Library of Heaven's Path
Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 588: Challenging Fist Art

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

As they proceeded onto the stage, Hong shi urged the participants of the other three stages to proceed there as well.

The master teachers who drew B1, C1, and D1 got into their position.

Following which, they began to discuss the content of their duel.

Regarding this, Hong shi wouldn't interfere at all.

And soon, they finished making their choices.

Of the four stages, two chose knowledge impartation, one chose Soul Depth, and the remaining one chose a physical duel.

A competition among master teachers extended way further than mere brute strength; their capability included their supporting occupations, Soul Depth, Impartation of Heaven's Will, knowledge impartation, and many other aspects. If it was just a simple battle, there would be no need to make it so grand.

As such, there were actually very few master teachers who chose physical duel as a means to determine the victor.

"So, this is the real Master Teacher Tournament!" Zhang Xuan remarked in awe.

The previous round was just to weed out the less capable participants; what that was unfolding before him at this very instant was the true competition among master teachers.

As well as the true Master Teacher Tournament.

Gazing at the four stages, Zhang Xuan found a familiar face.

Song Chao!

Even though the preliminary selection wasn't easy, he seemed to have achieved fairly decent results, thus advancing honorably to the dueling round.

The person he was matched with was a disciple of a sect. While that disciple was of similar cultivation realm to Song Chao, he had fared relatively poor in the preliminary round. Knowing that it was unlikely for him to emerge triumphant in other aspects, he, making full use of the advantage derived from the rules, proposed for a straightforward fight instead.

"Begin!"

The gong signaling the start of the match sounded, and the disciple immediately dashed straight toward Song Chao.

Trading blows, a huge wind gushed into their surroundings. Possessing similar cultivation realms, both of them stood their ground and it was hard to tell who had the upper hand.

Even though the stage wasn't too big, there was formation around it. It was impossible for the duo to break the formation with their current cultivation realm, so they could fight as they pleased without any worries.

"It seems like... Song Chao will be able to advance to the next round!"

After looking at the duel for a moment, Zhang Xuan soon deduced that it was likely for Song Chao to triumph over this opponent.

While the duo was nearly equally-matched, Song Chao's movements were much more flexible and careful, biding his time for an ideal opportunity to strike.

As long as his opponent showed the slightest opening out of anxiety, Song Chao would capitalize on the opportunity to defeat him swiftly.

Knowing the likely conclusion, Zhang Xuan turned his attention to one of the stages conducting the knowledge impartation duel instead.

Compared to Song Chao's stage, where the competitors were driving their zhenqi to hurl fists at one another, this side seemed much more refined.

Twenty cultivators of differing cultivation realms were randomly picked from the square, and the competitors chose ten of them each to form a group.

After dividing the cultivators among the two competitors, they began to conduct their lesson via zhenqi telepathy so as to not interrupt one another.

The time limit was an incense's time; whoever's group experienced a greater degree of growth during this period of time would be deemed the winner.

This kind of competition was much more refined, and it seemed to be more aligned with the disposition of a teacher.

Seeing that it would take some time for the victor to be decided, Zhang Xuan turned to look at the stage where the competitors were competing on Soul Depth.

The two of them held onto a Stone of Insight each, and soon, numbers appeared on them-14.7 and 14.9. Naturally, the latter was deemed as the victor.

This was the simplest and most efficient dueling format.

But still, Soul Depth was the foundation of a master teacher, and most people were unwilling to have it publicly known. As such, it was very rare for participants to choose such a dueling format.

And soon, the first round was over. Just like what Zhang Xuan guessed, Song Chao won.

The two stages dueling via knowledge impartation also came to a conclusion. The one who fared the best induced a breakthrough in a cultivator among his group within the time limit and achieved victory. On the other stage, the master teacher won through a high overall evaluation score and advanced on to the next round.

At the end of the first round, there were some who celebrated, and similarly, there were those who looked gloomy as well. But indifferent to the results, Hong shi announced the lots for the next round.

"For the second round, will the competitors who drew A3, B3, C3, and D2 proceed on to the stage..."

B2 and C2 were empty slots.

Upon hearing that it was his turn, Zhang Xuan walked toward the 'D' stage.

"Zhang shi... drew D2? Why am I so unlucky?"

Seeing Zhang Xuan walk out from the crowd, a young man's face suddenly warped, and he nearly cried on the spot.

He had also drawn D2, which meant that he was matched up against this God of Destruction.

"It is indeed unfortunate that you were paired with him for the very first match..." The mouth of the friend beside him also twitched.

This Zhang shi had been showing outstanding results since the start of the tournament, even destroying all of the artifacts through inconceivable means. If there was a list of competitors whom one didn't want to be matched with, that fellow would surely be at the top.

At the current stage, his reputation was even greater than Luo Xuan's.

To be matched with such a person in the first round, his luck was indeed terrible.

"What do I do now? Should I just forfeit? If I don't forfeit, will he... destroy me too?" The young man asked his friend with a tearful face.

Given how that fellow tore apart everything before him, the young man was seriously frightened that he might be ripped into pieces if he were to stand against that God of Destruction. It was only a tournament, he had no desire to die so tragically...

"Cough cough, I don't think he would go so far as to do it to a human too!" consoled his friend.

"But I also thought the same for the Celestial Chess as well..." the young man retorted.

"This..." His friend was tongue-tied.

That fellow was simply too frightening. If he had a choice, he would rather face the Otherworldly Demon once more than stand against that fellow.

In other words, the pressure he felt from facing Zhang Xuan even exceeded that from the Otherworldly Demon!

"It wasn't easy for you to come to reach this stage, it would be unwise to forfeit at this point. Don't worry, even though that Zhang shi is incredible, he can't possibly be infallible!"

