58 Superior Spears
'Tch! This Zhang Xuan is so shameless that even his students have no shame. Mo Xiao!" Lu Xun scoffed at Yuan Tao's actions.
One of the students before him picked up his spear before stepping forward and saluting, "Yes, teacher."
"You go up next. From the looks of it, Zheng Yang is going to be sent up. Since you use spears as well, show everyone the prowess of being my student!" Lu Xun waved his hand towards the stage.
Mo Xiao nodded with an excited glint in his eyes. Only a few days previously, he had privately duelled Zheng Yang outside the academy, however not only could he not defeat the other boy, he couldn't even come close to comparing. Although Zheng Yan had been of the Dantian realm primary stage at the time, and he was at the advanced stage, the simple overbearing nature of Zheng Yang's spear arts was plenty enough to bridge the gap.
Under normal circumstances, there would be no way for him to advance enough to match Zheng Yang in battle prowess, however after Lu Xun had given him a break through pill, he had managed to break through to the Zhenqi realm. One must know that between each realm, there was a true, quantitative difference in strength that would be difficult to bridge, meaning that his chances of defeating Zheng Yang had just elevated from zero to almost a hundred.
Putting on a confident look, Mo Xiao gripped his spear tightly within his hand before stepping up onto the stage.
"Mo Xiao, we've met again!"
Mo Xiao glanced over towards Zheng Yang, who was standing impassively on the other side of the arena, "Indeed, we've met again!"
'What the hell is this wording? Can't they say we meet again?' Lu Fengyi felt annoyed at the way they were speaking. If he were the one to write the novel, he would make absolute sure that every sentence was perfect.
[ Just take it as a local accent. You'll be encountering different languages as well, eventually, so it'd be good to adapt as you go ]
The two competitors lifted their spears before nodding to each other.
"Let's begin." Zheng Yang prepared to lift his spear.
"Hold it for a moment, allow me to warm up first!" Mo Xiang spoke quickly before stepping back and demonstrating several sets of the Wang clan's spear techniques.
As radiations of power swept out from Mo Xiang's movements, the audience sat forward in shock.
"I recognise that spear technique! It's the Wang clan's spear art!"
"Such power! There's no way the Zheng Yang can win."
"No wonder Lu laoshi is the star teacher of Hongtian academy. If I were to fulfil the requirements, I would choose Lu laoshi as my teacher without hesitation."
Zheng Yang smiled at the words around him, waiting for Mo Xiang to finish his display of techniques before releasing his own aura. If Mo Xiang's aura could be described as bold and overbearing,then Zheng Yang's was sharp and straightforward like the spear. Unlike Mo Xiang, who had radiated his aura to every corner of the duelling ring and beyond, to the spectators, Zheng Yang only directed his energy towards Mo Xiang, piercing the remnants of Mo Xiang's aura and enveloping the other boy.
Upon feeling the sharp aura, Mo Xiang sucked in a cold breath before letting down his spear with a clang of metal upon metal. Instantly, hundreds of shocked shouts and thousands of whispers spread throughout the hall.
"Even though I have reached Zhenqi realm, I am unable to match that spear of yours. I admit defeat!" Mo Xiang sighed before speaking.
Who would have known that even after advancing an entire realm, he was still unable to match up the Zheng Yang. It wasn't that Zheng Yan himself, had heaven defying abilities that allowed him to transcend cultivation limits and fight those with higher cultivations, but it was the peculiar technique that he had been taught. Mo Xiang had known Zheng Yang for long enough to know that he did not originally have that spear technique before, meaning that the only source for the technique could only be his teacher, Zhang Xuan.
Originally, Mo Xiang had been quite shocked when Zheng Yang put aside all reservations and took Zhang Xuan as his teacher, however now he could only feel that his long-time friend had good eyes.
Trash teacher of the academy? What kind of trash teacher can raise a student to obtain such power in the span of no more than a month? Even if we were to compare him to Lu laoshi, there would still be a significant disparity, and it would most definitely be Zhang laoshi who was superior!
Taking a deep breath, Mo Xian spoke, "The reason why I admitted defeat is that, a few days ago, the both of us participated in a private duel. With just a single move, Zheng Yang was able to defeat me! In fact, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to claim my life then."
"I had been pondering over the last few days on how I should counter his move. Initially, I thought that with a breakthrough to Zhenqi realm, I might be able to neutralise the technique. Thus, I tried it just now but realised that I still am not a match for him. The move which Zheng Yang had learned from Zhang laoshi points straight toward the essence of the spear, and I'm afraid that even if I were to study it for my entire life, I still wouldn't be able to understand it, needless to say, withstand it."
Had Mo Xiang not given the explanation, it was very likely that not only his reputation, but Lu Xun's reputation would be soiled for generations to come. With one's teacher's reputation was on the line, it was important to fight to preserve it, however surrendering would deny all of that, losing face for both the student and the teacher. Though Mo Xiang had indeed given up without fighting, it seemed that there was sufficient reason behind his words if proven correct.
Sighing in disappointment and shame at the same time, Lu Xun hid away his fury before peering towards Zhang Xuan's side. He had specially prepared his students to completely counter Zhang Xuan's and although he had already lost two of the matches, he still had confidence in winning the Teacher's Evaluation. The only thing he was afraid of was if Zhang Xuan sent up Lu Fengyi, the Elite Student right now. No matter how much he groomed his own students, he knew that there was no matching the only Elite Student in several hundred years.
Lu Xun heaved a sigh of relief as he saw Zhang Xuan send Wang Ying up to the stage. In response to the Wang clan's young mistress, he had specially prepared Du Lei with the[Illusory Shadows Nine Celestial Steps]in order to surpass her in both speed and agility, completely nullifying her prominent talents.
Lu Xun gripped his fist tight. It wouldn't be rough sailing from here on out.