Celestial Martial Path - Chapter 14

A perfect synchronisation of shouts and cries filled the arena and hundreds of jaws hit the ground. Jun Xiang, this third stage Body Refinement child had just punched Ku Xing to the floor, leaving him prone and unable to speak at all. One had to know Ku Xing was a rare genius who had reached the seventh level of Body Refinement at the mere age of 13.

Even though one would have to consolidate their cultivation in order to obtain maximum power, that didn’t mean that one who had not consolidated their cultivation would lack raw power. Ku Xing had just advanced into the seventh level of Body Refinement, receiving large amounts of praise and fawning from other children and even adults, and yet today, he had literally just been beaten to the ground by a third level Body refinement cultivator. Even gods cried tears of humiliation for Ku Xing!

Jun Xiang hurried over to Ku Xing and knelt down next to him, “Are you alright? I can help you get out of the arena.”

Ku Xing had already fainted from shock and pain, however even if he hadn’t, he would have passed out from embarrassment. Jun Xiang wrinkled his brows for a long moment before grabbing one of Ku Xing’s arms and slinging it across his shoulders. Step by step, Jun Xiang dragged Ku Xing’s body over to one side of the arena.

“Be careful!”

Li Sui’s voices sounded across the arena, alerting Jun Xiang instantly.

Jun Xiang turned quickly to see what had happened when Ku Xing’s body thrusted solidly against his thin frame. Jun Xiang glanced warily at Ku Xing, “Are you awake now? Do you need help or can you walk on your own?”

The silent body made no sound in reply.

“Maybe he’s just playing dead?” Jun Xiang peered carefully at Ku Xing’s body before realising that there was a rock embedded deeply into a magical book hanging by Ku Xing’s side.

“Jun Xiang, dodge!”

Jun Xiang reacted instantly, leaning to the right just before a whistling sound passed by his ear. Looking for the source of the sound, Jun Xiang saw Song Han, hand raised, muscles bulging and face intense with childish hate.

Jun Xiang thought quickly before deciding to continue dragging Ku Xing over to supposedly his clan, now watching the proceedings with fearful faces. Noticing that he would take quite long, Jun Xiang lifted the prone body, supporting it by the waits “Dragging is too slow. I’ll just carry him!”

The audience widened their eyes in surprise while Ku Xing’s sect members flushed in embarrassment.

“Is that? Could that be the legendary princess carry?”

“Holy shit, after this match, we’ll have some good stories to tell Ku Xing.”

“This is amazing! Not only is that child helping a fellow peer, he’s even treating him with such care!”

Jun Xiang jogged quickly over to the side of the arena before promptly dropping Ku Xing off by the side and allowing Ku Xing’s sect to recover him.

Noticing an imminent danger, Jun Xiang reflexively ducked, milliseconds before a loud smash occurred behind him. Jun Xiang didn’t dare look back to see what it was as his danger signals were tingling intensely without stop. Pushing his scrawny body off from the floor, Jun Xiang moved into a sprint, viewing the entire arena as he did so.

Song Han stood in the centre of the arena, raising his arms magnificently while muttering a chant that Jun Xiang could not hear. Almost naturally, pieces of the arena separated from the floor and began to float around Song Han. In an instant, a large rock projectile encased by a flickering glow flew straight towards Jun Xiang, homing onto Jun Xiang’s imminent location.

Jun Xiang pivoted mid-sprint and drew back his fist for a punch. Energy seemed to gather and condense within the glove before Jun Xiang struck out, smashing his fist against the rock, decimating it into mere particles, floating gently away in the wind.

“Haaaaa!”

Jun Xiang sprinted towards Song Han, fist drawn back again, ready to attack and defend. Song Han stepped back in panic as he saw Jun Xiang approaching at a speedy rate. Song Han was about to attempt casting another spell when sudde nly his eyes gleamed and flashed with a vicious gaze.

Song Han stopped backing away and stood his ground, drawing the oversized broadsword as he did so. Instantly, the audience erupted into shouts of jeers and shouts of disapproval. Although Song Han was completely entitled to using weapons against any enemy he faced, he would still be looked down upon for doing so against a weaponless opponent. This scorn did not apply to higher level cultivators as there were many that trained specifically in the art of the fist, however Jun Xiang was just a 13 year old who had not comprehended a single concept spell usage, only beginning the physical aspect of martial arts. A sword would give Song Han an inevitable advantage that couldn’t be bridged by simple skill.

“Hmph! Let’s see how you can beat me now! Oh…” Song Han let out a cry of surprise as Jun Xiang not only continued charging, but also smashed his fist solidly into the flat of the broadsword. Song Han clenched his teeth while grasping desperately at the sword handle, keeping it just under control so that it wouldn’t fly out of his hands. His eyes took a sharp glint before he swung the sword in a large arc behind him, using the force from the punch to propel the sword towards Jun Xiang.

A loud whistling sounded across the arena as the sword sliced through the air cleanly and approached Jun Xiang’s neck. Not expecting such a change of events, Jun Xiang lifted his hand to block the sword from causing any fatal damage as a reflex, expecting a sharp pain to run through his arm. However all he felt was a jolt of his hand and nothing else.

Jun Xiang looked up to see Song Han’s frustrated and beet-red face, bulging muscles, and out stretched sword. Jun Xiang realised quickly that his gloved hand had caught the broadsword perfectly, the sharp blade had been dulled slightly.

Grasping the opportunity, Jun Xiang pulled in the broadsword, jerking it out of Song Han’s hands, before delivering a short blow to Song Han’s stomach, launching him backwards several meters, prone on the floor. Song Han tumbled against the ground, eyes rolling to the back of his head and finally understanding Ku Xing’s pains.

The entire arena was quiet once more until a voice from the audience broke the silence, “How can your punch be so powerful?”

Mutterings appeared in many places in the audience.

“That’s right, how is that possible?”

“Could it be he’s been training his physical body his entire life, neglecting his cultivation?”

“That must be it! With a few high levelled body training techniques, he could’ve obtained a powerful physical body without increasing his cultivation, benefiting him far into the future.”

Jun Xiang scratched his head in embarrassment, “Uhh… I’m not sure what you people consider high levelled training techniques, however I trained by punching trees.”

“…”