20. Competition Day - Part 6

"Husband, do you think that this Xiong Wei is-" Bai Ying Yu started to say as she and Bai Gui watched the competition from the top stands where the important families were sitting.

"It's possible," Bai Gui brooded as he held his chin, "but we won't know until he turns 13."

"Right," Bai Ying Yu nodded her head in thought, "When this competition is over, I'm going to consult with the family elder on this," she said.

"Yes yes, it would be good if you did," Bai Gui agreed, but he frowned soon after, "Strange, I feel like I forgot something highly important," he said.

Bai Ying Yu heard him and smiled, "It's fine, it will come to you eventually. Whatever it is," she said, "and if you forgot it, it must not have been that important."

Bai Gui nodded his head, "Yes, I suppose you're right."

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"I want him," a sweet, soft voice rang out in the quiet booth.

A person chuckled when they heard that, "Must I remind you that your Chunyun mountain has only ever allowed girls since its creation Lady Ju."

Within the booth, you could make out a few people sitting down and watching the competition below. In the seat directly in front of the rest of the group sat a woman. She looked to be in her early to mid-twenties and had short, black hair that fit perfectly with her small oval face. Her black eyes stared out from her unblemished, ivory-colored face as her pink lips were set in a small pout. Long, strong legs, which were covered by her white robes, were crossed as her back rested to the back of her seat. She could be considered a beautiful young woman.

"Well as the current leader of Chunyun mountain, I will just be the first to break that tradition," She batted her eyes at the man sitting a few inches behind her.

He was an old man with short, gray hair and a long, gray beard. His old, seasoned eyes looked at the women in front of him with amusement.

"Fine, let's say you will break this tradition. Do you think his family would permit it? You know how...uninvolved the Bai Family is with matters not pertaining to their family," he said as he stroked his beard.

"Hmph, I know that," Lady Ju tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair, "they will need my help anyway," she said confidently.

"Oh?," than old man raised his eyebrow, "What makes you so sure?"

Lady Ju chuckled, "Lord Li, you should know that that boy has pure yin veins, my chunyun mountain specializes in yin energy techniques," she said, "and we also have ways to help out the consequences that come with practicing yin energy cultivation manuals."

Lord Li nodded his head, "Yes, it would do him some good to go under your tutelage."

"Direct tutelage," Lady Ju corrected.

"Direct?" Lord Li's eyes widened with surprise, "you're finally considering taking in a direct disciple?"

"Of course, I would be an idiot if I let this kind of heaven-defying genius slip under my fingers," Lady Ju narrowed her eyes after she said that, "which is why I ask everyone here to be so kind as to not fight over him with me."

"There should be a limit on how presumptuous you can be, Lady Ju," another voice spoke out from the back.

"Lord Kun," Lady Ju acknowledged the man.

Lord Li quietly coughed, "It all comes down to the child's decision of who he wants for a master at the end of the day," he reminded them.

Lord Kun snorted and didn't engage in the conversation anymore.

"Yes indeed, it all comes down to him," Lady Ju looked down into the arena and watched Bai Cong as he chatted with Bai Chang. Although it was more like Bai Chang was talking nonstop about his previous matches while Bai Cong pretended to listen with a blank face.

"What about that other boy, Xiong Wei," Lord Li stroked his beard once more with a thoughtful look on his face, "his potential should be no less than Bai Cong's."

"Hmph," Lady Ju snorted, "his physique doesn't conform with my Chunyun mountain techniques. I don't want him."

"Then I may as well be the first to claim him," Lord Kun once again joined into the conversation, "his physique is perfect for my Huo mountain."

"Since we're already choosing disciples already, I want the other Bai family boy, Bai Chang. My Dou mountain specializes in duel physiques, and Bai Chang's is quite rare," another person piped up. This time, it was a middle-aged man with medium length brown hair and dark brown eyes. His tanned body was muscular form strength training under the hot sun. Unlike everyone else who wore robes, he was wearing brown pants and a white shirt.

"Lord Feng, I see that you're joining this conversation," Lord Li chuckled, "but let us cease further decisions on this matter until the competition is over.

The competition had continued for a few more rounds until there were only a few people left in each group. The red group only had five people left which included Bai Cong and Xiong Wei. Throughout all his matches, Xiong Wei hadn't used a weapon once. He chose to only use his natural fire, trapping every opponent he had come across in his fire prison.

Bai Cong waited patiently for his turn to be called up. It was the round before the finals.

Ding Huo reached into the box for the red arena and pulled out two names. When he read them, he smiled a bit with an eyebrow turned up.

¨Next up for the red arena are Bai Cong and Xiong Wei,¨ he announced.

This got everyone in the crowd riled up.

¨A pure yin against a pure yang, this is officially the most anticipated match of today,¨ a person cried excitedly.

