Chapter 5: That’s a Damn Cool Name

“Martial Extremity Realm…”

Along with their cries of surprise, Zhu Ying’s aura reached the strongest it had ever been. At long last, he revealed his true cultivation level to the world.

That was a cultivation level required for disciples of the Tongyou Institution to enter the upper division!

It was the cultivation level required to be a custodian of one of the six outer divisions!

As it turned out, that was how strong Liu Zhifei and Sun Haiwei were!

Now, a mere outer disciple had a cultivation level at the Martial Extremity Realm!

“Heh? Looks like he even managed to hide his cultivation level from me!” Jia Yuntian raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The look on Zhang Haogu’s face turned solemn and no one knew what he was thinking.

Another person in the crowd whose expression was dark was Liu Zhifei. He didn’t know anything about Zhu Ying’s improvement. From what it seemed, Zhu Ying had already left his control.

A worried look could be seen on Sun Haiwei’s face when she looked at Shang Xia.

“Crap! His position as the leader of the outer division is in trouble!”

“Martial Realm and Martial Extremity Realm… This is the difference between the two of them!”

“Hehehe, looks like the wastrel is going to change his fate. He’ll crush the chosen one under his feet, regaining all the glory he lost! If Mu Qingyu could see this, I wonder what she’ll think!”

“I heard that the chief went over to Zhu Ying’s courtyard with Mu Qingyu to break off the engagement… He really went overboard this time.”

“No one can endure such humiliation…”

“Hehehe, looks like all these dumbasses are mocking Shang Xia because of Zhu Ying’s revelation…”

“Fuck off!”

Zhu Ying’s performance was too dazzling. Even Shang Xia was taken aback.

“So this is what you were relying on. You managed to increase your cultivation in six short months! How did you do it?” Shang Xia gasped.

“Haha! You’ll know when I crush you under my feet!” Zhu Ying revealed a sinister smile and he directed the flames in the air to surround Shang Xia.

Not only did he wish to defeat Shang Xia to obtain the title of the leader among the outer division, he also wished to embarrass Shang Xia! He would return the shame he felt a hundredfold!

He even fantasized about the panicked expression Shang Xia would have in a bit.

However, a faint chuckle left Shang Xia’s lips as he stared at the flames burning around him nonchalantly. “Is this it?”

Slightly surprised by Shang Xia’s attitude, Zhu Ying found his heart going cold. After considering the difference between their cultivation level, a sneer formed on his face. “What are you playing at? I’ll crush you today and make you a joke of the institution!”

As soon as he spoke, the flame charged towards Shang Xia in one unstoppable motion.

“This is a rank two fire qi! Wouldn’t that mean that he can only be countered by a rank two water or ice qi?”

As the disciples in the upper division chatted among themselves, the disciples from the outer and inner division perked their ears up, afraid to miss a word.

Ordinarily, the institution wouldn’t pass down knowledge that was far above one’s level as it was detrimental to one’s growth.

At the edges of the plaza, Liu Zhifei and Sun Haiwei were ready to leap into action at any moment. However, Yuan Zilu, the judge of the competition, remained silently at his post. Despite not moving, a bright light flashed in his eyes.

“Hmm…” After the flames engulfed Shang Xia, a sigh came from within the sea of fire. “Martial Brother Zhu, I was really looking forward to our battle. Who would have thought that you would enter the Martial Extremity Realm without caring about your foundations? I’m really disappointed in you…”

“Aren’t you a stubborn fool?! How can you remain so cocky even at the brink of death? Did you get your position as the leader of the outer division by bragging?!” Zhu Ying snarled.

Looking at the ball of flames burning in the middle of the plaza, discussion broke out in the crowd.

“Did you hear that?! Did Chief Shang say that he was disappointed in him?”

“Humph! Zhu Ying is at the Martial Extremity Realm, and he’s not even close! What gives him the right to say something like that?”

“Haha! He’s definitely trying to keep his image before losing miserably to Martial Brother Zhu.”

A chuckle rang through the skies, and Shang Xia’s voice rang in the minds of everyone present. “Alright. Since you can’t see your mistakes, my kind self will enlighten you.”

Zhu Ying’s flames was currently burning intensely, but it seemed as though he was unable to obtain victory even after some time. Yuan Zilu didn’t seem to have any intentions of stopping the battle either, and a feeling of unease crept up his heart.

In complete denial, Zhu Ying refused to believe that he could ever be defeated by Shang Xia, whose cultivation was much lower than himself. Supplying even more inner qi into the flames, he tried his best to push for victory.

“You’re thinking too highly of yourself!” Zhu Ying growled in anger when he saw that Shang Xia wasn’t admitting defeat.

“With your shaky foundations, you’re mere garbage in front of me.” Shang Xia’s voice sounded in the air once again.

As soon as he spoke, rays of blinding light emerged from the ball of flames. The sound of buzzing echoed in the ears of everyone present.

A bolt of lightning shot into the skies, tearing the ball of flames in half.

