Chapter 97: Semifinals

On a tall viewing stand nearby, there were a few Inner Disciples from the Inner Court, watching the game from their spot over there . It was also said that the Master of Phantasm Rain Pavilion would come to watch the fight later…

I was now on the ring, shaking my neck . I had already done my share of warm-up exercise and was ready to enter combat mode at any time .

My opponent was a white-haired young man . He had a bizarre ability coupled with an uncanny footwork technique . The onlookers under the ring could clearly see his shadow, yet it seemed that this opponent of mine seemed to be invisible to them . Everything around him seemed to be chaotic and disorderly, so I could tell that he had a bizarre ability . That was why I fully focused my attention on every detail of this guy . From the very start, when he came to the stage, I kept my eyes locked on his shadow, lest he suddenly disappeared .

As the bell sounded, the fight began! Yet, his shadow suddenly disappeared from my sight!

Sure enough! It was as I guessed! That ability was a bizarre cheat! I knew those under the stage were definitely able to see his shadow at this time, and I also knew the reason why his previous opponents in the last few bouts seemed to look around . They were looking at the direction of the audience’s eyes . Those under the stage could see this white-haired guy, hence as long as I follow their eyes’ direction, I could pinpoint this guy’s position!

There was just one problem, there were only three people who watched my stage . It was probably because I got the wildcard slot, so they felt there was nothing worth seeing, so all of them went to see the fights on other stages around the arena . Most of them, around 60%, as I reckon, were gathered around the stage where Liu Mengyan was .

As for these three viewers around my stage, they should be friends of this white-haired fella . They knew his weaknesses, so they set their sight on me on purpose .

If so, the ability of this white-haired guy seemed to only affect one person, making himself invisible in front of the target, while the others were able to see his shadow . But I was sure that there must be a sound when he moves! Hence, I closed my eyes and carefully listened to the sound around the stage…

Yup! I could hear it!

Quickly, I heard a slight sound of footsteps coming from one direction! I didn’t want to think further and quickly shot out a flame from my palm!

His figure then appeared in my line of sight as he awkwardly dodged my flame . I knew it! He performed that bizarre footwork technique before he entered that stealth mode! If his footwork was disrupted, it would create a crack and show his flaw! Even though I was a.n.a.lyzing it, I didn’t stop moving and powerfully flicked my feet to dash forward, hurling my body toward the white-haired youth like an arrow! In just three big strides, I already appeared in front of him and spun my right arm to then deliver a powerful uppercut at his face!

Surprisingly, though, this guy was also very agile! He bent down to parry my fist and even sent an elbow to my stomach straight to my upper body!

I swiftly retreated and grabbed his wrist, immediately performing a technique from 16 Ways of Grappling to catch his hand! To my surprise, he suddenly burst out forcefully to dash forward as  his palm hit me on the stomach before fiercely grabbing my body . At the same time, I sent a punch to hit his head! He pushed me back while I stepped back again and covered my stomach! The taste of getting hit in the belly was really upsetting . It was so painful that my tears were nearly flowing down .

Only then did I learn my lesson that this move was so fierce!

While I retreated, the white-haired youth also walked backward and then disappeared all of a sudden .

I closed my eyes, patiently listening to the sounds in the surroundings . However, the few buddies of this guy knew that I relied on my hearing to pinpoint their friend’s location, so they made loud noises to submerge the already faint sounds of the white-haired youth’s footsteps . It really made me angry and vexed . THIS WAS NOT FAIR! Yet, there was nothing I could say and do . It was like a boxing match . Just because the athlete felt it was too noisy, did he even have the right to tell the audience to shut up?

Nevertheless, they did yell and made it affected me very well! I did not have the time to get down nor was it possible for me to listen to the sounds around me . And quickly, a kick hit my face! I could not even see his shadow at all! It seemed like I got stuck here!

I was kicked but quickly composed myself again and swiftly set my right hand aflame in an instant and grabbed at the position where that guy attacked me .

Unfortunately, there was nothing to catch…

Just at this moment, a punch hit my back . The pain caused me to grunt and forced me to lean forward before a kick came again and hit my loin! I knitted my brows . This situation could not be continued like this . That guy would definitely be tired as well, so I abruptly turned around with a palm blazing with flame . I kept changing the trajectory of my palm and kept doing it for thirty seconds, and yet, I was still unable to force this guy to come out!

However, I already spent half of my Inner Force!