¨Yes indeed, who would have expected for both extremes of both of these physiques would be seen at this time. I am happy that I am able to witness this fight," another person agreed within the crowd.

¨Based on the youngest boy of the Bai Family's performance in his previous fights, I'm sure that he has not used all his power. He didn't even break a sweat once in the arena no matter who he went against,¨ another person speculated.

¨The same can apply for that Xiong Wei boy, he hasn't even taken out a weapon,¨ another person piped up.

"Yes, both boys have one of the greatest potentials of this time," another person said.

In the arena, Bai Cong made his way to the platform and jumped on with his twin daggers already unsheathed. He stood aloof on the arena and waited for Xiong Wei to come up.

Xiong Wei didn't waste any time coming up on the platform but he had something in his hand that he hadn't used all day, his weapon. It was a simple looking sword with the hilt of the sword being tied with some black cloth. The blade itself was gray and didn't have the sheen that other silver swords had. Him taking out his sword straight off signified how seriously he was taking Bai Cong, a boy less than 3 years younger than him.

The overseer lowered Xiong Wei's cultivation to match Bai Cong's and commenced the start of the fight.

Already knowing that the fight would be a difficult one, Bai Cong didn't intend to keep his secrets.

Bai Cong pointed both daggers in the air and threw them up into the sky. When the daggers came back down, they weren't daggers anymore, instead, they were long, double-edged twin swords. The extended part of the daggers was made of hard ice, so you could see through the top half of the sword. Despite the heat coming from the sun, the ice didn't look like it was going to melt.

Bai Cong adjusted his grip on the twin swords and swiftly ran over to Xiong Wei. He moved behind him and struck down. Xiong Wei blocked the strike with his sword and went to slash down on Bai Cong's neck, but Bai Cong dodged at the last second, narrowly missing the tip of the sword from cutting into his fleshy neck.

By now, both boys already knew that the other wanted to kill them so neither of them held back with their attacks. This was now a true life and death battle where it won't end until one of them were unable to fight back again.

Xiong Wei coated his sword with fire and watched as the blade blazed red and orange. He gripped the handle of the sword tight and glared at Bai Cong as if daring him to make a move.

Bai Cong took his challenge head-on and dashed forward with his twin swords raised, moving even faster than he did before.

Xiong Wei was surprised at his speed but that didn't faze him for long. He moved to the side as Bai Cong came barreling down and thrust his sword towards his stomach. The fire was the first thing that reached Bai Cong. The heat singed a patch of his robes that covered his stomach, making Bai Cong flinch back as he avoided the flaming sword.

Xiong Wei then used Bai Cong's close proximity to release flames from his body. A burning inferno covered the whole arena, bathing both people inside with flames.

"Xiao Cong!" Bai Chang called out in shock. He wanted to go onto the stage to save Bai Cong but his path was blocked by an arm.

"Don't go," Bai Chen said as he withheld Bai Chang from entering the arena.

"But big brother, Xiao Cong is-"

"I know," Bai Chen interrupted him, "I want to go in there too and see if he's okay but it would be useless. Think, would anyone really watch in silence as two of the greatest geniuses in history were killed? There are many people here who would have rushed in as soon as they detected that something was wrong. And since there is no one coming into the arena, the situation must not be life-threatening," Bai Chen explained.

Bai Chang finally calmed down and took in what his elder brother had said. Finding logic in Bai Chen's reasoning, Bai Chang continued to watch the match, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bai Cong's figure within the flames.

In the fire, Bai Cong wrapped himself in ice. But this was no ordinary ice, it was Qi infused ice which was stronger than regular ice. The stronger the Qi that was infused in it was, the more protection the ice could offer against powerful flames.

Although Bai Cong and Xiong Wei currently possessed the same cultivation base, Bai Cong's Qi could be said to be a bit purer than Xiong Wei's. This gave him an edge over Xiong Wei's flames.

Bai Cong looked the burning area in search for Xiong Wei's figure. Because of Xiong Wei's physique and the fact that the fire was created from himself, he was, of course, impervious to the flames blazing around him. He looked left and right in search of Bai Cong's figure.

Xiong Wei didn't consider the possibility that Bai Cong had escaped from the flames so he wasn't as vigilant of his surroundings. But who could blame him? No ordinary 5 years old would have learned anything powerful enough to protect themselves from this.

Bai Cong watched as Xiong Wei walked in front of him in slow strides. He waited for Xiong Wei to get a bit closer to him and patted the ground underneath him.

Liquid ice, water that can freeze anything if it's touched, coiled through the fire and straight to Xiong Wei with extreme speed, catching Xiong Wei by surprise. Before he could react, the ice had already coiled itself around his arms and legs, freezing them into place on the ground.

Seeing that the plan worked, Bai Cong snapped his finger and watched as the liquid ice hardened into a set of ice chains that connected Xiong Wei's body to the charred dirt.

