56 Decision

Ye Xiu managed to find the weaknesses in the style that Yan Guo was utilising. Ye Xiu was constantly dodging the attacks and any that were unable to be dodged was parried by his katana. Yan Guo obviously had no idea that his offensive style had been broken down to identify the weakness and was still attacking Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu was waiting for the opportune moment to do a decisive attack. He had noticed that the weakness of Yan Guo's style was during the transition of the attacks but that small weakness had only a small window of opportunity for a person to attack. This meant that Ye Xiu had to time his attack exactly so that it would hit just as Yan Guo finished his last attack before the change.

Ye Xiu had wanted to pull the trigger multiple times but his gut instinct had told him that the attack would fail. Ye Xiu was also thinking if it was possible for him to activate his Qi technique as he was moving. He knew that it was definitely possible for other Qi techniques so there was no reason for his not to be able to do the same.

He was putting in as much Qi as he possibly could into his katana for 'Solitary Stand', he knew that he probably only had a single chance to attack Yan Guo because he knew that he would probably exhausted from this attack. His katana was a Qi weapon given to him by his mother and could definitely hold in enough Qi for his attack to be fatal.

As Yan Guo started his next movement, Ye Xiu had thrust the katana towards the weak spot as he utilised 'Basilisk's Gaze' to its current maximum potential. Yan Guo was obviously surprised by the attack but could do nothing as Ye Xiu's speed was much too fast for him to react.

With the attack instantly piercing through any defences Yan Guo had, Ye Xiu managed to injure Yan Guo heavily. He sent Yan Guo flying with the single attack and continued to advance, ready to attack once again.

The referee stepped in immediately the moment he noticed Ye Xiu continuing to attack and stopped Ye Xiu from going any further. "That's enough. He's already unconscious from that attack that you just made." Ye Xiu was surprised that Yan Guo was actually knocked out from that single attack because he didn't think that Yan Guo's body would be so frail.

Nodding, Ye Xiu put away his weapons and went towards Yan Guo. The referee was ready to intervene if Ye Xiu tried to kill Yan Guo, but all he did was ask for the referee to take him to the Medical Centre for healing. The referee agreed and Yan Guo was quickly taken away. Ye Xiu left the arena as the referee announced his victory.

Ye Xiu made his way back to the stands to find his friends. Thoughts were swirling around in his mind as he made his mind up. He closed his eyes once he made it to where his friends were and asked them to wake him up from meditation once the tournament was over for the day. His friends shrugged at Ye Xiu's odd behaviour and left him be, watching the second years' final in enthusiasm as they discussed different things they saw and how they could possibly achieve those things to the same effect.

Ye Xiu's mind was thinking of things that had popped into his head suddenly after defeating Yan Guo. He had absolutely no idea why these thoughts had appeared in his mind but he was truly questioning what he had been doing since the time he had received the Locket until now. He was trying to calm himself before deciding anything and meditating was the best method for him to do it currently.

Ye Xiu sorted out everything that had happened in the day before moving back to his thoughts. He didn't want random thoughts to be interrupting his ruminations. 'Have I actually been wasting the potential of the Locket since I first inherited it? Xiao Bai hasn't mentioned anything but his expression was always off when we talked about training.' He sighed when he thought back to his training process.

'I've definitely put in a lot of effort with my training but is that enough? Did I put in more effort compared to those that have no resources? Shi Die had put in just as much effort as I did and still is putting in just as much effort into training as I am, but he's not the one with the resources. I'm the one who has basically been spoonfed things since I started cultivation.'

Ye Xiu was conflicted about whether he had been sincerely committing himself in training for the right reasons as well. Yes, he had told himself that he didn't want to be weaker than he was previously in his last life but then why didn't he push himself further and use everything to his own advantage?

He lied to himself continuously that he didn't want to be overpowered compared to his friends, but was that genuinely the case? He thought not because he knew that inside his heart, he didn't want to continue putting in the effort. Ye Xiu was still content on just being 'average' with his friends.

He knew that his selflessness was so that his friends would continue to stay with him. He did have genuine feelings for sharing his dimension with the others but at the same time, he gave himself a reason for why he stayed average.

Wondering if he should continue to be selfless or be as selfish as possible to achieve what he had originally vowed to do, he opened his eyes whilst meditating to look at the backs of his friends. He closed his eyes once again as he tried to decide what path he would go on. 'It's the choice between being mediocre and not being able to protect my loved ones or being strong to the point that nobody would dare to touch them in the first place.' The choice was a simple one as he reaffirmed his decision to abuse what he had.

He mentally spoke with Xiao Bai and asked him to come up with a training plan that abused the Dimension to it's fullest capacity. He would stop his Alchemy training for now because he had no idea on how to continue advancing either way. He'd continue to go to his Smithing lessons because there shouldn't be any reason for him to stop. Any other random things that needed to be done in the Dimension could be handled by Xiao Bai easily.

