The whole arena was quiet. Not a sound could be heard.
And the silence was well warranted.
Everyone and their mother in the college knew of Bai Chi the 'Punching Bag'; the guy who always took hits and was the weakest amongst the first years.
But for the first time, Bai Chi fought back.
And he won.
He actually beat Fatty Kang.
"Hey, I must still be sleeping right?" someone whispered.
"No, no… it must be a joke" another replied.
Soon, there was a buzz of voices as everyone mummured their disbelief.
All this didn't move Bai Chi, as his mind was on something else.
Still too weak… this level of adaptation is too slow. The amount of Qi I can absorb is too sub-optimal.
Bai Chi closed his eyes to look at the condition of his body.
His Spirit Root seemed to have bloomed, but it was a miniscule growth.
His Meridians pumped qi at a snail's pace.
Just as his thoughts dashed towards different parts of his body, he sensed a figure walking up to the stage.
Another challenger? Good. You will be my whetting stone for my growth. He thought as he lifted his head towards the person.
It was a younger man who looked 16 with fiery red hair.
His eyes looked small and calm, but a hint of arrogance burned in his pupils.
His demeanor was that of looking down on all things, nothing in his eyes.
His name was Liao Bing, an upperclassman from the second year who had entered the beginning of the Foundation Realm.
Though his cultivation was low, his innate art wasn't. He practiced one of the seven great Fires of Creation.
Due to this, his path to cultivation was slower than most, but no one was fooled by his cultivation level.
His ability came with an oppressive arsenal so massive, he could stand toe to toe with cultivators in the peak of the foundation realm easily.
It was even rumoured that he could fight on par with a weakened Golden Core cultivator.
Due to the rules of the Arena, he couldn't use his full power, limiting his abilities to that of the opponents realm.
So he couldn't extend his Qi outside his body to some extent, relying on his physical strength alone.
Bai Chi sucked air into his lungs as he circulated the surrounding Qi into his body via his meridians, letting it flow calmly as it filled his Spirit Core with vitality.
He winced and took a stance, prepared to take this particular opponent seriously.
"I apologize in advance" were the only words that came out of his mouth as he dashed forward, simulating the surrounding chi to heat up his open palm, which he sent towards Bai Chi's chest.
Bai Chi twisted his body sideways, barely dodging the attack, whilst he sent a stray open knife palm strike towards his opponent's neck.
Liao Bing grunted, bringing his other palm to stop the attack dead in its tracks, before continuing to attack Bai Chi's chest again with an open palm strike.
How Arrogant! Bai Chi thought as he lifted his right striking arm and grasped under his opponent's armpits, locking his attacking arm in place.
Then he swerved to the side and made to fling him on his back.
But then, a sudden heat caused him to let go of his grasp, pushing Liao Bing away.
Liao Bing stood where he was, unfazed about what his opponent wanted to do earlier.
He felt undisturbed by the fact that Bai Chi had always found a way to counter his attacks, not bothered at all.
Bai Chi on the other hand was focused.
His body was slowly adapting to his opponents abilities quite slowly, meaning the heat from his attacks were affecting him badly.
The Fires of Creation were meant to destroy and also purify all beings. This kid uses it as an extension of his body movements and martial combat.
That shows how talented he is, and why he's so arrogant. Just like Old Qiao
Bai Chi smirked internally, watching as the young man before him stood in an arrogant manner, before rushing forth to attack again.
Bai Chi dodged his attacks, only letting a few licks in.
This continued for over a minute, with Bai Chi taking substantial amounts of damage, but not enough to be serious.
The students watching the battle had already gotten bored soon, wondering whether the last battle against fatty Kang was a fluke.
Even Fatty Kang, who was watching the fight, seemed unresigned.
This kid… was it a lucky shot that he used to take me out?
But then, something unexpected happened.
Liao Feng's demeanor suddenly changed as he made to go all out.
He channeled his Qi quickly, throwing a flaming punch out. But Bai Chi used his open palm to block it, extinguishing the flame that came with it.
This continued as Bai Chi soon took the front foot, causing Liao Bing to show signs of worry.
Even the other students began to notice this change, seeing the shift of the battle.
Impossible!!! Liao Bing is invincible in the same realm. But yet?
How….
What is Big Brother Bing doing?
Many thoughts churned across the arena as more and more people began to watch Bai Chi to see what was happening clearly.
Bai Chi, on the other hand, smiled. His Earthly Vessel had slowly begun to adapt to his opponents attacks, strengthening his body to withstand the heat of his flames.
Though his opponent didn't use his full capabilities, neither was he a high enough level to make the adaptive abilities of the Earthly Vessel obsolete, he still was able to slowly get stronger the longer the battle went on.
At first he was dodging his opponents attacks, letting one or two hits land so as to get his Cultivation art running slowly.
Now he could at least block and extinguish most of the flames, reducing the damage he took.
This didn't change much, just making the battle barely bearable.
And Bai Chi had other things in his mind.
I can't win…
Not that he couldn't win, but he didn't want to. That would bring too much attention that he didn't need now.
He didn't fear anyone noticing him, but he didn't want to be hounded by the school authorities.
Lowkey!!!
I can't let too much out. Someone might recognize this art if I'm not careful enough.
Bai Chi slowly let himself go, making himself fight for a minute, before slowly losing ground.
Soon Liao Bing sent a palm into his chest, sending him sprawling across the stone floor, before rolling off the arena.
When one left the arena, it was counted as a loss.
Everyone roared in excitement, claps and whistles followed after.
As expected of senior brother…
So overbearing, for a minute I thought he would lose…
Even at the beginning of the foundation realm he's invincible in the same realm.
Everyone whispered amongst themselves, talking about the match.
It was as if the entire battle was one sided from the beginning.
But not everyone thought like this.
Liao Bing stood in the centre of the arena, his palm open and his eyes distant.
He thought of his battle just now, though it had been a friendly spar, it felt like he was going to lose at some point.
And then, the tables shifted.
Too suddenly did it shift, like… it was like…
Another person who was also engrossed by the battle, Ren Yulie.
She sat on a stool at a corner, no one, not even her classmates disturbed her.
But her eyes were locked on the stage, and Bai Chi, who slowly stood up, dusted his clothes and fixed his glasses.
Curiosity burned in her gaze, as she watched him leave the gym entirely, like some unknown passerby.
After he left, her thoughts returned back to the arena where the next set of combatants walked up.
But someone else was mostly intrigued.
A middle aged man who sat near the doorway of this Arena looked at Bai Chi with glistening eyes as he nodded to the young man who tried to escape quietly.
This man was Old Cai Jie; the gym master of the Shuangying College and a Peak Golden Core expert.
***
Bai Chi walked into the bathroom and towards the sink.
There was no one here but him, so he grasped the sink and threw up a large amount of blood.
Though the battle looked somewhat balanced, it came with repercussions.
The Earthly Vessel was still in its beginning stages, and so there was so much damage his body could take.
"Shit!!! Reminds me of the old times" Bai Chi groaned as he cleaned his mouth and washed his hands.
"At least…" he spoke as his hand slowly began to heat up, before a small spark of flame burst forth.
This was the second part of his cultivation, the other half that few could ever use.
The very root of the Earthly Vessel
Heavenly Body!!!