Thunder Martial - Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Inner Sect Disciple 

The outer sect disciples that participated in the assessment appeared one after another, but half of them did not have the qualifications to participate in the second round.

However, they had nothing to be upset about. Since they were so slow in the first round, they naturally held no expectations for the second round. After all, only the top ten disciples were rewarded.

The success rate of the assessment this time was still above 99 percent. Those unfortunate enough to die or be seriously injured were only the ones trying to get by under false pretences.

Out of nearly one thousand participants in this assessment, only half were left. There were a little more than 400 people remaining, and Zi Chen stood in the midst of them looking very common. Next to him was Miao Kong who appeared even more common.

With two inconspicuous characters standing there as contrast, Lin Xue became even more eye catching.

“Good, very good.”

Within the square, there was another stage. The great elder stood on its center as he watched the several hundred faces below him with a satisfied smile on his face.

The other elders stood on either side of him, each person in front of a chair. Since the great elder had not taken a seat, they remained standing with him.

“All of you have passed the first round of the assessment. From now on, you are inner sect disciples of Ling Wu sect. Enjoy the privileges of your status.”

After the great elder’s announcement,cheers erupted from the crowd

The treatment they would receive was much better than the outer sect disciples, Simply receiving free Zhen Qi pills every year was sufficient enough to make the outer sect disciples deathly jealous. In addition, they could also earn contribution points to exchange for Zhen Qi pills.

These were the privileges of being an inner sect disciple. A 500 year old Snow Ginseng, if exchanged for contribution points, would at least amount to ten Zhen Qi pills. However, had Zi Chen managed to go along with his plan, he could have exchanged it for only five pills at most.

This was because Zi Chen planned to exchange privately with an inner sect disciple.

As the cheers died down, the main event approached in which the disciples would battle each other. There were great rewards in store for those who finished in the top ten, the first place prize being the advancement to core disciple status.

Each and every person qualified to participate in this second round was burning with fighting spirit and ready to battle.

“Now is the time for round two’s battles. This is also the time during which we old men will witness your strength. We will uphold a fair and impartial fight, assess your potential, and select the most promising one among you…”

While the great elder spoke from above, many inner sect disciples became increasingly fanatical down below.

In the distance, a group of elders were preparing the list for the upcoming fights.

Splitting the work among themselves, they only needed one hour of time to finish the list. In the meantime, the great elder preached with high spirits and passion for an hour on the stage, the crowd’s blood boiling with each and every word.

“Good, the fighting will begin momentarily. When your name is called out, you must step out and yell ‘Here!’ loudly.”

The crowd’s conversations soon came to a stop after the elder’s announcements. The great elder then sat down and the rest of the elders followed suit.

“Ke Xue!” Someone called out this name from the side.

“Here!” Ke Xue was startled for a moment before shouting loudly. He had not expected that his name would be the first one to be called.

“Wu Ling.”

“Here!”

Another azure clothed disciple stepped out.

“Ke Xue versus Wu Ling.”

“Wang Meng versus Yi Hong Sheng.”

“Wu Sheng versus Wang Huachu.”

“Miao Kong versus Liu Guandou.”

“Tong Xuan versus Lin Xue.”

“Zi Chen versus Guan Yun.”

Once the names were read aloud, the respective fights would be carried out one after another. This was only the first round of the fights, and therefore not very exciting. Numerous outer sect disciples were eager to witness these fights, but the inner sect disciples seemed to have lost their interest.

Soon, all of their attention was focused on the several people in the square.

The first one to arrive was Wang Meng, followed by Wu Sheng.

An inner sect disciple dressed in white clothing turned to Wang Xiong and said, “Wang Xiong, that kid is your younger brother right? Not bad, he is at the sixth Zhen Qi layer, There’s a good chance he could take first place.”

“Of course.” Wang Xiong looked very confident.

“Great, if your younger brother becomes a core disciple, you will strike a fortune. When the time comes, do not forget us, your fellow disciples.” The other inner sect disciples did not forget to curry favor and also chimed in.

