The dust cloud slowly dispersed. Two figures were standing only hundred meters away from each other. Shu Chengen wiped the blood from the corner of his lips. He started circulating his energy instantly as dark red Heavenly energy covered his whole body. He lifted his sword and pointed it at Yan Yulong.

This time Yan Yulong also released his heavenly energy which looked like golden sun. He stretched his hand and pointed his palm towards Shu Chengen. Energy exploded from their bodies. Both of them flashed and swiftly covered their distance within one breath. 

Shu Chengen  waved his sword from left to right as he aimed to hit Yulong's right chest. Yulong dodged his sword by bending his body backwards. And countered him with a palm strike aiming at his solar plexus.

Whoosh!!

Shu Chengen instantly flipped in air to dodge the attack. And rushed at Yulong thrusting his sword at his throat.

Swish!!

Yulong reacted by turning sideways. There was a large opening on the left side of Chengen's defense. Yulong took the opportunity and struck his right leg with lighting speed at his left ribcage.

Crack!!

Sounds of bone cracking rang in the air as Shu Chengen was sent flying. He finally regained his balance in mid air as he landed on his feet after flying over five hundred meters and knelt on the ground.

“Woah!! Shu Chengen is strong but Second Young Master Yan Yulong is on a different league. ”

“Isn't that obvious? He is the third strongest in the young generation. ”

“ Are you sure they are in our generation? Those two can't be in the same generation as us…can they?? ”

Crowd started saying multiple things as they can not believe that the two fighting on the stage are actually below the age of thirty.

Shu Chengen firmly pressed a hand on his left chest and gasped heavily. Three of his bones were broken and his energy circulation grew disordered due to the terrifying pain. His face was distorted by the shivering pain and he clenched his teeth tightly.

Yulong stayed his hand and didn't follow up with a attack.

“Give up. There is no way you can beat me!! ” Yulong said coldly. Shu Chengen again rose up to his feet and grabbed the sword more tightly, “Hehe!! If you think that it is all that would take you to defeat me….you are gravely mistaken.” He declared in a determined voice.

Yulong turned towards him and started circulating his golden energy again. But Shu Chengen suddenly gripped his sword with only his right hand. And he stretched out his left hand as he did a gripping motion. Another dark red sword appeared in his hand. Heavenly energy instantly enveloped the two swords and the might radiating from the swords doubled. He pointed both the swords towards Yulong as his dark red aura started swirling around them.

“Wait is that the ‘Berserk Sword Style’ ?!! ” A young man from the crowd suddenly exclaimed.

“ Holy shit!! Shu Chengen has actually learned the ‘Berserk Sword Style’!! He really is a genius! ”

 The sudden increase in pressure caused Yulong to furrow his brows as his gaze grew serious. He didn't hold back and released all his energy at once. Golden colored energy steadily covered his body.

“I didn't plan on using this before the finals. But since my opponent is already the strongest of this tournament then there's no point holding back!!” As Shu Chengen said those words, his body flashed and appeared in front of Yulong. He swinged both sword diagonally creating a cross shape to strike Yulong's face. His sudden increase in speed caught Yulong off guard for a moment but he instantly struck both his palms to meet the attack.

Boom!!

Burst of energy exploded as the ring beneath them cracked. Yulong stopped both the swords with his bare hand. But he wasn't able to counter as Chengen suddenly jumped high in the air and combined his swords together and held them like one sword. The dark red energy suddenly became a giant sword beam. Giant Heavenly formation formed around the blades. Yulong felt like a giant mountain was weighing down on him. Without giving Yulong time to recover he swinged his swords vertically right at Yulong's head.

“That's the final stage of ‘Berserk Style’...‘The Hell Split.’ ”

“ Are you fucking kidding me? He has totally mastered the ‘Berserk Style’ ?? Yulong will be dead if he take this attack head on. ” Crowd started going wild again.

“Ahhhhhh!!! ” Chengen screamed in a hoarse voice. Yulong was unable to dodge it. He finally didn't hold back any longer. “This is what you wished for!! ” Yulong said in low voice and two golden Heavenly formation appeared in his right palm. Those formations shone so brightly that it looked like the sun has descended on the stage itself. He muttered in a low voice, “ Asura Death Mark. ” Energy exploded from his right hand as he curled his hand into a fist and strike straight at the combined swords.

BOOOM!!

The two energies collided and a giant enegry burst exploded right in the middle of the ring. Several crack appeared on the ring and dust covered the entire arena. After that everything became silent for one breath.

Clang!!

Sound of metal cracking was heard.

