Heaven Refining physique-Chapter 51: First Battle

Jiang Hao and Ming Yue arrived at the location again, this time they moved deeper where the real arena was located, there was a massive crowd of disciples already gathered here.

There were seating arrangements around the arena according to their respective peaks, so both of them arrived at the seating area of Alchemy Peak, Huan Caiyi and Zhi Hui were already present there.

When Huan Caiyi saw them, she smiled and was about to tease them when Ming Yue spoke.

"Don’t even think about it aunt, it’s not like you weren’t keeping an eye on us."

"Cough... I was just going to ask why Jiang Hao was learning basics of sword."

"Off course, I believe you." Ming Yue rolled her eyes and continued, "Junior brother has decided to learn the way of sword, so I just taught him basics."

"Really? That’s great."

It was Zhi Hui who spoke.

"Good, then I have to add another training for you, from tomorrow onwards before beatin- I mean teaching you guys battle sense, we will have a session on sword skills for 2 hours."

Huan Caiyi spoke enthusiastically.

"Why even correct that part, it was truth from your heart, you know?"

Ming Yue spoke in annoyance.

"Yea, yea whatever, get ready the competition is about to begin, take your seats."

"Humphh..." Ming Yue snorted and sat down.

Jiang Hao looked at their bickering calmly, as it was usual nowadays. He shook his head and sat down too.

All the seating areas were filled with disciples, and on top were the elders of various peaks, he never met any of the elders, and as expected everyone was looking at him.

He didn’t get nervous and sat calmly while waiting for the competition to start.

After 10 minutes, an elder from Spirit Peak came to the center of stages.

"Let the competition begin. There are few rules for all the participants who are going to participate, they have to follow it no matter what.

First and the most important rule, you can’t kill your opponent no matter what. Today even Supreme Elder is watching the competition, so don’t even think of pulling any strange moves.

Second, if your opponent surrenders, then you have to stop your attack immediately, or you will be disqualified.

Third, if I say stop, you stop immediately, if you don’t, I will disqualify you.

That’s it for rules. Injuries can occur in high-level battles, so before participating do remember that. If you want to withdraw, then when your name is announced, don’t come to stage.

That’s all, let the first battle begin in the Qi Refinement segment.

Battles will be held in segments, first segment will be of Stage 5 of Qi Refinement realm.

Number 1 and 2 come on stage."

Jiang Hao looked at his token, it was silver in color, he had also seen the token for Qi Refinement realm, they were bronze in color.

So, his number was 73 only in silver tokens.

Looks like he had to wait for a while before his turn came. Today his turn might not even come, it’s already noon, and the whole morning was gone in registration.

Also, to participate in sect competition, Stage 5 seems to be minimum requirement.

Two disciples approached at the center of arena, where elder was standing. When they reached the center, they bowed to elder and then to themselves.

Elder distanced himself a little and spoke.

"Start."

Both of them moved at the same time, one was holding a spear, while the other was using saber.

They clashed and fought fiercely, there were cheering from the people watching, some were even betting.

Jiang Hao looked at the fight and came to only a single conclusion — too weak. He couldn’t help but sigh, he was stronger than them even at Stage 1 of Qi Refinement realm.

Their moves are too immature, he can see dozens of openings in their attacks, and each opening was a death sentence for these disciples even if he used strength equal to them.

He had no doubt that these guys don’t have real fighting experience, he sighed and totally became uninterested in watching further battles.

Only battles between Core Realm and Soul Sea Realm will interest him. He looked towards Ming Yue, who also looked uninterested in the battles, and asked.

"Senior sister, how long does sect competition take to complete?"

Ming Yue smiled when she heard that.

"Already bored, junior brother? It will take around 3 days at most. Maximum time is consumed in Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment realm as there are more disciples in these realms.

With your number, your turn will definitely come tomorrow, but we can’t leave from here junior brother.

It’s for our own safety as all the elders are present here and other areas in the sect are almost empty right now.

