Number One Under Heaven

Disciple Hei Man jumped back, gaining some distance between him and Tian Yi. Even though it was an unnecessary action because Tian Yi had already told him that he wouldn’t move a muscle.

“I-I-I DO NOT BELIEVE!” He jumped forward again, but he slashed his sword sideways this time instead of lunging it, aiming for Tian Yi’s neck.

*Cling*

The sound of metal hitting rung in Disciple Hei Man’s ear once again, making his blood temperature drop instantly.

“What did I just tell you? I even gave you a second chance, and you blew it just like that? Is it pride that’s keeping you from using your Spirit Power? Lecture two, sitting right next to arrogance is pride because pride is another major reason as to why even the most powerful Cultivators out there die an early death. Why do you have to hold back because your enemies are weaker than you? Why would you blatantly show off your weakness to your opponents because of something imaginary such as pride?” Tian Yi lectured him nonstop as Disciple Hei Man continued to put pressure on the handle, but alas, he could not even move the sword forward the length of a hair’s width!

“....”

The crowd stares at them with every expression one can think of, and Disciple Hei Man could start to feel gazes of disappointment and disdain towards his direction.

“You want me to use my Spirit Power? Good! But don’t blame me when you go to hell because you also underestimated me!!!”

*Whoosh*

His Spirit Power burst out of his body, creating a small wind in the area.

“Initial Profound Qi Realm… He’ll probably hit the Middle stages within a few months.” Analyzed by some random genius in the crowd.

Bringing his sword high up into the air, Disciple Hei Man activated his strongest Martial Technique, “Boulder Cleaving Strike!”, and swung his sword down, aiming at the center of Tian Yi’s head.

“He really has the intentions to cleave Disciple Tian Yi in half!” Someone cried out.

However, what happened next had shocked the Disciples so much that they dropped onto the floor.

“I-Impossible…” Disciple Hei Man muttered to himself.

Although nothing new really happened, it was far more shocking to see Tian Yi still sitting there with his body intact even after getting struck by a Martial Technique at full power than getting hit with an attack with Spirit Power behind it.

“F-Forget about his head, not even a hair was cut off!”

“I-I don’t see any Spirit Power around Disciple Tian Yi…? I-Is that even possible?”

“Fuck! Is he even Human?! Even an Elder will have his head split apart if he forgot to protect himself with Spirit Power!”

Ignoring the Disciples, Tian Yi opens his mouth to speak, but before any words could even come out, Disciple Hei Man’s body flew back and rolled on the floor like a broken rag doll.

“?!?!?!?” This shocked the Disciples even more.

“Holy shit! All he had to do was open his mouth and Disciple Hei Man got blown away!”

“....”

While everyone was shocked, Tian Yi was speechless. He did not even do anything!

Disciple Hei Man struggled to get up. ‘Fuck! I got so scared when his mouth moved that I had accidentally thrown myself back! How embarrassing!’ He cried inside.

He looked around only to see the Disciples misunderstand what had really happened, so he decided to follow them, “D-Disciple Tian Yi, not bad… T-to throw me back so far, it was unexpected… Really...”

“???” Tian Yi looked at him with a weird face. What did he do? He was only going to lecture his usage in Spirit Power!

Deciding to ignore what had just happened, Tian Yi continued his lecture, “Fellow Disciple Hei Man, I can see that you’ve put more work in your sword masteries than your actual Spirit Power. I am not saying that it is necessarily wrong, but for someone at your level, you should focus more on controlling your Spirit Power. The way you wrapped your Spirit Power around that sword as if it was an axe. It must be that Martial Technique of yours that is more suited when using it with an axe than with a sword. Because of that Martial Technique, you focused on gathering your Spirit Power in one spot, the upper half of the sword, when you should’ve really just focused on sharpening your sword’s entire blade.Come, try that again with what I just told you.”

“......”

“..........”

Although he didn’t want to, he actually listens to every single word of Tian Yi’s lecture, and was shocked to find out that he had some truth to his lectures! His Martial Technique, the “Boulder Cleaving Strike”, was meant for focusing one’s Spirit Power at one point, and increasing the power! However, he was using a sword, something that was not fitting for such a Technique!

Tian Yi could see that he was learning by realizing his own faults, but he could also see hesitation. Disciple Hei Man wanted to try out what Tian Yi had just said, but he did not want to admit to being wrong! He has his pride! And not to mention with so many watching him, how can he just listen to his opponent? He came with the intent of just beating Tian Yi up but ended up with the intention to kill him. Forget about killing Tian Yi, he couldn’t even cut off a single hair off his body. After all this failure, and he still had enough face to learn from his opponents lectures? Wouldn’t that make him a joke for the next decade?

