It had been three days ever since Cheng Hao had entered secluded meditation: respecting her brother's wishes, Xiao Wu had been diligently training the Purple Qi from the East every day at dawn, practiced Split Cultivation in the afternoon and also kept challenging other disciples with her identity as the Blue-Robed Night Challenger during the night.
Right at that moment, the sun had just gone over the horizon and there were still a few bright colors in the sky.
Seeing that, Xiao Wu removed her sect robes and put on her blue robes as well as the mask that she had hidden under her pillow.
As soon as the bright light in the sky disappeared and her surroundings grew dark, she ran out of the house at the quickest speed she could muster and went to challenge her first target for the night.
She ran for twenty minutes at full speed until she reached a solitary hut. The number was hut #182645. She had left a challenge letter here a few nights ago and tonight it was time to keep true to her word.
She stopped a few meters from the door and waited. As soon as the first few stars came up, a young man walked out from the house. He was in his late teens, had a muscular body and carried an heavy battle-axe. His cultivation was not that good, being at Mid level Inferior stage, but he was the perfect opponent for Xiao Wu.
Seeing that the figure in the blue robe was wearing a hood and the mask covered his face, the man couldn't make any guesses about his identity.
"I apologize in advance for any trouble I might cause to you" the figure in the blue robe bowed respectfully. Seeing that, the man's expression warmed up and he also saluted.
Seeing that the other was polite and as he had already decided to accept the challenge, even if only to give his own judgement on this 'Night Challenger', he was going to try his best during this fight also to show his respect towards the opponent.
"I also do. I wish you luck in our fight" the man removed the battle-axe from his shoulders and firmly grasped the handle as he breathed in and out regularly from his mouth. A faint white mist began to appear around the axe's edge...
Seeing this, Xiao Wu smiled kindly beneath her mask. As this man was going to comply with her terms she couldn't be more happy and seeing such a polite teen she also decided to give it her all in this fight, so as not to dishonor him.
She apparently did not have any weapon and, seeing that, the boy was stunned for a bit.
He was about to awkwardly put the battle-axe away as well when... *Clang!*
Suddenly, something hit the edge of his weapon's blade, dispersing the white mist.
The blue figure had charged with extreme speed towards him, not leaving him a chance to counterattack!
Floating behind her were one shield and one blade: one white and one black, they charged together towards the youth with the battle-axe and he had to use the weapon to protect himself.
The girl mover her right hand and, following the movement, the Black Dragon Sword let out a shrill cry as it charged towards the youth. The boy was able to lift his weapon barely enough to block the blow but he lost his balance at the same time.
'Does he control these things just by moving his hands?' The man was astonished: although the blue robed night challenger had a cultivation base similar to his own, there was still this much of a difference! Were those two objects some kind of treasure?
Xiao Wu wasn't concerned that the youth had parried her first blow as she jumped over him, throwing a punch with her left towards his back.
Seeing that, the youth turned to parry the blow and was about to counterattack when horror filled his face: the white shield had appeared, protecting the girl from his attack.
The positioning of the shield was such that it stopped him from blocking her own strike.
As he saw her right hand moving, he shivered as he guessed that the hovering Black Dragon Sword at that very moment was right behind him, about to pierce his flesh...
At that he closed his eyes and waited for the two blows to connect.
He stayed like that for two breaths before realizing that the strikes were stopped. The hand was about to hit his abdomen and the black blade had also made a small cut on his neck but the blows had both stopped before inflicting any serious wound.
The Sword and Shield moved back behind Xiao Wu as she also retracted her right and left arm.
The man bowed happily "I thank senior for your guidance and for giving me a chance at life! Is it possible to know senior's name?" The man asked hopefully.
Xiao Wu's pristine laugh came out and she spoke "If I could give my name away, I wouldn't wear a mask, don't you think? Also you should not call me senior, I am younger than you by quite a bit. If you want to know a name, then I will tell you the name of a person you should never offend and instead befriend at all costs. Remember the name Cheng Hao. Remember it and if you become stronger, come seek him, I will be there!"
The man bowed once again, his mind roaring 'Cheng Hao? Who could he be, I never heard of him...'
He was about to ask again, however when he lifted his head he saw that the blue robed figure had already disappeared.
Seeing that, flames of determination blazed in his pupils as he immediately picked up his axe and began to train again 'For a person as powerful as this 'night challenger' to respect someone so much he must be an outstanding person. If he participates in this year's Outer Sect Exam then he will most likely be there, I wonder if I will be able to see him... I really am curios as to what he will look like!'
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Aaaaaah! Back to training!" The sound of an axe cutting through the wind could be heard as the youth began to swing the axe as fast as he could...
...
Xiao Wu's next stop was an house ten minutes from the previous one. She once again stopped in front of an hut, hut #82628, and waited patiently.
After a few more minutes a man in his late years came out. He was about to turn eighty and he had decided to come to this Sect after his friends had congratulated his strength and had suggested to join some kind of School or Sect to enhance his cultivation.
Unfortunately for him, unless he had a cultivation of the Superior stage or higher, the Sect would pay no mind to an old man like him and, since he was still only at the low level Basic stage, he did not have much hope for his future.
The old man was not arrogant and saluted the blue robed figure just like the young man did. After all, to fight a mysterious expert was a rare chance and if he lost nobody would be there to laugh about it so it was a win-win situation!
The man didn't carry any weapon and instead used a mysterious technique called the Five Flashes Claws: he had found a tome containing it laying in a cave and had attempted to train it.
