Competition (2)

After the first day of competition, the initial 500 contestants decreased to 250. Thus, today was another day of 1 Vs. 1 battles.

Jing Ling was even less energetic than yesterday after the scolding she got from her Father.

After they got home, it was still in the afternoon but by the time her Father stopped, the sun had already set. To make it worse, halfway through her Father's nagging, Grandmaster Tian showed up to scolded her too. With the two of them teaming up against her Jing Ling could only sit there and pretend she was repenting.

"Well, at least they didn't force me to forfeit the competition. Still, I don't understand. Why everyone is so against me entering?" Jing Ling thought. "When I asked the two of them they just made excuses and didn't tell me anything. Hmph, now I know Father is scheming with the old man. I really need to figure out what they're hiding..."

"East platform, number 18 and 54."

Jing Ling quickly snapped out of her thoughts and concentrated on her battle. As she approached the platform, Jing Ling saw that she was going up against someone she recognizes.

"It's nice to see you again Miss. Xiao."

"You as well Miss... Chen."

"I didn't think you would need to join such competition with your status as the old man's disciple."

"hehehe" Xiao Bao liked Jing Ling's straightforward attitude. "It's because I am my Master's disciple that I need to join this competition and win."

"What a coincidence... I also wish to win."

"You may begin." Grandmaster Tian looked at the two with a restless expression. "Sigh, why did the two of them have to meet, and so early!" he thought.

Xiao Bao reached for her Qiang and pointed it towards Jing Ling.

"I am not confident that I can beat you with my realm alone thus I will choose to use a weapon."

"It is an honor that you think so highly of me." Jing Ling said as she unsheathed her Dao sword.

Neither of them tried to charge at the other, instead, they stood motionlessly as they tried to look for the other's opening.

After a few more minutes, the fight was going nowhere so Jing Ling began to attack instead of wasting any more time.

However, once Jing Ling was within the reach of Xiao Bao's Qiang, she saw the spearhead aiming for her neck.

"Clang!"

Her sword parried the spear as she continued to charge at Xiao Bao before slashing her sword.

Xiao Bao leaned back and avoided the sword. She backflipped to create distance between them before charging towards Jing Ling the moment she landed.

"Clang Clang Clang..." The two continued to exchange blows but neither was able to gain the upper hand. They repeatedly broke apart unscathed. Both of them was unwilling to give into the other as they continued to exchange blows at increasingly frightening speeds.

5 minutes...10 minutes...15 minutes passed as the two continuously collided but it was becoming apparent that Xiao Bao lacks stamina.

Their weapons intertwined once more and Jing Ling noticed Xiao Bao was beginning to wheeze.

"I think it's better for you to admit defeat," Jing Ling advise. She was enjoying her spar with Xiao Bao but the fatigue is affecting her and openings in her defense is appearing.

"Nonsense, I can still do this."

"...Why are you so desperate to win?"

"That is none of your business."

"I guess so, but I'm going to end this now. Save some energy for tomorrow's next match"

Jing Ling increased her attack speed to push Xiao Bao closer to the edge of the platform before deflecting her Qiang. Xiao Bao's abdomen became unprotected so Jing Jing kicked her in the stomach and she flew off the platform."

"Winner, Chen Xie" announced Grandmaster Tian.

Jing Ling sheathed her sword and went to help Xiao Bao up.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I hope I didn't hurt you. I really enjoyed our match. Let us fight again Xiao Bao." Jing Ling smiled at her.

"...Ok" Xiao Bao said.

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"I definitely need to work on my sword techniques. I don't want to disappoint Master Song. My attack patterns are too easy to see through and they're dull. I only won today's match because Xiao Bao doesn't have much endurance."

Jing Ling was going over her battle with Xiao Bao and she is unsatisfied with her sword skills. There were a few times during the battle she almost got hurt because she wasn't sure how she should have parried the Qiang and her body reacted slowly.

"I think I should work on my agility," thought Jing Ling. "I have only been focusing on building my strength and martial arts that I have neglected speed. What's the point of having all this strength if my body can't doge or attack on time? But how should I train?"

"The fastest way would be for me to learn a movement skill but that would mean I have to pay the Emperor another visit..."

Jing Ling felt like she was taking advantage of the Emperor. Over the past 2 years, whenever she needed something she would go ask the Emperor or her Father for it and they will always obtain it for her. She realized she is being spoiled by the two and needs to learn how to be independent.

After thinking, Jing Ling remembered that if she won the competition she could choose any martial arts manual from the palace's library.

"But if I don't change I won't be able to get a spot at the top. Right now, if I encounter an opponent that specializes in speed I'll lose. Hmm, I can train by sprinting in the morning to slowly increase my speed but what about my reflexes?"

"Miss, it is time for you to go to bed now," said Yun.

"Not yet Yun. I'm trying to figure out to get stronger."

"You're probably the strongest 12-year-old in the world Miss, why are you worried about getting stronger?"

"I want to win the competition. Hey Yun, is there a way to train my reflexes? I'm so slow."

"Why don't you use the training room in the training hall?"

"Hmm?! There's such a room?"

"Yes. The room is normally used for the soldiers' training."

"Quick Yun! Bring me there now."

"Now? But it's already so late and you have the competition tomorrow."

"It's alright. I just want to take a look."

Yun conceded, knowing that Jing Ling wouldn't back down once she has made up her mind. They walk to the Jing Family's training hall and Yun leads them down a long hallway lined with various doors. They continue to walk until they reach the end of the hall.

Jing Ling enters the room and sees numerous logs hanging down from the ceiling. They were all positioned so that they formed a circle and would all swing towards the center the moment they were given the slightest push. There are at least a hundred of them.

"This is perfect!" shouted Jing Ling. "Yun you can head back now, I am going to train here tonight. Oh please come to get me tomorrow morning when it's almost time to head to the competition."

"It's so late Miss, you should sleep and start training here tomorrow. You'll be too tired to fight tomorrow if you don't rest now."

"I won't be able to sleep tonight now that I know about this room. I would probably stay up all night thinking about it so I shouldn't waste any time and just train."

"Sigh. As you wish," Yun replied and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Jing Ling carefully made her way to the center of the room, making sure not to touch any of the logs. Moonlight peered through the windows but Jing Ling's vision was still limited. She didn't bother to light a candle since she felt training in the dark will help her improve faster.

After taking a breath to calm herself, Jing Ling lightly tapped the closest log and prepared to dodge. She leaned her body to the right and easily avoided the log. However, she couldn't tell when the log began to swing back and was hit on back making her fall face forward onto the floor.

Jing Ling quickly got back up to her feet but another log swung at her before she noticed and it hit her in the chin.

The next morning, as Yun entered the room she immediately saw Jing Ling laying on the floor like a corpse.

"Miss! Are you alright?! I'll go get Doctor Lu."

"No, it's alright. Calm down, Yun. I'm just a bit bruised, it's not as bad as it looks." Yun obviously didn't believe her. She noticed some spots were turning purple and quickly went to get Doctor Lu to treat Jing Ling's injuries.

"Please be more careful with your body Miss. You are lucky nothing is broken but it is going to take at least 2 weeks before these injuries disappear." Doctor Lu reprimanded her. "It will be best if you rest a few days before continuing your training."

"Thank you for worrying Doctor Lu but I have a competition to go to and I will make sure rest when I feel that my body has reached its limit. Yun lets go, I will change my clothes before I heading out."