Senior Brother Kicks Butts

The Song of the Phoenix consisted of twelve forms, of which the power and difficulty increases with the form number. Liu Xiaochen had only executed the first two forms when it became apparent that Lu Haodong, despite being the head disciple of Qingsha Sect, was not Liu Xiaochen's match.

Lu Haodong's short sword couldn't even get near Liu Xiaochen, much less wound him. Meanwhile, Liu Xiaochen's sword was soaring through the air like a dragon, easily crushing Lu Haodong's little sparrow of a sword.

Liu Xiaochen turned in a graceful circle, spinning his sword above his head before slicing it down and across in front of him as he faced Lu Haodong again. A giant ripple of power was emitted from the sword, instantly blasting Lu Haodong back. Everyone watched as Lu Haodong flew clear across half the stage and fell off onto the ground. His sword clattered to the ground beside him as he pitifully coughed up blood.

Boom, boom, boom. The drum sounded, indicating that the round had concluded and that Liu Xiaochen was the victor. It was the shortest round of the entire Hero Assembly; to many, it seemed like Liu Xiaochen and Lu Haodong had just began fighting and then suddenly Lu Haodong was off the stage.

"Wow, Song of the Phoenix is really powerful!"

"I would do anything to learn that set of skills!"

"Didn't you hear? The five sects destroyed Xuanyan Sect, but none of them got the Song of the Phoenix. Now that Liu Xiaochen is here, they're definitely not going to let him go!"

The crowd was loudly discussing again. Wang Jingyuan had stars in her eyes when she gazed at Liu Xiaochen. "Woo! No wonder he's the senior brother. He's so good!"

Mo Xian looked at Liu Xiaochen, who was calmly surveying the sects to see who his next opponent would be. He learned a few critical details: the Song of the Phoenix was the set of skills that all the sects wanted; it was very, very powerful; and Luo Qingye had killed several chiefs previously by using the Song of the Phoenix. He nodded thoughtfully to himself as the whole story became clearer.

"Jing-Jing, you know the Song of the Phoenix, right?" Mo Xian asked Wang Jingyuan casually.

"Yeah. My mentor taught it to me before he died," Wang Jingyuan replied.

"Are you able to use it as well as your senior brother? Are you able to unleash the skills' full potential?"

Wang Jingyuan shook her head. "The Song of the Phoenix has twelve forms, and the power and difficulty increases with each form. I only completely mastered eleven forms, and I'm definitely not as good as my senior brother."

"Hm. Is the last form really that difficult?" Mo Xian asked curiously.

"It is. I can't understand it fully; every time I practice, something is always off, and I can't get it completely right." Wang Jingyuan tried to put it into words, but it wasn't something tangible. It was more of a feeling. She was going to explain it more, but she saw someone leap out from Emei Sect to challenge Liu Xiaochen. It wasn't Xia Qingge, so it must be one of the other disciples.

Liu Xiaochen and the young lady exchanged brief words of pleasantries before commencing battle. This time, Liu Xiaochen didn't even start with Xuanyan Sword Skills; he immediately launched into Song of the Phoenix. The young lady managed to last until the third form before being blasted off the stage like Lu Haodong.

Feiyue Pavilion and Luoyun Manor sent their next disciples, who arrived on stage at the same time. Like Song Xinglan before him, Liu Xiaochen took both opponents on at the same time. His sword flashed as it drove back his opponents' blades. Clang! Clang! Clang! The metallic ringing of weapons clashing never stopped.

Both the sword and the dao stabbed toward Liu Xiaochen, who flipped up into the air so the oncoming blades passed harmlessly beneath him. Before he even landed on the stage behind the Feiyue and Luoyun disciples, the flat of Liu Xiaochen's sword slammed into the disciples' backs and sent them tumbling to the ground. Wang Jingyuan knew that in a real battle of life or death, it would be a slash to the enemies' backs—and instant death for the opponents.

Undeterred, Huashan Sect and Qingsha Sect both sent out another disciple. Once again, Liu Xiaochen fought them both at once. Two forms in, the Qingsha Sect disciple's short sword went flying through the air. Before Liu Xiaochen could kick him off the stage, the Huashan Sect disciple intervened with his Huashan Sword Skills.

As Liu Xiaochen's attention was drawn towards the Huashan disciple, the Qingsha disciple, rather than running to get his sword, decided to switch to the Qingsha Palm Skills. He aimed a strong punch to Liu Xiaochen's abdomen while the Huashan disciple's sword flew towards Liu Xiaochen's chest. Liu Xiaochen performed a backflip to dodge the attacks, while kicking the Qingsha disciple's arm up to hit the Huashan disciple's sword. The Huashan Disciple hurriedly retracted his sword to avoid wounding the wrong person.

Liu Xiaochen straightened and charged back with his sword slicing a complicated pattern in the air. Wang Jingyuan recognized that he was on the fifth form. The Huashan disciple was able to block most of the attacks, but he slipped up and left his left side unprotected. Liu Xiaochen's sword sliced upwards, and a thin line of blood appeared on the Huashan disciple's clothes. With another smack with the flat of his blade, Liu Xiaochen sent the disciple flying back.

Meanwhile, the Qingsha disciple was creeping up behind Liu Xiaochen for a sneak attack. Wang Jingyuan sat at the edge of her seat anxiously, ready to shout for Liu Xiaochen to be careful. But Liu Xiaochen was prepared. As the Qingsha disciple's fist punched out, Liu Xiaochen suddenly dropped to the ground and swept his left leg in a circle. The Qingsha disciple was knocked off his feet and fell onto his butt with a loud thud. Liu Xiaochen kicked him off the stage mercilessly.

Some people in the crowd cheered. "Woo! Go Liu Xiaochen!" Wang Jingyuan cheered with them. She was right—her senior brother was an amazing swordsman who could kick everyone's butts!

The five major sects did not look as happy. Liu Xiaochen had defeated six people in a row, and he had taken on four of them two at a time. He was a force not to be underestimated.

Abbot Jingchen stood up. "Childe Liu is indeed a hero worthy of his name. Everyone, as we are approaching the conclusion of the Hero Assembly, would anyone else like to challenge Liu Xiaochen?"

The crowd murmured and shifted, looking around for the next challenger. Wang Jingyuan scanned the sects and saw that although they didn't look very pleased that Liu Xiaochen had beat their top disciples, no one came forth to challenge him. The head disciples of all the sects were wounded; it seemed like no one could be Liu Xiaochen's match.

Abbot Jingchen pressed his palms together. "Amitabha. Well, if there are no more challengers, then we can end the Hero Assembly early this year and declare Liu Xiaochen the—"

"Wait a minute!" A gruff voice barked out. "Liu Xiaochen, do you dare to fight me?"