“Relax.” Wang Xiong looked very proud.

Within this group of new inner sect disciples, there were only a few who could properly fight. Wang Meng’s performance was by far the most outstanding, and if there are no accidents, Wang Meng is sure to secure first place and become a core disciple.

At this time, several other inner sect disciples noticed what was going on and began to show their good will towards Wang Xiong, one after another.

“Relax, we are all fellow apprentices.” Wang Xiong laughed proudly and said with a smile. It had always been Wang Meng who relied on him before. But today, he could finally rely on Wang Meng instead. He didn’t feel any envy at all, only happiness. At this point, he snorted coldly as his eyes fell upon Zi Chen.

“Hmph, it’s him.”

“What’s wrong, senior brother?”

Wang Xiong’s complexion turned cold. This naturally roused the attention of many other inner sect disciples. Following Wang Xiong’s gaze, their eyes also fell upon Zi Chen.

“Isn’t he the kid who is on good terms with Lin Xue? You know him?” Someone asked.

“I had a conflict with him.” Wang Xiong said coldly.

“Conflict? Rest assured, as long as he is within the inner sect, I will guarantee that he won’t live past three days.” One of the inner sect disciple said coldly.

“What is his name?”

“Zi Chen.”

By this time, Zi Chen had arrived at the fighting arena. Guan Yun, a rough looking youth, was currently standing in front of him.

“Judging from your tiny physique, you might as well surrender early. I do not want to kill you with a punch.” Guan Yun said loudly after seeing the lanky Zi Chen.

“Stop talking crap, let’s fight.” Zi Chen said indifferently.

“Ha ha ha, then you just wait to be blown away.” Guan Yun obnoxiously laughed. As he moved his feet, Flowing Cloud Step appeared. At the same time, he waved his steel-like fists through the air, aiming at Zi Chen.

With just a few deft movements, Zi Chen shifted his feet and drew back swiftly.

There were a lot of battles taking place within the square, but rarely was there an eye catching one. However, Zi Chen’s fight could be considered one. Apart from being watched by Wang Xiong and the others, there was also Su Mengyao as well as the nearby Chen Feng looking in the distance.

“This kid is too ordinary, how come he is together with Xue’er? I heard that the previous time you went out to the outer sect was for this boy?” Chen Feng said with indifference, looking at the Zi Chen who was continuously avoiding attacks.

“Are you monitoring me?” Su Mengyao asked discontentedly.

“Junior sister, you are a celebrity in the Ling Wu sect, you will create a disturbance wherever you go. Do I even need to monitor you? Besides, the Ling Wu sect will be mine in the future, what matter is here that I do not know of?” Chen Feng remarked while smiling faintly. His smile was like a spring breeze, natural and unrestrained.

“But this kid does not match with Xue’er at all, he is simply a lump of cow dung… This kind of person can’t even match a toad. How can he be worthy of Xue’er?” Chen Feng’s eyes suddenly turned cold.

“Don’t mess around, this is Xue er’s choice. Besides, does it have anything to do with you?” Although Su Mengyao’s voice was flat, her furrowed eyebrows betrayed her emotions. Apparently, she was also very puzzled as to why Lin Xue would pick such an ordinary boy?

Zi Chen had an ordinary appearance and normal strength.

From the beginning of the fight until now, Zi Chen had been dodging. Every once in a while, he would attack once or twice, but it was all repelled by Guan Yun.

The first round of battles was about to end.

Wang Meng was the first to win, defeating his opponent in one move. Wu Sheng was the second one, and he had also used one move to defeat his opponent.

It was apparent from the Flowing Cloud Step under Miao Kong’s foot that he had grasped the true essence of it. After avoiding an attack, he sent out a retaliation at his opponent’s exposed chest and won the fight.

Ke Xue also achieved victory, followed by Lin Xue

When this round of battles was nearing its end, Zi Chen moved in a flurry and sent out a punch, seemingly winning by luck.

“Damn, what’s wrong with this world now? Fucking unlucky.” Guan Yun cursed angrily. Initially, he had taken the lead, but then suddenly lost in one move.

