Chapter 786 : Battle Begins (1)
After a few more days of final tweaking, the Spirit Battle Tournament that had ten of thousands pairs of eyes on it were finally declared officially opened. On the first day of the Spirit Battle Tournament, the disciples from the individual academies were split up into ten different locations to carry out league battles in ten separate districts. One disciple from each academy would represent their academies to participate in each district and the final winner of each district would go on to compete in the Spirit Battle Tournament as the top ten ranked fighters!
The final ten youths would then contend for a rank in the top ten of the Grand Spirit Battle Tournament.
To many among the mass of youths, this moment was one that pushed their young hearts into new heights of fervour, where they rubbed their fists in anticipation of showing everyone all that they are capable of.
Every single academy had ten disciples split up in ten different regions and the Zephyr Academy was the only exception. As they had only registered six participants to take part in the Spirit Battle Tournament this year, the number of districts they could participate in was only six.
A situation like this was extremely rare to see in the history of the Spirit Battle Tournament.
Not a single academy among the rest of them would be willing to give up a single spot in the ten that they were given and because of that, the Zephyr Academy had already attracted everyone's attention before the games had even begun.
Bright and early on the first day, Jun Wu Xie dressed herself up in the Zephyr Academy's uniform, the front of her chest adorned with a jade badge indicating her allocated number for the competition, and made her way towards the battlefield hosting one of the district tournaments. She had split up with Hua Yao and the others back at the Immortals' Loft as there were too great a number of people taking part in the Spirit Battle Tournament and none of the district battlegrounds were able to accommodate so many battles. Hence, the ten district tournaments were split up and located in ten different battlefields spread out within the Yan Country.
The district that Jun Wu Xie was in was the first district. When she got to the first district, they place was already filled with disciples from the other academies. And as all the disciples from the respective academies had been split up, once you entered your allocated battle district, all that the eyes could see would only be competing opponents. Although the entire place was a pot of raucous and noisy racket, there was however a distinct absence of the usual cliques. All the youths were dressed in different uniforms and were looking warily at each other.
In this place, there were no allies, but only opponents!
And to walk out victorious from this place, would only be just one among all of them here!
All the rest of them would finally only end up as mere stepping stones for the victor.
The tournament had yet to even begin and sparks were already flying within battleground area, with many of the contestants already raring to have a go at each other.
......
Jun Wu Xie was small in size and when she walked into the crowd of people, she was very soon swallowed up by the many disciples all taller in stature. She retreated quietly into a corner and observed the situation in the battleground.
Over a thousand disciples were split up across ten different battlegrounds and every single location had at least over a hundred contestants. All the over a hundred contestants would be carrying out their battles lasting over the next twenty days, till the final victor emerged.
The tournaments in each individual district would be carried out by process of elimination. Each battle would be between two single opponents and the victor advances to the next round while the defeated would lose their chance to compete in the tournament any further.
The participants drew lots to determine their opponents and to some of them, the drawing of lots did not matter much but to the rest, whether they were lucky or not in their draws would decide how far they would go in this year's Spirit Battle Tournament.
In previous years, almost all of the disciples from the various academies would secretly pray when they drew their lots to not draw anyone from the top three elite academies as their opponents, or they would be kicked out of the tournament in the very first round.
There had been instances where some contestants had been extremely fortunate. Their skills and power were obviously just average but they had drawn a lot that allowed them to only fight opponents that possessed a similar amount of power and they ended up advancing high up the charts and were only defeated in the final round. Although they still did not manage to make it into the top ten, they had however muddled through and made it into the top twenty ranks. To be able to achieve a rank within the top twenty out of over a thousand contestants, it had still won them an incredible amount of honour and fame.
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Chapter 787 : Battle Begins (2)
But there had been a fair share of unfortunate ones as well. Once any of them were made to face the disciples from the Dragon Slayers, War Banner, or the Zephyr Academy, almost all of the youths would choose to forfeit their matches and did not even compete!
That was the greatest display of the prodigious might and the high deterrent reputations of the top three elite academies!
But that situation that had carried on for a number of years had changed somewhat this year.....
The perceived overwhelming might of the Dragon Slayers and the War Banner remained the same, but the Zephyr Academy was looked on upon as yesterday's news.
Many of the disciple's gazes were subconsciously drawn to the lone one dressed in the uniform of the Zephyr Academy. The small sized little youth standing in the corner. The Zephyr Academy this year had not only reduced the number of their participants taking part in the Spirit Battle Tournament by almost half, it seemed that they had even been forced to include a pint sized brat within their contestants! That really made the contestants in the first district get incredibly excited!
