Chapter 11 – The Number One Outer Disciple
Whoosh… whoosh…whoosh…
In a little square courtyard, a human figure was seen practicing fist arts on a wooden post while seated in a horse stance. A wind was forcefully brought out by the powerful punches, blowing the dust around like a little tornado.
“Hea!”
After one movement, the punches suddenly got stronger. Two punches in a row had landed on the huge waist-sized post before a sudden sound. Snap! The post could not handle the force of the punches, and snapped in two at the middle, the top part was blown at least seven meters into the air, before breaking apart into shreds.
“Finally! The Unity Stage!”
With one last day before the Mu Ren Gang competition, the idea of slacking off never occurred to Ye Chen, as he focused on training his King Kong Fist with all his heart. He could feel and combine the power coming from every inch of his body which created a higher level of explosive power which was also why he could master the King Kong Fist to its highest stage.
The person who created this King Kong Fist manual probably had not mastered it to the Unity Stage, so I am definitely better in that regards; however, I could never invent my own style of martial art like he did at this moment, so I am inferior in that regard.
Ye Chen laughed and shook his head as he walked towards the stone table nearby.
On that round stone table, there was a white china jar with a red wooden plug on top. That was exactly that body boosting ointment he bought before.
Pop!
He unplugged the bottle and turned it upside down, a milky yellow colored liquid slowly dripped onto his palm releasing a strong pleasant medicinal scent.
Taking off his clothes, Ye Chen slowly rubbed the ointment over his whole body.
“Ah…so relaxing…” Shortly after, Ye Chen could feel a burning sensation that slowly soaked into his skin then into his muscle, blood and bones. It almost felt like there were ants crawling into his body, itchy, and a bit tingly.
Looking down, he could see that his body was outlined with muscles like a furious cheetah, a streamlined body shape that looked extremely powerful, that did not resemble a fourteen year old boy in anyway. But, compared to Xu Jing’s extremely fit body, that was able to explosively burst forth, Ye Chen was still miles away.
After soaking for a bit longer, Ye Chen got up, put on his clothes and picked up his great steel sword. After walking out of the yard, he walked towards the message center on the west side of the Sky Cloud Martial School.
The message center was where the Sky Cloud Martial School announced big news, and the ceremony of Mu Ren Gang contest would be announced here tomorrow as well. It was quite useful, especially for those new disciples who had no idea what was happening yet, like Ye Chen when he first started.
In fact, Ye Chen did not really have to be there, because the customs for the Mu Ren Gang contest had not changed for a long while and Ye Chen knew everything that he needed to know. However, he was not the old Ye Chen anymore and realized that he could not just brainlessly follow instructions anymore, he had to have everything under control and understand all the details before the event because sometimes it was the little details that made all the difference.
Plus, with only one day to go, the message center must be full of people, making it a good opportunity to see what he would be up against.
After observing the crowd, Ye Chen realized that, he did not have any real friends in the two years he spent in Sky Cloud Martial School.
He forced a smile. Watching people talking and laughing together, Ye Chen couldn’t help but envy those outer disciples.
Finally arriving in the message center, in front of Ye Chen was a three-hundred-meter squared marble plaza. And at the entrance of the plaza, there was a huge wall standing, on which there was a large piece of paper with black ink writings “The Challenge of Mu Ren Gang” written on it.
Following the crowd, Ye Chen entered the plaza, his ears filled with all sorts of sounds. “The champion of the Mu Ren Gang challenge last year was the number one outer disciple Wu Zongming, I wonder who would win this year?”
“I think that it will still be Wu Zongming, no one knows how much he had improved.”
“That makes sense. But I think the genius outer disciple – Zhang Haoran would win!”
“Zhang Haoran! That thirteen-year-old rare genius who had already reached the Mortal Realm Rank 10!”
“That’s the one! I heard that when he joined the Sky Cloud Martial School at the age of twelve, he had already reached the Mortal Realm Stage 7. And within a year, he had already jumped from rank 7 to rank 10, what an incredible speed!”
One man sneered: “No matter how much of a genius that Zhang Haoran is, he had only reached the Mortal Realm Stage 10. Did you guys forget? Wu Zongming had already reached the same level half a year ago, and right now he is probably just one step away from the Condensing Reality Realm.”
“Haha, ‘one step away’? Didn’t you mean to say that, he had already failed to breakthrough. Otherwise instead of ‘one step away’ it would be, he is a Condensing Reality Realm cultivator.” The person who made the speech had a squared face and thin lips, looking extremely evil.
“How dare you to insult Wu Zongming?” The outer disciple who defended Wu Zongming said angrily.
The guy with the squared face wouldn’t back down, “I know you are a friend of Wu Zongming, but I am not, besides I only have stated the fact. Ask anyone, is what I said false?”
“Hmph, what did you say?”
Out of nowhere, there was a bright voice, then a powerful aura suddenly appeared like a tornado.
Everyone turned towards the new speaker. Just ten steps away was a teenager in blue with a long sword on his back standing there, staring at the people who had unknowingly mocked him.
It was the number one outer disciple – Wu Zongming.
Ye Chen stood to the side observing with interest, as he waited for the drama to unfold.
The square-faced apprentice who just insulted Wu Zongming, frightened by his strong aura stammered, “I…I… Isn’t the thing I said…the truth?”
Wu Zongming smiled cheekily, “You know what kind of people I hate the most? Cowards. Cowards who only will have the balls to say stuff behind people’s back. Now I offer you a chance of redemption: if you could take a punch of mine, I would let everything go. Do you dare?”
One punch! The square-faced apprentice thought. My power level is at Mortal Realm Rank 8, with two ranks between us, taking a punch should not be too bad, a small wound at most, but if I refuse this offer, then I really will be the coward, I will be the butt of people’s joke forever!
“Okay! One punch it is! What’s there to be afraid?”
He arched his back as he lifted his his right arm, his clothing started to whip back and forth even though there was no wind, a clear sign of the man gathering all his Qi to his right arm.
“This is the beginning of the Little Yasha Palm!” Someone, who recognized the movement, couldn’t help but yell it out.
The square-faced apprentice smiled complacently. Little Yasha Palm was a top ranked mortal realm martial art. Normally with his status as an outer disciple, he would never be able to obtain this. But his father was an elder of outer disciples at the Sky Cloud Martial School, So he was able to get any kind of martial arts.
With the Little Yasha Palm, he was confident that he could handle Wu Zongming’s punch, and secretly hoped that with this conflict, he would gain some fame.
Wu Zongming looked the same, and didn’t seem to be affected by the commotion from the crowd and said quietly: “Ready?”
“Anytime.”
Everyone in the crowd held their breath, staring at those two without any distraction. The number one disciple versus a Mortal Realm Rank 8 cultivator, although they would only attack once, but from the brief contact, they should be able to see part of their actual power. And even if they couldn’t tell the difference, it will still be worthwhile to just be able to witness such an event.