[Word Count 1882]
"A dog? This Zhao Wei has a very vicious mouth!" An elder in the stands nearly spurted out the tea that he had been drinking.
"Haha, this method of provocation is simply a breath of fresh air in this tournament. It makes things more lively!" Elder Zhao continuously tapped on his thigh while wearing a wide grin on his face.
'Hmm, I wonder if his strength lies in his mouth instead of his fists? What kind of confidence does he have then? Just don't disappoint me.' Zhao Tiancang's eyes shone with expectation and interest.
'Elder Zhao seems to have an eye on that particular disciple. I bet he can't be that simple but to win against Zhao Han isn't going to be easy.'
As the Head of the clan, he naturally wished for more talents to be born in the clan. It didn't matter if this emerging disciple was more talented than others. What mattered was their overall resourcefulness to the Zhao Clan. But that didn't mean that someone with superb potential would just be ignored by him.
Meanwhile in the battle arena, Zhao Han was utterly using every ounce of his willpower to curb the volcanic anger inside of him from erupting.
As someone with a high standing among inner disciples, Zhao Han wasn't one without his own wits.
He knew he was being provoked on purpose. Zhao Han felt an instinctive urge to butcher that hateful, disregardful guy standing across him.
The killing intent emanating from him was almost palpable.
"You surely like to speak shit like a pro but I wonder if you have the qualifications to back up your words." Zhao Han scoffed with written arrogance all over his face.
"I see nothing more than a jester in front of me."
With an uncaring attitude in his voice, Zhao Wei spoke.
"What are you trying to get at with your words?"
Zhao Wei's bored expression was so infuriating that he nearly wanted to rampage but Zhao Han decided to act with magnanimity at first since…
He had unimaginable confidence in himself when it came to dealing with conceited small fries like Zhao Wei.
His luck has been off the charts as of recently. Zhao Han's lucky encounter with a mysterious crystal shard during his hunting expedition was the spark that facilitated his explosive growth from the Fourth Rank to the Fifth Rank of the Consolidated Realm. While his realm may have not been special in terms of evaluation, his inner strength was entirely a different matter. His inner strength had a powerful ice attribute and it was at the Peak of the Fifth Rank - Something more outstanding than those of the same level.
If needed be, Zhao Han only had to use one or two moves to obliterate the confidence of a genius fourth ranker.
"You are of the Fourth Rank while I am of the Fifth Rank. The power discrepancy between us is visibly evident from an outside perspective. If I beat you up, it would look as if I am bullying the weak." Zhao Han sniggered while running his gaze across the crowd.
To him, it was better to defeat his weaker opponent with a cool ending and impress the crowd, further enhancing his prestige in the clan.
Anyway, Zhao Han's main goal has always been to challenge those who sat above him in terms of standing.
Zhao Chi and Zhao Linglong were his fierce competitors. It was only by defeating them that he would have all the clan's attention on him.
Zhao Han had never taken Zhao Wei seriously even when he had provoked him.
After dealing with him, there was another little rat that had to be broken down into pieces. A grudge held by his cousin, Zhao Yijian, had to be enforced by him. But after his uncle mysteriously died, Zhao Han had started having second thoughts if he should bother with a mere outer disciple. It was a complete waste of time and energy.
His uncle - Zhao Tianjian - had been the one person that made him even listen to the woes of his cousin. After all, Zhao Tianjian's strength was superior to his and he had been taking care of his orphaned ass since his early childhood. If it were not for those two reasons, he, Zhao Han, wouldn't even have bothered to care about his pathetic cousin who had his ass whooped by a mere side branch family disciple. In this world, full of cruelty and deceit, Zhao Han only cared about himself.
"Zhao Han is truly a gentleman!" The spectating disciples started airing out praises.
"To care about the weak and their well-being. What a man he is!"
"That annoying newbie inner disciple should just give up his chance before he loses face from his own impulsiveness!"
"Don't you know how to differentiate between stupidity and wisdom?"
"What do you mean?"
"Hehe, that Wei guy is surely stupid without a doubt!"
Useless banter spread in the spectating section like wildfire but most of the talk was all about scorning Zhao Wei and amping Zhao Han's reputation.
Zhao Han smiled with a gloating look on his face when the outcome he wanted was accomplished.
'Keep showering me praises and belittling the weak, after all I am clearly giving him a chance to redeem himself.'
"Ten moves. I am giving you ten moves to try and even make me use any of my techniques. How about it?" Zhao Han put his hand behind his back.
'Tch, the background character exposition…' Zhao Wei internally rolled his eyes after his ears picked most of what was being talked about in the crowd.
'The gall of this guy to call me weak. Of course, I am weak and mortal to the core. But to be deemed so by someone weaker than me is kinda repulsive!' Zhao Wei smirked to himself but his facials came off as contempt to Zhao Han.
When Zhao Han looked at Zhao Wei's face he felt that the guy was secretly mocking him and not taking his words into consideration.
