Chapter 251: Genius versus Genius
Translator: Sheryl Editor: AntiGod
After the first stage of the eliminating battles had officially finished, four people had full scores; Ye Chen, Gao Feng, and two other young warriors who were on the last Hidden Dragon Rank. The four had not met each other. Otherwise, there would be one or two people less on the full marks list.
People who got full marks in other groups were almost the same as the group three. The most people with full marks were eight since there would inevitably be a winner and a loser even if two powerful opponents met each other. It was not like if there were more powerful warriors in a group, then it would have more people with full marks; it was something completely independent of talent
What was unfortunate was that besides Ye Chen, Xu Jing and Lin Qi, the other four people from the Windy Nation had all been eliminated. Qin Yulian’s battle was a bit frustrating. The Sky Holy Water Spell from the South Rudra Martial School was at least a mid-rank Earth Realm martial art, but it had a huge weakness of lacking zhen qi. In the beginning, Qin Yulian had still got the upper hand, but after hundreds of rounds, Qin Yulin had still lost because of lacking enough zhen Qi.
The leader of the South Rudra Martial School Long Biyun smiled; she did not really care about it. She mumbled to herself, “It is time to teach her our exclusive art.” The reason that she had not taught her yet was that the competitions of the Hidden Dragon Rank was coming and it would be extremely hard for warriors to increase their power in a short time. If they tried too hard, they might end up decreasing their power. Martial arts and skills were different; martial arts were like the base, the core. It could not and should not be changed easily.
“Leader, it was really wise to use the little blue dragon to help the Sky Cloud Martial School. This little brat is not simple.” The headmaster of the South Rudra Martial School, a mature looking lady, said with a smile on her face.
Long Biyun nodded, “As long as he can make it into the top ten, then he would be considered by our great-grandfather. I will tell him when the time is right. I believe he will be interested.”
“Top ten… will it be too soon?”
“No! I think it is still too late. Don’t you realize his rising speed? He had only used three years to get to where he is now. And that is not something everyone one could do.”
“You are right, I had almost forgotten.”
The two were communicating via zhen Qi, so the people around them had no idea this conversation had happened.
Over at the Sky Cloud Martial School area, the fourth master said with joy: “Ye Chen and Xu Jing have both made it. Below rank 7, our Sky Cloud Martial School is already one of the top now.”
The headmaster also had a smile on his face, “Don’t start celebrating already. The second stage of the competitions is going to start soon. At that time will be the real battles. Half of the twenty-four people would be eliminated.
“We shall wait and see! I cannot wait anymore.” Luo Xinglie looked extra bright and fresh.
Luo Hanshan smiled with a hint of bitterness. He was both happy for Ye Chen and Xu Jing, but also couldn’t help envy them. He thought, ‘Would it not have been nice to get on the platform and fight? Even if it was only one battle.’
After resting for about an hour, the second stage of the competitions had begun.
The twelve groups had been combined randomly according to the rule. The third and twelfth groups had been combined, but the number of the group was neither three nor twelve; it was seven because the two groups were the seventh that had been combined.
Unlike the groups before with uneven numbers of contestants, right now, each group had twenty-four contestants. Only twelve of the twenty-four contestants would be able to make it to the next level while the other twelve would be eliminated. As for the twelve people that made it, they would be the people on this year’s Hidden Dragon Rank.
Twelve out of twenty-four seemed to be quite a high possibility. But for the contestants, it would be unimaginably intense.
Being able to stand out in the group itself was a symbol of glory and power. Without any exaggeration, they were the top young warriors of the whole South Rudra Region, one-in-ten-thousand kind of martial geniuses. And now, in the second stage of the elimination competitions, half of the geniuses would be eliminated. So the pressure was so high that it might be even greater than twice as compared to before.
