Chương 10: Working Students Fight! (2)

The remaining higher grade students clenched their teeth at Durand's 'reassurance' that Tang San and Xiao Wu would ensure that they didn't have to worry about not losing. Tang San stepped forward as he gave Durand a smirk. How could Tang San not know? Durand had gained an incredible amount of endurance and could likely continue fighting against the other five students and win. More importantly, Durand had yet to even summon his spirit, let alone use his spirit ring. The higher grade students stood no chance against Durand if he were serious, even if they were to attack all at once.

"You're a working student?" asked Ling Feng with a hesitant expression.

Tang San merely nodded and replied, "Please begin."

Although Ling Feng had a thin and small stature, he was still taller than a first year like Tang San. This was an incredibly important fight for the higher grade students as each further loss meant a larger burden on the fighters that they had left. So, Ling Feng no longer thought much of it and after giving a look at Tang San's belt, leapt up, nimbly vaulting overhead. With both arms extended, Ling Feng glided unexpectedly for two meters before pouncing towards the top of Tang San's head. The attack was very fast but lacked some ferocity or attack pattern. Clearly, Ling Feng had a flying beast spirit which enhanced his agility but not his strength.

Tang San watched as the opponent pounced at him, remaining motionless as if treating the attack as if it didn't exist. Suddenly, Ling Feng his body flipped again, both arms flapping beneath causing the force to change direction and arriving behind Tang San. Both arms chopped downward towards the two sides of Tang San's neck.

Even until Ling Feng flipped over his head, Tang San did not move at all. Even with Durand's 'warning' that Tang San was in fact his combat teacher, Ling Feng had arrogantly approached the match. Seeing Tang San, Ling Feng could tell that he was simply a first or second year student with little to no experience in combat. His goal was to immediately disable Tang San so that he could force Xiao Wu into a fight.

In the very moment that Ling Feng's hands were mere inches from chopping into Tang San's neck, Tang San exploded into action. His hip seemed to rotate with his left leg as a fulcrum. His torso bent forward over ninety degrees. His body pivoted inward as he drew his right knee up and toward his chest. Then his foot snapped outward to connect with Ling Feng's jaw.

Ling Feng's previous flip seemed to have reversed direction and he spun continuously in the air. Finally when he landed onto the ground, he heavily tumbled several meters, following Liu Long and Gao Zi's footsteps. His jaw had been dislocated by Tang San's kick. Fortunately, Tang San, like Durand, had decided to hold back by not using spirit power. If not for this, Ling Feng's jaw would have likely shattered.

At this point, the higher grade students on Boss Xiao's side's morale had completely collapsed. Not only had a single freshman defeated five of their numbers continuously and retired from 'fatigue' but a second one had taken out their second strongest fighter in one move. Even worse, Durand's testament to Tang San and Xiao Wu's strength seemed to not be a lie. With a Xiao Wu as a third fighter with at least similar combat capabilities, they were at a loss at how they could possibly win.

Gritting his teeth, Boss Xiao stepped forward. If he did not even fight and admitted defeat, he would lose all respect from his subordinates and become known as a coward. At the very least, if he attempted to fight, the worst situation would be a few injuries and relegation from the best to the fourth best spirit master in the academy.

Next to Durand, Xiao Wu looked at both Tang San and Durand in wonder. Though she was much more familiar with Tang San's fighting abilities, she could also recall Durand's abilities as well. In just a short few days, the two of them had advanced quickly. Moreover, their aggression against the opponent was completely different from when they were not fighting. Especially Tang San, who seemed like a mild little child, but when he entered a fight, he became swift and fierce. Durand at times, though somewhat distant and had a taller stature, was often thought of as a gentle giant. In battle though, he became cold and precise, intimidating and formidable.

At this point, Boss Xiao stepped forward for the next match. In order to win, he would likely have to win three matches and the other three subordinates would have to win two. He would have to quickly defeat Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Wang Sheng. It would be incredibly difficult, but there was a chance he could do it. It just had to be quick so that he could save his stamina. This would be the best scenario for him to save as much face as possible.

Looking coldly at Tang San with a dignified expression, Boss Xiao introduced himself, "Xiao Chen Yu, sixth year student, spirit: wolf. Eleventh ranked attack spirit master."

On the Douluo Dalu continent, spirit masters announced their spirit and rank as a form of respect to their opponent. As Boss Xiao introduced himself, he summoned his spirit. His entire body emitted a blackish green light as his muscles began swelling, his eyes turned a pale green, his finger nails extending to become claws and talons. A white spirit ring rose from the ground beneath his feet, hovering up and down his wolfish body.

Both Durand and Tang San recalled Grandmaster's lesson on spirit master customs concerning the announcing of spirit and ranks. Should they fail to announce their spirit and rank after their opponent had done so, it would be an offensive action and likely gain the scorn of other spirit masters. Of course, mortal enemies usually did not announce themselves to each other in order to hide information about themselves from each other.

