Chapter 189 - Destroying a Beauty

Ye's performance left group 7 in great turmoil. However, the various martial artists of that group had no time to waste in being stunned in that way. Soon, two more students were called to come on stage and fight.

After a series of other matches, it was Hei's turn again. This time it was Xing who fought, and as had happened before, the purple spider with silver patterns quickly overwhelmed the enemy before her. The fear of group 7's students proved to be well-founded - Hei possessed two spirit beasts with an incredible battle skill, such that they could fight alone and win.

The matches followed one another. Since there were no scheduled breaks, everyone had to stay nearby in case their name was called. Those who weren't fighting spent their time cultivating or being medicated by the supporting martial artists whom they had contracted.

On this point, the number of external support martial artists hired was low. They were just students and had to think first of all about their development. Hiring an external martial artist was expensive, and considering the high number of challenges, it wasn't worth the risk. Only those who had some background behind them or who were confident of their abilities hired outsiders, but they were nothing but a minority. It meant that a lot of first-year students were unsupported.

Hei meanwhile continued to gain victories. Ye and Xing were full of energy and were winning their matches one after the other. Even without using their Elemental Laws, as long as they dodged their opponents' techniques, they wouldn't have had much trouble. And in any case, their bodies were already naturally resistant. By also adding the protective layer of spirit power, unless you had a strong understanding of the laws, according to the standard of spirit soldiers, you wouldn't be able to penetrate their defenses.

*

It was Hei's 30th match. This time the opponent was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair and bewitching brown eyes. She wore refined trousers that tightened her thighs, forming an elegant line while the shirt she was wearing well surrounded the abundant chest, accentuating the shapes. She was undoubtedly a beautiful girl who could win the hearts of many men.

Nan Yoo-Jin, this was the name of the young woman. She was part of the group of students accepted into the academy's special recruitment to make up for the death toll in the forest trial. Given her beauty, she was considered the number one beauty among the new students and had admirers even among the old students.

Because of this, Nan Yoo-Jin used this feature to grab a nice slice of the matches. Some decided to forfeit to incur in her favor; in the end, it was only just one defeat, and it wouldn't change their rank by much. Others, however, failed to fight seriously for fear of hurting her, and at the same time, they didn't want to be put in the black book of the beautiful young woman.

It must be said that most young male martial artists were easily swayed when it came to beautiful young women, especially at an early age like theirs. Most were 15-16 years old, and by being in close contact with their female companions continuously, their sexual instincts were forming. It wasn't strange, in fact, to see romantic couples among the students of the academy.

"Nan Yoo-Jin vs. Hei. Get on stage," announced the older student assigned to group 7. Although he was older than those who were fighting, he was only two years older. So he couldn't help but place his eyes over the seductive body of the young woman.

Nan Yoo-Jin noticed it but, as she was smart, she took advantage of it to give the older student a seducing smile. Although he wasn't the official referee, it wouldn't be bad to get that student's favor; there was the possibility that Song Yazhu could ask him for opinions regarding the matches.

Soon after, however, Nan Yoo-Jin's smile disappeared. In front of her was a large dark purple spider with silver patterns watching her with its disturbing eight red eyes. It was like being stabbed by eight blades; Nan Yoo-Jin couldn't help shivering.

'No! I can't be so intimidated by a stupid beast. I've already decided what to do when I have to face this Hei.' Nan Yoo-Jin thought to herself.

"All right, let's begin-" the older student was about to announce the start of the fight when a voice as delicate as dew in the morning rang.

"Wait! Wait, please. I would like to have two words with my opponent, is that possible?" Nan Yoo-Jin implored, turning to the older student.

The older student scratched his head, unsure about what to do. Nan Yoo-Jin's pleading face told him to say yes right away, but Song Yazhu's presence was keeping him down to earth. The student glanced at the Spirit King, sighing once he found that Song Yazhu wasn't looking at them.

"Okay, but hurry up." the student replied, trying to be indifferent.

"Thank you so much. I'll try to repay you." Nan Yoo-Jin made a small leap as if she were happy with the response received. This reaction put a stupid smile on the face of the older student who felt proud to make such a beautiful young woman happy.

Nan Yoo-Jin, therefore, tried to get closer to Hei. Her goal was to convince him to take the field and face her. She was confident in her charm and knew that during the confrontation, Hei would be forced to observe her. Before long, he too would fall prey to her beauty. Thinking about it, Nan Yoo-Jin smiled to herself, happy that the men were so stupid as to be duped with simple cute gestures.

Whoosh!

