The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-81

The six thousand-strong Black Armored Army immediately separated. Under where they originally stood were eight big arenas covered with black rocks. They were ten Zhang wide, each arena was surrounded by the soldiers of the Black Armored Army.

“It seemed that even without me, Xia Shuo, you could have easily beaten up those two fellas from last time.” Xia Shuo didn’t feel awkward at all and said, “Alright, my brother. I will head up to the arena first, and you can come and challenge me.

With this, Xia Shuo jumped up onto the arena, which was several Zhangs away.

The eight centurions all went up the arenas.

These eight people slightly bowed to the four commanders and sovereign of the sect.

“You may begin! All nine of you are free to choose any centurion in an arena to challenge.” The silver-haired elder dressed in black robes said calmly. The other three commanders and the sovereign of the sect were sitting high up, looking down at the eight arenas from afar. The competition was about begin.

“Brother Niu, if we brothers are driven away by those newbies today, then that would be really embarrassing.” Xia Shuo turned his head and smiled as he said to the centurion, Niu Zhan, on the arena next to him.

TLN: The surname, Niu means cow.

“Them, alone? Win against us? Was all of the blood spilled all these years in vain? Just my fist..humph…..I could fight all of them with one hand behind my back, and they still wouldn’t be able to win against me.” Niu Zhan’s physique was quite similar to Xia Shuo’s. They were both of the bulky type.

“Brother Niu is right. Haha…..” The centurions of the other six arena also guffawed.

It was obvious that these eight centurions were full of pride.

“Who will be the first to step up to the challenge?!” Niu Zhan yelled.

“You stupid cow. Let me teach you a lesson!” Wu Man who was wearing a yellow dress was the first one who couldn’t hold her temper. She leaped up and landed on the arena Niu Zhan was on, pulling out the long sword on her back.

……

Teng Qingshan and the other First Rated Warriors weren’t in such a hurry since this was only a competition between seventeen people. Looking at other contestants’ abilities was also quite beneficial before a fight.

“Qingshan, do you think that girl can win?” Teng Qinghu stood at the side.

“That girl called Wu Man?” Teng Qingshan shook his head and said, “I am not sure. Niu Zhan obviously has a lot of battle experience, but I was recently told that Wu Man is the disciple of the sovereign of the Gui Yuan Sect, so maybe she’ll have some special attack skills. Just watch and see!”

The battle had not started yet so Teng Qingshan didn’t dare to place his judgement.

“Haha, Xiao Man, this kid.” The sovereign of the Sect, Zhuge Yuanhong, couldn’t help but laugh when he saw this scene unfold.

When the only female commander saw Wu Man in the arena, a rare smile crept up her face.

At this moment, almost everyone was focusing on this arena.

That Niu Zhan furrowed and said, “Xiao Man, you’re challenging me?”

“Big stupid cow, listen closely. Your centurion position is mine. Quickly bring out your weapon before it’s too late for regret.” Wu Man held her long sword with confidence.

“Hmph little girl. If I was defeated, my forty years of practice would be in vain. Come. There’s no need to use a weapon in a fight against you.” Niu Zhan did not pull out the long spear and stabbed it into the ground. He faced Wu Man empty handedly.

Wu Man let out a cold “humph” and struck with the longsword in her hand —

“Whoosh!”

A streak of azure light pierced the air, as the tip of Wu Man’s longsword arrived before Niu Zhan.

Niu Zhan dodged to the side and immediately swiped in the direction of the sword with his right hand. Right before he hit blade of the sword, it turned nad the edge suddenly swept towards Niu Zhan. If Niu Zhan’s hand still continued on its path, his palm would be cut in two.

“Boom!” The earth shook.

The rocks on the arena were blasted apart, and one of the rocks hit Wu Man’s chest.

“Pu!” Wu Man coughed up blood, her face turning pale pale.

“You cheated!” Wu Man pointed at Niu Zhan furiously.

