Yueshi was calmly standing between the two crowds; on one side, the crestfallen members of the Flying Snow Dojo, on the other, the arrogant pricks of the Myriad Swords Dojo and Dragon Spear Dojo. There was no absolute good or evil, and he was sure some of the opposing disciples were not willing to hurt their opponents, however, that did not matter to him.
He observed his fellow dojo disciples for a moment.
Whatever the intentions of some were, the majority had still acted in a vicious way, hurting the others because of petty-minded reasons. Therefore, he would break anyone that dared to stand against him!
Soon, someone walked toward him, and he could see the other opposing disciples looking at this person with awe and respect. Yueshi's lips parted in a grin, thinking that it was even better if the other side had some fame to his name.
That, and his opponent was also holding a spear. What was better than beating your enemy on something that he was good at? Yes, nothing.
'Truly interesting' Yueshi thought, entering combat stance. How would the Dragon Spear Dojo's disciples react when he won? Yueshi wondered, smiling coldly at his opponent.
And while Yueshi thought that this battle was going to be interesting, Feng Xia had other thoughts.
He was an arrogant and pampered young master of the Feng Clan, cousin of the clan's young lord, and a talented young man. For him, someone like Yueshi was akin to a pebble in the road.
"Let's see for how long you can endure!" Exclaiming, Feng Xia lunged forward.
He did not move in a single, straight dash, however; his feet tapped rhythmically on the ground as he moved, and at any sign of danger he could easily change his trajectory in any direction.
Yueshi observed his enemy with cautiousness. He was sure he could win over his opponent, but it was never good to be careless and overconfident.
Seeing Feng Xia enter his range of attack, Yueshi's spear moved. His attack was not overly fast or powerful, and its trajectory was perfectly straight; it looked like a completely ordinary attack.
However, just as Feng Xia planned to dodge to the left, Yueshi's spear whooshed in a fast movement, moving sideways the exact moment Feng Xia sidestepped. A second later, it hit Feng Xiao's own spear as he tried his best to defend, eventually being thrown a few feet to the side.
The young man's face became ugly. However, he knew that blindly moving forward would do him no good, so he continued using the same footwork as he approached.
When he got close enough, he held his spear shaft firmly while he thrust forward, the air being pierced by the sheer speed and exploding into a blast.
Yet, as the spear was a few centimeters away, Yueshi swirled his own weapon in a whirlwind-like motion, easily deflecting his opponent's attack.
"Is that all you have?" Feng Xia's face distorted at the disdainful remark. "I guess you are one of those dogs that only know how to bark." His opponent seemed to be decided to provoke him, his eyes looking at him with pity and derision.
"And what about those people?" Yueshi pointed at the other two dojos' disciples. "They respect a little puppy like you? Well, I guess that is how it works on a dog kennel." A laugh of mockery escaped his lips.
"Fuck you!" Feng Xia had been holding back, but, hearing the rude and willful remarks of his opponent, he exploded in fury.
'A lowly disciple of the Flying Snow Dojo, a poor bastard wearing trash clothes…' The thoughts swirling in his mind were full of curses and hate.
'If only we could use cultivation techniques!' As a member of the Feng Family, how many cultivation techniques had he learned? If he could use even a single one, that bastard in front of him would be completely overwhelmed.
While Feng Xia was boiling in anger, Yueshi was gloating at his enemy's stupidity. His teacher asked him to completely break this guy to send a message back to them – that the Flying Snow Dojo was not a place where those stupid dogs could come.
Seeing Feng Xia's spear approaching him, Yueshi lashed out with his, deflecting it with mastery. At the same time, he continued to humiliate and provoke the guy, making his attacks become fiercer and fiercer.
Feng Xia had completely forgotten this was a sparing session and if any of his attacks hit, it would be even worse than a grave injury.
Yueshi was not afraid, though. For some motive, he could perfectly see the spear path as it moved forward, or swiped and arched in the air. He could predict each of his opponent's moves before they even happened, his superior strength letting him defend against all of them.
The expression on Feng Xia's face eventually changed from anger and wildness to pale-colored fright. He had long used all his strength and yet, this guy was easily withstanding his attacks, deflecting them all away.
'How can it be like this? How? How?' He had trained for so many years, had used so many herbs, and taken so many medicinal baths and this lowly, poor commoner was easily dealing with his attacks! He could not accept it!
"Bastard, die!" Suddenly, in his desperation, he retreated a single step, before taking another two forward. His spear glowed with a soft, white light as he activated a cultivation technique, the qi inside of his body rushing toward his hand and being transmitted to his spear!
"Shit!" In the audience, Yuanqi exclaimed, promptly moving forward to stop it – as strong as he was, he could reach there in an instant. However, before he could take even a single step, an arm stopped him.
Looking to his side, he saw Mu Qiang standing there, in silence, his eyes brimming with confidence in his new disciple.
"Just leave it to him." His words were against all logic, after all, Yueshi had only started practicing a few days ago.
Yet, knowing this friend of his, Yuanqi stopped, his eyes glowing with a strange light.
However, there was a person even more worried than Yuanqi – Xuehua.
She had been sitting on the ground together with Yuan Yue, watching as her brother completely overwhelmed his opponent, but, when that light flashed, her eye trembled as she got up in an instant.
