Chương 52: The power of qi condensation
Current Rankings:
#1 Wei Muchen
#2 Wang Yimo
#3 Qin Mei
#4 Wu Fa (lost)
---
#5 Pan Xiulan
#6 Qin Tengfei
#7 Yu Tao (lost)
#8 Han Lingyun
#9 Li An
#10 Qi Bo
#11 Liao Shao (lost)
Wang Yimo joined the stage with a gentle smile, like a big sister on her way to admonish her naughty little brother.
As soon as the fight started, Qi Bo and Wang Yimo raced towards each other. Qi Bo managed to launch a sword attack with qi and Wang Yimo unleashed her qi wave area attack, followed by a crescent blade.
The Elder hastily stopped the match as the qi wave alone had rolled over Qi Bo's best sword strike and was going to smash into him. The Elder easily dissipated the attack before it could cause any damage.
Qi Bo and many young disciples were left stumped by the display. The comparison was really harsh! His attack had been dispelled like air and yet it could tear through steel and cut heavy boulders! Qi Bo didn't dare to think too much about the damage Wang Yimo's attack could have done if it had landed.
After Qi Bo's crushing defeat, Li An then easily dispatched the tired Wu Fa.
It was now Han Lingyun's turn to challenge someone, he had been repeatedly pushed down the rankings because others had 'won' against Yu Tao. Today, the rewards at the top were attractive enough to show a portion of his abilities.
Current Rankings:
#1 Wei Muchen
#2 Wang Yimo
#3 Qin Mei
#4 Li An
---
#5 Wu Fa (lost)
#6 Pan Xiulan
#7 Qin Tengfei
#8 Yu Tao (lost)
#9 Han Lingyun
#10 Qi Bo (lost)
#11 Liao Shao (lost)
Han Lingyun thought for a bit and challenged Qin Mei.
Surprisingly, Qin Mei didn't walk onto the stage arena immediately, she seemed deep in thought and hesitated. Was it worth it to give her all against Han Lingyun or should she give up straight away? She might stand a better chance to defend her place in the 1st bracket if she saved her strength. Qin Mei was sure that Han Lingyun was really strong. This would be a gamble.
In the end, the previous fight between Qi Bo and Wang Yimo helped her make a decision: she had witnessed the huge difference a longer time at the qi condensation realm brought to the table, and Han Lingyun had more than 1 month advantage on her. Plus, when had Han Lingyun ever challenged someone that he didn't have the absolute confidence to crush?
In light of her realization, she announced her abandon.
Han Lingyun was now sitting in 3rd place, next to Wang Yimo. The two exchanged a knowing smile.
Now Qin Tengfei couldn't challenge Qin Mei according to the rules against consecutive matches so he settled with Wu Fa, who he dispatched with relative ease.
Current Rankings:
#1 Wei Muchen
#2 Wang Yimo
#3 Han Lingyun
#4 Qin Mei (lost)
---
#5 Li An
#6 Qin Tengfei
#7 Wu Fa (lost)
#8 Pan Xiulan
#9 Yu Tao (lost)
#10 Qi Bo (lost)
#11 Liao Shao (lost)
Now came Pan Xiulan's turn to challenge and she proclaimed. "Rank 4, Qin Mei."
The crowd went wild as this became the showdown of the sword maidens. Which one would emerge victorious? Both had to fight some battles already and weren't in perfect shape anymore. Pan Xiulan had multiple easier battles and Qin Mei had a tough fight against Wu Fa. Their starting point was relatively equal and both used very similar techniques. Qin Mei's style was perhaps a touch more adventurous and she sometimes tried some unorthodox moves.
In the end, it was Qin Mei that had the advantage and took the win. Most likely because of her 2 weeks head start at the qi condensation realm, her qi was more condensed than her good friend and she had a greater proficiency in its use all around. It seemed that retreating before the fight against Han Lingyun had been a correct choice.
#1 Wei Muchen
#2 Wang Yimo
#3 Han Lingyun
#4 Qin Mei (lost)
---
#5 Li An
#6 Qin Tengfei
#7 Wu Fa (lost)
#8 Pan Xiulan (lost)
#9 Yu Tao (lost)
#10 Qi Bo (lost)
#11 Liao Shao (lost)
The challenger role came back to Qin Tengfei. Once again, he couldn't challenge Qin Mei because she had just fought. His possibilities thus only included Han Lingyun, Li An, Wei Muchen and Wang Yimo, none of which he wanted to challenge.
He couldn't abandon now though. If he won against Li An, he could then challenge Qin Mei and he would have a great chance at entering the 1st bracket!
And between Li An and Han Lingyun? He fancied his chances better against Li An. He decided, Li An it was!
Qin Mei exulted as the 5th and 6th rank would be fighting. She pleaded internally. 'Please tire each other out.' The winner would be challenging one of the top 4 and she was obviously the weakest among them.
That was another highly anticipated matchup for the disciples. Some started small secret bets between their group of friends: Li An and his strange staff techniques or Qin Tengfei and his powerful spear?
Li An had the advantage when it came to the time spent at qi cultivation but Qin Tengfei was no slouch. The situation was also different from the duel between sword maidens in which the similar sword techniques were sorted out by the slight cultivation advantage.