No matter what anyone said, not a single one among them believed for a moment that they would lose to a puny twit like that in a match. They saw that he would at most be fourteen or fifteen years of age and it was assumed that his ring spirit should not have awakened for long. At that age, the best that he could have achieved would still merely put him at the red spirit level. In addition to his young age, the brat was skinny and frail looking and he did not look like he would be able to put up a fight. All these told them that they had one less strong opponent to compete with and they had gained another potential opportunity for them to shine out!
Although the Zephyr Academy had already fallen into decline, but their name and reputation were still widely known throughout the lands. If they were given a chance to be matched up to the puny brat from the Zephyr Academy here, they would have won themselves endless future bragging rights for having defeated an elite.
To have won out over a disciple of the Zephyr Academy in battle, would always be a badge of honour to their name no matter when it happened!
The drawing of lots had not even begun and many of the disciples were all secretly praying that they would be able to be matched up with Jun Wu Xie in the first round as they did not for a moment think that a diminutive midget like that would last to the second round. So, no matter whoever was matched up with the little brat in the first round, that person would have won himself a great advantage and that wasn't a chance that came by every single year.
Standing silently in a corner, Jun Wu Xie was completely unaware she had been perceived to become a helpless lamb sent here for slaughter. She just remained in the corner quietly, with no one knowing what was going through her mind. All those sinister gazes with their malicious intentions had become to her, something she had gotten used to completely disregard and were non existent. But suddenly, she detected a strange gaze that was different from all the others on her but that gaze was one that did not make her feel the slightest discomfort.
Jun Wu Xie raised her head and looked into the direction of that gaze. From within the mass of people, she saw a pretty face of a young girl, adorned with a pair of almond shaped eyes.
The young girl was observing Jun Wu Xie when Jun Wu Xie suddenly raised her head, and their eyes met at that moment. It was just a brief moment and that little fair skinned face suddenly looked like it was on flame, immediately turning a full shade of scarlet. Those eyes were suddenly panic stricken and she hurriedly lowered her head, futilely trying to hide herself as she slightly shifted herself by shuffling a few tiny steps to the side.
......
Jun Wu Xie's eyes were tinged with puzzlement. She recalled having seen the girl before, back at the Crown Prince's Residence, and the girl had also been dressed in the uniform of the War Banner Academy. If she was remembering it correctly, on that day back at the Crown Prince's Residence, she had heard Lei Chen calling out the girl's name a few times.
[Ling Yue? Seems to be those two words. It should be right.]
Jun Wu Xie's mind began to churn quickly. Late last night, Fei Yan had gathered all of them and forcibly crammed into all of them information about all the disciples from the War Banner Academy and the Dragon Slayers Academy who were taking part in the Spirit Battle Tournament. And one of them had been about this young girl who had peeked at her, and immediately turned a bright red when she was caught.
Qu Ling Yue, the disciple who held the first rank in the War Banner Academy's very own Spirit Battle Tournament!
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Chapter 788 : Battle Begins (3)
Qu Ling Yue was pretty and highly adorable, and her build not considered to be very tall. No one would have thought that the first rank of the War Banner Academy's Spirit Battle Tournament would be held by a little girl so sweet and delicate. Although Qu Ling Yue looked to be dainty and petite, but the background that she hailed from had made quite a number of people who harboured sinister intentions towards her to back off warily.
Qu Ling Yue's father was the current Thousand Beast City's Chief Chieftain and throughout the history of the Thousand Beast City, two purple spirits had emerged. Although the Thousand Beast City did not have a purple spirit among them at that time, their fame for being powerful was still highly recognised.
Jun Wu Xie had never had any interaction with Qu Ling Yue before. Even on the night of the banquet at the Crown Prince's Residence, she had only glanced passingly at Qu Ling Yue out of the corners of her eyes. Jun Wu Xie did not know why Qu Ling Yue would stare at her like that and with a gaze different from all the other people, completely devoid of enmity and more like she was searching for something.
Jun Wu Xie turned her eyes away.
Very soon, the person in charge of the drawing of lots walked into the holding area for the contestants. Placed on top of a table at the forefront, was an almost completely sealed box, the only opening being a hole just big enough for people to put their hand in. The boisterous youths suddenly quietened down as they all stared nervously at the box. They all knew that the thing that would decide how far they would be able to go in this Spirit Battle Tournament would depend on all that was in that box.
One by one the youths walked forward, queuing up to draw a number. Every number drawn would correspond to two youths which meant that they would be each other's opponent in the upcoming first round.
Jun Wu Xie walked over unhurriedly. She stood at the end of the queue and her appearance had attracted the attention of quite a number of people. Almost everyone wanted to be her opponent as in the eyes of all of them, no one else would be easier to defeat than the tiny brat as young as that.
When a disciple from the Dragon Slayers Academy stepped forward to draw his lot, many others stretched out the necks to look curiously. Those that had already drawn their numbers had when they saw the youth from the Dragon Slayers Academy show a lot depicting the number fifty all heaved a silent sigh of relief. They were all rejoicing that they had not drawn the same number as that youth.