“This…”

Zhu Ying’s eyes widened in shock. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Before he could say a word, searing pain ripped through his body as bolts of lightning slammed into him. He soared through the air and crashed into the ground behind.

As the flames burning in the plaza subsided, Shang Xia emerged completely unscathed.

Those standing around felt question marks popping up in their mind.

What just happened?!

They couldn’t believe their eyes.

Shang Xia’s cultivation was clearly much lower than Zhu Ying, but he was able to turn the situation around with a single strike!

The students in the outer division gasped in fright, but those who knew better had solemn expressions on their faces. The instructors, custodians, and disciples from the upper division fell deep into thought.

When everyone was staring at him, Shang Xia’s gaze turned to look at Yuan Zilu who had finally made his move. The instructor leaped into action the moment he sent Zhu Ying flying.

Appearing beside Zhu Ying, Yuan Zilu pressed his palm down on Zhu Ying’s chest as the sparks caused by the lightning bolt faded.

Zhu Ying twitched about on the ground, while Yuan Zilu felt a tingle traveling through his body. The ground under his feet cracked all of a sudden as the excess energy passed through him, and he stared at Shang Xia with a strange gaze.

“This isn’t possible… How… How did you win?!” Zhu Ying growled as he got to his feet unsteadily. He ignored Yuan Zilu who saved him, and he glared at Shang Xia angrily.

Finally realizing that Yuan Zilu was standing silently beside him, he turned and asked, “Instructor, please make a fair decision!”

With his cultivation being higher than Shang Xia, he thought that there was only one way for Shang Xia to do what he just did, and that was to cheat!

Without even looking at Zhu Ying, Yuan Zilu’s voice boomed through the air, “Shang Xia is the winner of this battle!”

“Impossible!” Zhu Ying’s eyes turned bloodshot and he sneered, “His cultivation is only at the Martial Realm, while I’ve reached the Martial Extremity Realm!”

Without an explanation from Yuan Zilu, Zhu Ying pointed at him and sneered, “Hahaha, all of you are conspiring against me! Is the Protection Division also going to bow before Shang Bo’s power?”

Yuan Zilu’s expression sank immediately and a snort thundered in Zhu Ying’s ear. However, Shang Xia interrupted him before he could say anything. “Martial Brother Zhu, it’s not embarrassing to lose. It’s another thing if you don’t know where you went wrong. However, covering up your weakness with an excuse is unacceptable! You’re a disgrace to the Tongyou Institution.”

“You…”

Zhu Ying felt a sickly sweet taste in his mouth after hearing Shang Xia’s remark.

“Everyone said that you were trying to break through to the Martial Extremity Realm during your previous seclusion. Who would have thought that you were training your martial intent. Seems like you made some progress in it.” Yuan Zilu said all of a sudden, and there was a look of appreciation in his eyes. He no longer bothered with the sore loser, Zhu Ying.

“Instructor, I merely lucked out.” Shang Xia smiled humbly.

With a strange smile on his face, Yuan Zilu’s tone changed to one of seriousness when he addressed the crowd. “There is no such thing as luck in your journey of cultivation! Your fate depends on the foundation you form! Techniques are part of the dao and intent is the road to the peak! In order for him to produce the slightest trace of intent, his inner qi has to be fully converted.”

Finally glancing at Zhu Ying, Yuan Zilu muttered, “You lost fair and square.”

Along with his explanation, those standing around finally erupted.

“Martial intent! Is this the legendary martial intent?”

“So the chief wasn’t planning to break through to the Martial Extremity Realm. He was trying to comprehend martial intent and it was no wonder he was struck by lightning! Hiss… Will we actually attract lightning punishment when comprehending martial intent?!”

“What a shame… Martial Brother Zhu’s fiancee was stolen, and he was defeated by the person who did it!”

“As it turns out, Chief Shang might not be the person responsible for Mu Qingyu’s refusal to marry Zhu Ying…”

“Why didn’t you say so before?!”

“...”

As chaos broke out in the crowd, jeers and looks of pity were thrown Zhu Ying’s way.

“It’s over… Everything is over…”

As Zhu Ying looked at Shang Xia’s lofty figure slowly walking further away, his gaze turned hazy and a final surge of anger filled his heart. “You…”

Before he could complete his sentence, he spat out a mouthful of blood before fainting.

Hearing the thud behind him, Shang Xia turned around only to see Zhu Ying's body lying motionlessly on the ground. He shook his head slowly before walking away.

Forming one’s first trace of inner qi was the sign of breaking through to the Martial Realm. When a cultivator truly becomes a Martial Realm expert, they will face two serious problems.

One would be to increase the amount of inner qi they had. The other was to improve its quality.

In order to solve the second problem, cultivators would practice cultivation arts in order to refine their inner qi.

When Shang Xia entered the Martial Realm, the cultivation art he learned was the Chaos Essence Manual. The Chaos Essence Palm and Lightning Palm were the techniques he trained in to complement his cultivation art.

Due to the way he trained, the martial intent he comprehended was called the Chaos Essence Lightning Palm!

From its name, one could tell how impressive it was!

It was just too damn cool!