Although master and aunt can keep an eye on us, it will be better if we don’t leave the Spirit Peak right now, so bear with it for the time being junior brother."

Jiang Hao sighed when he heard that, but he also knew that it was truth, and he was the one to blame for all this anyway so he can’t even complain about it.

He can’t even cultivate here, there was a reason why people go into seclusion to get better results, while comprehending something one needs strong concentration, which cannot be achieved here with all the noise.

He might be able to cultivate if the volume was lower but right now it doesn’t seem like he will get that environment. All disciples seem quite enthusiastic about the competition.

Since he had nothing else productive to do, he kept watching the competition even if it wasn’t impressive to watch.

Night came, but only half of the Qi Refinement battles are done. Since they have lighting arrays, the battles will continue at night too.

Finally in the morning, the Qi Refinement battles were completed.

Elder came in the middle of the arena again and spoke.

"The title for the top disciple of Qi Refinement realm is given to the participant 95, as he won the Stage 9 segment.

If any of the previous segment winners are dissatisfied with this decision, then they can challenge him, but do remember that you have to pay 100 spirit stones if you lose after challenging him, so only challenge him if you are truly confident to win, as wasting time is not allowed."

None of the disciples went forward to challenge him as they knew they wouldn’t be able to win, and none of them are brave enough to pay 100 spirit stones just to test themselves against him.

So this concluded the Qi Refinement section of the battles.

"Very well then, next is early stage Foundation Establishment section, No. 1 and 2 come forward."

With this arrangement, his first opponent will be 74, and it will be in mid-stage segment.

Finally at noon, his turn came. He sighed in relief as it was really too much of a wait. He wanted this competition to be over quickly as it was of no value to him.

He doesn’t even know why Elder Huan even allowed him to participate.

"Participant 73 and 74 come on the arena."

He stood up and walked down from his seating area. When others saw it was his turn, they became quiet — there was no sound at all.

When Jiang Hao noticed this, he became speechless, he was hoping for this peace from the very start, and he got what he wanted when he doesn’t need it, quite the irony indeed.

He finally reached the center of the stage, where his opponent had already arrived.

She seems to be from the Sword Peak.

They bowed to the elder and then bowed to each other.

"Brother Jiang, I have heard a lot about you. It’s an honor to have you as an opponent, please teach me."

"Likewise, Senior sister."

Jiang Hao doesn’t know her name so he could only stop at that, he took out his sword.

When some disciples saw that, they became stunned as last time he didn’t even use a weapon, they couldn’t help but think that he had beaten 110 disciples while still holding back.

"Start."

When the battle started, Jiang Hao stood in his position and waited for his opponent to come.

She didn’t disappoint him, the moment the battle started she dashed towards him at her full speed, which was slow in his eyes. He watched her every movement trying to predict what kind of move she will make.

He saw that she had used more strength in her left leg, while both of her hands were in position where she could easily hold the sword with two hands and pull them back, so thrusting at him was the most logical move he could think from her stance.

And as expected, she did the same. Since he already predicted that, he positioned himself in front of her in a way that her sword missed him by a hair’s breadth on his waist.

She was stunned and tried to bring her sword back, not everyone can change the direction of their attack like Huan Caiyi, but when she was about to bring her sword back, she felt a sharp edge at her throat. She sighed and stopped.

After backing away, she bowed to him.

"Thank you, Brother Jiang, for showing mercy."

If Jiang Hao wanted, he could have used another move to hurt her and she knew that very well, so she thanked him and left the stage.

When others saw that, there were mixed reactions. Most of the disciples felt it was only right as Jiang Hao was unbeatable in Foundation Establishment realm.

But some of the strongest disciples and elders were stunned to the core, as they knew Jiang Hao had positioned himself even before the attack was used.

They knew what it meant — battle sense. But how could he develop battle sense at this age, it was impossible. Even they, who had so much experience, hadn’t developed it, so how could a junior like him do so.

Supreme Elder couldn’t help but look towards the seating area of Alchemy Peak, specifically towards Huan Caiyi. He knew that it was only possible because of her.