Wu Shou had ended the fight with little difficulty, which exceeded Yanh Liqin’s expectations. This was the real danger of the Dragon Palace. There wasn’t any information that he could find on them, which meant that there was no way to strategize until they revealed some of their cards. Luckily, no one on their side had Wu Shou as their first fight, so they were able to obtain a little information. Before they could start discussing what had just happened, the next battle was announced.
“Next! Rèn Chāngmíng! Hēi Wenchang!”
Rèn Chāngmíng’s face went cold. The others were distracted, but Yù Quán saw his behavior. “Hei? That’s them right?”
This caught the attention of the rest of them. Liàng Píng and Yin Mengxia didn’t know what he meant by ‘them.’ Rèn Chāngmíng looked at them, then looked to Yù Quán. He shrugged. Then Rèn Chāngmíng looked to Yàn Lìqín, who also shrugged. Rèn Chāngmíng looked down and sighed. These were his comrades and fellow disciples. Why couldn’t they know about his past?
“Rèn Chāngmíng is my mother’s name; my father’s is Hei.”
Liàng Píng and Yin Mengxia looked at each other in astonishment. Then, they looked at Yù Quán and Yàn Lìqín. Had they really known? But after some thought, it made sense. Rèn Chāngmíng was brought here by Yù Quán, so they were likely closer. As for Yàn Lìqín, he was their Grand Elder, so of course, he should know more about a student than the others do.
Rèn Chāngmíng told his backstory to Liàng Píng and Yin Mengxia, from his mother being a mistress to Yù Quán saving him from slavery. Liàng Píng looked slightly lost in thought, while Yin Mengxia slightly frowned. They hadn’t realized how deep the enmity between Ren Changmig and the Hēi Family ran. Now that he had to face them, didn’t this fight mean a lot more than they had previously thought?
Yù Quán was surprised at the moment. He hadn’t heard the story to this extent. Now he knew why what he had said before had enlightened Rèn Chāngmíng. What Rèn Chāngmíng wanted most was vengeance. How could what he said not resonate with him?
Before anyone could extend sympathies, Rèn Chāngmíng put on a smile and hopped out of his seat. He headed down towards the arena grounds but stopped to turn and wave to them on his way. He turned back and ran down, then entered the array to face his opponent. Rèn Chāngmíng and Hēi Wenchang made eye contact, but Rèn Chāngmíng was only met with a slight nod. Rèn Chāngmíng wasn’t a well-known victim of the Hēi Family; there were too many. It only made sense that he would be treated as a stranger. Rèn Chāngmíng ignored him and waited for the announcer to start the match.
“Rèn Chāngmíng of the Yellow Qilin Academy versus Hēi Wenchang of the Hēi Family, begin!”
Fwoosh
Rèn Chāngmíng dashed out. He had been polishing himself with actual combat to prepare for the tournament. The nature of his missions turned him into some kind of assassin. He swiftly moved towards Hēi Wenchang, running with his head low like he was ready to pounce. Hēi Wenchang wasn’t afraid and dashed out in return. When they got close, Hēi Wenchang tossed out a throwing knife directed right for Rèn Chāngmíng’s stomach.
Rèn Chāngmíng easily sidestepped and continued his pounce without stopping. He moved like a ninja with years of experience. Hēi Wenchang still didn’t panic; instead, he stopped his advance and slid to a halt. While slowing down, he got into a stance, preparing for Rèn Chāngmíng’s attack. Rèn Chāngmíng continued to move with the agility of a cat, sprinting in irregular patterns to stay unpredictable. When he was ten meters from Hēi Wenchang, he jumped into the hair.
Everyone in the audience saw Rèn Chāngmíng do a front flip into a barrel roll, then fall towards Hēi Wenchang's fist first. Rèn Chāngmíng circulated his qi and directed some to his hand to empower his strike.
Thud
Hēi Wenchang had crossed his forearms in front of him to block the blow, baring his teeth. In an instant, Rèn Chāngmíng saw as deep purple qi began forming, funneling into the corners of Hēi Wenchang’s mouth like he was inhaling it through clenched teeth. Rèn Chāngmíng was about to retreat to avoid the strange technique, but before he could move, Hēi Wenchang opened his jaw, and a quick blast of the deep purple qi the size of Rèn Chāngmíng’s head hit him square in the face.