The truth was, when Niu Zhan used his hand to hit the sword, it was just a feint move. His real intention was to secretly use his inner strength to break the rocks on the ground. When Wu Man drew near, he kicked up the rock with his feet and shot it at Wu Man, while reinforcing it with inner strength.

While laughing, Niu Zhan said, “Xiao Man, if I had been more fierce with my attack and injected for inner strength, you would be dead! This is a true battle. Even if you’ve practiced a powerful sword art, you still might not be able to win.”

“Alright, Xiao Man. You’ve lost.” announced the Sovereign of the sect, Zhuge Yuange.

“Hmph, Big stupid cow.” Wu Man wiped off the blood from the corner of her mouth and bitterly stepped off the arena.

Seeing this, Teng Qingshan also smiled. The centurions of the Black Armored Army had experienced the battles of life and death. That Wu Man had been under the protection of the Sovereign of the sect her whole life. What kind of difficulty had she ever encountered before? Thus, even if she had a powerful sword technique and a rich inner strength, she would still be defeated in an instant in real battle.

Wu Man came down the arena, but walked towards Teng Qingshan.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan furrowed his eyebrows.

“Senior Wu Man!” A sweet voice rang out from behind Teng Qingshan. Turning around to look, Teng Qingshan saw two beautiful teenagers, one girl dressing in a yellow dress, and a boy wearing one dressed in blue, walking here together. The one that just spoke was the beautiful girl.

The boy dressed in blue suddenly asked, “Senior, didn’t you say that you would take a position of a centurion for us to see? Losing so quick? Haha…… your Azure Lightning Sword Technique is indeed very powerful, but you were just too stupid to get tricked so easily!”

“Damn you, little Yun!” Wu Man gnashed her teeth and continued, “Also, Qing Qing, you’re also here to bully your senior with your brother?”

That beautiful girl couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Teng Qingshan noticed that his own cousin, Teng Qinghu, was staring at that beautiful girl. Although, it wasn’t just Teng Qinghu — the surrounding people were also looking at this beautiful girl.

“This young girl is gifted with such graceful charm?” As a hitman in his previous life, Teng Qingshan had went through the best psychological training, therefore, seducing him would be very hard. As for Teng Qinghu and the other “honest and simple” fellows, they could be easily seduced.

“Senior Wu Man, you said that there was a sixteen year old First Rated Warrior named Teng Qingshan. Where is he?” The teenager dressed in azure hastily asked.

“Look. Here he is.” Wu Man pointed at Teng Qingshan.

The youth in blue’s eyes brightened as he walked over with a smile and said, “Brother Teng, my name is Zhuge Yun! I have heard of your name yesterday. This is my sister Zhuge Qing.” The young girl beside him scrutinized Teng Qingshan and smiled. “My name is Zhuge Qing! So you are Teng Qingshan, a genius just like my brother.”

“How can he be compared to little Yun?” Wu Man, who was at his side, added “He just has some more inner strength, is all. Little Yun is a monster that understood the meaning of the Azure Lightning Sword Technique within three months!”

Meaning?

Teng Qingshan cast a careful glance at that Zhuge Yun. He knew that this teenager was the legendary genius of Gui Yuan Sect— he was Zhuge Yun, the Young Sovereign of the sect.

“Someone lost again!” Wu Man suddenly said.

Although Teng Qingshan was talking, he was also looking at the match in the arena. After Wu Man, another First Rated Warrior named Liu Liang went up to challenge. He fought a fierce battle with the centurion named Situ Ning for quite some time, but was still knocked out of the arena by a strike, and therefore lost!

So far, after two continuous matches, the challenging side had all failed.

“Even the weakest centurion of the Black Armored Army has such strong power.” Teng Qingshan praised in his heart.

