by Mike Han
Yu’Er also shared that the meeting was pretty boring as they discussed about the happening and development of their individual sects or schools. Of interest was the topic on the attacks that happened at Canyon Town. Priestess Changqun had briefed on the attacks and subsequent close encounter by Min and the rest, however as discussed with Grandmaster Tao and Elder Hao, they decided that they would not mention on the association of the attackers and Imperial School, in view that there was no evidence pointing to their involvement. What had pissed Yu’Er off was that not only did they feign ignorance, they had acted outrage over the attacks and promised to use their connection with the magistrate to investigate further. All in all, nothing else of significant was mentioned.
On the third day of the event, the air was filled with anticipation as the different sects and schools got ready for the Swordsman Challenge. With the participation of the other minor sects and schools, there were a total of twelve challengers, each from the individual schools or sects.
The competition would begin with each of the schools or sects being randomly picked to compete in the first round. The winners of the first round would then compete in the second rounds, till only two winners stand out for the final round. The winner of the challenge would then be allowed to pick a prize from Flying Dagger treasure vault.
In my first round, my opponent was a disciple from Green Dragon Sect. Green Dragon Sect, though considered a minor sect, was a well-known sect that specialized in river escort in Southern Middle Kingdom. The Sect was located near to Southern River Town, which was another major trade hub. Due to the lucrative trade route, bandits and pirates thrived in that region. Green Dragon Sect had made a name of itself as a reliable and strong escort that even the law-breakers would give way to.
Looking intently at my opponent, I observed that he was a youth with well-built upper torso and muscles budging arms, holding his twin sword-knife easily while looking at me casually.
“Jun, your opponent is Wu Gui. Though he has only been with Green Dragon Sect for two years, he had already won much fame in the Southern River district for his defeat of the pirate group that was plaguing that river area. He singled-handedly defeated the pirate king and his ten henchmen. His twin sword-knife skill was rumored to be on par with that of Will. Be careful and don’t underestimate your opponent.” Yu’Er had leaned forward and whispered into my ears as we waited the commencement of my duel.
Remembering the skill and power of Will’s attack when we first set off gave me a new appreciation to my opponent’s ability. As the time for our duel drew near, we approached each other and after giving the customary greeting between opponents, readied our fighting posture and waited for the hosting referee to initiate the fight.
As the referee gave a drop of his hand to start the fight, Wu Gui immediately launched himself forward, swinging both his weapons in a whirlwind move. Knowing that I would not be able to match his power; instead of attempting a block, I hastened my side steps and moved around him. Surprisingly, even carrying both heavy weighted blades, he stopped his motion and hitting the grounds to give extra boost, he leaped towards me, and at the same time, lifted both weapons for overhead strike. Without a moment hesitation, I sprung into him and at the last moment, did a forward roll with just ample round to clear his feet. I then launched a kick backwards where I deemed him to be. But seeing that I had manage to dodge his attack and guessing I would be launching a counter-move, Wu Gui had continued his forward motion with a roll of his own, and my kick missed him by a hairbreadth. And the both of us swung back facing each other ready for the other’s next move.
Cheer erupted from the spectators of all the schools and sects, and many elders or senior disciples were pointing out our moves to their juniors, on the strengths and weaknesses. Some were even reenacting the moves to show what can be used to counter. When I took a quick glance at where my sect were held, I could see nods of approval from Grandmaster and the rest and loud cheers from the other disciples. What caught my eyes was Yu’Er giving me looks of concern, which quickly turned to blushes when I gave her a casual wink followed by a grin.
Knowing that it would be disadvantageous to be kept on a defensive footing, I glided forward, my sword in a reverse grip. Startled by my sudden move, Wu Gui, held out cross blades in a defensive posture. Giving a boost of speed to my footing with energy from my inner Turbulent Wave as I stopped suddenly and leaped off on my right foot, I was now at the right flank of Wu Gui. In Wu Gui’s view, what he saw was me moving towards him when a blur occurred and I was suddenly along his right side. Though stunned, his reflexes kicked in as he chopped out with his right blade at me, but I was too close and using my pommel, struck at his elbow, causing his right hand to sag in weakness and dropped his blade. My right foot hook his feet, while I continued using my pommel to plow into his chest. Off balance, he tripped and was on his back, with my blade now near his throat. Knowing that it was a clean win, he called out “I yield!”
