The Six Immortals Chapter 24

The Champion Jing Feng’s first opponent was fairly strong. He had already reached ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer. Unfortunately for the latter, Jing Feng was in the ‘transformation layer’, and his pike made the match even more hopeless for his opponent. Even though Jing Feng’s opponent was fairly strong, matching Jing Feng’s strength and his powerful weapon at the same time was futile. With his weapon to aid him, Jing Feng ended the fight in just five strikes, winning a huge amount of applause from the crowd. Jing Feng managed to win his fight with ease. Mo Nan managed to win his fight with just as much ease as Jing Feng. In fact, it seemed that Mo Nan was trying to draw a parallel with Jing Feng as he seemed determined to finish his fight in five strikes, same as Jing Feng. However, Mo Nan’s fighting style was very different from Jing Feng’s; his attacks were fast and elegant, complying exceptionally well with the general fighting style of the Quinyang region. Jing Feng on the other hand preferred to go with strength. He used his wild and overbearing strength to defeat his opponents, with was unusual for Quinyang disciples. And he managed to use his weapon to a formidable effect. Mo Nan and Jing Feng represented the young and upcoming generation of Quinyang martial artists, and were two very highly objectified personalities. Most people present were anxious to watch the two of them compete against each other. To be honest, apart from Mo Nan and Jing Feng, the Quinyang schools had nothing much to show for. Most of the other students were in ‘spiritual intelligence’ layer, which could only be considered moderate from the general standards, and wasn’t enough to attract much attention. Bi Fan was gaining a lot from this tournament. After the final sixteen had been selected, this final round had exhibited some excellent and fierce fights, which had enabled Bi Fan to gain some very valuable experience and a lot of new tricks to memorize. With the knowledge of these new techniques and some very valuable combat experience, Bi Fan’s own future practice would become a lot smoother. Xiaofeng was watching Bi Fan as he took in everything he could, and couldn’t help but secretly admire Bi Fan. “So diligent and studious, he really might be capable of becoming one of the strongest of his generation.” As the rounds went on, both Mo Nan and Jing Feng maintained their unbeaten streak. Finally, towards the end of the tournament, it was time for Jing Feng and Mo Nan to fight against each other. This fight itself was basically the champions.h.i.+p; the winner of this match would be crowned the champion. Mo Nan and Jing Feng both came on to the stage, their eyes watching each other’s movements, crying for battle. “Jing Feng! Jing Feng! You’re going to win…” “Mo Nan! Mo Nan! You can beat him…” Jing Feng was a thorn in the armpit of the male disciples and they desperately wanted Mo Nan to win. Jing Feng’s charm on the other hand made the girls go wild, who otherwise weren’t much interested in the fighting. Most of the couples standing in the crowd parted ways to cheer for their fighter, as most of the boys were hoping for Jing Feng to lose. At the referee’s signal, the fight began, but both Mo Nan and Jing Feng stood still, eye-balling each other. “Mo Nan, Mo Nan! Hear all you friends cheering for me. Not so charming now huh?” Mo Nan said. Jing Feng’s reply wasn’t audible. But whatever Jing Feng said, was clearly enough to make Mo Nan very angry, as his face turned red. “Fufeng double-edged willow!” Mo Nan was the first one to launch an attack. “Divine despot, rus.h.i.+ng thunder!” Jing Feng launched his attack in full force almost simultaneously. Mo Nan’s attack seemed as light as feather, but its exceptional speed made it very dangerous. His fighting style was the epitome of Quinyang’s martial arts. Jing Feng’s ‘rus.h.i.