“Brother… Brother Jiang?”
Li Zhuifeng thought that he had seen a ghost, and then he raised his hands to rub his eyes. However, he didn’t see wrongly. He could recognize that face even if it had turned into ashes, let alone the fact that there was an obvious ‘trash’ word on his forehead.
(The way that brushstroke looks, it’s definitely the work of Teacher.)
“Why would you appear here?”
Li Zhuifeng subconsciously looked over next to Jiang Leng and saw Sun Mo. His eyes then squinted. “Have you acknowledged him as your teacher?”
“Ding San’s opponent isn’t weak!”
Ding Yi was planning on scolding out. (You’re the work of the manor head, but you’re fighting so bitterly in the first round of a mere personal disciples battle?) However, after seeing Ying Baiwu’s performance, Ding Yi shut up.
It was because he wouldn’t be able to get an easy win either.
Li Zhuifeng didn’t pay any heed to Ding Yi but continued to stare at Jiang Leng.
Seeing Jiang Leng again after so many years, Li Zhuifeng felt extremely complicated.
Every three years, a new batch of children would arrive in the manor. Li Zhuifeng and Jiang Leng were from the same batch. Back then, the children from the previous batch would always bully them. Jiang Leng was the one who had stood out and stabbed back at them with a dagger, protecting them, who were still children.
Life in the manor was boring. Other than sleeping, they’d be training, and Jiang Leng was the most outstanding child.
Jiang Leng far surpassed others of his age regardless if it was in learning, cultivating, or even playing games.
Back then, Li Zhuifeng had admired Jiang Leng, feeling that he was very strong. He had always followed behind Jiang Leng like a fanboy. But one day, everything changed.
Jiang Leng disappeared for half a month in the manor. When he came back again, he had become weak and crippled, living like a walking corpse. The most terrifying thing was that his body was covered in mysterious spirit runes.
Every once in a while, those spirit runes would cause his spirit qi to go berserk, bringing about tremendous pain. Therefore, during that period, Jiang Leng’s agonizing cries from extreme pain had cast a shadow in the children’s hearts.
Then, in the following year, Jiang Leng would be brought away for a few days every month. Each time he returned, he would be covered in wounds. There’d be more and more spirit runes on his body, and they were increasingly battered.
Jiang Leng repeated this cycle of recuperating and getting injured, until one day, a year later, Jiang Leng was taken away for a month. When he was carried back once again, that ‘trash’ word had appeared on his forehead.
In the evening, Jiang Leng was carried away, and he never appeared in the manor ever again.
At a later time, Li Zhuifeng found out that Jiang Leng had undergone the experiment of engraving spirit runes on the human body. Based on the original plan, all the children from their batch had to go through it concurrently. However, the horrible results on Jiang Leng had led to the experiment being postponed for a year.
It could be said that Jiang Leng’s pain had traded over a year of peacefulness for these children. The data gathered from his body over this period was also what led to the success of the experiment later on.
As Li Zhuifeng had an exceptional aptitude and showed outstanding talent in the study of spirit runes, he was taken in by Dean Bai as his personal disciple, and he found out about these things.
Li Zhuifeng asked himself, did he feel gratitude toward Jiang Leng?
Yes, but not much. There was more pride since the results showed that he was the most outstanding one. Thinking about it, it was ridiculous how he had been following behind Jiang Leng back then.
“Brother Jiang?”
Li Zhuifeng looked at the ‘trash’ word on Jiang Leng’s head and chuckled. However, his eyes instantly squinted as he stared toward Jiang Leng’s neck.
Why were there no signs of any spirit runes on his neck? His skin was so smooth, without any traces of spirit runes at all…
“They must be covered by some kind of pigment, right?”
Li Zhuifeng felt that if he was in Jiang Leng’s shoes, he’d definitely think of ways to cover up those shattered and ugly spirit runes. However, his rationality told him otherwise.
That the spirit runes on Jiang Leng’s body had been fixed.
If he was going to hide the spirit runes, why did he not do the same for the ‘trash’ word on his head?
“But how is it possible?”
Li Zhuifeng mumbled and his gaze couldn’t help but dart toward Sun Mo. He recalled that this guy had a great reputation of God Hands.
“Should we inform Teacher on this matter?”
Li Zhuifeng thought to himself when a great alert rang out in his heart. He subconsciously hid behind an adult examinee.
Jiang Leng turned his head.
“What’s wrong?”
Tantai Yutang noticed that the deadman face’s expression wasn’t right.
“I don’t know. I suddenly feel uncomfortable!”
…
“Baiwu, don’t panic, take it slowly!”
Li Ziqi couldn’t help but shout out when she saw the intense battle situation.
The examiner threw a glance at the little sunny egg and didn’t take any action. Firstly, she wasn’t a teacher. Secondly, words like cheering and asking participants to take it slow wouldn’t affect the battle situation in any way.
“Baiwu, there’s no need to rush! It’ll be fine as long as you win!”
Seeing that the examiner didn’t do anything, Li Ziqi shouted out again.
With Sun Mo’s arrival, Ying Baiwu wanted to perform well and quickly defeat her opponent to get praised for it, but she ended up being anxious.
“I’m embarrassing Teacher!”
Ying Baiwu pursed her lips and held onto her breath as she glanced over Sun Mo. Sun Mo shook his head and wore a smile, nodding.
Although he didn’t say anything, the iron-headed young girl understood what her teacher meant.
“This battle tactic isn’t right. Change it. It’s too harmful to the body. But you fought well and you’ll definitely be able to win!”
Watching Sun Mo’s gentle and trusting gaze, looking at her teacher’s appreciating smile, it was as if he was saying, (You’re the student I admire the most.) Baiwu, who was feeling anxious, calmed down.
