51.1 A Battle of Martial Saints
Zi Qing Meng’s face darkened. For many years, there had been no lack of outstanding people who came to challenge the school, but in the end, they returned home defeated. The beauty, whose looks could completely suppress hers, actually came to challenge their teachers. “If you want to challenge our martial arts faculty teachers, then first you must have a go with me.” Reaching into her chest area, she pulled out a short blade, one third of a meter long. She suddenly floated backwards, creating a ten meter space between her and the blue-clad beauty. She pulled the short blade out of its scabbard which was covered in a green light. She emitted a strong sword qi.
The blue-clad beauty smiled and said, “You want to accept my challenge? Although your qi isn’t weak, you aren’t my opponent. Call out your teachers. Because you led me here, I owe you a favor and don’t want to move against you.”
Zi Qing Meng replied coldly, “You don’t owe me anything. Since you want to challenge us, then you must have a match with me first.” She waved the short blade in her hand lightly, and the green-covered blade flashed with a hazy luster. The blade emitted a cold aura, and her body was covered by a layer of green qi. Obviously, she held the strength of a swordmaster.
The two beautiful girls stood opposite each other, immediately attracting the attention of the surrounding students. In just a short time, hundreds of Orchid Dream College students had surrounded the two beautiful girls. Some of the quick-witted students immediately went to report to the martial arts faculty teachers.
The blue-clad beauty drew her sword from the ground and smiled indifferently. “Then it’s your move. If you lose, then naturally, your teachers will come out.”
Zi Qing Meng snorted coldly, then glided forward. When she was three meters away, the short blade seemed to come alive. It began to dance in her hands, resembling a ring of green light. Her qi went to entrap her opponent. She began to take winding, small steps, without any rhyme or reason to her steps, resembling a dance. She looked as though she was approaching the blue-clad beauty from all directions.
The blue-clad beauty stood there, still smiling. She hadn’t even unsheathed her longsword from its scabbard as she waited calmly. Suddenly, the green figure vanished, and a dense, green light erupted. The green ball of light turned into countless knife shadows, covering her body.
The blue-clad beauty didn’t move her feet, but flicked her wrist slightly. A dark-red light and a scorching wind enveloped the sheathed longsword as she lifted it up. Her qi was collected around her scabbard without being flashy unlike Zi Qing Meng’s qi that cloaked herself. The sword scabbard took on a piercing as it headed straight for Zi Qing Meng’s knife shadows.
“Combine–” shouted Zi Qing meng in a high-pitched voice. A strange scene appeared before their eyes. The chaotic green knife shadows suddenly converged onto a single path. The mirage disappeared, revealing the short blade in Zi Qing Meng’s hands. The blade was made up entirely of green metal. The knife handle was 16 centimeters long and the blade was 26 centimeters long. The top end stuck up slightly. Under the light of the sun, it sparkled rather coldly.
The pause only lasted for an instant, then Zi Qing Meng snorted and took five steps backward. At the moment, the blue-clad beauty had returned to her position with her sword in the ground, like she had never moved in the first place. “Good knife technique, which is well suited to the speed of your knife. You can make use of your energy to condense everything into one point, making up for the fact that you lack qi. It’s just a pity that even though you have a good knife technique, you’ve only just entered the swordmaster realm. There’s no way you can bring out the entire strength of the knife technique. As I said, you are not my opponent. Now call out your teachers.”
At the moment, Zi Qing Meng’s expression was just like her blade. Her qi and blood inside her was boiling as a scorching aura continued to surge forth. She didn’t dare speak for fear for losing her control over her qi. Her opponent’s fire attributed qi had invaded her body.
“What are these people doing standing around here? Eek, Little Meng, are you okay?” Zi Qing Jian’s massive figure appeared, and the surrounding students got out of his way. He took large strides up to Zi Qing Meng. When he saw the blue-clad beauty, Zi Qing Jian stalled. He clearly felt his heart beating faster. This year, he was twenty-seven years old. In these twenty-seven years, this was the first time his heart had beat faster because of a woman. He couldn’t believe that this girl had looks beat his sister by a large margin. As she stood there, she emitted a proud and profound feeling like a lofty mountain. The unshakeable feeling gave him an extremely profound impression. The smile on her face was warm and her blue, blue eyes were like crystals.