Bang!

With another explosive sound a figure was sent flying out of the arena. He directly crashed on the ground  and rolled for several hundred meters before finally coming to a stop. He was bloodied and he didn't move anymore. One of his hands gripped a broken sword and other one had a hilt of a sword.

Finally the stage became visible again. Yan Yulong stood at his original position. He didn't even take a single step back after taking on such terrifying attack.

“The winner of the first battle is Yan Yulong!!” Fifth elder Zhou Hufeng announced. The crowd was silent for a moment. The whole battle took no less than five minutes to end. Yan Yulong didn't glance at his surroundings and swiftly left the arena. As he was leaving, the crowd bursted in praises and encouragement.

“That boy is really a rare talent. ” Second Grand Elder Yan Zugen said. Grand Elder Zhou Lie and Sect master Lieyan Zhixin also nodded in agreement.

As Yulong left the stage, few practitioners started to fix the stage to start the next match. After leaving the stage Yulong saw Yan Murong and her companions standing in a distance. His lips curved into a smile as he started walking towards that direction.

“Young Master Yulong is really strong.” Ling couldn't help but exclaim. Yan Murong and others nodded as well.

“Mnn… the Heavenly Martial Arts he cultivates is called the ‘The Dead Asura’. It's a really powerful Strength type Heavenly arts. ” Yan Murong explained.

“I see ” Ling replied. But then they suddenly saw that the golden figure which was just on the stage was slowly walking towards them. 

“Sister!! It's your brother Yulong.. did you see my match? Didn't I look awesome? ” Yulong said in a gentle womanly voice before he stood right in front of their group.

“Brot… brother what are you doing here? Don't you have another match? ” Yan Murong said as it looked like she was little flustered.

“Mnn… that I have. But what's wrong with spending a little time with my cute sister!! ” As he said those words he stretched out his hands and pulled her cheeks wide.

“Ehh!! ” Murong took a step back and freed herself from his grasp as she said, “Brother I.... I am not a little girl anymore. You...you shouldn't do things like this.”

“Aiyo!! Sob! Sob!…… I never realized my sister has grown up so much that she would be embarrassed if her brother touched her cheeks for a little time. But did you forget that when you were little.. whenever parents would scold you… you wou….” , “That's enough! You don't have to say anything anymore!!” Yan Murong cut off him and didn't let him finish his sentence.

Seeing this Ling was slightly confused as he had never seen Yan Murong behave like this. He knew that she had a brother. Murong had told him that for his weird personality her brother was rarely allowed to meet someone. Ling didn't realize what kind of personality could a person have that he was not even allowed to meet people. 

‘So This is what young mistress was talking about.’ As Ling thought this, Yulong suddenly turned to look at him. He fixed his eyes on Ling for a few moments and suddenly his gaze grew a lot more gentle,

“You are Lieyan Ling right? Thank you for taking care of little Murong for such a long time . Having you by her side really changed her personality a lot. I can't thank you enough for that. Little Murong has told me a lot about you and I know……I know that people really don't treat you…. that well. But don't worry….  always remember that Little Murong and I will never blame you for…..for your past. After all it's not your fault. And I know that I am in no condition to say this as I have never been through the things you have experienced…. but still I admire you that you never gave up and never tried to run away from the sect.” Yulong said each word from the depths of his heart. 

Ling was taken aback. He never thought anyone would ever say such things to a ‘Trash’ like him. After coming back to his senses he deeply bowed and said , “I thank young master Yan Yulong for his praises. And Young mistress is my master. So it is natural that I would help her in every way possible. So there's nothing to thank me for. ” 

Yan Yulong gave a quite sigh. Then his lips suddenly curled up and he got closer to Ling. He touched Ling's chest with his finger as he started to move them in a circular manner. His face got closer to Ling's face. Ling could feel his warm breaths touching his neck. Ling's body started trembling lightly. His eyes widened. He tried to take a few steps back but Yulong caught him by his waist. 

“Aiyo!! Young brother Ling is too courteous. You are the servant of sister Murong so it's natural for you to call her young mistress. But you don't have to call me young master as well. From now on you will call me brother. Is that okay? ” Yulong said in a soft womanly voice which caused Ling to shudder violently. But finally he regained his composer and said , “ O….Okay i..if young master wants me to call him br…brother then I will call you as you wish.”

“Mnn….. then I would love to have a conversation with brother Ling after the Selection Tournaments are over. I hope sister won't mind if I borrow him for a day right? We will talk all day and will sleep…..together…at….night!! ” Yulong said those last four words in a low gentle seductive voice right beside Ling's ear.(yeah seductive?)

