12 The Final

Song Yang and Hu Xia were both on the stage, facing each other. The elder had not yet announced the start of the fight.

"I know that you are fast, so I will use my full speed from the start and end this fight in one attack." Said Hu Xia, smiling confidently and pointing his sword at his opponent.

'Seriously, why do people in this world always reveal their plan before they act? What about the surprise effect and the strategy?' Lamented Song Yang in his head.

"Begin!" Finally announced the elder.

Song Yang immediately channeled Heavenly Ice Qi in his feet.

Hu Xia dashed forwards at full speed and violently brought down his swords on his opponent. However, he only slashed the air as Song Yang was no longer in front of him. He lost sight of him!

Bang!

Hu Xia felt a heavy kick in the back that threw him forward, but just before falling he rolled on the ground and stood up immediately.

He scanned the stage with his eyes but still couldn't find any trace of his opponent...

Bang!

This time he was punched in the right temple. The blow threw him to the left and knocked him to the ground.

He spat out a mouthful of blood and felt a little disoriented but forced himself to stand up. He knew that a second of inattention could cost him the victory.

His heart was beating fast as he couldn't understand why he couldn't follow his opponent's speed despite being very fast himself. Even if Song Yang was using a Martial Art, he thought that he shouldn't be fast enough to the point where he couldn't see him...

No, he couldn't let his emotions control him! He took a deep breath to calm down and suddenly remembered his training with his father. "If you can't see your opponents, use your other senses to spot them". He once told him.

Hu Xia closed his eyes and focused on his senses of hearing and smell. In other people's eyes, it could be seen as very risky to close one's eyes in the middle of a fight but he had trained for so long that he was confident that he would succeed.

The natural scent emitted by Song Yang's body was alluring to any man, but in this fight, that was what betrayed him.

'On my right!' Hu Xia whispered in his mind.

Without hesitation, he turned his body to the right and crossed his swords in front of him.

Thud!

He successfully blocked Song Yang's punch but was still forced to take a few steps back because of the impact.

Song Yang was shocked, he didn't expect Hu Xia to be able to block his attack with his current speed. One had to know that when he was using Heavenly Ice Qi along with his Martial Art Rushing Frost Steps, his speed was equivalent to the speed of a cultivator at the fifth level of the Eight Meridians Opening realm!

'Maybe he was only lucky. I must try again.' He thought.

Song Yang disappeared and reappeared behind Hu Xia before punching his back. But just as his fist was about to connect with Hu Xia's back, he sidestepped and dodged it!

Finally close to his opponent, Hu Xia struck Song Yang with his swords without hesitation. However, Song Yang was too fast, the attack did not reach him as he managed to retreat a few meters back.

Song Yang was once again shocked. So, it wasn't just luck, he could really counter his attacks... Thankfully, he was prepared for this eventuality and managed to dodge Hu Xia's attack before being hit. He wasn't sure that his hard skin could block a sword slash and preferred not to try.

He checked his Qi reserve and noticed that he had already depleted half of it. For this reason, he couldn't waste it by using his Martial Art for nothing. He needed a new approach.

He had noticed that his opponent seemed to need to close his eyes in order to be able to counter his attacks so maybe he could use it to his advantage.

Hu Xia saw that Song Yang once again disappeared from his sight so he closed his eyes and waited for him to come closer. This time, he would block his attack and immediately counterattack. That way, Song Yang wouldn't be able to dodge.

'To the left' He thought, when he detected his presence.

He turned his body and crossed his swords. He tightened his posture and planted his feet on the ground to make sure he wouldn't suffer from the impact of Song Yang's blow.

However, no blow came.

Surprised, he immediately opened his eyes and saw that his opponent had grabbed his swords with his hands!

Song Yang channeled Heavenly Ice Qi in his hands and used his technique Freezing Palm.

Shlaakk!

Because of the domineering cold of the Heavenly Ice Qi, the blades in his hands immediately turned into ice blocks and shattered!

Hu Xia was now holding two useless sword grips in his hands.

