Chapter 27
Two handsome young men stood proudly on a stage as if they wanted to show to each audiences shouting around them their awesome aura and handsomeness. One of them is wearing a brown Daoist robe, while the other one is wearing a dark green robe with a tinge of red on his collar. Then, when the man standing between them suddenly shouted "Fight!" both quickly dashed towards each other as if their butts are on fire.
Both fighters activated their body enhancements, and Qi began to glow. As they throw unhindered punch and kicks, sparks of spiritual Qi can be seen all over the arena. Then in the middle of their exchange, the man wearing brown robe suddenly shouted.
"Hundred Fist Barrage!"
Then shadows of multiple fists suddenly appear surrounding his opponent. The youth in dark green robe was suddenly stunned and was unable to react, as he stared dumbly at the incoming fist shadows. It was already too late for him to react when he regains himself, so he just put up his hands to defend against this onslaught of attack.
As the barrage of fists was too fast and powerful, he was thrown back 3 meters as he coughs a mouthful of blood holding his chest. It is evident that a fist penetrated his defenses and was hit. The young man gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly. It is clear that his opponent has a very powerful skill that his. But he didn't want to give up so he stood back up. Then he gathered his Qi in both his feet and madly rushed forward, then he shouted.
"Dragon Fire Kick!"
This is a skill he accidentally got when he came upon a ruin while hunting. He had trained it for many years but only attained the fundamentals. So far he hadn't advanced with it and has decided to change to another skill. But since his new skills are not on par with his enemy this is his last choice.
A raging dragon suddenly appears behind the youth as his figure flew forward. Upon seeing this the man in brown robe sneered and quickly drew a stance and shouted.
"Hundred Fist Shield"
Then as if his fist began to form shadows of a protective layer in front of him. As their skills collide muffled and bone cracking sound can be heard along with Qi sparks. Then all of a sudden a figure flew backward and fell on the ground, then fainted. When the dust cleared up, a young man wearing a brown Daoist robe lay unconscious on the ground.
"Student Huo Tian Lei from Blood Forest academy wins!" the man which acted as the referee shouted.
This scene is happening all over the fighting stages, but so far no deaths have been declared yet.
Shin Jiao's excitedly watched the fights, but then after a while, his smiling face began twitching, and a dismayed look appears in his eyes. He could not bear to watch anymore as if the people on stage are playing some fun tag games. He felt his body shook a little when they shouted the skills they used as they fought.
"What the heck is this? It seems that the martial skills in this world are truly lacking, and they would even shout their skills. Are they trying to show off or warn their enemies? Tsk, tsk." He said to himself while shaking his head.
Then another idea came to his mind and while looking around cautiously took out a few tiny formation flags. He then set up a spiritual sense blocking array, and then using his robe's sleeves as a cover he took out the Eyewear. Then he crafted another small rune holder and transferred some information in it.
"Hmmm… I think this would do. Let's see the result." He murmured as he carefully checked the Eyewear.
He then put it on and activated the rune program, then he looks at two people on the stage which is about to start their match.
As another bout started Shin Jiao concentrated his eyesight on a fighter on stage. Then as the cultivator moves he would smile and nods his head. Although he could also predict the movement and trajectory of each attack as what he taught to Cherry Lao before, it is different this time as it is by using the Eyewear. The only difference is the little delay as using one's natural reaction is faster when trained properly.
"Left foot… right hook… back kick… back fist… shadow eh… left-hand chop." Shin Jiao muttered to himself.
Unknown to him behind the veil Qin Lou's eyes are bulging in disbelief, she could not believe that what Shin Jiao is saying is what one of the fighters is about to do. It's like he could clearly foresee the future or could read the person's mind.
"How did he do that?" Qin Lou asked herself.
Then after some contemplation, her senses directly went to Shin Jiao's Eyewear. But no matter how much she tries to scan it, it's just a piece of hardware and some crystals. Although she could feel the flow of spiritual Qi in it, it's still nothing special. If it's not that conspicuous she would mistake it to be part of his body.