“Big Bro,” said Zi Qing Meng, her voice hoarse. Her call made Zi Qing Jian recover his senses. When he found that his sister was out of sorts, he placed a hand to his little sister’s shoulder and inserted qi into her body. Zi Qing Meng’s facial expression looked better and her short blade regained its luster. “Little Sister, what happened to you?” asked Zi Qing Jian with curiosity.
Zi Qing Meng’s eyes held a hint of hatred. “Big Bro, she came here to challenge us. You should fight her; you will definitely beat her.”
Zi Qing Jian suddenly looked at the blue-clad beauty. “You came here to challenge us? It was you who hurt my little sister?”
The blue-clad beauty smiled and said, “No, I didn’t harm her. I only shook her internal qi a bit. If your strength is almost the same as hers, then go call your teacher.”
Hearing the beautiful girl’s gorgeous voice, Zi Qing Jian felt his face getting hot. “I-I am a teacher here at the college.” his voice wasn’t as bold as it was normally.
A light flashed in the blue-clad beauty’s eyes, and she raised her longsword. “Then please fight me. With blades or with fists, you choose.”
Zi Qing Jian coughed and calmed himself. “Blades are no good. Let’s do barehanded fighting. My hands are heavier, so you must be careful.”
The blue-clad beauty smiled indifferently. “Is that so? Then I would like to try.” She flicked her wrist and half of the sheathed longsword imbedded itself in the ground without any sound. She took a step forward and her expression changed. Her warm smile was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a calm expression. She planted her feet. Her fists were like knives, one in front and one behind in front of her chest.
Since he was young, Zi Qing Jian had been a martial arts idiot. When he felt his opponent’s aura, stable as a mountain, he no longer saw a beautiful girl in front of him. HIs right foot immediately planted forward, and all of his bones crackled. A violent green qi flew from is body and enveloped him. It was as if a whirlpool-like wall had appeared in front of him. For the nimble and speedy wind element to have turned into this raging tempest, he was definitely a freak.
In the main teaching building, a pair of men, one old and one young, walked out of the main gate. Hei Ye stretched, “I’m old, so old. My body actually is somewhat unable to withstand these three months.” The pair striding out of the building was actually Nian Bing and Hei Ye, who had been working hard on their magic research. The two people’s faces were somewhat wan, like they hadn’t seen the sun for a long while.
Nian Bing smiled and said, “Teacher, you shouldn’t say that. With your spirit power, how could you feel tired?” In these three months, he had reaped a lot. Due to him realizing that comprehension of the foundations were important, he didn’t research magic arrays, but studied the process of dual element cultivation with Hei Ye. When he had time, he would submerse himself in meditation, spending at least fifteen hours everyday in meditation. In these three months, he had learn a number of things from Hei Ye, especially about using dual element magic. Hei Ye’s magic knowledge was extremely profound, so much so even Long Zhi could not compare. Breathing the fresh air from the mall, he clearly sensed that he had become stronger.
Hei Ye made a small noise of surprise. “What’s going on there? Why are so many people gathered there! The atmosphere isn’t good! Little Nian Bing, we must check it out.”
Nian Bing smiled. “Teacher, don’t you dislike fuss the most? Yesterday I remember you saying that being alone is the most peaceful and that a peaceful environment, is better for improving your magic.”
Hei Ye shot Nian Bing a look. “You brat, everything is subject to change. If you’re always alone, it would be strange if you didn’t cultivate a loner personality.” His tone outwardly seemed rebuking, but the tenderness in it was extremely obvious. In the past three months, the gains in Nian Bing’s magic strength were obvious. At the same time, Hei Ye had also gained much knowledge about dual element magic from Nian Bing’s fresh ideas. He secretly felt that a window for breakthrough had appeared in the problem that he had always thought was impossible to solve. Right now, all he needed was a flash of comprehension and he would be able to break into the magister realm. There might not even be one dual element mage out of ten thousand. Hei Ye extremely admired Nian Bing’s talent and intelligence. He already regarded Nian Bing as his disciple.
Nian Bing smiled. “Master, you have worked hard these days, and your disciple hasn’t been able to repay you. Let’s go over to the culinary faculty; I will make you a delicious meal.”