Ling's body shuddered violently,

‘Brother…you sure you have a thing there? You better check that first. ’ Ling thought.

“Brother that's enough!! Ling is getting uncomfortable!! ” Yan Murong said and it looked like she was a little annoyed and angry. Why she was feeling like this was something unknown even to her.

When Yulong listened to her voice. He finally left Ling and came closer to Yan Murong and said playfully

“Am I sensing jealousy here? Don't tell me you actually…. like….him?? ”

Murong's face flushed red immediately, as she said in a loud stuttering voice, “Don't speak nonsense!! He.....he is my servant. I.... I won't allow you to stand with us anymore if you keep sprouting nonsense.”

“Aiyo! I was just kidding!! You don't have to get so angry!! ”. But after Yan Murong said this she glanced at Ling for once. But it looked like he has stopped paying attention to this guy for a long time now.

“This senior brother is really weird!!!” Xiao Meiyan said to Xiao Shun.

“… ” Xiao Shun didn't say anything but nodded.

“The second battle is between Axel Lee and Ling Luise. Enter the arena within thirty breaths!!” Zhou

Hufeng announced.

“Are you sure you shouldn't watch this battle? The winner of this battle will fight you….you know that right ?” Yan Murong said gently.

“These battles are just for entertainment. If these two haven't lost their brains then they will surrender as soon as they face me. The only interesting battle left is the fourth one. ” Yan Yulong said in a low voice.

“You mean the battle between fourth young master Lieyan Shinji and fifth young mistress Lieyan Hudie? Hmm.. that's true. Compared to them the others are not even worth mentioning. It looks like the reason behind this Selection Tournament isn't actually to select representatives. It is to 'Test' the powers of the representatives that are selected beforehand. ” Yan Murong explained unhurriedly.

“You are sharp as always.” Yulong said with a chuckle.

It was true. Everyone knew that even though the top ten desciples were all strong. But compared to the top five young master and mistresses, the other five were still too much weak. So the representatives were already set in stone and this tournament was just an excuse to 'test' their powers.

The second match lasted for thirty minutes and finally Axel Lee won the battle. But just as expected, before leaving the stage he declared that he wouldn't fight in the next battle against Yulong as he would definitely loss. And Yulong was selected as one of there representatives like that.

The third battle was between the sixth strongest desciple Alex Heart and the ninth strongest desciple Wuzi Nai. Their battle only lasted for ten minutes before Alex crushed Nai through a one sided battle. 

Finally the battle that everyone was waiting for was about to start.

“The fourth battle is between fourth young master Lieyan Shinji vs Lieyan Hudie. Both of you are to enter the ring  within thirty breaths. ”

As soon as he announced, two figures slowly walked past the crowd and entered the arena from opposite sides. 

One of them was boy who looked to be around twenty years. His hair was short and red in colour. He was tall and his eyes were blazing with fire. He wore red colored clothes with black stones inscribed in it. He gave others a feeling like he was the blazing sun itself. 

The girl was young. She looked to be around twelve. Her face was face was small and delicate. She looked like a statue made of ice. Her lips were like small petals and her beautiful long hair was silver like shining ice.

When Ling looked at her from a distance, he was slightly stunned. When Young Mistress saw him like that, she puffed her mouth,

“ What..... you have never seen a girl before Ling?”

“Hmm….. no no. It's just that isn't she a little too young to participate in a battle like this?” Ling asked in a flustered voice.

“Aiyo! No no….she may look like this but she is actually nineteen you know. She is the fifth young mistress Lieyan Hudie. She is actually pretty strong. She is at the fifth stage of Blue Star realm. Same as me.” Yulong explained unhurriedly in a gentle voice.

‘Seriously!!! She is nineteen?? ’ Ling thought as he was surprised by that. “I… see. ” Ling said.

“ How come you don't know her? Isn't she also Lieyan like you?” Yulong asked but soon he realised that he shouldn't have asked that.

“Heh!! The only Lieyan I have seen in my life is my mother and my brother. Other than that they may be Lieyan but they are not my family. ”Ling said with voice filled with sorrow and disdain.

Yulong didn't say anything about this anymore instead he avoided the topic and said

“ Young Master Lieyan Shinji is also at the same realm. This match is going to be exciting!!”

As both the participants had taken their places, Zhou Hufeng said

“You may begin!!”

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Author's note: As I told you the tournament is not the main event but only the beginning. Hopefully you enjoyed this. Thank you for reading.