Free Web NovelChapter 51: Trial of Combat (1)
"Fight... Huh!!" Lin Yuan smirked, his eyes gleaming with anxiety.
"You are always interested in fighting, Lin Yuan," Teng Lianhua muttered, glancing at the anxiety in Lin Yuan’s eyes.
Lin Yuan smiled once without letting out any reply.
"Okay... What does a true fight mean?" Teng Lianhua questioned, skimming throughout the room. "If anyone hits the correct answer, they will be awarded twenty beast essence stones!"
"A true fight means defeating your opponent and proving you are strong!" Huo Ren beamed, rising from his seat.
"Humph... Wrong answer!" Teng Lianhua condemned, clicking his tongue. "Next?"
"A true fight is like a game of chess. It is won before it begins, using superior tactics, advantage, and resources to defeat the opponent," Chi Ruyan muttered, his voice low and calm.
"Wrong again!"
All disciples darted their heads, facing each other and fell into discussion to understand the complexity in the question. But Lin Yuan seemed to be calm and unbothered.
Then a voice beamed across the room.
"A true fight does not begin with an unsheathed blade, or end when blood is spilled. A true fight is the clash of two opposing wills, where you place your existence, beliefs, and destiny on the line. It is an important situation where all lies are stripped away, forcing you to either conquer your own fear of death or be consumed by it," Lin Yuan gleamed, his voice booming across the room.
Teng Lianhua’s eyes widened in profound recognition. "It was correct, Lin Yuan."
Lin Yuan let out a calm smirk and sat down.
"Humph, Lin Yuan was correct... True Fight is the situation in which you need to make a decision to conquer or to be conquered," Teng Lianhua continued, walking across the room. "Let’s get into our first trial."
Lin Yuan answered the question with the correct answer, due to Noir’s memories. Noir fought many battles during his forbidden research, knowing he may die, which made him a man who conquered the fear of death.
Meanwhile, all other disciples broke into whispers about the first trial.
"Trial?"
"What is it about?"
"Already a trial... master is true about his words!"
"Haha... I am a man of my words, dear disciples," Teng Lianhua muttered, letting out a pleasant smile. "The First Combat Trial name is ’Trial of Endurance’."
"Endurance?" Chen Ming repeated, his voice raising sluggishly.
"Haha! Don’t worry I will explain the details, Chen Ming," Teng Lianhua snorted, walking sideways in the room. "This trial has three rules!"
"Rule 1: The disciples are forbidden from using beast essence," Teng Lianhua continued, his voice echoing across the hall. "Rule 2: Only raw strength and physical endurance are allowed. Rule 3: The goal is to remain standing after twenty exchanges of punches, kicks, strikes... anything is allowed, but usage of beast essence will lead to disqualification!"
Following the completion of the rules explanation by Teng Lianhua, a collective hum of murmurs lingered across the room.
"Now... I will decide the pairs who will fight with each other in this endurance trial!" Teng Lianhua boasted, cutting through the murmurs of the disciples.
The disciples immediately straightened their backs. Unlike the academy competition, this trial wasn’t about victory or defeat. It was about enduring, understanding pain, and understanding how much punishment one’s body could withstand before collapsing.
Teng Lianhua folded his arms calmly, a faint grin crawling across his face.
"Follow me!" Teng Lianhua muttered, walking outside of the room.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The disciples rose from their seats and followed the master Teng Lianhua out of the classroom. A few minutes later, they arrived before a massive building located behind the academy. It was the Training Hall. There are elegant classrooms and medicinal gardens, but the Training Hall was skewering and wide. The thick stone pillars supported the mighty building while countless dents, cracks, and fist marks decorated the walls gracefully.
"..."
The disciples are silent, entering into the training hall. Inside the hall there are eight battle platforms made from black stone, slightly shimmering against the sunlight.
Every platform was surrounded by defensive formations.
"The pairs are as follows," Teng Lianhua swaggered, stepping onto the center platform.
His gaze swept across the disciples, and immediately, everyone’s attention focused on him.
"Huo Ren versus Chi Ruyan.
Ying Yue versus Lian Mei Lin.
Chen Ming versus Huo Luo Ren.
Yun He versus Chi Fenglian.
Teng Haoran versus Gu Fang Xin.
Xiao Yanrui versus Xiao Langxue.
Lian Nichang versus Chen Yu Ming."
The disciples quickly began looking toward their assigned opponents. And at the same time, they all frowned in confusion, because one name was missing. Lin Yuan’s name was missing.
Chen Ming immediately raised his hand.
"Master, what about Lin Yuan?" He asked, his face scowling in confusion.
The entire hall became quiet, even Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow. Teng Lianhua remained silent for a few seconds. The tension deliberately increased, then a calm, dangerous smile slowly appeared on Teng Lianhua’s face.
"Lin Yuan..." Teng Lianhua beamed, his voice echoed throughout the training hall. "I will personally fight Lin Yuan."
The disciples froze, petrified listening to the words.
"What?"
"Master himself?"
"Is he serious?"
Instantly, the cacophony of murmurs lingered across the hall, the disciples widened their eyes in contempt.
Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly. ’Interesting... huh,’
"If Lin Yuan endures five to ten of my blows..." Meanwhile, Teng Lianhua continued, flicking his wrist once, a faint Water Bear silhouette appeared behind him. "...he will pass."
The hall roared in disbelief.
"WHAT?!" Chen Ming questioned, standing straight up immediately. "Master! That’s not a trial! It’s not fair... You are a master, and he was just a fifteen-year old boy."
A few disciples nodded immediately, agreeing to Chen Ming’s words. And Xiao siblings and Gu Fang Xin sneered, thinking that Lin Yuan would fail this trial. Teng Lianhua laughed loudly.
"Hahaha... Don’t worry, my dear disciples," Teng Lianhua smirked, waving his sleeve once and glanced toward Lin Yuan. "He won’t die."
The disciples were dead silent, but Lin Yuan simply smiled. The anxiety within his eyes grew brighter. He wasn’t afraid, he looked excited.
Teng Lianhua immediately noticed the grin on Lin Yuan’s face.
"Hahaha..." He laughed again. "You truly are a strange brat."
A few minutes passed for preparation, and the first battle began.
"The first match is between Huo Ren versus Chi Ruyan," Teng Lianhua announced, his voice lingering across the hall gracefully. The two disciples climbed onto one of the black stone platforms. "No beast essence or beast abilities, use only your raw strength. Begin!!"
Immediately, Huo Ren rushed forward.
Unlike normal combat from the academy competition, his movements appeared clumsy without Fire-Falcon essence supporting him.
Boom!
A punch thrusted toward Chi Ruyan. He meticulously crouched under the punch instantly.
Bang!
A counter attack landed against Huo Ren’s ribs. The spectator disciples immediately understood the purpose of the trial.
Without beast essence, everyone became equal in this training hall. Physical prowess, techniques and endurance only matters the most in this trial now. Soon the battle became a brutal exchange of fists.
A punch, a kick, an elbow, and a shoulder bash — both of them exchanged many types of attacks. After twenty exchanges, both disciples were covered in bruises. Chi Ruyan remained standing slightly straighter compared to Huo Ren.
"The winner is..." Teng Lianhua nodded, a faint smile escaped from his lips. "Chi Ruyan."
The second battle started shortly afterward.
"Next match is between Ying Yue and Lian Mei Lin," Teng Lianhua’s voice boomed again.
Compared to the previous fight, this battle appeared much cleaner. Both girls never relied on overwhelming strength, instead they used footwork, timing, and precision. The exchanges resembled sparring more than brawling.
Eventually, Lian Mei Lin stumbled after receiving a clean punch to her abdomen. Ying Yue immediately secured the advantage of Lian Mei Lin’s guard down.
After twenty exchanges, Lian Mei Lin fell down in exhaustion and bruises. Ying Yue stood, panting heavily. Her hands were placed on buckled knees for support.
"The winner is Ying Yue!" Teng Lianhua announced, slowly helping the collapsed girl up.
"The third battle is Chen Ming versus Huo Luo Ren," Lianhua continued, taking a calm breath.
The moment the two stepped onto the platform, Huo Luo Ren smirked and Chen Ming grinned back immediately.
The atmosphere immediately became hostile.
"Ready to lose?" Huo Luo Ren sneered, clicking his tongue.
"Ready to cry?" Chen Ming mocked, cracking his fists slightly.
"Begin."
Boom!
The two immediately rushed forward at a time. Unlike the previous fights, these two were not bothered with technique initially. Both simply threw punches against each other.
The impacts echoed throughout the hall. Chen Ming took several punches directly, but continued smiling. Chen Ming was sensitive before, but he was slowly practicing endurance and mould to the cruel world to help Lin Yuan alongside.
Huo Luo Ren landed a devastating strike against his jaw. Chen Ming responded by headbutting him.
The spectators immediately grimaced.
"These idiots..." Yun He rubbed her forehead.
Lin Yuan quietly observed, then something interesting happened.
As the battle progressed, Chen Ming slowly adapted. His footwork and timing improved. His strikes became precise and strong.
The memories of the academy competition were helping him. Eventually, Chen Ming landed three consecutive punches against Huo Luo Ren’s stomach, ribs and face.
Huo Luo Ren collapsed onto one knee.
"The winner is Chen Ming.." Teng Lianhua muttered, his eyes narrowing in quite profoundness.
"Hahaha! I won!! Did everyone see that?" Chen Ming exulted, immediately raising both his hands.
The disciples collectively groaned. Meanwhile, the next pair came up sluggishly.
"The next battle is Yun He versus Chi Fenglian," Teng Lianhue said, squinting his eyes slightly.
This battle was pure brutality. They both took the strikes without dodging or retreating. The entire platform echoed with impacts.
Boom! Clack! Thwack!
"Good!" Teng Lianhua murmured, nodding his head in approval.
Twenty exchanges later, Chi Fenglian’s legs finally gave out. Yun He remained standing, her chest heaving heavily as her breasts giggled slightly.
"The winner is Yun He," the combat master announced, clapping his hands slightly. It is the applause of gratitude toward Yun He’s willpower and strength.
