Chapter 18 – The Match
"Good, good, Xuanyuan my lad. You are true to your word for coming here. You don\'t have to worry even though you killed Zhengfeng. You are worth a hundred of him as long as you join the School of Yuehua." Shi Congyu\'s muscles were bulky, his voice deep and coarse. He laughed loudly, which made Shi Tiancheng\'s face darken.
"Shi Congyu, we were both from the Shi Village. How could you betray your own brothers from the same village for a stranger?" Shi Tiancheng said coldly.
"What a joke. This young lad here already told you that he was invited by me and sister Piaoxu, but Zhengfeng still wanted to kill him. Why should I care about him being killed? Xuanyuan, let\'s go. The School of Yuehua values strength. Your strength is comparable to us already!" Congyu laughed again. He grabbed Xuanyuan\'s arm and moved away. Shi Tiancheng didn\'t dare to stop them, since he could not justify a reason to stop them.
"Thank you for your help, brother Congyu." Xuanyuan grinned and whistled to the wolf, "Guxing, let\'s go."
All the foul-mouthed people from the Yue family and the people on the street were astounded. They couldn\'t fathom that an ordinary, lowly boy gained the strength that was comparable to people of the master realm like Shi Tiancheng and Shi Congyu.
Shi Tiancheng looked vicious. He didn\'t even glance at the corpse of Shi Zhengfeng before he turned and walked away. He seemed to be plotting something.
Yuejue\'s face was pale and as white sheet. He wondered if he would have to worry about his safety, if he entered the same school, now that he was on the wrong side of Xuanyuan.
Yuerong was also surprised. She didn\'t think things would end this way. Xuanyuan could\'ve killed her the other day. She survived only because he wasn\'t interested in killing someone who had done him no wrong. Still, Yuerong couldn\'t bare the humiliation he put her through.
In the centre of Moonwaste City.
On a tall stage made from giant stones, a man and a woman were sitting side by side. They were the first disciple, Yueteng, and the second disciple Yan Ziyun. Liu Piaoxu was standing next to Yan Ziyun. Next to Yueteng was Shi Tiancheng, who was whispering something into Yueteng\'s ear. Yueteng frowned when he heard the news of what had happened.
Below the stage, it was packed with people.
On the stage were the people who were already selected as inner disciples. Less than ten people were remaining to take the selection test. They had already selected many new disciples over the past month.
The candidates were queuing up to punch the stone and pass the test. The stone was about three metres tall and two metres wide. A man stepped forward and attacked the stone. A light emitted but it quickly faded away.
"Nine bulls of strength. There is a chance you can enter the warrior realm. We will take you as an outer disciple." Yueteng spoke when he saw the results. The man was ecstatic, he started bowing and saluting Yueteng.
"Thank you, first brother!"
He was soon led to the side by one of Yueteng\'s servants.
Another man stepped forward. His strike emitted an even brighter light around the stone, but it faded very quickly as well.
"Eighteen bulls. Not bad. You have great potential and there is a chance to enter the master realm. Go and collect your supply as an inner disciple." Yueteng said after witnessing the results.
Shi Congyu brought Xuanyuan onto the stage. Xuanyuan looked at the people there. Yueteng and Yan Ziyun sat in the middle with a dozen inner disciples standing next to them. He saw that Liu Piaoxu was smiling at him, and he returned the gesture.
"Xuanyuan, my lad. This is a stone rune that can test a person\'s strength and potential. When it\'s your turn, just strike with all your strength." Shi Congyu instructed.
Xuanyuan nodded.
It would soon be his turn.
"Look, this is a man handpicked by the first brother. Sounds like a strong character. Rumour has it he\'s already in the master realm."
"I wonder how strong he is."
Listening to these people gossip, Shi Congyu mumbled to himself,
"If the second sister doesn\'t get a master realm as a disciple this time, she will be beaten by the first brother again."
Xuanyuan realized the conundrum at once. This is in fact a test for the first brother and second sister on their ability to run the School of Yuehua.
The young man discovered by Yueteng attacked with all his strength. With a loud bang, a strong light that outshone all the other candidates exploded. The light shone from the stone in each direction for about a ten meter radius and didn\'t dissipate until a long time.
