Chapter 81: Ranking Tournament 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The golden haired beauty did not say anything as she got down to the floor and performed a leg sweep. Her movements were fast and precise. The part where she sweeped towards was extremely accurate as well; it was in the back of Simon's knees.
Bang bang bang bang. As the sound of a series of blows rang out, Simon's expression suddenly changed. He tried to grab ahold of his opponent's long legs but was easily avoided each time and was repeatedly kicked in the same location instead. His opponent's speed exceeded his by far too much.
Even the strongest power was useless if it could not hit the opponent.
As the two of them fought in the ring, one of them was standing still, while the other was circling around the opponent and kicking from time to time. It was as if an agile monkey was teasing a clumsy bear.
The golden haired beauty's leg sweep was abnormally fast each time. Her fighting skills showed that she had a deep foundation. Her accuracy was also very astonishing. As she circled around Simon, the places that she kicked would always be the same five positions. No matter how much her opponent would try to block, she would be able to repeatedly hit the same positions from different angles.
Pa!
Finally, Simon fell down on his knees, then could not maintain his balance any longer and fell flat onto the ground with a bang. With his opponent's foot stepping on his back, he could no longer move.
"The Fighting Association wins."
Garen, who was spectating below, knitted his eyebrows. He was bothered by this type of opponents who specialized in speed as well. With his current increase in combat skill as well as his explosive force, he could easily take down any opponents that entered within a certain range. However, the other students were unable to do that. Simon did not even use the White Cloud Combat Arts. He only relied on his talents and the Explosive Fist Arts to fight and could only be made a fool of by his opponent. It was no wonder that he lost.
"Simon lost, I'll go!" A tall and slim woman suddenly stood up. "Senior brother." She looked towards Garen.
Garen glanced at her. "Keling, are you confident that you'll win? The other party are preparing to change their member as well."
"No, I can only give it a try. I checked their information beforehand. The Fighting Association was only inferior to us by just a little the previous time. The fact that they're proactively challenging us this time means that they're confident." Keling was one of the most elite students picked out from White Cloud Gate and one of the two strongest students. She was also present in the previous exchange gathering.
"It's better if someone else goes. You can't lose here, otherwise it'll affect our morale." Garen hesitated for a moment, then looked towards another female student. "Jiali, you'll go."
"Alright." Jiali was not bashful at all. She stood up and somersaulted into the ring from the side.
"We'll let Jiali squander the opponent's stamina first," Garen whispered towards Keling. Then his line of sight landed on the other muscular male: he was the last candidate of White Cloud Gate. Out of the four candidates chosen by Fei Baiyun, the main force was the two of them. They were chosen to improve their ranking.
Jiali fought against another student of the Fighting Association in the ring. Even though her legs were sturdy, her opponent's kicking power was stronger. After a few kicks in the same spot, Jiali immediately fell down and could not get up any more.
It was just that the girl was born with a strong tenacity. When she fell over, she would get up, doing it three times.
"The people from White Cloud Gate isn't much after all. With this kind of level, you're simply too weak," the male student from the Fighting Association taunted. Before he even finished speaking, he kicked out once again and viciously struck Jiali's abdomen.
Bang!
Jiali staggered backwards and fell down on her buttocks. She could not get up for a while.
This girl was still struggling and wanted to get up.
Below, Garen immediately stood up and announced with a frown.
"White Cloud Gate admits defeat for this match!"
Ding ding ding… "The Fighting Association wins." the old man loudly shouted while shaking the bell.
The other female student standing behind him, Keling, quickly went up to help Jiali get down.
"Are you alright? How does your knee feel?" Keling had a good relationship with her; she immediately took out an ointment and used it on Jiali.
Garen was standing one side with a frown on his face.
"She's even weaker than the external student, senior brother Erwin. I really don't understand how she was even selected." Back then when he went for the core disciple examination, even the senior brother Erwin who was together with him was stronger than her.
"And if we're comparing tenacity, that girl, Daris, who joined White Cloud Gate for her family's dojo wasn't any inferior to her." Garen shook his head.
"Senior brother, she's the cousin of Keling..." Simon, who was resting nearby, moved closer and whispered.
Garen finally nodded in realization.
"Who's going next?"
"I will!" Keling stood up while coldly staring at the man standing in the ring. "I will go and educate that trash who doesn't know how to speak like a human."
Garen carefully sized up Keling. She was known as the strongest female disciple within the White Cloud Dojo and was indeed somewhat skilled.
From the luster of her skin, he could tell that her Explosive Fist Arts had almost reached the rudimentary level. Looking again at her posture and movements, there was a strong hint of the Four Big Forms of White Cloud Combat Arts. She actually assimilated the Four Big Forms into her daily movements as training. Her talent was truly astonishing.
"Your Four Big Forms is very powerful. You should be able to win." Garen nodded.
Keling was startled that her strong point was actually immediately seen through by her senior brother. She did not think much of him previously, but she was currently alarmed and did not dare to act as carefree as before.
