by Tinalynge
The Rong twins both quickly settled their duels within few seconds as their opponents forfeited after only three attacks each, and something similar happened to Gao Yan.
Ma Kong had a little more trouble in his fight, and he ended up with a cut in his eyebrow, although he still pulled off a first round win.
Deng Wu was not up by the time Hui Yue had fought his first match.
Hui Yue stepped up on the stage and he felt completely calm. The person in front of him was three years older and his physique was much larger, however, for the audience it was obvious that, while one was calm as ice, the other was sweating and looked as if he was very worried about the fight that was about to commence.
The audience was stupefied. It was obvious that Hui Yue was at a disadvantage so why would the teachers look at his opponent with pity, and the boy look that scared?
The answer was quickly given. As soon as the bell rang the older boy scuttled towards him, his eyes widened incredibly and light grey Qi gathered around a fist which was being thrown at Hui Yue
Hui Yue stood still for a bit before he snorted. Qi rushed through his meridians and activated Velocity Flow, allowing him to dodge without any trouble.
After dodging, Hui Yue kept observing as his opponent stumbled and almost fell in front of him, however, Hui Yue did not take advantage of this mishap, but instead waited for the boy to come at him once again.
Fist after fist was thrown his way, and Hui Yue kept retreating, not allowing the forceful fist to even hit the corner of his clothes. Disdain was evident within his eyes.
Hui Yue was capable of knocking this guy unconscious within a second, however, he kept remembering what had happened last time he used his skill on Shan Ping, and although he did not feel any guilt, he still did not wish for his first kill to be some random accident within the tournament.
After dodging for ten minutes, Hui Yue had finally given up being patient. His hope had been that his opponent would forfeit when he saw how inferior he was, however, that had not happened, and Hui Yue had no other option than to take action.
Pearl white Qi gathered at his hand as he vanished into thin air, only to appear behind his opponent, much like he had done with Shan Ping, however, this time he did not target the temple, instead he gave a light tap on the back of the neck, causing the young man to pass out.
The teachers were shaking their heads, recognizing the exact same skills as those he had used before, and although they were excited to see them again, they knew that Hui Yue had been incredibly lenient towards his current opponent.
The audience, however, was shocked. All of them had expected the older boy to mop the floor with Hui Yue or at least win effortlessly, but when they saw how the movement skill was activated and the purity of the younger boy’s Qi, all of them gasped in surprise, thinking that they had found an unheard of genius.
What puzzled them in turn was that neither students nor teachers seemed to be shocked by this scene, causing their excitement to dim slightly. Although it was a new genius, it was highly likely that some families had already reeled him in.
The first within their group of six to be eliminated was Deng Wu. Although he was capable of fighting just fine, even with his suppressed cultivation base, he quickly chose to forfeit.
This was not due to him handing the win over to his opponent on a silver platter, no, Deng Wu would never have to stoop to such a level, nor was it because he thought he would lose the match.
The reason for Deng Wu to forfeit turned out to be Rong Xing. How could he dare risk injury to his handsome face? An injured face was the last thing which he wished to show Rong Xing.
After Deng Wu had finished his fight the six of them moved towards a stall that had been placed on campus. These stalls were mainly made for entertaining guests with alcohol and delicious food. Fortunately for these students, the academy had made no rules against the students drinking alcohol and while all the others drank chilled beer, Hui Yue stared with chagrin at his lemonade.
A sigh escaped his lips as he obediently sipped the cold and slightly acidic drink. Once again Hui Yue realised just how unfortunate it was that he had been born into the body of an infant.
‘Don’t complain about your body,’ Lan Feng chortled from within their shared body, ‘how would you feel if you ended up within one of those useless commoners out there? Huh? It would be terrible if we could not build a proper foundation.’
Hui Yue smiled wryly, knowing that the phoenix was right, but there were still certain limitations hard to live with.
‘Don’t worry about beer,’ Lan Feng tried to console him, ‘since we are in the body of a child it’s only natural that we love sweets, so you are able to eat more cakes than when you grow up.’
‘Right,’ Hui Yue laughed silently, ‘how could I have forgotten that you are the ever positive Lan Feng,’ Hui Yue said slightly mockingly. It was obvious that Lan Feng only approved of their appearance due to the snacks he could get to eat. He was indeed quite the beast.
“My family is very happy about the insurance idea that you shared with us,” Ma Kong suddenly spoke after taking a large gulp of his beer. “You really helped us a great deal. The old manager keeps telling me to invite you by to visit the elders. I’m not going to let you go though, they are all just trying to see if they can force you to come up with other business ideas.”
Ma Kong’s eyes were shining every time he spoke about his family. Before this insurance aspect, Ma Kong had been viewed as a gifted but only slightly above average youth who worked hard for what he wanted. At that time, he had been incredibly far away from being considered an important youth in the family as his older brother was outstanding.
