Chapter 4: Changing His Destiny!
The number of people crowding around the plaza only increased as time passed.
As there were 50 students in each class, there were a total of 300 disciples in the outer division.
Since the semester had already ended, a third of the student population left, leaving only 200 of them back in the institution. Despite that, there were close to 300 spectators around the plaza.
Many students in the inner division and upper divisions of the Tongyou Institution heard of the challenge, and they rushed over to catch the exchange. There were even several instructors in the crowd.
“Why is someone from the Protection Division here?”
Many instructors frowned when they saw Yuan Zilu.
“Instructor Zhang was the one who requested for him to be here…” Someone revealed.
A weird look appeared on the faces of those present. Guesses formed in their minds, but none of them dared to press the matter.
Seeing as the two disciples had handed over their weapons and were preparing to start the battle, everyone started to back away slightly.
As the judge, Yuan Zilu remained in the middle of the plaza. Noticing that everyone had left, he nodded his head and announced, “Start!”
He retreated as soon as he spoke, leaving the two challengers to face each other.
“Hehe, Chief Shang, I guess you’ll be losing your title today.” Zhu Ying snorted and he circulated the energy in his body. A red glow surrounded his body, and it was certain that he had activated his Scarlet Blood Palm.
Shang Xia chuckled in amusement when he noticed Zhu Ying’s actions. “If you still had your weapon, you'd actually be able to scare someone!”
Unable to hide the sarcasm in his voice, the audience laughed at Zhu Ying’s failure to intimidate Shang Xia with his mid-grade weapon.
Zhu Ying’s already red face turned a shade darker, and he roared with anger while charging at Shang Xia.
As a streak of red light swirled about the surface of his palm, his opponent would feel as though they were facing a tsunami of blood when he attacked.
The first move of the Scarlet Blood Palm, Towering Blood Wave!
Shang Xia twisted his body slightly, avoiding Zhu Ying’s attack. He returned the favor with a palm of his own, and the rumbling of lightning followed. The giant wave of blood crumbled.
That was the third move of the Lightning Palm, Wild Lightning!
Shang Xia displayed the martial art he comprehended and it clashed against Zhu Ying’s Scarlet Blood Palm.
In order for a cultivator to enter the Martial Realm from the Qi Forming Realm, they had to form their first strand of inner qi!
That was the basis of the strength possessed by an expert at the Martial Realm! Unleashing their martial arts with inner qi allowed them to release an extraordinary amount of power!
When Zhu Ying’s Scarlet Blood Palm was destroyed by Shang Xia, he wasn’t surprised at all. He didn’t expect to defeat the leader of the outer division with a single move after all. He faced the lightning palm flying towards him seriously. Right before it could crash into him, he punched out with all his might, forming over a dozen shadow fists. It sealed off all possible routes of retreat for Shang Xia.
“Is this all you got?” Shang Xia also released several shadow fists in mid air, and they accurately crashed into those sent by Zhu Ying. When the fists came into contact with each other, a loud explosion rang through the skies. The battle raged on as they displayed their respective martial arts to the best of their abilities.
Zhu Ying’s Scarlet Blood Palm required fine control over one’s strength, and it boasted power above all else. Shang Xia’s Wild Lightning prioritized speed, and the two of them were on the opposite ends of the technique spectrum.
The two of them exchanged blows endlessly, and the shockwaves of the battle started to spread.
Yuan Zilu, who had been watching the competition, started to release his energy alongside Liu Zhifei and Sun Haiwei, stopping the shockwaves from doing additional damage to the spectators.
Even so, the battle was shocking enough to cause those standing around to suck in a cold breath. The battle between the two ignited the fighting spirit in the hearts of those present, and many of them swore to cultivate diligently in order to enter the Martial Realm.
In the blink of an eye, they exchanged more than ten moves. Their figures flashed around the plaza in a frenzy. Ordinary disciples were no longer able to keep up with their movements.
The expressions of those from the inner division weren’t too good either. They could tell that Zhu Ying and Shang Xia possessed strength that could place them in the upper middle portion of the power pyramid in the inner division.
The instructors and custodians watching the battle couldn’t help but nod their head silently.
“The amount of inner qi they have is pretty impressive…” One of the professors clad in blue robes leaned over to speak to Zhang Haogu.
Zhang Haogu’s gaze didn’t leave the two as he replied, “There’s no need to evaluate them now…. Their battle is far from over. You can’t imagine how talented they really are.”
The blue robed professor smiled, “Looks like the two of them are still hiding their true strength… Hahaha, this is really interesting!”
From the looks of things, the professor’s position in the institution wasn’t any lower than Zhang Haogu!
A blast came from the plaza where the two were fighting, and the situation changed. Seeing as none of them could gain the upper hand, they decided to change their approach.