Taking advantage of his opponent's shock, Song Yang started to punch and kick him with all his strength.

Hu Xia was suffering from mental shock from losing his swords. These were the swords his father gave him when he was five. These were the first swords he had ever had. With them, he had trained and shed tears, sweat and blood every day for as long as he could remember...

Song Yang didn't know any of that. He only knew that his opponent no longer fought back when he was hitting him. Since he was letting him win, he would obviously take this chance.

Bang!

With a high kick on his chin, Song Yang sent Hu Xia flying away and saw his body falling loudly on the ground.

Hu Xia had passed out.

"Winner: Song Yu Qi!" Announced the elder.

"The winner of this year's tournament is Song Yu Qi!" He exclaimed with an even more powerful voice.

The whole audience was silent for a moment before exploding and cheering.

"She is so strong and so fast!"

"Not only she is a beauty but she is also a prodigy!"

"Incredible, I would have never bet on her victory."

"The outer disciples have a new genius! No doubt that she will quickly become an inner disciple!"

Most people were looking at Song Yang with respect and admiration. Some people were looking at him with jealousy and envy. And a few people were looking at him with hatred, swearing that they would one day make him pay for the humiliation they suffered...

After Song Yang left the stage, the elder announced the fights to determine the third, fourth, and fifth places.

The final result was as follow:

First place: Song Yang.

Second place: Hu Xia.

Third place: Tan Yanyan - she managed to defeat Li Qiang after Song Yang told her about the weak point of his technique.

Fourth place: Li Qiang.

Fifth place: Zhao Tang - she hated Song Yang because he beat her twin brother and kept him from reaching the top five and she also hated Tan Yanyan for beating her...

After a few minutes of congratulations and cheering, the elder told everyone that the disciples who reached the top five would now receive twenty-five Cultivation Pills and twenty-five Spirit Stones as their monthly allowance for one entire year. It was five times the amount of a normal outer disciple's allowance!

He personally gave the five of them the pouch containing their allowance for this month and announced the end of this year's tournament.

Song Yang, Tan Yanyan, and Xia Zilin went back to their home with large smiles on their faces. Although Xia Zilin didn't manage to reach the top five, she was very happy for her two roommates.

The three girls entered their house and sat at the table in the dining room to chat for a moment.

"Congratulations Sister Yu Qi! Your last fight was amazing, you were so fast that I couldn't see you!" Said Tan Yanyan.

"Yes, and I was so surprised when you shattered Hu Xia's swords, it was incredible!" Said Xia Zilin.

"Thanks, you two! But it's only the beginning, from now on we must focus on our cultivation even more!" Exclaimed Song Yang.

"Sister Yu Qi is right!" Xia Zilin nodded and smiled.

"By the way Sister Zilin, I have something for you." Said Song Yang.

He took out ten Cultivation Pills from the pouch he received from the elder and gave them to Xia Zilin.

With his S-grade talent, he didn't really need Cultivation Pills to cultivate. Moreover, he considered Xia Zilin and Tan Yanyan like his real little sisters. Without them, he would have been lost and alone in this new world.

Seeing this, Xia Zilin widened her eyes and shook her head.

"Sister Yu Qi, I can't accept it. These pills are yours!" She said.

"You don't have to worry about that. Since I gave them to you, you should take them." Said Song Yang.

"But..."

"Sister Yu Qi is right. I will also give you some pills." Said Tan Yanyan, smiling.

She took out ten pills from her own pouch and gave them to Xia Zilin.

"Huh?" Xia Zilin was very surprised.

"I want the three of us to become inner disciples at the same time, so we can't let you fall behind!" Announced Tan Yanyan.

Xia Zilin was so moved that tears started to roll down her cheeks. Seeing her like this, both Tan Yanyan and Song Yang approached her and hugged her.

"I-I promise to work hard and not drag you down." Said Xia Zilin in a low voice.

Tan Yanyan and Song Yang nodded before breaking off their hugs and sitting down in their seats.

The three of them continued to chat for a while before heading to their respective bedrooms.