"Flaming Metal Fists!" Zhao Feng casually waved his fist.
The moment he used his fist skill the expression of the judge on the seventh stage changed. This was because Zhao Feng was using a core rank martial art skill!
Peh!
As they exchanged blows the slightly fat youth went flying.
"Number one hundred and eighty-eight wins!" the judge said. Because Zhao Feng's opponent was not strong, he did not receive much attention.
"Hmph! This kid is so arrogant, using a core rank martial art!" the disciples below sniggered.
"Number one hundred and eighty-eight vs. number sixty-six!" Soon, it was Zhao Feng's time to go up again.
There was a rule in each group: once one lost a total of ten matches, one was eliminated. The matches would not stop until there were only ten people left.
But, if one could win twenty matches in a row one would automatically be promoted to the second round.
Zhao Feng's second match was against a horse-faced youth who had a cultivation at the peak of the second rank.
"Flaming Metal Fist!" Zhao Feng did not even think as he hit the vital parts of the opponent.
Peh!
The horse-faced youth cringed as he fell head over heels to the ground.
"He used a core rank martial art again!" The Zhao sect disciples looked on disdainfully.
"Number one hundred and eighty-eight wins!"
This was already Zhao Feng's second victory. However, for the next two matches, Zhao Feng still used the core rank martial art.
Four wins in a row!
"This brat's way too arrogant! Does he think he is unbeatable by using a core rank martial art?"
"Hmph! His opponents aren't even strong! Once he faces someone of the same rank it won't be that easy!" the disciples below sniggered.
"Number one hundred and eighty-eight vs. number forty-seven!" Finally, at the fifth round, Zhao Feng's opponent was someone of the third rank, who also ranked in the top five in his group.
"Zhao Kui! Beat that kid!" someone shouted. Many were already dissatisfied with Zhao Feng.
"Kid, this is as far as you go." Zhao Kui's muscular body stood in front. His immense strength was all compacted in his muscles. He normally just had to stand there and the second rankers would admit defeat due to the pressure.
There were a total of around sixty people who had reached the third rank amongst the outer disciples. Therefore, a third rank was considered to be powerful in the groups.
"Use all of your skills," Zhao Feng faintly smiled, he did not put normal third rankers in his eyes.
"Hahaha…if you've got guts, keep on using that core rank martial art!" Zhao Kui laughed and, like a lion, pounced towards Zhao Feng.
"Lion King's Anger!" Zhao Kui compacted all of his strength into his body. Most peak third rankers would not even face off against him.
"Hehe, not bad! See if you can block my move, Flaming Metal Fist!" Zhao Feng still used core level martial arts!
Flaming Metal Fist again? The disciples watching almost fainted.
Hu!
A loud thump sounded from the seventh stage, and a scream soon followed.
Boom!
Zhao Kui's massive body lay on the ground, with a few of his teeth broken.
What!? The crowd below stared at this scene.
"Number one hundred and eighty-eight wins!" Even the judge felt that it was unbelievable. He again won with a core rank martial art!
Five wins in a row!
This was slapping the disciples' faces on purpose.
"Core rank martial art…how is this possible…?" Zhao Kui walked off stage, his face green.
After beating Zhao Kui, Zhao Feng's matches became easier.
Five wins…six wins...seven wins in a row! All those under the third rank admitted defeat when they saw him. The only other person with the same record as him in group seven was Zhao Chengang.
"It looks like this kid has trained the core ranked martial art to the peak level, no wonder it is so powerful. Hehe wait until you meet me, then I'll let you have a taste of high-level martial art skills…" Zhao Chengang laughed coldly.
Zhao Feng and Zhao Chengang had become known as the ‘Duo Eagles' of the seventh stage, as they both had not lost one match yet.
Seven wins… eight wins… nine wins… ten wins in a row!
"Who do you think is stronger? Zhao Feng or Zhao Chengang?"
"I think Zhao Chengang is a bit stronger, but Zhao Feng is not weak either, he is a black horse."
