Chapter 27

Winners of the Duels

Chu Shen and Tai Long watched the duels. It was interesting to watch other peoples fighting techniques. The Man Stage duels ended with Jian Kuai winning the duels.

At the end he was injured with blood streaming down his body. However, one of the judges stretched out their hand and healed Jian Kuai with a stream of light.

It was a mystical and thought-provoking sight when Jian Kuai was covered in a ray of light. To see that golden light that induced a cozy and homey feeling whenever you saw it. It was obvious that the person in the judge box was already at the World Stage and had an affinity with light.

Once you reach the World Stage, you can manipulate the elements around you that you have an affinity for. With Chu Shen it was obviously space. He was lucky that he knew what affinity he had before reaching such a Stage.

Soon after the Tiger Stage duels began. It was far more fast paced than the Man Stage duels. Loud sounds like rocks smashing together sounded out. Eventually the winner became a man with amazing boxing skills. He was extremely fast, probably due to his cultivation technique. With his dodging skills he won fairly unscathed. He also had a pair of gloves that let him block a sword with it.

Bei Fong was also skilled. With his fan he used it like a throwing knife along with his fabulous sword skills. He lost however, to an archer who kept him at bay. Eventually with an explosive arrow charged with Qi, Bei Fong was knocked off the stage, making it to fourth place.

Finally it was time for the Dragon Stage duels to begin.

The battle was intense. Bei Fong had joined Tai Long and Chu Shen. All three of them exclaimed in awe as the fights began. Their weapons were a blur, craters appeared in the stage as they fought.

Chu Shen realized that if he himself was out there he would have been killed without knowing what had happened.

They were incomparably strong. This was a stage specifically meant for dueling. The ground was made with hardened rock and could easily withstand Chu Shens blows as he knew from his previous fights.

Now though the Dragon Stage cultivators were making cracks and craters in the stage from almost each blow. One of the cultivators was sent flying back. Before he could hit the stage he hit a blue barrier. As he hit the barrier he was stopped cold, just like he had hit a stone wall, and slid down. The impact had almost zero effect on him though.

The barrier was erected by the judges to prevent the crowd from being hurt. After the cultivator landed he bowed towards his opponent before leaving. After all, he had been knocked out of the ring and therefore lost.

Soon enough the duels ended. After that they handed out prizes. The Man Stage winner won a medallion saying he was the best of the Man Stage. Along with that they won bottle of medicine pills and a Low-Tier mortal weapon.

All the other rewards were the same for the other stages. The only difference was that the Dragon Stage also received a High-Tier mortal weapon.

Weapons are divided into different stages. Each stage is separated into Tiers and furthermore into grades as well. Mortal weapons are suitable for those at the Dragon Stage and below. A High tier weapon was best for a Dragon Stage cultivator while a Low-Tier weapon was best for Man Stage cultivators.

After that was Martial weapons. Chu Shen had never heard of any other weapons grade though Master Lang had hinted around at it while he was forging.

Pills were also separated like this but instead of Martial or Mortal Weapons it became Martial or Mortal Pills.

After the duels winners collected their prizes the elder once again stood in front of them. “Okay. Now that you have all passed the duels, please get ready. I will leave a spirit mark on each of you. You all have two days to settle your affairs before leaving for the school. Once the two days are up, meet at noon on the third day here at the dueling arena.”
“After you get here you will be transported to the schools living quarters. The teachers will explain the rules of the school for you once you arrive. Now, off you go.”

Turning towards Bei Fong and Tai Long he bowed. “Friends, it was nice to meet you. I hope we can meet again at the academy.”

Bei Fong waved his fan imperiously. “Of course. Once I acknowledge someone as my friend I never let them go.”

Tai Long bowed back. “I will spar with you again and win next time. Train hard so you don’t lose to badly.”

Chu Shen smiled back. “Of course I won’t lose. Goodbye brothers.”

Quickly Chu Shen departed back. Soon he reached the hotel. Looking around he saw Master Lang had not arrived yet.

Chu Shen called out to Master Ti Wu inside his head. ‘Master. Why haven’t you said anything for a while.’

After a few seconds a pain similar to a migraine overcame Chu Shen. While he clutched his head in agony Master Ti Wu’s voice sounded in his head. ‘You brat! Disturbing my nap to ask a trivial question.’

After a few seconds the headache stopped. After Chu Shen recovered he started talking to Ti Wu. He told him of the competition, along with the fight he lost and the friends he met. Ti Wu made him share a mental image of the fight he lost.

After he saw it he criticized Chu Shen. ‘You brat. You should have used the sleeve crossbow, you would have won for sure. Those weren’t excellent rewards but they would have been helpful.’

‘I am sorry master but I can’t. If I accidentally killed him I would have been eliminated. I am not 100% confident in my aiming.’

‘Oh I see how it is. You can throw arrows at the poor fool but you can’t use a crossbow like its meant to be.’

‘Sorry master.’

‘Oh well. Probably for the best then.’ They stopped talking, waiting in the awkward silence that followed. Eventually Chu Shen spoke up.

“Master, can I remove the weights now.”

“Eh? Oh right the weights. I guess since you just had an intensive workout with all those fights you can take a break. Go ahead.”

Sighing in relief Chu Shen bent down and hiked up his pants leg. There on his leg was a series of metal weights attached to Chu Shens leg. Master Ti Wu had him forge them during the second day of training.

He detached them and also the ones on his arms, neck, and chest. As he detached the one on his right arm he accidentally dropped it. After all he was right handed and not quite as dexterous as his left.

“Crap!” Chu Shen exclaimed before the weight hit the floor.

Crunch Thud

With a slightly muted sound and crunching of wood the weight buried itself almost 3 feet into the ground after destroying the floor. After all, dropping a 150 pound weight on the floor was going to destroy something.

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