Chapter 417: Challenge
The noisy open ground had become much quieter following the appearance of the blood-robed figure. When the bloody scent came spreading out, some of the students, whose strength was still inferior, felt a chill all over their body despite the sun hanging high in the sky at this moment.
“I’m afraid that this fellow has just returned from performing his mission. This bloody aura is even more dense than those fellows from the ‘Black-Corner Region’.” The red-clothed young lady’s eyebrows became vertical. Her pupils directly eyed the blood-robed human figure while she spoke softly.
“He has indeed managed to hurry back, huh…” The originally smile filled face of Bai Shan became slightly darker and more solemn when he saw the blood-robed human figure appear. In the Outer Academy of the Jia Nan Academy, the one which he feared the most was not the Little Witch, who caused the expressions of others to change when they heard her name, nor was it Xun Er, whose character was indifferent, but strength was great and unfathomable. Instead, it was this man, whose body was filled with a bloody aura!
During these two years, Bai Shan and Wu Hao had openly and secretly exchanged blows more than ten times. Unfortunately, each time, he did not obtain victory. The other person’s aura, which was composed of an intent to kill for the sake of killing, was really too frightening. Bai Shan could foresee that if Wu Hao were given sufficient time to grow, it was likely that his achievements in the future would be extremely terrifying. In the countless number of clashes between Jia Nan Academy, and the ‘Black-Corner Region’ during these few years, this blood-robed man was bathed in blood all the way as he stepped over a countless number of corpses. He activated and maximized his potential in those brutal life and death battles. One step at a time, he walked from being an ordinary member of the Law Enforcement Unit to the level he was now!
In the Law Enforcement Unit, this man had a nickname that caused people to respect and fear: Blood Demon! A fierce name that was formed from blood and a countless number of corpses.
“What a dense bloody aura. Ah, Wu Tian Liang, that lunatic. Does he really want to train Wu Hao into a person who exists for the sole purpose of killing people?” On the seats in the middle of the stadium, a yellow-robed old man frowned and said, “If this continues, Wu Hao would sooner or later lose his reasoning due to his killing aura being too rich.”
“I don’t think so. Although Wu Tian Liang may be eccentric and vicious, he has always viewed Wu Hao as his own child. I think that by letting him come to participate in the Inner Academy Qualifying Competition, he wants to let Wu Hao temporarily take leave from the Law Enforcement Unit. The Inner Academy, where all sorts of weird, talented individuals gather, should be able to suppress Wu Hao, whose character is indifferent and who views human lives as worthless.” The Deputy Headmaster mused for a moment before slowly speaking.
“Hopefully… if such an outstanding seedling were to be damaged, that would be a great loss to the academy.” The old man earlier sighed again before he replied.
“That’s right. Back then, even the Headmaster personally said that if Wu Hao is given ten years and his reasoning is able to remain uncorroded by the bloody aura, his strength might well reach an extremely strong stage.” The old man who was called Old Huo also nodded slightly as he spoke.
“Ke ke, looks like there are quite a number of extremely outstanding seeded competitors in the Qualifying Competition this year.” The Deputy Headmaster smiled and said, “Bai Shan, Wu Hao, Xun Er, and that Xiao Yan who had appeared out of nowhere. Looking at the strength displayed by these few people, this year’s one is of far higher quality.”
“You have forgotten about that Little Witch of your family that gives people a headache. How many people in this Outer Academy are not afraid of her?” The old man on one side rolled his eyes and said.
The Deputy Headmaster laughed bitterly when he heard this. His gaze was turned toward one spot on the viewing gallery. As he eyed the red clothed young lady leaning on the guardrail, his eyes pulsed and suddenly said in a flustered and exasperated manner, “I am extremely satisfied with her talent. However, that character of hers causes people to be afraid of paying compliments. The old me is still waiting for her to find a good man to birth a baby and continue the family line. Who would have thought that she… actually pays no attention to men!”
The three old men could not resist laughing involuntarily when they heard these words of him.
