Page 90: Alchemists fight too

*2nd day

Yue seemed to be the earliest to arrive at the martial grounds. The grounds were exclusively closed for them to use that is why the place was empty. Since she was still early, she sat on the floor of one of the middle platform to circulate her essence. After taking the breakthrough pill and staying a day at the essence pond, she was able to reach the 1st level of the bone tempering in just eight days. For now, she was still trying to stabilize her state and get used to her new strength. Considering her age, reaching the bone tempering at this juncture is considered mythical in the union islands. However, if compared to the rich disciples in mainland who are at the same age, she might just be considered to be epic.

As she continued her cultivation, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, until an hour have passed. Just then, she heard voices coming from a distance. As she opened her eyes, she saw everyone walking together towards her.

"Sister Yue, you're early! We passed by some food stalls near here. Sister, here's your share!"

Ah Mu's enthusiasm about food is unparalleled among the group but he would always keep some for Yue. Ever since they were living in the slums, this was how Ah Mu treated Yue. He finds it enjoyable when he shares his food with the enthusiastic little Yue.

After everyone was done eating, they gathered in front of Yue. Since she was the original leader that would handle the group for a more than a week, everyone willfully showed up in front of her.

"Come on sister Yue. How should we start?"

"Uhm, before we do, are there concerns you would like to address? For example, a specific part that you wanted to improve?"

"By the way, what if alchemists will be asked to fight during the interschool? Haha, just kidding!"

Tan Zhong's question shook everyone's mind. After hearing Tan Zhong's words, everyone was having similar thoughts. 'Yeah, what if they fight? Aren't they cultivators too?'

Tan Zhong looked at everyone and chills ran down his spines. Everyone was having a serious face as if they considered his joke real.

"Hey, hey. I was just joking. You don't need to take what I said seriously. Guys..."

All the four martial cultivators were smiling widely. They were having the same thoughts which was to have the alchemists join their martial fights.

"Brother Tan Zhong, almost everyone's at the visceral layer anyway so there's no problem."

Yue playfully answered back. Her smile could have connoted that she wanted to be playful with the others but the real reason was different from what they were expecting. Only Yue knows how much she wanted to have another spar with Long Bai. The last time they had a spar was a long time ago and now that the opportunity has come, she can't let it just slide.

While Tan Zhong was still complaining, she gave Lung Tian and Ah Mu a meaningful look. Although they were clueless at first, after giving some few glances at Long Bai's direction, they were able to understand what she wanted to say. Because if this, Ah Mu and Ling Ling Tian further more pushed the idea of sparring with everyone present.

Long Bai who was just going with the flow of the conversation gave a wry smile when he felt some unusual atmosphere directed at him. He knew this feeling. It was similar when the three stooges were still green and tried to spar against him.

Before things could become more difficult to handle, Yue announced the first person to fight on the stage.

"Alright! We will begin with brother Tan Zhong vs. sister Mo Lan! Let's clap for them!"

Tan Zhong stopped his rants and tried to act cool as he walked up to the platform. Everyone almost burst into laughter after seeing his behavior. The serious Tan Zhong that they met before and the now was really different. Perhaps, he might just be feeling comfortable with the current population.

"Senior Tan Zhong, it has been a while. Please advice this junior."

"Ah, junior sister Mo Lan, please don't be too formal with with me. It's just a sparring match. I should be the one asking for advice. Please be gentle on me."

"As you wish young ma.. senior Tan Zhong. Please be ready."

The fight was not as dramatic as everyone expected. Mo Lan's attacks were moderated and Tan Zhong was on the defence. As the fight continued, everyone noticed the hesitations in Mo Lan's attacks. It was as if she was afraid in hurting the person in front of her. It must be awkward for the both of them since they came from the same background but different branches.

"Sister Zhang Li, about brother Tan Zhong. What do you know about him?"

It was Long Bai who asked. At first, he thought that he must really be someone special from the merchant union but as it goes on, he thinks that there's more to it than special. He heard Mo Lan almost spoke the words "young master" a while ago which made him think that he might be a direct descendant of a major leader from the merchant union.

"This.. Even I don't have much information. All I know is that he came from the merchant union and he's been trained under a travelling master alchemist."

