Commanding Wind and Cloud

The officials in the academy decided to turn a blind eye to this; they believed that although this method of solving disputes in private wasn’t great, it was a great type of special training if no one got severely injured or killed.

Qian Jin looked at the hill not far away and glanced around to see if anything was strange. He heard that some of the instructors were very interested in the fights that the students engaged in; they usually hid somewhere and observed the fights closely. This way, they could figure out which students needed more training, and which students should be focused on for advanced cultivation.

Qian Jin didn’t want his battles to be watched by some instructors like a show. After confirming that no one was around, he paced himself into the little forest. He stretched and rotated his shoulders and neck; he wanted to warm up properly, so when he fought, he would be at his peak condition.

“Uh? Who is this student? He is extremely cautious.” A thin elderly man jumped off of a tree which was on the path to the center of the forest. He looked up at the tree and said, “Rodriguez, why are you still up there?”

“Ohoho, principal, I will come down right away.” Rodriguez jumped off of the tree as well. He looked in direction that Qian Jin went and said surprisingly, “Qian... Qian Jin? What is he doing here?”

“Qian Jin? So he was the student that you were complimenting?” The thin elderly principal stroked his white goatee. “Is he the student that is currently ranked number ten among all Grade One students?”

Rodriguez nodded as he followed the thin principal sneakily into the little forest.

With bright green trees on both sides, Qian Jin climbed the hill slowly. Soon, he was at the only clear space on the hill. This was a circular vacant area with no trees growing on it; it had a radius of 10 yards, and the academy left it out on purpose. The area with only grass and rocks was for students to relax and chat during training classes, and it was for students to solve disputes privately during the off times.

Qian Jin was on the outside edge of the circular space and saw a few people at the center. Fatty Rollin already had a black eye on the right; his cheeks were also a green and black color. Both of his arms were locked by two of Caesar’s’ henchmen, and he seemed dispirited.

Caesars was dressed in a set of black warrior suit. His brown hair fluttered in the wind. Looking from afar, he seemed like someone who had a graceful temperament and power.

Around the circular space, there were about a dozen students who were in either a warrior suit or mage robe. From the pin that they were wearing on their chests, most of them were in Grade Two, and there were only a few of them in Grade Three. They were all waiting on the side as if they were about to watch some good drama.

There were always students who resolved their disputes privately at this little forest, and seniors who were bored would always come here to chill; they didn’t need to pay anything to see a show. They never helped one side out; they only watched.

Qian Jin glanced around, and his eyes focused onto someone who had light blue and long hair. It was Revolver-Skyblade, the student that was ranked eighth place. He was wearing a green warrior suit, and he had a dark black belt. He stood straight in the wind, and Qian Jin could sense a sharp temperament from him. Another thing special about him was that his arms were longer than normal people.

“Qian Jin, you are late.” Caesars slapped Rollin’s fat cheek forcefully. Pia! Pia! Pia! The slapping sound resonated in the little forest. He said arrogantly, “If you came any later, you could visit him in the hospital!”

Qian Jin looked at Revolver-Skyblade for a bit more, then his eyes landed on Caesars. He finally knew why this guy, who was beaten to half death by him, dared to challenge him again; the guy got a helper, and the helper was quite famous. Revolver-Skyblade was ranked eighth on the fighting ability ranking and was ranked second on the combat ranking.

“Rollin,” Qian Jin raised his voice. “Count carefully. We will slap him back; in fact, we will double it.”

Rollin looked at Qian Jin with his dispirited eyes, and then he glanced at Revolver-Skyblade cautiously. He coughed heavily as the dispirited expression left his face. He started to move his body aggressively, trying to get away from Caesars’ henchmen’s control as he yelled. “For sure! I’ve been counting. This guy punched me three times and slapped me six times!”

Revolver-Skyblade on the other hand, lifted his chin and looked at Qian Jin who was a bit taller than him; a blood-thirsty smile popped up on his face.

“Oh damn! It looks like the eighth seat in Grade One will be fighting the tenth seat. This is going to be interesting.”

A few seniors were looking forward to the fight. Although Qian Jin and Revolver-Skyblade were both in Grade One, their high ranks raised the crowd’s expectation.

Qian Jin stepped onto the green grass and walked into the circle. He stared at Caesars and said, “No wonder you were brave, you have a good helper now.”

Caesars laughed out loud. In order to persuade Revolver-Skyblade to help him, he had paid two gold coins as a compensation. His goal was to return what Qian Jin did to him back and put Qian Jin in the hospital!

Qian Jin’s eyes re-focused onto Revolver-Skyblade. He was able to tell from Revolver-Skyblade’s lean body that he trained hard day and night, or else a fifteen-year-old wouldn’t have such a body. Revolver-Skyblade’s longer than average arms and bigger than average hands hid under his clothes pretty well, but Qian Jin could still sense the explosive damage that they could do.

“You are willing to work for him?” Qian Jin asked Revolver-Skyblade curiously “How much did he pay you?”

Revolver-Skyblade looked back at Qian Jin and smiled as he answered, “Money wasn’t the motivator. The real reason is that I want to fight you and take away your points. Maybe you don’t know, but only the top five students who have the most points will receive Observation Seats at the Universal Hero Conference. Be cooperative and give me your tag, the one that represents your tenth seat on the fighting ability ranking.”

Qian Jin reached down to his pocket and pulled out a circular tag. The only thing on it was the number “10”. He had a total of three similar tags; it was the school officials who gave him these. He remembered that when they were explaining it to him, they said that every tag was worth ten points. If he lost all three tags, he would lose the opportunity to get Observation Seats at the Universal Hero Conference.

In the last couple of days, the fights between the other top ten students were fierce, and the ownership of the tags changed regularly. Qian Jin was the only one who got to keep all of his tags since he didn’t participate in any fights.

Qian Jin rubbed his temples as he saw the excitement in Revolver-Skyblade’s eyes. He knew that if he fought with him, then he would no longer have any peace. Before this incident, he told the other top ten students that he wasn’t interested in the Observation Seats indirectly by not fighting with anyone.