There were quite a lot of powerful warriors in the group seven. Besides Ye Chen, Gao Feng, Teng Mo and the other two famous Hidden Dragon Rank warriors from the old group three, there were more powerful warriors from the old group twelve. For example, there was the head disciple from the Ice Extreme Martial School Bing Lin, who was ranked tenth in the last Hidden Dragon Rank. Gu Qing, who was ranked tenth, Wu Liangyu, who was ranked twenty-five; the number four of the top ten new stars Tang Xiaoshan, the tenth of the top ten new stars Ge Tingfang… they were all top of the top warriors in this group.
“The first battle, Teng Mo against Ge Tingfang.”
The first round of the first battle had begun. The two contestants were both powerful warriors who people had in their minds as far as this group was concerned. In the group three competitions, Teng Mo had only lost to Gao Feng, so his score was the fifth, while Ge Tingfang who was ranked tenth in the top ten new stars, had only lost one as well to Gu Qing, who was ranked tenth in the last Hidden Dragon Rank.
Teng Mo did not dare to underestimate Ge Tingfang. Ever since he had lost to Gao Feng, who was a “nobody,” he did not dare to look down on any of the newcomers.
Swooosh!
Taking out his slim sword out of its scabbard, Teng Mo did not attack instantly, his eyes remaining fixed on Ge Tingfang.
Ge Tingfang’s used two light red short blades, which was almost one meter long. The back of the blades was twisted like a snake, shining with a cold light, drawing a thin line under the sun.
“Please bear with me.”
Stepping on the ground, Ge Tingfang attacked first. Her whole body seemed to have lost its weight, as she traveled across dozens of meters within a second and appeared in front of Teng Mo.
Dang! Dang! Dang!
The sound of the short blade and the slim sword clashing together kept being heard. Its burning sparkles shot out in different directions. It was an extremely spectacular sight, filled with the bizarre beauty of violence.
“The Crane Attack!”
Ge Tingfang yelled with a low voice. Her two short blades sliced out at an inhuman speed, attacking towards Teng Mo who was using all his strength to defend.
Chin!
Endless sparks had been brought up, which then turned into two beautiful halos and floated out like the wings of a huge crane. This was the horrifying part of the attack that even the direction of the sparks would be affected.
Teng Mo kept backing out, looking like he could not handle Ge Tingfang’s attack.
“Teng Mo is about to lose.” Although Zhu Mei and Qin Yulian had both lost their chances to get into the second stage of the competitions, but because they had been in the first part, they were allowed to watch the competitions off the stage instead of getting back to the audience seating. And Qin Yulian was the one talking right now.
Ye Chen shook his head, “Ge Tingfang is going to lose in less than ten attacks.”
“How so?”
Zhu Mei and Qin Yulian looked at Ye Chen curiously.
Ye Chen said, “She used all of her power in the beginning, and it will be doomed to decrease. This is an unchangeable truth. Ge Tingfang’s attacks seemed very brutal and powerful, but she had used too much of her power than was necessary, without leaving anything for later. If her opponent were someone who was weaker, then maybe she would be able to win shortly. But Teng Mo’s power is not weaker than Ge Tingfang, and he even has more experiences than she does. It would be obviously impossible for her to take him down at once. Once her aura becomes weaker, it will be time for Teng Mo to fight back, and then it will be impossible for her to win back.”
Zhu Mei questioned, “Fighting too hard is not a good thing?”
“Not necessarily. What I meant was that Ge Tingfang lacked a bit of battling experience. Like when facing opponents with similar cultivation, she could not let the opponents to take over the rhythm of the battle. Right now, it seems like Ge Tingfang has the upper hand, but the pace of the battle is already being controlled by Teng Mo. If I were her, I would change my style of attack immediately while my aura was still strong. Then, my winning change might actually way higher since I already have the upper hand.”
Ye Chen had just finished his sentence when the situation on the battling platform had changed.
