章 41: Jie Long Tournament
At the southeastern point of Asterisk stood Jie Long Seventh Institute. A network of buildings and covered walkways crisscrossed its grounds, and gardens and plazas were situated around the edifices, designed in the style of traditional Chinese architecture. Overall, the layout resembled a single sprawling palace rather than a school.
At one corner of the campus, there was a building known as the Hall of the Yellow Dragon. Its three-story, red pillars and yellow tiled roofing did little to set it apart from the other campus buildings at first glance. However, every student at Jie Long knew its special significance.
Though to be precise, it was not the building that was so special as the person to whom it belonged.
The inheritor of the alias Banyuu Tenra, Imminent Heaven.
The ruler of Jie Long.
The one who, at the tender age of six, had ascended to this position three years ago. Her name was Xinglou Fan.
---
"How dull... how dull! How dull!"
"Master..."
Zhao Hufeng looked at his master with a helpless expression.
Hufeng was the fifth-ranked fighter at Jie Long Seventh Institute, with a well-honed physique, if a little on the short side. He was a young man, seventeen, though his soft, shapely features and his long hair often led people to mistake him for a girl. Once known as a child prodigy, he took second place in the previous Phoenix Tournament in a splendid performance.
Although remembering himself from those days made him dizzy with agony over how little he had known.
Yet, staring at the little girl, who seemed to throw a tantrum in the middle of the room, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.
With her long black hair styled in loops like butterfly wings, and the old-fashioned Jie Long uniform that suited her well, she was an adorable child and still quite small, barely reaching Hufeng's chest.
"Master, our tournament is about to start."
"Oh! That's right!"
For those who did not already know, it would be all impossible to believe that this girl was none other than Xinglou Fan, the Banyuu Tenra, the top-ranked fighter of Asterisk's largest school.
Hearing the Jie Long Tournament was about to start caused the little girl to seem excited.
While she never confirmed it, the way she carried herself, as if she knew everything about every corner of the Hall of the Yellow Dragon, as well as the manners and knowledge that hardly suited someone her age, sparked constant rumors within Jie Long that she was the reincarnation of the first and the second Banyuu Tenra.
With such a long life, she didn't have much of things that she enjoyed except fighting a strong opponent. It was also why she had trained many pupils under her, hoping they could become strong opponents who could pull her away from her dull-like life.
Currently, Xinglou has some fifty pupils training directly under her. Considering that some martial art instructors at Jie Long had several hundred pupils, this was not an extraordinary number. However, all fifty members of Jie Long's Named Cult, and eleven of the twelve members of its Page One, trained under Xinglou.
"So, who are this year's guardians?" Xinglou asked with a hint of curiosity.
Hearing that question, Hufeng's expression seemed a bit low for some reason. "Unfortunately, it is Shenyun Li and Shenhua Li."
"Oh, the siblings will go out in person! It will be unfortunate that we won't be able to see promising students then..." Xinglou let out a disappointed sigh.
"...that's true."
Even though Hufeng felt reluctant, he nodded in agreement.
The reason why Hufeng didn't have a good impression of the famous twin siblings Shenyun Li and Shenhua Li was that they were coming from different factions from himself.
Xinglou's trainees fell largely into two groups. One was called the Wood sect and trained with a focus on martial arts; the other was the Water Sect, which primarily studied Seisenjutsu. For various reasons, some of the daoshi of the Water Sect regarded the fighters of the Wood Sect with scorn, and the relationship between the two factions was strained at best.
Moreover, the twin's personality toward the battle was rather unsavory.
Naturally, this wasn't only Hufeng's personal judgment, but most people would agree with him.
Unfortunately, Xinglou had never been interested in the teaching of right and wrong since she was only interested in strength.
Yet, no one doubted the ability and talent of the twins.
Why? Because the twins were the ninth and tenth-ranked Page One fighter of Jie Long.
"Now that you mention it, was there anyone from outside of the school who was participating in our tournament?"
"There is no way."
Hufeng answered with a laugh, especially when the rule of the Jie Long Tournament was unique, so unless they were stupid or they believed in their strength, no students outside of the Jie Long would participate in their tournament.
"Really? How dull."
Xinglou had no interest anymore, but...
"Oh, but there is someone from the outside who is participating in our tournament."
"Oh? Outside?" Those words caught Xinglou's interest.
"Yes, it seems that he hasn't joined any schools in Asterisk." Hufeng was also speechless while shaking his head. "I wonder whether he is stupid or confident in his strength."
"Then, let's go there!"
"Huh? Now?" Hufeng was dumbfounded.
"Whether this outsider is stupid or confident in his strength, we should watch it with our own eyes! Come on!"
Xinglou had already dashed toward where the Jie Long Tournament was held.
"Master! Wait, Master!"
Watching his master, who always did what she pleased, Hufeng could only follow her master.
---
The scale of the Jie Long tournament was rather big. It was also the second most popular tournament under the Festa, the most popular tournament held by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, comprised of the Phoenix, Gryps, and Lindwurm.
However, unlike Festa, which was held in the Sirius Dome, the largest arena within Asterisk, the Jie Long tournament was held inside the school.
Usually, it would be hard for the students and guests to enter the grounds of the six schools, especially when each school had its own secrets, but Jie Long was rather lax in this area since all of them didn't fear their secret being known.
More importantly, they were confident that no one could steal their secret since Banyuu Tenra was inside their school.
Still, as for why the tournament was held at the school, it was because it was cheaper since they didn't have to borrow the venue. That said, the venue was packed with people since it was a rare chance for one to enter the other schools except for the school festival.
Among the crowd, Priscilla and Irene sat next to each other, and they couldn't help but feel nervous.
"Onee-chan, do you think Inugami-san will be right?"
"He... he will probably."
While his fighting prowess at night was something that was impossible for her to defeat, Irene wasn't sure about his fighting ability in a real fight. However, she knew Tamazuki had a skill or two since he could easily escape from the mafia group.
Yet this tournament was different.
This tournament was rather special, and this was why the students from the other school were reluctant to join it since they knew how hard it was.
However, Irene and Priscilla had a hard time discussing this matter with him, especially when he was so confident. Yet, when they saw him on the stage, they couldn't help but worry since among hundreds of participants, all of them were Jie Long students, and Tamazuki, who wore the uniform of his previous school, attracted so much attention since he was the only one that came from a different school.
Meanwhile, Tamazuki was calm even if everyone was staring at him with curious and menacing gazes, but his attention was quickly attracted to a cute girl whose hair was tied in a bun, feeling unexpected since he found a heroine, which able triggered his system.
---
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