They had two people with the same streak, unlike the other groups where there was just a single dominant figure. For example, all the opponents Zhao Yue and Zhao Yijian faced all conceded.
Zhao Yijian's strength was too powerful. Every move he took could kill his opponent. Only group seven had the ‘Duo Eagles.' Many were excited and looked forward to the clash between Zhao Feng and Zhao Chengang.
In Zhao Feng's twelfth match, he met a familiar person. It was Zhao Xue!
This was an awkward opponent for him. "Little Xue, admit defeat," Zhao Feng said calmly.
Zhao Xue had barely managed to reach the peak of the second rank; she obviously wasn't his match. Even Zhao Yijian, who was in group two, looked over to see what was going on.
"Admit defeat? Never!" Zhao Xue bit her lip as her expression turned stubborn. She would never allow herself to admit defeat in front of Zhao Feng.
When they were at Green Leaf Village, Zhao Xue had loved Zhao Feng, thinking he was the most talented youth there was. However, after entering Sun Feather City, she realized that Green Leaf Village was so tiny in comparison…
Being a weak young woman, she could not adapt to the cruel new environment, so she made a hard decision – to climb onto Zhao Yijian who was ranked third. Zhao Xue would never allow herself to admit defeat to her first love that she had thrown away.
"Fine!" Zhao Feng shook his head helplessly.
"Floating Wind Hand!" Zhao Xue was like a wind that merged into that palm and came straight towards Zhao Feng's head. Floating Wind Hand was a martial art skill at the peak of the middle rank and was suitable for women as it used softness to break hardness.
In terms of martial art skill rank, Floating Wind Hand was the same as Angry Dragon Fists, but it could restrain the latter from using its fullest potential, and even restrain Flaming Metal Fists, as well.
"Flaming Metal Fist!" Zhao Feng did not move and simply threw out a punch.
Pah!
The fist and palm intertwined together.
Suddenly Zhao Xue groaned and started to fall.
Ai!
Zhao Feng gently sighed and tried to help Zhao Xue stabilize. After all,…they had grown up together, and he could not bear to see her being injured.
"Pointed Wind Finger!" The moment Zhao Feng held Zhao Xue, the latter's eyes flashed coldly and her jade-like fingers sliced at Zhao Feng's chest.
This scene caused many disciples to scream in fear. At such a close distance, Zhao Feng could not dodge at all.
"Hmph!" Zhao Feng expression turned angry, and his body suddenly burst with power, sending Zhao Xue flying.
Plop!
Zhao Xue screamed and spat out a mouthful of blood as she landed on the ground.
"Number one hundred and eighty-eight wins," the judge said while looking disdainfully at Zhao Xue. It was obvious Zhao Xue's actions did not please him.
"Xue'er!" Zhao Yijian came running over.
Zhao Feng coldly walked down the stage. He had never thought that Zhao Xue would attack him under those conditions.
"Kid…we'll meet later on! I'll give you a personal experience of shame!" Zhao Yijian coldly said.
"I'll be waiting." Zhao Feng turned and left without bothering to look at Zhao Xue.
He then heard Zhao Xue say in the background, "Brother Jian you have got to take revenge for me…"
After beating Zhao Xue, Zhao Feng had won twelv
e matches.
Twelve wins…thirteen wins…fourteen wins in a row! Zhao Feng's record steadily increased.
His core ranked fist skill wiped out everyone opposite him on the seventh stage. Only Zhao Chengang in the seventh stage still, had the same record as him.
"There are still six matches left until I can enter the next round."
At the fifteenth round, Zhao Feng met Zhao Chengang who was ranked first in the group. The Duo Eagles were now facing each other! The atmosphere on the seventh stage had reached a climax!
"They are finally meeting each other!" As they grew more excited, the disciples of the seventh stage all let out deep breaths. Even some of the contestants from the other stages looked over at the seventh stage in anticipation of the fight.
The judge of the seventh stage let out a smile.
"Kid, I've finally met you. If you've got skill, then keep using your core rank fist skill." Zhao Chengang licked his lips as his eyes showed a tinge of playfulness.