Now the tides had changed. Ma Kong had been the one whom brought in the business idea of insurance, and he was also the one who had a relationship with the outstanding young boy who had thought up said idea.
The Ma family was a family which had relied heavily on merchandise and its Black Market Auction House, and as a result thereof they made it paramount to establish goodwill with experts and other families.
Ma Kong already mingled together with the heir to the position of the City Lord, the City Lord’s only daughter, a son of the Deng family leader and now this unknown young genius who had appeared out of nowhere.
When it came to connections in the younger generation of the Ma family no one was equal to Ma Kong. Unfortunately, while Ma Kong did have the connections he lacked a certain trait of ruthlessness needed when operating a business. All of Ma Kong’s positive sides were not able to make up for the lack of ruthlessness, however, that was all in the past.
The new branch of the Ma family business which focused on insurance was already such a major branch that although it could not rival the Black Market Auction House, it was still following behind it in terms of profit.
Unfortunately, although the profits were right behind the Black Market Auction House it was also riskier, and currently the profit was frozen until a certain amount of money had been accumulated. Enough money to ensure that the insurance pay-outs would be covered.
What made Hui Yue laugh was that the one time he had gone to visit the office which dealt with the insurance, he had seen how the office workers did everything they could to find loopholes in order to not pay out the insurance. This was in every way similar to what he was used to from his old world, and it made him feel a tinge of nostalgia.
A big smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he listened to Ma Kong rambling on about the insurance and his family. Ma Kong was very much like Rong Xing and usually he would be quiet and stand back while observing the surroundings. Other times he would show a polite smile and listen to the others talk, but ever since Hui Yue had increased his family’s revenue, Ma Kong would always get engrossed whenever the subject was about insurance or Hui Yue; his usually calm and collected personality would change into that of a talkative and energized youth.
Hui Yue smiled politely. The subject had been brought up too often f
or his liking and although the first couple of times had made him pleased and feel important, it quickly got uncomfortable to be praised constantly.
“Deng Wu,” Hui Yue suddenly said in an attempt to change the subject, “you are cheap for quitting the tournament with such a silly reason,”
Although this was an attempt to change the subject it was also something that had allowed Hui Yue some time to ponder upon his own question. Even if Deng Wu was supposed to hide his real strength, he had previously participated in tournaments and duels for the sake of gaining a top mountain courtyard.
Hui Yue felt as if Deng Wu had a secret agenda, yet no matter what he thought of, it was impossible for him to think of what reason it might be.
“My reasoning is one only adults like me can understand,” Deng Wu said with a dramatic voice, one hand on his chest and the other swung into the air, making a gesture that suggested that he was indeed such an adult.
“Right, perverts,” Hui Yue harrumphed, looking like anything but a ten-year-old boy. His eyes were filled with intelligence, which did not suit his age, and all the naivety which should be present was erased by a flash of cunningness.
Deng Wu sighed as he looked into these intelligent eyes and felt a shiver run down his spine. Knowing Hui Yue’s secret and his combat abilities, Deng Wu would never underestimate this little silver monster that was running rampant in front of him in the shell of a child.
“I am no pervert, just a romantic,” Deng Wu candidly explained with an expression of dread on his face that left everyone at the table gobsmacked, squeezing a stare at him to ascertain whether or not he was joking.
Chapter 33 - Apology
* * *
Chapter 33: Apology
Deng Wu was looking at all of them with the serenity of a newborn kitten. The words he had spoken came from his heart. Although what he said came off as perfectly natural to him, all the others suddenly had an unexplainable urge to vomit and laugh at the same time.
Hui Yue, who, from the youngsters in their group, knew Deng Wu the best, gaped at his friend with the corners of his eyes trembling in confusion. This boy, without a doubt the strongest student within the Riluo City Royal Academy, had forfeited a fight for the sake of sparing his handsome face from potential mutilation.
Suddenly, a laughter escaped his lips as he helplessly gave in to the comical aspect of the whole situation; within a few seconds, everyone else at the table followed suit.
“What are you laughing at?” Deng Wu said indignantly while scrunching up his brows, looking at the others with displeasure. “Do you think that our group’s beauty should get married to a scarred man? No? I didn’t think so. She needs me to stay handsome, besides, why should I partake in a tournament I cannot win either way?”
There was some truth to what Deng Wu said. As long as he did not unravel his real potential or use the high ranked martial art skill Hui Yue gave him, then he had no way of winning this tournament.
Although Deng Wu was higher ranked than Hui Yue, his Qi purity was still inferior, and while Hui Yue had no reason to hold back with some of his martial art skills, Deng Wu could not afford to deploy them. The two of them were in polar opposite situations.
