A bout

" are you ready old xu ?" an old man asked another beside him,. they were facing in opposite directions rubbing backs against each other with swords on their hands,. they looked prepared to fight.

" if I say yes will you stop calling me old ?" the other asked.

" well you'll have to find out then ". he replied.

tziiiiiiii....

he scraps his two swords against each other as the grew a blue light with blazing heat.

the other man who now instead puts his sword back in his scabbard raised his hands stretching them forward.

nine round lights flashed round his two hands each. from the elbow to his ankle the looked blood red. altogether they were eighteen light rings around his hands as he threw forward his hands the rings flew straight at its target, it was an unfortunate fellow who got the hit on his forehead as the rings flew at him in a straight line with the last one remaining in old xu's hands .

they both had at least twenty opponents which outnumbered them trapping them in the middle. it was supposed to be a bout between everyone and there shouldn't be any team amongst them but the rest fighters figured they had to team up and take out their common enemy which was the strongest before any of them could have a chance of winning.

.....

" get them uncle xu !!" a man said from the audience. he still had hope that xu and his co could still win .

" hah!! they're finally going to die, those two old trouble makers.". another old man said from the crowd .

" kill them !!!!" ...

" kill them !!!".....

the audience shouted loudly....

" I didn't know xu had attained his ninth clack already.". an old man said talking to another beside him.

" me too he just surprised me.. in just twenty years he has topped from his fifth to ninth clack, he really is a genius."

" do you think they can be the last two standing? I mean xu has already attained his ninth clack and chu ming is half way up his seventh"

" yes they might have a chance you know ".

....

the heat was up as the fight went on xu and his partner chu ming battled fiercely against some of the top fighters In the shelter. the fight was tense.

chu ming felt more pressure coming in from the fighters as he just slits the throat of another, they were getting stronger as they got used to teaming up. the more xu and chu ming fought these people the harder it could get.,. not to say none of the fighters there was any lower than six clacks ' they were strong fighters.

" old chu now!!!" xu called out to his partner as he stood in the middle against his enemies.

they have by now killed over six of twenty something men but as time went these guys were starting to get harder to beat he had to use a trick he was saving for a lat minute.

chu ming got behind him again rubbing his back against his partner xu . xu at this point took back his nine clacks turning them all into one single ring . he punched through the centre of the ring which sent a blast round.

boom....

All the audience could see now was smoke allover the place as a fire engulfed xu and chu ming. obliterating their enemies but dealing no harm to them both.

...

" did you see that ?!!". a person from the audience shouted the only word he felt audible saying.

". he.. he... what did he just do"

" that's nine clacks through the arm fist !!"

" how did he do that ??"

" unbelievable!!"

from young to old, from fighters to the weak everyone was left with only one question .. how did he do that ?. ..

....

" so that's your last resort hah ?" chu ming asked looking equally as surprised as the audience.

" well we needed something " xu replied .

" you didn't tell me you've achieved nine clacks through the arm fist " chu ming still didn't shake the surprise off.

" well you just saw it." xu said walking out of the arena like it was nothing. chu ming on the other hand was too surprised about this,. there were only a few who had achieved that and his old weird looking partner had just added another to his streak of daily surprises.

" come on !" xu said to chu ming who was there still reminiscing what just happened. "

". xiao xu from the Lin family. and chu ming from the wild blade martial Club !! now that you have made an alliance by the name of the master you are now allowed into the hall to make a request together ". an AI voice sounded all over announcing loudly to the audience and the two winners.

" freedom !!!"...

" freedom!!!"..

" freedom!!!"...

everyone on the audience sounded out their minds though they were not the one to make the request they knew what xu and chu ming would request of,. freedom. freedom to live a free life. it was what sounded in everyone's mind waking them up every morning the hope of freedom and now those two because of their bravery and effort their families were going to be free from all bind of the shelter .

xu and chu ming walked side by side in through the gate of the sky hall. they looked gentle and good together as a team..

after walking through a straight and narrow path for several minutes they finally saw who they came for lei ju the Deen of sun sky shelter.

he sat upon a throne high above the ground looking majestic as guards railed straight through all the from the entrance to the bottom of his throne .

xu and chu ming walked up in from of the throne all the while checking out the place, this was the palace of the Deen of sun sky shelter he wasn't going to underestimate a thing.

they walked up to front of the throne standing in the centre of a circle with strange symbols and drawings on it. xu thought it looked suspicious but still stood looking around for any trap.

