A month has now passed since the arrival of the royal envoy in Luse Village and today is the day of the duel between Bei Xing and Duan Xing.

The atmosphere around town is somewhat bleak as many fear for Bei Xing being injured severely or even killed during his fight against his cousin. Duan Xing is viewed as a generational talent as he was able to reach the Apprentice Realm 3rd Layer of his training in the martial arts by the age of 13. However, no one, not even Bei Xing’s family is prepared for the spectacle that is about to unfold before their very eyes.

Shops around the village are closed, the mines lay quiet and empty, and even the village center has been emptied of every living soul. All the villagers are gathering at the training grounds near the southern edge of town where the duel between Duan and Bei Xing is set to take place.

At around noon the entirety of the village is now sitting in the stands and surrounding the training grounds as they await the arrival of the fighters who are set to do battle on stage. The grounds are a large plaza that sits on the edge of town which has a medium-sized wooden building where cultivators go to study and exchange goods. In the center of the plaza is a large stone stage with steps on each corner to allow fighters to rise up onto the meter high platform.

Bei Xing’s family can be seen sitting front and center on one side of the stage while Duan Xing’s mother and father sit across from them on the other side.

Before long Duan Xing enters the plaza and cheers erupt from the crowd as they praise the 13 year old genius. Despite his age Duan Xing is already around 1.5 meters tall and has a toned build. He also has short, brown hair and deep green eyes.

As Duan Xing enters he waves to the crowd and flaunts the new gi his father gave him. The gi is all orange and he wears a blue undershirt as well as a blue belt that ties off the gi around his waist. Two symbols meaning strength (強度) sit on a patch that lay on the left side of his chest. He truly resembles a seasoned practitioner of the martial arts which earns him bonus points with the crowd.

Duan Xing walks forward as the crowd parts to let him through and he ascends onto the stage using one of the steps. He bows to both Lao Xing and his father She Xing then begins speaking to the viewers in order to rile them up for the fight.

“I Duan Xing have come here today to fight for the right to attend Silver Peak Academy. My uncle Lao Xing thinks his crippled son is more deserving of a chance at the academy than I, a 13 year old genius. Here on this very stage you will all bear witness to my strength as I prove once and for all who is the best amongst the younger generations in Luse Village.”

Once the words finish leaving Duan Xing’s mouth the crowd begins going crazy in anticipation of the fight, however knowing that their noble lord’s son is about to do battle keeps them in check.

Nearly an hour passes and there is still no sign of Bei Xing. This causes many people within the crowd to whisper to each other and inquire as to why Bei Xing has yet to show. She Xing notices this behavior and stands up to address his brother in order to make use of their suspicions.

“Brother where is your son? Surely he would not run off in fear of my son crippling him in battle. Oh wait...he already is crippled!”

Lao Xing bursts out of his chair and argues back at his brother.

“You have no right speaking ill of my son. As the noble lord of Luse Village I can have you arrested for using such words!”

“Using your position to defend your son’s bad behavior now are we? That is low even for you brother.”

Just as Lao Xing is ready to pounce at him Bei Xing arrives to the training grounds wearing a blacked out gi like before, but it now has his name sewn onto its back and a lone white star sitting on the chest region. Combine the fancy gi and tucked white undershirt with Bei Xing’s confident walk toward the stage and one might think he has a shot at winning the duel based on appearances alone.

“See She Xing! My son has arrived to prove you and your son wrong. I admit my nephew has talent in the martial arts but today he shall be put to the test. Bei Xing has been training for a month straight in the forest to prepare for this fight. He will win for sure.”

She Xing and his son begin laughing uncontrollably.

“Brother your son is a cripple! It doesn’t matter if he looks like a warrior or if he has been training for a month. Nothing can help his condition!”

Bei Xing begins walking slowly toward the stage picking up his pace step by step. His eyes narrow into slits as his face tightens to give off the impression that he is serious. Once he gets about 10 meters away from the stage he gathers qi in his feet and releases it to jump all the way up onto the stage, leaving the ground where he jumped from with a small hole.

This is a technique he had taught himself using the same idea as the destruction fist skill. Bei Xing calls it the explosive leap and it matches the level of the destruction fist.

Bei Xing lands on the stage with one knee and rises to face his cousin who’s lost in the shock of what he had just witnessed. In fact Duan Xing isn’t the only person who’s confused; rather the entire crowd is speechless after watching Bei Xing jump 10 meters through the air and landing unharmed on the stage.

“Sorry I’m late I slept in.”

Bei Xing’s tease causes Duan Xing’s eyes to light up with a fiery hatred.

