Chapter 13: The Fine Soldier
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Su Yu did not have any sense of accomplishment, and took out his opponent's student number plate expressionessly. He got some additional martial arts energy, and the silver-gray number plate showed a hint of white-silver color.
After a few rounds...
"Sun Fei, against Su Yu!"
"I admit defeat!" Sun Fei bit her lip slightly, painfully watching her student number plate lose a quarter of its martial arts energy. She was only a Level Two Lower Tier. To pass the assessment would not be difficult, but to meet Su Yu was her bad luck.
Even the Level Two Top Tier was defeated with one trick, why would she bring hardship to herself? It would be better to save her energy for the future fights.
Next up were Su Yu's fights.
"I admit defeat!"
"I'm not fighting, defeat admitted!"
"Huh! I want to try!"
"Continuous Jade Leaf Kick!"
"Ah－"
Su Yu had achieved four consecutive wins! He was one fight away from passing the assessment. The judge said with a hint of smile, "Su Yu, against Li Minghai!"
"Woah! These two fierce gods are finally meeting!"
Su Yu and Li Minghai were the two strongest people on their team, both with four consecutive wins and no losses. One was an old student with a reputation outside of the institute, ranked in the top 30 among the silvers. Another was a rising star, defeating his opponents with one basic leg technique. Unknowingly, Su Yu had gained some fame. Information about him spread like wildfire.
"What, the Su Yu who kneeled on the floor and begged for Jiang Xueqing's heart, but failed and then jumped into the river? Are you sure it's him?"
"That's impossible? I heard Su Yu is only Level One, how could he be so powerful?"
"Woah－ just two months and he changed so much? Not sure what that Jiang Xueqing will think when she sees him!"
Upon the judge's announcement, the two of them jumped onto the arena.
Li Minghai stood with his hands folded, a vicious smile playing on his lips as he said, "You are not bad, but too bad you are up against me. You received quite a bit of martial arts energy just now, you need to give me a chance."
Su Yu coolly glanced at his opponent's student number plate. It was still silver-white, and although not a dazzling silver-white, he was much more powerful than Su Yu. If he could get his opponent's martial arts energy, his student number plate would undergo big changes.
"Wouldn't we know once we fight?" Su Yu gave it a thought and decided that against him, it would best to leave some energy in reserve.
He would counter with basic leg techniques, to avoid slipping up and being recognized.
Li Minghai laughed coldly, "Do you think that I am the same as you and can only train in the lower class techniques?"
He was Li Minghao's brother and the attendant for the Young Princess of Xianyu. How could his martial arts skills be bad?
"Tiger Fists!" Li Minghai shouted deeply, his fists pushed forward as he reversed for power and pounced high in the air, like a tiger.
Be it his stance, or his fist skills, they were fierce and majestic. Su Yu felt as though a black shadow was pressing on him, making it hard to breathe.
In the Twilight Mountains, Li Minghai had been badly injured and had just woken up. His rushed display of Tiger Fists was not even half as powerful as then.
If it were Li Minghai at his peak, Su Yu might not have been able to escape that day. However, Su Yu was not the same as that day. In the eight days since, his power had made great improvements!
"Continuous Jade Leaf Kick!" Su Yu remained fearless. With his left leg standing steadily on the ground, Su Yu raised his right leg, bent his knee, and suddenly kicked it out.
Under the strong explosive force, his right leg brought about a patch of black shadow in the air. With the loud sound of wind, his right leg landed a precise kick on Li Minghai's jaw. Li Minghai was unlike the rest. His tiger fists retracted and blocked the front of his jaws.
Bang－
The pouncing tiger pose acted as a slight obstacle.
Taking the chance, Li Minghai returned to stand on the ground, his face slightly changed. In his heart, he was shocked. The explosive force was so strong! Without years of training, it would be hard to reach that level.
Feeling his slightly aching arms, Li Minghai's eyes grew angrier as he said, "You are looking for death…"
However, what caused Li Minghai's face to change color again was that his opponent did not rest after the kick!
Under the coordinated movement of the ankle and knee joints, Su Yu actually shifted over onto his left leg only!
His retracted right leg was like a continuous whip, continuing to kick! Li Minghai was furious, but he could only temporarily use his arms to block.
The audience below the stage was in shock.
Li Minghai was fought by Su Yu to the point whereby he could not retaliate? Li Minghai had long been established as a silver power! This Su Yu, he is too terrifying!
Bang－
At the edge of the arena, Su Yu suddenly attacked and kicked Li Minghai off the arena.
"Ah! Young man, I remember you!" Li Minghai felt bitter.
The middle class techniques which he had been training in were defeated by his opponent's basic leg techniques, how is that not embarrassing?
Behind him, brother Li Minghao gave Su Yu a cold stare. Following that, he scolded Li Minghai, "Useless! Can't even beat an unknown junior!"
"It is him being too sly!" Li Minghai was unconvinced.
Li Minghao coolly replied, "Sly? Although he was using the basic technique, it had reached the peak stage, with a natural flow between his leg techniques. Although you have middle class techniques, you only trained one level, with many flaws in them. Under the same realm, what's strange about defeating you?"
"A soldier's most valuable part is his brain, he understands this logic better than you!"
Upon being scolded, Li Minghai's anger immediately dissipated. He felt wronged as he said, "Brother, stop scolding me, I know already. Won't you help me take revenge?"