"I am going!" She slightly bowed towards Garen, then ran a few steps and jumped into the ring.
Garen did not watch Keling's match and looked towards the male student who remained silent.
This last core student was called Rimridor. He was currently the strongest male core student in the dojo. Rimridor's elbows were slightly sharp; when his arms were folded together, it was like two blades were placed on his knees.
He was not a new student and had been in the dojo for a few years. He was currently twenty years old. Whether it was the Four Big Forms or the Explosive Fist Arts, he had already truly mastered them. He was different from Garen; Rimridor relied purely on his willpower and perseverance to master this two martial arts. Just by sitting there, he gave others a feeling of a dormant volcano.
"Rimridor, you're up next. Are you confident?" Garen was the senior brother in name. Since his master was not around, then it was his responsibility to ask this question.
Rimridor nodded. "The Fighting Association is not a problem."
Garen could tell that other than the other Secret Martial Art disciples, Rimridor was not afraid of other ordinary students. If it was not for his age, then he would already be qualified for learning Secret Martial Art.
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On the top of the two storey building next to the ring, several semi-circular platforms extended out. On each of the platforms, the Dojo Masters of various dojos were seated.
Fei Baiyun was among them as well. He was seated on a white wooden chair on the right and was looking at his student, Garen.
"Fei Baiyun, is that your last disciple that you've brought this time?" A man with a red goatee was all smiles as he stared at Garen. "I am not impressed at all… He's still inexperienced compared to my Shield Strike Gate's head disciple, Pharo."
"The ability of someone is not determined by words, Gate Master Chris." Fei Baiyun glanced at him. "Even though Garen is still young, he can calmly and independently handle matters on his own. Regardless of his martial prowess, I am very satisfied with this."
He originally thought that the sixteen year old Garen would panic when handling such matters when he was not around. He did not think that he would witness Garen methodically handle things in such a mature manner. Little did he know that Garen was actually not an ordinary sixteen year old. Adding his previous life, Garen would be in his forties.
The man with the goatee snorted and did not continue further. There was no point since he already knew that White Cloud Gate did not have any intentions of competing this time.
However, an elderly man with dark skin sitting on the other side narrowed his eyes.
"Old man Fei, let's set aside this exchange gathering. Your eldest disciple, Rosetta, crippled my second disciple. How are we settling this matter?"
Fei Baiyun's expression became cold. He recognized the other party as the Faction Leader of the number ten Double Halberd Fist. He was an experienced veteran from the south.
"I see that it's Faction Leader Watson. It's just that your second disciple, Bessie, is extremely talented and was personally taught by you. How could my disciple, Rosetta, have injured him? Doesn't it seem unlikely that Rosetta was able to defeat Bessie?"
"The great detective Fisto has already thoroughly investigated the matter. In addition to the investigation on Rosetta's movements, it has already been confirmed that it was your eldest disciple, Rosetta, that injured Bessie. All four of her limbs have been crippled. Hehe… How cruel of her." Watson sinisterly laughed.
"No matter what, I will thoroughly investigate this incident and give Double Halberd Gate an explanation!" Fei Baiyun knew about the severity of the situation. The sort of move that easily cripples others was no longer an orthodox move.
"There's no need for that." The elderly man sinisterly laughed once more but he did not continue further and looked towards the ring below.
Fei Baiyun became sullen. This was not the first time he received accusations. Rosetta had caused trouble a few times before, resulting in an awkward situation for the current White Cloud Gate. A few friendly dojos that used to be familiar with them were gradually drifting apart. They were almost isolated.
"It looks like I really need to properly investigate when I get back. Right now it's the exchange gathering between sects, I won't think about such things for the time being." His gaze landed on the ring below once more.
Above a circular platform, the leaders of the Celestial Circle Gate and Crimson Sand Sword were seated together and were discussing the performances of the disciples below. The two sects had always been united. Even though there was fierce competition between their disciples, the relationship between the two sects were still friendly.
The other leaders of various sects had their own social circles and were discussing their own matters.
Soon, the disciple from the Fighting Association was knocked out of the ring by Keling and was quickly caught by his fellow disciples.
"White Cloud Gate wins. The Fighting Association has failed their challenge," the old man loudly shouted while shaking the bell.
Keling did not move from the ring and loudly said.
"White Cloud Gate wishes to challenge number sixteen White Shark Gate."
The White Shark Gate was a very strong sect. A female disciple with fair skin and tall figure casually came up and traded a few blows with Keling. Both of them did not want to expend their energies further and simply came to a draw.
It was obvious that they were conserving their energy for the disciple ranking tournament later.
These matches were just an appetizer. The true show was the ranking tournament later. It also included the true ranking competition that even disciples of Secret Martial Arts had to participate.
It was also the focus of the various sects.
After Keling returned, Rimridor did not wish to participate. His objective was the ranking tournament later as well. Garen simply stood up and announced that White Cloud Gate gave up on continuing their challenge.
The matches at the beginning was originally intended for ordinary disciples to demonstrate their skills.