And with that, I won my first round, with cheers erupting all round from the spectators, the loudest from my sect.
Lotus School lost the next match against Iron Palm Sect. The representative from Iron Palm Sect had gone with their strength, using their Iron Palm Skill. Min forgo using her sword skill, thereby losing their edge and elected to go bare hand. Though Lotus School’s bare hand skill was not weak but against Iron Palm School, famed for their Iron Palm Skill, stood no chance and Min was easily overcome. But her honorable attempt to match Iron Palm School using bare hand skill won her many admirable gazes from the youths of the other schools, though her innocent beauty could have played a part in it.
When the next match was announced between Flying Dagger Sect versus Imperial School, the air was filled with anticipation as this was the first match between the major schools. But soon gasps of astonishment were heard when Butler Wu walked up the dueling platform from the Imperial School section.
“This…this… is most irregular!” Deacon Wong of Flying Dagger School stammered out in surprise. “Master Shi Liang! Why did Imperial School send out such a strong fighter? The Swordsman Challenge is mainly for our young up-and-coming disciples. What is the meaning of this?”
“Strong? I afraid Deacon Wong Li is most mistaken. Butler Wu is but only one of my butlers, how can he be considered strong?” Master Shi Ling, leader of Imperial School, gave a cold smirk. “If everyone is afraid of losing to my butler, I can always ask him to withdraw.” His thinly veiled insult causing not a small number of practitioners to clench their fist in anger.
“Butler Wu is anything but a normal nobody.” Zhi Meng, leader of Flying Dagger Sect spoke softly for the first time. “During the barbarian war, Lieutenant Wu Li, with General Shi Liang and ten other imperial soldiers, fought their way into the main barbarian camp, seizing the leader and forcing them to retreat, allowing the imperial army time to regroup for an attack, thereby winning the war. His act of fame still resonated among the imperial army till today.”
Shi Ting laughed aloud at this “I didn’t know that Leader Zhi Meng was interested in history. Those were in the past and not matters of the martial world. Again, if you fear my butler, I will order him to withdraw.”
Before Zhi Meng could respond, Zhi Yu walked up the dueling platform, “Father, since Butler Wu want to duel. Let him have a taste of our skills of Flying Dagger Sect.” Looking troubled, but in the end Zhi Meng gave a doubtful nod to Zhi Yu.
When Zhi Yu faced Butler Wu, Wu took up his blade, gazed at Zhi Yu for a moment, then turned around and flung the blade to one of the Imperial School disciple. He then turned towards Zhi Yu, beckoning to him bare handed to start the duel. Zhi Yu, who was holding up his flying daggers, hesitantly replaced them back into his belt and passed over the belt to his side. Turning back, he was just into his posture, when Wu suddenly removed his belt and whipped it towards Zhi Yu. To everyone’s surprise, the belt extended to thrice its’ length and one end was obviously weighted as it tangled around Zhi Yu’s legs. Wu, wi
th a sudden burst of inhuman strength, gave a tug and Zhi Yu was not only caught off balance, his body was literally lifted up towards Wu.
Wu, without a moment hesitant, took a breath and regulated his inner. Joint cracked and muscle budged as strength flowed through his body with the inner was activated. With a single lunge, he threw out a palm strike towards Zhi Yu, the force of the strike was so strong and fast, there was a big whoosh of air, as the strike forced the surrounding air to flow past.