“That Bai Shan, Wu Hao, Lu Mu, or even Xiao Yan. All of them are talents that one could rarely find. Among the younger generation, they belong to the exceptionally outstanding class. After the Qualifying Competition is over and they enter the inner academy, the first five will have a special examination according to the rules. When that time comes, I think that Jia Hu would be a little moved after living with them for some time.” The old man beside the Deputy Headmaster comforted with a smile. Hu Jia, was likely the name of that red-clothed young lady.
“Bai Shan’s talent is indeed not bad, but his open-mindedness is a little inferior. Wu Hao is dedicated to fighting and killing. During these years, I have never seen him have any feelings for any girl with the exception of Xun Er. As for Lu Mu, the person he likes is not the type of girl like Hu Jia. We don’t even need to bother mentioning about Xiao Yan. With that kind of beautiful and outstanding girl like Xun Er, would he go and love another person?” The Deputy Headmaster shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Hearing this, the three old men could only display completely helpless expressions.
The Deputy Headmaster sighed and threw out this problem which gave him a headache. His gaze was once again focused on the competition.
Following the appearance of Wu Hao, who was wearing a blood robe in the arena, the judge waited for a moment before shouting the catchword for the competition to begin.
The cry of the judge had just fell when Wu Hao’s opponent hurriedly withdrew more than ten steps. The Dou Qi circulated swiftly through his body, and finally formed a Dou Qi cloak on the surface of his body. He gripped his weapon tightly in his hand as his gaze stared intently at Wu Hao, who remained still across from him. He had not even blinked once.
The students in the viewing gallery around the arena did not let out any mocking laughter when they saw this action of his. During these few years, the name of the Blood Demon Wu Hao was not any less famous than the Little Witch Hu Jia, or Xun Er within the Jia Nan Academy’s Outer Academy. From a certain angle, Wu Hao may have even greatly surpassed the two of them.
The blood robe moved slightly. There was a pair of pupils filled with killing intent, much like a bloodthirsty pack of wolves in the grassland. Just this pair of eyes, which did not contain any emotion, caused his opponent to feel that his head had become a little numb while his hand was drenched with prespiration.
“Are you not going to concede?” A hoarse voice slowly sounded from under the blood robe .
Hearing this, the expression of the competitor called Yan Cheng became a little ugly. He gritted his teeth and said with a strong front while feeling weak inside, “Just attack. I want to see just how strong the Blood Demon actually is!”
After saying this, it appeared that Yan Cheng was afraid that if he continued the face off, he would sooner or later lose the courage to fight in front of everyone’s gazes. Immediately, he stepped off the ground and his body shot explosively toward Wu Hao. With the increase of the Dou Qi in the sharp weapon within his hand, he directly cut open the air.
The blood-robed figure did not even move when faced with Yan Cheng’s attack, which contained a hint of anger. However, just as the attack was about to strike his body, his body suddenly waved. The human figure instantly disappeared in a bizarre manner.
Yan Cheng’s attack missed and he shrank his eyes. Without any hesitation, the weapon in his hand once again pierced toward his back.
“Clang!” The tip of the sword, which was made of steel, had just pierced toward his back when a blood-red colored heavy sword appeared out of nowhere, easily blocking the sword in front of him. The heavy sword was quite large in size, with its body being around three inch wide. It was almost comparable to Xiao Yan’s Heavy Xuan Ruler.
As one heard the sound of compressed wind emitted when the heavy sword was swung, it was likely that the weight of the sword could not be underestimated.
The two swords came into contact. With a random gentle swing of the heavy sword, the force contained on it shook the longsword in Yan Chang’s hand until it flew out of his grasp. The latter used all his strength to hold onto it. Not only did he not succeeded, but the area between his thumb and index finger was convulsed by the enormous strength on the sword until it broke open, fresh blood flowed.
In their first exchange, a weapon was brought down. This scene caused even Xiao Yan who sat in the viewing gallery to feel a little surprise. No matter how one put it, that Yan Cheng was also a five star Dou Shi.
