Chapter 1855 - Mo Xiao Wants a Duel

style="font-weight: bold">Translator: StarveCleric  style="font-weight: bold">Editor: Millman97

The young man who had just appeared was none other than the close brother whom Zheng Yang had grown up with, Mo Xiao!

Back then, the two of them had joined Hongtian Academy with gusto, swearing to one another that they would join Wang Chao laoshi’s class and become his student. Mo Xiao had eventually succeeded, but due to his poor performance during the assessment, Zheng Yang had lost his place to Sun Shan and ended up becoming Zhang Xuan’s student.

Back then, none of them could have imagined that things would turn out like that.

The one who had cleared the assessment was still stuck in the Tianxuan Kingdom, and his name only echoed within the walls of Hongtian Academy. On the other hand, the one who had failed the assessment had risen above the ranks and become the head of the Combat Master Hall. In terms of strength, there were probably no more than a handful of people who could put up a fight against him.

Sometimes, the plans that fate had in store were truly baffling.

“You are…” Hearing his name being called in a very familiar manner, Mo Xiao could not help but frown.

As an Ancient Sage, if Zheng Yang did not want someone weaker than him to recognize him, there was no way the other party would be able to discern his original appearance. As a result, not even the brother whom he had grown up with was able to recognize him.

“I am Zheng Yang!” Zheng Yang said as he dispelled his disguise, revealing his true appearance.

“Zheng Yang?” Hearing that familiar name and seeing that familiar face, Mo Xiao’s eyes suddenly reddened.

The two of them had been together ever since they were very young, and they had practiced their spearmanship together. It had only been a year since they had parted from one another, but Mo Xiao had always thought that they would never meet again in their lifetime. He had not thought that they would meet one another again so soon.

After his agitation died down, Mo Xiao asked, “Didn’t you leave with Zhang shi? Why would you…”

Based on what he had heard, Zhang Xuan had successfully cleared the master teacher examination, thus becoming the pride of the Tianxuan Kingdom. As for what happened afterward, due to the Tianxuan Kingdom being too isolated from the rest of the world, Mo Xiao did not know too much.

“I happened to be free, so I came back to meet up with you and the others!” Zheng Yang replied with a smile.

He could tell that the other party was curious about what he had been through over the past year, but to be honest, he had no idea how he should begin explaining it. After all, there was no one in the Tianxuan Kingdom who knew anything about the Combat Master Hall or Ancient Sages…

Would the other party understand the significance of these terms if he tried to explain it to him?

“This is great! Given how long you have been with Zhang shi, you should have already reached Fighter 8-dan Zongshi realm by now, right? It has been very long since we last sparred with one another! I’ll have you know that I’ve learned a formidable spear art in the last year, and my cultivation has also reached Fighter 7-dan Tongxuan realm pinnacle! Let me see how much you have improved over the past year!”

With a flick of his wrist, Mo Xiao retrieved his spear from his back and pointed it toward Zheng Yang with fighting will flaring from him.

He had been unable to find a suitable sparring partner ever since Zheng Yang left, and his hand had been itching for a good opponent. Upon seeing Zheng Yang right before his eyes, how could he possibly allow the other party to get away without a fight?

“Zongshi realm? Tongxuan realm pinnacle? Spear art?” Zheng Yang was not too sure how he should react to this situation. He looked at Mo Xiao for a moment before shaking his head. “Why don’t we sit down and catch up with one another instead?”

It had just been year, but those realms felt so far away from him that he could hardly remember them anymore.

“Why? Are you afraid that I’ll accidentally injure you? There’s no need to worry about that—I’m able to control my strength rather well. I’ll hold myself back if I see that you are at your limits. There won’t be any problems, so there’s no need to worry!” Mo Xiao laughed heartily.

“This…” Zheng Yang scratched his head in embarrassment.

For an Ancient Sage like him to actually spar with a Fighter 7-dan Tongxuan realm cultivator… Wasn’t this pretty much bullying?

Noticing Zheng Yang’s hesitation, Mo Xiao frowned. “Are you looking down on me right now, or are you afraid that you will be humiliated upon suffering a defeat?”

“That’s not it…”

Since Mo Xiao had already put it in such a way, there was no way that Zheng Yang could continue turning him down. Thus, he shook his head helplessly before taking out the weakest spear that he had in his possession.