Zhi Yu, though taken off guard, was quick to react. Throwing out both hand, he used his own inner to counteract the blow from Wu. But Wu’s strike was too strong. With a loud bang, as his palm hit both Zhi Yu’s hand, his defense was blown apart and his body flown backwards and landed with a loud crash. It was clear who had won, so everyone was shocked when Wu leaped forward towards Zhi Yu, took a breath and swung a downward strike at his unguarded head. Wu suddenly pulled back his attack, and sprung out of the way as a dagger flew into his last position. The force of the thrown was so strong, that the dagger’s blade was sunken mid-blade quivering into the stone floor platform. Leader Zhi Meng and Deacon Wong were in a flash beside Zhi Yu. While Zhi Meng was lifting Zhi Yu up, Deacon Wong was glaring angrily at Wu, his daggers held precariously in both hands.
“Father! Sorry, I lost the match” Zhi Yu managed to gasp out before felling unconscious.
“Apologies! Apologies! I was so focus on fighting, I forgot this was just a duel.” Butler Wu gave an insincere grin as he backed off. At a nod from Zhi Meng, Deacon Wong put away his daggers and without another words, both left with Zhi Meng carrying Zhi Yu. Butler Wu could be heard muttering loudly “Such an easy match!” Causing quite a number of angry glares from the spectators.
Yu’Er was cursing angrily when Grandmaster Tao tapped her arm, giving her a small shake of his head. He then told her to check on Zhi Yu and to bring along a vial of medicine pills to help him recover. With another angry glare at the Imperial School side of the platform, she angrily stormed off to find Zhi Yu.
“Master Hao, what was that weapon that was used on Zhi Yu? It looked like a normal belt.” I asked Elder Hao.
Elder Hao deliberated for a moment before replying, “That would be the chain skill of the Imperial School. This is the first time I saw that skill too. That skill belonged to an elite group within the imperial guards, formed to capture and interrogate targets they were interested in. The chain was woven into a belt so that it could be carried around inconspicuously. An expert in the chain skill can not only capture but disable or even kill an opponent.”
After a moment of silence, he looked at me and said, “Jun, if you encounter him in any of the rounds, beware of his chain attack. The secret is not to fight against the flow of his move but to flow along with his moves.”
Laughing at my puzzled looks, he continued, “Think about what I said. Anyway even if you lose, it’s alright. Losing is part of the growth to winning.” With that, we turned back to the rest of the duels, while I tried to figure out the advice that Elder Hao had given me.
The next duel was between Beggar Sect versus Black Hill Sect. The two youth dueling filled the air back with excitement after the sour aftertaste of the win from Imperial School. Using the famous Drunken Fist move, the beggar sect disciple was able to edge out a win against the Black Hill disciple.
In the following match between Monastery and Yang Family, it was a duel of titan proportion between staff and spear. Monastery’s staff skill was built up scores of practitioners refining the skill, whereas the exquisite spear skill of Yang Family was built on generations of their sons practicing the skill. In the end, the young monk protégé with a flurry of power move was able to overcome the Yang descendent. The cheers got louder when the young monk, in an act of camaraderie, went forward and offer his hand to his downed opponent.
The last match for the first round was between Willow Sect and Thunder Fist Sect. Interestingly, the disciple from Willow Sect used a willow cane as his weapon of choice, whereas the Thunder Fist disciple used his fist skill, the same namesake as his sect. Though of similar age, the Thunder Fist disciple had been exploring the martial world and the difference in experience showed, as the Thunder Fist disciple tricked the Willow disciple in extending his reach, allowing him to exploit his defensive lapse and winning the match.
And with that, the first round was over.
Chapter Fifteen
A lunch break commenced following the end of the first round. Yu’Er had returned at that point and reported that though Zhi Yu was still groggy from the duel, he at least did not suffer any critical injuries and should recover shortly.
A gong announced the start of the second round as everyone began to make their way back to the dueling ground. This round will be a duel between the winners from first round, and as expected, the first match would be between Balance Sect and Iron Palm School.
As I was making my way to the dueling platform, I felt a tug on my sleeve and turning around, saw that it was Min.
“Min, how was your injury from the duel? I was trying to look for you but couldn’t find you during the lunch break?”