"Maybe this is one of his secrets. This guy is truly inconceivable and… and amazing." She said to herself as she had a slight blush on her cheeks.
She felt her heart would feel warm whenever she is with him. Especially this morning when he helped her escape from the bully Chen Je. As she thinks about the time when he was grabbing her hand and also her waist, she could feel her heart getting warm and happiness would cloud her mind.
"Okay, I think this is enough… now all I need to do is to refine this into something... something more portable like an Eyeglass." Shin Jiao murmured unconcerned that Qin Lou can hear him beside him.
As they are seated at the topmost corner of the arena, no matter what they do most people won't bother to notice them as most people are busy watching the fights below. As the inter-school matches progress many fighters have already been eliminated, and in the Snow Wind school, only three are left. The golden core seeded student name Xin Lo who wears a white and blue robe of Snow Wind School, a late-stage core forming realm cultivators, and Fatty Yao Koi who is only at the middle-stage core forming realm. Now in from of them stood the five players from Soul Mountain School, as they haven't lost even a single one of their fighters yet.
Looking at the students of Snow Wind School, the bulky youth named Chen Je stood on the stage with a mocking sneer on his face. In front of him stood Fatty Yao Koi as he was chosen to be Chen Je's next opponent.
"Haha… hey fatty, do you think you are my match? You're only at the middle-stage of core forming realm, you're asking for a beating if you are not to back down. Haha… or better yet, call that trash senior sister Qin of yours to face me. Maybe she could give me at least a little bit of a challenge." Chen Je said with a tone of provocation.
"I'm not scared of you. Senior sister Qin won't lower herself in your level, as you're just some shameless man." Yao Koi shouted.
"Ha, ha… I'll beat you to a pulp. And the only way for them to save you is to surrender or accept my challenge to Qin Lou!" Chen Je shouted with a domineering tone.
Chen Je's gaze went towards his senior brother, the seeded participant of their group. And they nod with a tacit understanding. Then Chen Je suddenly rushed forward and begin his attacks. But Yao Koi was prepared, he didn't get to this stage just because of luck. He too is a really skilled fighter, and he manages to defend or even evade the rain of fist and kicks. But unluckily a stray fist suddenly appears and hit Yao Koi in his big stomach and he was thrown tumbling to the ground.
And after that, a rain of fist suddenly assaulted him in his defenseless state. After the bloody scene, Chen Je shouted as he looks around the stage.
"Senior Qin Lou! If you wanted to save this piece of shit, I challenge you to come out and face me!" Chen Je shouted out.
Nobody reacted as this is a declaration of challenge, in this world where strength rules even school matches like this could be turned into a personal bout. As long as that person is able to back it up with his own skills or had a very strong background. And Chen Je is one of the core disciple of his school and the lackey of their school's genius student.
"Very well, our Snow Wind School is not some pushover. Since you wanted to challenge one of our students I'll let you face her… Qin Lou, come out!" a middle-aged man suddenly stood up from where the team of Snow Wind School is seated which garnered suspicion to others.
"Elder Meng, what is the meaning of this?" an elderly looking man sitting on the judge's platform asked with annoyance.
"Elder Xing, I don't mean anything… It's just that, Qin Lou is a core forming realm cultivator of our school and she is not giving our school some face. Even letting, this junior from the Soul Mountain trample on our dignity. If she could not uphold our pride, it's better if we would just kick her out." Elder Meng said as if he was stating the fact and upholding justice for their school.
Although Elder Meng is a senior elder of the Snow Mountain School, he could not refute the logic in Elder Xing's words. But he knows the situation of Qin Lou as he was one of those who helped checked her condition before.
His eyes show indecisiveness as he is weighing whether he needed to protect the dignity of the school or Qin Lou. As a head Elder representative of the school, he has the responsibility to protect both the students and the reputation of the school.
Meanwhile, Qin Lou had her fist clenched and she is gritting her teeth in anger. She knows why Elder Meng said those things, as she defeated his cheating son before and was punished by the school. So this Elder Meng had a grudge on her because of that.
