Book 3 - Chapter 105: Sparring Field

Chapter 105: Sparring Field

"Good, Good!" The person who challenged Xu Min was excited to see so many people showed up to watch the duel. Even Xu Min was surprised by the shocking amount of Immortals who were standing around the sparring field. It was suddenly clear to Xu Min why the Guardians of the Immortal Valley had always been the strongest faction within the entire Immortal Ruins. Having this many immortals in one single sect, obviously, they had the upper hand compared to other younger sects. 

Yetto thinks that these lofty creatures were so bored that they would want to watch the younger generation duel; this was something that caused much more surprise with Xu Min.

What he was not aware of however was the immortals usually would not pay attention to the sparring matches. Since Xu Min, a human, had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of their lands, they all wished to see what kind of fighter he was.

Xu Min, although not aware of the immortal's real purpose for watching the duels, was clearly aware of the thoughts of all the other experts from his generation. It was clear that they intended to tear him down. They intended to battle him one after another. If he somehow managed to succeed in his first duel, another and stronger expert would be ready to challenge him again. It would become a fight of attrition, and Xu Min would eventually lose.

Knowing that he would lose at some point, Xu Min was not feeling dejected. Instead, he was filled with excitement. He was going to prove to them just how strong he was. With the help of the devour of his sword, he would last for a lot longer than what they would expect. He had to be careful with his energy. He should not wantonly absorb too much energy. Then he might go berserk.

Xu Min, having decided to last as long as possible was already at one with the world stage. As he stepped onto the stage, a red flame appeared on the part of his body. This red flame did not require him to use any Qi. It was clearly the Worldly flame from being One with the World. As everyone saw this, they started mumbling with each other. Xu Min did not mind showing this little bit of his strength. Instead of allowing for the flame to cover his entire body, he concentrated all flames on the sword he unsheathed. 

This sword was now a big flaming sword. The flames were so intense that ripples could be seen in the air surrounding it. 

"So you have a little bit of ability," the elf sneered as he too jumped onto the stage. Blue energy swirled around his arm, and a longsword was created from this blue energy. 

"I know you have spiritual energy somewhere. Otherwise, they would not make you take the elven classes, but your control over spiritual energy is likely to be many times weaker than mine. I am an elf, and I have controlled spiritual energy for my entire life!"

"Although your sword is combined with the Worldly Flame, it is but a simple materialistic sword. It cannot hold a candle to my spirit sword when it comes to sharpness, speed or force, but let me get a taste of a human sword!"

Xu Min looked at this person with a cold expression in his eyes. He knew that elves could make various weapons from spiritual energy. The one he had merged with had made the spirit bow and was focused on ranged attacks. Nevertheless, it would also make sense that other elves specialized in other weapons. 

Still, Xu Min had complete faith in his sword. It was a marvelous treasure. Although it was not as sharp as other swords, the devouring ability inside it, mixed with the sheer force that the sword possessed from devouring plentiful amounts of energy made this sword many times stronger than the swords of any other expert. Even for someone who understood spiritual energy a little like Xu Min, he still had complete faith in his sword.

Seeing that Xu Min was in no rush to answer the opponent some of the Immortals nodded their heads in approval. His heart was steady; his entire being had been prepared for battle. Trashing his opponents with words was not a thing Xu Min did. This secure confidence in himself gained approval from quite some experts.

Seeing this, the expert who had challenged Xu Min to the duel was feeling indignant. He grits his teeth hard as he looked at Xu Min the way a venomous snake looks at its prey. He was supposed to become the hero of all elves. The vigilant star in front of the beautiful fairies and a perfect student in front of the Immortals. Now he seemed rather silly, and this he could not accept. 

"If you have nothing to say, then let us start this sparring match! Oh, right, I forgot. You are new so let me explain the rules to you." he sneered in a mocking voice, "You cannot kill anyone but fists have no eyes and strength knows no limits. If I accidentally cripple you, then I am not to be blamed!" 

The last sentence shocked everyone. Although it was true that one could not be blamed for accidentally crippling their opponent, it was clear that this man was aiming for that outcome. Such a malicious thought was disliked by the majority of the students. Although they might dislike the human, they did not wish to cripple a fellow student. Now it was too late. They could only watch as their hearts were beating rapidly, and their eyes were staring wide open.