“You fool! How could you arrive an hour late to our fight? Is this a joke to you?”

“A joke? Come on now cousin even you know entering Silver Peak Academy has been a dream of mine for years now. This is a very serious matter, but it’s not like you’ll put up a fight anyways.”

Duan Xing’s unable to hide his rage now and he leaps toward Bei Xing in an attempt to catch him off guard with a punch. But little does he know that Bei Xing’s now able to use qi, and he has been training for this day for a month straight now. The punch is easily dodged which causes everyone to begin talking about Bei Xing’s sudden display of strength.

“The young master seems to have grown so much in the past month! He’s no longer a cripple!”

“That’s right did you see that just now? He dodged Duan Xing’s punch like it was nothing!”

“Yeah but you can’t win a fight just by dodging!”

She Xing jumps out of his chair and begins yelling at his brother from across the stage.

“How could you not tell us your son is able to cultivate the mystic arts now? This is clearly an infraction of the rules!”

Lao Xing smiles and tilts his head at his brother.

“Brother such rules were never established in the first place, and even I did not know my son had gone through such growth during his training this past month.”

“You liar! Clearly you hid your son’s awakening to hold an advantage in the battle today.”

“You dare accuse me, the noble lord, of rigging the bet? That is low brother, even for you. Besides, did you expect Bei Xing to just come here unprepared and get beaten to death? You just wanted him to be humiliated in front of the entire village!”

“Nonsense I would never!”

“Then sit back down and let these young ones continue their duel. I do not want to hear such ridiculous accusations from your mouth again.”

She Xing bites his tongue and turns to face his son on stage.

“Duan Xing do not hold back. Defeat him now and show everyone who is truly the greatest!”

“Yes father I will not disappoint you.”

Duan Xing faces Bei Xing again who’s standing in a relaxed pose awaiting Duan Xing’s next move.

“Prepare to be finished cousin. I will not hold back against you.”

Bei Xing yawns and then gestures for Duan Xing to approach him.

Infuriated by this taunt Duan Xing dashes forward and begins unleashing a volley of punches and kicks toward Bei Xing. All of which are met at equal speed and deflected by him.

“Is this all you know how to do cousin? Dodge and deflect?”

Duan Xing’s anger is now pouring out in his voice and eyes which throb out of their sockets.

“Of course not, but this is one of my best techniques: the Balanced Monkey King Style. With it I am able to hold my stance and both dodge and reflect my opponent’s attacks easily.”

The hail of attacks from Duan Xing does not stop during this word exchange which makes onlookers even more shocked at the talent of both fighters as well as Bei Xing’s sudden growth.

“Quit meeting my fists and actually fight back you coward!”

“Duan Xing are you angry right now? Your technique is sloppy!”

Bei Xing lets a cynical smile leak from his mouth and does several backward flips to escape Duan Xing’s reach. He then mocks his cousin.

“You’ll wish you didn’t say that.”

Bei Xing gathers the qi throughout his body into his fist which now glows with a monstrous qi aura. He uses his explosive leap skill to close the gap between him and Duan Xing instantly and releases the punch onto his cousin.

“Explosive Fist!”

The release of qi causes an explosion at the point of contact between Bei Xing’s fist and his cousin’s chest. Dust kicks up around them and all the viewers can see is Duan Xing’s body fly out of the dust cloud and off of the stage.

Moments later the dust settles and Bei Xing is seen left standing and unharmed.

Cheers and applause explode from the crowd as they now shower Bei Xing in praise.

“The young master is truly a genius!”

“Duan Xing was no match for his cousin. He was just toyed with!”

As the roars from the crowd grow louder and louder Bei Xing’s little sister runs up onto the stage and hugs her brother around his waist. Now that his body is much stronger he can actually withstand Wei Xing’s death grip, but perhaps just barely.

“Brother you did it! You beat Duan Xing! Now you get to go to the academy!”

“Thanks little sister, but I did this for more than my own goals. I did it to make you and our parents proud.”

Lao Xing and Meili Xing watch their kids hug each other and soon get up to join in on it.

She Xing and his wife rush over to their son who is bleeding from several spots on his body. Although he is not dead, he appears to have been knocked unconscious. She Xing lowers his head in shame for causing his son’s downfall and then gets up to speak to his brother.

“It would appear as though Bei Xing has won the duel fair and square. The right to attend Silver Peak Academy will be awarded to him”

Bei Xing and his family stop their group hug and Lao Xing steps forward to shake his brother’s hand but gets denied.

“Duan Xing did great today, please do not be hard on him.”

“Obviously not great enough if he lost.”