Something dark and sharp moved quickly in front of her face. One more step, and it would have pierced her head. Bewildered, Nan Yoo-Jin slowly turned her head and was terrified of what she saw. Xing's eight red eyes were less than a meter away from her, and they looked intently at her. Her raised leg indicated that Nan Yoo-Jin was forbidden to go further, or she would be pierced like meat on a skewer.

"Let her speak," Hei said, waking up from his cultivation session. It wasn't that he was curious about what Nan Yoo-Jin had to say; it was just that the young woman wouldn't easily give up. The sooner she told what she wanted, the faster they could get back to the fight.

"Ehmm ... thank you," replied Nan Yoo-Jin in a trembling voice as she distanced herself from Xing. After that, she made a few coughs to clear her throat and asked, "You are Hei, aren't you? I have heard so many things about you and have always wanted to meet you. I was wondering if you would like to fight with me to give me some advice. Don't you want to help me improve my fighting style?"

The young woman's tone became pleading again as she looked at Hei's impassive face with fawn eyes. She had used this tactic countless times, and it had always worked.

"Is that just what you wanted to tell me? All right, I accept." Hei replied flatly.

Then he jumped from Ye's head and landed on the stage next to Xing." Rest, for now, the next fight is yours." Hei said to his little sister as he stroked her face at the height of her fangs.

Seeing how Hei was smoothly stroking such a terrifying creature, Nan Yoo-Jin shivered but repressed her feelings. In any case, her plan had succeeded, and in a short time, she would obtain yet another victory.

Xing let herself be stroked for a while before stepping off the stage and standing next to Ye. As for a reason behind Hei's consensus was that he simply had gotten a little tired of cultivating. So he decided it was the perfect opportunity to do some warm-up; after all, he had already decided that he would fight five matches and, considering that they were halfway through, it was okay to take to the pitch now as his first match.

"Well, then. Let the fight begin." the older student quickly announced. As Hei went on stage, he had felt a gaze settling on group 7, as if something of absolute power was watching him. It didn't take a genius to understand that Song Yazhu had looked there to know why they weren't proceeding with the matches.

Hei and Nan Yoo-Jin went into a fighting stance. The young woman drew her short one-hand sword. The weapon had a thin and light shape, which was perfectly suited to the young woman's build. Hei instead didn't draw any weapons; since he wanted to warm up, he decided not to draw his spear out for now.

Whoosh! Slash!

Nan Yoo-Jin activated her footwork skill, moving gracefully onto the battlefield. Although she relied on her beauty, she had been still able to enter the Southern Royal War Academy. Her battle skills were by no means to be underestimated.

"Spider Run, Two-Legged Mode." Hei murmured in response as he activated his speed ability.

Hei's body vanished from where he was. With rapid steps, he positioned himself in front of Nan Yoo-Jin's running trajectory, intercepting the young woman.

"Snake Fist."

Hei's hand quickly moved as he sprinted on the target. Nan Yoo-Jin was surprised that Hei had immediately aimed to attack her instead of studying her movements. However, she didn't allow herself to be impressed and moved her sword to block the blow.

Peng!

The power of Snake Fist made the young woman step back a little, and she let herself be pushed back to regain the distance from Hei. After that, Nan Yoo-Jin used one of her techniques, "Lightning Law, Burst of Electric Needles!"

The spirit power on the young woman's sword began to vibrate, and when Nan Yoo-Jin waved her weapon in the direction of Hei, dozens of electric needles were created, which were fired in Hei's direction.

"Snake Hair."

Without losing his temper, Hei activated Snake Hair and easily parried the assault of needles. This left Nan Yoo-Jin amazed that she didn't expect her attack to be easily blocked. But the young woman was unwilling to surrender.

"Law of Lightning, Electric Transmission!"

Nan Yoo-Jin put a hand on the ground. Nothing happened, but from her face, it was clear that her technique hadn't failed. Hei felt the ground beneath him vibrate. By relying on his instincts, he jumped high just in time to avoid the electric shocks that had suddenly appeared under his feet.

"You're done! Intent of the Sword, Circular Slash!"

Nan Yoo-Jin spun the sword while drawing a circle with the tip of the blade. The point where she was aiming was Hei's chest, which remained exposed after jumping high.

"Spider Run, Two-Legged Mode, Aerial Mode."

Whoosh!

Hei's body disappeared again. It left all the spectators incredulous. It was known that at the spirit soldier rank, it was difficult to apply speed techniques to their flight ability. For this reason, most of the fighting was still fought on the ground rather than in the air. Yet Hei had moved quickly in the air as he did when he was still on the ground.

"Spear Lance, Punch Mode!"

Peng! Crack!