"What is this?" Xiong Wei snarled as he tried to free himself from the chains.

"Qi infused ice," Bai Cong answered, "unless you are stronger than me, you won't be able to destroy or melt it. Even with your fire."

Bai Cong didn't let this opportunity go to waste and slashed down with his twin swords. Xiong Wei tried to move away but it was to no avail. His arms and legs were completely stuck in the Qi infused ice chains.

'I can't die like this, not when I haven't found out who I am,' Xiong Wei screamed inwardly.

Bai Cong thrust the swords down and straight into his chest, sparing no mercy for the boy. But when the sword was inches away from piercing Xiong Wei's heart, Bai Cong's movements stopped.

Bai Cong wanted to keep plowing through but something was preventing him from doing so.

"I believe this fight is over," A deep, old voice reverberated throughout the arena.

Ding Huo had appeared on the stage and was standing next to Bai Cong with his arms folded behind his back.

"It would be a shame if one of you two were to die. This fight is Bai Cong's win," he said.

Bai Cong clenched his teeth as his anger reached a peak that was only seen the day he was killed. 'How dare this old man interrupt me,' he thought.

Unaware that he had just written himself a death sentence, Ding Huo walked over to the immobilized Xiong Wei. He tapped on the Qi infused ice and made it crumble away. Xiong Wei panted heavily and reached out to touch his bloody chest, trying hard to stop the outflowing blood.

"Eat this, both of you," Ding Huo reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a small white pill, "this is a high ranked medicinal pill. It should be enough to close up your wounds," he said as he handed Bai Cong and Xiong Wei a pill.

Bai Cong examined the white pill and popped it into his mouth. He instantly felt a calming feeling as his wounds healed.

Xiong Wei took the pill and swallowed it. He was then picked up by Ding Huo and carried over to the medical tent.

Bai Cong watched in anger as they left. He gripped the charred pieces of his robe as he tried to calm down.

'I will have more opportunities to kill him in the future,' Bai Cong reminded himself, 'I just have to get stronger.'

Bai Cong glanced one more time towards the medical tent before he made his way down. When he reached the bottom, Bai Chang ran over to him with worry etched on his face, Bai Chen was right behind him.

"Xiao Cong, are you okay?" he asked with concern laced in his voice.

Bai Chen was more direct by taking Bai Cong and turning him around to inspect him, especially his stomach. The pill had worked fast so there weren't any glaring scars on his body.

After repeatedly reassuring his brothers that he was fine, Bai Chen finally asked the question that was swimming around in his mind.

¨Xiao Cong, did that Xiong boy do anything to you?¨ Bai Chen asked with curiosity. He had never seen Bai Cong lose control like that. His usually stoic face had finally revealed an emotion, but it was an expression full of killing intent. Bai Chen knew that even he himself did not possess as much killing intent as the one Bai Cong exhibited.

Bai Cong pursed his red lips in contemplation, ¨He just...irks me,¨ he said slowly.

¨How so?¨ Bai Chang cut in.

Bai Cong narrowed his eyes and didn't hide his thoughts, ¨I don´t know. There's just something about him that makes me uncomfortable. I don't like mysteries and that's what he is, troublesome mystery.¨

"Do you want me to deal with him?" Bai Chang asked, "Since you feel that he is a negative variable, getting rid of him can be the only way to put you at ease."

Bai Cong considered his suggestion but shook his head. He was about to speak until Bai Chen spoke for him.

"No, based on what Xiao Cong has said, this Xiong Wei brat has some sort of connection with the Guan Emperor. This combined with the level of protection he will receive because of his innate talent will make it hard to kill him. And even if we did manage to dispose of him, everyone will first suspect that we did it. Seeing as to how...stubborn Xiao Cong was to kill him in the arena, the blame would fall on him for his death, despite how week Xiao Cong is compared to him," Bai Chen analyze the situation.

"Then how are we going to kill him," Bai Chang frowned when he took in Bai Chen's explanation.

"We can discuss this on a later date, in private," Bai Cong didn't want the conversation to continue with so many people around.

"Okay, " Bai Chen understood his precautions and stopped talking about the issue.

"That was amazing," Hong Mian exclaimed as she ran up to them with stars in her eyes, "I didn't expect for you to be this powerful."

"Me too," Hong Ling said as he followed Hong Mian and walked up to them. He had watched with rapt attention when the arena was covered. He too had been worried about the boy inside and how he was faring.

"It was a difficult fight," Bai Cong said humbly, "I didn't think that he would cover the whole stage with fire. That surprised me."

"That surprised all of us," Bai Chen sighed. Only he would know how fearful he felt when the fire engulfed the arena. It took all he had not to go up there and search for his brother.

The rest of their conversation was put on hold when Ding Huo cleared his throat.

"Next for the orange arena are Bai Chang and Mang Huan." Ding Huo announced.