Stepping forth she wanted to rush on stage to help him, only to be held back by the arm by Yuan Yue.
Shaking her arm, she wanted to break free – what was not hard, taking into account their difference in cultivation stage – however, before she could, another hand grabbed her shoulder.
This time, it was Zhiyun holding her in place, and even when she pleaded, the older woman did not let her go.
Her eyes then turned toward where her brother was standing, trembling, swaying like a small tree amidst a hurricane; her always calm expression distorted, becoming extremely worried and desperate, even her eyes moistened up.
Seeing such a thing, Zhiyun shook her head and comforted her. "There is no need to worry. Your brother is not so weak he would lose to such a measly technique."
And though her words calmed Xuehua a bit, the girl's eyes did not move a single inch away from where Yueshi was standing – still as worried and concerned.
Coming back to Yueshi, his eyes glowed with a sharp light as he watched the shining spear of his opponent.
This time he could not predict its path and could feel in his bones that it would not be easy to defend against it.
Something inside of him screamed that it was dangerous and that he should forfeit, that he had already won, and that his opponent would become a laughingstock.
However, he stood in place firmly. If he turned his back toward his opponent now, no one would doubt his skills; he had forced his enemy to make use of a cultivation technique, after all.
Nonetheless, he was not willing. That pride that hid deep inside of his bones and, also, that profound and overbearing confidence that came from god-knows-where, and lastly…
'A spear that easily bends under pressure does not fit me!'
That image he had of the path he wanted to follow - the path he wanted to carve with his spear - was not so easy to accomplish, if he bent his knees and gave up, he would absolutely fail in that, too.
His eyes became calm and profound, his body language telling the world he was not afraid and would not cower.
Like that, he watched Feng Xia lunge forward with never before seen speed. His eyes were bloodshot and the veins of his arms bulged out as he gripped his spear with extreme strength. But the greatest changes were on his spear as it glowed with a blinding white light, traveling forward with unmatched speed and power!
In a single instant, it traveled a few meters, standing merely a few centimeters away from Yueshi's heart.
The audience held their breaths as they watched the duel.
The Flying Snow Dojo's disciples prayed for Yueshi and asked their instructors to make a move. Meanwhile, the other two dojos' people gloated in the looming misfortune of the shabby-clothed young man – though a few of them still sighed, as if thinking it was a pity.
Yet, at that exact moment, something changed.
'Man and spear as one! One point of extremity carves an everlasting path to the heavens!' Like a slumbering dragon that had been awoken, Yueshi's spear pierced forward leaving behind an afterimage in the air.
A soft thud echoed a second later, Feng Xia's spear stopping on its track.
Despite all the momentum behind Yueshi's spear, it only softly hit against his opponent's chest. Other than the instructors, everyone watched, dumbfounded, without understanding a thing.
Finally, when one disciple was going to ask his seniors what was happening…
Boom, boom, boom… continuous sounds of explosions echoed inside the hall.
The disciples watched astounded as blast after blast of air exploded behind Feng Xia's back, until a strong current of air surged, traveling all the way to the audience and forcing them to take a step back.
Then, Feng Xia fell forward, his face against the ground. Still, the silence remained, with no one speaking even a single word.
It wasn't until the pitter-patter of Yueshi's step echoed as he made his way back that people came out of their shocked states, bustling into shouts, screams, and exciting conversations.
No one understood what had taken place, but they knew it was something incredible.
Rushing forward, Feng Miao checked on her nephew's condition, her expression becoming dreary and cold. A moment later, she looked toward the Flying Snow Dojo audience.
"Feng Xia's spine is broken! I demand this lowly disciple to be killed on the spot!" Her words were cold and merciless as she stared daggers at Yueshi.
"Heh, how laughable." Zhiyun scorned. "When your disciples ran amok, did you stop then?" As she stood behind Yueshi, she seemed like a war goddess ready for a bloodbath.
"Sister Zhiyun is right… moreover, Feng Xia clearly used a cultivation technique to deal with my Dojo's disciple. The one making demands should be us." Yuanqi spoke seriously, though his eyes clearly told everyone that he was truly happy right now.
"If you touch him, I will impale you right here and now… and then, I will take care of those little bastards behind you!" Surprisingly, Mu Qiang was the most overbearing of the bunch, and his tone of voice did not even conceal the satisfaction he felt.
Hearing the three speak, Feng Miao trembled while pointing at them, "you, you, you…." She was clearly extremely angered.
Their disciples ran amok? At least they didn't break someone's spine. Feng Xia used a cultivation technique? That boy could easily have dealt with that by retreating. But the worse was the last one! Impale her and deal with the disciples afterward? How arrogant was that guy?
"I am sorry, I am sorry… I did not expect your disciples to only know how to run their mouths and be as frail as porcelain dolls." Yueshi's words made her want to spit blood on the spot.
'Damned bastards!' She thought. However, without a choice, she took Feng Xia and immediately left.
Xiao Hu watched the events unfold with a trace of curiosity. He did not really care about Feng Xia and his wounds and was far more interested in recruiting Yueshi to his own family.
That, though, could be left for later.
After all, there was still one fight left for them to watch.