Translator: Kazeyuki_ Editor: Jimmy_
It was the first round of fights, naturally, Qin Wushuang did not wish to reveal all the cards he had. The competitor before him was not very powerful and he could see that this person was making hasty attacks. Obviously, it was a form of fear.
In other words, this competitor was somewhat scared of Qin Wushuang.
After all, during this time, Qin Wushuang had been known as “vicious” person. Especially after the news of how he had killed Qi Shengnan and the Second Martial Saint from the West Chu had spread out, everyone felt that Qin Wushuang was a ruthless figure.
Number Sixty-Eight used his giant spear and swung a dozen of spear circles into a curve. The spear circles flew toward Qin Wushuang’s fatal points with accuracy.
Once any one of the spear attacks hit the enemy, they would get hit at the fatal points and it would determine the win and loss. Although number Sixty-Eight feared Qin Wushuang, he was not sloppy when he made the move.
Only to Qin Wushuang, such attacks were insignificant. Suddenly, Qin Wushuang’s long whip straightened up as he poured his Qi into the long whip and become a good spear.
With a swing to the left and another to the right, he had hit all the dozen of spear attacks from number Sixty-Eight. Each time he hit the target, that ball of spiritual air formed by the enemy’s spearhead was shattered by the dart on Qin Wushuang’s whip.
To use power against power, one would contrive the goal at a later time and to reach it before the enemy.
Inwardly, number Sixty-Eight was secretly shocked. He had learned this set of spear attacks from his teacher. It was a formidable technique in which each move would aim for the enemy’s body parts that was hardest to defend against.
On the contrary, he would not be as surprised if the opponent had used the body movement techniques to evade it.
However, this Qin Wushuang was using a soft whip as a long spear. He had used the dart head on the whip and shattered all his attacks. This type of technique was indeed, extraordinary.
From this simple move, he could see the difference between him and the competitor. The difference in strength between these two was great.
Although the competitor had made the move at a later timeframe, he was able to shatter all his speedy spear attacks in a flash. Regardless of his eyesight, speed or the use Spiritual Qi, he had reached the peak of the Initial Stage Upper Sky. With such strength, even the strongest Core disciple from the Fifth Palace could only reach this level.
However, number Sixty-Eight had no idea that Qin Wushuang had shattered his attacks as he wanted him to understand his situation, to back out and to admit defeat.
If Qin Wushuang were to use his full strength, most likely in three moves, he would kick him off the stage. After all, earlier at the gambling competition stage, he had done it.
Initially at gambling arena, everyone was wearing the masks. Naturally, Qin Wushuang had nothing to worry about when he had not held back.
Currently, it was a duel between disciples. While fighting on the stage, he still needed to show some courtesy. After all, they were all disciples of the Stargaze Palace. He did not wish to show his tyrannical side. Defeating the opponent instantly would give him a lot of momentum, but it would also destroy the reputation of his opponent.
Since they were all Upper Sky Core disciples, all of them needed some respect.
Besides, he considered that recently, the line of the Second Palace Master had received enough temperament. If he continued to show his forceful side, invisibly, other Palace Masters would begin to feel traces of hostility toward his teacher.
Too far is as bad as not far enough…
During these days, Qin Wushuang had been thinking on his sister’s words when he returned to his home last time. Too much killing, and vigorous temperament…
Indeed, when he was killing those two Martial Saints, Qin Wushuang had intended to “exterminate” them. For this fact, Qin Wushuang did not regret.
Only, his sister’s words were reasonable. Vividly, he realized that during these time, did he show off too much temperament?
Or had he forgotten the principle of “Be lenient whenever possible”?
For this ranking competition, Qin Wushuang had set some determined goals. He had not even revealed to his teacher about the ambition deep inside heart. Tan Zhongchi wanted him to aim for a place in the top ten.
However, to Qin Wushuang, he had set an even bigger goal inwardly.
His goal was—To aim for top three!
Even if he were to meet with Wei Yi, he would not give up easily. Even if Wei Yi was already at the Middle Stage of the Spiritual Martial Force!
He must compete for the top three.
And apparently, this opponent before him was not enough for him to use all his strength.
Thus, Qin Wushuang decided to suppress his temperament. He would go slowly, like water until it boiled up.
It was like the competitive sports from his former world. Regardless of racket sports, track and field, no one would use all their efforts in the preliminary rounds.
Once they started to use all their efforts and aim for the top, it would be difficult to maintain this form for a long time.
It was the so-called saying of “When a person rushes to the top, they would not remain there for long”.
Even the bright moon in the sky needed time to become a full moon. When the moon became full, it was the moment to walk downhill. It was the meaning of “Not be able to remain for long”.
When Qin Wushuang thought here, he already had an idea. He would suppress his temperament and walk forward step by step.
He would aim to unleash all his power in the last round!
Only during a peak battle would he need to be at the peak state!
He was not in a hurry to get down the stage. This Core ranking competition would last for half a month. It was not necessary to rush at the moment when he would go through many rounds.
With this plan, Qin Wushuang was not in a hurry to beat this number Sixty-Eight. Instead, he would use the attack of this number Sixty-eight to find his state and exercise the delicate footsteps from the <Immortal Virtuous Cloud Steps>.