At this point though, Boss Xiao had primarily chosen to announce his spirit and rank in order to gain information about Tang San. Though this wasn't a life or death fight, Boss Xiao really wanted to save face.

Tang San did not care for Boss Xiao's machinations however.

He responded, "Tang San, first year working student, spirit: blue silver grass. Thirteenth ranked tool spirit master."

When Tang San introduced his spirit, the higher grade students behind began laughing with ignorance. They had lost their nervous expressions because they believed that blue silver grass was a trash spirit. However, Boss Xiao was not so dismissive.

"Just now, you said you had reached the thir-thirteenth rank?" asked Boss Xiao.

"Yes," Tang San replied simply. As he did so, he summoned his spirit: a faint white light emanated from his body, from his right hand, blue silver grass appeared and below his feat, blue silver grass began growing and drifting around him in a circle. A bright yellow spirit ring rose from Tang San's feet and hovered up and down his body.

The appearance of the yellow spirit ring silenced the higher grade students. As a hundred year ring, yellow spirit rings were much more powerful compared to white spirit rings, merely ten year rings.

(How could this be?!) Many of the higher grade students thought. Tang San was clearly a freshman who had just entered the academy. At just six years old, he had already gained his first spirit ring right after his awakening ceremony. In the entire history of Nuoding primary spirit master academy, such a genius cultivator had never appeared before.

Behind Boss Xiao, a higher grade student couldn't help but say, "Boss, just destroy him. He has a useless blue silver grass spirit. How fierce could he be anyway?"

"Shut up!" roared Boss Xiao. He thought, (Only blue silver grass?! By itself, it might be useless but with a hundred year spirit ring, even blue silver grass can be formidable. Moreover, he's a freak who's already advanced two more ranks!)

However, Tang San's cultivation was not what Boss Xiao feared the most. As the son of Nuoding city's castellan, he had the background to understand how difficult it was to get a hundred year spirit ring as the first spirit ring. Even with his father's influence and helpers, he had only been able to hunt down a 95 year spirit beast. That hunt had caused numerous injuries to the team and his initial attempts to kill the spirit beast had been abysmal. Only after two spirit masters had knocked out the spirit beast had Boss Xiao been able to safely approach and stab the beast through the eye and into the brain for an easy kill.

To Boss Xiao, Tang San's yellow spirit ring most likely meant that Tang San came from a great clan. Boss Xiao recalled his father's repeated instructions and warnings that some great clans absolutely could not be offended lest it lead to the destruction of his entire family clan. Even compared to the imperial household, these great clans were more terrible. Provocation would lead to calamity. Boss Xiao seemed to connect Tang San's yellow spirit ring to the power and influence of the great clans his father had warned him about.

Even though Ling Feng had asked Tang San already, Boss Xiao couldn't help but ask, "Are you really a working student. He completely disregarded the possibility that Tang San could have hunted a hundred year spirit ring by himself. In his mind, Tang San must be from an incredibly powerful clan and had a strong enough background to get a powerful spirit grandmaster to hunt down a hundred year spirit ring for him.

Again, Tang San simply nodded. He seemed impatient to begin combat. Even though he and Durand had briefly sparred on the way back from Spirit Hunting Forest, it had not been particularly stimulating for either. They had mostly been holding back for the purposes of a spar so this would be the first time Tang San was facing an adversary despite the fight not being a mortal one. Moreover, Durand's defensive formidability had made it impossible for his blue silver grass to inflict its poison upon him. And even though he had been able to bind Durand with his spirit ring, Durand's teleporting shield had negated the advantage that bind had given him.

Conversely, Durand was not fast enough to avoid Tang San's abilities. As his spirit gave little in the way of his agility, Durand was basically an immobile target for Tang San. He was only able to avoid Tang San's attacks when bound by using his teleporting shield to prevent Tang San from advancing. They could not truly let go of their restraints and fight to the brink of exhaustion because Grandmaster had always stopped the spars for lectures. Neither had been able to gain a true advantage against the other in their brief spars and had left dissatisfied by the results.

Durand had already been able to determine how much stronger he had gotten when he had battled the Datura snake. His ring ability had been extremely useful in the battle and Durand had already satisfied his fire for combat and gained an understanding of how his ring could be best utilized for defensive and offensive means. In contrast, Tang San had not satisfied his curiosity about his ring ability against an opponent and he seemed slightly impatient to play.

"Get on with it," said Tang San impatiently.

If Ling Feng's pounce before was nimble and acrobatic, Boss Xiao's pounce was explosive. With his first spirit ring, Boss Xiao's power had risen to a higher level than Wang Sheng who had a stronger spirit. Charging forward, Boss Xiao clearly intended to crash into Tang San with as much power as possible.

However, Tang San was not afraid. In fact, Tang San seemed to welcome this situation as it would help him gauge what level his Mysterious Heaven skill had actually reached.