Since only the person himself can give them the answer, they gave up the idea of asking more. Back on the platform, the fight seems to be coming to its end. Mo Lan was already at her limits from her continuous emission type attacks.

"I give up! You did well, junior Mo Lan."

"Thank you youn.. senior Tan Zhong."

The small crowd was speechless. They just don't know how to react with what's happening. Tan Zhong who was winning declared defeat towards his losing opponent? This just mean that Tan Zhong was being considerate with someone from the same background or because his opponent was a woman.

"Senior Tan Zhong, what's your relationship with Sister Mo Lan?"

"Ahaha, brother Ah Mu. She's from the same place as I did so we can call it neighbors? Hm hm, yes. Neighbors, thats it."

Ah Mu just laughed it out after hearing Tan Zhong's vague reasoning. Anyone who thought the same as Ah Mu reacted the same. Since Tan Zhong seem to dislike discussing such topic, they don't have a choice but to leave it as is.

"Alriiigghhttht! I hope we all learned something from the first match! Now we will proceed with the second match. Let's all welcome, brother Long Bai! vs brother Ah Mu!"

"Oh yeah! Brother Bai. I'm taking you down! Hahaha!"

Ah Mu climbed up the stage while laughing. He can't just hide his excitement now that he can fight Long Bai again. Since their first fight, he has been wanting to at least be able to stand on the same ground as him. Now that he became stronger, he was feeling confident in his strength.

"Brother Bai, I'll fight with all I've got. You don't have any problem with that right? Hehehe, I've grown stronger so I bet you're feeling nervous. Please advise me brother Bai. Ha!"

Without any signal, Ah Mu dashed with his skill which was at initial success. The speed he displayed was really almost like a teleportation technique if seen from a distance. Mo Lan who fought against Ah Mu during the competition was still being amazed by the speed he displayed. With that kind of speed, she believes that she won't be able to win against him in an honest fight.

! Dodged!

The vertical slash Ah Mu delivered was dodged easily. However Ah Mu did not stop there. After the vertical slash, he immediately followed it up with a rising slash towards Long Bai who dodged to his right.

! Dodged!

...

Ah Mu used the twisting momentum to make a 360 turn and give another combo attack. The sword that came from above continued to have its momentum and he used this to deliver his final strike.

...

Pack!

The wooden sword that was originally aimed at Long Bai's shoulder hit nothing and eventually continued downwards making the wooden sword land on the floor which created a loud sound. Ah Mu's self made combo attack lasted for only three slashes which he named . He named the over all combo which he originally aimed to have a continuous successive 13 strikes. For now, he was only able to make a three move combination which was the fruit if his labor for the past days. This was something he took from the fight he had with Li Xianliang during the martial competition. If he can make a successive critical strikes, then the skill would definitely be unavoidable and lethal.

On the small audience, no one was making a sound. Everyone had their eyes widened from what they've seen especially the alchemy group. First to move among them was Ling Tian. After seeing that AH Mu's was ineffective, he took the initiative to make a switch.

"Ah Mu, you rest! Let me take it from here!"

Ah Mu retreated on a corner of the ring and sat down to recover from a slight exhaustion. He was not exhausted due to slashing but instead mental exhaustion from spending a lot of essence in every movement and attack he made. Using the together with the martial skill required a lot of concentration. He would need to do multiple task like having the essence be distributed towards the required part of the body while keeping the body moving quickly. This kind of activity wears of the mind easily.

While Ah Mu took some rest, Ling Tian took his place. Unlike Ah Mu, Ling Tian had already seen sine patterns which he can use against Long Bai.

Ling Tian activated his skill which reached also the initial success. Same as Ah Mu, Ling Tian used the to its maximum. If Ah Mu created combo strikes, Ling Tian approached it in a different way. Using the critical strikes from the skill, he made each of his strikes sharper by moving like a beast. Each strikes were heavy and if it hits, it would definitely rip the person apart. This was what Ling Tian developed after all of his experiences. Every attack resembled a beast's attack like for example, slashes resembled an ursa slashing it's sharp but heavy claw, dashes resembled that of a tiger's pounce while his stabs were as sharp and strong like the unihorned beast which can even penetrate thick scales. Although his attacks were not as continuous as Ah Mu, his attacks focuses on ferociousness.

