"Begin!" an old man in a grey cloaked outfit, embedded with a lotus on it shouted with all his might, creating a soul shaking voice that would scare all those who were in his sight.
The old man's eyes peered straight into their souls, making the two youngsters feel like they were laid naked in front of his eyes, lecherously being smiled at with clear malicious intent. Those hideous eyes of his paired with his long white beard would definitely give others the idea that he meant something obscene, if another man saw this sight, it would send him shivers throughout his whole body.
However, the youngsters gave no thought to it, and instead jumped straight into combat with his very word.
Whoosh, a burst of air sprung out from the youngsters' feet as they dashed through the air, brandishing their weapons with every amount of strength they had. In the blink of an eye, the steel blades met head on to each other, sending waves of wind in every direction!
Both the martial artists swiftly landed on the ground, as if they were descending from flight, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Blood trickled off one of the martial artists lips, it was the man in red robes.
"Tch, I went easy on you that time, let's go again!" The opposing martial artist in black announced these few words boldly, although he won the clash without any injuries on his side, he still felt the need to infuriate the foe. With these few arrogant words, the opposition in red robes felt enraged, he wiped off the blood of his pale lips and held his great sword high up in the sky with absolute confidence, with only one arm! One arm was all he needed to show what strength is, this was a true warrior in battle.
With a gentle swing, the great sword dropped back to his side, he looked at the opposing opponent and smirked at him faintly and contentedly yelled, "continue!"
Black and red, two streams of colours surged into the blue sky like yin and yang, mighty sword swings endlessly erupted within the atmosphere. The winds were angered! The sky was coloured with black and red stripes dashing about! The earth fell into disorder as the massive shockwaves sent from the martial artists destroyed lands!
Both the martial artists whole heartedly dueled till their hearts were content, however their energy could not compete with their emotions, it was time to finish it off. The black clothed man held his sabre up with both arms and charged up all his strength ready to strike! The red clothed man readied his great sword behind to his side, with the edge pointing towards the ground, ready to strike diagonally towards the opponent!
With one movement from any side, both the opponents weapons would be striking at each other in full speed. This exchange would be the one to decide it all, it was the finishing move; knowing this, the black clothed man's arrogance took control of his actions, he bravely led the fight with his blade striking down towards the enemy with no mercy at all!
Bang! The destructive weapons collided into each other, erupting in a pure aura of battle qi. One had a sharp-edged sabre while the other held a giant sword vigorously with both his bulky arms, weighting a ton; both the men were left out of breath. The field was so quiet that the only thing you could hear was their heavy breathing, and the many droplets of sweat that was dripping from their chins. Drop by drop, landing on the smooth ground splashing into nothingness.
In a slow manner, the red clothed man fell to his bottom in defeat, while holding on to his sword in desperation for breath. In the fatal moment of the clash, he had the option to retreat and give up, however his pride did not allow him, he held his heavy sword up with all his might and tried his absolute best in order to win! Although one needs confidence and belief in order to achieve victory, victory still requires the sufficient strength to back those feelings up, this was his short coming in the fight.
"Not bad Azlan!" the old man excitedly clapped, "You've already reached the 6th level of the body tempering realm, at such a young age too! You'll be turning 18 this year, not bad at all, this old man is greatly pleased with your progress!" the old man was brimming with smiles, reaching ear to ear as he looked at the tall figure standing straight up like a sword, he had long black hair that reached his waist, and dreamy black eyes that one would lose themselves in with. Tagged along with those dreamy eyes, was his sword like eyebrows depicting the arrogance in his face, if one were to look at such a figure, they'd instantly believe he is a man of arrogance, a man that cared only to slaughter and rule all over others! Domineering was the perfect word for such a man.
"Thank you, old man Zagan! I wouldn't dare to accept all your words, leave some for Denzi too, I'd feel embarrassed." Azlan proudly claimed clasping his hands together, as he looked at the other youngster with a evil-like smile, showing that he won this fight from the way he said those words.
"Hmph! You won this fight but lost the 3 others before this, why are you so happy over a measly victory?" The youngster besides Azlan retorted back at him without any mercy at all within his words. Azlan's face was black with rage, he was about to open his mouth to argue back, but was rudely interrupted by the old man, unfortunately eating his defeat in misery.