Inwardly, Qin Wushuang was also astonished by a coincidence. The Immortal Virtuous Cloud Steps was based on the principle of the sixty-four hexagrams. And this martial arts stage had also been placed by Fu Hsi, the legendary emperor’s sixty-four hexagrams.
Vividly, this stage seemed to be the most suitable for Qin Wushuang. Mysteriously and inexorably, it seemed everything had been pre-arranged.
Initially, number Sixty-Eight thought that Qin Wushuang would strike him to a defeat in a thunderous speed after he had destroyed his spear attacks.
Unexpectedly, Qin Wushuang did not use anymore moves. Instead, he dodged to the left and right and avoided confronting him. It was as if he was using his attack moves to practice his body movement technique.
The more it went on, the more nervous number Sixty-Eight had become.
It was because he had no idea what Qin Wushuang was planning. He did not know when he would choose to make a surprise attack.
After all, he knew clearly that this Qin Wushuang had far surpassed him regarding strength.
Although he was worried, he still felt somewhat grateful toward Qin Wushuang. At least, Qin Wushuang was not like other higher ranking disciple who would utterly destroy their opponents.
That type of defeat was the most shameful and the most unacceptable. After all, they were all Core disciples. If someone had defeated them in an instant, the apparent difference would make them lose their reputation.
He had no doubt that this Qin Wushuang had the strength to defeat him in seconds. However, he chose not to do it. This way, more or less, it made him feel more confident.
Even if he had gotten defeated, he would keep his face.
When he thought here, he also threw away all the burden from his mind. Like the flying dragon and the dancing phoenix, he swung the spear in a much smoother movement. For a time, even Qin Wushuang could not help but compliment his flowing attack moves.
“Nice spear technique!”
However, it was only limited to nice. To Qin Wushuang, he was afraid that his opponent would not have good spear techniques, but did not fear of his nice attacks.
The higher the spear skill, the more it could stimulate Qin Wushuang as he could practice his steps much more easily..
Indeed, once that Sixty-Eight unleashed his spear moves without any distractions, it appeared decent. For a time, with one defending and one on the offense, they appeared to be on par.
In a continuous and uninterrupted flow, two figures flew around on the stage like two silver carps jumping around. They brought up dust and as they unleashed the Spiritual Qi, the temperament had revealed to become formidable.
After about fifteen minutes, Qin Wushuang had finished stepping through the sixty-four hexagrams from the <Immortal Virtuous Cloud Steps> and back to the initial position. He laughed and wrapped the snake shaped whip in his right hand.
Instantly, the soft whip wrapped back and formed five or six waves of binding power that extended outwards. He had wrapped the spear of the opponent completely.
Qin Wushuang shook his arms and the long whip had covered that giant spear like a dancing python.
Number Sixty-Eight only felt his wrist had gotten tighter. Regardless of how much he used his strength, he could not budge the spear in the slightest.
With a slight smile, Qin Wushuang initiated the Spiritual Qi and poured it into that long spear through the soft whip.
Sixty-Eight only felt a wave of numbness from the web between his fingers as if lightning struck his entire body. His body shook and he could not hold the spear. Next, he could not help but let go of the spear as his opponent took it.
Qin Wushuang threw the long whip and turned the spear around so that it was pointed toward the chest of Sixty-Eight.
However, number Sixty-Eight did not feel the slightest regret or depression. Instead, he felt relieved. Although he had been defeated, it was within his expectation.
He was able to lose with dignity. He felt that he had gained enough after bearing it for a long time.
After all, this opponent before him was someone with the strength of a seeded warrior!
Regardless of the audience beneath the stage or the judge, they felt strange when they saw that Number Sixty-Eight showing a face of joy after getting defeated.
For the first round of competition, Qin Wushuang was not the first one that won. For many competitions, almost everyone had determined the result after a few moves.
After all, not everyone was like Qin Wushuang who had the power to hold back and use it as a warm up. When they stood on the stage, they must use everything they had. Or else, they would be the one getting disqualified.
Due to this fact, the other thirty-one battles had all depicted hot-blooded scenes as everyone poured in their full power. Compared to them, Qin Wushuang’s battle made people feel somewhat bored.
After Qin Wushuang got off the stage, he only smiled and did not speak a word. He did not go to watch the other battles either. To him, these sixty-four warriors in the first round were not enough to threaten him.
His true opponents were those seeded warriors. Especially those top ten and top five among the seeded warriors.
After he walked down the stage, Qin Wushuang saw Zhou Fu walking towards him with a smile: “Junior Brother Wushuang, congratulation.”
“Senior Sister, you are not in any rounds today, why are you here?”
“Haha, aren’t I the Senior Sister? Of course, I must care for my Junior Brothers’ results. For the first round, including you, we have seven Junior Brothers participating. Currently, including you, four of them had passed. One of them had the unfortunate luck and met an elite warrior and lost. There are two more and they should not have a problem.”
It was apparent that from Zhou Fu’s tone, she was happy.
Among the thirteen Core disciples, twelve of them had entered the top sixty-four. Indeed, this result was good!
