Celestial Martial Path - Chapter 9

Jun Xiang scanned curiously over the weapon rack, there were all sorts of weapons lined up against it. Spears with adjustable weights, swords and sabers and pikes lay on upon the rack while defensive armour and talismans were hung on hooks. Different coloured staffs and other magical artifacts were displayed individually, each with their usage displayed on a small paper note below them.

The stout man called out to Jun Xiang, “You’re allowed to chose up the 25 points worth of weapons and defensive gear. The points of each should be displayed below the weapons.”

Jun Xiang’s gaze shifted to the price tags. Most of the swords had a tag of 5 points while some went above, a particular blue hazed one going for 20 points. The other objects were priced as well, most of them within the 5-15 range, however cool as they looked, Jun Xiang had never truly trained with a weapon. He had been relying on his fists to smash that tree back at home his whole life.

Swords, staffs, shields… He just didn’t know how to use them.

Just as Jun Xiang was about to purchase a set of armour costing 20 points, a green hued glove caught his eye. It looked simple, seemed simple, and yet it was definitely not your average glove, it would not be price 25 points otherwise.

The stout man saw the curiosity in his eyes. Tracing the boys gaze, he looked towards the glove upon the rack and beamed, “Hey kid, it seems you really want that glove!”

Jun Xiang nodded in confirmation, since he used his fists, this was most likely the most suitable for him. The stout man continued, “Let me tell you, you’re the first the select this weapon in centuries. Although I wouldn’t say the glove is bad, it is simply at too much of a disadvantage compared to those longer weapons.”

Jun Xiang knew he was right, choosing the gloves would leave him at a range disadvantage, however this was not the point. What was the point of choosing another weapon if he didn’t know how to use those either. That was simply impractical!

Jun Xiang picked the glove off the stand and handed it towards the stout attendant. The man beamed before handing it back to Jun Xiang, “You can put it on, get a feel for it.”

The glove slipped on smoothly, albeit being slightly large. His fingers moved freely within them, however no matter how he tried, he could not detect any source of power from the glove.

‘Alright, you’ve chosen your weapon. You should head up onto the stage now, the others are waiting for you.” The attendant waved and called out some encouraging lines to Jun Xiang.

Jun Xiang leapt onto the stage, somersaulting in the air before landing. Instantly, the adjudicator’s voice rang out once more, “Now that all the competitors are ready, we will begin the match. Competitors, you have a minute of time before the horn rings. Once it rings, you may begin. Remember that this is a mock battle and excessive injuries will not be tolerated.”

The competitors began to ready themselves, taking in the layout of the arena and the weapons that the opponents had chosen. Each of them lifted their weapons high into the air, seemingly preparing for the start sound.

Ding.. Ding.. Ding.. Ding.. DING!

The minute had ended and the timer screamed for the competitors to start. Simultaneously, several shouts rang across the arena.

{ Frost Wall }

{ Earthen Barrier }

{ Flame Shield }

Elemental energy lit up the arena, different powers coming from every direction. Protective spells were thrown up almost instantly and the other three competitors began to cast buffs and shields upon themselves, readying themselves for battle.

The audience went wild with applause at the magnificent display of timing and skill. Soon, the barriers began to dissipate as the spell wore off. The three other competitors were blazing with their individual auras, each radiating an elemental pressure of their own.

Although it seemed like every cultivator had an elemental power of some sort, that was not the case. Majority of cultivators did not even touch elemental laws in their life time as it was an advanced topic taught by skilled teachers and sects. Only a few people were able to naturally awaken their elemental laws, however those who did were guaranteed to be a powerful element wielder.

The reason behind the crowd’s applause was the outburst of elemental powers. Three out of the four competitors had elemental powers meaning an exciting battle was about to come. The only one who had not used elemental buffing seemed to stare in awe at his opponents. Silently, members of the audience sighed for him and hoped that he would not be thrashed too terribly.

Li Ke swept her eyes across the arena, quickly scanning the other opponents. Although she had expected another elemental cultivator, she did not think that two of her three opponents would be elemental users. Frost energy revolved silently around her, her eyes peeled for sudden attacks from the other two.

Of course she had not forgotten the final competitor, however just a single glance told her his strength was nowhere near her level, the fifth level of Body Refinement. The fire element cultivator made his move, casting a quick array of fireballs before launching them towards her and the Earth cultivator.

Li Ke lifted her hand and silently casted a small scale ice wall to block the weak fireballs while the earth cultivator simply took the fireballs head on. She snorted lightly at this attack, although it seemed slightly powerful, it was a low cost spell that was generally used to bait out defensive skills and talismans. Although she could tank the fireballs like the other cultivator, it wouldn’t look appealing and might make people think she was uncultured.

‘Enough games!’

{ Hell Damning Shards }

Li Ke raised her head to the skies and thousands of ice shards began to form from the moisture in the air. Although she was able to form them without the natural surroundings, it was much less energy consuming to do so. The crystallised shards merged together to form four large shards, two hurtling towards the earthen cultivator and the others aiming for the fire cultivator.

Once again, the earth cultivator was prepared and generated a rock wall to block one of the shards while expending a talisman to deflect the other. The other target was not as fortunate as he had just began to cast an offensive spell, causing him to not only cancel the spell but also face the speeding shards head on.

He lifted his hands in a futile effort to block the shards.

Moments later, two large frosty explosions emerged upon the arena.