The Six Immortals Chapter 16

 Cheered On The selection for disciples was actually quite simple. It only had two rounds. Firstly, a practitioner would have to lift a stone to demonstrate strength; doing so successfully would send you to the next round. The second round was an arms drill, a combat round. Two participants would have to go up against each other; in this round not only strength, but skill also mattered. This round was very exciting for the spectators. Every year, hundreds of participants would enroll for the selection process, so there was a lot of fresh blood. But the standard required for entry into Quinyang schools was very high. This year was no different. The deputy of the Quinyang schools selection committee approached the center stage. Ling Xin Ya, had an amazing physique, that commanded so much authority, that people wouldn’t even dare stare at him. He was in the ‘emerging from womb’ Jie and was considered one of the best in the entire Jiu You region. Ling Xin Ya, raised his hand high, and entire crowd paused their chattering and suddenly the valley became silent. “Rules are as usual, let the selection of disciple begin.” He was a no nonsense man, at his order, the selection had officially begun. The contestants had lined up for the registration process, and were well aware of the eyes that watched them, and hence bore themselves in a disciplined manner. Bi Fan strolled his way back to the end of the line. Xiaofeng before heading off to the viewer’s stands, whispered in his ear: “Good luck, Bi Fan.” As she left, the wind blew and carried her fragrance to Bi Fan. Intoxicated, Bi Fan took a deep breath. Bi Fan was surrounded by many other people, who were all looking at him with envy and jealousy. Most of them had never seen such a beautiful girl. “She’s really very beautiful. Is she your girlfriend, brother?” a young man standing behind Bi Fan asked. Bi Fan didn’t reply to the question, but gently nodded his head, and thought to himself: “This herd of perverts shall not be allowed to harass Xiaofeng, if they realize that I’m not her boyfriend, these hell bound creatures will pounce on her like hungry hounds.” Bi Fan knew that if Xiaofeng ever found out about this, then she would flip out at him on the spot: “How dare you, you cheap bastard?” Even though Xiaofeng wasn’t Bi Fan’s girlfriend, he didn’t want any other men to get close to her. This seemed to be the case with most men. After all, men can be a bit possessive and protective. The man saw Bi Fan nod and realized that he might be participating alone, and asked him: “Brother, do you know any other beautiful women that you could introduce me to, later at the bar.” Bi Fan didn’t speak, just blankly nodded his head in reply. He coolly ignored all the guys standing around him as their faced turned a shade of disappointment. First round was rather easy, contestants would have to lift a piece of rock, there were ten rocks and ten participants were asked to do their rounds simultaneously. It wouldn’t take much time to finish this round. Anyone who was serious about participating in the selection would be easily able to clear this round, lifting the stone up very smoothly. The stone, was obviously quite heavy, lifting this stone up was an indication that the participant was capable of breaking layer barriers by force. People above cheered on as a man named Tieniu Zhuang took to the platform. He didn’t just go for one, but lifted threes stones as high as his chin at the same time. He was making a statement, a very bold statement. The other participants looked on, stunned. Bi Fan was looking at him, and could make out that Tieniu wasn’t even at ‘inner breath’ layer, he was just naturally gifted with a great amount of physical strength. Ling Xin Ya had been watching the performance of the contestants carefully, sometimes shaking his head, sometimes nodding in judgement. Soon, Bi Fan’s turn came. He slowly walked up to the stone and easily lifted it. He just wanted to cross the level; he didn’t have intention of making a statement. “Bi Fan of Yunufeng has cleared the round.” The announcer announced on the mike. Many people had heard of Yunufeng, they also knew that Yunufeng was one of the best places to practice in Quinyang. At the same time, everyone knew that Yunufeng never accepted male students; they looked at Bi Fan with a sense of confusion and surprise. Although Bi Fan hadn’t tried to reveal the true extent of his prowess, nothing remains hidden from the experienced eyes of Ling Xin Ya. Ling Xin Ya could make out the Bi