Chương 78: Combat and Fire
Han Lingyun switched to his blackbird mode. He wasn't going to try using any formation arrays as his use of them should still be relatively unknown. Only a couple disciples had suffered from them during the first phase and it was unlikely that any of them saw his face and recognized who he was. Only Yu Tao and Wang Yimo knew he had this card.
Back to the fight on hand, Han Lingyun didn't approach Zheng Shun and the Northern Wudang Sect disciple also kept his distance, seemingly hesitant to act. Still at his starting position, Han Lingyun launched an invisible qi blade. Zhen Shun couldn't see the qi attack but he wasn't going to ignore it. He raised his elbows in a guarding stance he circulated his defensive martial art that strengthened his body to an incredible degree.
*Clank* The qi blade collided with Zhen Shun forearms and pushed him back. Zheng Shun groaned in pain as some blood began trickling down his arms to his shock. Even after the attenuation with distance and his specialization in dissipating attacks, Han Lingyun had managed to slightly injure him. His qi was that much denser!
Han Lingyun had the absolute advantage at range so the strategy was simply to harass Zheng Shun from afar with his qi blades. He could attack his opponent when Zheng Shun couldn't hope to reach him.
The first qi blade was immediately followed by another one, a third, a fourth… He circled the bulky Zheng Shun that fell straight away in a precarious situation as deeper and deeper cuts appeared on his body. His regeneration couldn't keep up with his injuries that kept stacking up. It was a despairing situation where he was losing on his favorite grounds. The difference of strength and qi density was too much.
Before his state worsened to the point where he would be disabled for later fights, Zheng Shun shouted, "I ADMIT DEFEAT. STOP… I admit defeat."
Han Lingyun's last qi Blade was dissipated by the elder watching over the duel and Zheng Shun pitifully exited the stage in tears; it wasn't clear if that was from the pain or the mental blow from that one-sided fight. There hadn't been the slightest suspense. His opponent was faster, had a longer range and overpowered his defense.
Han Lingyun also exited the stage, satisfied by a job well done. An easy win was a perfect win in his books.
Surprisingly, Wang Yimo didn't even have to fight during that round, with her opponent admitting defeat before the fight began. She was indeed a scary opponent on paper with her 5th grade talent, her second rank in the White Tiger Sect and her short demonstration in the duel this morning. Her adversary probably thought he didn't stand a chance, which was most likely the case too.
A couple other White Tiger Sect 2nd years made it to the top 64 as well, which was already an achievement. If one thought about it, even by only taking disciples from the top 16 sects in consideration, on average each sect would only have its 4 strongest representatives at that stage.
The White Tiger Sect still had 8 disciples. Among them were the 4 figureheads: Wei Muchen, Yu Tao, Wang Yimo and Han Lingyun. Their high ranks during the first phase had prevented them from facing any tough opponents yet, so reaching the top 64 had been a formality. The tournament format made it more random for the others, with some surprise wins and losses. Those that made it were Lai Meihui, the White Tiger School's rising star with her fire affinity, Liao Shao who had turned to the sword path that complemented well his metal affinity, Qi Bo a sword cultivator as well, and Liao Qiaolian, who was the most unexpected one to reach that stage among the 8 disciples.
Liao Qiaolian was Liao Zhenzhen's cousin. Arguably, during the two years at the White Tiger School she had been less remarkable than two of her fellow sword maidens, Qin Mei and Liao Zhenzhen. Still, the randomness of the duels led to this great outcome from her.
With 8 places in the top 64, at this stage the White Tiger Sect was only second to the Cheng Huang School and their 11 disciples still in the game.
But not all the disciples in the White Tiger Sect were satisfied by their results. And a large portion of their top 4th grade talents had lost in the duels to reach the top 64. The prime examples were Li An, Qin Mei, Liao Zhenzhen, and Pan Xiulan, all regulars of the 2nd bracket.
As for Han Lingyun's only two true friends: Yang Haoyu was part of those that made it to the top 128 but not further. This result was in line with his strength and an appearance in the top 64 would have been quite a surprise in fact.
All these disciples had to participate in the loser's bracket for a second chance to receive a reward. In the end, the one that emerged as the winner from the group was another disciple from the Cheng Huang School. In the duel of the "winner's bracket", this one had met another of his comrades from the school.
Interestingly, the young man that was to face Wang Yimo and had immediately abandoned ended up in the semifinal of the loser's bracket, which showed he was far from being weak. He should have used this strategy after estimating having a greater chance to make to the top 64 by passing through the loser's bracket and saving his strength. It was a risky gamble that nearly paid off and Han Lingyun was aiming for the same path in the top 16, effectively circumventing the Yu Tao obstacle.