Hei Ye’s eyes twinkled. He grinned and said, “I almost forgot, you brat are also a student of the culinary faculty. No matter, you’ve already delayed for three months. I’ll talk with Zi Xiu, that old lecher.” A yellow light came from his body. He lightly pressed his hands to the ground, and the earth element quickly condensed. Suddenly, a protrusion appeared in the surface of the mall, pushing him and Nian Bing up until they were three meters in the air.
“Teacher, although you are a magic scholar, you can even instantaneously cast rank 3 spells. You are amazing!” Nian BIng was half true half false patting Hei Ye’s horse’s butt1. As his gaze fell on the crowd of students on the mall, he couldn’t help but tremble, “How could she be here?”
From his vantage point, Hei Ye looked down at the scene on the center of the mall. “What a beautiful girl! Do you know her?”
Nian Bing nodded. “Yes! She is my friend.” The blue-clad beauty wasn’t just anyone; she was Feng Nu, who had been separated from him for months. Why was she here? Could it be she was looking for him like Xue Jing? No way! Feng Nu couldn’t know where he was. He continued watching with with puzzled emotions. At this moment, Feng Nu and Zi Qing Jian were fighting.
Zi Qing Jian took a half step forward as his right hand traced a half arc on his abdomen, slowly pushing outwards to Feng Nu. Green qi condensed without dissipating. He yelled and his qi condensed into a green orb of light, suddenly charging at Feng Nu. When he saw this scene, Nian Bing’s heart couldn’t help but constrict. Because it was too far, he wouldn’t be able to save Feng Nu.
Feng Nu suddenly made a strange gesture. She raised her right hand with four fingers hanging down, her hand and forearm at a right angle. In an instant, her hand had turned a fiery red. She watched the green ball of qi approach her and didn’t move but. Instead, she slapped it with her palm. When her hand came in contact with the orb of qi, an ear-blasting explosion occurred. The contact between fire element qi and wind element qi had produced an enormous force, and a circular wave ripped through the air. Immediately, the students that crowded around them had fell over. Luckily, they only received light injuries. When they curious students had sensed danger, they stepped back, giving Feng Nu and Zi Qing Jian a larger berth.
Hei ye looked at the scene and said in surprise, “That boy Qing Jian’s qi is progressing very quickly! However, that girl’s qi is a bit strange. It can somehow neutralize Qing Jian’s qi.”
The vibrations produced by the clashing qi vanished. Feng Nu had not moved from her initial position, still in the pose from before. On the other hand, Zi Qing Jian’s expression had changed, and he was standing one meter away from where he had attacked. There were two deep grooves on the ground, indicating that he couldn’t block the wave and was forced backwards.
Feng Nu smiled and said, “Not bad. Your qi is very simple and honest, however it’s still too weak. If you don’t have a more amazing ability, then call out your teachers or your principal.”
Zi Qing Jian’s expression turned more serious. He knew that he was representing the honor of the college and couldn’t let himself be defeated so easily. “Take my next move.” Wrapped in green qi, Zi Qing Jian soared into the air; at this moment, his qi reached an extreme point. His large hands formed claw shapes and when he reached sixteen meters in the air, he descended onto Feng Nu like an eagle swooping for its prey. He yelled, “Take my Life Tearing Heavy – Eagle – Hand–!” In order to achieve victory, he brought out his ultimate move.
Feng Nu’s expression also turned serious. She tiptoed on the ground and faced Zi Qing Jian. Her arms moved rhythmically like wings, and red qi dyed the surroundings red. She lifted her arms straight up, planning to directly block Zi Qing Jian’s Heavy Eagle Hand.
Nian Bing couldn’t endure it. He tore open a snowstorm scroll, and the duo soared into the air. Zha Ji once said that the Heavy Eagle Hand could change its weight at will. When using heavy moded, it could easily tear apart anyone. At this moment, he suddenly discovered that Feng Nu held an important position in his heart. He no longer cared about anything else and wanted to save her.
But did Feng Nu really need his saving? Although Nian Bing moved very quickly, he couldn’t reach her in time. Her delicate, beautiful red hands lightly pressed against the Heavy Eagle Hand, which was raging with violent qi. A clear, resonant cry of a phoenix emanated from Feng Nu. When the two separated, their hands had collided over a hundred times in a single instant. As Feng Nu speedily returned to the ground, Zi Qing Jian was sent flying away.