Volcanic Age

"Urgh." Zhou Xuchuan groaned, his expression grim.

What do I do?

He didn't want to stand out, but losing wasn't an option either. Originally, he had planned to win his first round. This was because there was a possibility that his next dispatch into the world might be delayed if he gave everyone the impression that he was the weakest person around.

The reason he joined the Lotus Pavilion in the first place was because he could leave the sect earlier than ordinary disciples. To achieve that, he needed to show an acceptable level of skill. He did not want to appear weak.

"Hahaha, he froze after seeing my grand disciple! Well, that's not surprising!"

He could hear Zhao Wuyang's voice from above.

"Senior brother. Why don't I yield you a few moves? If you're okay with it, that is," Fang Zhesan asked with a sly grin.

What a terrible personality… Zhou Xuchuan thought, refraining from voicing his opinion. The experts would be able to hear him, regardless of how softly he spoke.

"That's okay. But did I say you could talk to me like that?"

Fang Zhesan was twelve years old. He was acknowledged for his skills from a young age and entered the Lotus Pavilion early just like Luo Xiaoyue. However, unlike her, his personality wasn't as good.

Due to his talent, as well as his status as the grand disciple of one of the Five High Elders, many people around him flattered him. Even Zhao Wuyang, who wasn't exactly well-known for his gentle personality, did not scold him once, almost as if he cherished the boy.

As a result, Fang Zhesan grew up to be a typical haughty cultivator of the Orthodox Faction.

"I've heard of your feats two years ago, but honestly, I know they must be exaggerated." Fang Zhesan continued impolitely despite Zhou Xuchuan's earlier remark. "Even I can deal with a few bandits on my own. A cultivator must know how to bring out their skills any situation, even on a boat! Inability to do so is a weakness, the whining of a loser!" Fang Zhesan sneered.

"Can I relay that to Senior Uncle Qiu Feng?" Zhou Xuchuan countered dryly. Even the mighty Fourteenth Sword Hero couldn't fight at full strength on a boat.

"That just goes to show your lack of skills, Senior brother. You must be blind. If he could not use his full skills, how could he have defeated one of the hundred strongest experts under heaven?"

"Oooh." Zhou Xuchuan slapped his knee in realization. "I missed that. That's some incredible logic you have there."

Fang Zhesan's logic sounded somewhat convincing.

"Even your junior brother could think of it!" Fang Zhesan laughed arrogantly, puffing out his chest.

"That's why senior sister Luo Xiaoyue looks after you. She does it out of pity!" Fang Zhesan stopped laughing and snapped out instead.

"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head in confusion.

"You're such a dimwit, senior brother. You should stop inconveniencing senior sister Luo and leave her alone!"

"…Oh."

Zhou Xuchuan had been sensing Fang Zhesan's hostile gaze for a while now, wondering what had annoyed him so much. But now, it became clear.

"Forget that. I wonder why someone like this is more famous than me." Fang Zhesan frowned in displeasure. Jealousy was clearly written on his face.

"That's because I'm more amazing than you," Zhou Xuchuan retorted calmly.

"Nonsense!" Fang Zhesan roared, stomping his foot. He seemed furious and tried to refute it.

"I'm the grand disciple of one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua, and I joined the Lotus Pavilion at nine! And yet you're claiming to be more amazing than me?"

What a brat, Zhou Xuchuan thought.

Well, he wasn't entirely wrong; Fang Zhesan was still young.

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"Hm…"

Zhou Xuchuan had lived a relatively quiet life since he safely returned to the sect. At most, the interactions he had were with Luo Xiaoyue, or the now-graduated Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, so no one had seen him display his skills.

Rumors in the martial world tended to be exaggerated, so when he kept a low profile for long enough, his feats during the battle with the Nine Water Gangs faded away, and people started questioning his skills.

The animosity was especially high among the fourth-generation members of Mount Hua, with Fang Zhesan being one of them.