The Second day thus ended and the disciples returned to cultivate in their accommodations for the night once again.
'Tomorrow will be the last day and the finals of the competition.'
The atmosphere on the White Tiger Sect's area wasn't as enthusiastic as one could have thought. An event had seriously dampened the mood. Ma Zhong, the promotion's giant had succumbed at the hands of Deng Shang from the Mount Ba Sword Sect. She wasn't really to blame because Ma Zhong had just refused to give up and continued attacking even after being seriously injured.
Deng Shang had been visibly affected by the duel and she tried to prolong the fight in the hope that he would finally give up or faint of exhaustion with his blood loss. In the end, Ma Zhong had tried to take an attack head on to exchange injuries and was killed on the spot. All the disciples of the White Tiger Sect could only watch helplessly that tragedy unfold.
Ma Zhong was known for not being the brightest star in the book. He didn't really have any particular best friends but he had become somewhat of the promotion's mascot with his goofy actions. This made his absence even heavier.
Most disciples didn't direct their anger towards Deng Shang. What truly killed him was the rule of no Elder's intervention to end the fights.
The presence of the Black faction's Elder had already taken its toll on the White Tiger School and the other sects of the alliance. It wasn't just some random disciples that passed away, but also some big names with Qin Tengfei and Ma Zhong. Some cried that a competition shouldn't kill and that it was counterproductive for the whole SCA to murder its own children. The complaining was useless. In the cultivation world, those that have a voice are those with the strongest fists or the strongest backing. It always came back to strength, all because this is a world where an individual can alone overpower the masses.
What some feared were the duels to come, with the greatest talents of a generation fighting all out. This could result in some severe casualties among the brightest disciples. As such, there was a mixture of fear, unease, anger and sadness that contrasted heavily with the traditionally festive times of the previous occasions.
All these talks didn't affect Han Lingyun that much. He had already predicted and analyzed most of all this anyway. He focused on his path and studied in more details all the favorites and those that were likely to be in the 16 loser's bracket. Tomorrow he actually might risk his life.
To calm his nerves and stay rational, there was nothing better than a good cultivation session. From outside he looked perfectly still in a lotus position. Noise faded around him as he found himself under his familiar waterfall.
Han Lingyun mentally took a step out to admire a lush forest with trees absorbing the light of a gentle setting sun on the horizon. Ever since he had reached the mid qi condensation level, his spirit had made a huge step and he was quickly able to incorporate a third element to his routine and to his imaginary world: fire.
*****
Page 3: Fire.
The rune looked complex and erratic, vaguely resembling dancing flames, with pikes and curvy lines mixed together.
Fire, one of the five natural runes. Wood generates fire by nourishing it.
Fire is destruction, the unstoppable force of nature that burns down all in its wake consuming all for its growth. Fire is uncontrollable anger, the fury that seeps in one's bones and overruns the mind.
Fire and heat are the primal forms of energy, untamed and free. The first spark bringing light. The great sun warming the earth, the beacon that never betrays its cause, day after day, year after year, century after century. The distant objective, the unattainable goal, the unimaginable force that burns those that get too close to its majesty.
Fire prefers to defeat its enemies unconditionally without burdening itself with thoughts of collateral damage.
Fire is the reassuring friend, the resistance that wards of beasts and darkness. Fire is a joyful dancing spirit, the smiling grandpa warming the house during winter.
Fire is the movement that fights its worst enemy: the absolute coldness, the immobile, death.
*****
Once again, Han Lingyun could complete his understanding of the element with physical theories he had from his last life. The chemistry behind combustion, the energy of thermal agitation and what he remembered from the mechanisms of a star. Two core ideas he focused on were Temperature and Heat. The beautiful equation providing the evolution of temperature.
But what's Temperature? What is Heat? Temperature is a physical quantity measuring the average kinetic energy of atoms and molecules in a system. In other words, are those particles vibrating fast (hot) or are they rather still (cold)? Heat on the other hand represents the transfer of that kinetic energy. It could take three forms: conduction (particle to particle), convection (large movements of matter) or radiation (emission of energy in electromagnetic form).
Han Lingyun had a good understanding of these concepts and phenomena. This helped him greatly to introduce the fire concept in his spirit world, especially since the emotional dimension of the fire element wasn't too in tune with himself.
Every time he cultivated in his own little world, he felt so refreshed and rejuvenated as qi danced around him and permeated his spirit.
The Sun caressed Han Lingyun's neck through his window as the new day inevitably came around.
He opened his eyes, blazing with determination. 'Time for serious business.'
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