"Although I enjoy lazing through fights and engaging in harmless talks with my fellow disciples, I think that your words have truly rubbed me the wrong way." Zhao Wei calmly spoke, his words reverberating like a supreme call of impending doom all over the arena.
He then started taking calculated forward steps.
"There's no use to show such fake and peevish solicitousness toward me. I have never even once used my inner strength against others but today, I will give you the courtesy of experiencing it first hand." Putting one hand behind his back, Zhao Wei didn't need to adjust himself to a battle stance or something along those lines. He just jutted out his balled fist toward Zhao Han's direction.
And from his fist, the golden outline of a pure energy started forming.
"What? This level of purity! This thickness." The Head of the Clan Zhao Tiancang exclaimed in surprise as he almost rose from his seat.
"It's truly unexpected and phenomenal. Something you wouldn't expect to see in anyone. There are little to no impurities in his inner strength energy!"
"Not to forget its peculiar attributeless properties. This level of purity isn't easily achievable and the way he's seamlessly controlling and handling his inner strength leaves me speechless." The white-bearded great elder, Elder Zhao, supported the Clan Head's opinion.
Zhao Feng was also shocked for the umpteenth time. He himself could achieve such a feat due to the mystical power of the God Spiritual Eye.
How could Zhao Wei do it when there was nothing special about his eyes? Zhao Feng for once started glossing over the fact that there might be other eyes like his or something similar out there in the continent. The Azure Flower Continent was so vast and filled with innumerable mysteries. Zhao Feng's speculations weren't totally unfounded.
Zhao Wei's control over his inner strength wasn't perfect in any way but he could effortlessly handle it to the best of his abilities while avoiding unnecessary energy wastage, something most cultivators are prone to while engaging in a fight.
He kept the leakage of his inner energy to the minimal while coating his fist with it.
With just a glance, Zhao Han felt intimidated. The golden celestial-like inner strength from Zhao Wei caused his own inner strength to feel a sense of suppression.
But that didn't bring any waves in his heart and mind.
It was just a slight suppression and nothing else. Nothing he couldn't overcome.
"I don't wanna waste my energy coming to you. So bring yourself to me." Zhao Wei slightly tilted his head to the left, his overwhelming gaze boring down on Zhao Han's tensed one.
Everyone could feel the sheer arrogance oozing from Zhao Wei's tone and they couldn't help but want to smite him down for his overconfidence.
But upon remembering that he was one with numerous tricks up his sleeves, they just kept their mouths shut.
"Hmph, pesky tricks. You really are filling me with more reasons to cripple you. I thought my arrogance was quite something but yours totally unbounded. Don't be too full of yourself, weakling!" Icy coldness further erupted from Zhao Han's form and spread all over the battle arena to mirror his own anger.
Those disciples close to the battle arena felt their bodies shiver in reaction to the sudden drop in the temperature.
Enough is enough, I must teach this fucking twat a lesson to remember, Zhao Han thought evilly.
"Don't blame me for being ruthless. Blame it on your own misguided arrogance!" Zhao Han growled with chilling intensity as he navigated the distance between himself and Zhao Wei like a relentless avalanche.
"Cold Snow Palm!" Zhao Han released a battle cry as he concentrated his cold inner strength on his palm and leapt toward Zhao Wei.
The freezing effect on his palm was now at its most terrifying state and those who stood on its icy path could only wait to be frozen.
But Zhao Wei only grinned, his expression unperturbed by the cold temperatures. He was like an ancient tree with its thick roots deeply anchored into the earth. Immovable. Unshakeable by Zhao Han's momentous approach.
Time seemed to slow down as Zhao Han's palm attack met Zhao Wei's balled fist.
BOOM!
A seemingly cataclysmic, earsplitting sound ensued as two distinctive energies clashed unrestrainedly.
The resultant shockwave made the battle arena to tremble as well as the hearts of those spectating.
KACHA!
The sound of bones cracking resounded unceremoniously followed by a soul-shaking wail of indignation and untold pain.
"Aaargh! This can't be happening!"
Under the foggy veil caused due to the clash of the two youngsters, a figure flew out like ball before motionlessly landing on the edges of the arena.
When the fog ceased to be, Zhao Wei's figure was seen properly.
He just stood there like a mountain, unaffected by the devastating storms of the world.
His balled fist still remained stretched, and his overall stance unchanged.
Everyone reached to a common consensus.
Zhao Wei was the final winner and Zhao Han was the loser.
It was simply undebatable!
And thus a legend was naturally born!
The man who claimed the throne of invincibility!
***
[Author's Note]
As you might have realized, I am taking it slow with the story and it ain't fast paced in terms of leveling. As the creator of GEV, I want to identify more with our MC. It's funny that I am even finding it hard to understand the MC and I am trying to unravel him. He's that simple and complex.
Other characters that I deem worthy of the plot will also have some exposition.
Enjoy!
For those wanting to rush their breakthroughs, hehe, subscribe to my channel for advanced chapters. Don't worry about the instabilities of the foundation. [Patreon.com/OneArmedImmortal]