Ling Tian roars (screams) every time he makes an attempt for attack which takes out the surprise element. It was like he was trying to say, "meet my attack" or something within that line.

Since Ling Tian prides in his strength, Long Bai parried all of them using the wooden sword that he took out. Since he was way stronger than Ling Tian, all the attacks were endured and redirected towards the ground.

After many attempts, Ling Tian started to have increases breathing rate. This time, Yue called out for a substitution.

"Brother Ling Tian, my turn!"

It was Yue's turn finally. Among the three, she had the most promising talent. Now, she decided also to show her improvements.

If Ah Mu developed combo attacks, Ling Tian added ferociousness in each swing, then Yue developed her thrust skills better than others.

"Brother Bai, here I come!"

Compared with the other two, Yue had the best dex and agi constitution which made her have the fastest reaction time. Its no doubt that she is the best among the three.

Yue approached Long Bai with a while utilizing the . The basic thrust that was supposed to look simple appeared like a high class skill due to her incredible speed. Such strike was aimed at Long Bai's lower end of his sternum.

Swoosh!

Long Bai who was at the receiving end dodged the attack to the left but then Yue threw another skill just after the first. She lowered her wooden sword and went on an upward slash originating from her right hip and transitioned to a downward slash which ended to her left hip. The attack made an outline of a fish.

!

Long Bai still managed to dodge. Although he was having an easy time, in reality, that was because he was already on the intermediate success of the skill meaning his speed was twice of any of them. If he would use the same skill level, he would definitely be in trouble with all the combos and ferocious attacks that were thrown at him. Compared with the three, Long Bai was the only one who didn't have any special skills made. This just proves how dedicated the three in their training. Long Bai on the other hand just realized how much he slowed down in his martial skills. These three just gave him the wakeup call he needed.

After making the attack, Yue stepped back 2 meters away from Long Bai to prepare her last resort attack.

"Brother Bai, receive my best attack!"

She made one final dash and executed a skill. This time, Long Bai used his wooden sword and decided to meet her attacks.

!

The first stab was aimed at Long Bai's right shoulder but was parried. Second stab aimed at the left shoulder, parried. Third on the solar plexus and the last was on the forehead, both parried!

All of Yue's attack were based on 4 critical points of the thirteen critical strikes of the . The four hit stabbing combo was as lethal as one of the critical strikes. The only difference were that she utilized her expertise in thrust skills to increase the critical rate of each attack. If it was somebody who was doing the same skill, they might not be able to execute it unless they have the same dex and agi as hers. Because of her innate stats to her agility and dexterity, her precision and accuracy has reached a godly level. If those four attacks were not blocked, all of the four thrusts could have severed the left and right shoulder, produced unbearable excruciating pain on the abdomen and would have created a puncture on the skull.

"Ah, that was magnificent, sister Yue.."

"We're not done yet! Everyone, attack!"

Just then, the two who were resting went back in and joined the fray. This time, all Long Bai can do was use solely his to dodge all the incoming attacks. He can't afford to be cornered so what he did was to put distance between them as much as possible. Just when he was trying to dodge Ah Mu's third slash of his slash skill, Yue was approaching with her while a third attack was coming from above. Ling Tian leaped and released his ferocious vertical dowward slash!

When the three thought they cornered Long Bai where each of their swords were just 6 inches away from touching Long Bai's right shoulder, abdomen, and head respectively, Long Bai suddenly disappeared like a ghost from his position. All of the three attacks fumbled causing the three to miss and hit nothing but the hard ground and the empty air.

"You almost got me there! You three really worked hard. I should also out more effort into my training. Thank you guys."

The sound came from three meters away from his original spot. After seeing that he was still unscathed even after their combined assault, they gave up and slumped on the floor due to exhaustion.

The small audience down the stage were sweating profusely from the scene they saw. Inside them, they felt their heart go wild, blood rushed like floodgates, palms and soles sweaty and their knees weak like spaghetti. It was the most intense exciting thing they have seen personally. It was so heart racing they wished they were doing the same. They wished they can do what they've seen. Their mouths were shut bit their clenched fists tells them everything, that they too must become stronger. Zhang Li and Tan Zhong who never saw Long Bai this way gave them a new light, that alchemists can also fight after all.