His friend patted his shoulder and said, "In any case, the Myriad Kingdom Alliance fared worse than our sect in the previous tournament. As long as you propose a dueling format that benefits you, there might still be a chance of victory. Once you succeed, with this momentum, you will surely be able to strive for the top eight at least!"

After a moment of contemplation, the young man nodded his head.

"That... you're right!"

Everyone would surely be watching his duel with Zhang Xuan. If he could achieve victory, not only would his confidence be inflated, he might also instill fear in the other competitors as the person who defeated the God of Destruction. With this advantage over his competitors, he just might be able to get into the top ten.

After all, psychological warfare was an essential aspect of a duel as well.

"Fine, for glory!"

Understanding that only with risk could one achieve something great, the young man gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

While he was still frightened, as a 4-star master teacher, he was still able to get himself back into condition swiftly.

"Then let's quickly analyze Zhang shi's weakness then..."

Seeing the young man regain his fighting spirit, his friend nodded his head in commendation. "In the first test, Zhang shi broke the Ghost Domain Illusory City. This means that the Mystic Gate Hidden Jia contained within the artifact is ineffective toward him, hinting that he has excellent mental fortitude and eye of discernment!"

"Un!"

Finding the words rational, the young man nodded his head.

The pitch-black Ghost Domain Illusory City was filled with spirit beings, and without outstanding eyesight, it would be impossible for one to even navigate within it. Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for one to destroy it so easily even if they intended to do so!

"You are unlikely to defeat him in that aspect, so... avoid any duels that concerns one's vision or discernment ability."

The young man added, "Right! So that means that flaws identification and cultivation guidance are out of question!"

His friend continued his analysis. "Ok. Moving on to the second test, he managed to persuade the Otherworldly Demon via his Impartation of Heaven's Will. This means that his Soul Depth is extraordinary... Therefore, you shouldn't compete with him in Soul Depth or knowledge impartation!"

To be able to persuade an Otherworldly Demon to commit suicide with just mere words, this meant that the other party's Soul Depth and mastery of Impartation of Heaven's Will had reached an astounding level. If the young man were to compete with Zhang shi over this, it was likely that the scene with the Otherworldly Demon might replay.

His friend summarized his analysis and gave his final evaluation.

"As for the third test and fourth test... Even though very little can be said about those tests, it shows that he possesses outstanding wisdom and intelligence. As such, it is likely that his understanding of cultivation is superior. Thus... in conclusion, I think that you should just compete with him in a physical duel!"

"Indeed. If I were to challenge him in a physical duel, considering that he's only at Yin-Yang realm pinnacle while I'm at Clarifying Turbidity realm intermediate stage, it shouldn't be a problem for me to triumph over him!" The young man's eyes lit up upon seeing a ray of hope.

Since there was no way to win via the other dueling format, that leaves him with only one option... Physical duel!

Considering that his cultivation was higher than the other party, he was at an advantageous position.

"But... he has a chance to reject the dueling format that I propose once. What if he were to do so?" After celebrating for a short moment, the young man suddenly thought of a possibility and his smile collapsed.

Even though the Myriad Kingdom Alliance didn't have any say in the selection of the dueling format, especially since they were in the last place the previous Master Teacher Tournament, their participants were still entitled the right to reject a proposed dueling format once.

If he were to propose a physical duel and the other party disagrees to it, wouldn't he be limited to those few other dueling formats once again?

His friend smiled.

"Are you a fool? There are many types of physical duel! You can simply propose a fist duel, and after he rejects it, you can go on and propose a sword duel. There is no way he'll be able to reject you then. Given that you're ranked first in terms of swordsmanship in our sect, there is no way that you will lose to him in a sword duel!"

"That's right!"

Regaining his confidence, the young man's eyes lit up once more. "Thank you for your suggestions. When I defeat him and proceed on to the top ten, I'll surely pay back this favor. Wait for the news of my victory!"

Saying which, he walked over to the D stage with a confident smile on his face.

...

"I am Wu Tianhao from Soaring Cloud Sect. May Zhang shi guide me well!"

Stepping onto the stage, the young man clasped his fist.

"Myriad Kingdom Alliance, Zhang Xuan!" Zhang Xuan nodded in response. "May I know what kind of dueling format Wu shi has chosen?"

"I wish to challenge you in a fist duel!" Following by his friend's advice, the corners of Wu Tianhao's lips crept up.

"Fist duel?" Zhang Xuan nodded his head. "Sure!"

"You don't agree to it? Fine, we'll have a... Ah?"

Wu Tianhao was excitedly prattling on when he suddenly came to realization and froze. "Did you just... agree to my proposed dueling format?"

"I did, you proposed a fist duel, right? Let's start then!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

In truth, Zhang Xuan could tell what the other party was up to-it was simply too obvious! But in any case, it didn't make a difference to him at all.

"..." Wu Tianhao's body swayed weakly.

Why can't you follow common sense? That's cheating, too, you know!

You're supposed to reject my initial proposal so that we can conduct a sword duel...

How can you agree to it so readily!

I was thinking that I could defeat you with my ethereal swordsmanship, but you just had to wreck my plans...

But it's fine this way as well! Even though my fist art is lacking as compared to my sword art, it isn't too weak either. At the very most, I'll just have to use my full strength from the very start. Let's see how you're going to withstand that!

The other party was two small cultivation realms weaker than him, and further, there was a qualitative difference between Yin-Yang realm and Clarifying Turbidity realm as well. As such, Wu Tianhao didn't believe that Zhang Xuan could possibly win the fist duel.

"Since you've agreed to it, let's start then!"

Having made up his mind, Wu Tianhao drove his cultivation, and in an instant, the aura surrounding him surged. For an instant, an image of a majestic tiger stepping out of the woods came into the minds of the onlooker. Clenching his fists tightly, he charged forward.