"Qin Lou do you really want to fight?" a voice suddenly interrupted her train of thought.
She just subconsciously nods her head, as a cultivator she has her own pride and she had been bottling this up for some time now.
"Okay, very decisive. I like it and because of that, I will help you. But you will not fight today. You'll do it tomorrow, okay?" Shin Jiao said with confidence.
Qin Lou didn't answer as she didn't know if she would trust him with his words. But deep inside her heart she already had the inkling of following Shin Jiao's plans no matter what it is.
Then Shin Jiao disappear from where he sat and suddenly he was running towards the arena panting, when he reached near the middle he was blocked by a person who looks like someone guarding the area. He relayed his message while he panted heavily, after doing that he went back outside, then appear next to Qin Lou once more, who had an incredulous face.
The person then walks towards Elder Ming and whispered the message, which made the man smile. Then he stood up and laugh loudly.
"Young man, she accepted your challenge. You will be fighting her tomorrow as an exhibition fight between Snow Wind School and Soul Mountain School."
Upon hearing this Chen Je smiled evilly, then he let go of Yao Koi who is already brushed all over and walked down the stage. All the people inside the arena began to whisper one with another about the challenge and what had to happen. Everyone knows that it is a trap set for Qin Lou, but no one dares to voice out their opinion as they too are expectant on how the previous genius of the Snow Wind School fare against Chen Je, who is famous for being arrogant and a bully.
Nobody realized that Qin Lou is just there and watching them, she also realizes that people really couldn't see her. This is due to Shin Jiao's spiritual sense masking array which is still active, as no matter how much they scan this area, they would not find them unless they use their naked eye. Which would be too bothersome to most cultivators.
The matches proceed smoothly after that and the semi-finalist are already listed. They are to face the 12 seeded participants of each schools tomorrow.
When Shin Jiao and Qin Lou went back to the small pond, Shin Jiao quickly implemented his plan which he made while walking towards this place. As a former spy Shin Jiao is not used to being on the front line, he would always choose to manipulate the scenes from behind the shadows. So he would do the same thing as what he would always do. The first thing he needs to do is make a mask for Qin Lou which would ease her movements. Then a way for her to use her eyes while others could not see them. So the mask of the superhero which is like a spider which is famous on earth comes to his mind.
In one corner he started crafting and implemented his plans. After 5 hours and the sun is already down he luckily finished everything. Then he approached the hut and knocked on the bamboo door, then Qin Lou peeks out of the door. From the smell inside she is concocting something, it seems that she is preparing for the worst for tomorrow's fight.
"Hi! I made something for you." Shin Jiao handed her a white mask.
"What is this?" Qin Lou asked as she scrutinized the thing in his hand.
"This is something to replace your veil, but don't worry it has the same properties as your veil. Plus you see this… you can use your eyes on this and see everything clearly, but they won't see your eyes." Shin Jiao said as he explained some of the functions of the mask he made.
Since it's a strap on a mask, with a Velcro fastener it would only cover her whole face but frees her hair. With this, she would be like those beautiful masked assassins with ponytails. Qin Lou was a little hesitant to try it out but her curiosity got the best of her and went inside the house and reluctantly replaced her veil with the mask. When she felt comfortable with the placing, she went outside.
She saw Shin Jiao smiling which made her blush a little as she finds his smile truly mesmerizing. She could not deny that he is truly a very handsome young man.
"Let me show you something." Shin Jiao said as he moves to a fighting stance.
This startled Qin Lou as she didn't expect Shin Jiao to act this way, she felt a little confused. But then all of a sudden, she saw some pattern displayed on her eyes. Since she is a very wise woman she immediately deduced that this is a movement path but it was too late as Shin Jiao's fist is already in front of her face. Then she unconsciously stepped back a few paces.
"Did you see it?" Shin Jiao asked with a smile.
Qin Lou nodded without a word but was still in a daze.