Two Straight Victories

The Minor Competition was not held in any particular Training Ground, but in the Martial Academy's enormous hexagonal plaza at its very center, its entire surface paved with bluestone.

At the center of the plaza was a circular area ten zhang across, surrounded by six smaller plazas.

Though they were called smaller plazas, each was as large as two standard football fields from his previous life. Moreover, each small plaza held a full hundred square arenas three zhang wide, with no protective barriers around them, for the upcoming Minor Competition matches.

The place Qin Hu had brought the Martial Academy disciples to was one of those smaller plazas, the venue for the Minor Competition among the disciples who had joined the Martial Academy this year.

The moment he arrived at the plaza, Gu Yang saw a sea of dark heads. There were at least seven or eight hundred people here.

After bringing the disciples here, Qin Hu went to chat with the masters from the other formations, leaving Gu Yang and the rest standing where they were to wait.

Amid the crowd, Gu Yang recalled the rules of the Minor Competition while sizing up the disciples in the other formations.

They were all around ten years old. Just as Qin Hu had said, he really was the only "transfer student."

Likewise, his crane-among-chickens height quickly drew the attention of disciples from the other formations.

A buzzing murmur rose through the crowd. Some outgoing disciples even crossed over from their formations to ask acquaintances in Gu Yang's formation for information.

Gu Yang turned a blind eye to it all. After looking over his "opponents," he watched his nose, his nose watched his heart, and he mentally rehearsed the various movements of Azure Dragon Dance.

They did not have to wait long before the disciples from the remaining two formations all arrived.

At that moment, a middle-aged man over two meters tall and built like a Giant Bear stepped onto the high platform at the very center of the plaza and shouted, "The eleventh Minor Competition of the Brahma Saint Calendar, year 8152, now officially begins!"

The next instant, swathes of wooden plaques scattered from all corners of the plaza toward the various formations.

Gu Yang knew they were being used to randomly draw lots and assign opponents. Since it was random, there was no need to care about the number.

He raised his hand and caught a wooden plaque flying toward him.

Taking a closer look...

"Li Zhiwu, help me take a look. What number is this?"

"Four-oh-six." Li Zhiwu's expression was somewhat strange.

Gu Yang knew what Li Zhiwu was thinking. He wanted to learn to read and write too, but he did not even have enough time for martial arts practice now. It was impossible for him to spare time for anything else.

After all, he understood the principle of priorities.

The first to take the arenas were the disciples holding wooden plaques numbered zero-one through two hundred.

Standing within his formation, Gu Yang watched those disciples fight and could not help shaking his head.

If it had been ten days ago, any one of these disciples would have posed a sufficient threat to him.

But now, Gu Yang looked around and did not find a single person who gave him any sense of danger.

"Looks like I set my previous goal too low."

At that moment, a trace of wild ambition rose in Gu Yang's heart. Could he keep winning all the way to the end?

He did not know, but he could try his best.

The fights on the arenas soon ended one after another, and then it was the turn of disciples numbered two hundred and one through four hundred.

This time, two people caught Gu Yang's attention.

It was not that the strength those two displayed was particularly great. In fact, he had not even seen either of them fight.

By the time Gu Yang noticed those two arenas, the fights upon them had already ended, leaving only the two standing there.

Yet it was precisely this that made him wary. If they were not strong enough, how could their fights have ended so quickly?

"Disciples numbered four hundred and one through six hundred, take the stage!"

Before he knew it, another round of battles had ended. At last, it was Gu Yang's turn to step onto an arena.

Standing on Arena Three, Gu Yang straightened his back and looked directly at the opponent before him.

It was a short, chubby boy no more than 1.3 meters tall, with a stubby build.

The chubby boy froze the moment he saw Gu Yang.

Gu Yang knew what the other boy was thinking. After all, no matter how one looked at him, he did not resemble a child of around ten years old. Nor did everyone in the Martial Academy know of his existence as a "transfer student."

Still, he had no obligation to explain his situation to the other boy.

With the sound of a gong, Gu Yang immediately strode toward his opponent. At the same time, he gathered strength in his right fist and threw it fiercely.

One punch—Snowflake Tremor.

The chubby boy raised both arms to block it and barely received the blow.

Gu Yang stepped forward and threw another punch, sending the chubby boy stumbling backward.

A third punch.

Bang!

This punch knocked the chubby boy down directly, sending him rolling off the arena.

"Cheating! Master He, someone's cheating!"

The chubby boy shouted loudly beneath the arena, while Gu Yang merely shook his head slightly from atop it.

This opponent was simply too weak. Gu Yang had not even unleashed his full strength; he had used only seventy percent of his power, yet the other boy could not take it.

Boring.

Gu Yang stood on the arena and watched the boy's performance until the chubby boy was dragged away.

At the same time, more than a dozen Martial Academy masters had gathered on a temporary platform erected at one corner of the small plaza, discussing matters among themselves.

Watching the chubby boy being dragged away, a tall, lean man in a dark purple outer robe suddenly asked, "Qin Hu, that disciple is in your formation, right? Did he join midway?"

"That's right. His name is Gu Yang. He's been here for less than a month. His innate physique should not be particularly good, but his comprehension is astonishing. He's a fine seedling!" Qin Hu nodded in reply.

"A fine seedling? That disciple should be fourteen or fifteen already, shouldn't he? Is he still worth cultivating?" Another Martial Academy master wore a face full of doubt. Clearly, Qin Hu's words had taken him by surprise.

"Heh heh, just keep watching and you'll know." Qin Hu did not explain, instead deliberately keeping them in suspense. This successfully piqued the interest of all the Martial Academy masters, and they turned their gazes toward Gu Yang.

One round of battles soon ended. As the victor, Gu Yang stepped onto the arena once more, where another victor awaited him as his opponent.

Boom!

The bout began. The youth stamped hard on the arena, scattering snowflakes in all directions as he charged straight at Gu Yang.

At the same time, he raised both arms, ready to throw a punch at any moment.

On the other side of the arena, Gu Yang seemed to have been frightened senseless, standing perfectly still.

Only after the youth took several consecutive steps and rapidly closed in did he seem to snap out of a dream, suddenly taking a step back.

As he left the youth's attack range, his arm naturally extended, and he punched at the youth.

Bang!

Seeing the youth raise an arm to block the strike, the corners of Gu Yang's lips curled upward.

The youth had walked into his trap without any preparation whatsoever. Now that he was in, he could forget about getting out.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

What followed was a perfect demonstration from Gu Yang of what precise control of distance meant.

Step forward, one punch.

Step back, one punch.

Half-Step Fist.

Snowflakes danced through the air as the youth narrowed his eyes.

He discovered that no matter what he did, he could not escape Gu Yang's attacks and could only defend without pause.

More importantly, he could only take hits; he could not hit Gu Yang at all.

The youth's eyes began to redden. Clearly, he had never encountered an opponent like Gu Yang before.

Gritting his teeth, the youth suddenly threw caution to the wind and fiercely pressed forward. Yet what awaited him was Gu Yang's long-prepared swinging kick.

Smack!

The kick landed heavily against the side of the youth's thigh.

The youth's leg went weak beneath him, and he dropped to his knees.

Gu Yang's second kick followed close behind, shooting straight toward his head.

The youth's eyes nearly split open. One hand braced against the ground while the other rose to block before his face.

Whoosh...

A fierce wind howled, yet the blow he had been waiting for never came.

When he looked up, Gu Yang had already withdrawn his foot and returned to where he had originally stood.

Victory and defeat had been decided. The youth's face was filled with desolation.

A small test of the ox-cleaving knife—Gu Yang easily claimed two straight victories!