Test Of Strength

The long awaited day for the academy's entrance examination came. Many of the youngsters and examinees were curious about the form the examination would take.

Waking up that morning, Gui Shan had confidence that he would make the qualifiers. What kept him going was the fact that he is one step closer to finding about his true identity.

They boys in the dorm, were all up making preparation for the examination that day, same for the girls in the female dorm.

They all gathered at the assembly ground as they were told the day before, they stood there curious and expectant.

"Uhm...uh", the principal cleared his throat.

"Good morning everyone",

"Good morning sir", replied the students.

"I wish to inform you that the Guiyi academy's entrance examination begins officially today.

"I advice my my esteemed participants work by the rules of the examination and avoid cheating"

"Guiyi academy was founded many centuries back and has done well in training bright and competent students", the principal said.

Giving an introductory speech, he commended the participants for making it thus and encouraged them to put in their best and skills into the test.

"The examination is a 4-days, 4-way test",

"You'll all be tested on different areas in which worthy candidates would be selected as winners and the others eliminated. Meanwhile, have it in mind that only 9 out of this great numbers would be selected", the principal said in conclusion.

After Principal Ming's speech, the master of the Crimson lion wing declared that the examination has begun.

So many participants anticipated and hoped that they pass the first test.

The first phase of the test began. With them all beaming with expectations, they were paired with themselves and Waited for the next step.

"In the first test, we would be testing your individual strength and stamina, although many spill out after the first round", Huang Ju Said.

After the pairing, each one of them were asked to fight with the partner they were paired with.

In the pairing, different contestants were matched;

'Gui Shan vs Bai Xing',

'Bi Yao vs Wu Zhu',

'Hu Mei vs Fen Bao',

'Tang Tang vs Xhang Xu',

'Ru Yuo vs Li Meng', amongst others.

The Competitors upon hearing the information, quickly girdled themselves, with each person evaluating his/her opponent.

The match was to begin in earnest, Gui Shan and his friends are seen discussing how the match would look like.

Gui Shan on his part fretted for a little while, considering that his opponent is the famous Bia Xing, student of one of Wushu's renowned master in martial skills.

Bia Xing was known for his talent in martial arts and combat. Records have it that since his young age, he has never been defeated by his fellow counterparts.

Gui Shan still evaluating his opponent thought of the possibility of him losing the match against such a skilled warrior.

Gui Shan being aware of the ability his rival possessed only wished for whatever comes out of the fight.

Meanwhile, other competitors anticipated with strong confidence.

Bia Xing from a distant spotted his opponent Gui Shan and got close to talk with him.

"Why don't you just forget about winning because you have lost from the start",

"I believe you must have heard of my prowess and skills in martial arts, why don't you just give in and admit defeat already", Bia Xing said.

Bia Xing in his part thought within himself that Gui Shan won't be any different from other opponents he met in the past.

It never occured to him that Gui Shan possessed the wolf warrior's bloodline and possess immense strength which surges out as we proceed.

"The rules of the combat are simple, the last man on the circle after the fight is declared the winner of that round",

"No fight till the death", 

Huang Ju Said.

First on the board of the competitors was

"Ru Yuo vs Li Meng"

The two of them stepped out of the crowd and entered into the combat zone which was a ring-like structure.

Ru Yuo as a very brave girl wasn't fazed by the look the male opponent in her front, but with full confidence believed that she could defeat him.

Li Meng on his part, not aware of Ru Yuo's skill and stamina, thought it was as good as over.

Ru Yuo was a girl who loved and always hoped in becoming a general in Wushu kingdom, so day in, day out, she sought to improve on her skills and grow stronger in order to get her dreams fulfilled.

"You may now begin", Huang Ju Said.

The match began immediately; Ru Yuo and her opponent took proper caution and made sure they was some gap between them to evade each other's attack.

They continued to turn round the ring until Li Meng got tired of the scene decided to take Ru Yuo down since she was a girl.

But to his surprise, Ru Yuo evaded her attack. Before he could face reality, Ru Yuo took advantage of this and sent him flying out of the ring with a kick.

Luckily for Ru Yuo, her match was quicker than she expected, with this she knew she had made it through the first round.

She was cheered by many, with Gui Shan and Tang Tang as her chief fans. She was the first qualifier in the first phase of the test.

Next on was "Tang Tang vs Xhang Xu"

Tang Tang right from his childhood was poor in martial arts and easily got intimated by his age mates who threatened him to a fight.

He wasn't the 'fight fan'. Being aware of this he decided to come up with a plan to win the match and not disappoint the expectations of Ru Yuo.

Meanwhile, Xhang Xu was fully ready to defeat Tang Tang who seemed kind of helpless.

Soon, the match began in earnest, Tang Tang on his part feigned confidence and wasn't ready for any attack.

Lucky for him, he was able to evade the first attack from Xhang Xu. Then he starts a conversation to divert Xhang Xu's attention.

"Cool down bro, we are not at war it's just a competition",

"I haven't even started with you, if not you would've found yourself outside the ring, let's take it slowly", Tang Tang said.

As part of his scheme, he then sprung forward and attacked Xhang Xu with a kick.

But unfortunately, that couldn't send Xhang Xu out of the ring.

"Stop it all, such cheap tricks won't make you win, I think I should end this", Xhang Xu said.

Tang Tang who had already lost hope in winning was closely moving to the end of the ring, with Xhang Xu approaching him.

But something surprising happened, Tang Tang has always been light-footed since his childhood.

That was his survival skill right from his childhood, when he encounters danger, he always flee as light air, and is capable of jumping from low buildings and climbing through fences.

As Xhang Xu was about to give him the finishing blow, Tang Tang swiftly jumped over Xhang Xu and gave him a kick which sent him landing on the ground.

To the surprise of everyone, Tang Tang was declared as the winner, since the rule stated that 'the last man standing on the ring is the final winner'.

Gui Shan and Ru Yuo Cheered him and congratulated him for his win.

Hu Mei from an angle just watched them and began laughing.

"Tang...Tang... don't get over excited, you only got lucky and perhaps you may not survive the next round since you may be in spar with me", Hu Mei said as he laughed them in a mocking tone.

"Watch and learn how a warrior fights", Hu Mei said as he climbed the ring.

Up in the next round was 'Hu Mei vs Fen Bao'.

Everybody's eye was fixated on the next match since a royal- Hu Mei was one of the contestant.

Hu Mei right from his childhood had a martial arts teacher. As it is with the royal house, every royal must be trained skillfully from their childhood.

For Hu Mei, taking Fen Bao down wasn't much of a challenge, but he wanted to show a display of his prowess and skills in fighting.

He folded his arms as he walked round the ring as though he doesn't have an opponent.

Fen Bao seeing he was being mocked as though he wasn't much of a opponent, sprung forward with his first attack.

But unfortunately, Hu Mei evaded all his attacks. Fen Bao kept on trying harder but it was as though he was helpless before Hu Mei.

On his last attempt to attack Hu Mei, Hu Mei caught his right hand and disjointed some his bones in his arm, which made him wail.

As though that wasn't enough, Hu Mei have him several punches, which left him on the floor.

"You're too weak", Hu Mei said as he continued kicking him hard till blood gushed out of his mouth.

...