“Haha…… is there not one person that’s even slightly powerful among the nine of you? This is has been one-sided so far and it’s totally not interesting! Niu Zhan guffawed as he spoke and was joined by the many soldiers of the Black Armored Army spectating the matches. These soldiers all supported the eight centurion in their hearts.

The crowd of 300 warriors that passed the sect’s admittance test all looked ghastly.

“Who said that there were no strong people?” Wu Man shouted. “Big stupid cow, you are the oldest. We have a youngest one here, a First Rated Warrior who is only sixteen years old. He can definitely beat you!

Teng Qingshan was startled.

“Teng Qingshan, you have to fight for our reputation,” Wu Man said as she gave Teng Qingshan a pleading look.

Teng Qingshan took a deep breath and looked at the arena before him.

In Teng Qingshan’s heart, he had always dreamed…….to face the experts of this world. To see the difference between the experts of this world and his inner martial arts.

“Let’s start from this fight! I hope you won’t disappoint me too much.”

Teng Qingshan whispered in his heart. With the Reincarnation Spear in his hand, he leaped up to the arena. All six thousand soldiers of the Black Armored Army and the over three hundred warriors that had just passed the test all stared at this arena..

Niu Zhan, the oldest of the eight centurions, faced against the Teng Qingshan, the youngest of the nine First Rated Warriors.

……

“This Teng Qingshan looks rather calm, and not anxious at all.” Zhuge Yuanhong gazed at the arena and smiled as he spoke.

“But he is only sixteen years old. What experience can he have?” said the silver-haired elder wearing the black gown

“Just watch.” Zhuge Yuanhong was very interested in watching this fight.

……

Over thousands of people surrounded to watch this match.

“A sixteen year old First Rated Warrior.” Niu Zhan laughed out loud and said, “Teng Qingshan, right? You are quite famous now; however, no matter how great your talent is, sharpening your resolve is necessary. Just let Niu, your big brother help you.”

“Brother Niu, don’t be too fierce.” Xia Shuo, who was in the distance, also laughed and said.

“Don’t worry.” Niu Zhan stretched out his hand and grabbed a black long spear at his side.

Teng Qingshan held his Reincarnation Spear in his hand, while calmly standing in the same spot.

“Look out for my spear!” Niu Zhan let out a roar as the long spear in his hand waved and wildly danced above the ground. The black great spear was like a black flood dragon storming out of its lair, flying towards Teng Qingshan. The spearhead transformed into numerous spear figures stabbing towards Teng Qingshan’s head.

Quick and fierce!

Seeing this, Teng Qingshan secretly let out a sigh and thought to himself, He hasn’t even reached the realm of ‘One with the Spear’ yet and couldn’t even fully control the force of the spear. What a pity…….

The long spear in Teng Qingshan’s hands shuddered.

Whoosh!

The Reincarnation Spear struck out like a sharp arrow. The moment it touched the opponent’s Black Great Spear, the Reincarnation Spear became like a writhing snake. Teng Qingshan’s Reincarnation Spear had actually used that twisting force to aid itself in turning slightly, easily knocking the black great spear away.

“Blang!” The spearhead of the Reincarnation Spear shuddered and struck Niu Zhan’s waist.

Niu Zhan was thrown into the air like a ragdoll and flew seven to eight Zhang away, falling into the midst of the Black Armored Army.

“Not interesting at all.” Teng Qingshan let out a sigh in his heart. He needed an expert that could enlighten him. When he was in his previous life, he stood at the pinnacle of Internal Martial Arts. Being at the top felt lonely, so he needed an opponent who could surprise him and bring him joy.

However, it seemed like Niu Zhan was still very far from reaching Teng Qingshan’s lowest demand.

……

Centurion Niu Zhan was defeated with just one move?

Everyone froze in shock. There were many people that didn’t see clearly just now, only feeling…….that Teng Qingshan defeated Centurion Niu Zhan’s seemingly powerful strike with just a simple thrust.

“This guy……..” Wu Man stared in shock with her wide eyes and open mouth.