Zhu Ying extended a single finger, and a ray of blood red light pierced through Shang Xia’s shadow palm. It shot towards Shang Xia’s face without any intention of stopping!
The ray of light left behind a trail of fire that burned in the air.
“Burning Blood Finger!” The yell came from the inner disciples in the crowd. When the outer disciples heard the name of the martial art Zhu Ying used, a look of confusion formed on their faces.
In stark contrast to the shock the students received, the faces of the custodians and instructors turned serious.
“Did he also manage to comprehend the Burning Blood Finger? This… This batch of outer division disciples never ceases to surprise me!”
“Using two different techniques… That can only mean that his inner qi has reached the large completion stage! He’ll be able to enter the Martial Extremity Realm soon!”
“Isn’t there some sort of connection between the Scarlet Blood Palm and the Burning Blood Finger?”
“Great! This is great!”
The flames burning in the air seemed to stifle the hearts of the spectators present.
Facing the blood red ray, Shang Xia chose to meet it head on. His arm slowed down and he exhaled once. He sent out a single palm to stop the attack. The moment he did, a terrifying aura descended. Everyone who hadn’t entered the Martial Realm felt a massive weight pressing down on their chest and it became hard to breathe.
The blood red ray scattered in the wind the moment it came into contact with the fluctuations produced by the palm.
“Chaos Essence Palm!” After shaking off the oppressive feeling, several inner disciples yelled out the name of Shang Xia’s attack.
Facing Zhu Ying’s relentless offensive, the leader of the outer division also revealed his second technique!
Different from the speed possessed by his earlier technique, the Chaos Essence Palm focused on complete oppression. There was no way to dodge the attack and Zhu Ying could only meet it head-on.
“The Chaos Essence Palm requires a huge amount of inner qi! Anyone who manages to master the move has a terrifying amount of it!”
“Looks like the leader of the outer division managed to reach a high level in his cultivation…”
“Without actual strength, one wouldn’t be able to take up the title no matter how strong his background is! Looks like they underestimated him…”
“Didn’t they say that he failed to break through to the Martial Extremity Realm?”
As discussion broke out among the disciples, a sour taste was left in the mouths of many.
“Wait a minute… Wasn’t Zhu Ying’s performance in his first year mediocre? How did he improve so quickly in his second year?”
“Hasn’t there been rumors about him being from the exterminated great Zhu Family? He might have inherited something from them before they fell.”
“Hehe, one of them is a disciple from the fallen Zhu Family. The other is a core disciple of the four great clans in our Tongyou City. Looks like the battle between the new generation and old generation is getting pretty interesting!”
“Shut up! Hurry and look, the situation changed again!”
Zhu Ying’s techniques were indeed connected. As he used them in unison, they managed to create a lot of trouble for Shang Xia.
Regardless, they were only slightly more troublesome for Shang Xia to deal with.
Even though his Wild Lightning and Chaos Essence Palm might not be as flashy as Zhu Ying’s martial arts, he used them flawlessly. Zhu Ying failed to find any weakness!
It didn’t take long for them to fight to a stalemate. It went without saying that an end like that was extremely detrimental for Zhu Ying!
No matter how great Zhu Ying’s performance was, it only served to accentuate the improvement Shang Xia made! The battle also managed to show off Shang Xia’s accumulation in the Martial Realm!
His usage of the Chaos Essence Palm was enough to prove that point!
As such, the longer the battle dragged out, the worse things would get for Zhu Ying. He might even lose his ability to battle before Shang Xia ran out of energy.
Igniting the last bit of energy he had, Zhu Ying’s attacks became even more violent.
“Who would have thought that a battle between two outer disciples will put most of our inner disciples to shame…” Zhang Haogu sighed.
“If he only cultivated the Scarlet Blood Palm, it might not mean anything. However, the Burning Blood Finger is an inheritance technique from the Zhu Family! Hehe, can you see the shadow of them from the way the kid fights?”
Jia Yuntian, the professor in blue robes, seemed to be extremely interested in Zhu Ying’s technique.
As the words left his lips, Zhang Haogu’s eyes went wide when he saw what happened in the plaza.
With his brows furrowing together, Jia Yuntian turned to look at the two, and a roar thundered in his ears.
“Shang Xia, you forced me to do this!”
Crushing a jade rune in his hand, the aura Zhu Ying released grew stronger once again.
“Today, I’ll drag you down from your high pedestal! I’ll return the humiliation you made me feel ten times over!” Zhu Ying screamed as the blood red glow around his body increased in intensity. From afar, he looked like his body was on fire!
“Martial… Martial Extremity Realm!”
The inner disciples in the crowd yelled in unison.