“Where should we have the battle?”

“Oh? You even have a storage ring! Not bad, it seems like Zhang shi treats you quite well!” Seeing the spear materialize in Zheng Yang’s arm, Mo Xiao’s eyes glowed in envy. He pointed to the side and said, “My teacher is going to hold a class here, so let’s go over to a dueling ring.”

“He doesn’t have a storage ring either…” Seeing the massive gap standing between the two of them, Zheng Yang shook his head bitterly. Feeling a bad premonition, he sighed deeply before replying, “Let’s go then.”

They began making their way over to the dueling ring not too far away.

“Let’s head over to take a look too!”

Since the lecture over here had yet to begin, Zhang Xuan and the others decided to follow along.

At the same time, seeing that those swindlers were actually acquainted with her senior, the young lady hesitated for a brief moment before deciding to tag along.

Both Zheng Yang and Mo Xiao leaped onto the nearest dueling ring, and they immediately caught the attention of the crowd.

Seeing that so many people had gathered around, Zheng Yang quickly concealed his appearance and aura so that the other spectators would not discern his true identity.

“Mo Xiao is the famed spearmanship genius in the academy. With his cultivation, even the teachers and elders aren’t a match for him. Where in the world did that fellow pop out from to dare compete with him?”

“I have no idea. I’m just here to watch the other party get pummeled!”

“Haha! Same here!”

Over the past year, Mo Xiao had made rapid progress under Lu Xun’s tutelage. Be it in terms of his cultivation or his comprehension of spearmanship, he was already approaching a level comparable to Zongshi. There would not be too many people in the entire Hongtian Academy who were a match for him, let alone a youngster who had just appeared from nowhere!

On the other hand, Lu Xun had also noticed the commotion, and it did not take him long to figure out what was going on from the discussion among the crowd. Sighing deeply, he looked at the crowd, who were looking at the duel excitedly, and said, “Since they are going to have a duel, I shall use their duel as the topic of my lecture today. I’ll talk about the feasibility of certain spearmanship maneuvers in real time battle.”

“Woah! That will really be an interesting lecture!”

“Waaa! I love hearing Lu laoshi talking about practical battle concepts!”

“There is no lecture that will enhance one’s fighting prowess more than this. I really haven’t come in vain today!”

Hearing that Lu Xun was going to lecture about the usage of spearmanship in battle, a huge commotion rippled through the crowd, and the excitement in the room was palpable. Everyone swiftly turned their gazes to the dueling ring.

“Haha, come!”

Seeing that everyone’s attention was on him, including his teacher’s, Mo Xiao felt more pumped than ever. With a powerful push, his spear whooshed toward Zheng Yang.

Wuuuuuuu!

The speed of his spear was so fast that one could literally hear a sonic boom in the air.

“The attack that Mo Xiao has just made isn’t too bad. His movements are decisive, and it follows through smoothly without any unnecessary hesitation, reminiscent of the flowing current of a river. The crux in spearmanship lies in the fluidity of one’s movements. Once one has made a decision, one’s movements must be lightning fast in order to create a powerful momentum to overwhelm one’s enemy. Ordinary Zongshis would find it hard to stand against the attack that Mo Xiao just launched,” Lu Xun explained calmly as he nodded in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, as one of the participants of the duel, Zheng Yang was extremely conflicted.

The movement of the spear before him was simply too slow, no different from the movements of a snail. Furthermore, its might was so weak that if he deflected it carelessly, he might end up hurting his friend. This really put him in a spot.

Deflecting it was not an option, but not deflecting it was not a good idea either… What a dilemma!

“Just as I said, the momentum created by Mo Xiao has overwhelmed his enemy, leaving his enemy in utter panic.”

Seeing that Zheng Yang was not moving in the least, Lu Xun nodded. “The spearmanship that I have imparted to Mo Xiao is centered around the idea of momentum. Its true might lies in controlling the flow of battle through imposing momentum. In order to train Mo Xiao, I took him to a waterfall and had him withstand the force of the currents for three whole months before he reached his current level. There’s no doubt that his opponent is going to l-l-l-l-lose…”

Before he could finish his words, his lips suddenly began quivering uncontrollably.

Mo Xiao’s spear struck Zheng Yang’s eye squarely, and then…

It completely dissipated.

The spear, that was.