei Muchen also believed that Yu Tao wouldn’t dodge it with his personality and he decided to just give up if that move didn’t prove enough.

Indeed, Yu Tao didn’t plan on dodging this attack. While Wei Muchen had been taking his time to channel his strike, Yu Tao was preparing his own as well.

Lightning danced around his arms. He pointed his spear straight ahead and used his entire body for the perfect thrust. The spear zoomed forward and stayed level; the force concentrated on a single point at the spear tip. It was a sharp forward motion that didn’t permit any future quick backwards retreat due to its momentum. This was one spear to destroy all.

A lightning dragon emerged and raced to meet a giant blue qi sword.

During the previous months, Yu Tao had been provided a pile of random books from his teacher, each with a link with lightning. One was an obscure lightning art developed by a disciple with a similar lightning affinity. Unfortunately, this disciple had died before reaching a cultivation high enough to adapt this art to a wide audience.

Yu Tao had still been inspired by these notes and the miracle revelation came when he was admiring lighting on a stormy night. He caught the necessary understanding to create the first form of his martial art. Yu Tao named this form the Roaring Dragon.

Time seemed to slow down as the Lightning Dragon was about to make contact with the Qi Sword. Many 2nd year disciples watching on were blinded by the following explosion and couldn’t see the result immediately.

When they looked back at the stage, Yu Tao was standing proudly, facing a burned down fuming pile of flesh that vaguely had a human form. A disciple next to the stage gagged at the smell of cooked meat that wafted to his nostrils.

Just earlier, the collision of sword and dragon had only lasted for an instant as the dragon had immediately consumed the qi sword which created the flash of light. Wei Muchen had been watching the result of his attack expectantly when he was hit head on by that raging dragon without the time to dodge. His defenses had then been directly overcome by the astonishing force and profundity of the dragon qi attack.

Looking at the thousands of spectating disciples, Yu Tao triumphantly raised his spear. He had just executed one of his worst enemies and had his fulfilling revenge. Once again, the crowd cheered for the spectacle and entertainment. Even the Elders of the Cheng Huang School applauded, it was admirable that someone actually killed one of the White Tiger Sects greatest threats.

On the other hand, most Elders of the White Tiger Sect, had lost their proud gazes. Disciple infighting didn’t project a good image and it was even worst to lose one of their top disciples and a grade 5 talent as a result. Still, it wasn’t a complete disaster as long as Yu Tao proved to be a great investment. But things might turn sour for the young disciple if his progress happened to stop someday. Wei Muchen’s teacher who was present among the elders silently vowed to settle things if Yu Tao ever lost his prominence and importance to the sect.

A notable cultivator had appreciated Yu Tao’s performance though, precisely the Elder from the Black Rainbow Sect who opened his eyes once again. “That’s a good boy and a fine seedling you got there. Finally, it’s not your typical coward too scared to kill his enemies, only for them to come back at you later on.”

The Elder from the White Tiger Sect sitting next to the black cloaked man tried to respond while hiding his discomfort. “Indeed, Senior has a keen eye. This disciple has a remarkable understanding of the lightning path for his age. He will surely grow up as a great representant of our White Tiger Sect.”

“Hmm. He is the type of brat that you need to push to the brink in order for him to grow at record speed. But I’m not sure if your sect is properly equipped to train him like that.” The black Cloaked man hit back.

The Elder from the White Tiger Sect defended himself. “Rest assured Senior, the White Tiger School will surely make him grow with the best possible foundation. This is a guarantee.” There was no way the sect would accept to give Yu Tao away without at least proper compensation. He might be a special case, but he was definitely a strong asset.

The matches continued and the top 8 became known.

1- Mao Enlai (Cheng Huang School) – 1st after phase 1.

2- Luo Mingyu (Ugly Duck Sect) – 2nd after phase 1.

3- Dai Huiling (Cheng Huang School) – 3rd after phase 1.

4- Zhang Peizi (Northern Wudang Sect) – 13th after phase 1.

5- Zeng Yiengjie (Peach blossom island) – 5th after phase 1.

6- Su Xiaoli (Eastern Warrior’s Temple) – 499th after phase 1.

7- Yu Tao (White Tiger Sect) – 10th after phase 1.

8- Xue Guo (Cheng Huang School) – 8th after phase 1.