"Har Har Har! This old man could not be more proud than this, to have such talented Disciples is a man's dream and blessing. Denzi, don't feel down, you're at the 5th level of the body tempering stage, while you're an age younger than Azlan. This only means you have more talent than him, work well and you'll reach higher strength than him in no time!" Azlan's face changed from black to red as he felt completely embarrassed from his previous mighty words, he thought he was some great emperor for beating a person younger than him, not only that, but he also had lost the previous duels. What an embarrassment, from falling as a sovereign to a beggar in the streets in one swoop would be the correct saying in this scenario.
Denzi's cold face briefly displayed a smile, a smile that would never appear on his face. Unlike Azlan's long hair, Denzi was the opposite, he had short spiky black hair, with a red hanfu styled cloak, it had fierce red flame markings on its back. Denzi's bearing was a cold one, his face was always as still as a rock and was also not one that was very recognizable, he looked like any other martial artists in the Jianghu with the exception of an unyielding attitude in those proud eyes of his. A character of a sword, he illuminated the aura of a sovereign, but not a sovereign who would rule over all, a sovereign that would rule over all Swords!
The two martial artists were clearly different, they had very different attitudes and beliefs, but they were still two very hardworking Disciples, whose brother ship would not falter under any conditions. One was the ruler of the heavens, while the other believed in only the sword, a Saber and a sword that would pave the way through the top of the Heavens!
Azlan and Denzi bowed to old man Zagan and excused themselves, it was getting late as the sun was nearly fully set, it was almost time to sleep away the troubles. Old man Zagan smiled whole heartedly and watched them leave before he quickly disappeared within a flash, camouflaging into the night sky with his black robes, watching over the two depart.
…..
Mountain ledge
Outside the battle arena was a small hut on a tall mountain, it had a beautiful scenery that would be seen only in artwork of immortals, indeed it was fantasy like!
A man in black exited the hut and walked outside towards the ledge, it was a dangerous ledge that would instantly cause a person's death if they were to fall down. Who knows how many souls were laying there in waste from a simple mistake of slipping off the ledge.
Azlan sighed deeply and looked into the night sky, he stood near the ledge and fell into deep thought.
"What a nice sky it is tonight, Brother Lan." Denzi said as he appeared out of pure darkness and walked to Azlan's side. His appearance was sudden, but it had no effect in Azlan's eyes, instead his eyes were lingering around lost in the scenery in front of him.
"Yes, it is beautiful. They say the night is a place one comes to when they're troubled, they would then speak away their troubles and aspirations, as the whispers of the cold wind would then blow away your words towards the heavens, then the heavens would grant whatever you wish for! Brother Zi, would you care to join me for a cup of wine by this fine night sky?" Azlan turned his head midway through his sentence, staring into Denzi's cold eyes that no one could read.
"Anything for a brother! Speak away your heart, for as long as you want." Denzi exclaimed with joy in his voice, he looked back into the night sky while Azlan tided the spot and took out a neat table and two chairs accompanying it from his spatial ring. They both took a seat and felt comfortable while the cool breeze was passing by their faces, making them feel extremely peaceful, like they've ascended and let go of all mortal ties.
"You know Brother Zi, these days have been very peaceful, almost like it's too peaceful to be true. Would you believe me when I say that our future looks dull and scary? We met at a young age and became brothers without knowing each other's history, this is true brotherhood!" Words that Azlan did not want to speak of came out of his mouth lightly, it was so light that the passing of people walking by would cover over his words.
"Yes Brother Lan, I've long thought of these matters, what are you trying to say?"
"Brother Zi, let me tell you of an old story about a boy and his parents, I've only told this story to master, it's quite a pitiful story that still bothers me till this day." Azlan quietly let out words that only a person next to him would hear, he sounded pitiful and lonely while he took out a bottle of wine and a pair of cups from his spatial ring. Azlan poured out wine into the two cups carefully and gave one to Denzi. Denzi gracefully accepted the cup and looked out into the sky, giving Azlan the feeling that he was alone and was only speaking to himself.
The night had just started, and the cups had just been filled with wine, in the world of martial arts, this was truly a time for one to treasure in their hearts for the rest of their lives, as it was not easy to let loose and be unfettered. This was the cruel fate of every martial artist in the journey to the peak!
An aroma of wine lingered from the small hut in the mountains, who would know that such a small conversation between two poor Disciples would create a spark in the world, a great spark that would change the future of the martial world for eons to come! The two young men looked into the black night with stars of light flooding it, this would go on to be a moment remembered in their lives, a moment remembered till the death!