"Still, you're my senior brother, so I'll show you mercy," Fang Zhesan said, blatantly ignoring Zhou Xuchuan.

"If you can't even land a single hit on your junior brother, how will you show your face in public? Hahahah!" he provoked once again.

"Ehhh…" Zhou Xuchuan was at a loss for words.

From the seats of honor, Ling Zhen clicked his tongue and shook his head in disapproval. "Tsk, tsk, Elder Zhao. Doesn't his courtesy need to be worked on?"

"He's still young so it's not surprising. Also, he's being considerate in his own way so that his senior brother saves face, isn't he?" Zhao Wuyang retorted, shamelessly keeping his head up. "He's being only slightly discourteous because he's young, but he's a good boy at heart. Look at him being so considerate. It's so touching."

"What logic!"

Ling Zhen couldn't help but think that the grand disciple took after the grand master.

Meanwhile, Fang Zhesan shifted into an offensive stance.

"I've given you so much consideration, but if you're not going to listen, I guess I have no choice!"

Despite talking about yielding a move or three earlier, he barely waited at all. It seemed he had no intentions of going easy in the first place.

Fang Zhesan glanced toward where Luo Xiaoyue was.

I'll humiliate you in front of senior sister Luo!

Fang Zhesan didn't like Zhou Xuchuan, who kept capturing Luo Xiaoyue's attention. Now that he had a good opportunity, he planned to make her disappointed in Zhou Xuchuan by showing him being hopelessly defeated. In turn, he could show off how cool he was.

He began to fantasize. Luo Xiaoyue would witness Zhou Xuchuan's humiliating defeat, run into his arms, and tell him that he was cool.

"Heeh."

Fang Zhesan grinned widely, even starting to drool for some unknown reason.

"What a lunatic," Zhou Xuchuan expressed his honest opinion.

"Haha!" Fang Zhesan laughed even after hearing Zhou Xuchuan's insult. "I'll make you cry!"

After shouting, Fang Zhesan lunged forward.

Huh?

Because of the eagerness in his voice, Zhou Xuchuan thought he'd attack right away, but Fang Zhesan's movements were different from what he had expected. Although Fang Zhesan initially charged straight at him, the boy changed directions midway.

He wondered if Fang Zhesan was planning to attack from the side or behind, but that wasn't it either. He didn't know what the arrogant boy was up to, but he kept circling around without attacking.

Fang Zhesan's footwork art was the familiar Five Ways Plum Blossom Steps, and Zhou Xuchuan could tell how proficient the boy was. The boy was around the eighth stage.

"Unbelievable, he reached the eighth stage of the Five Ways Plum Blossom at the age of twelve!"

"No wonder Elder Zhao cherishes him. He is a bit cocky, but he does have the skills to back it up!"

"Look at those clean movements."

Surprised shouts erupted from the audience. They all looked astonished. It was expected, considering the Five Ways Plum Blossom Steps was an advanced footwork art. Ordinary disciples would be middle-aged by the time they achieved full mastery. That was just how long and difficult the training period was.

Still, the footwork art proved to be useful and superior to most others of the same category. Everyone did their best to improve on it as much as possible.

Fang Zhesan had reached the eighth stage out of a total of twelve, and that was why people were astonished.

They might pass out if they find out that I've already reached full mastery.

Although he had displayed a little bit of it during his battle against the water bandits, no one had paid attention to what kind of footwork art he was using.

Ah…

Now he understood why Fang Zhesan was acting like this.

You wanted to show it off that much?

Fang Zhesan looked down on Zhou Xuchuan. He didn't think for a second that Zhou Xuchuan could be a threat to him. This was obvious from the way he was moving right now. Otherwise, there was no way he would move around so fancily like this. He was merely using his opponent to showcase how much he had progressed to the judges and Luo Xiaoyue.

He's a kid alright.

Zhou Xuchuan inwardly laughed.

