Translator: Lordbluefire
Editor: Lordbluefire
Training ground.
Li Weifeng’s countenance was extremely gloomy. His strategy had failed.
And not only did he fail to stop Xia Qingchen from entering the martial pavilion, but he also successfully let the other party bear grudges toward him.
What was even worse was that Xia Qingchen’s talent was truly terrifying.
In a short three months, he had reached the seventh radiance-level from the third.
A cold light flickered in Li Weifeng’s eyes.
Next, they got a new training puppet and the test-takers continued with their examination.
But there was no one else who could achieve what Xia Qingchen did. A truly resplendent and dazzling genius had appeared.
In the end, Li Weifeng announced, “For this examination ranking, we will only announce the top three.”
The rankings were in the form of a list that was pasted at the entrance of the training ground for all to see.
“Third place, Chen Wei!”
“Second place, Liu Yiyi!”
“First place… Xia Qingchen!” He announced it extremely unwillingly.
Just when he finished announcing, Chen Wei stepped out.
A look of intense reluctance was painted on his scarred face. “I’m not willing to accept this. There are clear suspicions that Xia Qingchen has cheated, so his examination result should be rendered invalid!”
“I’m unwilling to accept this as well!” Liu Yiyi’s face was cold.
The first place ought to belong to her!
Li Weifeng looked forward to the happenings. He asked, “What do you all want to do then?”
The two of them simultaneously spoke, “Compete in a fight!”
This time, it was naturally not fighting against the training puppet, but against them!
Li Weifeng didn’t say anything. He glanced at the backstage, waiting for the upper echelons to make a decision.
The Vice Headmaster fell silent.
He believed that Xia Qingchen hadn’t cheated. However, he missed the scene where Xia Qingchen had sent the training puppet flying with his kick, and he wanted to see Xia Qingchen’s strength with his own eyes.
“Agree!”
Upon receiving the approval, Li Weifeng glanced at Xia Qingchen. “You don’t have the authority to reject this. You have to accept the battle.”
When Xia Qingchen heard this, he was first as quiet as a tranquil cloud, then shot out like a fleeing rabbit!
He actually took the initiative to attack!
And the target he chose was Chen Wei.
“Cheating bastard. Kneel for me!” Chen Wei circulated his inner force. He didn’t retreat but chose to advance for a head-on clash instead.
At the instant before their clash, Chen Wei’s right fist was like a hook, aiming for Xia Qingchen’s chin.
Xia Qingchen stretched out a finger and casually tapped his shoulder.
Chen Wei who was rapidly rushing over was blasted backward with an even faster speed.
At the same time, a light sound echoed out. It was the cracking sound of a shoulder bone!
With a loud thud, Chen Wei smashed into the ground and started to howl in pain.
“Can’t even withstand a single strike,” Xia Qingchen calmly spoke.
Turning his body, he attacked Liu Yiyi with the tip of his foot.
Chen Wei was defeated in one move, and this caused Liu Yiyi to be extremely vigilant. She released an inner force that was close to silver in color.
This was the indication of someone at the seventh radiance-level of the minor constellation stage.
It turned out that she had already broken through to the seventh radiance-level during her seclusion.
During the first test, she had hidden her strength, choosing not to reveal it.
But now she had no choice but to display it!
“Stop being arrogant!” Liu Yiyi’s expression was covered in frost. At the same time, she executed the martial skill passed down by her clan – the {Wind Cloud Snow]!
This was a low-grade yellow-tier finger technique, and the might it could unleash was not weak at all.
Her jade-like fingertips contained the inner force of someone at the seventh radiance-level. As long as they came in contact with the enemy’s body, she could use her inner force to damage the interior of her opponent’s body, causing huge damage to their organs.
However, she didn’t expect that Xia Qingchen had also executed a martial skill.
And what was so coincidental was that it was also a finger technique!
“Nine Plum Blossoms Bloomed!” When facing ordinary enemies, there was no need to unleash the immensely powerful Fire Phoenix Illuminates the Sky. Just a move from [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum] would do.
Pu, pu, pu~
Nine streams of inner force shot out, blasting Liu Yiyi through the air.
A miserable snort echoed in the air as Liu Yiyi was blasted into retreat. Nine vibrant red dots then bloomed like plum blossoms.
“Not too bad.” Xia Qingchen gave an evaluation as he stopped his attack.
From the time Xia Qingchen took the initiative to attack until he defeated the two of them, it might seem long, but in actuality, not even ten breaths of time had passed.