In the past few months, even though I did say there was not much progress with my Inner Force cultivation, but it couldn’t be said it was not improving at all . I could keep the flame burning for 60 seconds from the previous 40 seconds .

As I retracted my flame, I secretly frowned . But I couldn’t figure out a way to deal with this guy . Just when I fell into my thoughts, I suddenly felt an attack behind me! I turned around quickly to fight back, but his figure already disappeared…

As for what followed, 5 minutes were spent with me being a sandbag and receiving dozens of punches and lots of footprints all over my body . This fight was just as vexing as sitting on needles as it went on! My opponent kept making a sneak attack behind me, whereas those few punks kept shouting and did not allow me to focus and listen to my opponent’s footstep, while at the same time, my Inner Force had long been spent…

‘Am I going to lose here…’

‘Am I going to lose here…’

‘NO! NO WAY!’

‘I have to get that quota!’

Having gotten that wildcard slot was an unprecedented chance in and of itself, and n.o.body would ever be able to win something unless he dared to take chances .

Besides, if I didn’t win this match, I might really have to wait for three years! I could never imagine what would happen if Dad and Mom did not get any news about me for three years . They would not just be worried to death for sure! Hence, I must go out . I had to!

‘I don’t care about anything anymore! I must use the Small Thumb Sword Qi!’

My opponent was using his bizarre footwork technique to achieve this stealth mode . As long as his feet lost the ability to move, he would be butchered by me! But if this Small Thumb Sword Qi hit him, he would surely be crippled! So now I just needed to make a rough estimation of his position and then hit the stage, so that the explosive power would damage his feet!

Even at the expense of damaging my lungs, I must still do it!

As I thought up to there, I ran my True Qi into my lungs and compressed it there! One must know that the power from the Small Thumb Sword Qi was comparable to a rocket launcher sh.e.l.l! It was even able to blow a big hole in a rock and damage everything in a 5-meter radius!

Meanwhile… two figures suddenly appeared on the viewing stand, one of whom was a girl who pouted her mouth, as everyone nearby then hurriedly greeted these two people…

35 seconds! The 35 seconds of holding and compression had reached the limit!

How could this be? Previously, I needed 43 seconds or so to compress the True Qi! Was it because my True Qi had improved? If that’s so, to make sure what I was going to do succeed, I directed all of my True Qi and compressed it inside my lungs!

At this time, my back was. .h.i.t from a kick! My body reclined as I stumbled forward a bit and shot my thumb toward the floor .

A flame flashed from the tip of my thumb . It was the shot of Small Thumb Sword Qi!

A flame flashed from the tip of my thumb . It was the shot of Small Thumb Sword Qi!

BOOM!

A loud explosion was heard, causing the earth to tremble! A pit appeared on the ring as gravel was flying! The power of Small Thumb Sword Qi was really too strong! The blast directly sent the white-haired guy flying upside down to the outside and collapsed! Even I myself was forced to step back while the gravel splashed on my body, scratching my arms and creating bleeding wounds!

The loud explosion also attracted all the onlookers’ attention .

Tick, tick, tick…

My nose began to bleed but I had no time to wipe it off and instead rushed to the white-haired youth . At this time, he already fell to the ground while blood painted his pants red, and yet, he had already stood up again! I ran to him and grabbed his feet, forcing him to get down . Then, I shouted, “Hey, referee! It’s my win!”

Sun Yongfu then ran over, checking the white-haired youth’s injury . After making sure that his bones were not harmed, he then declared it my victory! Although my nosebleed dyed my white vest, I still let out loud laughter!

The loud explosion attracted Feng Nian’s attention . Her eyes lit up as she then spoke to the refined young man and said, “Master I’m going to play for a while . ” And then ran downstairs from the stand .

I kept laughing for a while before jumping from the ring while pinching my nose, yet I still could not stop the nosebleed .

Suddenly, someone handed me a tissue from behind . I took it and wiped my nose and then said, “Can I have another one?”

The same hand handing me another one . But this time, I noticed the hand that held the tissue was very fair as if it belonged to a girl . Was it Liu Mengyan? I quickly turned back to look at the person, but I was so stunned that my jaw dropped after finding out .

“Fe-Feng… Miss Feng, how come you’re here?!!”

“Hmph!” Feng Nian also seemed surprised, but pretended to be angry when she replied, “You, d.a.m.n slob! It should be me who asks you that question! Before that, wipe off your nosebleed first . How come you’re bleeding so much?” Then, she took out a pack of tissue and stuffed it in my hand .