Pushing both his hands out from his chest, Tang San earned the ridicule of the higher grade students behind Boss Xiao. (Using his bare hands to meet Boss Xiao's wolf claws?! He's gonna cripple his hands!) thought the higher grade students. If Tang San hadn't absorbed his first spirit ring this may be true. Boss Xiao's claws had gained the strength to crush chunks of stone which would have pulverized his hands.

Boss Xiao's charge immediately halted. In fact, he was forced a few steps backwards. The shock and fury from the outcome caused him to forget his apprehension for Tang San's background and he swiped at Tang San with his claws. However, something else occurred that caused Boss Xiao even more shock.

Just as his wolf claws grabbed at Tang San's hands, he could feel that Tang San's hands were both as hard as iron. No matter how he used his strength, he couldn't move them at all. Suddenly, Tang San's wrists rotated outwards, breaking Boss Xiao's grip and reversing the situation. Now, Tang San grasped Boss Xiao's forearm in a vice grip to prevent his retreat. Pulling Boss Xiao's arms and body forward, Tang San rammed forward, slamming his right shoulder into Boss Xiao's lower abdomen.

Boss Xiao's big body flew up into the air and tumbled hard on the ground for more than 6 meters. Mere moments ago, Boss Xiao's underlings had been preparing to cheer. However, as they watched Boss Xiao tumble away, their eyes looking at Tang San changed too. Are the new working student freshman monsters?!

At this point, Tang San got bored. Boss Xiao was clearly no match for him and fighting him was more boring than when he had sparred with Durand. At least when he faced Durand, he was able to experiment with different attacking patterns, feints and other ways to attempt a breakthrough of Durand's near impenetrable defense. Boss Xiao was simply too weak for Tang San to enjoy the battle. At this point, Tang San decided to end the match.

"I'm still busy and have no time to play with you, so I will end it like this. Bind," said Tang San.

At this point, Boss Xiao had already risen to his feet. His spirit body enhancement had increased his defensive power and he had not suffered much from Tang San's body strike. Just as he got ready to attack Tang San again, more than ten think blue silver grass surged up from his feet without warning. The grass spiraled up and before Boss Xiao could react, they had firmly bound both his legs.

"What is this?!" exclaimed Boss Xiao. Even struggling with all his strength could not release him from the bonds of Tang San's blue silver grass. This is largely due to the toughness Tang San's blue silver grass had attained from the Datura snake.

"Don't even bother with trying to struggle free. My blue silver grass gained the toughness from a Datura snake, my first spirit ring. It even has a little bit of the snake's venom so if you still feel like fighting, I can let you have a taste," said Tang San.

Ten more blue silver grass rose from behind Tang San, seemingly like ten Datura snakes threatening to attack. A chill ran down the backs of Boss Xiao and all his remaining subordinates. Even if they hadn't encountered a real Datura snake, they had at least heard of the terrifying potency its venom contained.

Clearly terrified, Boss Xiao stuttered, "D-Don't u-use the ve-venom. I ad-admit de-defeat." Even though he was the boss of the higher grade students, Boss Xiao was merely twelve years old and was scared easily when it came to topics like snakes and poison.

Actually, although Tang San's blue silver grass was poisonous, it had only gained the paralyzing poison and not the deadly nerve poison that made the Datura snake particularly terrifying. Of course, Boss Xiao didn't dare to test that with his own body.

As if it didn't exist, Tang San's blue silver grass quietly vanished from Boss Xiao's legs. Tang San revealed a smile before saying, "Since you have admitted defeat, hurrying up and following through with what you and Xiao Wu previously agreed upon."

Hesitantly, Boss Xiao asked, "Then who do I recognize as boss? You, the tall guy, or her?"

Tang San slightly smiled and said, "Of course it is to Xiao Wu. Neither I nor Durand can win against her. Otherwise, the working students' boss with be either me or Durand, not her."

Boss Xiao's jaw dropped. He thought, (Both you and Durand are already so powerful. If she is even stronger than the two of you and the three of you guys are all truly working students. Are you guys really only six years old?)

Xiao Wu strolled to Tang San's side, clapping his shoulder, adopting the 'big sister' façade. "Little San's performance wasn't bad. You've worked hard."

Beside her, Durand had also strolled over. Laughing, he said, "Hey, I'm going to go back to rest. I'm still tired from our trip to Spirit Hunting Forest. I'll be leaving the rest for you guys to deal with."

As Durand walked away, he heard Boss Xiao pledge himself to Xiao Wu. A moment later, he faintly heard Tang San saying, "Xiao Wu, so you really are a rabbit."

Suddenly, Tang San rushed away and Durand could see a faint blur heading back toward the academy. Durand began laughing; he knew Tang San must have rubbed Xiao Wu's head, causing her to blush.

Finally as he returned to his solitary room, Durand once again began cultivating. He hoped to reach the thirteenth rank soon in order to catch up to Tang San.