Regarding strength, Zhao Chengang was ranked in the top ten amongst the outer disciples and had learned high ranked martial arts, three ranks higher than core rank martial arts.
"Why not? I will keep on using my core rank fist skill," Zhao Feng agreed calmly.
What! He was still going to use the core rank fist skill? The crowd all inhaled cold breaths.
"Did this kid eat the wrong medicine?"
"Way too arrogant! Does he think that, just by using a core rank fist skill alone, he can beat the whole group?"
"Still…still using a core rank fist skill?" The judge's face twitched. Even from the judge's point of view, he thought that Zhao Feng was acting way too arrogant!
His opponent Zhao Chengang's smile froze as if he had been slapped in the face.
Chapter 21 – Perfection
Obviously, Zhao Feng's words caused some outrage. Especially in the seventh group, almost all of them hated Zhao Feng.
"Hmph! This guy is way too arrogant."
"Zhao Chengang! Take him down!"
The disturbance caused others to look over.
"Core rank martial art? That is a bit interesting," a quiet girl smiled as she looked on with interest. She was Zhao Qin, who was ranked fourth amongst the inner disciples. Being an inner disciple, Zhao Qin did not need to enter the preliminaries. With her cultivation, she could beat everyone present. Even when compared to Zhao Yue, their difference was too large.
"Fine…fine…fine! I will see…how strong your core ranked martial art is!" Zhao Chengang's face was deadly. His opponent's words were slapping his face!
"Flowing Wind Fist!" Zhao Chengang pushed down his anger and used the high-rank skill Flowing Wind Fist. This fist skill used strength and speed to overpower the opponent. Its attack was like a raging storm.
Zhao Chengang's strength was well within the crowd's expectations. His power was approaching that of a quasi Martial Artist and did not disappoint them. However, most of them were more focused on Zhao Feng. Facing the outer disciple ranked seventh, would he still use core rank martial arts?
Zhao Feng used his actions to prove what he said.
"Flaming Metal Fist!" The simple punch gave off a red glow.
It was core martial arts again!
"It is Flaming Metal Fist again!"
"He is still using core rank martial arts?" The Zhao sect disciples were shocked. A lot of them had thought that Zhao Feng was just joking and that he wasn't going to do it.
However, the truth was, he was even crazier than expected!
"Kid, fall!" Zhao Chengang's eyes were spitting fire as his two fists came crushing towards Zhao Feng. The power contained inside his fists made many Zhao sect disciples shout out.
"Normal third rank cultivators won't even be able to take this one punch."
"Not bad, his Flowing Wind Fists has reached the low level, it is obvious that he has trained hard!" Even some of the older generation nodded their heads.
Peh!
The two figures clashed together, fist against fist.
"Go down!" Zhao Chengang pushed his Flowing Wind Fist to the max. If he used a high-rank martial art and couldn't take down Zhao Feng in two or three moves, then how would he be able to get a foot in amongst the top ten outer disciples?
"Open!" Zhao Feng was calm. His fists seemed to be alive and easily blocked Zhao Chengang's fist.
Boom!
The burn on Zhao Chengang's fist made his hand go numb as he was pushed back two steps, while Zhao Feng only trembled, but did not move.
"How is this possible?" Zhao Chengang was shocked. He had thought that he could take down Zhao Feng in one punch, but in reality, he was casually blocked by a core ranked martial art!
"What is going on!" The Zhao sect disciples around paused.
"I do not believe it…it was an accident! It accidentally hit the weakness of my move!" Zhao Chengang howled as he again pounced forwards using Flowing Wind Fist.
Pah!
Once again Zhao Chengang was pushed back. Although the first two moves were even, Zhao Chengang was constrained.
"It really is a core martial art skill… How did he do that?"
"How can a core rank martial art gain the upper hand while facing a high-rank martial art?"
The Zhao sect disciples were confused.
One move… two moves… three moves… Every time, Zhao Chengang was pushed back.
When two people of the same rank fought, it was normal to have one side gain the upper hand. However, using a core rank martial art while fighting against a high-rank martial art was unheard of. What was going on?