Hei's arm moved as fast as lightning and landed precisely on the young woman's face. Nan Yoo-Jin's defensive layer was broken as soon as she received Hei's punch. Nan Yoo-Jin was a middle fourth-stage spirit soldier while Hei was a beginning fifth-stage spirit soldier. Although the difference in cultivation was small and wasn't the only determining factor of a fight, it still had its weight.

Drip. Drip.

The sound of something dripping echoed in the ears of everyone in group 7. To their amazement, Nan Yoo-Jin's beautiful face was now spotted with a continuous scarlet red flow. Hei's fist had not only broken the defensive layer but had also broken the young woman's nose.

For Nan Yoo-Jin, it was as if she had been struck by lightning. Her mind had turned white, and she didn't know what to think. Never in her life had anything like this happened. However, the pain in the nose and the continuous dripping of blood brought her back to reality.

"You! YOU! YOOOUUU! How dare you! Look at how you ruined my face! Don't you know that the face is the most delicate and important part of a woman?! How the fuck did you dare do it!!!" Nan Yoo-Jin yelled in a language not suited to the image she had committed so much to create. But that didn't matter to her at the moment. She just wanted to tear the person before her eyes to pieces.

"Yes! Right. How dare you? I will teach you a lesson for hurting Goddess Yoo-Jin." proclaimed one of the students of group 7. For many, especially the new arrivals, Nan Yoo-Jin's beauty was such as to consider her as a goddess. So, they worshiped her as such, following her and supporting her as good puppies.

The anger of Nan Yoo-Jin fans began to get more and more impetuous - enough to involve some who weren't followers of the young woman but considered excessive the use of so much strength by Hei.

Hei stood on the spot, indifferent to the screams that were falling on him. The only reason why he didn't keep attacking was that the situation could have escalated. He was waiting for Song Yazhu to intervene and restore the calm.

"SILENCE!"

A scream rang out in the place where the preliminaries were taking place. All the fights in the 32 stages that hosted the preliminaries stopped. Surprisingly, it wasn't Song Yazhu who shouted but Hu Jie.

It must be known that the 32 stages were divided into two blocks, Block A and Block B. Each block contained 16 stages arranged in a square shape, consequently with four stages in total horizontally and vertically. The stage of group 7 was, therefore, not so far from group 1 where Hu Jie had been placed.

"Idiots. What are you? Are you martial artists or not? Why the fuck are you drooling behind a woman and give her the victory without a fight. Is this all your determination? If so, you are worth less than shit. And as for you woman, do you believe that only because you are cute, will you have a guaranteed life? If you think so, what the fuck did you sign up to do here? Why didn't you marry the son of some wealthy family? Do you think that once in war, the demons will care that you are a pretty woman? NO! They will attempt to kill you instantly. No, in the worst-case scenario, precisely because of your beauty, they will keep you alive as their toy, raping you until they get tired of you. If you can't even accept a punch in the face, then disappear.

The academy is not a playground. It is the place where we can refine our techniques before the actual war. And if you really can't accept that Hei took his opponent seriously with that punch, then step forward. There's still some time before my turn, so I have time to spare. Besides, shit like you don't have the qualifications to damage my skin."

Hu Jie's reply was like receiving a bucket of water. Nan Yoo-Jin fans were speechless and looked down. What Hu Jie had said was true; moreover, even if they had valid arguments, they wouldn't have had the courage to say a word. Hu Jie belonged to one of the Eight Big Families, after all.

Nan Yoo-Jin also turned white. Although Hei was strong, he was a nobody without any prestigious background. So she didn't mind offending him and using her fans to get her revenge. But Hu Jie was different. As beautiful as she was, her beauty couldn't in any way outclass the fame and grandeur of a family like that of the Hu Family, owner of the White Tiger Royal Bloodline.

"Hei wins the match. Let's proceed with the other matches."

Song Yazhu's voice rang out among all those present. There was a slight irritation in his voice; the show that was staged by Nan Yoo-Jin and her fans wasn't at all to his liking. If it hadn't been for Hu Jie, then the consequences could have been more severe than a simple reminder.

"Hei, Nan Yoo-Jin, get off the stage. Proceed with the next match." said the older student in charge of group 7. His face was bleached because he feared that Song Yazhu might punish him for allowing such a situation to occur.

Nan Yoo-Jin had no choice but to step off the stage with a blank expression. It was as if they had sucked her soul; she knew that no one else from now on would easily grant her victory. Her chances of winning had dropped dramatically.

Hei also got out, nodding towards Hu Jie to thank him. Then he returned to Ye and Xing, who had remained alert if any of Nan Yoo-Jin's fans had decided to go on stage against their big brother.