Glancing at Su Yu, Li Minghao shook his head and said coolly, "He is too weak, not worthy of my fight. I will let Xuan Lefei know, to teach him lesson if she meets him."
Xuan Lefei? Li Minghai was overjoyed! Xuan Lefei had been trying to please his brother, hoping to gain some benefits, and this was her chance.
Among the silver students, Xuan Lefei was very popular, second only to Jiang Xueqing, who was one the top three beauties. She was famous for her sweet and cute face, and her small but mature frame.
Too bad she was very sly, walking among many powerful figures, but never letting men take advantage of her, and was the cause of lust and headache for many playboys.
Xuan Lefei's strong power was second only to the Silver King. If she were to meet Su Yu, it would be too easy to teach him a lesson.
"Su Yu, five consecutive wins! Successfully passed!" the judge announced with a smile, the first student with five consecutive wins had appeared!
Having defeated Li Minghai with one move, Su Yu's popularity completely soared.
The students from the other teams also threw enquiring looks, wondering who this unknown power was. In a team not far away, Jiang Xueqing's eyes looked around slightly as she kept a light gaze on Su Yu.
"I didn't think that you would grow to such an extent!" A ray of surprise flashed past Jiang Xueqing's eyes, but was immediately clouded by coolness.
"Too bad, you are still not enough for me, Jiang Xueqing! I, Jiang Xueqing, am fated to live an extraordinary life. You, Su Yu, will never be enough for me!" Jiang Xueqing shook her head slightly and returned her gaze expressionlessly.
The elimination round of the Silver Assessment was gradually coming to an end.
Some people had been lucky enough to pass and were celebrating. There were also people who had unfortunately lost and were crying loudly. The sounds of celebrations and cries mixed together to form a complicated rhythm, playing in Su Yu's heart.
"This is indeed a cruel world." Su Yu sat down quietly below the arena, slowly opening his eyes.
He took in the sight of the defeated students who would go back to their dorms and pack their bags, to return home all alone. If not for the nine dragons and the incredible cauldron, he might be one of those people.
Su Yu curled his fists tightly as he suddenly lamented that his power was still too weak! If he stopped improving, there would come a day where he would be defeated in another arena.
Determined to train, Su Yu closed his eyes to rest.
An hour later, there were only 200 people left at the venue. They were all the winners with shinier silver number plates. Su Yu had five consecutive wins, and his student number plate had since turned from silver-grey into silver-white.
Next up, was another highlight of the Silver Assessment, the silver ranking competition! This was the portion that concerned those with a high level the most.
The front part of the assessment was low level and they were not too concerned, only witnessing some signs of the Silver Assessment in front of their eyes.
To put it harshly, to them the top 200 silver students were just slightly larger trash. Only gold students were considered to have passed.
For this ranking assessment, they were still in 10 teams, each team with 20 people. This time, Su Yu knew no one on his team. However, quite a number of people in the team knew him.
"Su Yu, the fierce lord, is also on our team? He is very strong, we are rather unlucky."
"What is there to fret about? Even without Su Yu, it would be hard for us to get a good ranking. Didn't you see that Jiang Fan, the silver power ranked fourth, is also here?" a silver student at Level Two Peak sighed helplessly.
"Also, look at who the judge is in this arena," another silver student at Level Two Peak said quietly.
They turned their heads and saw that their judge was the master who had taught archery, Master Jiang! His rough face and fierce eyes made him unforgettable.
"Jiang Fan is the only son of Jiang Zhishi. With only one son, he usually cares and protects him a lot. Today, there is Jiang Zhishi's brother, Master Jiang, covering for him. In the arena, even if you had the skill to beat him, no one would dare to!"
"That's right, if Jiang Zhishi seeks revenge afterwards, you are in trouble."
Jiang Fan stood proudly among the crowd, a crown on his head. Although he was handsome looking, his chin was slightly tilted upwards and he usually walked this way as well, giving people the impression that he was looking at them with his nostrils.
But he indeed had the rights to be this way. To be ranked silver number four is enough to speak for his strong power. With his martial arts at Level Two Peak, middle-class skills and Jiang Zhishi's pointers at the institute, those were enough to set him far apart from Li Minghai.
"First round, Jiang Fan against Wei Tao!"
Below the stage, everyone's eyes suddenly looked nervous. The first round was already Jiang Fan!
"Wei Tao is still in the top 10 among the silver students. He apparently comes from a small scale family, with middle class skills. His power is very tough, which a year ago made him famous throughout the institute."
Under the audience's gaze, Jiang Fan hopped onto the arena with his nostrils looking down on people, just like an eagle opening its wings, light and elegant.
"Jiang Fan's movement techniques are good!" the students were envious.
Movement techniques had great assisting powers, and many people wanted to learn and train in them. But it was usually extremely difficult to master excellent movement techniques.
The Eagle Wings, which were present in the Buddhist scriptures, had been attempted by many but few had successfully mastered it. It was too difficult to understand. Even after looking at it for days, one could not find a solution.
As such, most of the time was wasted and many would decide to give up. To give up on main techniques for assisting techniques was not worth it.
Of course, there were movement techniques there were easier to master, but those had weak effects.
Jiang Fan showed his skills and caused many to become envious. Master Jiang nodded his head slightly. This nephew of his, had some fight in him, and did not let him disappoint his brother's entrustment.