“How can Teacher possibly care about wins or losses? What he cares about is definitely for me to not get hurt!”
Ying Baiwu felt warm inside. She then used the Wind King Divine Steps and retreated to the edges of the arena, drawing her distance.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Ying Baiwu +100. Respect (7,100/10,000).
“She has finally stopped!”
Ding San didn’t push on the attacks but panted heavily. There was no helping it. His opponent’s attacks were done in a mad-dog style, making it hard for him to take on.
(Don’t you feel pain?)
Ding San had received harsh training in the manor, but the battle today still caused his heart to palpitate.
“Teacher is right. I was too bent on being above board to win against you quickly. I just need to win.”
Ying Baiwu reflected.
“What the hell?”
Ding San frowned.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to win this round!”
Ying Baiwu took her longbow she was carrying on her back.
“Tsk, you want to shoot someone to death using a bow without any arrows?”
Ding San sneered in disdain. He wasn’t anxious but instead reminded Ying Baiwu, “Did you forget to bring your quiver because you were too nervous? It’s fine! I’ll wait for you!”
Discussions broke out around them. People didn’t know what Ying Baiwu wanted to do.
The examiner watched everything quietly, not stopping the iron-headed young girl from changing her weapon. It was because this was the personal disciples battle, and there were no restrictions over weapons and battle tactics. They just had to win.
Of course, although bow and arrows were meant for long-distance battles, the entire arena was only the size of half a basketball court. One would be at a disadvantage from using them.
The advantage of such weapons was to defeat opponents from a far distance. Once the distance was drawn closer, things were basically over for the user.
Given the length of the arena, in the time Ding San took to dash up to Ying Baiwu, she’d just have taken her arrow from her quiver. Moreover, if she were to miss her shot, then the longbow would just be a decor. She’d be beaten up one-sidedly.
“If you don’t charge on now, you won’t have any chance!”
Ying Baiwu held onto the Wind King Divine Bow and had it by her side. It wasn’t because she wanted to ensure fairness, but because she didn’t want to bring embarrassment to Sun Mo. Otherwise, she’d have launched a sneak attack.
“It’s fine, you can just shoot freely. It’d be considered my loss if I were to move!”
Ding San chuckled.
Ying Baiwu pursed her lips and raised the bow with her left hand, hooking onto the bowstring with her right index finger and middle finger. She then pulled it and let go.
Buzz!
The bowstring tremored, releasing a clear and crisp sound.
“Good bow!”
There was a great teacher amongst the audience who specialized in long-range shooting. When he heard the sound of the bow, he knew that this was a peak-grade longbow, and it was definitely the work of a grandmaster.
“Do you think that I… f*ck!”
When Ding San saw Ying Baiwu pull the arrowless bow, he had wanted to ask if she had grown silly out of fear. However, his vision then blurred and he saw the spirit qi condensing into an arrow, swooshing over.
It was extremely fast.
Swoosh!
The arrow brushed past Ding San’s ears.
“Admit your loss!”
Ying Baiwu urged.
Even the examiner, who had a lot of experiences, felt a little astonished now. Could this longbow condense arrows from nothing? Or was it the effect of her cultivation art?
However, this girl had a great demeanor. If she were a little ruthless and shot out at Ding San’s upper thigh. That arrow would have ended the battle.
Ding San, who had lingering fears, stopped talking crap and shot out directly. He moved so fast that he left after-images after him.
Ying Baiwu didn’t move and continued to pull her bow with her right hand consecutively.
Phoenix Cry Chaotic Dance!
The audience then saw many translucent arrows shooting out from the longbow like a mechanized bow.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Before Ding San could get close, an arrow pierced through his right palm. After he flicked his longsword away, it was then shattered into fragments.
Clank! Clank!
The metal pieces landed on the floor, creating noises.
The entire place was in silence.
The examinees felt their scalps turn numb and they felt a little despair.
Who could win against this?
According to the rules, one wouldn’t be allowed to get off nor change their weapons after getting onto the arena. They weren’t even allowed to drink water that someone else passed them.
Therefore, everyone kept thinking that Ying Baiwu had been so nervous that she had forgotten to bring her quiver. That was why she had been carrying her longbow and hadn’t used it. However, only now did they understand that she didn’t have any need for arrows. The reason why she had fought the way she did earlier was because she wanted to fight fair and square.
“She actually thought too much. It’d also be fair to fight this way.”
“Anyone who encountered her would be unlucky!”
“That’s amazing. No wonder Sun Mo doesn’t come to watch her competition. It’s because she’s sure to win!”
Everyone discussed amongst themselves. Those who had won the first round felt tremendous pressure and started praying that they wouldn’t encounter Ying Baiwu for the next round.
“Ying Baiwu wins this round!”
After the examiner announced that the iron-headed young girl had won the competition, she bowed and jumped off the arena, walking over to Sun Mo’s side.
She lowered her head, ready to receive a scolding.
“Tantai, take care of her wounds first!”
Sun Mo instructed.
The sickly guy immediately opened the medicine box he always carried with him and helped Ying Baiwu stop her bleeding.
“Baiwu, don’t think about things like being considerate of me. It’s your battle now, so you must fight for yourself!”
Sun Mo instructed.
This girl wasn’t one who’d scheme. Therefore, Sun Mo could easily guess the reason why she had done that.
Ying Baiwu continued to lower her head, not saying anything. (If I’m just fighting for myself, then I’ll give up! After all, there’s no money to get out of it!)
Jiang Leng looked toward that Ding San. He had lost but clearly wasn’t convinced and was glaring over viciously.
