Chapter 40: Water vs Fire

  Chi Yun walked to the center of the stage wielding a one-handed

  axe with an air of confidence. As for why he was confident, of course it was

  because he had just heard that his opponent was of a lower level of cultivation

  than he.

  “Ha! They actually paired me up with a kid half my age!

  Come, little kid. I’ll show you the way out.”

  Jia Yuan did not appreciate being looked down in such a

  manner.

  Jia Yuan drew HiRyu out of his ring and gripped the sword in

  his right hand. He then raised HiRyu over his head, and then thrust downwards!

  A wall of flame over 20 feet long followed the path of his

  thrust! However, Jia Yuan’s sword thrust stopped at just the right angle so

  that the wall of flame did not reach Chi Yun’s head.

  Chi Yun, as well as the audience, was completely shocked!

  This was simply not the level of power associated with the 3rd level

  of Absorption!

  Murmurs began to spread through crowd.

  “Are you sure the announcer didn’t misspeak?”

  “How is that little kid so strong? A monster! He will be a monster

  when he is our age!”

  Although Jia Yuan wasn’t short for his age, he was still

  only about 5 feet tall and had yet to reach his growth spurt. As such, he was

  still a kid amongst men at the Arena.

  However, the difference in height between him and Chi Yun

  only served to accentuate just how strong Jia Yuan was for his age.

  Meanwhile, Chi Yun was stunned! He was at a higher level of

  Absorption, but his power was not even half of what this little kid had just

  unleashed!

  Having demonstrated his power, Jia Yuan quickly sheathed his

  sword.

  “Your loss.”

  Jia Yuan threw out a punch towards Chi Yun with a fist

  surrounded by the aura of his Song, which knocked the latter off of the stage.

  The crowd cheered boisterously! After all, at the beginning

  of the match they had perceived it as almost a David and Goliath matchup, given

  how Jia Yuan was smaller and had a lower level of cultivation than his

  opponent.

  However, the speed at which Jia Yuan had proved everyone

  wrong… frightening!

  After the referee officially declared Jia Yuan’s win, he

  stepped off the stage and walked over to Guo Huo.

  “Did I make an impression?”

  “You rascal. You didn’t have to humiliate him like that.”

  Guo Huo gave Jia Yuan a wry smile. “But I guess it was also his fault for

  provoking you. Let’s go, I want to have you join an Arena with people closer to

  you in strength.”

  The two walked with their guide back to the front desk of

  the Arena, where they handed Jia Yuan’s badge over.

  The manager looked to the guide. “How strong?”

  “Arena C-1 should be right for him.”

  “Oh?” The manager looked toward Jia Yuan.

  “Hmm, quite a little monster eh?” He thought to himself.

  Guo Huo took this chance to ask, “How strong are the

  fighters at the C-1 arena?”

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  “They are typically around the 6th or 7th

  level of Absorption.”

  “Good, good.” Guo Huo was rather pleased. Fighters at that

  level of cultivation should be able to challenge Jia Yuan.

  “However, due to the high numbers of challengers at the

  Arena, you are only allowed to fight twice a day.”

  After learning some of the other details associated with the

  Arena that the first manager had been too lazy to explain, Guo Huo led Jia Yuan

  to the C-1 arena.

  At this point, Jia Yuan was still feeling the thrill of

  fighting in front of a crowd. The cheers! The intensity of the atmosphere! It

  was all a wondrous feeling for Jia Yuan.

  Upon reaching the C-1 arena, they waited while watching the

  bouts. The fighters were all around the level of the Zhao Yue, the Zhao family’s

  patriarch who Guo Huo had killed a few months ago.

  A few months ago, Jia Yuan was at the same level of

  Absorption, but could not even compare to the strength of the 7th

  level of Absorption.

  But how about now? Jia Yuan was rather eager to test his skills

  out, as Chi Yun hadn’t even offered the slightest bit of resistance.

  After watching four fights, Jia Yuan was starting to get

  bored. Thankfully, his badge began to burn, prompting him to walk up to the

  stage. Along the way, he drew Hiryu out of the ring.

  And so the announcer began to hype up the match.

  “For this match, we have a battle between two of the same

  House name! In the left corner, we have Jia Rou, 30 years old, a veteran

  fighter from the Water Kingdom who is at the 7th level of Absorption!

  In the right corner, we have Jia Yuan, 11 years old, a prodigy from the Fire

  Kingdom who is only at the 3rd level of Absorption! But be warned,

  his Song is overwhelmingly powerful!”

  “A clash between the two kingdoms! A clash between two sword

  users! As we all know, the sword is the best weapon to be paired with the water

  element! Everything points toward yet another win for Jia Rou! But can this

  young genius impress again?”

  With all this, the referee had walked onto the stage.

  He looked at Jia Yuan, who nodded. He then looked at Jia

  Rou, who nodded.

  “Fight!”

  The referee quickly ran off of the platform.

  Jia Rou had quite a reputation for being extremely

  aggressive in fights. Although fighters of the water Kingdom generally weren’t

  too aggressive in their fighting style, Jia Rou was clearly not one of those

  fighters.

  As soon as the referee had shouted the word “fight,” Jia Rou

  had swung his sword diagonally, and a blade of water shot out from his sword towards

  Jia Yuan.

  The entire audience was expecting Jia Yuan to be

  overwhelmed. After all, there was a difference of 4 levels of cultivation

  between the two fighters!

  However, Jia Yuan responded with his own diagonal slash and

  a thickly condensed blade of fire erupted from his sword.