Not many had been watching his specific group, so there weren’t cheers or surprised faces. His fellow disciples hadn’t been paying attention either; they were busy with their fights. Yù Quán wasn’t too worried, though. He didn’t need recognition and would get it sooner or later. He found no use in trying so hard to obtain it.
However, there was one person paying attention. Yàn Lìqín kept an eye on all his students, including Yù Quán. Seeing how Yù Quán handled his battle, he couldn’t help but smile.
Yàn Lìqín slightly shook his head. “Sure enough, my gut is never wrong. But, I didn’t expect him to be so strong, especially as a newly established Body Tempering realm cultivator.” Yàn Lìqín opened his fan and gently waved it.
Yù Quán returned to Yàn Lìqín with a soft smile on his face. Yàn Lìqín smiled and nodded. There was a tacit understanding: Yàn Lìqín acknowledged his strength but wouldn’t pry; much of a cultivator’s strength came from opportunities, and the less who knew, the better. Yù Quán sat down.
“How are the others doing, grand Elder?”
Yàn Lìqín, maintaining the smile on his face, pointed his chin toward the arena grounds. “See for yourself!”
Yù Quán turned and looked for his peers. He first found Yin Mengxia, who was dodging and evading around. “Is Yin Mengxia in trouble?”
Yàn Lìqín shook his head. “She’s limiting herself. She isn’t suited for body refinement, and she neglected her movement in the past. Although she has practiced until now, no practice is better than actual combat. I instructed her to go as far in the tournament as she could without attacking.”
Yù Quán nodded. He felt he learned best under pressure; no pressure was greater than actual experience.
“Are the others doing similar training?”
“Just Liàng Píng. he is not to use qi to familiarize himself with the limits of his strength.”
Yù Quán didn’t ask for more of an explanation. It was obvious. If you know your limits without qi, you can learn how to gauge how much qi you need from there. People who don’t know how much qi they should use might endanger themselves by using too little or running their qi reserves low.
Yàn Lìqín said that Yù Quán could see Liàng Píng in a brawl. You couldn’t tell whether qi was being used from a distance, but the power output of his opponents and the level of punishment he was taking made it obvious. There’s no way his senior brother would put on such a sorry display.
Yù Quán looked over to Rèn Chāngmíng. Rèn Chāngmíng looked was fighting like an animal. He wasn’t feral or berserk but agile, aggressive, and brutal. For someone who had just fought for the first time recently, he seemed battle-hardened. It made Yù Quán wonder what Rèn Chāngmíng had been up to during his training.
Yù Quán and Yàn Lìqín continued to watch as all the matches ended, with all the Yellow Qilin Academy disciples winning and moving on to the next round.
“What?!” exclaimed Liàng Píng, Yin Mengxia, and Rèn Chāngmíng. They were more than dumbfounded; their jaws would’ve dug into the earth if they weren’t attached to their jaws. Yàn Lìqín had told them how Yù Quán had pretty much defeated opponents far above his level with one blow each. He didn’t go into detail, though; he had more important things to go in-depth on.
Yù Quán knew Yàn Lìqín was watching their fights, but he didn’t think he was watching all of them. He was surprised when he began telling them everything they needed to know about the next round of competition. How much could Yàn Lìqín divide his attention?
“Many people moved on, but there are a select few who you need to look out for. I’ll go over each and give a quick description of each.”
The disciples became serious and focused on what Yàn Lìqín was saying. It must be important if he was going through the effort to collect this data.
“First, someone you should have all met, Dong Xiaoli.”
Yù Quán's eyes got slightly cold. He hadn’t heard this name, but it was very similar to someone they had recently encountered.
As if to confirm Yù Quán’s thoughts, Yàn Lìqín explained. “Yes, he is the son of Dong Chuanli and was there the day he came to confront us. While Yù Quán was able to take him out, he can actually be a formidable opponent. Unlike his father and most of the Supreme Wolf Sect, he is swift and cunning. He doesn’t use the techniques of the Supreme Wolf Sect with pure strength but dexterously. He specializes in the Supreme Wolf Bite and the Five Supreme Wolf Claws, but he’s only mastered the former. But he has mastered the first two claws of the Five Supreme Wolf Claws at such a young age, so he isn’t to be underestimated. He likes to use his methods to whittle opponents down instead of going for decisive victories. But, like Yù Quán found, his weakness is his body. He has an unusually weak body for someone in the Supreme Wolf Sect. If you can hit him with a decisive blow, you can beat him; if not, you can only hope to win the war of attrition.”
