Chapter 498 - Ripples (V)

Chapter 498

Ripples (V)

"Go, Brother Gu!"

"Avenge us, Brother Gu!"

Zhan Qiu heard the voice trail from below and leaned over the railing, where he saw that quite a few dozen kids had gathered around one of the sparring arenas. There were two on top of it: this year's top Junior, little Gu, who kind of came from nowhere during the Junior Competition and won it by skin's teeth against Sect Master's latest Direct Disciple.

And opposite of him was that man's Disciple. His name was Xing Feng, from what Zhan Qiu recalled, and he looked to be about eleven or twelve, at most, while little Gu was fifteen already.

Despite that, the latter's expression was hardened and serious, and the many bruised and beaten kids roaring by the stage were the reason why.

Xing Feng wielded a strange club-like weapon and had a rather relaxed expression; on the other side, little Gu had taken out his prized axe that Sect Master gifted him for winning the tournament and had even doused it in Phoenix Oil, setting it ablaze.

"Begin!" the overseeing Senior Disciple that Zhan Qiu couldn't quite name indicated the start, prompting little Gu to immediately rush forward, swinging the axe wildly overhead.

The trail of fire sparked off into individual embers as the axe came crashing down toward the boy; the latter seemed to vanish rather abruptly and appear to the side, the strange club already in the swinging motion. Little Gu must have anticipated it as he recoiled the downward-falling axe and spun it sideways, crashing it into the club.

Metallic sounds rang off as sparks emerged at the point of collision. The fire jutting from the axe tried to push forward and consume all in its path, but the little, strange club endured rather easily as Xing Feng bounced back, breaking the stalemate.

"Wooohoo, Brother Gu!!"

"Brother Gu is amazing!"

"Finally! That bastard will get what's coming for him!"

Zhan Qiu smiled faintly at his Junior's blind commentary; while little Gu was undoubtedly talented and would not fall short of any of the other kids his age across all the Holy Lands, that was only the case for normal Disciples even of those places, to say nothing of that man.

He'd seen his Disciples fight and had to admit, through wounded pride, were he not quite a few major realms ahead of them all, he would be folded by them like a chair.

"Oh?" he exclaimed softly as he saw little Gu push forward even more aggressively, probably inspired by the cheers, while Xing Feng looked to be... struggling.

The fight went on for about thirty more seconds, with each clash seemingly pushing the sect's guest further and further back, until he was knocked off the arena.

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"A-ah, thank you for your guidance, Senior!" Xing Feng bowed toward little Gu, who was panting rather heavily, with beads of sweat falling off his bald head.

"H-he won! Brother Gu won!!!"

"Aaaahhh!!!" cheers erupted so loudly that Zhan Qiu felt his ears itch for a moment.

A faint smile still hung on his lips as he watched it all unfold.

"Our little guest is quite courteous." He looked sideways, where he saw a young woman suddenly appear in the burst of flames. Words got caught up in his throat as he rapidly fell to his knees and kowtowed thrice in succession.

"Disciple greets Archmaster!"

"Your form is still off, little Qiu," she said. "You're supposed to slam your knees into the ground so hard that the blood breaks out from the hurt."

"I apologize, Archmaster! I shall learn better!"

To the uninitiated and outsiders, this woman would likely mean nothing. Everyone believed that the strongest person in the Deathless Phoenix Sect was either its Master, the titular Deathless Phoenix, or one of the Prime Elders.

That wasn't the case, however--nor was it ever, in fact. The strongest person in the Sect was the woman standing in front of him.

"You can get up." He finally relaxed somewhat as she spoke, slowly standing up and dusting off his robes. He looked over at her and saw that she was leaning on the railing, a hand on her cheek.

Her long hair was like a mane of fire, flowing down to her lower back, and though she donned loose, simple, red robes, her beauty could not be contained.

"Your eyes will fall out from staring," she said, glancing over at him with a wry smirk, eyes shimmering with flames. "Aren't you a bit too old to be so easily smitten, little Qiu?"

"I am only ever smitten by your beauty, Archmaster, and no other!" he quickly bowed. Though they were words of flattery, they were absolutely true.

"Cute," she chuckled. "You've brought a rather strange thing to my home."

"U-uh... should, should I not have?" he asked, worrying. Though Archmaster almost never interfered in the Sect's day-to-day existence, when she did... her word was the law. If she commanded him to go and try to kill them all, he would have no other choice but to obey.

"Shoulds and should-nots are such outdated little things," she said. "That boy, what do you think of him?"

"B-boy? Ah, you mean Xing Feng. Uh... I think he's extremely talented."

"More talented than you?"

"... m-maybe?"

"You think quite highly of yourself, then," she said as Zhan Qiu's heart dropped. "Oh, don't feel so dispirited. For this corner of the world, you stand at the absolute peak, little Qiu."

"For this corner of the world, huh?" he mumbled, smiling bitterly.

"Why? Do you have some big dreams that you never disclosed to anyone else?"

"... how talented is he?"

"Hmm," she hummed for a moment before replying. "Probably just barely enough to eventually become an Emperor."

"!!!!!!" Zhan Qiu's jaw came unhinged.

... she said Emperor. She did not say Imperial Realm. Though most ignorant of the depths of the martial arts conflate the two, they were as distant as heaven and earth in terms of meaning. What Archmaster just said was that the boy had the talent to become one of the thousand strongest martial artists... everywhere.

"Then... the others...?" he just barely dared ask.

"Here and there," she smirked. "I wouldn't worry about them, though. That little kid was right: they can't stay here for long. The boy who came to investigate them is just about to reach the sect gates."

"W-what?! Then, then I must--"

"--you mustn't anything," she interrupted. "Leave them alone. Whatever they request, you acquiesce. Ah--that birdie has become quite restless since that man came."

"H-huh? What birdie? What man?" Zhan Qiu asked.

"Though I had hoped," she said as her figure began to vanish into embers and ash. "To think I would truly get to see a Phoenix's Rebirth with my own eyes. Ah, Master would be so jealous."

Just like that, she was gone.

Leaving Zhan Qiu's mind spinning so quickly that he nearly passed out.

He didn't hear it wrong, did he? Phoenix's Rebirth could only mean one thing--that there truly was a phoenix in that massive bundle of flames... and that Lu Qi had the means of helping it finalize the rebirth.

... I should have just not brought them here, huh?