Chapter 116: The First Hurdle

The fighter called Night Raven was a rather tall practitioner. He had a white mask covering his mouth and had green shade in his eyes. Just like me, he was without any weapon. However, that made me more cautious against this new opponent of mine.

He had long hands and fast legs. The moment the judge started the match, he started circling me. The spectators weren't so sure about my victory now and the cheering had subsided. Even they didn't think that I could win against a Meridian Opening practitioner. Everyone had a limit, after all.

I started with Shining Rush to boost my speed and shot to my right side. We met in a flash of movement, clashing against each other by exchanging punches. I wanted to measure his strength here.

'Tempest Fists!'

Contrary to the expectations of the audience, there was no booming sound. There, finally appeared my first hurdle.

Night Raven didn't follow up with another punch after we hit. I felt my palms go numb as they clashed against his bony hands.

Suddenly, he unlocked his fist and deftly caught my wrist. He spun on the spot and kicked me fatally. That was pure strength but backed with an uncanny technique.

My body was shot three paces away and I landed hard on the sandy ground. However, before even a second passed, I stood up and maintained a straight posture.

Something weird happened there. Night Raven was too fast! I narrowed my eyes and suddenly smiled. He also had some kind of extrasensory ability. I was going to use Sun Dragon kicks and that attack earlier was a counter.

I dusted my body and cupped my fists. I had forgotten about the part of being humble.

At the moment, I only knew some basic forms of Sun Dragon Kicks, so I wasn't really bothered that it couldn't help me against my opponent.

On the fighting ground, our figures appeared frozen. There was nothing between us but even the spectators felt like there was a thin wall in-between, a wall that could be broken anytime if even one of us moved.

Night Raven hadn't spoken at all. Usually, practitioners in higher stages would underestimate their juniors, even going as far as showing open disdain. However, his stares told me otherwise. He regarded me as any other opponent, which showed how disciplined he was.

Such an opponent was the toughest.

''Hah!'' I moved first. The reason I came here was to fight practitioners like him.

I changed tactics this time, applying some forms of Yellow Wind Steps in my movement. My silhouette blurred and I came behind him after two seconds. Dust spread as he turned around fluidly.

Our palms connected and I didn't let him pull me this time. He had a lanky body and was an inch taller than me. When I suddenly tackled him, he caught me and heavily stepped back, trying to stabilize himself.

Still, as a Meridian Opening practitioner, he stopped me within four backsteps. A glint flashed in my eyes and I put my hands on his shoulders, somersaulting over his body.

The next moment, he attacked me with his knee, which passed through my feet. I dodged the attack before it was even executed!

''There it is again!''

''Humble White can really predict moves!''

People shouted. The previous viewers were roused and the new ones were left stunned.

I stood behind Night Raven and used the Tempest Retreat to get away from him.

Whoosh!

Dust spread again. I stopped, turned around, and caught the forceful punch. Finally, a great sound resounded, shocking even the other fighters. A painful vibration ran through my body but I stood my ground.

My legs shook and my palm that had caught his hard first felt like it was pressed by a truck.

'Ugh, that was a good one…' I closed my eyes as a fine line of blood streaked down my lips.

I paid it little heed and shot my eyes open.

''Hrm!'' Rotating my hand, I pulled his whole body over me. With my other hand, I blocked his kick and rotated it as well.

Gold Bending Palms!

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Sweat dripped from my forehead as I slammed my opponent below. The ground became dusty again and the audience was unable to see anything for a while.

Even the arena's superior judges stood up. The next moment, everyone saw us shoot out from the dusty cloud in opposite directions, only to converge in another place.

Our moves now turned speedy and we exchanged punches and kicks unrestrainedly.

From a rotating perspective, it appeared as though we weren't actually hurting each other but dancing instead.

However, only we could understand how lethal our attacks were. The moment I sensed his back kick, I would duck, following with a sidekick of my own. If I hesitated and didn't counterattack in time, he would get me.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Our robes flapped around but they eventually stuck to our sweaty bodies. Two figures, one black and another white, the exchange of moves was fierce. A little more time and one could know who would win and who would lose.

Even the audience turned nervous. If I lost, my victory streak would break. However, losing against a Meridian Opening practitioner was nothing to be ashamed of.

Actually, I was the first Viscera Purifying practitioner to battle against a Meridian Opening fighter.

If anything, that was epic. However, even after some minutes, we were still fighting. The minutes turned long. Half an hour, then an hour…

Suddenly the judges shouted for us to stop. We had bruises all over our bodies and were equally tired. Still, I was in a more sorry state than my opponent though.

''This match is a tie.'' The judge decided. No one could really say anything about that. Even so, some argued that I was literally a whole stage below Night Raven and that it should be my victory.

However, in a real fight, your opponent wouldn't acknowledge your stage or rank. He or she would kill you the moment there comes an opportunity. 

Within a time range of one hour, no real winner was decided. Thus, it was a tie. My victory streak was still going but nothing wasn't added to it, remaining at 74.

A match between us was scheduled two days later. There was a rule such as this in this arena, that one had to either defeat an opponent or be defeated before getting the chance to fight someone else.

I humbly bowed and got out. People still cheered for me but they weren't brave enough to come near me. How astounding! I could actually go head-to-head against a Meridian Opening practitioner.

Even though no one said it, I was guaranteed to become a gold fighter and they were starting to think of me as that, instead of a silver fighter. Today's match only solidified that view of theirs.

I unmasked myself after exiting the Azure Wind Stupa. Wiping my sweaty face, I wore it again and headed to Immortal Wine Hotel. However, I sensed that someone was following me, so I took a long way through the market.

I saw the building of the Pill Fire Association while going that way. It was a huge orange building five stories tall. Around its gates, I saw various alchemists having different badges on their clothes. The shinier their badges, the more high-ranked and skilled alchemists they were.

Feng Yi only had a novice badge for now. She would have to brew various kinds of low-grade pills recognized by the Association to become a junior alchemist.

'I should also join some kind of association about formations and inscriptions,' I thought as I faced the road and increased my pace.

Reaching the hotel, I first took a refreshing bath. My body ached a lot and the bruises burned. I casually took out some herbal paste Feng Yi always kept with her and smeared it on my wounds.

I learned from Ling'er that the girl had gone somewhere with my sister. Lingling seemed worried about my bruises but suddenly turned around, remembering what I said yesterday.

'Pervert,' she muttered and left.

I closed the door and went to sleep. Tiredness was nagging me after such an intense fight.

In the evening, I went to meet Bina. However, only her sister Lina was there. I found their uncle as well. It seemed he had married after his nephew's gang dissolved. We had some conversation and he appeared to be a nice man.

''Where is your elder sister?'' I asked Lina.

''She told me that she was going to investigate some things and left early. Did you tell her to anything?'' Lina asked back.

''No…'' I put my chin on my palms and thought. Bina, as a practitioner who mostly focused on shealth used to move alone. She would make an excellent assassin if I trained her. I would need people like her around me some day.

I blinked and looked at the brown-haired girl beside me. ''When did you reach rank eight?''

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