The Legendary Guardian

The assessment was proceeding according to plan. Su Hanlin and the others had already reached the fourth stage of the Spear School's tests, and none of them had been disqualified yet, though Feng Chusan and Li Beiyao were looking worse for the wear. All the other booths were rife with activity too. While taking a moment to rest and prepare for the next test, Ye Haobei ran over to the girls.

"Sister Hanlin, Sister Yuwei!" She pulled up short in front of them, panting hard, "you guys can't believe it!!"

"You got accepted into the Deer Squad?" Li Beiyao asked with excitement.

"No; I was disqualified long ago. But; but, an honourable elder from the Alchemy Guild accepted me as her disciple! She said I have talent to become an Alchemist Grandmaster!" She gushed with a big smile.

"Sister Haobei, is that really alright?" Gu Yuwei asked worriedly.

"Yes, sister Yuwei is right!" Feng Chusan agreed with an aggressive shake of the head, "have you forgotten what Tutor Wei said!? She just wants you to be taking care of her in her old age!"

"No matter what," Ye Haobei spread her hands in defeat, "I have no choice; do you expect me to return to the hatchery? I've been shooed away from all the other sects; and only this elder spoke kindly to me--" she hung her head as her eyes turned slightly red. Gu Yuwei immediately put her hands around her.

"Sister Haobei; don't give up on yourself! You're perfect and genuine in your own way! If you feel okay following the alchemy elder, then you are free to make your decisions. However, never ever settle for less if you have a better alternative. You also deserve all the good things in this life,"

Ye Haobei smiled at Gu Yuwei through her tears.

"Sister Yuwei, you're the only one that has ever treated me sincerely since i joined the hatchery. I'll miss you; thanks. Sister Hanlin, Beiyao, Chusan," she turned around and waved to the others as well, "goodbye! I'll be going with my master now! We'll see each other at the top!"

"Bye!" The girls waved with mixed feelings as they saw Ye Haobei follow after her master, an almost stooped over old woman from the Alchemy Guild. Ye Haobei carried the bundle the old lady came with and left the main courtyard without looking back.

"Ugh, she truly deserves better," Li Beiyao stomped her feet.

"Hush. She's in a better place than us now; at least she has a master," said Feng Chusan, "what about us? How are we sure the Spear School's going to accept us?"

"Yuefeng," Li Beiyao whispered.

"Her hands may be tied. Even if she does help us, what if she can't select all of us?" Feng Chusan continued, "don't waste your time feeling sorry for Haobei. We still have out own destinies ahead of us,"

"Chusan's right," Gu Yuwei sighed, "oh, look! Gu Wenwen got selected,"

"Which School?" The others asked at once.

"The Tiger Squad." Gu Yuwei reported, "hah. She looks so pleased with herself," Gu Yuwei still bore on her body the marks of their last fight back then. She absolutely detested the other girl.

"Yuefeng should hurry up," said Li Beiyao, craning her head to see where the people under the Spear School's booth were discussing, "everyone's getting selected left and right,"

"Yeah. Chu Gumei just got selected too," said Gu Yuwei again; her eyes were the sharpest, "into the Pheasant Squad, hah!"

"Did all the other squads reject her?" Feng Chusan snorted.

"Dunno. Oh! Tutor Ning is coming our way!"

Ning Fulan strode up to them.

"What's up, girls?"

"We're alright, Tutor," Su Hanlin replied with a nod.

Ning Fulan approached the booth behind them.

"Greetings to Elder Han," she cupped her hands over her whip, "may I know why the best girls in the hatchery are being delayed by you? If they are too mediocre for your Spear School, why don't you let them try their luck at other booths? The sun is going down; some booths are already packing up. Do you want these girls to return to the hatchery at the end of the day?"

Han Yuefeng reddened. She pouted in spite of herself as she turned to frown at Jing Yu.

"It's not my fault tutor-- I mean-- it's not my fault!" Han Yuefeng crossed her arms over her chest, "he's the one who's making things difficult for them!" She pointed at Jing Yu, who flinched, "and despite all the hurdles he set, they've managed to pass everything! And now, he's telling me that we have a quota! A quota!"

"That-- that, elder, calm down!" Jing Yu was slightly flustered and raised his hands nervously.

"What part of the Spear School can't accommodate four more students!? What sort of quota do we have? Tell me!" Han Yuefeng continued to raise her voice. Jing Yu shrank back.

"That-- elder; that's how it has to be done! We only have one spot! It's not my rules! It's the rules set by the Senior¹!"

Han Yuefeng frowned deeply. Ning Fulan was quite unbothered, on her part.

"If that's the case; quickly select the person you want and let the other three try their luck elsewhere," she said, and strode away. Han Yuefeng bit her lip. She-- she didn't like this scenario! If she only had to select one person; who would it be? Wouldn't the others be angry and annoyed?

Su Hanlin, who had long ears², smiled lightly.

"Very well." Han Yuefeng muttered to Jing Yu in a resigned voice, "then who do you think should be selected?"

"The girl Su Hanlin has wit and rare talent," Jing Yu spoke up at once, "she's also a Martial Lord. Some disciples of the Spear School haven't even reached that stage. Naturally, we should select her,"

"What about you, Yan Mi?" Han Yuefeng turned to the other girl who accompanied her for today's assessment, "what do you think?"

"Replying to elder," Yan Mi replied respectfully, "I agree with senior sect brother Jing."

Han Yuefeng frowned again. But before she could come to a decision, a loud commotion broke out due to a group of people dressed ostentatiously barging into the courtyard.

"Well, well," said the man in front, "how nice. Hey, who's in charge of this assessment?!" He shouted loudly.

With pursed lips, Ning Fulan approached him and bowed respectfully.

