CHAPTER 9 - The Duel

Linfan slowly went back to his apartment, getting there he saw a figure standing at his door Entrance.

"Uncle Huo" Linfan called out he wasn't that surprised he knew with all the commotion he had caused, there was no way Elder Huo wouldn't be alerted, "come here"Elder Huo grabbed Linfan, Linfan didn't resist as they dashed out of the apartment. Linfan and Elder Huo appeared in a room that was spacious and luxurious, this was Elder Huo apartment in the third layer , "sit" Linfan sat crossed leg as he stared at Elder Huo who also sat crossed leg in mid air. "You've gotten to the core formation stage" Elder Huo asked as he stared at this brat that he has brought up , "yes" Linfan replied he didn't dare to lie to Elder Huo, Elder Huo was the only family that Linfan had, apart from the system he wouldn't hide anything from his benefactor. How did you increase your strength from the body strengthening stage to the core formation stage in less than a week Elder Huo asked again he appeared calm on the surface but Deep down in his heart he was shocked, even if a genius wants to go from the body strengthening stage to the core formation stage they will need atleast two years to achieve that yet this lad did so In less than a week, just what did he come across . Oh! Elder Huo the mysterious man that I came in contact with gave me a cultivation technique he said I would soar to the heavens if I cultivate with it, I was really happy I told him if it would be okay if I share it with others , but he shook his head he then cast a profound skill on me that if I should dare tell anyone about the skill that would explode into pieces. Linfan blurted out nonsense , hearing this Elder Huo was deep in thought just who was this mysterious senior that Linfan came across, he didn't doubt linfans words because he also knew of some skills that was deployed on spy's if they were caught and we're about to divulge any secret they would immediately explode . Meanwhile Linfan was pleased with his lies to think that even your emperor here is almost believing it , sigh! Elder Huo finally let out the breath he had been holding, he finally gave up on the matter but it seems that Mysterious senior would be someone from the upper plains that's only were such a heaven defying cultivation technique could be found. Fan'er you don't tell anyone about this if not they would try to reap out your soul to find the technique Elder Huo warned. Sure! Linfan replied but in his mind he was like "like hell would I tell anyone about the system" since you already at the core formation stage you should be thinking of turning to an inner sect disciple, so that you would have the chance to participate in the Grand competition that would be holding a week from now even if you would only participate just to gain some knowledge from other genius its worth it, oh and also the grand master has given you a special way to get into the Inner sect, elder huo said . This!, Grandmaster! Linfan was surprised this was a supreme being of the heaven sword sect, yes lad all you have to do is to defeat Wang shu in tomorrow's duel then you would officially become an inner sect disciple, then whether you would be able to get into the top ten inner sect Ranking would be all up to your capabilities, elder huo reminded Linfan . "Hmm" Linfan nodded as he placed his hand on his jaw thinking of something, Ahh! Yes Uncle Huo what is the cultivation stage of our core disciples Linfan asked he was a little curious to know how far he was now with his pears. This! Elder Huo was taking aback he wasn't expecting this lad to ask something like that, sigh! Kid I don't want you to lose hope or scare you but any disciple that can become a core disciple are monsters that even genius couldn't compare to. Oh!! Linfan was really curious now , the lowest cultivation if a core disciple in our sect is the Earth realm level 3 , Linfan nodded he knew how terrifying an Earth realm cultivator is and going from Earth realm level one to Earth realm level 2 is as hard as going from spirit sensing stage all the way to core strengthening stage. They were definitely monsters but to Linfan it was just a little amount of time before he surpasses them, if they have such a heaven defying cultivation why do they keep not entering the top 10 in the Grand competition this was something that Linfan finds unbelievable, hearing this Elder huo couldn't help but shake his head , there are other monsters out there in other powerful sect that could trash our core disciples even in the same level , the last year Winner of the Grand competition was Xiao fan age 17 a core disciple of sky heaven sect he was at the Peak of the Earth realm last year and I Also heard he would be participating this year which would be his last competition at age 18 this is to show you how terrifying the other sects are it's not our core disciples who are weak it's just our sect can't provide our core disciples the same resources that those top sect feed their core disciples, Elder Huo lamented . The last time we won the grand competition was a 100 years ago . I see Linfan was surprised he thought he was the only genius but to think there are others out there that were monsters even without them having a system, Linfan decided that he has to work harder , Elder Huo the disciple that won the competition a hundred years ago were is he now ?.