"Let us begin!" he roared while rushing towards Xu Min with the sword raised over his head and used some profound movement technique. 

Seeing the speed, Xu Min frowned slightly. He decided it was not necessary for him to use his domain to deal with this man. If possible, he wished to keep this for as late as possible. Instead, he made hundreds of wind blades.

Anyone below the Immortal rank seeing this attack would assume that Xu Min was only imitating the elements; no one took it seriously since it was clearly imitation. A sneaky smile slowly emerged on Xu Min's face alongside the faces of most Immortals whose faces changed drastically upon seeing that the opponent was casually charging through the wind blades.

The first ten wind blades were as easy to break through like a gentle breeze. The expert against Xu Min started to feel completely confident in himself as he charged forward. 

. So far Xu Min had done nothing else than creating those hundreds of wind blades. He was casually standing behind them, watching the elf who was rushing towards him with a calm look in his eyes. Suddenly the advance of the elf halted. Multiple wounds appeared on his body. He stood still as his white clothes dyed red from his blood. He had trembled for a few moments before he collapsed on the ground; his consciousness was gone. 

Xu Min had not killed his opponent but waited for the moment when he had gained enough confidence in himself to charge forward; Xu Min merged some of the wind with swordlight, and these had penetrated the elf’s body deeply. At first, it had been so sharp that he had not noticed any pain, only a slight discomfort as he ran into the wind blades until his body had reached a point where it could no longer stay standing. His consciousness vanished as blood kept flowing. 

Silence enveloped the entire area. "Were imitated attacks supposed to be this strong?" "Why was senior brother cut by the wind blades? They seemed so weak?" "I told you he has some hidden strength!" 

Many whispers erupted as Xu Min had won the sparring match, swiftly and effortlessly. The majority of these students were all between the third star and the sixth star, but a few of the seventh and eight stars were also there.

Of the many experts, only a few of the eight-star warriors and the immortals were capable of guessing that Xu Min had comprehended the Wind domain. Those who guessed also figured out he had some inborn talent for sword fighting. To create the swordlight revealedhe was no normal sword user. 

To have comprehended a wind domain, everyone who had understood Xu Min's true power was able to determine that he truly had the power of a fairy at least. The power to control an element. To see this, and the fact that he had comprehended a domain without the help of their school, they already felt that he was a genius which they did not see often. To let him become a student was no shame to their academy.

There were, however, many students who had not understood his real strength.They felt indignant and puzzled. How had he won the way he had? Was he cheating? Was there some secret beneath it? 

"I, Lu Xiaopeng, challenge you to a sparring match!" another person called out as a group of students were removing the first challenger from the field. "I fail to believe you did not use a lot of power to execute that attack from before," he murmured to himself while looking at Xu Min. His face revealed some uncertainty. This was a complete gamble from his side. If Xu Min had not used all his energy, he would be able to defeat him quickly, but if he was weak now, then defeating him would bring great merits. 

Thinking like this, Lu Xiaopeng decided to try it and took the gamble while Xu Min did not mind and nodded in agreement. 

Once more, Xu Min created hundreds of wind blades and once more infused a few of them with swordlight. It went the same way as it had done previously, defeating Lu Xiaopeng was as simple as defeating the first opponent. Silence enveloped the entire area. No one discussed what could be the cause of Xu Min’s victory.

"He can keep going on like this forever until he meets a person who can go against his swordlight," one of the immortals whispered to the guy near him. The guy nodded his head, "Right," he said, "being able to control the wind in a wind domain means that he is using no energy at all when attacking. The swordlight is like the wind domain; it does not depend on his Qi but his comprehension, thus it is hard to guard against. He will become one of the top ranks on our heavenly ranking soon," the other immortal laughed. 

A third person appeared then a fourth and a fifth and all of them were defeated in the same manner; Xu Min kept creating hundreds of wind blades, but no matter how many he created he did not seem tired. He still had yet to use the flaming sword in his hand nor had he displayed any of his spiritual energy. 

By now a few people had been observing him for quite some time. All of them were gradually understanding that this attack which seemed simple was not as simple as it seemed. 

Although not many realized he had comprehended a domain, many started to understand Xu Min had infused this seemingly simple attack with swordlight. One of these observers stepped forward with a smile on his face, a sinister smile.