He asked Xiao Bai to come up with a training plan for him purely because Xiao Bai had witnessed the previous owners of the Dimension train extremely efficiently and probably had more experience compared to anybody when it came to cultivation after existing for a long period of time. Even though he had laid dormant, he was still able to receive knowledge from the outside world which is why Xiao Bai knew of many of the changes in the world.

Xiao Bai had ecstatically agreed to Ye Xiu's request and was happy for more things to do because it got boring in the Dimension easily due to the accelerated time. Xiao Bai's training plan was brutal but truly used the Dimension's benefits to it's fullest extent. Xiao Bai had not only come up with a plan for Ye Xiu but for all his friends as well. Xiao Bai had an inkling of what had changed within Ye Xiu to ask him a request like this.

Ye Xiu gave a list of everything that he had learnt and still currently learning to Xiao Bai so that he could come up with a more efficient training scheme. Xiao Bai knowing most of the different tricks to improve at a faster speed for many of the techniques that his Master and Mistress had used or learnt was able to fit them into his training plan easily.

Xiao Bai's training plan wouldn't just milk the benefits of the Dimension but would also milk all the benefits from everything that he had. He would use elixirs and pills to augment the training speed and the gravity rooms to improve the rate of improvement of his physical strength. Xiao Bai had said that the Dimension's own gravity room would be unlocked once he reached Foundation Establishment so he would have to make do with the Academy's gravity rooms.

Ye Xiu was grateful for what Xiao Bai had done but had absolutely no idea how to break it to his friends. He decided to just have them start on Xiao Bai's training regime once the tournament was over. There was still a long time before the tournament would be finished so Ye Xiu considered it to be their vacation time. He knew that he wouldn't be as free compared to them because he would start the change of the training plan as soon as possible.

Ye Xiu had to be careful with how hard he was training because he had no idea how hard San Guo would possibly push him during their private training but Xiao Bai waved away those concerns, saying that the spiritual liquid that he had been washing himself with would easily erase most of the injuries and pains from training.

With his mind finally made up, he opened his eyes and stopped meditating. He told his friends that he would be going back to their room first. His friends had already noticed the abnormal behaviour but left him to be because if Ye Xiu had anything on his mind, he would usually tell them in time. There was no point in them pursuing after him if he had troubles because Ye Xiu wasn't good at keeping secrets from them.

Ye Xiu was going back to the room but decided to go to the Mess Hall to get some food. He was still feeling hungry even though had eaten some food prepared by Shi Die. His appetite had increased by a huge portion after his bloodline was awakened. It was probably to compensate for his growth speed.

When he made it to the Mess hall, Ye Xiu was rather happy that he had absolutely no need to wait in a queue because everybody was at the Arena grounds watching the tournament. There were a few people lounging around in the Mess Hall but most of them had already gotten their food and were talking to each other.

Ye Xiu bought his food and sat down on an empty table, enjoying his food. As he was eating, he was approached by a student that he had never seen who sat at his table with her food. Ye Xiu ignored the student and continued to eat his food because it was nice and warm since it was freshly cooked.

The student looked at Ye Xiu before poking him in the forehead. "Aren't you going to say hello?" Ye Xiu looked up to see a familiar face. His mind had blanked out because he was enjoying his food and he was trying to come up with a name for the face.

"Uhhh..."

The student facepalmed and sighed. "Did you really forget me that quickly? It's me, Jing Hua Fei." She waved her hand in front of Ye Xiu's face as he continued to have a blank stare. "Are you serious?" She pinched him on the arm, jolting him out of his trance.

"Ah... sorry. My mind blanked out and I was trying to remember your name. Why are you here and not watching the tournament? The majority of the students are all watching it and aren't you in the Top 10 as well? It would help if you watch the senior students fighting."

She shrugged before taking a bite of her bread. "I prefer to train. It'll be much beneficial anyway. A tiny bit of training helps because it adds up. The tournament is going to take a long time before we have to fight against the senior years anyway so I can still get a lot of practice in. I want to at least cover up some of the weaknesses that were easily exploited by you." She pointed her finger at him as she declared in a haughty tone. "I'll make you submit under me."

Ye Xiu started to look uncomfortable. "I was joking." Hua Fei laughed at Ye Xiu's uncomfortableness. "Why aren't you watching the tournament? I know you had your Semi-finals today."

"I won my fights. Just felt hungry so I came here." Hua Fei looked at his face for any signs of him lying.

She shrugged before letting go of the topic. "That's good. I'll be going now, I just came here to say hello anyway." Hua Fei picked up her food and started to make her way out of the Mess Hall. "I'll see you next time!"

"Goodbye!" Ye Xiu bid her farewell and returned to eating, after eating he went back to his room and entered the Dimension.