Revenge, revenge was an emotion that was more common than love. Love might be the greatest emotion, but it could only happen to certain people, things, or other beings. There were only a few people who could love everyone, but revenge, revenge was an emotion that could come to mind in even a single disagreement. It could be towards a friend, a relative, a teacher, a completely unknown person, toward society, anyone, or anything, even the one we love.
And it was also something that could force a person to forget every reason and focus only on what might give someone peace despite the misfortune of others.
Yang Zhai just used this emotion of Ci An against herself that he had planted in her mind. She forgot that she could take revenge on Yang Zhai after becoming the class leader: however, she wanted to humiliate and take revenge on Yang Zhai in front of everyone right now to give her mind a little peace. A true downfall of an opportunity.
Yang Zhai kept on beating Ci An with kicks and punches, but he did not leave her left hand. He pushed forward slowly whilst beating Ci An. After pushing forward for a while, he reached the end of the arena. There, he grabbed both of Ci An's wrists and then smashed her heavily on the ground below the stage.
Thud!!
Ci An hit the ground heavily. She spurted a mouthful of blood into the air that came back on her face. After that, there was no movement because she fell unconscious.
Yang Zhai, on the other hand, sat on the ground. He was panting heavily. Even if he could endure the pain and all, he still had to pretend in front of the others. After all, he was still a kid and couldn't pretend like a person who had endured the vicissitudes of life.
"The winner of this round and the competition is Yang Zhai." Elder Wang announced loudly to let everyone hear it.
Elder Wang's voice pulled everyone out of their daze. They were still unable to believe that Yang Zhai who was going to lose just a minute ago actually won.
"He won?"
"How could that be? He clearly cheated, Ci An was surely winning the round."
"Yeah, she was winning the fight but fell for Yang Zhai's trap."
"He fooled her into believing that he was out of strength and waited for an opportunity,"
Everyone began to discuss the fight. All of the people present here thought that Yang Zhai had cheated.
"Elder Wang, shouldn't you consider your decision. She clearly won the round, we all saw it." A few kids came to elder Wang and requested him to reconsider his decision. They did not want Yang Zhai to be their leader again, and a few of the disciples out of the remaining twenty-five kids thought that it was better for Ci An to be the class leader than Yang Zhai.
"So, you have doubts about my decision, huh?" Elder Wang looked at the kids who came with a casual look.
"No, no, elder, we were just saying that she should be given another chance, nothing else." A kid hurriedly shook his hands and said. He was covered in sweat after he heard elder Wang.
"She lost and that is all. As for whether Yang Zhai won or not, do you remember what I said when the third round began? I said that the battle would only end when one out of the two fighters falls unconscious or gives up but nothing like this happened in Yang Zhai's case, he did not fall unconscious, nor did he give up. So, how did he lose the fight?" Elder Wang replied to the kids. He did not mind explaining to the ignorant disciples.
"Huh," the few disciples —who came to ask elder Wang to reconsider his decision— fell silent.
Well, elder Wang was also right, Yang Zhai did not give up, nor did he fall unconscious during the fight; therefore, he didn't cheat, but it was Ci An's pride and personality that made her lose the fight.
After an hour,
"I, Elder Wang, declare that Yang Zhai will remain the leader of the class and all of you will listen to him again." Elder Wang said to the disciples.
All of the disciples were standing in order in five lines, each line having five kids. Behind them stood the families of the disciples who had come to watch the competition.
Yang Zhai stood in front of all the kids and beside him were Ci An, Hong Mi, Ha Kun, and Si Kim. Yang Zhai and Ci An had both been healed. Yang Zhai's expression was calm and was not exciting, but Ci An's expression, on the other hand, was gloomy. She regretted the decision of wanting to take revenge on Yang Zhai in the final round.
Why, just why did I lose? I had clearly won the battle, but I fell for Yang Zhai's trap: Ci An was lost in her own thoughts.
"Yang Zhai, be prepared because the guests from the Ma Clan will be arriving in the next few days. I want you to not make any mistakes in front of them and show them that our clan's disciples are best." Elder Wang looked at Yang Zhai and said.
"Yes, elder, don't worry, I will not let the clan down." Yang Zhai replied politely.
"I expect no less from you." Elder Wang said to Yang Zhai before telling everyone.
"You can all leave now"
…..
At night,
Today was the ninth day since he advanced to Rank 1 Third Stage, and today was also the day he was about to advance to the Rank 1 Peak Stage. After that, if he wanted to, he could advance to Rank 2.
Yang Zhai
As always, he was holding two Essence stones in his hands. His aperture kept on absorbing the Essence water. Yang Zhai's aperture began to shake and a white light appeared. This light permeated his whole aperture.
After a while, the white light dissipated and everything returned to normal. In Yang Zhai's hands, both the Essence Stones had already disappeared and nothing could be seen there.
He examined his aperture and saw four dark red lines moving in his Essence water. The fourth line was also dark red and not light red, which meant that his foundation was deep, and his Essence water was stronger than others. His consumption of Essence water when activating techniques and Kas would be less.
The real problem began now. But whether it could be called a problem or not was dubious¹.
He was at Rank 1 Peak Stage: So, if he wanted to, he could advance to the next stage: however, he decided not to do that. It was not because he wanted to stay at this rank fearing others' suspicions of him, but there was another reason and this reason was a deep one.
In his previous life, he had discovered something shocking. Even though he was immortal at that time, he could not help but be shocked by what he discovered. He found some ancient texts and in these texts, he learned that there existed another stage in a rank. And that stage was called Perfect or Over stage.
In order, they were Early stage, Mid stage, Third stage, Peak stage, and Perfect or Over stage. This fifth rank was the only stage that had two names, and it was for a reason.
What was perfection? What was over?
These two words may seem normal, but they were something that shook even the heavens. Nobody knew the reason for the disappearance of this stage from history. But one thing was sure to Yang Zhai and that was,
"A history that shocked even the heavens."
*****/*****
1-Dubious: not to be relied upon; suspect or doubtful