As usual, Qin Tengfei took the initiative and launched qi strikes after qi strikes to Li An who was forced on the defensive time and time again. Li An hadn't mastered any qi techniques to fight at a longer range. In fact, his martial art didn't have a second level. At the time, Li An had taken what was available for staff use and mostly relied on the trace of dao he had understood. But now he was facing an unpleasant situation. He could imbue his staff with qi but that wasn't enough to defend as he tried to take on blow after blow. His only chance was to last long enough for Qin Tengfei to run out of juice.
On the other hand, Qin Tengfei could focus all his energy on his attacks and completely leave out the defense. In the end, a combination of hard hits pushed Li An out of the stage.
Qin Tengfei took deep breaths on the arena as he celebrated his win.
He quickly took out his spirit stones and sat in place to refill his qi. Qin Mei was already doing the same thing. She knew that no matter the winner of the duel between Li An and Tengfei, she would be challenged next. A silent race thus began for the two disciples.
#1 Wei Muchen
#2 Wang Yimo
#3 Han Lingyun
#4 Qin Mei (lost)
---
#5 Qin Tengfei
#6 Li An (lost)
#7 Wu Fa (lost)
#8 Pan Xiulan (lost)
#9 Yu Tao (lost)
#10 Qi Bo (lost)
#11 Liao Shao
The atmosphere had been raised to a peak during the previous match and Tingfei's dominant display but excitement didn't die down just yet. Again, another match that many had wanted to witness for months was shaping up.
"The duel of the Qins!". "Qin Tengfei vs Qin Mei!"
It was purely a coincidence that Qin Mei and Qin Tengfei had the same surname, as it was a fairly common one in the Liu region. Still, it had become some sort of inside joke that the two were secretly dating, or where long-lost brothers and sisters…
And now they were about to fight it out for a prestigious place in the first bracket. For the more pragmatic of the lot, they were about to fight for an additional 1000Ps, 200 low ranked crystals, and 1 condensation pill.
Because of the significance of the match, Captain Lacroix extended the resting period to 20 minutes. The two disciples were now in a much better state to give their all.
Qin Mei and Qin Tengfei faced each other on the arena. Qin Tengfei wasn't the type to go easy on his opponent because she was a girl and Qin Mei wasn't asking for favors anyway.
As the match began, Qin Tengfei attempted to recreate the same situation as his previous battle. He bombarded Qin Mei with spear strikes imbued with qi at a distance. But Qin Mei wasn't like Li An and she was far from being helpless in that situation with a long-range barrage. She answered each attack with a qi slash as she raced to close the distance with Qin Tengfei. Spear attacks tended to be the more powerful on contained surface areas while sword attacks excelled at thin and precise cuts, maximizing the power and qi density by minimizing the area of contact.
Qin Tengfei could control qi at a greater distance than Han Lingyun after the same number of days at the qi condensation realm. This was for two reasons. First, Qin Tenfei's martial art was geared towards attack and specialized in those strikes at a distance when Han Lingyun's blackbird art was movement based. And second, Qin Tengfei's art only had one main ability so it was much easier to learn in a short time frame.
Qin Mei wasn't fazed by those attacks though; she leveraged a greater qi density to cut down Qin Tengfei's attempts as she came into close range. Now she had the absolute advantage as she stuck to Qin Tengfei who became victim of his long spear and lack of an adequate elite movement ability. He displayed incredible agility and technique as he dodged and counterattacked for a time but Qin Mei did not pale in comparison and forced her opponent on the backfoot.
Every movement, every step of their already superhuman bodies were additionally imbued with qi, to reach speeds and forces that no mortal could imagine. At this little game, it was Qin Mei that emerged winner as the elder stopped the duel when her sword was about to cut Qin Tengfei's dominant arm.
Qin Mei cried out in joy and celebration while hundreds of disciples cheered and roared in appreciation of that epic fight. That was a true demonstration of a qi cultivator's might. Now, they all longed even more for the day they would reach that realm.
Qin Mei, now assured of her 4th rank, couldn't issue a challenge because she had already lost to Han Lingyun. She wasn't planning to do that anyway and had accomplished her objective.
Han Lingyun slightly turned his head and looked at Wang Yimo from the corner of his eyes; they had already discussed about that potential situation. Wang Yimo had lost her duel to Han Lingyun outside of the ranking competition but he had refused to switch places with her during the ranking competition, as it would raise many questions and paint a target on his back. But accepting rewards that wouldn't be deserved in her eyes didn't sit well with her pride.
In the end, they had agreed to divide equally the prizes of the 2nd and 3rd ranks between the two of them.
Hence, Han Lingyun kept his 3rd place.
Similarly, Wang Yimo didn't challenge the eternally 1st rank Wei Muchen. It had become a private joke with Han Lingyun that Wei Muchen was a perfect shield against too much attention.
Was Wei Muchen really strong? Probably. In fact, it wouldn't come as a great surprise if he could beat Wang Yimo and Han Lingyun on the arena.
Anyway, the current ranks of the 1st bracket satisfied all its participants. Han Lingyun and Wang Yimo would leave Wei Muchen fresh for a revengeful Yu Tao. They saw it coming from a mile away, and perhaps Wei Muchen saw it too because he was certainly training diligently as well.
The ranking competition thus ended.
The final ranks of the first two brackets read:
#1 Wei Muchen
#2 Wang Yimo
#3 Han Lingyun
#4 Qin Mei
---
#5 Qin Tengfei
#6 Li An
#7 Wu Fa
#8 Pan Xiulan
#9 Yu Tao
#10 Qi Bo
#11 Liao Shao.
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