Hui Yue had decided that this year would be the year where he held nothing back. He would not be satisfied until he had defeated Wang Ju Long and proven his superiority to the child-prodigy of the Wang family.
Even if some families were to be interested in Hui Yue, he did not pose any real threat to them, as he was not currently born to a family within the city. The only available information about him was that he had an erased past, meaning he had some sort of unique relationship with the City Lord.
Having a relationship with the City Lord, in turn, meant that he was already reeled in by said man’s faction; although it could cause the opposing faction to create an accident for him, it was highly unlikely with his erased past. No one could know whether it was erased for the sake of covering up a murder or for the sake of hiding a prince.
The likelihood of Hui Yue being a prince was tremendously low, but so in turn was the chance of him being a murderer, causing everyone to be extra alert when they were to deal with this mystery of a genius.
“I am pretty excited about tomorrow,” Rong Ming suddenly said, while his eyes were glistening and a big smile spread across his face, “Me and sis are in the same group, imagine if we were to be put against each other.”
While this seemed like a silly excitement for others, Hui Yue and the rest understood what Rong Ming meant.
Although Rong Ming was seeded higher than Rong Xing at the tournament, all of them had the impression that Rong Xing was actually the stronger of the two. Rong Xing was mysterious. She was almost always seen with a gentle smile, seated slightly back and observing her friends while they were conversing.
It was rare for her to partake in the conversations, but at the same time it felt as if she was a part of everything that was said.
Rong Xing was often sparring together with Rong Ming, and it was usually Rong Ming who had the upper hand, even so, no one had ever seen Rong Xing go all out in her attempt to defeat anyone else, nor had she ever seemed troubled during her sparring sessions.
The student emblem did not record which combatant spent the most of their energy, instead it recorded the winners and losers; the seeded students were ranked based on these results.
“If you are to go up against Rong Xing you have to forfeit!” Deng Wu said with terror in his voice as he looked at Rong Xing with worried eyes, “How in the world would you be able to hit a woman – and your sister, at that?!”
“You know,” Ma Kong suddenly said with his deep, calm voice, “I think Rong Xing prefers a scarred man who has the courage to face his opponents over a handsome playboy who flees at the thought of injury.”
This was said with a slight smirk on his face; it was clear that he enjoyed riling up Deng Wu. As soon as the words had been said, Deng Wu’s eyes widened in dread and he glanced at Rong Xing tentatively.
Her smile was the exact same as before, but her eyes were shining in a different light. How could she not know that Ma Kong was trying to rile up Deng Wu?
“It is true,” she said as she pouted her red lips slightly. “If you cannot face your opponents how are you to protect me in the future?”
Tears welled up within Deng Wu’s eyes as he looked at Rong Xing. A small puppy would not have managed to look more pitiful than the black-eyed youth did at that moment.
“Really?” He asked with a low and pitiful voice, causing Hui Yue to burst out laughing. His laughter was quickly followed by everyone else. Within few seconds, Deng Wu lost his devastated expression and replaced it with a self-assured smile.
“It’s fine, even if she decides not to fall for me just yet,” Deng Wu said, relaxed, as he took a large gulp of his beer, “she will realize how awesome I am one day.”
Following that, the talk returned to discussing the different opponents they could potentially face the following day, but everyone assured each other that, unlike Deng Wu, they would all do their utmost to proceed to the top eight at least.
During the entirety of the conversation, Hui Yue could not help but keep Deng Wu under his scrutiny, a twinkle in his eyes evident. This man had so many secrets, but the same time he was so open about his feelings. Hui Yue had gotten to know Deng Wu quite well through the past half a year, as none of them kept any secrets from the other. He could easily see that the black-haired youth truly cared for the ice-queen Rong Xing.
Rong Ming and Rong Xing were the first to leave. Both seemed to be tempted to return to their courtyards to have a quick spar, preparing for their matches the following day. After the departure of the Rong twins, Ma Kong decided to go to the infirmary to get something against his headache and Gao Yan followed him.
“Who do you think will win?” Deng Wu asked with a cheeky smile as he looked at the many students and visitors who were rushing by at the arena mountain top.
&n
bsp; “Me,” Hui Yue answered with no hesitation within his voice. He was ready to let everything apart from Lan Feng be known to the outside world, as long as he got to have a rematch with Wang Ju Long. That was how much he wished for this fight, and also how much he respected his rival.
“Right,” Deng Wu smiled as such an austere reply came from what was but a young child, ironically. A chuckle escaped his lips, as he thought back to the first time they met and he had tried chatting him up for the fun of it.
“You know, Rong Xing will most likely choose me,” Hui Yue said with a devilish gleam evident within his eyes. “She’ve even seen me naked before, she ought to take responsibility.”
After finishing the sentence, Hui Yue had rushed to his feet and was already running towards his own courtyard, leaving behind a shocked and dumbfounded Deng Wu.