“You have this kind of lousy strength but dare to step on this father’s head? Zi Chen, you better pray that you do not bump into me, otherwise I will smack you into a pig’s head.” Ke Xue threatened in a low voice as he walked pass Zi Chen.

“You better be careful. If you bump into me, I will accidentally kill you.” Wang Meng also sneered as he walked past Zi Chen.

Although these battles did not allow its participants to kill each other, some accidents could happen occasionally. Sometimes, there were disciples that were killed.

“Come on.”

“Zi Chen, you can do it.”

Miao Kong and Lin Xue came over to support him.

The first round of fighting had now ended. In the blink of an eye, there were only half of the 400 people who had originally participated remaining. A moment later, another round of fighting began.

This round still followed the elimination system where each fight would decide the victor and loser.

“Bang!”

A palm from Wang Meng blew away an azure clothed disciple.

In addition to being at the sixth Zhen Qi layer, Wang Meng had a rank two martial technique, therefore he took his victory with ease.

“Bang!”

Wu Sheng had blown back another person as well.

This time around, these two were the most prominent disciples. If nothing unexpected happened, first place was sure to belong to one of them.

Currently, however, Wang Meng had better prospects of getting first place. He was at the sixth Zhen Qi layer while Wu Sheng was still only at the fifth. Of course, one could not rule out the possibility that Wu Sheng had some hidden cards left.

Throughout his battle, Zi Chen’s performance continued to remain very calm. Even after facing Wang Meng’s provocation earlier, he still remained exceptionally tranquil.

Miao Kong utilized his movement technique and won with ease. Lin Xue was the same, as she had a rank two martial technique, the Thousand Illusionary Palm. This technique created an illusion of attacks, where some were real and some were not. Others were unable to distinguish the real ones from the illusions.

After another round of fights, Zi Chen won again by a narrow margin.

He had already decided that now was not time to expose his strength.

The third round of battles began. This time, there were still more than 100 people left.

Those who were powerful won in the same fashion as before, while Zi Chen continued to win with luck.

“Boo!”

After Zi Chen won his third round with a close victory, booing voices resounded from the crowd. In their opinion, Zi Chen’s strength was very ordinary, and every time he won, it seemed like he had only seized the opportunity while his opponent was being careless.

The booing sound from the crowd only grew increasingly louder and louder. Every one of his fights were accompanied by the booing of the crowd. This lasted until there were only 20 disciples remaining.

It was late and night had fallen.

“Today’s battles will stop here and resume tomorrow.” The great elder stood up from the stage and announced the end of today’s battles.

The outer sect disciples went back to the outer sect dejectedly. As for Zi Chen and the others whom had passed the first test, they would become inner sect disciples from today onward and would be able to enjoy the treatment of being one.

“It is very unusual.”

As Su Mengyao left, she was the only one who actually remembered Zi Chen. He may be lucky once or twice, but it was impossible to be lucky all the time. She was at the peak of the eight Zhen Qi layer, and her eyesight was extraordinary. Su Mengyao naturally noticed something strange about the way Zi Chen fought.

Besides Su Mengyao, many inner sect disciples were able to see that Zi Chen was not ordinary at all.

Only the inexperienced outer sect disciples who could not discern this unusualness booed again and again.

Although he was not ordinary, no one cared about Zi Chen much because there were still two other people garnering all the attention due to their talent: Wang Meng and Wu Sheng.

Wang Meng, as everyone knew, was Wang Xiong’s younger brother and possessed a rank two martial technique. Therefore, it was understable that he would attract fame. However, Wu Sheng was a stranger, and no one knew of his origins. Nonetheless, he actually knew a rank two martial technique as well as a rank two movement technique.

While they had been battling during the day, Zi Chen’s and the others’ residences had all been arranged.

In his room, several sets of clothing were set out as well as a white jade token. Ling Wu sect’s name was written on one side of the token and Zi Chen’s name was on the other.

From now on, Zi Chen was an inner sect disciple.