+ng thunder’ attack was equally quick and awfully ferocious. Mo Nan was well aware of Jing Feng’s style, and wasn’t foolish enough to take his strike head on. Mo Nan’s sword appeared like a serpent, quickly changing directions to avoid Jing Feng’s swinging pike and constantly aimed at his chest. Jing Feng couldn’t afford to be careless as he swung his pike, retreating. Even a very small mistake in this fight could prove to be very dangerous. If Jing Feng made even the slightest mistake, Mo Nan wouldn’t hesitate from making a meal out of him. Mo Nan was easily able to dodge Jing Feng’s pike and was managing to close in on Jing Feng at every opportunity. Mo Nan’s was far too agile from Quinyang’s standards. And his exceptional sword-play was even more challenging. Mo Nan was constantly looking for opportunities to close down Jing Feng. Jing Feng on the other hand was trying to retreat, so he could make room to execute his powerful strikes.   As the fight started, Mo Nan had managed to gain the upper hand, leaving the spectators marveled. Bi Fan had been watching very carefully, and couldn’t help but admire Mo Nan, specially his agility; he was nothing short of marvelous. Bi Fan was trying to draw comparisons between Mo Nan’s footwork and the ‘dance of mist’. Mo Nan’s display was hugely beneficial for Bi Fan. And Mo Nan’s ‘Fufeng double-edged willow’ technique was even more educative for Bi Fan. He has just started practicing ‘Fufeng double-edged sword’ but had been unable to understand it completely, but now things were becoming clearer. Jing Feng had been at a disadvantage so far, and had been constantly forced to retreat, making him very angry. “Divine Despot – Thunder Fury!” Jing Feng finally found room to make his move, he raised his pike and countless thunderous bolts enveloped the ring. Jing Feng wasn’t strong enough to provoke really harmful thunder to attack his enemy with. But even then, the noise of the thunder was deafening. The ‘thunder fury’ enveloped the whole ring, and Mo Nan had nowhere to hide, all he could do was dodge it and repel it. “Dhumm…. Dhummm…” successive collisions with the thunder forced Mo Nan to retreat. Jing Feng’s pike was constantly aimed at Mo Nan, as he kept attacking, forcing Mo Nan take back steps in quick succession, while giving him no s.p.a.ce to breathe. The fierce winds that were emanating from the ring were simply amazing; Bi Fan could barely see the fighting. Mo Nan was extraordinary, and with the help of his agility, didn’t allow Jing Feng do any damage for a long time. But with time, Jing Feng’s attack only got stronger and even fiercer. Mo Nan was somehow able to dodge for the time being but wouldn’t be able to last very long. Between the two of them, Jing Feng was stronger than Mo Nan, but Mo Nan was quicker on his feet. Over time, the pros and cons of both the fighters would become clearer. Jing Feng was looking good at the moment, and seemed to be taking control of the situation, no wonder all the girls were going crazy about him. Whenever Bi Fan took a moment out to look at Xiaofeng, all he saw was the splendor with which her eyes watch Jing Feng. At the moment Bi Fan’s mood wasn’t so bad, so he wasn’t sure if he really like Xiaofeng or he was he simply very fond of her. When it had come to love, Bi Fan had wanted it to be Yan Yu Si, but he knew that he couldn’t even think of getting her, not even in a distant dream. As Bi Fan continued to watch the contest, Jing Feng had established a very firm upper hand, Mo Nan was being suppressed, Mo Nan was running out of s.p.a.ce to move into, the result of this fight wasn’t very far now. Mo Nan and Jing Feng had fought each other several times, and Jing Feng had always managed to beat him, but Mo Nan had never given up. “I accept defeat.” Mo Nan had nowhere to go, no place to hide, so he accepted his defeat with a straight face. “You gave up!” Jing Feng replied, his face calm, not delighted. The contest came to an end soon enough and Jing Feng was crowned the undisputed champion. Even the boys around the ring, still feeling jealous of Jing Feng, couldn’t help but cheer for him. Strength was everything; strength could win over anyone, even the enemy. Today, Bi Fan had learnt a lot, even more so than yesterday. While the others were screaming and cheering, Bi Fan kept his head down, he was trying to recollect all the fighting he had seen, all those wonderful images filled up his mind. Bi Fan’s memory was amazing, he felt as if he was witnessing everything again, allowing him to retrospect the day’s events in detail.