Hard? Fought Battle
After a few more disciples went up and fought it was finally Tai Bàoli's match to enter the top ten and he was clearly beaming with joy, however it was short-lived when he saw his opponents screen.
He had gotten to the platform and introduced himself and finally got the mission screen and status of his opponent after they introduced themselves.
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-Mission-(Defeat Zhou Xia)
-Mission Outline-(Be the last one standing on the platform)
-Mission Difficulty-(Hard)
-Experience Payout- 15 experience
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-Zhou Xia-
-Occupation- (Hidden Mountain Tiger Sect Outer Disciple)
-Cultivation Stage-(Body Refining 4/9, Altering Muscle)
-Strength- 4.1
-Dexterity- 4.4(+2 from Winds Blessing, +1 From Autumn Swallow, +1 from Swift Saber Art)
-Comprehension- 8
-Martial Arts-
-Winds Blessing: Mastery ~Mid~
-Autumn Swallow: Mastery ~Mid~
-Swift Saber Art: Mastery ~Mid~
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Damn, Tai Bàoli furrowed his brow deeply. He had never met someone with such stats. Was Tai Bàoli really weaker than everyone else? Even with his system? Tai was beginning to think these Disciples this year were way too outstanding. Zhou Xia had only been a disciple for 2 and a half months.
From what Tai Bàoli knew Zhou Xia was a disciple that had been immediately accepted 2 and a half months ago at a different platform, the Xia clan wasn't a great clan but they were a well known clan specifically for the strength of their winds blessing technique.
And now Tai Bàoli could see clearly why, at just mid tier mastery it provided a monstrous +2 to dexterity.
After introductions Elder Xian quickly announced the beginning of the match.
Elder Xian: "Begin!"
Zhou Xia didn't give Tai Bàoli any chance to react and immediately disappeared, there was a large howling wind that occurred as his body seemingly disappeared from the starting position and reappeared behind Tai Bàoli.
Zhou Xia planned to win instantaneously just like Tai Bàoli had been doing in the last couple of matches, however contrary to his beliefs Tai Bàoli had somehow begun reacting.
Zhou Xia had been going to chop at the back of Tai Bàoli's neck but while he was doing he watched almost in slow mo as Tai Bàoli had already turned his head half way around and began. It looked like Tai Bàoli could almost keep up with Zhou Xia, which forced a surprised expression onto Zhou Xia's face. he hadn't met a single individual who had kept up with him at least within the first 5 stages.
Tai Bàoli had gotten his arm up to block the chop at his neck, and a large thud was heard by the entire arena.
The hand that Zhou Xia attacked with, looked bruised and distorted slightly like it had been broken from impacting Tai Bàoli's arm.
The crowd collectively gasped and began murmuring. For just the defense of Tai Bàoli to hurt the hand of Zhou Xia meant Tai Bàoli's defense was unbelievably strong. At least a level above Zhou Xia's.
And even crazier to them was Tai Bàoli had somehow defended against such speed. The only other contestant as fast as Zhou Xia had to be Tia'Jun Jun, so that meant Tai Bàoli was at least in contest with one of the fastest people participating in the tournament.
Of course this had come with the caveat that Tai Bàoli had revealed that he had mastered Esoteric Ghost Steps to peak, and at least gotten Bears hide to Mid or High mastery.
Elder Xian raised his brow the most of all, he understood that to have such speed and strength in the Viscera Training Stage meant Tai Bàoli was a genius when it came to understanding different martial art techniques.
However all of what had just happened, had happened in such a miniscule amount of time that some low stage disciples didn't even see what happened before the fight continued on.
Zhou Xia took a long blueish black saber out of the sheath on his side and did a swift slash towards Tai Bàoli's arm and side. Zhou Xia was smart and quickly determined that without using his weapon he'd be unable to harm Tai Bàoli.
Elder Xian didn't stop the fight because he had utmost beliefs he could stop the damage of one or both before it became fatal.
As for Tai Bàoli he would try and dodge, but unfortunately for hime Zhou Xia's blade was just too swift and fierce. The blade connected with the forearm of Tai Bàoli, thankfully Tai Bàoli had moved out of the way some, cause he still had some speed.
.....Elder Xian's Eyes widened. Even though Zhou Xia's blade struck Tai Bàoli's arm, nothing happened. Not even a scratch. To an untrained eye, someone who was slower than Zhou Xia or Tai Bàoli, it'd have just looked like Tai Bàoli sidestepped the blade, afterall there wasn't even a loud thudding sound.