On the contrary…

He must be overwhelmed by my footwork art!

Fang Zhesan grinned arrogantly, eyeing the motionless Zhou Xuchuan. He would have sneered already if he weren't focusing so intently on executing his footwork. It was a pity.

Anyone would be overwhelmed when they see something like that.

Only someone like Luo Xiaoyue would be able to go against that.

Looks like he'll take the mantle of a high elder in a few decades after Elder Zhao. I should tell my disciples to stay close to him.

The people here all had similar thoughts, thinking that Zhou Xuchuan must be overwhelmed in the face of his opponent. It wasn't that they looked down on him, but that Fang Zhesan's display of skill was just that impressive.

Hm, he put too much effort into that. Zhou Xuchuan started getting worried after seeing Fang Zhesan.

I can't win easily after he went so far, so I guess I should at least exchange a hundred moves with him before winning?

If anyone knew what he was thinking, they would be flabbergasted.

Zhou Xuchuan fell into deep thought as he loosely held his sword.

What kind of move should I use to finish him off so that I would look cool? Fang Zhesan was also in thought. This was the only match he was having today. He could recover any qi he consumed during the night for the battle tomorrow.

Dissipating Petal Hand? Or Plum Blossom Scattering Hand?

In terms of sword arts, Dissipating Petal Hand was the same level as the Plum Blossom Sword, while the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand fell somewhere between the Six Cardinal Sword and the Plum Blossom Brilliance Sword.

Fang Zhesan ruled out using Dissipating Petal Hand immediately since that was a basic martial art. It wouldn't look cool.

He thought about using the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand, but that didn't satisfy him either. That was because of the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand.

It hadn't been long since Fang Zhesan started training the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand. Before that, he hadn't fully mastered the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand either, so learning the advanced art required a bit of insistence and throwing a tantrum on his part. He begged Zhao Wuyang to teach him the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand so that he could learn it a little earlier.

Zhao Wuyang didn't teach him the art without any thought either. He only permitted it because Fang Zhesan had almost mastered the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand.

Good, let's go with Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand!

It was a decision Fang Zhesan felt comfortable with, confident that his opponent posed no threat. If he was up against a formidable opponent, he would not think of using a martial art that he wasn't used to performing since it could backfire.

When he made the decision, he was quick to act. He finally stopped showing off his footwork art and started attacking.

Fang Zhesan closed the distance between himself and Zhou Xuchuan in the blink of an eye. His movements were smooth, like a falling flower petal. The shift in the use of martial arts was natural and also dangerous.

"Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand!"

The audience shouted in surprise. The only art that possessed such an agile yet smooth nature among the hand arts of Mount Hua was the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand. Everyone recognized it immediately.

It's over!

Fang Zhesan aimed his hand, shaped like a knife, at Zhou Xuchuan's chest. He cut the air in two as he flew forward, his movements looking natural.

Whether it was Fang Zhesan or the observers, they were certain the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand would land squarely on Zhou Xuchuan's chest.

However…

"Ack! What the hell?"

Zhou Xuchuan was also taken aback at the appearance of the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand. While he was aware of it, this was his first time fighting someone using it. When he sparred with others of the same generation in his previous life, they all used sword arts like normal.

It wasn't surprising that he was taken aback since he had never experienced this before. Because of that, he used a little bit more strength than he intended to.

Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword to block the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand, ensuring to use the flat of his blade to avoid harming Fang Zhesan.

Crack!

"Huh?" Fang Zhesan was bewildered, unable to understand what was happening.

His hand, containing all of his qi, was broken, with four of his fingers twisted in unnatural directions.

Before he could fully process the sight, he also saw the flat of a sword falling down on him.

"Guergh!"

With a resounding thud, Fang Zhesan flopped onto the ground like a frog splattering.

The audience fell silent.

Oh my god… Zhou Xuchuan inwardly exclaimed, I'm too strong.