Chapter 78: Combat and Fire

Chapter 78: Combat and Fire

Han Lingyun switched to his blackbird mode. He wasnt going to try using any formation arrays as his use of them should still be relatively unknown. Only a couple disciples had suffered from them during the first phase and it was unlikely that any of them saw his face and recognized who he was. Only Yu Tao and Wang Yimo knew he had this card.

Back to the fight on hand, Han Lingyun didnt approach Zheng Shun and the Northern Wudang Sect disciple also kept his distance, seemingly hesitant to act. Still at his starting position, Han Lingyun launched an invisible qi blade. Zhen Shun couldnt see the qi attack but he wasnt going to ignore it. He raised his elbows in a guarding stance he circulated his defensive martial art that strengthened his body to an incredible degree.

*Clank* The qi blade collided with Zhen Shun forearms and pushed him back. Zheng Shun groaned in pain as some blood began trickling down his arms to his shock. Even after the attenuation with distance and his specialization in dissipating attacks, Han Lingyun had managed to slightly injure him. His qi was that much denser!

Han Lingyun had the absolute advantage at range so the strategy was simply to harass Zheng Shun from afar with his qi blades. He could attack his opponent when Zheng Shun couldnt hope to reach him.

The first qi blade was immediately followed by another one, a third, a fourth He circled the bulky Zheng Shun that fell straight away in a precarious situation as deeper and deeper cuts appeared on his body. His regeneration couldnt keep up with his injuries that kept stacking up. It was a despairing situation where he was losing on his favorite grounds. The difference of strength and qi density was too much.

Before his state worsened to the point where he would be disabled for later fights, Zheng Shun shouted, I ADMIT DEFEAT. STOP I admit defeat.

Han Lingyuns last qi Blade was dissipated by the elder watching over the duel and Zheng Shun pitifully exited the stage in tears; it wasnt clear if that was from the pain or the mental blow from that one-sided fight. There hadnt been the slightest suspense. His opponent was faster, had a longer range and overpowered his defense.

Han Lingyun also exited the stage, satisfied by a job well done. An easy win was a perfect win in his books.

Surprisingly, Wang Yimo didnt even have to fight during that round, with her opponent admitting defeat before the fight began. Once again She was indeed a scary opponent on paper with her 5th grade talent, a second rank in the White Tiger Sect and her short demonstration in a duel this morning. Her adversary probably thought he didnt stand a chance, which was most likely the case too.

A couple other White Tiger Sect 2nd years made it to the top 64 as well, which was already an achievement. If one thought about it, even by only taking disciples from the top 16 sects in consideration, on average each sect would only have its 4 strongest representants at that stage.

The White Tiger Sect still had 8 disciples. Among them were the 4 figureheads: Wei Muchen, Yu Tao, Wang Yimo and Han Lingyun. Their high ranks during the first phase had prevented them from facing any tough opponents yet, so reaching the top 64 had been a formality. The tournament format made it more random for the others, with some surprise wins and losses. Those that made it were Lai Meihui, the White Tiger Schools rising star with her fire affinity, Liao Shao who had turned to the sword path that complemented well his metal affinity, Qi Bo a sword cultivator as well, and Liao Qiaolian which was the most unexpected one to reach that stage among the 8 disciples.

Liao Qiaolian was Liao Zhenzhens cousin. Arguably, during the two years at the White Tiger School she had been less remarkable than two of her fellow sword maidens, Qin Mei and Liao Zhenzhen. Still, the randomness of the duels led to this great outcome from her.

With 8 places in the top 64, at this stage the White Tiger Sect was only second to the Cheng Huang School and their 11 disciples still in the game.

But not all the disciples in the White Tiger Sect were satisfied by their results. And a large portion of their top 4th grade talents had lost in the duels to reach the top 64. The prime examples were Li An, Qin Mei, Liao Zhenzhen, and Pan Xiulan, all regulars of the 2nd bracket.

As for Han Lingyuns only two true friends: Yang Haoyu was part of those that made it to the top 128 but not further. This result was in line with his strength and an appearance in the top 64 would have been quite a surprise in fact.

The rune looked complex and erratic, vaguely resembling dancing flames, with pikes and curvy lines mixed together.

Fire, one of the five natural runes. Wood generates fire by nourishing it.

Fire is destruction, the unstoppable force of nature that burns down all in its wake consuming all for its growth. Fire is uncontrollable anger, the fury that seeps in ones bones and overruns the mind.

Fire and heat are the primal forms of energy, untamed and free. The first spark bringing light. The great sun warming the earth, the beacon that never betrays its cause, day after day, year after year, century after century. The distant objective, the unattainable goal, the unimaginable force that burns those that get too close to its majesty.

Fire prefers to defeat its enemies unconditionally without burdening itself with thoughts of collateral damage.

Fire is the reassuring friend, the resistance that wards of beasts and darkness. Fire is a joyful dancing spirit, the smiling grandpa warming the house during winter.

Fire is the movement that fights its worst enemy: the absolute coldness, the immobile, death.

Once again, Han Lingyun could complete his understanding of the element with physical theories he had from his last life. The chemistry behind combustion, the energy of thermal agitation and what he remembered from the mechanisms of a star. Two core ideas he focused on were Temperature and Heat. The beautiful equation providing the evolution of temperature:

But what's Temperature? What is Heat? Temperature is a physical quantity measuring the average kinetic energy of atoms and molecules in a system. In other words, are those particles vibrating fast (hot) or are they rather still (cold)? Heat on the other hand represents the transfer of that kinetic energy. It could take three forms: conduction (particle to particle), convection (large movements of matter) or radiation (emission of energy in electromagnetic form).

Han Lingyun had a good understanding of these concepts and phenomena. This helped him greatly to introduce the fire concept in his spirit world, especially since the emotional dimension of the fire element wasnt too in tune with himself.

Every time he cultivated in his own little world, he felt so refreshed and rejuvenated as qi danced around him and permeated his spirit.

The Sun caressed Han Lingyuns neck through his window as the new day inevitably came around.

He opened his eyes, blazing with determination. Time for serious business.