Linfan asked , "he has ascended" Elder Huo replied as he unconsciously looked towards the sky. Huh! That means that he has surpassed the sage realm Linfan was shocked . Thats right and he ascended at the age of just 20 thats a terrifying monster who attracted a 7th rank tribulation elder huo replied he couldn't help but be proud of their disciple. Then why hasn't the grandmaster ascended? Linfan asked he knew the grandmaster was at the sage realm, haha! Hearing linfans statement Elder Huo couldn't help but laugh , kid do you think ascending is a walk in the park only monsters of monsters can hope to ascend to the upper plains. This ! Linfan was surprised but in his case all he has to do was to gain experience then face the tribulation he is good to go. One has to break through the sage barrier entering into a mysterious realm to be able to ascend this was something Linfan was aware of no one knew the mysterious realm above the sage realm Because immediately a cultivator breaks through the sage barrier he would immediately face a tribulation if he could pass through that tribulation he would immediately be sent towards the upper without given them a chance to let anyone know of the mysterious realm after the sage realm. Linfan just shrugged it off there was no point for him thinking about it for now , okay kid you can go now elder huo said as he waved his hand, Linfan passed through the third layer barrier as he floated towards the outer sect .

There were monsters that has ascended at a young age Linfan couldn't rest easy as an Emperor he has to surpass them , but right now the system was still having a nice time being dormant in the name of upgrading, Linfan flew towards his apartment in defeat he has to prepare for the duel tomorrow and by then the system should have already come out of its fake upgrading Linfan thought.

THE NEXT DAY....,

the sun has already went back to rest for the day two individuals were standing on the outer sect stage they both had their hands behind their back as their chest was puffed out, they were basically looking at each other with their nostrils base on how high their heads were , this two cocky brats were non other than Linfan and Wang shu all the outer sect disciples were gathered as they were excited beyond words, Elder Huo was the referee for this match some inner sect disciples who heard about Wang shu being challenged by an outer sect disciple also came to watch this duel out of curiosity. The grand master was also paying attention to this match from the fifth layer , he was curious about Linfan he had summoned Elder Huo to query him but he didn't get a good answer as to why this kid strength would increase explosively but he didn't pursue the matter he knew everyone has their own secret , he couldn't help but remember his dear disciple hundred years ago who was a monster because of that his disciple he became envied and respected by the other grandmasters. He has an inkling feeling that this Linfan would become promising so he decided to keep an eye on him.

You must no deal your opponent a Killing blow , if you do you would be expelled from the heaven sword sect Elder Huo warned as he glanced at the two disciples who were glaring at each other, this rule was personally made by the grandmaster he didn't want Linfan to be killed by the other party that would really be a lose so he had to make the rules strict , he didn't have any high hopes of linfan winning this duel because Wang shu was already at the 5th level of the core formation stage while linfan just broke Through to the stage the difference between both of them were as huge as heaven and earth. He only wanted to see how long linfan would be able to hold out against Wang shu, that was also the thought on Everyone present, " how long would this kid last".

"You may begin" elder huo finally declared the start of the duel as he left the stage floating high up in the air , he also didn't forget to cast a barrier on the stage so that those outer sect disciples wouldn't be caught in the after math. Hmm! Brat I'll advice you to admit defeat now or else I'll make sure I break your limps , Wang shu said with a smirk , hmm! With just you? Linfan asked with disdain , come over quickly don't waste my precious time Linfan said as he raised his pinky finger motioning Wang shu to attack, at this time the system has already upgraded but Linfan hasn't checked what has changed in the system so he wanted to get this over with so as to head back to his apartment. Acting cocky I'll see how long you can keep acting Wang shu called out as he dashed towards Linfan boom!! Wang shu has already punched at Linfan , it was just a casual punch but the strength that this punch contained could not be underestimated, he didn't even make use of any martial skill , Linfan also threw a punch of his own Linfan didn't have any martial skill that he could deploy with his fist,BANG!! After that collision Linfan took three steps back while Wang shu only took a step back , "Strong" Linfan thought, he finally realized that for him to defeat the latter he had to go all , haha! Not bad Wang shu chuckled as he stared at Linfan that was 50 percent of my power , this! Linfan was surprised was that true if that was the case he has definitely underestimated the gap between core formation stages , but Linfan wasn't afraid in the least bit he was now full of fighting intent. "Sword Emperor" boom!! A gigantic sword appeared out of thin air boom it pierced the ground as it stood tall reaching Linfan chin , wow! What a huge sword the crowd were surprised. Elder Huo squinted his eyes to him linfan was getting more and more mysterious this sword couldn't be found in the outer sect trade point, to find a huge sword like this would only be in the inner sect trade point . Hmm! To me that's just a large toy it amounts to nothing Wang shu snorted in disdain, fine then receive my move "Sword Slash" Linfan yelled as he dashed towards Wang shu this time he didn't attack with a long range attack instead he used the Sword Emperor as a medium in the blink of an eye the sword appeared on Wang shu's chest , COURTING DEATH! Wang shu yelled "HEAVEN BREAK" A terrifying force erupted from Wang shu this his attack contained 80 percent of his strength he wanted to defeat Linfan with this single move...