Chapter 109: Cao Youqian – 'Junior Brother, Hit a Bit Harder”

Chapter 109: Cao Youqian – "Junior Brother, Hit a Bit Harder" Clang, clang, clang... On the dueling platform, Wang Baole's firewood cleaver moved as fast as lightning. The spectators below couldn’t even see the speed of his strikes—only a blur of afterimages flashed before their eyes. The blood wolf, as large as a water buffalo, had just leapt into the air when it suddenly plummeted down and crashed heavily onto the platform with a loud thud. In the next instant, blood spread beneath it. Zhu Huifei cried out in shock at the sight, completely forgetting he was still in a fight, and ran toward his blood wolf. “Wolf Bro, Big Wolf, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me!” “Whimper...” Seeing his blood wolf lying motionless on the ground, Zhu Huifei burst into tears right there on the platform. Watching this, Wang Baole calmly said, “It just fainted. Although I struck thirteen times in one breath, none of the blows were fatal. I only severed its limbs. If you admit defeat now, there's still time to save it. Any later, and who knows what lasting effects might remain.” Zhu Huifei snapped back to reality upon hearing this and hurriedly stood up, shouting: “I admit defeat, I admit defeat!” Even the referee was dumbfounded. He had officiated many Outer Sect matches before, but this was the first time he’d seen a fight like this. “Wang Baole wins!” With that, the spectators finally returned to their senses and burst into animated chatter. “Damn, that little fatty’s got skills! Thirteen strikes in one breath—how fast must that blade be?” “For a guy, being that fast isn’t always a good thing.” “I’m talking seriously here, why’d you suddenly go off track?” “...” Ignoring the discussions, Wang Baole jumped down from the platform with his cleaver in hand. He carefully took out a piece of beast hide from his storage pouch and began cleaning the blade. A few sharp-eyed disciples nearby spotted the hide and instinctively cried out in shock. “Damn! That’s lightning leopard hide! This guy’s strong!” Lightning Leopard—just hearing the name caused a stir in the crowd. It was the fastest beast among all at the Dao Foundation Realm, and one of the most troublesome to deal with. Even for disciples of Wendao Academy—prodigies in the eyes of outsiders—few dared to face a Lightning Leopard alone. “This tournament has produced another monster in Wendao Academy.” In the stands, the Xuanhuo Alchemy King watched Wang Baole's performance and joked, “Xiao Feng, looks like you picked up another treasure of a disciple.” Chu Feng laughed. “I have to thank the other institutes for that. If they hadn’t passed on this little fatty, I wouldn’t have known how odd his talent was.” The surrounding institute chiefs all showed puzzled expressions at those words. The Xuanhuo Alchemy King asked, “So there’s something special about this kid’s background?” Chu Feng recounted the full story of how Wang Baole had presented the Wendao Token to seek apprenticeship and was ultimately assigned to the Miscellaneous Dao Institute. After hearing it, several chiefs suddenly felt a strong urge to beat up their own elders. The Xuanhuo Alchemy King continued, “You still haven’t told us what’s strange about his talent.” “He awakened the Taotie bloodline—the Taotie Body.” Chu Feng didn’t hide Wang Baole’s gift and revealed it openly. The chiefs instantly let go of any jealousy. A Taotie Body? That was a talent they couldn’t afford to raise. Better to let him drain Chu Feng dry. That afternoon, Wang Baole fought another match—and won just as easily. Some playful onlookers even gave him a nickname: "Cleaver Guy." Over the next few days, Wang Baole continued to win effortlessly, quickly securing his spot among the top hundred. At the same time, the Inner Sect Tournament also began. Wang Baole had no matches that day, so he followed his master, Senior Brother, and Third Senior Sister to watch Second Senior Brother’s first fight. The rules for the Inner and True Disciple Tournaments differed slightly from the Outer Sect. Since there were no physical arenas, all battles were fought in midair. As such, there was no concept of being knocked out of bounds—the designated combat area spanned a full li in radius, allowing fighters to unleash their full power. The match would end only when one side admitted defeat, lost the ability to fight, or was knocked into the lake ten times. Spectators could only watch from the shore. No one was allowed to enter the lake or interfere with the fight. At Lake Arena No. 2, the referee announced, “Next match: Cao Youqian of the Miscellaneous Dao Institute versus Tie Xing of the Weapon Forging Institute!” The crowd on the shore gasped in surprise. “What’s going on? Senior Brother Cao is such a beast—why isn’t he a seeded contestant?” “Exactly. Putting him in the preliminaries is just bullying.” “Right? Even geniuses from the Sword Dao Institute aren’t his match. How is any ordinary inner sect disciple supposed to fight him?” As the crowd buzzed with speculation, Cao Youqian walked calmly across the water with his hands behind his back. At the same time, a burly figure descended from the sky. It was an old man with thick eyebrows and large eyes, carrying a massive hammer on his back. The moment Tie Xing appeared, the watching disciples were stunned. One of them asked hesitantly, “Is this guy really an inner sect disciple? He looks older than some of the elders.” “Yeah, he’s just over thirty, but he forges weapons every day. Even though he’s young, he looks like he’s near death.” “Didn’t know blacksmithing was so life-draining.” “???” Tie Xing ignored the chatter. He slung the hammer onto his back and bowed first. “Greetings, Senior Brother Cao.” “You’re too polite, Junior Brother Tie.” Cao Youqian replied with a bright smile, showing none of the arrogance one might expect. On the spectator platform, the Xuanhuo Alchemy King saw Cao Youqian’s transformation and gave Chu Feng a thumbs-up. “Xiao Feng, thanks to you, Qian’er’s become such a polite and well-mannered boy.” Chu Feng shook his head. “You flatter me, Senior. If you want to thank someone, thank Xiao Chen—he’s the one who often teaches Qian’er how to behave.” ??? A bunch of large question marks instantly popped up over the Xuanhuo Alchemy King’s head. Just what kind of tone was that? Thankfully, the match had already begun, pulling everyone’s attention back to the water’s surface. Bang! Bang! Bang! On the lake, Tie Xing’s hammer struck Cao Youqian’s body again and again, each hit ringing out with a crisp clang. Cao Youqian stood there with his hands behind his back, smiling as he watched Tie Xing. “Junior Brother Tie, hit harder. I can still take it!” Tie Xing flushed red with anger. “Senior Brother Cao, you’re going too far! Take this—Flaming Fierce Hammer!” As he shouted, his hammer burst into red flames and came crashing down toward Cao Youqian’s head. The crowd watching all held their breath. Even the referee was ready to intervene at a moment’s notice. Thunk! The hammer slammed into Cao Youqian’s head with a thunderous sound. The massive rebound force instantly sent the hammer flying from Tie Xing’s hands—only for it to rebound and smash right into his own face. Crack! A crisp crack echoed across the lake as Tie Xing fell from the air and splashed into the water. Everyone on the shore was stunned, frozen in place and speechless for a long moment. Even the referee was dazed for several breaths before finally announcing, “Cao Youqian wins!” ==================================================================================== Get access to 20 chapters in advance and enjoy 2 daily updates by supporting the series. Available on Patreon: /Alex_Cruise or Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/anish_44