“Fe-Feng… Miss Feng, how come you’re here?!!”

“Hmph!” Feng Nian also seemed surprised, but pretended to be angry when she replied, “You, d.a.m.n slob! It should be me who asks you that question! Before that, wipe off your nosebleed first . How come you’re bleeding so much?” Then, she took out a pack of tissue and stuffed it in my hand .

While wiping my nosebleed, I threw my guess at her, “Looking at you, you should be an Inner Disciple here, right?”

“Yup, that’s right . But what about you? How did you get into the Outer Court? To think that you are even able to reach a quarter-final . That’s amazing!” Feng Ning smilingly replied .

“Nah, it’s a lucky shot . Nothing to be proud of . I’m still no match for Inner Disciples like you . Anyhow, I was kinda deceived to enter Phantasm Rain Pavilion three months ago . After I got here, only then did I learn that my freedom is restricted, so I want to get into the top 3 and get one quota to go out and tell my parents . I was in a hurry when I came here and then it was too late to inform them . They must be thinking that I’m missing . ”

“Nonsense! Who could be deceiving you here? Everyone here is a good person . Don’t throw out such a lie,” Feng Nian replied in a naïve and innocent manner .

I took a sigh and replied to her in a whisper, “Well, it was that man with ‘King’ rank who deceived me . Anyways, who’s your master? Us being able to meet here can’t be so coincidental, right? Is he also a ‘King’?”

“No, he’s not . ” Feng Nian said, “My Master is a ‘Magistrate’… . Err… So, you joined Phantasm Rain Pavilion three months ago, huh? No wonder I couldn’t get connected to your cell phone when I tried to call you a couple days ago . ”

“Yeah, there’s no signal here . ” I nodded . “Ah, that’s right . No wonder you have that strange ability . Turns out that you’re a disciple of Phantasm Rain Pavilion . But then, there’s something I wanna ask you, though . Your… strength as a disciple here… why does it seem not very strong at all?”

“It’s because I’m from a ‘Magistrate’ line . It’s fine in my case as long as I can learn some divination calculation . Besides, Master said that I’m a girl, so I just need to learn a bit of Kung Fu, else my body would be full of muscles and then I couldn’t marry anyone later,” grunted Feng Ling in her mutter .

Puff…

My nose still kept bleeding as Feng Nian knitted her lovely eyebrows, “Hey, sloppy, why has your nosebleed not stopped at all?”

Chapter 97: Semifinals.

On a tall viewing stand nearby, there were a few Inner Disciples from the Inner Court, watching the game from their spot over there . It was also said that the Master of Phantasm Rain Pavilion would come to watch the fight later….

I was now on the ring, shaking my neck . I had already done my share of warm-up exercise and was ready to enter combat mode at any time

My opponent was a white-haired young man . He had a bizarre ability coupled with an uncanny footwork technique . The onlookers under the ring could clearly see his shadow, yet it seemed that this opponent of mine seemed to be invisible to them . Everything around him seemed to be chaotic and disorderly, so I could tell that he had a bizarre ability . That was why I fully focused my attention on every detail of this guy . From the very start, when he came to the stage, I kept my eyes locked on his shadow, lest he suddenly disappeared

As the bell sounded, the fight began! Yet, his shadow suddenly disappeared from my sight!.

Sure enough! It was as I guessed! That ability was a bizarre cheat! I knew those under the stage were definitely able to see his shadow at this time, and I also knew the reason why his previous opponents in the last few bouts seemed to look around . They were looking at the direction of the audience’s eyes . Those under the stage could see this white-haired guy, hence as long as I follow their eyes’ direction, I could pinpoint this guy’s position!.

There was just one problem, there were only three people who watched my stage . It was probably because I got the wildcard slot, so they felt there was nothing worth seeing, so all of them went to see the fights on other stages around the arena . Most of them, around 60%, as I reckon, were gathered around the stage where Liu Mengyan was

As for these three viewers around my stage, they should be friends of this white-haired fella . They knew his weaknesses, so they set their sight on me on purpose

If so, the ability of this white-haired guy seemed to only affect one person, making himself invisible in front of the target, while the others were able to see his shadow . But I was sure that there must be a sound when he moves! Hence, I closed my eyes and carefully listened to the sound around the stage….

Yup! I could hear it!.

Quickly, I heard a slight sound of footsteps coming from one direction! I didn’t want to think further and quickly shot out a flame from my palm!.