Zhao Chengang turned crazy as he used all of his power.
Many looked towards the judge and the older generation of the sect.
"Zhao Feng's battle awareness and skill far surpasses Zhao Chengang's," the judge said uncertainly. His analysis didn't satisfy the people.
"Hehe, this kid has trained a core ranked skill to perfection," an old voice sounded from the center of the crowd. It was an old man who had a white beard. It was the contest's main judge.
Perfection?
A few judges quickly nodded their heads. Everyone knew that the higher the skill level, the more damage was dealt. However, this was not the case for everything!
For example, when one trained a low-rank martial art to the high level, and another trained a high-rank skill to the low level, the high-rank martial art would not be as powerful as the low-rank martial art.
Normally, the levels were: beginner, low, high and peak level. Peak level meant that it had reached 90 percent or higher.
Normally, someone training a martial art to the peak level was considered very rare. However, peak level did not mean that it was the final limit. Above peak level was perfection! Perfection meant that the skill had been trained to at least 99 percent of its fullest potential. It could be said that it could not get any better.
"Although it seems like there is a small difference between perfection and the peak level, the gap is insanely huge! The difference is even bigger than the difference between the low level and the high level!" the main judge smiled faintly.
"But even so, Zhao Feng should only be able to fight on par against Zhao Chengang." One martial artist still did not understand.
After all, high ranked martial art skills were three levels higher than core ranked martial art skills, and Zhao Chengang had trained the high-rank martial art to the low level.
"You are right! The highest level of a core rank martial art can barely fight on par with the low level of a high-rank martial art. But as you can see, Zhao Feng's body strength, reaction speed, battle awareness, and so forth all far exceed that of Zhao Chengang's," the main judge praised. Through his explanation the crowd now fully understood.
Just at this moment, the battle on the seventh stage was changing.
"Zhao Feng's starting to attack now!"
"Oh my god! What a fast speed!"
Peh!
Pah! Beng…
The audience's eyes were attracted to the seventh stage, only to see Zhao Feng's defense turn into offense. His fists had already surpassed the realm of what Flaming Metal Fists could achieve.
His speed and power all struck at his opponent's weaknesses. Zhao Chengang, who was in a frenzied state, instantly faltered and was hit by one of Zhao Feng's punches.
Pah—
Zhao Chengang screamed as his shoulder was ripped out of its socket.
"Number 188 wins!" the judge of the seventh declared hurriedly as he let out a breath.
Hua!
The seventh group went into an uproar.
"Zhao Feng beat Zhao Chengang by only using a core ranked martial art!"
"Unbelievable! Zhao Chengang was ranked first in the group…"
Zhao Feng won had won his fifteenth match. This meant that he was now the strongest in group seven.
At this moment Zhao Yue, Zhao Yijian, and Zhao Yufei all looked over.
"Perfection? When the martial artist held the lecture, I felt all the moves of Flaming Metal Fist disappear from my mind…this is probably why" Zhao Feng finally understood.
When he came back from the lecture, he felt that his core ranked martial art had reached a peak, where it could fight against quasi Martial Artists. And Zhao Chengang's strength had only barely reached that of a quasi Martial Artist.
"Not bad. It looks like the outer disciples have a black horse," the main judge smiled.
"Core rank martial art…although he has trained it to the highest level, he will still lose against my son Zhao Yijian. After all, core ranked martial arts are just core ranked!" a middle-aged man faintly smiled.
"Oh?" The main judge sent an interested look towards the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man was Zhao Yijian's father. The middle-aged man laughed as his eyes glanced towards Zhao Yijian with a confident expression.
"True…the potential of core ranked martial arts are limited…Zhao Feng must have spent a lot of time and effort to train it to perfection, which means that he would not have much time left to train in other skills…so unfortunate," the main judge spoke and shook his head.
"Hmph! The perfection of a core ranked martial art?" Zhao Yijian looked mockingly at Zhao Feng. In his eyes, core ranked martial arts were rubbish.
King of Gods - (A Chinese Novel Translation): Book 1 Page 12