Fan had broken through several layers by now, and that too at such a young age. As he nodded at Bi Fan, Bi Fan recorded this moment in his memory. After the first level was over, the number of contestants had reduced to four hundred and fifteen. Now it was time for the second round. Combat. The organizers used chits to randomly draw out names and assigned them a number, one, two, three and so on. Bi Fan got one hundred and thirty five, so he would have to wait a while. Ming Fung valley had only ten rings, and even if they were being used simultaneously, it would still take time to finish the process. Most of the participants hadn’t even reached the ‘inner breath’ layer, and hadn’t started practicing any serious martial arts techniques as of yet. So most fights were purely physical and lacked any technical display. The combat round was boring. Bi Fan, he almost dozed off at one point. Finally, Bi Fan’s turn came. He found out that his opponent was Teiniu Zhuang. “Hello, I’m Teiniu. Pleased to meet you.” He bent slightly gesturing a sign of respect for his opponent, as was the custom. Bi Fan did the same: “Hello, I’m Bi Fan, pleased to meet you.” Bi Fan started moving around the ring, he could make out that Teiniu was a very strong guy, he had to be careful. “Little brother, Bi Fan, here I come, watch out.” Teiniu shouted a warning, as he suddenly pounced at Bi Fan. “This man thinks that anyone who’s smaller in size, irrespective of age, is his little brother.” Bi Fan couldn’t help but think to himself. Teiniu charged at him with his arms outstretched, he wanted to grasp Bi Fan in a hold. Teiniu was almost two meters tall, and was fairly strong; it would be very difficult to break free from his grip. Bi Fan sidestepped, unwittingly putting ‘the dance of mist’ footwork to use, and he instantly went on to his side.  Bi Fan pushed Teiniu with his palm. Even though Bi Fan hadn’t used much force, Teiniu’s momentum was enough to throw him outside the ring. Teiniu balanced himself, looking somewhat puzzled. He couldn’t understand how Bi Fan been able to thwart his attack so easily, he wasn’t this careless. “Wow, that’s good!” A lot of people cheered him on. At first, everyone had thought that Teiniu was going to win easily, no one considered Bi Fan to be a match for him, and even Xiaofeng was no exception. But the situation had changed quickly. But Teiniu wasn’t going to accept defeat this easily. “Agile, with a good sense of combat, he’s worth cultivating.” Ling Xin Ya nodded and smiled at Bi Fan from his seat. Teiniu shook his big head, straightened himself, and then charged again towards Bi Fan. “AAARGHHHH!” He shouted as he ran towards Bi Fan, with a great deal of momentum. Teiniu’s fist was as big as a bucket; he directed it straight at Bi Fan’s face. Bi Fan didn’t move, not until Teiniu’s fist had gotten very close, and then he smoothly slid sideways, to open up Teiniu’s attack. Then with a lightning fast speed, he grabbed Teiniu’s arm and pushed him. “Ah…Ah….” Teiniu cried out in pain as Bi Fan skillfully beat him again. He fell down on the ring. “Amazing!” “Wow!” “Wonderful!” the crowd applauded. Bi Fan’s mind was a complete blank, and his spirit was flying high, he felt as if he had been sleeping all his life and had suddenly woken up. He could not believe that all these people were cheering and applauding him. In combat, there were no winners or losers. It was just a way for the schools to identify new talent. The contest between Bi Fan and Teiniu was a high quality display and was being applauded by the crowd. As Bi Fan strode off the stage, people applauded him again. Honestly, Bi Fan was very nervous, even slightly embarrassed, he had never had so many eyes watching his every move. And not forget, he felt very excited, he might just be accepted into a school. He had never thought that he could stand in a ring and fight, and not only that, but also win. “I’ve finally taken the first step, and now in the future, I must work harder to rise higher and higher. I will practice harder, enhance my strength, and become even stronger, the strongest of my generation.” Bi Fan vowed to himself, his blood boiling with encouragement. “AAAARGHHH!!!” Bi Fan shouted out, he roared out all those years of frustration and humiliation that had been flaming inside his soul. After he roared, he felt very relaxed, having vented out all this anger. And suddenly Bi Fan felt as if he was new person altogether, full of fighting spirit and self-confidence, with his humble status, tossed back over his head.

Chapter end