But Elder Xian saw, he knew. And it made him have quite a bit of interest in Tai Bàoli, afterall Tai Bàoli wasn't from some super great clan, or known clan to begin with. So for him to have multiple techniques peak grade was unheard of, even more so that he'd only be practicing the techniques for 2 months.
Elder Xian was horrified, if news of Tai Bàoli's talent got out, a plethora of enemies would show themselves and try to take his life unfortunately. Afterall a disciple with incredible comprehension was destined for greatness, even if they started late or had a low cultivation currently. Elder Xian decided he'd keep it to himself for now.
Tai Bàoli after getting hit with the blade in the arm realized his defense had been outed, so he decided for a heads on approach like Seung Duang, he swiftly stepped forward using esoteric ghost steps at max capacity, attempting to interrupt Zhou Xia's movement while they were finishing their sword slash. And as he did Tai Bàoli would go for two attacks, A throat chop and a sweeping leg kick, to knock Zhou Xia off his feet and take his breath away.
Unfortunately for Tai Bàoli the Throat chop would be dodged by Zhou Xia, However unfortunately for Zhou Xia he'd still get caught by the sweeping leg kick.
Zhou Xia had only been a disciple for 2 and a half months, he didn't know many counter attacks or have many plans of escape. In this regard he was worse than Zheng Zhoushi. One could see the fluster on Zhou Xia's face as he hit the ground, he'd try and do a kip up to jump up and get back on his feet but before he could Tai Bàoli arrived with his next attack.
Tai Bàoli had swung his sweeping leg kick all the way around and jumped into the air as he rounded the full 360, by the time the 360 was nearly completed Tai Bàoli slammed down an axe kick straight into the chest of the now kipping up Zhou Xia.
CR..AAA...C...K!?!
Bones breaking could be heard, as multiple ribs of Zhou Xia's were heard crunching under the power of Tai Bàoli's kick.
Elder Xian quickly intervened. He moved both Tai Bàoli and Zhou Xia away from each other and then announced the winner.
Elder Xian: "Winner Tai Bàoli!"
As he did so Elder Xian shoved a pill into Zhou Xia's mouth, someone proficient in alchemy would know it was a simple rejuvenation pill, which would heal Zhou Xia's ribs and hand within an hour.
Tai Bàoli didn't immediately get off the platform instead bowing towards Zhou Xia and apologizing.
Tai Bàoli: "Thank you for the spar, I did not mean for it to go that far"
Tai Bàoli was telling the truth, he felt bad, his attack was vicious, if Elder Xian wasn't here Tai Bàoli would have had to rush Zhou Xia to someone or somewhere an alchemist was present to ask for a rejuvenation pill.
Thankfully injuries were bound to happen and Elder Xian was supplied with dozens of rejuvenation pills just in case of circumstances like these.
After apologizing Tai Bàoli stepped down the platform and looked over towards Seung Duang who had been recovering by eating a rejuvenation pill as well.
Tai Bàoli: "I may not be as strong, or as fast as either of you, but I am faster than you, and I am more durable than him. I won't lie down and take a beating."
Tai Bàoli didn't know what came over him he just felt adrenaline running through his veins after that last battle. He wanted to provoke Seung Duang just so their eventual fight would be more worthwhile. Tai Bàoli was beginning to love the taste of fighting, he was beginning to get used to violence.
Tai Bàoli after that match assessed his status screen and smiled happily.
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-Unlimited Experience System-
-Host-(Tai Bàoli)
-Cultivation Stage-(Body Refining 3/9, Viscera Training)
-Experience-(30)
-Upgrade Cost: 1, amount upgraded per, .1-
-Strength-(3)(+3 from Bear's Hide)
-Dexterity-(4)(+3 from Esoteric Ghost Steps)
-Comprehension-(4)
-Martial Arts-
-Cost to Upgrade: 5 experience per grade, per Rank-
-Esoteric Ghost Step: Mastery ~Peak~
-Bears Hide: Mastery ~Peak~
-Petrifying Mad Hammer Stance ~Mid~(Side Effects Detected: When used for more than 1 minute in combat consecutively the user begins petrifying themselves slightly. -1 dexterity for every minute after the user continues using the technique.)
-Martial Arts Eligible for Grade Increase-
-Bears Hide: Mastery ~Peak~(Upgrade Cost 30 experience, directly upgrades to High Mortal Rank)
-Esoteric Ghost Step: Mastery ~Peak~ (Upgrade Cost 30 experience, directly upgrades to High Mortal Rank)
-Upgrading a stat requires experience, gain experience in a myriad of ways-
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