Page 72: Ranks

The last match of the day has just begun. All attention was directed on platform 2 where Ling Tian and Mo Lan were on. Everyone was being filled with anticipation as to know who would finally be in the 3rd rank. Only at this juncture of the competition that Ling Tian received a lot of attention. Compared when he started, he was a nobody but after successfully defeating all of his opponents and reaching the place where he is at now, people started to praise his effort especially knowing that he was from a fallen family. He even got himself a cheering squad on the sides cheering and screaming every time he makes some cool moves.

On the ring, the two contestants were silently staring at each other. One was waiting for the her opponent's movement while the other was thinking of how he should approach the fight. After a minute, Ling Tian started his move. As seen by the audience, he seems to be walking leisurely towards his opponent as he holds his sword on the right hand. The distance between them gets closer and closer, 8 meters,7..6..5. At that distance, Mo Lan moved from being still and casts a technique that released a freezing air around her. Just like what happened with Ah Mu's case, the floor became cold and a thin layer of ice has formed. Around her, a dense fog started to form.

Ling Tian stopped his steps and immediately used the skill aimed at Mo Lan. Even though the distance was close, Mo Lan was still successful in evading the attack. Every time Ling Tian attacks, he always missed. He already shot 4 consecutive strikes at Mo Lan however it looked like Mo Lan just evaded them easily.

Mo Lan on the other hand was evading while trying to encircle Ling Tian. With the fog that gets denser and denser, it seemed that Ling Tian is being trapped in a foggy situation. From the audience, Ling Tian's figure became faint until he became completely shrouded by the fog. Only Mo Lan's figure was left being seen on the edge of the stadium. With Ling Tian being completely covered, Mo Lan started her barrage of attacks towards the center of the fog she created. With the same technique Ling Tian used a while ago, multitudes of Leopard like figures pounced into the thick shroud.

The people understood what Mo Lan was doing. With her freezing the floor and shrouding the area with dense fog, any attack coming from the outside of the fog will become unpredictable since the person inside would most likely become practically blind. Add the floor which she froze, maneuvering in such area would prove difficult. People cheered on her creativity but some people who were on Ling Tian's side, especially the cheering squad yelled at the opposite supporters for being a coward. There was an exchange of words like Mo Lan being witty while the opposite saying her being a coward.

Back on the stage, Mo Lan stopped her barrage after releasing 7 of the attack skill. After giving out so much essence, she began showing signs of exhaustion. Just when she is about to give one last attempt, a figure shot out from the fog and blasted out a skill on a point blank range towards her body. With the only fraction of time she has to protect herself, she was able to project a thin barrier of ice to reduce the impact of the skill. Upon contact, she heard the cracking sound of the barrier breaking and afterwards felt the pain focused on her lower abdominal area. Instantaneously, she realized her feet were not already on the ground and was being flung outside of the ring. Two seconds before she will land, she adjusted her balance for a safe landing while enduring the pain from the attack.

Tap! Tap!

Both of her feet simultaneously landed on the outside ground while supporting her stomach region with her right arm. She looked at the stage and saw her opponent without any major wounds and what is mostly apparent were just minor bruises maybe taken from secondary impacts. She gave a questioning smile as her opponent slowly approached her.

"How did you do it? I'm sure it is difficult to dodge objects inside my fog. Unless you are quick enough to react with the situation or that you can see through it. Can you please tell me?"

While looking at her opponent's eyes, she was unsure if he'll reciprocate her question. This was not just a matter of curiosity but also to improve her skills. Knowing that her scheme was not enough to take down someone like him, she needs to learn more so she could improve.

Still waiting for a response, she was quite taken aback when her opponent came closer and asked her if she was alright. Such situation was not usual for her since this was a competition. She didn't even know the person for him to act like this. She was wondering, maybe this man is just kind.

Realizing her own thoughts, she was a bit flustered. This was her first time feeling such weird sensation and being in an uncomfortable situation. She tried to calm herself but that moment, she heard a reply from him.

"The first one. I tried to dodge while being in the shroud but I failed to take account of the small rocks richocheting from the blast. You must really have thought on how to fight me. I was lucky that you didn't realize I was deliberately trying to miss when I was attacking. The ice you made on the floor was shattered and didn't impede my movement back there. Still, I was really surprised. It was a nice fight for me."

Mo Lan gave out a small laughter after hearing what her opponent said. She learned she was careless during her execution of the plan that lead to her defeat. Seeing that the person in front of her is giving a concerned face, she told him to not worry about her.

As the last fight has for the day has drawn into its conclusion, the people started to scatter around meeting with other acquaintances and friends. Looking at the notice board for the rankings, people who have no info about the person in question began to investigate about their backgrounds. This situation has never happened before. No one from the major household's young masters were able to enter the top 5 except Chen Weimin who was taken by the sect leader. For those who knew Ling Tian and Ah Mu, mostly from the slums, began expressing good things about them to other people.

Back to where Long Bai was, people who put their bets on Mo Lan and correctly guessed that she would place 4th have already lined up to receive their rewards. This may be the case but after counting how many are on the queue, there were only less than ten who are in line. While many were envious of the people in the queue, a person who couldn't hide his joy was already on the very first line to receive the times four amount of his bet. Smiling from ear to ear, people who sees him can't help but grind their teeth with frustration.

Mo Shan came back to where Long Bai is and initiated a hug but before he give one, Long Bai sped forward to meet the two man and a woman who just came down from the platform. Ling Tian and Ah Mu was just supposed to be the ones moving towards Long Bai's direction but then Mo Lan followed. Before the three can speak and have a conversation, a loud and celebrating voice was just heard from behind.

"Ah! My dear sister! Look! I won a lot today. Isn't this great?"

Everyone's attention went to the direction of the voice and saw Mo Shan jiggling the pouch that contained the shards he just received. While people around was full of envy, Long Bai who just heard what Mo Shan yelled made him stupefied. Long Bai thought, 'what is he doing? If I'll guess he would receive a beating later'.

What Long Bai was pointing out was that Mo Shan was spraying salt on a wound by saying that he won because his sister lost. Of course, Mo Lan didn't know this yet until the later part of their conversation.

"Ah, my stinky brother. For the first time in forever you were able to earn something. You must have been lucky....wait.. Say brother, why did you win? You were supposed to come and support me right?"

The dense brother who was too elated with his success did not take her sister's question seriously answered honestly in front of her face.

"Sister look! I was able to quadruple the amount I have in less than a day. Of course, it's all thanks to my savior young master Ling Tian. Young master Ling Tian, you are my god of wealth from now on."

Mo Shan ran towards Ling Tian, took his right hand and kneeled in front of him. Before Ling Tian can make a move, he saw something brewing behind Mo Shan who was in front of him. The place became cold and in that vicinity, a cloud of mist formed. Ling Tian was supposed to say something but then stopped himself when he saw Mo Lan nearing her brother with a wooden plank she yanked from the nearby stall. Everyone followed her movements and stopped just behind Mo Shan. After that, there was silence.

Whack!

The thin plank shattered but the head did not. Instead, it rendered the person unconscious. That afternoon, everyone saw an icy lady dragging a cold body out of the martial grounds. Starting that day, Mo Lan's legend about whacking someone's head came to be.

Long Bai was watching the unbelievable scene and then made a follow up to Ling Tian.

"Brother Ling Tian. She might be pretty but if you insist, you must toughen yourself up in case you'll make a mistake in the future. Fighting!"

"Huh?" Ling Tian was clueless about Long Bai's words but then was still amused by Mo Lan's actions. He was keeping a faint smile while seeing her figure fading out from a distance.