Rèn Chāngmíng jumped back. He didn’t know what technique it was but knew that the Hēi Family specialized in terror techniques. It was highly likely this would be some type of illusions.
While inspecting his condition to see what had happened, a deep, horrific voice spoke out. “A failure.”
Rèn Chāngmíng took a step back in surprise, looking around quickly trying to find the source of the voice.
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“A bastard and a failure.”
“Who are you? Where are you?” Rèn Chāngmíng asked, but he didn’t get a response. Instead, the one voice turned into more.
“Maybe if you were useful, you and your mother could have been free.”
“You’re weak.”
“Without Yù Quán, you would still be a mere slave for mortals.”
The voices kept multiplying and multiplying. There were so many that Rèn Chāngmíng couldn’t think. He covered his ears and shook his head in desperation. In the stands, Yàn Lìqín and the Yellow Qilin students were watching as Rèn Chāngmíng covered his ears and shook his head after a cloud of deep purple qi surrounded it.
“Taunting Whispers Technique,” Yàn Lìqín said a bit solemnly.
“What technique is that?” Yin Mengxia asked.
“One of the standard techniques of the Hēi Family. It focuses on disrupting the mind by filling it with voices that talk of your fears. It’s especially effective on those with heart demons, but it still works on those without them as long as they are afraid of something. It has to be overcome by will. The only other weakness is that it isn’t easy to hit the target, but the Hēi Family has found ways that work.”
The audience watched as Hēi Wenchang walked up and threw a punch at Rèn Chāngmíng. It definitely did damage, but Rèn Chāngmíng seemed not to notice. Whatever he feared was so strong it was destroying him under the influence of the Taunting Whispers Technique. Hēi Wenchang continued to attack Rèn Chāngmíng, hoping to take advantage of this to get an easy win.
Inside Rèn Chāngmíng’s mind, he was now hearing so many voices he couldn’t even understand what was being said. But he still felt their mocking tone about his past. He was afraid. What would happen in the future? Would he be forced to confront the Hēi Family? Would he be forced to confront his father?
His mind began to numb when he started down this thought path. He started to focus on these thoughts. Was he weak now? Yes. But would he be when he confronted the Hēi Family? That was up to him. That was under his control. He had been working hard this whole time without stopping for what? Not to defend himself if they threaten him. It was to give them what they deserved. So that, when he was strong enough, he could also give his father what he deserved. Revenge.
Rèn Chāngmíng’s core started churning. Hēi Wenchang felt the sudden movement and jumped back into a defensive stance, preparing for what may be coming. After a few seconds, the qi cloud around Rèn Chāngmíng’s head dissipated, forcefully canceling Hēi Wenchang’s technique. The second after, red and black qi burst out from Rèn Chāngmíng. A suppressive pressure descended upon Hēi Wenchang, making him barely able to stand. Rèn Chāngmíng inhaled, gathering all the qi he had released back to him. Then he exhaled. Nothing but air came out, but a dense revenge intent emitted from his body.
Rèn Chāngmíng could feel the power. He made two conclusions from this: he had gained revenge intent from facing his fear of his father and the Hēi Family, and the revenge intent became much more powerful temporarily because he was attacked. He guessed that it was probably the inherent attribute of revenge intent.
Rèn Chāngmíng looked towards Hēi Wenchang, still anticipating an attack. He took two fingers and swiped out, focusing the revenge intent into them and trying to slash it out. What resulted was a crude and distorted knife light that was red and black like his qi. It flew across the sky towards Hēi Wenchang. Despite its low quality, Hēi Wenchang knew he couldn’t dodge it, so he prepared to try to block it with his body.
The next second, the knife light was upon him. The second after, the knife light broke through the qi Hēi Wenchang had used to fortify himself and began to tear through flesh. The announcer quickly dispersed Rèn Chāngmíng’s attack before it killed Hēi Wenchang.
“The battle is over! Rèn Chāngmíng moves on to the next round!”
The audience went wild. They thought it would be an easy win with a cheap trick, but the disciple from the Yellow Qilin Academy gave them a good show and won the match. While surrounded by cheering, Rèn Chāngmíng regathered his revenge intent and stared at his fingers.
“Mh… it would have been better if I had a knife.”
…
Yù Quán
Realm: Body Tempering Realm
Stage: 1st Level Skin Tempering
Main Cultivation Art: [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body](Level 3)
Strength: 550 Catties
Qi: 2060/2060 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)