Chapter 24: Skill
Changyang Hu unconsciously turned around to look at the crowd before nodding his head, “Alright, fourth brother, let’s go to your room first. You definitely have to tell me how you beat Ka Di Yun, and then later tonight, I’ll grab a few friends to come and celebrate!”
Jian Chen smiled happily at his brother, “Big brother, I can teach you how I beat Ka Di Yun, but let’s forget about the celebration.”
“Fine, I’ll listen to you. Come on, fourth brother, let’s go back to your dorm – it’s far too noisy here.” Changyang Hu started to pull his younger brother back towards the direction of the dorms.
“Changyang Xiang Tian!”
Before Jian Chen could take a step, a gentle and exquisite voice called out to him.
Hearing the familiar voice, Jian Chen blanked out for a moment before turning around. Looking at the speaker, he recognized the figure of the running girl, particularly the pretty girl who had sat next to him in the library earlier.
“Yes?” Jian Chen questioned, as he indifferently looked at the young girl, who was so beautiful that it would be easy to cause a city to fight over her..
The girl’s voice was like a gentle stream of water as she laughed joyously. Slowly extending her arm out to reveal a purse, she happily said, “Changyang Xiang Tian, you managed to win me 100 Purple coins, I really have to thank you.” Her voice was extraordinarily soft, and also very pleasant to listen to; it was almost as if she was a skylark singing on a peaceful day..
Hearing this, Changyang Hu appeared to have suddenly realized something. He slapped his forehead in disbelief, “Ai ya, I just remembered. I put down 100 Purple coins; that was my entire savings and I didn’t get it back. Fourth brother, you go on without me, your big brother has to get his money back!” And with that, Changyang Hu vanished like the wind, back to where the crowd of gamblers were.
Looking at Changyang Hu rush back for his money, Jian Chen couldn’t help but laugh. At that moment, the girl slowly walked up to Jian Chen, studying his handsome features with her inquisitive eyes. “Hello! Changyang Xiang Tian, my name is You Yue. May I ask you a question?”
Jian Chen laughed and replied, “Miss You Yue, if you have a question, you should go on ahead and ask, but I can’t guarantee an answer.”
“No worries!” You Yue gently laughed before asking, “Changyang Xiang Tian, is your strength is really only of the 8th Saint Force Layer?”
Jian Chen hesitated for a moment before he nodded his head, “That’s right, at the moment, I am currently in the 8th Saint Force layer, but I have a feeling I’ll be making a breakthrough into the 9th layer soon.”
You Yue was surprised after hearing his answer. With an astounded look, she exclaimed, “Changyang Xiang Tian, you mean you really haven’t reached the Saint level?” Her voice carried some doubt; clearly, she didn’t believe him entirely.
Noticing the disbelief in her voice, Jian Chen furrowed his brows and spoke with some annoyance, “Miss You Yue, I seem to have answered your question.” Even though she was a beautiful girl that could cause countless cities to fight for her, to Jian Chen, she was no different than the average girl.
You Yue immediately waved her hands in an apologetic motion as she laughed, “I’m sorry, Changyang Xiang Tian, I’m just far too amazed. I hope you didn’t take offense to what I said.”
Her voice trailed off as Changyang Hu came running back with a joyful face and a fat coin bag. When he arrived by Jian Chen’s side, he was tossing the purse up and down his hand as he snickered, “Fourth brother, your big brother is very wise. In less than an hour, I’ve won 100 Purple coins.” 100 Purple coins was by no means a small number to a commoner and for those who only ate a simple amount of food in their lives; 100 Purple coins could feed a family of three for the rest of their lives.!
Staring at the coin purse in his brother’s hands, Jian Chen started to smile and said, “Miss You Yue, if you have no other questions, then I’ll be leaving first.”
You Yue smiled back at him, “That’s fine, I won’t hold you up any longer. I haven’t finished reading my book either, so I’ll be returning to the library. Changyang Xiang Tian, I’ll see you later!”
Soon after, Jian Chen brought his older brother back to his dorm and closed the door as they both walked in. Immediately, Changyang Hu impatiently asked, “Fourth brother, you’ve got to tell me what you did to beat Ka Di Yun, and how strong you really are! It couldn’t only be at the 8th Saint Force layer, you have to be a Saint!” As he spoke, Changyang Hu’s face revealed an impatient, excited face as he waited for an answer.
Jian Chen gently shook his head, “I’m not. Big brother, my actual strength should be not too far away from the 9th Saint Force layer. As for reaching the Saint level, I believe I’m still quite far away from it.”
Changyang Hu looked at him with doubt, “Fourth brother, if you say you haven’t reached the level of a Saint, then how did you beat Ka Di Yun?”
Laughing, Jian Chen replied, “Haha, how did I beat Ka Di Yun? Big brother, did you not see the match clearly?”
