A Good-for-Nothing

168. A Quest for Spirits of Weapons (2)

Translator: Dragon Rider

Three hours was neither short nor long. For those who had been in a state of concentration, the three hours had felt like a mere instant; for those who hadn’t, every second of it had felt like a year.

Xiang Hailou had planted an enchanted mirror in the training ground before leaving. Though not present, he was able to see distinctly each and every move of these trainees.

Only a couple of people had really been meditating with their Qi gathered in their Dantian from start to finish.

Three hours later, Xiang Hailou promptly showed up and woke up those immersed in their Consciousness Sea one by one.

He Zheng opened his eyes and saw that Tao Wujiu and Kang Ba were standing on the side, their faces full of shame. He asked someone and was told the reason. It turned out that the two of them had been stealthily chatting with each other instead of meditating, and Xiang Hailou had caught them red-handed and eventually docked each of them a point.

Wei Cheng, however, had still been stroking his weapon since he’d opened his eyes, a contemplative look on his face. Wei Cheng cast a glance at He Zheng, who was keeping silent, his mouth a thin line.

Chen Qianlin was the first one to leave after Xiang Hailou dismissed them.

He Zheng fingered the Shadow Sword, which vibrated in response to his movement.

The training they were given during the next few days was even duller. Every day, they sat cross-legged and started meditating immediately after entering the training ground and didn’t stop until they were told to leave. Although the training course of STTP was not as difficult as the recruitment examination of SMB, every one of them had eliminated a lot of competitors to get here, so naturally all of them were quite capable and relatively strong-willed. After a few sessions their impatience was replaced by determination.

But it’d take determination and luck to find the spirit in a weapon, and both of them were indispensable.

During the remainder of the training course, when in the training ground, everybody was meditating with concentration, their Qi gathered in their Dantian.

A week later, though none of them had found anything, some of them, when practicing their exorcism skills, surprisedly discovered that their powers had grown.

In terms of the effect of the moves displayed by Xiang Hailou with a whip, Wei Cheng had made the most noticeable progress. Originally his demon-killing staff had been a purely offensive weapon, but now, it seemed to have developed some vitality.

Chen Qianlin, who’d been endowed with a great facility for exorcism, had drawn some inspiration from Xiang Hailou’s moves. This was the first time that he’d displayed his powers to his fellow trainees, and all his maneuvers were natural and smooth: lateral slash, straight thrust, to name but two.

Although Chen Qianlin hadn’t reached the level of controlling sword-light without moving his sword, the brooding gleams of his sword and violent undulation of energy around him deterred everybody nearby from approaching.

Originally he’d been practicing alone, but after he finished a set of sword-moves, most of his fellow trainees had spontaneously gathered around him, each having a mixture of envy and admiration on their face.

Chen Qianlin withdrew his sword. Seeing all of them watching him, he was secretly self-satisfied and raised his chin.

The couple of disciples of the Tigers and Dragons Mountain, at the sight of the awestruck expressions of the others who were shocked by Chen Qianlin’s moves, involuntarily wore complacent looks on their faces, basking in Chen Qianlin’s reflected glory. They had always been proud of their identity as disciples of a prestigious sect and had an air of superiority about them. During the process of the interview for STTP, they’d always been considering themselves a cut above others and acting quite condescendingly.

Ever since the incident of Luo Yan, they had been restraining themselves, but now Chen Qianlin’s performance was making them smug again.

One of them, who knew Chen Qianlin and He Zheng were on bad terms, specially paid Chen Qianlin a compliment. “Chen Qianlin is indeed the most talented one of us all. He made such progress after practicing for merely a couple of days!”

He deliberately fixed his eyes on He Zheng while saying this, which made his intention very obvious.

He Zheng, who hadn’t even joined the crowd around Chen Qianlin, couldn’t be bothered to talk to any of them and turned around with his back to them.

Chen Qianlin, who had been smugly enjoying the others’ admiring gaze, was infuriated by He Zheng who hadn’t paid any attention to him whatsoever. In a fit of temper, eyes flashing, he gave a snort and suddenly called, “He Zheng, I noticed that you’ve been meditating with concentration during the past few days, and I think you’ve made some progress as well. Care to go a few rounds?”

He Zheng slightly swiveled his head aside and glanced at him.

Chen Qianlin looked sideways at He Zheng. “I heard that during the interview your group was the first to finish the task. Surely you’re not afraid of having a competition with me if you’re really that good, are you?”

Disciples of the Tigers and Dragons Mountain immediately started goading him. “If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Are you by any chance scared to lose, He Zheng?”

Tao Wujiu furrowed his brows. It was understandable that youngsters were easily given to passions, but this kind of deliberate provocation wasn’t going to do any good. “We’re teammates, not enemies. What’s the point of having a competition?”

“We’re in the same training course, and it’s very necessary for us to improve our skills through competitions. I believe I’m more than competent enough to help He Zheng make some improvement.” Chen Qianlin stared fixedly at He Zheng, his eyes as aggressive as though he wanted to burn two holes in He Zheng’s body with his gaze.

Disciples of the Tigers and Dragons Mountain jeered even louder.

Lin Zhuo feared that He Zheng would act on impulse, for in his opinion He Zheng, though not bad, didn’t stack up against Chen Qianlin for the moment. Looking at He Zheng nervously, Lin Zhuo said, “It’s been a tough day, and I think all of us are very tired.”

“Just admit you’re afraid,” snorted Chen Qianlin.

He Zheng rolled his eyes upwards and snapped, “I was never good at swordplay. Why should I have a competition with you?”

Then he added, “If I want to improve my swordcraft, I could just spar with Li Zong. You don’t seriously think you’re better than Li Zong, do you?”

All others were speechless.

Good. This was quite the counter-attack.

Li Zong was Chen Qianlin’s Achilles heel. This statement of He Zheng’s definitely had hit home.