All the spectators, who were preparing to watch a good show, a spar between juniors, now had dumbfounded looks on their faces.
“That’s all?”
“Are Chen Wei and Liu Yiyi still asleep? I didn’t even see them retaliating!”
“It isn’t that they don’t want to retaliate, but that Xia Qingchen is too powerful. So powerful to the extent that his strength is far above them!”
The spectators, who were originally enjoying themselves to the fullest, fell into great shock.
This was especially so for Liu Yiyi. She erupted forth with her hidden cultivation base, yet she couldn’t even withstand a single strike from Xia Qingchen!
The atmosphere seemed frozen, and only the sound of two sentences continued reverberating through the air.
‘Can’t even withstand a single strike!’
‘Not too bad!’
For characters like Chen Wei and Liu Yiyi who were so outstanding, they could only receive such an evaluation in Xia Qingchen’s eyes!
Bright light gleamed in the Vice Headmaster’s eyes. “What dense inner force, what a powerful martial skill. I want you guys to nurture this child well!”
The eyes of the two Consecrators flickered with envy. It would be hard for any students who were verbally named by the Vice Headmaster to not soar into the skies.
On the spectator stands, all the martial aristocratic clan leaders once again surrounded Xia Yuan upon hearing the words of the Vice Headmaster.
They wanted nothing more than to invite Xia Yuan over for a visit.
Why? Because they understood that the Southern Xia Manor was going to rise to the sky soon!
…
At a certain corner of the spectator stands.
There was a pair of youngsters, and their expressions were both interesting.
Zhao Churan widened her beautiful eyes, staring with disbelief at Xia Qingchen. She exclaimed in shock, “So cousin Qingchen is so powerful?”
Xia Qingchen had completely toppled the image of a weak, cowardly cousin in her mind.
In addition, she discovered that Xia Qingchen’s back view faintly merged with his not-to-be-forgotten benefactor’s back.
But she soon wiped away this ridiculous thought. A smile with a few hints of infatuation appeared on her mouth. “I wonder if I would have a chance to meet my benefactor in this life or not?”
Xia Qilin who was at the side had his fists clenched tightly. His eyes were also wide open.
Today, he had brought his cousin here because he initially wanted her to see Xia Qingchen making a fool out of himself.
But what his cousin saw wasn’t a joke. Instead, It was the scene of Xia Qingchen displaying his magnificent side.
Truthfully speaking, Xia Qilin was also scared.
He had never known that his younger cousin had concealed his strength so deeply!
Seventh radiance-level of the minor constellation stage. This was only one level lower than him!
But this was not that important.
Others might not be able to recognize it, but how could he fail to do so?
That was the first stance of the martial skill his Northern Xia Manor had spent a huge price to obtain, Nine Plum Blossoms Bloomed of the [Traversing Snow, Flowering Plum]!
Cracking sounds rang out from his clenching fists. He roared in a low voice, “Bastard, you actually dare to secretly learn my martial skill! I will absolutely not spare you!”
Right now, there was no longer anyone who suspected Xia Qingchen of cheating, and the waves of shock created during the repeat competition finally ceased.
The people ranked in the top three, Xia Qingchen, Liu Yiyi, and Cheng Wei all had the qualifications to enter the upper court of the martial pavilion.
As for the others, they all joined the different courts of the martial pavilion as dictated by their results.
“You all have three days to prepare. After that, you can enter the academy to pursue your studies.” Li Weifeng cast a deep glance at Xia Qingchen as he announced.
After the repeat competition ended, many instantly left the training ground and returned home to prepare themselves.
As for Xia Qingchen, he came outside of the training grounds.
Staring at Xia Yuan who was quietly waiting for him, he smiled. “I did it!”
Xia Yuan felt gratified, having a smile on his face along with tears. He felt hope as well as a sense of bitterness.
“Let’s go home. Today, the whole manor will hold a celebration.” It had been a long time since Xia Yuan felt so happy!
On their way back.
In the carriage, Xia Qingchen asked, “Father, through this month, did you follow my instructions and meditate inside the Thunderwood Char?”
Xia Yuan’s smile grew even wider. “I initially wanted to give you a surprise!”
He stretched out his palm, a shimmering strand of silvery-grey inner force flowed around freely.
In the past, Xia Yuan had been riddled with old injuries, and his inner force had had no way to flow smoothly according to his will. Now with this display, it was sufficient to say that his old injuries were all cured.
“Right, since your injuries have completely recovered. I will honor the promise I made a month ago.” Xia Qingchen took out two scrolls from his sleeves that he had prepared long ago.