Seeing the reactions of the others, the disciple from the Dragon Slayers Academy was feeling rather pleased with himself. He puffed up his chest and held his head up high snootily as he walked away from the table, the fearful gazes of some others fully satisfying his heart, filling it up with vanity.
Qu Ling Yue got herself number seventeen and the other youth who was to fight her was feeling mighty crushed when he saw the number in Qu Ling Yue's hand.
No matter how sweet and adorable Qu Ling Yue looked, her first ranked title in the War Banner Academy was enough to make others feel nothing but fear. With the exception of disciples from the Dragon Slayers Academy, no one else there would think they having Qu Ling Yue as their opponent would give any advantage in the competition.
The rest of the youths drew their lots one after another and besides the other number seventeen, another number that meant certain death for them had still not been picked. As the youths were still walking away from the table with trepidation on the unfortunate number, suddenly, throughout the entire floor, they soon saw that only Jun Wu Xie alone had not drawn a number, and she was the very last one.
......
There would be no need to draw. Everyone knew for sure, that the last number in the box would undoubtedly be number fifty!
While they were all celebrating that they had not been matched up with the Dragon Slayers Academy, those youths were at the same time also finding it a pity of the fact that the weakest little brat would be meeting the Dragon Slayers Academy in the first round. Having one of the two strongest contestants against the weakest opponent..... there was absolutely no doubt about the result.
Just as everyone was still secretly lamenting that they had not been able to have drawn Jun Wu Xie as their opponent, the one person that everyone was secretly in fear of being matched up with from the Dragon Slayers Academy was suddenly seen to have turned green in the face!
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Chapter 789 : Battle Begins (4)
The youth's eyes were opened wide as he he stared at Jun Wu Xie who was slowly making her way forward to draw her lot. The expression on his face was one not of joy, but of such utter dismay that he almost wanted to cry!
[What kind of a joke was that! ?]
[Why must I be drawn to fight that demonic monster! ?]
When he thought back to the day of the banquet at the Crown Prince's Residence, where he and several other fellow disciples had smugly sauntered up to Jun Xie in the garden to pick a fight with him but ended up being frightened so badly they ran away with their tails between their legs, the images going through his mind were telling him that his fate with this year's Spirit Battle Tournament had as good as concluded right from this moment!
[That kid that is a green spirit for goodness sake! A GREEN spirit!]
[What can a puny little orange spirit like him do against that monster?]
At that moment, what the youth felt most like doing was to cry.
If he was asked who would be the opponent he least wanted to fight with in this first round of the district battle, it wouldn't be Qu Ling Yue! It would be none other than this demonic monster who had progressed so incomprehensibly and maniacally quickly in his spirit power cultivation!
The others did not know of Jun Wu Xie's power, but the several unfortunate ones from the Dragon Slayers Academy had had the opportunity to witness Jun Wu Xie's spirit power level. And this supposed privileged information had however caused the disciple from the Dragon Slayers Academy want to smash his head against the wall to save himself the agony!
If he was not aware of Jun Wu Xie's spirit power level, he might very well be thinking the same thing as all the others were, becoming highly pleased that he would soon crush his opponent gaining himself an easy victory. But.....
He was thinking that one that would be easily crushed, would definitely be himself! !
The disciple from the Dragon Slayers Academy could only cry in his heart, his face pale. That very same wretched expression on his face was however took on another meaning to all the other youths.....
......
"As expected, disciples of the Dragon Slayers Academy would feel that it's beneath them to be given such an unfair advantage to them. Look, that guy's face has even turned green! He must be outraged that his opponent is such a weak little one and there is no challenge." One youth whispered "sagely", peeking at the pale faced disciple of the Dragon Slayers Academy.
And the youth next to him was seen to be nodding in agreement.
"The Dragon Slayers Academy do not care for such luck. From what I can see, besides the War Banner Academy's Qu Ling Yue, he does not think anyone else here as a befitting opponent. Having to battle such a pint sized brat like that, might very well be the greatest insult you can throw at him."
The group of yakking youths were ignorant of the truth, as they continued exhorting the formidable prestige of disciples from the Dragon Slayers Academy, not knowing..... that the poor guy's heart was already bleeding inside.
[You guys must be joking.....]
[After the fight, the one humiliated will be him!]
As everyone on the ground were all feeling that Jun Wu Xie was undoubtedly doomed to lose, the disciple from the Dragon Slayers Academy was feeling highly sorry for himself, while another person was feeling rather nervous on Jun Wu Xie's behalf.
After the drawing of lots was concluded, the battles were to begin with the pair of contestants who had drawn the number one, while the rest of them would watch from the sides.
