Xiao Shan was sitting cross-legged in his assigned room in the examination pagoda.
He was meditating, slowly getting a feeling for his cultivation. Right now he was at the peak of the second level of Qi Condensation.
He could feel something that could only be described as fullness. His body did not absorb any more spiritual energy. He felt that the areas where his qi circulated were starting to swell.
He contemplated what to do. Break through right now? Wait until the examination was done?
Xiao Shan did not know how many rounds the examination would take. When he asked Bao Tie, he said that the fights go on until the elder group finds at least three disciples worthy of promoting. It could be a couple or it could be tens of rounds. It depended on one's performance and the talent pool of the batch.
Xiao Shan frowned. It seemed like he had no control or way of knowing when he would finish. As he pondered the risk of breakthrough, his token started to vibrate, calling him for the next round.
He went out of the room. Bao Tie was standing outside with his arms crossed. He opened his eyes and gave Xiao Shan a profound look. "Being too timid will do you no good. If you think you are weak, you'll be weak." Then he assented with his head, signaling to Xiao Shan to go ahead.
Xiao Shan walked to the arena. He thought on Bao Tie's last words. They resonated, but he couldn't figure out how.
Finally, he entered the arena. His opponent this time was not present, only the elder waiting in the middle.
Xiao Shan stood waiting for his opponent. A door opened with a creaking sound, revealing a young man dressed in light blue robes. His figure was tall and handsome, his face refined and noble.
His hair was bundled by a small copper crown adorned with blue accents. His face expressionless, he looked down on Xiao Shan.
This was Fenghuang Qing!
The elders at the arena balcony discussed amongst themselves. "I still cannot understand what is the need for the Fenghuang heir to participate in this. With his status, he should be a core disciple under the sect ancestor itself!" said an elder while frowning. "This junior is extremely stubborn and wants to do things this way. Ah, his family spoils him by allowing him to do this."
"It seems like he even restarted his cultivation just to participate," said Elder Meng as other elders discussed.
Elder Zhang was sitting in a corner with a sneer. "That Xiao junior will get what he deserves. If he is lucky, he may only leave with his cultivation wasted."
Back in the arena, the elder politely greeted Fenghuang Qing and then ordered the match to start.
Fenghuang Qing crossed his arms as he looked at Xiao Shan, his eyes cold but emotionless.
Xiao Shan frowned. He had a hard time getting a feel for his opponent's cultivation. He also couldn't read him clearly. It was the first opponent that was waiting for him to make a move rather than attacking.
Xiao Shan and Fenghuang Qing stared at each other. The arena was so quiet that whispers from above could be noticed. Xiao Shan tensed up as he readied himself for anything.
His opponent frowned. "It seems like you don't want to take the initiative even when I gave it to you as a handicap." He lowered his arms and pointed with his left hand. "Very well then."
As he finished speaking those words, Xiao Shan's pupils shrank. He barely was able to notice a blink, a shadow moving out from his opponent's side.
He jumped to the side as he slapped his bag of holding to get the flying dagger. However, he was a bit too slow, and an injury appeared on his left side. The gash was superficial, but Xiao Shan felt that if he had been a little slower to react, he would have been seriously injured.
He immediately commanded his dagger behind him as he intercepted the shadow. A crisp sound rang as the dagger hit what was now visible as a flying sword.
The flying sword easily pushed back the flying dagger, slashing at Xiao Shan again.
Xiao Shan gritted his teeth as he tried to evade the sword. However, at most he could only avoid serious injury. His body started to accumulate cuts. The bleeding started to change his torn robes red.
He took the dagger and tried to parry, but the sword slashes were heavy. Every slash radiated a sharp aura that threatened to cut Xiao Shan down.
Fenghuang Qing stood in the same spot, focused on controlling the sword. But suddenly he flashed an incantation with his right hand. This caused a fierce wind to rotate around Xiao Shan, throwing him out of balance.
Xiao Shan gritted his teeth as the sword lunged at him. He lunged at the sword too! His left arm got stabbed by the sword, but he was able to hold it tight, immobilizing it for a moment.
This moment was crucial as he also sent the dagger flying at his opponent inconspicuously. The dagger flew out to attack Fenghuang Qing. However, he blocked it with his bare hands.
