Chapter 67: Strange Occurrences
The lightning bolts were now all gathered around Wang Ju Long’s hand and the crackling sound caused the air around the glove to be twisted by the strong energy fluctuation.
Although Sha Yun had been looking down on Wang Ju Long previously, she no longer dared to do so as she feared this final attack of hers. Instead she gathered all of her remaining Qi and sent it to her tail. In the end if she wanted to deal with such a terrifying attack, she had to use her most powerful counter attack.
Unlike last time when Sha Yun gathered her Qi within her tail, this time it no longer draped the tail as a beautiful protective layer of white, instead it was concentrated on three scales alone which were located almost at the tip of the tail. These three scales shone with light: one blue, one white, and one sand coloured.
This was an attack which the three sisters had created together, and it contained a slight bit of the cultivation base from each of the three sisters. It was an attack which required channelling and now was the best time to use it.
Wang Ju Long fell to her knees, as the energy fluctuations around her outstretched arm constantly grew in size, and as the world blackened she forced her consciousness back and got to her feet before rushing towards the snake-woman in front of her.
Wang Ju Long had been rushing after Sha Yun for a few seconds, before she gave up and accepted that when it came to speed, she had no way of defeating against the snake-woman. Instead she stood still, her lightning glove intensifying above her clenched fist and sweat pouring down her face, as she struggled to keep control over the power which was currently within her grasp. Each second require an immense amount of mental strength to not allow for her body to collapse on the stage.
Sha Yun was in a similar position as her channelling had been slower than she had expected due to Wang Ju Long’s pursuit which had been shockingly close, even considering the agility that Sha Yun had.
Suddenly Sha Yun started moving, jolting forward like the snake she was and her tail was whipping through the air, gaining momentum before it slammed into Wang Ju Long and her Qi lightning glove.
A large boom resounded and the very ground shook from the impact, causing everyone at the mountaintop to stare shocked at the two. A cloud of dust had been raised from the ground, causing the stage to be covered in a blanket of sand, and making it impossible to see the outcome of the match.
Hui Yue swore inwardly, as he realised that the two of them were likely to have suffered some severe injuries from this final exchange of blows, and he could not help but blame himself for his curiosity. That being said, it was obvious that Wang Ju Long had greatly benefitted from the cultivation technique she had been given, and she was likely to become a worthy rival for Hui Yue once more.
This caused Hui Yue to be filled with mixed emotions. On one side was happiness and excitement, but on the other was worry. He was the one who urged them to duel so in this situation it was his fault, should they be injured.
The dust slowly cleared and Hui Yue, together with the others, were breathlessly staring at the stage, seeing a Wang Ju Long walking down wobbling. She was clutching her arm which had previously been covered by the Qi Lightning Bolt’s glove, and anyone could see that the exchange had caused some injury to the young girl’s body.
The usually jade white skin had turned pale and drops of sweat were increasing as Wang Ju Long nodded to the others before she, without a sound, took her departure moving towards the infirmary.
Looking back at the stage, Hui Yue’s face turned equally pale as he rushed up to support Sha Yun. The snake-woman had collapsed on the stage, kneeling on the hard floor and was coughing up blood, which stained the ground black.
Going closer, Hui Yue noticed that it was not as bad as he had expected, a strong determination was evident within Sha Yun’s eyes and she managed to stand up on her own, although slightly unsteadily, as she moved to Hui Yue.She gestured that she was okay, and small growling sounds appeared together with one more mouthful of blood.
After the fight it was obvious that both Sha Yun and Wang Ju Long had gained some mutual respect for each other, and although neither liked the other, both of them were in a state where they chose to completely ignore each other.
As the new school year started once again, Wang Ju Long started hanging out with the group and she was quickly welcomed by the others. Sha Yun had become a part of the group as well, and she could always be seen following Hui Yue around.
As Sha Yun was Hui Yue’s magical beast she lived together with him in his courtyard, and all her spare time was spent on trying to learn the human language. The first word she learned to say was ‘Hui Yue’, and within half a year she had managed to perfect her linguistic skills.
During this half year, Wang Ju Long had managed to break through once more, and she was now the same rank as Hui Yue, causing the two childhood rivals to spar with each other on a daily basis.
Hui Yue only focused on his cultivation, and he would spar against Rong Xing, Sha Yun, Deng Wu, and Wang Ju Long almost every day, after which he would enter meditation to gain understanding of his skills while increasing his cultivation base.