Being the first ones to take the stage was highly unnerving for any of them. Under extreme pressure, when the two contestants walked up on stage, their shoulders were seen to be trembling visibly as the spectators all searched for a place to sit down. For those who drew the higher numbers, they knew that their turn would not come this day and they would basically not be battling, but they still did not leave the arena as they wanted to remain to watch the matches, to have a better understanding of the power and forms of attack the advancing disciples use, as any of the disciples who advanced to the next round, might very well turn out to be their next opponent.
Know yourself, know thy enemy. That was an age old adage that would not change.
However, just as the first battle had just barely begun, Jun Wu Xie suddenly walked towards the arena's exit, looking completely unconcerned with needing to understand future potential opponents.
Jun Wu Xie's departure had been noticed by many of the spectators crowded around the battle stage. With her being the only one in the entire battle arena leaving, it just couldn't be any more highly conspicuous.
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Chapter 790 : Battle Begins (5)
"Truly like a cracked pot who smashes itself. Knowing that he stands no chance of winning, he is not even going to observe the basic formalities?" Some of the youths said sneeringly. They were some among them who knew for sure they wouldn't be able to survive the first round of the Spirit Battle Tournament, but no matter how weak they were, they at least wouldn't have left in such a blatant fashion.
That would only show up one's own helplessness and staying behind would at least allow one to gain some experience even if it was impossible for them to gain victory but still learn a few things from their experience in this Spirit Battle Tournament.
To see someone acting like Jun Wu Xie did, leaving without even watching a single match, was unheard of.
"Ha ha. I don't think he means to be rude, but having drawn the same number as Senior Lin, he must have been too terrified to stay here a moment longer that's all." A skinny youth who was sitting close to the disciple from the Dragon Slayers Academy said loudly immediately, when he saw Jun Wu Xie walking out of the arena, wanting himself to be heard and to show his admiration for someone like the disciple from the revered Dragon Slayers Academy.
"Senior Lin must have terrified him so badly. I am guessing when it is time for him to get onto that stage, he might just give up without a fight and forfeit straightaway." Another youth said just as loudly, refusing to lose out in their shameless bootlicking.
They were from a small time academy and they knew the powers they held were meagre and insignificant in here, making it impossible for them to achieve any result that they would be proud of. Hence, they were thinking to butter up the disciples from the bigger and more prestigious academies and hope that they would be able to gain some spillover benefits in future by associating with these elites. Qu Ling Yue from the elite War Banner Academy was female and if they approached her in such a bold manner, they might just get a slap across their faces for their efforts, so the Dragon Slayers Academy had been their best choice here, which could be seen by the number of disciples surrounding the disciple from the Dragon Slayers Academy, all eager to get them themselves closer to him.
A twitch started to pull at the side of Lin Qi's mouth as he looked at the big group of disciples around him who were praising him to the skies, but he couldn't seem to find a sliver of joy or glee in his heart.
[What basic formalities are they talking about? That monster just couldn't even be bothered to waste his time on this competition alright? In the eyes of a green spirit, a bunch of red spirits and orange spirits were just like kids playing childish games to him! It was all just a waste of time!]
Lin Qi found that he did not even have tears as he tried to maintain a cool front as from every direction around him, his ears could hear all the undisguised and blatant flattery. If this was on any other day, he would have just laid back and enjoyed basking in all the adoration heaped onto him, but at that moment..... he really wasn't in the mood at all.
He did not doubt for a moment, after his battle with Jun Wu Xie, how sad a situation he would then be in!
Slapped down in public by a green spirit!
All this flattery and praise today, would only throw him deeper into the abyss after the day that Jun Wu Xie was done toying with him.
......
Just thinking about it made him see what a tragedy that would soon become.
With the thought that in just a few days, he would be tormented and humiliated by Jun Wu Xie right before everyone's eyes, Lin Qi really could not make himself remain in the battle arena a moment longer. Having to face Jun Wu Xie had already almost made him want to kill himself and when he thought back to what had happened back at the Crown Prince's Residence where he and his fellow disciples had gone to pick a fight with Jun Wu Xie, he was really afraid that Jun Wu Xie would remember it and take it out on him in the match! When he came to that conclusion, Lin Qi really could not make himself sit still anymore. He jumped up from his seat immediately and ran madly in pursuit of Jun Wu Xie's back.
[That must not happen! I must at least try to save myself!]
Lin Qi's sudden and hurried departure caused another furore to sweep over the disciples. And before the heated voices in debate had even subsided, Qu Ling Yue had suddenly stood up and ran out of the arena as well.
With the three people leaving in quick succession, it caused the youths in the first district battle arena to feel puzzled and confused. They stared at each other questioningly a moment, before turning their eyes back to focus on the battle stage in front of them.