“It was a minor injury, don’t worry about it. I think you should be able to win your opponent but be careful. His Iron Palm skill does pack a punch.” Min replied, concerns in her eyes.
I gave her a grin, “Don’t worry. Let me take revenge for you.”
Since Min lost to the Iron Palm disciple using bare hand skill, I decided to try my luck and test my bare hand skill against him. The Iron Palm disciple by the name of Pu, is another bulky youth. As typical of an Iron Palm disciple, his bulky upper torso radiated power and both his palms were darkened with tough callus forming at his knuckles, a testimony of their tough training. Since the sect was famed for its Iron Palm skill, all of the disciples aimed to excel in this skill, my current challenger no less. The average disciple would spend no less than two month digging through rock stewed ground with their bare hands as basic training to toughen their fists and palms. As they advanced in training and skill, they would move on to daunting tasks using bare hand to complete. With their unique internal training, most disciples would be deadly in bare hand fighting.
Facing me, Pu showed no signs of fear or hesitation. At the shout of commence to signify the start of the match, Pu was already flying towards me, striking out with his palm for his initial attack. Weaving around using ghost steps, I avoided his continuous palm strikes, searching for an opening to counter. However Pu’s attacks embodied the saying “attack is the best defense”, as his strikes flowed furiously after each other, forced me to concentrate on just being able to narrowly avoid his attack, unable to take advantage of any lapse in rhythm.
One of his palm strikes came perilously close, and as I twisted my body aside to avoid the attack, his second palm strike shot out towards my head. I was unbalance, seemingly unable to dodge that attack. Without a thought, I used my Finger Striking, catching him on his wrist and the force of my flick was so strong, his entire arm was forced upwards. His forward momentum not arrested and now coupled with the upward force from my strike, he was flung awkwardly to sprawl on the floor.
The surrounding was silent as most were puzzled at what had happened. The speed of Pu’s attacks were so fast, that most of the disciples were already having a hard time discerning the flow of attacks when my Finger Striking rebounded away his attack. Other than the experts from the various Sects and Schools that were able to follow each blocks and blows, most of those present could only wonder at why Pu was suddenly on the floor. However cheers burst out from the spectators, as Pu slowly picked himself up from the floor and, with a grin on his face, in an act of defiance motioned with his fingers to me to “bring it on”.
A grin slowly found itself on my face, as the sight of Pu sparkled a burning sense of competition within me. I felt myself having the urge to take his Iron Palm head-on to see whether the months of training with Elder Hao and Yu’Er had made me good enough in my inner and skill to win
him. As I strode towards Pu, I took a deep breath and regulate my inner pushing and feeling my body invigorated as the energy pulsed out from my core.
The grin on Pu’s face got wider as he took in the sight of me striding towards him and regulating my inner. He too started walking towards me and began regulating his own inner. The crowd began to whisper in excitement. Once we got into arm’s length distance, with grins on our faces, Pu initialed the continuation of our duel. Palm strikes after palm strikes came furiously after each other. This time, instead of dodging or blocking the blows, I met them with palm strikes of my own. Our palms strengthened by our inners, met and rebound from the blows, the sound of palms hitting each other filling the ground with thunderclaps. The fiercer of blows got, the fiercer our grins, as we strove hard to overcome each other. In the end, it came down to a matter of endurance as we began to feel our inner strength began to ebb.
Feeling that it was now time for the final blow, I gathered my remaining inner power for a last strike, and I could see Pu was doing the same thing. Then using the technique I learned from the inner taught by Vagrant Feng, I pushed out the energy further into my palms and felt the pressure mounting as I literally felt the boundless energy began to gather there. Taking in a lungful of air, I strike out as Pu did. This time instead of rebounding from each other’s strikes, my blow overcame Pu’s and with a loud clap, he flew backwards on his back and stayed there panting from exhaustion. Walking tiredly over to him, he grabbed my outreached hand and I pulled him to his feet. Ear-piercing cheers were everywhere as we both walked off the ground and I had won my second match.