The dagger stabbed fiercely into Fenghuang Qing, making him bleed. He frowned as his hands seemed to emit a faint soft blue light. He threw the dagger back and made a cutting motion with his hand.
A fierce and sharp aura appeared along the side of his hand. As he slashed down, it manifested as a ray of energy that fiercely moved at Xiao Shan. This was Sword Energy!
The sword energy arrived at Xiao Shan, who could only try to block with his dagger while he let go of the flying sword.
The impact of the sword energy slammed him into the wall of the arena. He fell to the floor, bleeding, seemingly unconscious.
Fenghuang Qing pulled back his flying sword. He was ready to leave the arena when his eyes narrowed.
Xiao Shan was standing up. However, his aura started to rise violently. His body emitted thin white mist. With a loud thrum, Xiao Shan spat a mouthful of black blood. He cleaned his mouth as he stood up. His body started to feel light and full of energy. His injuries were suppressed.
Fenghuang Qing's mouth fell. For a moment, he was incredulous of what was happening, but then he started to laugh. A smile crossed his face. "Excellent! This is how it should be! To break through in the middle of battle, cultivators should be fearless!"
Xiao Shan was startled by the sudden change in his enemy. However, he had no time to think. He had to go all out if he wanted to win.
He rushed at his opponent while throwing his dagger. His opponent sent the flying sword, but this time the impact between them sent both flying. They were closely matched!
As this happened, Xiao Shan slapped his bag of holding. After seeing the sword energy, he had an idea. He pointed at his opponent.
Fenghuang Qing's pupils shrank as he was using the sword energy move. His hand got blocked as a metallic sound rang. It was a second dagger!
However, this dagger was not just a flying dagger. It radiated a sharp aura. This bounced off, blocking the sword energy attack.
Xiao Shan moved in to attack in close quarters. He sent his other dagger to block the flying sword.
As he closed in, he threw a few punches with his left hand. His opponent easily blocked. After that, Xiao Shan thrust his right hand in a stabbing motion, hitting his opponent in the abdomen.
His right hand contained the sharp aura of the dagger. It pushed Fenghuang Qing several steps back, who was quickly doing a single-handed incantation while wiping the blood coming out of his mouth.
Xiao Shan called the daggers back. With one in each hand, he jumped back, wary of the flying sword.
Fenghuang finished his incantation, and a whirlwind appeared behind him, sending streams of sharp air at Xiao Shan, who concentrated his energy on the daggers, blocking the wind.
However, at this time, the sword flashed by. It seemed like it missed stabbing him from the back. However, it came to his opponent, who grabbed it.
Fenghuang Qing closed on Xiao Shan, lifting his sword in a chopping motion. Xiao Shan's scalp felt like it was going to explode from the feeling of danger. He flashed a double incantation imitating Bao Tie. A small flame appeared in front of him. Xiao Shan knew this was mainly imitation, so he couldn't make a full flame phoenix.
He viciously pointed at the flame. "Explode!" This caused the flame to gush all over the arena with a loud explosion.
Fenghuang Qing was pushed back with burning injuries, while Xiao Shan was on the floor.
Xiao Shan painstakingly stood up. His body was filled with injuries he could no longer suppress. However, he was unwilling to give up. He gritted his teeth as he tried to force his body to move. At this point, his eyes were cloudy, and hints of purple flashed by.
He roared as he jumped at his opponent, ignoring his own injuries. He slashed with both hands, producing rays of dagger energy which stabbed his opponent like needles.
Fenghuang gasped as Xiao Shan intercepted his flying sword, forcibly taking it to lunge at him.
However, Fenghuang's eyes did not show panic. He had already finished pouring all his energy into a spell and was ready to use it.
But a voice rumbled from above. "Stop!" The elder descended, using the pressure of his Foundation Establishment cultivation to force them to stop.
The elder looked at both participants as they stood motionless under the pressure. As he let go, he gave the results.
"The winner of this round is disciple Fenghuang Qing."
Fenghuang looked at Xiao Shan meaningfully. Xiao Shan was already unconscious, but his body was still standing, unyielding.