By the time Jian Chen and Ming Dong arrived at the arenas, the surrounding area was already packed with students. Hundreds of them were whispering to one another around the ring, but both Ka Di Yun and Ling Zhengtian were nowhere near to be seen.
The match between Ka Di Yun and Ling Zhengtian seemed to be extremely important to the audience. Jian Chen waited for a moment longer, and in just a short amount of time, the crowd of students grew more and more into the thousands until it seemed as if the majority of the students in the academy had gathered.
âWho do you thinkâs going to win?â
âAre you kidding? Of course itâll be Ling Zhengtian. Ka Di Yun may have become a Saint Master and is on equal footing with Ling Zhengtian now, but Ling Zhengtian has been a Saint Master for so long. With his talent, I bet heâs already a middle Saint Master in strength, Ka Di Yunâs no match for him.â
âKa Di Yun has challenged every single one of the top ten students without a single loss. Now that heâs challenging Ling Zhengtian, Iâve no doubts that heâll win.â
All of the students around the arena were whispering to each other in excitement. Jian Chen and Ming Dong could only stand in the middle of the ocean of people and wait to see the spectacle. Jian Chen and Ming Dong were both extremely conspicuous with their white robes because every student here was wearing the academy uniform. Some of the students had even looked at them in amazement, but no one asked about them.
While standing among the crowd with both hands against his chest, Jian Chen suddenly felt a distinct pair of eyes staring at him. When he turned his head to look, he only saw a rather beautiful woman staring attentively at him. Her eyes were like limpid autumn water in the light, but the expression in them carried a questioning glance â it was Ka Di Qiuli.
Compared to a few years ago, Ka Di Qiuli had grown by quite the amount. Gone was her unruliness and impatience, and in its place was a more matured steadfastness. Even her beauty had grown by a decent amount.
Although there had been some bad history between Jian Chen and the three siblings from the Ka Di clan, it was nothing more than small time scuffles between children â harmless and of no major importance. This meant that Jian Chen bore no grudges against the three, so when Ka Di Qiuli was staring at him, Jian Chen only gave a friendly nod to her in greeting before turning his eyes away.
Ka Di Qiuli stared attentively at the handsome face of Jian Chen with a thoughtful look. Her eyebrows furrowed together for a moment before lightly nudging Ka Di Liang by her side. âSecond brother, have you seen that man wearing the white robe before? I feel he looks somewhat familiar as if Iâve seen him before. I just canât put my finger on it.â
Jian Chen had grown so much in these years that even his uncle Chang Wuji had been unable to recognize him, let alone Ka Di Qiuli who wasnât familiar with him at all.
Ka Di Liang looked to Jian Chen after being prompted by his sister. Then, with a shake of his head, he smiled. âI donât know just which son of nobility he is from, but heâs quite handsome. Your second brother is quite jealous.â
âSecond brother, I feel that he is familiar to me, but I just donât know how and where. Do you not know who he is?â Ka Di Qiuli repeated.
Ka Di Liang looked back at Jian Chen again with another shake of his head, âI donât know, or else Iâve never seen him before.â With that, Ka Di Liang gave a meaningful stare at Ka Di Qiuli as he smiled mischievously, âThird sister, that guy over there isnât too bad in looks, are you trying to tell me youâve taken a fancy to him. When we get back, your brother will have some people look into who he is for you.â
With a baleful glare at Ka Di Liang, Ka Di Qiuli wasted no more words with him and continued to think to herself.
At that time, two figures suddenly came walking out from behind the crowd and onto the arena platform. These two men looked to be around twenty-five and twenty-six years old. They wore the uniform of Kargath Academy, and the moment they stepped onto the arena, the entire congregation exploded into discussions.
âKa Di Yun and Ling Zhengtian have arrived...â
âKa Di Yun, you can do it! Beat Ling Zhengtian....â
âLing Zhengtian will win...â
One after another the students of the academy shouted out in loud voices to cheer on the two combatants. Their voices continued for a decent amount of time before finally descending back into a lull.
With the two fighters stepping onto the arena, Ka Di Qiuli had finally moved her eyes away from Jian Chen to look at her older brother Ka Di Yun on the platform.
Ka Di Yun and Ling Zhengtian exchanged several words of smalltalk with each other before simultaneously taking out their Saint Weapons. Ka Di Yunâs Saint Weapon was a two-handed sword while Ling Zhengtianâs was a long thin saber. With the appearance of their Saint Weapons, the fight had officially started.
âDing ding clank clank clank...â
The sounds of the Saint Weapons smashing into each other could be heard while Ka Di Yun fought with Ling Zhengtian on top of the arena. Despite not being a fight to the death, their performance was something that seemed to make the students fall into a drunken stupor. A battle between Saint Masters was something that the Saints and not-yet Saints felt invigorated by.