" as you won the kung fun gladiator contest my family will of course give you a big prize ". the huge majestic man sounded over powering with a huge voice.

" so please give freedom to the Lin clan and the wild blade martial Club "..... xu said requesting his reward.

the huge man on the throne had an evil smirk on his face but said nothing.

.....

on the outside the people were all chanting and rejoicing especially the Lin family and the wild blade martial Club.

but all that was gone when the saw a guard bring out a body which looked severely wounded and unconscious. it was the almighty xu who had just surprised everyone with the rare nine clacks through the arm fist now he was so weak that he had to be carried out by guards from the sky hall. the guard threw him on the ground with no remorse.

" what's wrong?". a man stood from the audience as he shouted out loud. he was respected so everyone on the audience kept quiet making his voice heard out loud.

but the guards didn't respond to that . xu's family ran to him in haste to check his condition, he looked fatal. " xiao xu, what happened to you " after observing his condition a man amongst them asked in fury.

" dad what happened to you?" a kid about the age of fourteen asked with tears flickering from her eyes.

" lei pi give me an explanation! " the same old man who asked before now asked again direction his question to young man standing upfront amongst the guards .

the man still didn't answer but this time he threw a bag on the floor close to the person asking him a question.

one of the men from the audience came close opened and bag and looked awed " yang vigor stones !. there are at least a hundred yang vigor stones in this bag. !! ". the man who was supposed to be a relative of xu looked happy about this. " they are equivalent to decades of output from the mine field in the town of Quinyang ". the man said still not minding his show of greed.

a man came through the hall way looking majestic with guards surounding him from all comers. " the prize is exclusive to the Lin family , Mr Lin keep a close eye on them you know, so many greedy guys are around you "

" Lei pi what have you done to our master xiao xu ? tell us ". a man standing close to xu's unconscious body asked madly.

" two of them went in but only one is coming out and unconscious ". the elderly man who first came in looked raged as he ran forward towards the man with guards.

he was going with a high speed when his target Lei pi stretched out his hand and a bolt of lightning struck right in front of the man. he was bounced far back,. he couldn't even get close to his target.

" the move you just made,. that's just one step away from sky attainment ! "

a man recognized the power Lei pi just used and felt it being scary. everyone looked at it from the man's perspectives and thought if Lei xi was really only one step away from sky attainment it was futile to fight him.

Lei pi in the other hand didn't spare a glance at them he just turned around and started walking away with his guards following behind " two members from the both families shall be allowed to work as miners in the sand wave mountain,. this is a privilege given to only a few in the shelter I how it would be enough for the damage." Lei pi said as the big giant door was shut followed by the clutching sound of several cogwheels .

.... .

Two Years Later...

" chu ming run !!! tell them what happened!!". xu who was still in a comatose state yelled whilst still on the bed and his eyes shot, it was like he was in a trans,. he yelled for a while shaking his body fervently like he was tied up. he did that for a while before finding himself on the floor. he had fallen from the bed but yet he still wiggled his body like mad.

a woman walked in with a plate on one hand and a spoon with which she used to steer the content on the plate it looked hot as it produced steam but she didn't seem to feel the burn.

" xiao! ". she yelled as she saw xu who was now on the floor shaking his body around. she rushed to him in haste. " Qingtan ! Qingtan"!! " she shouted on the top of her voice.

". what's wrong mom ?". a young girl about the age of sixteen walked into the room directing her question to the woman.

" go get your brother back your father woke up " the woman said to the girl.

" great " the girl said as she ran out in haste.

" by the way, bring back some cabbage ". " ok " the girl with joy said as she ran out hastily.

.....

Qingtan's father xu hasn't woken up for over two years now, due to whatever happened inside the sky hall that day . now he was awake she felt happiness flow through her, she imagined how happy her brother Lin Jin would be.