Sha Yun kept changing as she became a part of the outside world. Together with her linguistic skills that grew so did her confidence which she had lacked up until then, and she turned into a true seductress overnight, usually causing problems for Hui Yue. She would from time to time wander the academy alone and flirt with the human boys as she had gotten aware of her sensual appearance, not to mention the times she would try and seduce the elder who was in charge of the medicinal pill outlet.
Each and every time she would be dragged back to Hui Yue and told to behave properly, yet no matter what Hui Yue said, Sha Yun was unable to completely listen as she was experiencing the most exciting time of her life.
As the warm summer ended it became time for the national tournament at the main branch of the Royal Academy, but Hui Yue had politely declined joining as he felt his cultivation base was lacking.
That was his official reason, while in truth, Hui Yue did not have any intention of standing out on a national stage just yet. Although he was becoming famous within Riluo City, it was only one of the many cities within the Taiyang Kingdom and boasting was very common when a new genius child emerged. Unfortunately there were as many geniuses as there were clouds in the skies.
The Rong twins and Gao Yan were all picked for the national tournament, and they all did well during the battles, yet Hui Yue enjoyed his time at the academy to train, feeling no sense of jealousy when he saw their prizes.
The excitement from the tournament lasted all winter and with it came snow and the colder temperatures but soon the snow melted and spring returned. Years came and years passed while Hui Yue was focused on cultivating his Qi, hoping to break into the master rank.
Deng Wu had broken into the Master rank at the tender age of sixteen and he had shocked the entire Riluo City with this feat. His elemental affinity had turned out to be Metal and Earth, and although he was unable to become an alchemist he was still practicing hard to become an inscriber.
This astonishing event had caused the entire city to celebrate for a whole week as they saw the birth of a genius above the usual. A genius who might possibly manage to break into the ranks of a Saint.
Although geniuses were as abundant as clouds in the skies, geniuses which had the ability to ascent into the ranks of a Saint were limited. It was indeed something worth celebrating.
After a year, at the age of seventeen, the next to break through had been Gao Yan. This shocked everyone as they all knew his cultivation base had been shattered, and he was seen as another peerless genius of the younger generation.
Having these two geniuses quickly caused everyone within Riluo City to forget everything about Hui Yue, and even Wang Ju Long was slightly forgotten as the other two young men had broken into the Master rank.
Ma Kong and the Rong twins were still at the final ninth star of the Practitioner rank, and so was Hui Yue, the young boy who had just turned fifteen years old.
Although Hui Yue had reached the ninth star of the Practitioner rank it was not commonly known within Riluo City, and Hui Yue’s fame from years before had slowly turned numb as the extreme expert never appeared again.
A fierce wind was blowing through the empty streets of Riluo City. Everything was dark and a blanket of stars and the moon was shining over these narrow alleyways. This allowed only the bare minimum of light to shine down onto the dirty roads which during the daytime would be bustling with life, but were currently deserted.
Usually the houses would have light shining through their windows, lightning up the grim outside for the few passer-bys, yet nothing was alit this evening, nor had it been for the last month as horrendous things started to happen within Riluo City.
A month prior, seven corpses had been found within one of the poorer areas, none of the corpses had been complete, instead they had been massacred. Some of their heads had been severed while others had lost limbs. Looking at the area it was obvious that this had been a one-sided match, and it could be considered a slaughter rather than an actual battle.
This was not the only time it had happened. A week later something similar happened in another area of Riluo City, yet this time it was ten men who had been slaughtered. The men who had died were all mercenaries or guards who had come from middle class or low class families. All of them worked hard during day, but no one knew the reason they were killed.
The City Lord’s mansion set more guards out at night to catch the culprit, but no one was found. The City Lord also tried to interrogate the families who had lost fathers or sons, yet no one seemed to know what they had been doing out that late. No one was able to shed light on the case.
These problem had caused Riluo City to become on guard. No one knew if the one who walked next to them was a murderer, or even why these groups of people were slaughtered together. Especially in the poorer areas which were shaken by the events, and everyone would stay inside as soon as the sun set past the horizon.
This night was one such night and a shadow was suddenly visible within the darkness, walking away from a closed door and down an alleyway with quiet steps. His figure was hidden within the shadows and he managed to evade the city guards which were patrolling the area.
The moon emerged from behind a cloud and at that very moment it was possible to see the entire street illuminated by the soft silvery light.
The shadow was a young man. His hair seemed to be white, yet it was stained with black streaks and dots which were constantly running down like waterdrops in rain. The young man’s face was beautiful but ice-cold. A stern expression was evident on his face and determination shone within his eyes. Within the slim hand was a pearl white sword which had been created by a very pure Qi, but even the Qi was dripping with a thick red liquid.