"This junior greets Guardian Yi Hei,"

The hatchlings, especially the girls, were already starstruck and drooling. Ahhhh! To think such a beautiful man like this was breathing the same air as them?!? And they didn't know?!? He was so handsomeeee!

"You know why I'm here, don't you?" Yi Hei flicked open his fan and narrowed his eyes slightly, "or have you all thrown this esteemed guardian to the backs of your minds since your fussy Senior sentenced me to the Boiler? Where's my girl?"

Ning Fulan frowned slightly. Hadn't Xi Yun said this infuriating man was to remain in the Boilers until the Grand Chief said otherwise? Then...did that mean that the Grand Chief had really spoken to release him? How close was this person to the Grand Chief exactly? What was their relationship?

"Hey!" Yi Hei brought his fan down on Ning Fulan's forehead with a whack, "didn't you hear me? Why are you starting at me? Get me my disciple!"

"I-- I don't know who it is, Guardian," Ning Fulan lied with a straight face.

"Hah," Yi Hei scoffed, "well, out of the way. This esteemed guardian will go look for her myself,"

Yi Hei, with his disciples trudging after him, made directly for the Spear School booth. His face cracking into a smile, he spotted Su Hanlin immediately.

"Yes, you! I'm here for you! I'm a man who keeps my word. Who knew that they would do some stupid mass assessment all of a sudden? You don't know what trouble I went through in order to make it here on time!" Yi Hei laughed.

Su Hanlin stared at him. He was so flamboyantly dressed that she almost didn't believe him. The gold headpiece he wore was too distracting, the red hanfu looked like a wedding robe. This was too much!!! Her face reddened involuntarily. Beside her, Li Beiyao and Feng Chusan (who was in a good mood today) were almost hyperventilating.

"Let's go!" Yi Hei reached out at once and grabbed hold of Su Hanlin's hand.

"Pardon!" Jing Yu shouted from behind them. He came forward at once.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Guardian, but this lady has been selected by our Spear School!"

"Hahahaha!" Yi Hei burst out laughing, "what a joke! This girl has been my disciple from day one!"

"Guardian, if you do not mind-- let's have a spar. If I win, she will be our Spear School's student. If you win, you can take her way," Jing Yu offered. He was itching to pit his strength against this man. Perhaps he might have a battle enlightenment! When did chances like this appear in the Si Lak Mercenaries? Almost never! To have a battle enlightenment, most cultivations had to go in search of ferocious mystic creatures. But here was an expert free of charge!

"You? Spar with me?" Yi Hei looked disgusted, "brat, who do you think you are?"

"Yes! How can you insult our master like this?" Yi Hei's peanut gallery disciples immediately shouted, "even the least of us can bash your guts in!'

Jing Yu was unabashed.

"If Guardian will not agree-- then you can only leave this lady to our Spear School," he said firmly. Yi Hei's eyes flashed.

"Brat, did you hear the reason I was 'banished' to the Boilers in the first place?"

"Guardian need not be long winded," Jing Yu was extremely stern, "or is it that you are afraid to duel this junior?

That did it.

"Fine! If you want to die, so be it," Yi Hei shrugged, and took a few steps away to a clear part of the courtyard. Jing Yu immediately followed him and unsheated his sword. The two then took their battle stances, to the surprise and awe of all the spectators.

"I ask Guardian not to go easy on me," Jing Yu raised his sword to chest height. Yi Hei sneered.

"I'm going to kill you and take my disciple away. You asked for it,"

Swoosh!

Jing Yu activated his light body skill and by stepping hard on the ground rose up into the air and shot towards Yi Hei like an arrow, sword outstretched. Deng! He collided almost at once against Yi Hei's matrix shield. With a flick of Jing Yu's other hand, the shield was breached, and he launched his speciality attack: flame whips, in quick succesion. Yi Hei sidestepped some, and deflected some with a sword that he had produced from his spatial space. Then with a frown, he stomped hard on the ground and also flew at his opponent like a zap of lightning.

Clang!!!

The first exchange shook the ground! Jing Yu staggered back about fifty steps before regaining his stance. Yi Hei didn't wait for him though. He had swooped up on him again and was bringing his sword down on Jing Yu's head.

Clang!

Jing Yu raised his sword and parried the blow with difficulty, his eyes bulging from the impact. Throwing him off with all his might, he retreated another fifty steps even while launching a matrix attack.

"Go!" Three very deadly looking harpoon like chains shot out from the whirlpool of aura that was the matrix. Deng! They collided with Yi Hei's raised shield matrix, but tore through it. Clang! Clang! Clang! Yi Hei deflected them with his sword and then quickly drew a matrix formation that redirected them at Jing Yu.

"Disintegrate!" Was the only thing Jing Yu could shout. However, the matrix had created an opening. Yi Hei appeared in front of him before he could put up his guard. Clang! Clang! It took every shred of Jing Yu's battle experience to be able to parry these blows! Yi Hei struck quick and fast without stopping, wearying his opponent.

Eventually, the two flew apart. As expected, Jing Yu sported over two dozen injuries all over his body from all the strikes he had been unable to parry, while Yi Hei looked fresh and not at all as if he'd been in a battle. Jing Yu despite his injuries immediately went down on one knee and cupped his hands over his sword, even as blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth.

"This junior thanks Guardian for your lesson!"

Yi Hei merely sneered and turned around with a flick of his sleeve.

Nonplussed, the hatchlings stared with open mouths as Yi Hei marched over to Su Hanlin with a dangerous looking smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"See? You're mine now! Let's go!"

"Yes, master!" His disciples immediately led the way towards the Medicine Hall.

¹By Senior he means Flaming Spear Xi Yun

²Meaning she could hear things from a long distance