Astonishment flashed across Yan Cheng’s face as his weapon fell. His feet swiftly withdrew and had just pulled back about ten meters when he suddenly felt a cold air flowing behind him. Before he had the time to react, a heavy sword, containing a blood color, was fixed onto his neck. The thick, cold air that was emitted from the sharp edge of the sword caused Yan Cheng’s body to instantly stiffen.
In just two exchanges, that Yan Cheng, who had the strength of a five star Dou Shi, was defeated. This kind of result caused an uproar to sound throughout the stadium. Although there was hardly anyone who held the extravagant hope that Yan Cheng could defeat Wu Hao, no one expected that Yan Cheng could only endure two exchanges before a sword was placed against his neck…
“What a fast speed…” As Xiao Yan watched Wu Hao in the arena holding a blood-colored heavy sword while calmly standing behind Yan Cheng, some seriousness surfaced on Xiao Yan’s face.
“The thing that Wu Hao is best at is speed. Moreover, he also practices a Xuan Class High Level Agility Dou Technique: ‘Blood Shadow Flash’. He has borrowed the unique effect of this Agility Dou Technique in order to appear behind Yan Cheng without leaving a trace earlier. Moreover, his strength is also extremely strong. This can be clearly seen from how he lifts that large heavy sword and waves it around in his hand as though it is something light.” Xun Er, by his side softly revealed some of the information regarding Wu Hao. She was also a little worried that Xiao Yan would be at a disadvantage, due to not having sufficient information should he end up facing Wu Hao.
“His speed and strength are not weak… Isn’t that quite similar to me?” Xiao Yan lifted his eyebrows and glanced at the heavy sword in Wu Hao’s hand. He then glanced at the Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back. The two were similarly heavy type weapons. If the two of them were to fight, it would be a match of speed against speed, strength against strength. A breathtaking battle that would leave everyone speechless.
“This fellow seems to be an opponent that is even more formidable than Bai Shan. I must be more cautious toward this person in the future.”
“It is indeed worthy being the Jia Nan Academy. Strong young people emerge endlessly from this place. If I had not undergone the tough training these two years, it would really be difficult to catch up with these abnormal fellows.” Xiao Yan exclaimed. When he was training in the Jia Ma Empire, other than Nanlan Yanran, who had borrowed help from her sect, he had seldom met anyone else among the younger generation who was on par with him. However, he had only arrived at Jia Nan Academy a few days ago, when opponents who were well-matched with him appeared frequently. This caused Xiao Yan to be unable to help but sigh emotionally. This place was really where the talented gather!
At the moment Wu Hao placed the heavy sword on his opponent’s neck within the arena, a judge hurriedly shouted the phrase for the competition to end. The Qualifying Competition can tolerate injuries but the academy did not wish to see deaths. Therefore, there was a rule in the competition that one could not deal a killing blow when the other party did not have any ability to resist. Otherwise, he would be severely punished. This rule was something that other people may comply with but for Wu Hao, who was used to killing people, it was merely something in passing. Therefore, that judge did not dare to delay. He was afraid that if his shout was a mere second late, another bright redness would be added to that heavy sword, which was already tainted with countless amounts of fresh blood.
The blood-colored heavy sword in Wu Hao’s hand trembled slightly when he heard the judge’s cry. He immediately slowly pulled it back. As the heavy sword left, that Yan Cheng’s entire body became exhausted as he collapsed while repeatedly panting.
Wu Hao ignored Yan Cheng who knelt next to his leg. His blood-red robe shook slightly, and a pair of indifferent eyes slowly moved up along the viewing gallery. Finally, he stopped at the place where the Huang Class – Second Class was watching from. More accurately speaking, it should be that it stopped at Xiao Yan, who sat beside Xun Er.
Under the focus of a countless number of gazes present, he lifted the blood-colored heavy sword in his hand. Finally, he pointed at Xiao Yan from a distance. His hoarse, indifferent voice resounded throughout the stadium.
“You are Xiao Yan?”
“Do you dare to come down and have a fight with me?”
The indifferent, hoarse voice caused the entire viewing gallery to be startled. Immediately, countless number of gazes gave out a ‘swish’ sound as they turned toward the black-robed young man not far away!