The situation went back to looking favorable to the Cheng Huang School, with 3 representants still with a chance for rank number 1.

Han Lingyun safely entered the top 16 after Wei Muchen’s death and he continued on his path in the 8-loser’s bracket. Actually, Han Lingyun had not taken Wei Muchen’s place. This was because he didn’t want to diminish the rewards going to the White Tiger Sect.

Han Lingyun had thus challenged a disciple of Peach Blossom Island that had left the stage in an unknown state. His opponent had not shown up.

For the 8-loser’s bracket Han Lingyun’s first adversary was in a miserable state and just gave up. In the semifinal, his opponent didn’t find the answer to Han Lingyun’s enveloping dark qi, and in the final, he was supposed to face Wang Yimo. After a brief discussion, they agreed that Han Lingyun had a greater chance of winning other matches so Wang Yimo was the one to give up.

Han Lingyun watched the last duels with the perspective a member of the crowd. The excitement and stress of the competition had mostly died down for him. Making progress in the loser’s bracket just didn’t feel too satisfying. He still kept analyzing and making mental notes on everything he saw during those matches.

The four that made it to the semifinal were:

1- Xue Guo (Cheng Huang School) – 8th after phase 1.

2- Yu Tao (White Tiger Sect) – 10th after phase 1.

3- Dai Huiling (Cheng Huang School) – 3rd after phase 1.

4- Zeng Yiengjie (Peach blossom island) – 5th after phase 1.

Before the semifinals took place, there was the interlude for the 4 loser’s bracket. Many rooted for Han Lingyun again as he had already climbed up from two brackets, he had become a new dark horse.

Few anticipated that Han Lingyun would stop his climb before he had to put his life on the line once again. None of the four that lost in the quarterfinals were in a severe state. Zhang Peizi was the only one that had been injured quite badly but he had already recovered to a large extent with the expensive pills and potions he had been served.

Wang Yimo and Han Lingyun had a discussion over what to do. Those four were all very powerful with some dangerous attacks that might take him off guard and crash into him even in his black cloud. Not to mention their unknown trump cards.

And for his strategy to work, Han Lingyun also had to close the distance to less than 20 meters to his opponent first. Finally, Han Lingyun lacked a powerful qi attack at their level to collide with theirs. In the end, Han Lingyun and Wang Yimo figured it wasn’t worth the risk to challenge one of the top 8 members. Therefore, Han Lingyun ended in 9th position with Wang Yimo in 10th.

The pair slumped in their spectator seats as they laid back while spectating the last duels. The stress level that had remained high for the past few days was finally dropping and fatigue relaxed their bodies.

Frankly, Han Lingyun didn’t care too much about the final winner of the competition. However, in his usual style, his mind wouldn’t just stop analyzing the events.

The 4-disciple loser bracket was eventually won by Su Xiaoli, the eccentric sword cultivator from the Eastern Warrior’s Temple.

Back to the true semifinals: Xue Guo, Dai Huiling and Zeng Yiengjie all had a cultivation at the late qi condensation realm which was remarkable at this age. Yu Tao was the exception at the early qi condensation stage.

For the semifinal, Yu Tao would face Dai Huiling, the only girl to make it this far and a cut above the other 4th grade talent in that year’s roster at the Cheng Huang School. Still, she knew that she didn’t have the tools to defeat the extraordinary Yu Tao so she just ended up giving up. She was likely aiming for the 3rd rank.

The next semifinal was Xue Guo versus Zeng Yiengjie. Both had 5th grade talents but the match was decided in a few strikes with Xue Guo completely overpowering his opponent. Some in the audience were unconvinced and claimed it was due to his Deep Abyss sword that artificially raised his comprehension.

Afterwards, the 5th ranked Su Xiaoli didn’t try to upgrade his rank to the next bracket due to “lack of interest after the repeated duels” and Dai Huiling had her match against Zeng Yiengjie for 3rd place. The boy from Peach Blossom Island managed to win after a wonderful display of technique.

This also highlighted the difference with Xue Guo and cemented the latter’s position as favorite against Yu Tao. Zeng Yiengjie had just displayed his immense talent and yet he had been incapable of resisting Xue Guo convincingly.

The audience was now holding its breath for the grand finale. Xue Guo versus Yu Tao. Many claimed it would be the symbol of the struggle between the Cheng Huang School and the White Tiger Sect.