However, he couldn't unlock the technique's full potential even after so many years. A waste of potential: had it been handed to some genius of the current generation, he might have rocked the world!
Xiao Wu had already done some researching prior to the fight and thus she knew the man didn't use any kind of weapon when he fought.
As she knew that, she did not summon the white shield and black sword and instead called out... the Purple Moon! Her second Martial Way orbited around her body.
In the few days she had absorbed the Purple Qi from the East, she had noticed that whenever she took out the Purple Moon, her five senses would be enhanced. From that, she also came to guess that the next secret Scripture Cheng Hao was going to tell her would also be related to the five senses.
After the Purple Moon appeared she took her stance, with her left arm behind her back and her feet forming a ninety degree angle. Just as she did, the old man also finished his preparations: his right hand rose and each finger lit up, the pinky finger being the darkest and the middle finger being the brightest.
He also got into a stance. It was strange, as if his fingers were daggers or swords of some sort, yet, no matter how weird it was, Xiao Wu didn't dare to underestimate it.
""Please treat me well!""
The two kicked off the ground and the battle began! The old man started with a single finger attack from his pinky but, thanks to her enhanced senses, Xiao Wu dodged to the left.
The finger passed a few inches away from her nose as she kicked with her right leg towards the man's temples.
Sensing the power of the kick, the old man frowned and decided it would be best not to attempt to block it and instead bent backwards: the kick hit only air, and he sneaked past the leg doing another finger attack to the Robed Challenger's defenceless chest.
This time he had used three fingers, so it should mean that the power had tripled! However, as each finger was almost twice as strong than the previous, it had actually increased as much as seven times!
Xiao Wu's expression grew serious as she made a single rotation of her Pseudo-Core, kicking off the air with that very leg she used to previously attack the old man: her foot seemed to have hit something solid as she was able to twist her body to the left.
She had dodged the blow and this time the old man was shocked for a second, allowing Xiao Wu to connect a fist at his left shoulder.
But being shocked was being shocked. The old man quickly got back to his senses and kicked off the ground, jumping backwards.
He could not imagine how the blue robed figure could evade the blow, but he had no time to think. He entered a new stance where the legs were aligned towards his opponent, one in front of the other. His legs bent ninety degrees and his hands turned into sharp claws.
The right hand suddenly shot out and five blinding rays of light charged towards the blue robed figure. The strength of this blow was more than thirty times the power of his first strike. Let alone defeating Xiao Wu... No, it was much more powerful than that, enough to obliterate a human body with little to no effort!
'Crap!' The old man's face changed into terror and he shouted in his mind as he realised: that attack had more than enough power to kill if it connected! He wanted to cut off the power, but it was too late! The illusory hand charged towards Xiao Wu...
Seemingly unhindered by the powerful attack from the old man, Xiao Wu rotated on her right leg, the Purple Moon shining bright and and the Pseudo-Core rotating at great speeds... And kicked off the ground!
Xiao Wu had dodged the blow! The illusory hand flying only a few breaths away from her body, she charged towards the shocked old man!
Before the man could understand what was going on, her punch was already in front of his face. It had stopped a few inches away from his nose, however it was still clear whom the winner of the duel was.
Just like before, she left behind Cheng Hao's name and then left without adding anything more.
"This junior... He said that this Cheng Hao is really outstanding, so much that his voice seemed to wander off when he spoke... I think I will take a look at this year's exam, it might just get interesting!"
Following that, five more people were challenged and lost to Xiao Wu, three high level Inferior stage disciples, one low level Basic stage disciple and a medium level Basic stage disciple.
Those who had weapon were outsmarted by her intelligent use of the unbreakable White Tree Shield and the powerful Black Dragon Sword, while those that fought without were defeated by her through the power of her hand-to-hand combat techniques along with the aid of the Purple Moon.
Of course, she restrained the aura of the Martial Ways so the people she fought mainly thought they were either treasures or some strange cultivation techniques.
Although her opponents mainly lost because of her superior skills, the last opponent required her to attack with a Pseudo-Advanced stage power more than a dozen times so it might be said that while she had superior techniques, she still needed the aid of a powerful cultivation base to fight such people.
In just five days that she had been here, the Blue-Robed Night Challenger had already defeated more than thirty people. Each time the challenged's strength would be higher than the power of those she had challenged the previous day. By then, many people were discussing this Night Challenger as well as the mysterious Cheng Hao whom she had told everyone about.
That's right, the night challenger was a she. The last person to fight her was barely able to catch a glimpse of her face after he had broken her mask with an all-out attack. Although he was defeated in the end, he became famous in that area of the sixth ring and every day there would be people who wanted to hear what she looked like. To them, he would then answer like this:
"I am pretty sure she is still not in her teens, still, she is as beautiful as a goddess, with piercing green eyes, soft lips and a small nose. Her purple and blue hair is also really rare, it's the first time I had seen someone with hair such as that! Although she is really young, maybe not even ten years old yet, in the future countries and empires may flip over precisely because of her beauty!"
Hearing those words, some thought that he exaggerated. However he, who had seen her personally, was sure about it and thus didn't mind the scorn of others. He had already decided to aid this new idol of his on spreading the name of Cheng Hao as well as her impressive feats.
Although he was already twenty-five and he had been defeated by someone who was still so young, he really admired her and was proud of being challenged by such a genius. He knew that in the future he would be able to tell his children and grandchildren that he had been defeated by the goddess of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect!
He was absolutely right about that, but he missed on one thing. And that was none other than Cheng Hao, whom he himself had helped spread the name around. If this so-called goddess was this powerful, how powerful would this Cheng Hao possibly be?