Ge Tingfang, who had the upper hand had been pushed back just like Ye Chen had expected. Nothing could expand or grow indefinitely without declining. Once it reached a certain peak, Ge Tingfang’s aura and blade Qi started to slowly come down. Right then, Teng Mo grabbed a tiny flaw of hers and attacked sharply. With his only two fingers wide sword, his attack was like the autumn wind, like a river, attacking all of her weakness. It completely disturbed her pace and calmness and pushed her to the disadvantageous position.
Ge Tingfang seemed to have completely lost her sharpness from before. All she wanted to do was to take back her initiative, after which, her winning chance would be very high.
However, Teng Mo would not let her have what she wanted. His slim sword kept its stable pace, continuously stabbing out. If he just kept the pace, he would not have to face the problem of declining at all and could carry on controlling the situation over Ge Tingfang.
Dang!
Teng Mo sliced out his sword vertically, and the short blade in Ge Tingfang’s right hand was blown away as a result.
“I lost.” Her body froze, and she forced a laughed as she said.
Teng Mo was relieved. He had won out of luck this time. In a battle when facing an opponent with similar cultivation, the battling experience decided everything. If they were to fight again, he did not have any confidence in winning against her again. Therefore, he was very happy that he had won because it meant he did not have to face her again in the next nine rounds of battles.
The two contestants had left the platform and the second battle of the first round had begun.
“It was just like you said, Ye Chen. It will be a waste if you don’t become a martial skill master.” Zhu Mei looked impressed. There were masters in charge of teaching martial skills in the Sky Cloud Martial School, but these masters would also teach them battling experiences. However, those experiences would definitely not be able to compete with Ye Chen’s, because Ye Chen was able to cut to the core instantly and make a strategy at once.
Ye Chen laughed. Some of the powerful warriors would have disciples to teach while others would not. Although he had sharp and advanced observation skills and battling experience, it did not mean he would be a good teacher. Teaching disciples did not mean to show them every single little step. Instead, they would let them figure it out themselves. In Ye Chen’s world, there was an old saying, “The teachers could only show you the way, and you would have to walk the walk.” which described this very idea.
Of course, in a short time, Ye Chen could indeed help someone gain some great battling experiences. But after that, he could not guarantee anything since there was nothing better than figuring it out oneself. Whatever taught by the others would still be the thoughts of others; it would be hard to break through that wall.
The battles of the group seven had been conducted at a neutral speed. In the battles afterward, Bing Ling, Ge Qing, Tang Xiaoshan and another couple of powerful young warriors had clinched their victories.
Bing Ling was indeed the head disciple of the Ice Extreme Martial School. She was ranked seventh in the last Hidden Dragon Rank. Before she had even thrown out an attack, her opponent had already been blown away.
Gu Qing, as the tenth warrior of the last Hidden Dragon Rank, was also extremely powerful. He had blown away another opponent with only a flick of his finger. As for Tang Xiaoshan,, he was indeed the most outstanding character among all the new stars besides Ye Chen, the hidden rank 9 martial institution martial genius, ranking right behind Tuo Baku. Even Qian Yun and Gu Youyun, who was ranked higher than him, could not compete. His martial school was only a normal rank 7 martial institution from the Ice Crystal Empire, which was incomparable to those old generation rank 7 martial institutions, not to mention the top rank 7 martial institutions. But somehow, he had appeared out of nowhere, a genius that had been considered unlikely to appear. He was even considered as a strong competitor for the top ten. And even if he were not able to make it to the top ten, he would still be able to be in the top twenty without any efforts. After Tang Xiaoshan had won the battle, it had made Gu Qing, who was similarly powerful and ranked tenth in the last Hidden Dragon Rank, frown.
“The eight battle of the first round, Ye Chen against Gao Feng!”
A couple of famous people had had their fights, and now, it was Ye Chen’s turn. His opponent was the popular opponent of the old group three, Gao Feng, to whom even Teng Mo had lost.
Tang Xiaoshan was very confident with his observation and said to the guys around him: “Gao Feng still lacks something, so his winning chance is at about thirty percent. However, it would still be hard for Ye Chen to win against him.”