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Yàn Lìqín then pointed to a muscular and chiseled man, but not big and burly like Liàng Píng. He was average-sized but incredibly lean. “That is Zhēn Lì, an itinerant cultivator. His focus is on unparalleled strength. He has no fancy fighting styles or techniques that I know of. He seems to fight purely with the strength of his body.”
Yù Quán wondered how someone like Zhēn Lì could make it so far. Not only did he use his strength with no technique or skill, but he was also an itinerant cultivator, which usually meant fewer resources and support. But Yù Quán was vigilant of this person because while he didn’t know how he did it, he knew one thing, regardless of how only someone formidable could achieve such a thing. This Zhēn Lì was not someone to underestimate, either.
Yàn Lìqín pointed to a girl dressed in a beautiful baby blue gown. “This is Yin Qiuyue, a branch of the Yin clan.”
Yù Quán looked to Yin Mengxia, whose demeanor didn’t change except for balling her fists slightly. Although it wasn’t much, it was the furthest from mild-tempered he had ever seen her.
Yàn Lìqín continued. “The branch she belongs to specializes in ice arts and techniques. Naturally, she does as well. From what I could find, she cultivates the Crystalline Cold Body, an art that allows her to cover her body in ice with the shape and strength of crystals. She also practices the South Wind Sword, a swift sword style with close and far-range attacks. She'll be tough to crack with her defensive body and her evasive techniques. But, she heavily relies on freezing her opponents and doesn’t do much damage. Someone like Liàng Píng could likely brute force their way to a win.”
“Hēi Wenchang, from the Hēi Family.”
Now it was Rèn Chāngmíng’s turn to react, although he was much less controlled than Yin Mengxia. He clenched his teeth, and his eyes went cold.
“Hēi Wenchang uses the Taunting Whispers. The technique is well-known as it's pretty standard among Hēi Family cultivators. It incites fear through speech. It isn’t an illusion but more of a mind technique. The technique will be significantly stronger if the person knows something you genuinely fear, but it is strong enough to cause a disturbance regardless. He will likely wait until you are under enough of the influence of the technique before going for the final blow.”
Yù Quán thought the technique sounded a bit cowardly. But, in a dog-eat-dog world like that of cultivation, cowardice was something only the strong could avoid. Others will get by or rise however they can.
“There are three left: Tiān Zhēbì of the Flying Cloud Sect, Qīng Shuàizhí of the Taiji Sword Sect, and Wū Shòu of the Dragon Palace. Of the three, Tiān Zhēbì should be the most minor concern, even among some I have already mentioned. There doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable about him. But something is off about him. I feel there is more to him than what meets the eye. The others are the favorites for winning the tournament. Not much is known about either of them, except they are both among the top powerhouses of their realms. The Taiji Sword Sect has many sword arts, so it's hard to guess which Qīng Shuàizhí uses, and the Dragon Palace is mysterious. I’m afraid all I can gather on Wū Shòu is that he has a strong body and prefers using his fists over any weapon.”
Hearing all these strong powerhouses was overwhelming for the Yellow Qilin disciples, but they were determined to achieve their goal. Three of them would have to place in the top five, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t shoot for all four, taking up the 1st through 4th standings.
‘Things are starting to get serious,’ Yù Quán thought to himself.
…
Yù Quán
Realm: Body Tempering Realm
Stage: 1st Level Skin Tempering
Main Cultivation Art: [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body](Level 3)
Strength: 550 Catties
Qi: 1245/2060 wisps
Mùmùlián Core: 6/100
Strange Fire: (Level 2)Murderous Flame(x1)
Techniques:
[Mùmùlián Eye Stealing](Level 3)
[Mùmùlián Eye Refining](Level 3)
[Murder Mantra](Level 1)
[Yellow Qilin Dance](Level 1)
Attributes:
[Strange Fire: Murderous Flame]
[Star Gazing Eyes](Level 1)
[Top-Quality Mortal Avarice Eyes](Level 1)
[Top-Quality Mortal Avarice Eyes](Level 1)
[Top-Quality Three-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 5)
[Top-Quality Three-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 1)(x2)
[Top-Quality Five-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 1)
[Low-Quality Blue Wolf Ferocity Eyes](Level 1)
[Low-Quality Winged Watcher Awareness Eyes](Level 1)
[Low-Quality False Dragon Pride Eyes](Level 1)