Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)
chapter-23

“Lin Dong-ge, that was brilliant!”

As Lin Dong was walking back to his seat, Qing Tan excitedly exclaimed while she stuck her tiny thumbs out in a thumbsup.

“You little brat, you’ve hidden it well.” Lin Xiao said, with a smile on his face. Nonetheless, Lin Xiao did not scold his son as he was simply too astonished by Lin Dong’s current strength.

Furthermore, Lin Dong’s stellar performance today had caused Lin Xiao’s face to dazzle with happiness. The excitement in his heart, was even greater than the day where his injuries healed.

“Hehe”

Lin Dong humbly scratched his head as he chuckled. When he realized that Lin Xiao was not going to pursue this matter further, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

After Lin Dong’s duel ended, the competition resumed. The top ten contestants were all fairly famous members among the younger generation in the Lin Family. In fact, most of them were at Tempered Body 5th Layer or above. Therefore, their duels were naturally quite exciting to watch, thus from time to time, the crowd would burst into cheers.

Five rounds were quickly over. As predicted, Lin Xia and Hong were able to easily secure their victory thanks to their overwhelming strength. Besides them, Lin Dong and two other outstanding youths in the Lin Family made it through to the final five.

As the final five were announced, the atmosphere in the training chambers heated up. Everyone knew that the following matches were the true highlights of the competition.

After drawing lots, one lucky person managed to draw the empty lot. This time, Lin Dong’s opponent was a young man named Lin Ting. He was reportedly at Tempered Body 6th Layer, though this did not pose much of a threat to Lin Dong.

The two of them swiftly proceeded to their fight after drawing lots and the end result was hardly surprising. Lin Dong’s Penetrating Fist Ninth Echo forcibly pushed Lin Ting off the stone platform, even though the latter utilized his full strength to resist.

Thus , Lin Dong easily advanced to the final three.

Nothing special happened in this duel. Therefore, after it ended, the crowd instantly turned their attention towards the upcoming duel.

The next matchup piqued everyone’s interest, even Lin Dong was interested. On account of the fact that it was Lin Xia against Lin Hong.

The two of them were considered as the most elite among the younger generation in Lin Family. In fact, most people predicted that either one of them will win this Family Competition.

However, the two of them were to now clashed unexpectedly before the final round, this exchange would be exciting indeed……

“Lin Xia.”

Lin Ken hesitantly announced after he saw that both of them had drawn the same lot.

Upon hearing Lin Ken’s call, Lin Xia acknowledged in her lovable voice. With a twist of her tiny waist, she floated up onto the stone platform like a butterfly. Her slender and valiant look, drew the attention of several youngsters.

As Lin Xia ascended onto the stone arena, Lin Hong also elegantly leaped onto the arena. Dressed in white, he appeared handsome and refined, at this sight, several people in the crowd lightly nodded their heads in approval.

“Lin Xia-jie, please go easy on me.” Lin Hong respectfully bowed towards her.

“If I hold back, the one who loses will likely be me.” Lin Xia grinned. A rare look of concentration in her eyes, she knew that based on Lin Hong’s strength, she will most likely have to fight with everything that she had.

Lin Hong smiled as a fire burned in his eyes. Lin Xia could be counted as the most outstanding member among the younger generation of the Lin Family. If he could defeat her today, he will be able to claim the number one position.

“Let the duel begin!”

Standing below the platform, Lin Ken shouted as he signaled for the match to begin.

Just as Lin Ken finished his announcement, a faint glow emerged from the bodies of the two contestants. This was Yuan Power.

“Tempered Body 7th Layer…”

As they gazed at the rather dense glow emerging from their bodies, many people in the crowd gasped in surprise. Even though they had their suspicions after watching the previous duels, they were still amazed upon witnessing this sight.

To be able to advance to Tempered Body 7th Layer at such a tender age. This clearly showed the latent potential they possessed. If they were given proper training, they will definitely have a bright future ahead.

On his seat, Lin Zhentian had a content smile on his face as he witnessed this sight. The more stellar the younger generation was, the happier he felt.

“Lin Xia-jie, watch out!”

