The left hand is as bad as my right. The ribs and internal organs were squished on the fourth floor. My stamina is near the bottom. At least, my legs were untouched. I will admit I gained a few things in this cave, but it does feel irritated to have things contradicting me. It should be. I had always had things going my way. When it didn’t, I used my brute force to change. It seems fate arranged quite the scenario to make me learn a lesson.
“Masters.” Zhao Ren stepped out from the group and addressed his elders. “Normally, the spar partner of the last test is conducted by one of us..." (He is referring to the second generation. Generation is counted from the sect master down. The sect master and his seniors and juniors are the first generation. Their disciples are the second generation. The disciples of the second generation would be the third.)
"...but Zhao Ren believes it would be better to have my disciple, Lian Hua, take this role. As the masters have known, Lian Hua is the last of the disciples that haven’t been outright eliminated in the last tournament. If Yun An couldn’t complete today's trials, I had determined to forward her as the fourth representative. You may think that Zhao Ren is presumptuous, but as strength is the condition for the selection we shouldn’t choose a disciple that had already lost…”
Fang Xin clenched his fist at that statement.
“...and if we are to let Lian Hua take the honour, it’s best to let no rumour exist. Other masters and disciples will compare Lian Hua and Yun An. They will say what if Yun An is more appropriate. I know they will, for there is support for her. Zhao Ren can’t think of any better way than having these two proving themselves right here. It will save both time and effort with just this simple solution.”
“Senior. The seventh trial is a mock fight. We shouldn’t just change it like that. It’s unfair to Yun An.” Tian Zhong spoke.
“Tian Zhong. I have no intention of making it unfair to Yun An. The original trial is to have one of the supervisors as the partner to the disciple. They will spar for a limited time, then the observing supervisors will decide how well the disciple performed. I simply want to have Lian Hua act as Yun An’s partner. We will judge her performance the same way other disciples were judged.”
“Masters. Seniors. Yun An agrees.”
“Yun An.”
I understand what Zhao Ren is planning. I know that my master and senior Tian Zhong know that too.
While the logic he forwarded is sound, it will have the opposite effect as Zhao Ren had argued. If I win, there is nothing to say. If I lose but the masters decide I meet the mark to pass the trial, there will be voices of discontent. After all, winning and losing isn't the criterion to decide one passing this particular trial, how proficient one was with the techniques does.
Moreover, there is no way to tell what kind of damage I will sustain in this battle. If the student is the same as the master, she could cause a deep wound and feint ignorant later. Of course, there is no reason for a reasonable observer to buy any of that nonsense, but so what? What punishment and compensation could fix me in that case? Furthermore, I was still not 100% healed even without having to attend this ordeal.
Regardless the circumstances, Lian Hua would still be healthier than me from this point up to the beginning of Gudu’s tournament. Why send a strong fighter but is currently too severely injured that they couldn’t win against a weaker candidate? The sects should only send the strongest to Gudu, couldn’t recover in time isn’t an acceptable reason.
“...Qi forming stage also has nine levels.
- First level: Qi skin improves overall physical power.
- Second level: Qi vessels improve the flow of qi.
- Third level: Qi flesh further improves qi flow and expands the connection between qi skin and qi vessels.
- Fourth level: Qi bones will form the backbone of the qi body.
- Fifth level: The landmark of this level is the ability to create a layer of qi over a body part. This layer of qi can be quickly regenerated. It will serve as protection for your body.
- Sixth level: Forming a layer of qi over multiple body parts at once.
- Seventh level will allow a layer of qi over the entire body like an armour.
- Eighth level: Cultivators can fuse qi layer with the flesh, making it much harder to be peeled off. It also improves the rate that the qi armour is repaired.
- Ninth level: At this level, qi armour roots into the bones and marrows. Further improves qi armour regeneration and harder.
Qi skin, qi flesh, qi vessels, and qi bones are qi constructions that stay in the same space as your skin. It is a passive protection but you can greatly enhance it against attacks by pulling more qi into them…”
If I understand correctly, every disciple I have faced are those with a better body. While Dong Yun An’s body is stronger than normal children, I doubt it is her strength. There must be some sort of intertwinement between her and me. I have my mind in her body, don't I? This unexplainable strength can only be something from the me of the past. I am stronger than other disciples physically, but my body is still normal flesh and blood. With the exception of me, every other participant in the last elimination tournament had fully recovered including Shi Xin and his broken arm. One could say that I am strong but take far longer to return to recuperate. Zhao Ren may have realized this weakness, or it’s just that I am unlucky.
Is she from body cultivation realm or something?
Every disciple that participated in this sect tournament is a stage above her. She is still at Foundation stage, but everyone else is at least the first level of Qi forming stage (including Yin Lin, the first one she defeated with a throw).
The goal of Foundation stage is to help the cultivator to familiarize with the three basics, qi detection, qi manipulation, and qi absorption.
They would use their experience in Foundation stage to construct their qi body which are the first half of Qi forming stage: 1st level - qi skin, 2nd level - qi vessels, 3rd level - qi flesh, and 4th level - qi bones. The primary function of this qi body is to aid the flow of qi in their body. The secondary function is to assist them in the next stage (body reformation). The tertiary effect is improving the recovering rate of the body as well as strengthening the body.
What the "new" Yun An is lamenting is that she has a much stronger body than normal children of this world. It was this strength that allows her to compete against those who are higher in cultivation ladder than her. However, there is an issue. While the cultivators have qi body to assist their recovery, she doesn't. This means she recovers much slower than others. This is on top of the fact that qi body also lessening the damage deal directly to the body. In additionally, Yun An was also reckless with her fight and sustained far more damage to her body, since she didn't plan to win the fight or the tournament at all. All of these accumulate into her being heavily injured and yet to fully recuperate. This is what Zhao Ren realized and exploited by pushing a trial cave onto her. This will either disqualify her or exhaust her and prolong her recovery period, thus, making her ill-suited to participate in Gudu.
@CheertheDead Nono, I ment her old world where there is no qi, did they have like realms which decided how strong their body is? Or it was just pushing limits of mortal strengths by martial arts
@Qiun Ah, that one. No, her old world doesn’t have qi or realm. She is just a very special individual who managed to went very far with her strength. Although it does have supernatural elements like myth creatures and gods. However, those supernatural elements aren’t known to the populace and rarely interact with her old world.