Changyang Hu’s head drooped down in embarrassment as he blushed, “That is…er…fourth brother…actually, actually I wasn’t able to see the match all that clearly. Could you please tell your older brother?” Although Changyang Hu had seen the match from start to finish, there were some things that could not be comprehended by eyesight alone. For example, Changyang Hu had not been able to comprehend what happened when Jian Chen struck at Ka Di Yun with a punch that seemed to be as light as a feather, but still managed to significantly damage.
Jian Chen sat on his bed, calmly looked at Changyang Hu, and said, “Big brother, the only reason a student of the 8th layer like me was able to beat a Saint like Ka Di Yun was because I relied on a technique to win.”
“A technique?” Changyang Hu was still skeptical. He was no stranger when it came to techniques and skill, because in the academy, many of the teachers would often talk about their knowledge of their personal techniques. In a fight against equally matched experts, one would need to use extremely strong techniques in order to win, but such techniques weren’t so easy to train in. Even if they did learn the techniques, only those with battle experience would be able to learn and perfect a technique to the point of being able to incorporate it into their fighting styles. What Changyang Hu really confused was that, not only was Jian Chen younger than him, but he has also only been at the academy for a few days now. Changyang Hu couldn’t help but be shocked when he saw that Jian Chen had mastered such a technique.
“Fourth brother, where did you learn a technique like that?” Changyang Hu asked curiously.
Jian Chen shook his head sadly, “Big brother, I can’t tell you that.”
Upon hearing that, Changyang Hu had a look of sorrow on his face. The next thing Jian Chen had said though, brought his spirits back up, “Big brother, if you are willing to learn a martial technique, I can teach you.”
“For real? That’s great! Fourth brother, when can you get started on teaching me? How about now?” He was anxious to get started, and wanted to learn this amazing technique right away. Once he learned the technique, then it was even possible for him to challenge Saints who had condensed their Saint Weapons with his current power!
Jian Chen laughed, “Big brother, it would be better to start tomorrow. I’ll be waiting for you in the eastern grotto outside the academy tomorrow morning.”
“Alright fourth brother, it’s a deal! I’ll be at the grotto tomorrow morning,” Changyang Hu promised. Although many of the academy teachers could help instruct one on learning a martial technique, he knew in his heart that fighting techniques were best taught by the previous generation in a clan. Techniques taught by the professors here would not be strong enough to overwhelm any of his opponents.
Afterwards, the two brothers chatted for a while, until Changyang Hu finally left. Because Jian Chen had used up most of his Saint Force to fight against Ka Di Yun, he was exhausted and slightly injured. Because of that, he decided to use the Class 3 Monster Core in order to recover his health.
Little did he know that, the whole academy was already in an uproar about how Jian Chen had beaten Ka Di Yun. There wasn’t anyone in the academy who hadn’t heard about it, and it shocked both students and teachers alike. Everyone thought this to be inconceivable, and an event of this scale was practically unprecedented in the entire history of the Kargath Academy. No one had ever heard of a Saint, who had been strong enough to easily beat a person at the peak of the 10th layer be beaten by someone only at the 8th layer; even if a Saint did not use a Saint Weapon, he/she could still easily defeat someone of the 9th layer, let alone a freshman who was only at the 8th layer.
The news of the fight between Jian Chen and Ka Di Yun soon reached the ears of the headmaster.
Within the middle of the central tower in Kargath Academy, the headmaster pondered about the situation while standing next to the open window. As his eyebrows knit together, he asked, “Bai En, is what you say true? Changyang Xiang Tian actually beat the Saint Ka Di Yun while he was only at the 8th Saint Force layer?” Even the headmaster couldn’t believe it the first time, and his eyes twinkled in curiosity.
The vice headmaster, Bai En, stood respectfully behind the headmaster. In response to the headmaster’s words, Bai En replied, “Headmaster, I’ve heard all of the students talk about it, but I’m not too sure of the exact details. But right now, this event has set the academy upside down; practically every teacher knows that Changyang Xiang Tian has beaten the higher ranked Ka Di Yun. Rumors have it though, that Ka Di Yun didn’t use his Saint Weapon, and fought bare handed against Jian Chen.”
The headmaster stroked his long white beard, in deep thought. “Since the rumors spread this wide, it would appear that it is true. Haha, it seems that Chang Bai has brought quite the complicated youngster. For a Saint to be beaten by an 8th later student, how inconceivable. Even if the Saint had recently broken through and didn’t use his weapon, his strength should still be higher than one at the 10th layer. In all my years at Kargath Academy, I have never seen such a match where someone with a lower level won.”
“Headmaster, what should we do about this situation? Sooner or later, the seniors of the school will search for the 8th layer student who beat a Saint, and become an inconvenience for Changyang Xiang Tian,” said Bai En with a respectful tone. The amount of respect Bai En had for headmaster couldn’t be measured, as it could even be considered as worship.
The headmaster turned towards Bai En and casually waved his hand, “Forget it, let them handle it by themselves. As long as they don’t make a big deal out of it, we won’t interfere. Besides, this should be a test for them; if they can’t take everything thrown at them, then they won’t mature into fine warriors.”