As the glow on his body flickered, Lin Hong’s expression turned deadly serious as he abruptly leapt forward. A devastating force could be felt from his two palms which he swung in a horizontal arc towards Lin Xia.

Faced with the biting cold wind from Lin Hong’s palm, Lin Xia gently took a step back. Her long and elegant finger came together and curled slightly in the shape of a hawk’s mouth. She struck heavily on the back of Lin Hong’s palms, causing them to fall downwards and avoiding the attack.

“Eight Desolations Palm!”

Just as his palm was deflected, Lin Hong let out a growl. The force behind his palm turned ferocious as he continuously rained blows at Lin Xia’s head. The sound of his hands breaking through the air was indeed impressive.

As she was being assaulted by the aggressive palm technique, Lin Xia lightly frowned. She aligned two fingers together, and like a sword, she deftly bypassed Lin Hong’s palms and stabbed towards his body, causing the latter to have no choice but to bring back his hands to defend.

On the stone platform, two figures intertwined as they fought vigorously while constantly exchanged blows with their palms and fingers. With help from Yuan Power, each blow was amplified, captivating the audience’s attention.

“Lin Dong-ge, who do you think will win?” Qing Tan nervously asked as she involuntarily tightened her tiny fists at the intense duel.

“Hard to say……”

Lin Dong hesitated before he finally shook his head. Lin Hong has clearly mastered Eight Desolations Palm as the force generated by his palm techniques were extremely aggressive and packed a huge punch. However, Lin Xia did not lose out to the former. In fact, the martial arts that she used was the Level 2 martial arts, Spirit Finger Sword.

Even though that type of martial arts did not look formidable, if it was properly mastered, one’s fingers will became a sword. Therefore, even Lin Hong did not dare to take a hit from her.

As such, it was very difficult to ascertain who would become the eventual victor. Nonetheless, in Lin Dong’s heart, he hoped that Lin Xia would win……

While they spoke, the battle on the stone arena gradually intensified to a climax. Palms and fists collided, causing a series of deep sounds continuously rang out.

This exchange lasted for nearly ten minutes as the glow on their bodies burned brightly. Evidently, they had pushed the Yuan Power within their bodies to the maximum extent.

Just as the intensity of the glow reached its peak, the two of them took a step back in unison. Soon after, both of their palms suddenly reached out and collided together under the watchful gaze of the crowd.

“Bang”

An explosive bang sounded out on the platform as both of them were jolted apart by the impact. Both of their feets desperately tried to claw onto the platform, but in the end, both of them fell off at the same time…

After witnessing both of them fall off together, a commotion erupted in the training chambers. Evidently, no one was expecting this outcome…

“Haha, not bad, not bad at all…”

On his seat, Lin Zhentian could not help but nod his head in satisfaction after he witnessed that Lin Hong was able to go toe to toe with Lin Xia in their spectacular duel. Lin Mang, who was sitting beside him, let out a bright smile as he smugly turned to look at Lin Xiao.

“This match shall be judged as a draw. Since there are only four people left, if there are no objections, Lin Xia and Lin Hong will both take first place, whereas Lin Dong and Lin Chen, will be ranked as second and third respectively. Of course, if anyone still wants to compete and exchange pointers, please step forward now……”

Lin Zhentian stood up and announced with a smile. At this juncture, the rankings for the Family Competition had largely been decided and any further duels should likely make no difference.

Upon hearing Lin Zhentian’s words, the crowd nodded in agreement.

“That fellow is number one…”

Lin Dong frowned as he turned to look at Qing Tan, only to discover that she had tightly gripped her tiny fists. Plastered on her delicate and tiny face, was a look of worry.

After hearing Lin Zhentian’s announcement, Lin Hong’s smile brightened. Turning his gaze towards Lin Dong and Qing Tan, the corners of his mouth lifted into a sneer. Soon after, he took a step forward and prepared to announce his intention for an engagement request, as they say: strike while the iron is hot.

However, right before Lin Hong announced his request, Lin Dong, who had been observing the former, suddenly stood up with a dark expression on his face. His voice reverberated in the training chamber.

“Lin Hong-biao-ge, Lin Dong is untalented. Could you please give me some pointers?”