“I understand that attending the academy was my nephew’s dream as well. I am sure if we talk to the admissions office we could get him in as well under the special exception rule.”

“Worry not about my son. I will handle his training you have no say in the matter.”

“I merely want to help brother do not be so tense.”

She Xing ignores his brother and hastily retreats back to his son before unleashing his rage.

Lao Xing turns around and begins speaking to his son.

“Bei Xing you did so well today! I never expected you to grow this much in just a month. What realm of the martial arts are you in?”

“Thanks to my training I was able to reach the Apprentice Realm 3rd Layer, but thanks to that fight I think I’m close to reaching the 4th layer now.”

“Such wonderful news! Words cannot begin to describe how proud me and your mother are. You never seem to disappoint us.”

“Father you speak too highly of me.”

Bei Xing bows to thank his father who then returns the favor.

Meili Xing looks at her son.

“Now that everyone knows you had your awakening it would appear a feast is in order, right honey?”

Lao Xing’s face explodes in cheer as he is unable to hold back, but he quickly collects himself and shakes off his robes.

“Yes my lovely wife. It is now time to have a bountiful feast to celebrate Bei Xing’s victory and enrollment into Silver Peak Academy!”

He raises his fist into the air and shouts at the top of his lungs, causing the villagers to begin dancing and blowing off steam with one another out of excitement for the coming feast.

“Son this was all thanks to you. Your awakening and show of strength here today really did good on the moral of the people. Plus with this feast everyone will be in a great mood for weeks to come.”

“As I told little Wei Wei, despite wanting to go to Silver Peak Academy for my own dreams I did this to make you all happy.”

“Of course you did. You are always trying to make us happy which is why we love you so much.”

“I love you all too father.”

Lao Xing pats his son on the hand and shakes his hair before posing a question again.

“Out of curiosity son, why attend Silver Peak Academy? I get that it is the number 1 school for mystic arts in the empire, but I thought you wanted to go on adventures and live life freely?”

“I do father, but in order to live life freely a man must be strong and fearless. Hence learning from the best in Silver Peak Academy is the logical way to become strong fast.”

“Your logic cannot be argued with. Either way this is a monumental opportunity to be able to attend the academy. Soon enough we will receive more details about your admission into the school as well as when you begin your studies. Until then you should continue training to become stronger.”

“Yes father but let’s talk about that later on. For now we should party and enjoy the feast tonight. In this very moment all I want is to enjoy some quality time with the people I love most.”

“Okay then I like your thinking!”

Lao Xing wraps his arm around his son and Meili grabs her daughter's hand. Then all 4 of them walk off into the streets to begin the festivities with the other villagers.

For the rest of the day and long into the night the sounds of partying and feasting could be heard throughout the valley. Luse Village was very lively that night and nobody sat inside during the festivities. Bei Xing and his family were honored by the entirety of the village and fireworks were used to make the night even more memorable. It was truly one of the best nights Luse Village had ever experienced.

When the village eventually died down Bei Xing sat by himself in the courtyard outside his house staring at the stars.

Suddenly Siwang appears next to him and joins him in the stargazing.

“Master I can’t thank you enough for all of your teachings this past month. Without you today wouldn’t have been possible.”

“Bei Xing I told you before and I will tell you again. Your work ethic and determined mindset are what brought you here to this point. Hold onto those traits dearly as they will help you grow even further in the future.”

“Yes master I promise to continue getting stronger for both our sakes.”

“That is what I like to hear young disciple. Now stand up I have a gift for you.”

Bei Xing looks at his master in confusion and stands up wondering what the gift is.

Siwang can tell Bei Xing is confused as to why he’s getting a gift so he breaks the awkwardness in the air.

“You forgot about my promise from before your training started didn't you?”

Bei Xing giggles and scratches his neck before realizing what his master is talking about.

“Wait a minute..the immortal-level skill scrolls!”

“Ah so you do remember. I present these two skills to you as a gift for your hard work over the past month. Today you proved that you have what it takes to walk the path of a practitioner of the mystic arts. Seeing you grow thus far has me excited to see where you will go in the future.”

Siwang holds his hands out and the same two scrolls that he showed Bei Xing a month earlier appear, one in each hand. Bei Xing grabs both scrolls and sets them down next to him.

“Master I’ve grown on you haven’t I?”

Bei Xing leans toward his master with a crooked smile of sorts to tease him.

“A normal human boy like you becoming my friend? I am the God of Gods do not make me laugh!”

Siwang’s laughs and turns away from Bei Xing to act high and mighty; allowing him to hide his thin smile.

“Maybe this kid is growing on my after all…”

Chapter End.