Chapter 40: Water vs Fire
Chi Yun walked to the center of the stage wielding a one-handed
axe with an air of confidence. As for why he was confident, of course it was
because he had just heard that his opponent was of a lower level of cultivation
than he.
“Ha! They actually paired me up with a kid half my age!
Come, little kid. I’ll show you the way out.”
Jia Yuan did not appreciate being looked down in such a
manner.
Jia Yuan drew HiRyu out of his ring and gripped the sword in
his right hand. He then raised HiRyu over his head, and then thrust downwards!
A wall of flame over 20 feet long followed the path of his
thrust! However, Jia Yuan’s sword thrust stopped at just the right angle so
that the wall of flame did not reach Chi Yun’s head.
Chi Yun, as well as the audience, was completely shocked!
This was simply not the level of power associated with the 3rd level
of Absorption!
Murmurs began to spread through crowd.
“Are you sure the announcer didn’t misspeak?”
“How is that little kid so strong? A monster! He will be a monster
when he is our age!”
Although Jia Yuan wasn’t short for his age, he was still
only about 5 feet tall and had yet to reach his growth spurt. As such, he was
still a kid amongst men at the Arena.
However, the difference in height between him and Chi Yun
only served to accentuate just how strong Jia Yuan was for his age.
Meanwhile, Chi Yun was stunned! He was at a higher level of
Absorption, but his power was not even half of what this little kid had just
unleashed!
Having demonstrated his power, Jia Yuan quickly sheathed his
sword.
“Your loss.”
Jia Yuan threw out a punch towards Chi Yun with a fist
surrounded by the aura of his Song, which knocked the latter off of the stage.
The crowd cheered boisterously! After all, at the beginning
of the match they had perceived it as almost a David and Goliath matchup, given
how Jia Yuan was smaller and had a lower level of cultivation than his
opponent.
However, the speed at which Jia Yuan had proved everyone
wrong… frightening!
After the referee officially declared Jia Yuan’s win, he
stepped off the stage and walked over to Guo Huo.
“Did I make an impression?”
“You rascal. You didn’t have to humiliate him like that.”
Guo Huo gave Jia Yuan a wry smile. “But I guess it was also his fault for
provoking you. Let’s go, I want to have you join an Arena with people closer to
you in strength.”
The two walked with their guide back to the front desk of
the Arena, where they handed Jia Yuan’s badge over.
The manager looked to the guide. “How strong?”
“Arena C-1 should be right for him.”
“Oh?” The manager looked toward Jia Yuan.
“Hmm, quite a little monster eh?” He thought to himself.
Guo Huo took this chance to ask, “How strong are the
fighters at the C-1 arena?”
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“They are typically around the 6th or 7th
level of Absorption.”
“Good, good.” Guo Huo was rather pleased. Fighters at that
level of cultivation should be able to challenge Jia Yuan.
“However, due to the high numbers of challengers at the
Arena, you are only allowed to fight twice a day.”
After learning some of the other details associated with the
Arena that the first manager had been too lazy to explain, Guo Huo led Jia Yuan
to the C-1 arena.
At this point, Jia Yuan was still feeling the thrill of
fighting in front of a crowd. The cheers! The intensity of the atmosphere! It
was all a wondrous feeling for Jia Yuan.
Upon reaching the C-1 arena, they waited while watching the
bouts. The fighters were all around the level of the Zhao Yue, the Zhao family’s
patriarch who Guo Huo had killed a few months ago.
A few months ago, Jia Yuan was at the same level of
Absorption, but could not even compare to the strength of the 7th
level of Absorption.
But how about now? Jia Yuan was rather eager to test his skills
out, as Chi Yun hadn’t even offered the slightest bit of resistance.
After watching four fights, Jia Yuan was starting to get
bored. Thankfully, his badge began to burn, prompting him to walk up to the
stage. Along the way, he drew Hiryu out of the ring.
And so the announcer began to hype up the match.
“For this match, we have a battle between two of the same
House name! In the left corner, we have Jia Rou, 30 years old, a veteran
fighter from the Water Kingdom who is at the 7th level of Absorption!
In the right corner, we have Jia Yuan, 11 years old, a prodigy from the Fire
Kingdom who is only at the 3rd level of Absorption! But be warned,
his Song is overwhelmingly powerful!”
“A clash between the two kingdoms! A clash between two sword
users! As we all know, the sword is the best weapon to be paired with the water
element! Everything points toward yet another win for Jia Rou! But can this
young genius impress again?”
With all this, the referee had walked onto the stage.
He looked at Jia Yuan, who nodded. He then looked at Jia
Rou, who nodded.
“Fight!”
The referee quickly ran off of the platform.
Jia Rou had quite a reputation for being extremely
aggressive in fights. Although fighters of the water Kingdom generally weren’t
too aggressive in their fighting style, Jia Rou was clearly not one of those
fighters.
As soon as the referee had shouted the word “fight,” Jia Rou
had swung his sword diagonally, and a blade of water shot out from his sword towards
Jia Yuan.
The entire audience was expecting Jia Yuan to be
overwhelmed. After all, there was a difference of 4 levels of cultivation
between the two fighters!
However, Jia Yuan responded with his own diagonal slash and
a thickly condensed blade of fire erupted from his sword.