“Disciple Hei Man,” Tian Yi called out to him, “Why did you decide to join a Sect?”

Disciple Hei Man looked at him with a weird face What kind of stupid question was that?

“Did you come here to make friends, or did you come here to become stronger? To become an Immortal?”

“A-An I-Immortal?” Disciple Hei Man and the other Disciples were shocked to hear such an unexpected word. Being an Immortal meant having an undying life, something that was only a legend in their eyes. How can this Outer Court Disciple talk about such a legend as if it actually exists?

“What? Your eyes are telling me that you do not believe in Immortals,” said Tian Yi.

“Of course! To live for an eternity? How is that even possible?! A Spirit King can at most live a few hundred years, and that is already the Apex of Cultivation----”

“Hahahaha!”

A loud laugh echoes in the Fighting Halls.

“If you truly believe that, then that may indeed be the Apex of Cultivation,” said Tian Yi, “Come, let us finish this note exchange. There are others that would like to exchange notes too, right?”

He looks at the crowd, and many turned their face away to avoid his gaze!

Hearing that, Disciple Hei Man gripped the handle to his sword even harder, and he charged! He wanted to get off this stage as soon as possible and let the next Disciple face him! However, before leaving, he wanted to test out what Tian Yi had just told him. Instead of focusing his Spirit Power in one stop, he wrapped it around the blades of the sword, enhancing its sharpness.

Whoosh.

The blade cuts through the air at an extremely fast pace, surprising even Disciple Hei Man himself.

Clang.

Ignoring the obvious results, Disciple Hei Man retrieved his sword and clasped his hands towards Tian Yi and bowed, “Thank you, Junior Disciple Tian Yi for this spar. This note exchange was very beneficial for me, good bye!”

The other Disciples watched as Disciple Hei Mai jump off the stage and walked out of the Fighting Arena while ignoring the gazes.

Still sitting on the chair, Tian Yi looked around, “Any other Disciple here would like to exchange notes?” he asked.

“Me!” A voice full of confident shouted.

Not even a second later, another challenger jumps onto the stage.

“That’s a Core Disciple!” Many Disciples recognized the new challenger.

“I am Mau Kang, a Core Disciple,” he said.

Tian Yi stood up, and said, “Disciple Tian Yi, nice to meet you, Disciple Mau Kang.”

Not wasting any time, Disciple Mau Kang erupts with Spirit Power. “I am a Peak Profound Qi Realm Cultivator, I hope you do not mind me requesting for a note exchange,” he introduced himself.

Sitting back down, Tian Yi said, “I do not mind, come.”

“....”

Disciple Mau Kang frowned upon seeing his actions. ‘I told him that I was a Core Disciple, and he still treats me as if I was someone like Hei Man?! How arrogant! I do not know what kind of tricks he has up his sleeves, but that will not work on me!’ he thought.

Finally taking action, Disciple Mau Kang takes out a Spear from his storage pouch, and the moment this spear appeared the temperature in the Fighting Halls also increased.

“An Enhanced Spirit Weapon! And a Fire Attribute one at that! As expected from Core Disciples, to have such treasures given to them by the Sect... I need to become one fast,” said someone from the crowd.

Enhanced Spirit Weapons are Weapons with an attribute fused into it, greatly improving its combat abilities and sometimes even granting it special powers!

“Flaming Serpent Thrust!”

The tip of the spear was suddenly engulfed in red flames with an image of a serpent’s head. Disciple Mau Kang dashed forward, appearing in front of Tian Yi instantly, and he thrust his flaming spear forward, aiming straight for the eyeballs!

“If attacking your skin does not work, then what about your eyes?!”

*Gasp*

The Disciples sucked in a mouthful of air once again---- only to forget about it releasing it again.

Disciple Mau Kang had expected Tian Yi to dodge, but not only did he not dodge, Tian Yi didn’t even blink at the spear going for his eyeballs!

*BOOM*

A fiery explosion occurred upon the impact, engulfing Tian Yi’s entire head with a ball of red flames.

*ssss*

The flame burned out after a few seconds, slowly revealing Tian Yi’s injuries.

“I-Impossible…” Disciple Mau Kang muttered these words in bewilderment.

Tian Yi looked at Disciple Mau Kang whose face has disbelief written all over it. The thing that creeped out the Disciples the most was that he still had the spear tip touching the center of his pupils but unable to pierce it! “If one’s body cannot be harmed, then the most obvious place to aim for next is the eyes. Not bad, Disciple Mau Kang,” he praised him.

Disciple Mau Kang’s mouth opened and closed nonstop as if he wanted to say something, and after an entire minute of speechlessness, the only words that came out of his mouth was----

“You monster!”