Yueteng was pleased. He nodded and smiled,
"Very well, sixty four bulls. Well done."
Normally, the peak of the fighters was nine bulls of strength, warriors thirty six and master realm was ninety nine. If one got a breakthrough and entered the spiritual realm, his strength would then be counted in dragons. A dragons strength was the symbol for entering the spiritual realm.
"I wouldn\'t be as strong as today if not for brother Yueteng\'s instructions." The man was very handsome and he sounded proud. He stepped down after complimenting Yueteng’s ability as an instructor.
Yan Ziyun was an extremely gorgeous woman. Her beauty and elegance made her a pleasing sight to behold. However, she wasn\'t particular pleased at this. She didn\'t expect Yueteng to recruit the young master of Brightsun City, Sunzhi.
Shi Congyu put a hand on Xuanyuan\'s shoulder and said, "Young lad, go and show them."
He nodded and stepped forward. Many people gasped in surprise.
"It\'s him! He\'s the young boy who killed Shi Zhengfeng. He could even take a direct hit from Shi Tiancheng without getting killed!"
"So what, he\'s nothing compared to the guy before him. That guy could reach the spiritual realm!"
"True, a lowly peasant cannot be compared to the young master of Brightsun City."
Xuanyuan ignored those people talking and thought to himself,
"The greedy old bugger said I have to keep a low profile. Don\'t show off."
Xuanyuan took a step forward, and kept his power to the minimum, he used the "Heavenly Dragon Revealed" to strike against the stone. He only used his brute force to hit the stone rune.
A bright light shot through the air, a meter wider than the light before that. The light lingered around for a long while before it faded.
Shi Congyu laughed,
"Great! Xuanyuan, my lad. I didn\'t realize you already have fifty four bulls of strength and you\'re extremely talented. Who has ever heard of a warrior with fifty four bulls of strength?"
In an instant, A smile appeared on Yan Ziyun\'s beautiful face. She glanced at Yueteng, whose face had darkened, and she stood up from her seat.
"This must be the young boy you mentioned, isn\'t it, Shi Congyu? You are called Xuanyuan, right? Very talented. I\'m sorry, but I will take him as my disciple, first brother." Yan Ziyun moved towards Xuanyuan and put her hand on his head. She was in a good mood.
Yueteng didn\'t show any emotion. He had already learnt about Xuanyuan from Shi Tiancheng and felt like he had everything under control,
"According to the school\'s instruction, the strongest disciples we acquire should have a match to determine our status."
Yan Ziyun said coldly, "First brother, aren\'t you bullying Xuanyuan? He only had fifty four bulls of strength, and is still a warrior. How can he fight against Sunzhi?"
Yueteng chuckled, "Then you\'ve already admitted that brother Xuanyuan is not as powerful as my disciple. Thanks for your compliment, second sister."
Yan Ziyun smiled,
"Of course they should have a match, but it can wait until we\'re back in the school. It would only be fair if the match is witnessed by all the Elders and the Head of the School."
"Impossible. The match has to be now or never. Not everything has to be witnessed by the Elders and the Head of school. Second sister, you are a woman after all, you are not determined enough." Yueteng replied. He insisted upon this because he was afraid he would lose his advantage to Yan Ziyun if they were back on school grounds. Xuanyuan gave him a strange feeling. For his strength to exceed the warrior realm, only someone with a special physique could achieve that.
Yan Ziyun was about to say something, but Xuanyuan was faster.
"Cut the bullshit. I\'ll fight him." He surprised both Yan Ziyun and Shi Congyu. Yueteng\'s disciple was already in the master realm, and stronger than him by ten bulls of strength. A master ranked fighter had refined their bones, which would be a great disadvantage to Xuanyuan during the match.
Yueteng didn\'t expect Xuanyuan would welcome his own defeat. He laughed, "Great, brother Xuanyuan. I\'ll grant you your wish. Sunzhi, go and take care of your \'brother\'."
Yan Ziyun lost her smile. She knew it was too late to stop it. Why must Xuanyuan be so headstrong? Young people just couldn\'t control themselves!