Ka Di Yun and Ling Zhengtian fought for a while on top of the arena without victory being decided. However, Ming Dong had long since lost interest in the battle and did not wish to watch anymore. With him being an Earth Saint Master, watching two Saint Masters fight in front of him was like watching a kid show off to a professional. There was nothing to feel excited about from watching this.
âTsk, Iâll show you the strength of my battle skill!â Just at that moment, Ka Di Yun let out a loud shout and began to charge his Saint Force into his two-handed sword before slashing out at Ling Zhengtian.
Upon hearing the words âbattle skillâ, Ling Zhengtianâs face had blanched. With no time to dodge, he could only commit all of his strength to defending.
âBang!â A loud explosion could be heard as Ka Di Yunâs giant sword slammed against Ling Zhengtianâs saber. A battle skill was many times stronger than any regular strike, so the amount of power transmitted from Ka Di Yunâs sword to Ling Zhengtianâs saber had been enough to send Ling Zhengtian back through the air. Finally coming to a stumble across the floor, Ling Zhengtian couldnât help but let out a mouthful of blood.
The audience, which had been quiet for some time, abruptly exploded into a cacophony of shouts as they began to shout out celebrations of Ka Di Yun being the victor.
âKa Di Yun has won, Ka Di Yun has defeated Ling Zhengtian to become the strongest student in Kargath Academy!â
âKa Di Yun is the strongest expert of our academy!â
......
Beneath the platform, Ka Di Qiuli and Ka Di Liang displayed ecstatic looks on their faces in excitement for the victory their older brother had just received.
Ka Di Yun stabbed his giant sword into the ground for everyone to see before shouting out in a heroicly. âIs there still anyone that isnât convinced? Come up and challenge me then! Today, I Ka Di Yun will accept the challenge of anyone!â
âEven the strongest student Ling Zhengtian was defeated by the hands of Ka Di Yun. Right now in Kargath Academy, thereâs no one thatâs a match for Ka Di Yun!â
âKa Di Yun has a battle skill, making him stronger than even some of the teachers at the academy. I bet even some of the teachers at the Earth Saint Master level wouldnât be a match for him.â
Many of the students were whispering to each other.
Seeing how prideful Ka Di Yun was, Ming Dong suddenly felt an idea hit him. Smiling, he said, âHow impudent. I know I heard that he and you had some bad blood in the past. Jian Chen, let me play with him.â Not even waiting for Jian Chen to respond, Ming Dong leaped onto the arena.
Seeing Ming Dong hop onto the platform, Jian Chen couldnât do anything but shake his wistful head helplessly since he knew he couldnât stop him. A mighty Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master bullying a single Saint Master, this was something that would make anyone a joke just for saying it.
Ming Dong folded his arms across his chest as he smiled at the proud-looking Ka Di Yun, âKid, youâre Ka Di Yun right? Letâs fight, me and you.â
When everyone saw Ming Dong suddenly leap on top of the arena, every single student in the audience began to chat with each other. Since he was not wearing the uniform of Kargath Academy, everyone was curious to see who he was while Ka Di Liang and Ka Di Qiuli stared closely at him.
âWho is that guy? Iâve never seen him before. Heâs not wearing our academy uniform. It doesnât seem like heâs a student of Kargath Academy.â Ka Di Liang muttered with furrowed eyebrows. Motioning for the student next to him, he whispered, âGo call for headmaster Bai En, tell him thereâs outsiders intruding in on Kargath Academyâs business.â
âYes!â That student was the son of the family responsible for guarding the Ka Di clan. He didnât hesitate to obey Ka Di Liangâs order. In a flash, he began to run to the headmasterâs quarters.
Ka Di Yun looked at the white robes of Ming Dong with suspicious eyes before probing out with a question, âAre you not a student of Kargath Academy?â
âYou guessed correctly. I am not a student of Kargath Academy, so this fight shouldnât pose a risk to your standing in the academy whether you win or lose. So, how about it. Want to fight?â Ming Dong laughed with his arms pressed against his chest.
âOf course weâll fight! I, Ka Di Yun, fear no single person. But, what is your name?â Ka Di Yun cupped his hands together.
âIâll tell you my name after our match.â Ming Dong laughed. He wasnât worried at all; this was nothing more than a joke to play with.
Ka Di Yun could see that he wasnât too far away in age from Ming Dong, so he did not fear Ming Dongâs strength. Very few people his age would be capable of beating him.
âDespite you not being a student of Kargath Academy, I will nonetheless accept your challenge, letâs fight!â Ka Di Yunâs right hand grabbed his Saint Weapon, which had been stuck in the ground. He adopted a fighting stance while charging at Ming Dong.