His figure then appeared in my line of sight as he awkwardly dodged my flame . I knew it! He performed that bizarre footwork technique before he entered that stealth mode! If his footwork was disrupted, it would create a crack and show his flaw! Even though I was a.n.a.lyzing it, I didn’t stop moving and powerfully flicked my feet to dash forward, hurling my body toward the white-haired youth like an arrow! In just three big strides, I already appeared in front of him and spun my right arm to then deliver a powerful uppercut at his face!.

Surprisingly, though, this guy was also very agile! He bent down to parry my fist and even sent an elbow to my stomach straight to my upper body!.

I swiftly retreated and grabbed his wrist, immediately performing a technique from 16 Ways of Grappling to catch his hand! To my surprise, he suddenly burst out forcefully to dash forward as  his palm hit me on the stomach before fiercely grabbing my body . At the same time, I sent a punch to hit his head! He pushed me back while I stepped back again and covered my stomach! The taste of getting hit in the belly was really upsetting . It was so painful that my tears were nearly flowing down

Only then did I learn my lesson that this move was so fierce!.

While I retreated, the white-haired youth also walked backward and then disappeared all of a sudden

I closed my eyes, patiently listening to the sounds in the surroundings . However, the few buddies of this guy knew that I relied on my hearing to pinpoint their friend’s location, so they made loud noises to submerge the already faint sounds of the white-haired youth’s footsteps . It really made me angry and vexed . THIS WAS NOT FAIR! Yet, there was nothing I could say and do . It was like a boxing match . Just because the athlete felt it was too noisy, did he even have the right to tell the audience to shut up?.

Nevertheless, they did yell and made it affected me very well! I did not have the time to get down nor was it possible for me to listen to the sounds around me . And quickly, a kick hit my face! I could not even see his shadow at all! It seemed like I got stuck here!.

I was kicked but quickly composed myself again and swiftly set my right hand aflame in an instant and grabbed at the position where that guy attacked me

Unfortunately, there was nothing to catch….

Just at this moment, a punch hit my back . The pain caused me to grunt and forced me to lean forward before a kick came again and hit my loin! I knitted my brows . This situation could not be continued like this . That guy would definitely be tired as well, so I abruptly turned around with a palm blazing with flame . I kept changing the trajectory of my palm and kept doing it for thirty seconds, and yet, I was still unable to force this guy to come out!.

However, I already spent half of my Inner Force!.

In the past few months, even though I did say there was not much progress with my Inner Force cultivation, but it couldn’t be said it was not improving at all . I could keep the flame burning for 60 seconds from the previous 40 seconds

As I retracted my flame, I secretly frowned . But I couldn’t figure out a way to deal with this guy . Just when I fell into my thoughts, I suddenly felt an attack behind me! I turned around quickly to fight back, but his figure already disappeared….

As for what followed, 5 minutes were spent with me being a sandbag and receiving dozens of punches and lots of footprints all over my body . This fight was just as vexing as sitting on needles as it went on! My opponent kept making a sneak attack behind me, whereas those few punks kept shouting and did not allow me to focus and listen to my opponent’s footstep, while at the same time, my Inner Force had long been spent….

‘Am I going to lose here…’.

‘NO! NO WAY!’.

‘I have to get that quota!’.

Having gotten that wildcard slot was an unprecedented chance in and of itself, and n.o.body would ever be able to win something unless he dared to take chances

Besides, if I didn’t win this match, I might really have to wait for three years! I could never imagine what would happen if Dad and Mom did not get any news about me for three years . They would not just be worried to death for sure! Hence, I must go out . I had to!.

‘I don’t care about anything anymore! I must use the Small Thumb Sword Qi!’.

My opponent was using his bizarre footwork technique to achieve this stealth mode . As long as his feet lost the ability to move, he would be butchered by me! But if this Small Thumb Sword Qi hit him, he would surely be crippled! So now I just needed to make a rough estimation of his position and then hit the stage, so that the explosive power would damage his feet!.

Even at the expense of damaging my lungs, I must still do it!.

As I thought up to there, I ran my True Qi into my lungs and compressed it there! One must know that the power from the Small Thumb Sword Qi was comparable to a rocket launcher sh.e.l.l! It was even able to blow a big hole in a rock and damage everything in a 5-meter radius!.

Meanwhile… two figures suddenly appeared on the viewing stand, one of whom was a girl who pouted her mouth, as everyone nearby then hurriedly greeted these two people….

