23 Fight!

The core elders of the village were all sitting on the stage, having tea and enjoyed themselves. Of course, the ones from the martial wing had their eyes peeled to the arenas to spot talents, look out for any violations in case the referees did not spot it, or just supervise in general. As such, the chattering and laughter from the other elders made them especially glum.

The village chief was the only one among the elders to be at the fourth level of body forging realm but not a part of the martial wing. So, watching him joke around with the other elders was really ticking them off.

"Say, twin fogeys, what exactly went down with the fierce beast? We thought you were goners." Huang Mei. the head of weapon smithing, and the unofficial leader of the vocational wing called out.

Zhou Yan and Li Na turned to look at her. Li Na's words were mostly harmless, borne just of curiosity. Yet the fact remained that the twin elders had refused to reveal anything related to that incident, except to perhaps medicine elder Zhang Yin, who treated them when they returned three days ago.

Zhou Yan laughed gently, "It's a secret. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough, and it will undoubtedly blow your mind, sister Huang." He didn't dare to be disrespectful. As core elders of the village, none of them were weak. As a matter of fact, Huang Mei was even at the peak of the third level of the body forging realm. The reason the other two wings were venerated so much and given treatment on par with the martial wing was that they generated a large part of the village's revenue, and their top talents could earn enough to support their own cultivation to a decent level.

"Oh, speaking of secrets, I have quite a surprise waiting for you guys as well." Wang Chun piped in.

At this point, all the elders on the stage were very curious. The village chief spoke up right then,

"Headmaster, you've finally taken that little prodigy Jiang Ting as your disciple, we are all well aware of it. After all, your disciple Zhao Song hardly made any efforts to conceal it."

"I am quite curious to see the kid who could get you to work so hard to take him in, senior brother." Elder Chen Mei smiled at Wang Chun. Chen Mei had trained with Wang Chun under the previous headmaster.

"That's right, my kid is also wondering about his youngest junior brother. He's specially come to see him fight. When will Jiang Ting's match commence?" Huang Jun, the head of literature, piped up.

"Oh, Huang Chen is here as well? Tell him to come see me later." Wang Chun smiled. He didn't say anything about his surprise.

"Of course." Huang Jun nodded. His son had won the previous competition, becoming Wang Chun's first disciple.

"As for my disciple's match, if everyone wants to see it, I guess we are the guys in control." Wang Chun grinned mischievously.

Soon, the match in one of the arenas ended, and the referee called Jiang Ting's name. His opponent, a young woman by the name of Jue Lin, arrived first, standing at one side.

At this time an elder came to whisper something in Wang Chun's ears. Wang Chun dismissed him after he was done.

"Well, this just got interesting," said the Headmaster. With their cultivation, the elders on stage could clearly catch every word being said.

"Yeah, senior brother's new disciple who just started cultivation is quite outmatched, it seems," noted Chen Mei

Soon after, a dashing youth walked onto the stage, his physique heavily built for his age. Soon, he turned his gaze to the stage, locking eyes with the Headmaster.

'Go on, then, my disciple. Let's see what you've got.'

* * *

Jiang Ting stood across from his opponent. His heart was beating fast. He looked at her, then at the crowd around the arena. Everyone was cheering, watching in anticipation. His gaze drifted towards Lin Fan, who was cheering him on. He then turned to look away, when he noticed another figure in the crowd. It was Yan Ping, looking at him, no, staring at him with an intense gaze. Lu Fei beside her was smiling while looking at him. His heart nearly beat out of his chest. He broke eye contact, turning to look at another figure in the crowd outside his arena. It was Zhao Song. He seemed to be with that girl, Sun Mei. She was smiling at him as he gave her an awkward smile. As if noticing his gaze, Zhao Song turned to look back at Jiang Ting. His face instantly turned confident and dashing, and he gave him a large thumbs up. Sun Mei, too, turned to look at him and smiled. He then turned to look to the stage. The village chief and his master were both smiling, with an expectant gaze in their eyes. The core elders were also eyeing him curiously.

They were all here, for him. Warmth filled his heart, before he felt a tinge of sorrow. All except the most important one. 'Grandpa, where are you?'

"Fight!" shouted the referee, breaking Jiang Ting out of his reverie.

Jue Lin stood there, waiting for Jiang Ting to make his move.

Jiang Ting took a deep breath, casting aside unnecessary thoughts.

'This senior sister Jue Lin would obviously be at an overwhelming advantage against a new disciple, so her behavior is not only understandable, but also quite kind of her to allow me the first move.

In short, I have come back in time, the people I care for, except grandpa, are more or less all here. This is my first true battle after coming back, and an extremely large audience is set up for me. Most importantly, I got a girl to impress.

Now then, I guess it's time to show everybody what real talent looks like.'

Suddenly, Jiang Ting grinned as he cracked his neck, "I guess the fight is on. Don't hold anything back, senior sister."