35 seconds! The 35 seconds of holding and compression had reached the limit!.

How could this be? Previously, I needed 43 seconds or so to compress the True Qi! Was it because my True Qi had improved? If that’s so, to make sure what I was going to do succeed, I directed all of my True Qi and compressed it inside my lungs!.

At this time, my back was. .h.i.t from a kick! My body reclined as I stumbled forward a bit and shot my thumb toward the floor

A flame flashed from the tip of my thumb . It was the shot of Small Thumb Sword Qi!.

BOOM!.

A loud explosion was heard, causing the earth to tremble! A pit appeared on the ring as gravel was flying! The power of Small Thumb Sword Qi was really too strong! The blast directly sent the white-haired guy flying upside down to the outside and collapsed! Even I myself was forced to step back while the gravel splashed on my body, scratching my arms and creating bleeding wounds!.

The loud explosion also attracted all the onlookers’ attention

Tick, tick, tick….

My nose began to bleed but I had no time to wipe it off and instead rushed to the white-haired youth . At this time, he already fell to the ground while blood painted his pants red, and yet, he had already stood up again! I ran to him and grabbed his feet, forcing him to get down . Then, I shouted, “Hey, referee! It’s my win!”.

Sun Yongfu then ran over, checking the white-haired youth’s injury . After making sure that his bones were not harmed, he then declared it my victory! Although my nosebleed dyed my white vest, I still let out loud laughter!.

****.

The loud explosion attracted Feng Nian’s attention . Her eyes lit up as she then spoke to the refined young man and said, “Master I’m going to play for a while . ” And then ran downstairs from the stand

I kept laughing for a while before jumping from the ring while pinching my nose, yet I still could not stop the nosebleed

Suddenly, someone handed me a tissue from behind . I took it and wiped my nose and then said, “Can I have another one?”.

The same hand handing me another one . But this time, I noticed the hand that held the tissue was very fair as if it belonged to a girl . Was it Liu Mengyan? I quickly turned back to look at the person, but I was so stunned that my jaw dropped after finding out

“Fe-Feng… Miss Feng, how come you’re here?!!”.

“Hmph!” Feng Nian also seemed surprised, but pretended to be angry when she replied, “You, d.a.m.n slob! It should be me who asks you that question! Before that, wipe off your nosebleed first . How come you’re bleeding so much?” Then, she took out a pack of tissue and stuffed it in my hand

While wiping my nosebleed, I threw my guess at her, “Looking at you, you should be an Inner Disciple here, right?”.

“Yup, that’s right . But what about you? How did you get into the Outer Court? To think that you are even able to reach a quarter-final . That’s amazing!” Feng Ning smilingly replied

“Nah, it’s a lucky shot . Nothing to be proud of . I’m still no match for Inner Disciples like you . Anyhow, I was kinda deceived to enter Phantasm Rain Pavilion three months ago . After I got here, only then did I learn that my freedom is restricted, so I want to get into the top 3 and get one quota to go out and tell my parents . I was in a hurry when I came here and then it was too late to inform them . They must be thinking that I’m missing . ”.

“Nonsense! Who could be deceiving you here? Everyone here is a good person . Don’t throw out such a lie,” Feng Nian replied in a naïve and innocent manner

I took a sigh and replied to her in a whisper, “Well, it was that man with ‘King’ rank who deceived me . Anyways, who’s your master? Us being able to meet here can’t be so coincidental, right? Is he also a ‘King’?”.

“No, he’s not . ” Feng Nian said, “My Master is a ‘Magistrate’… . Err… So, you joined Phantasm Rain Pavilion three months ago, huh? No wonder I couldn’t get connected to your cell phone when I tried to call you a couple days ago . ”.

“Yeah, there’s no signal here . ” I nodded . “Ah, that’s right . No wonder you have that strange ability . Turns out that you’re a disciple of Phantasm Rain Pavilion . But then, there’s something I wanna ask you, though . Your… strength as a disciple here… why does it seem not very strong at all?”.

“It’s because I’m from a ‘Magistrate’ line . It’s fine in my case as long as I can learn some divination calculation . Besides, Master said that I’m a girl, so I just need to learn a bit of Kung Fu, else my body would be full of muscles and then I couldn’t marry anyone later,” grunted Feng Ling in her mutter

Puff….

My nose still kept bleeding as Feng Nian knitted her lovely eyebrows, “Hey, sloppy, why has your nosebleed not stopped at all?”.

 .