20: Early signs of talent

Next.

He Wu took a long sword from the rack, twirled it a few times, and found it quite handy.

"Who's next?"

"I'll do it."

A woman from Luohe City stepped out.

Ten seconds later.

He Wu won.

He Wu only made two moves in total; even someone who didn't understand swordsmanship could see that his sword skills were superb.

"Whoa, this He Wu's swordsmanship is incredible," Li Fangnan exclaimed.

Someone said, "Of course, he's practiced the sword for at least ten years, and his Extraordinary Talent is 'Weapon', which happens to be a sword. To be honest, I doubt anyone is his match right now."

"Two wins, at least we don't have to move."

That's right, with two wins, even though they only had 52 people, they would have enough sofa seats even if they lost the next match.

Xiao Weiqing saw He Wu return.

He stood up.

He went to the rack and scanned it.

He also picked a sword and swung it twice, but it didn't feel right. Finally, he saw a straight saber and picked it up with one hand.

"Not bad, you'll do."

Li Fangnan looked on, completely confused. "Zhang Dawei, what's with Xiao Weiqing? Didn't he say he only knew a little about weapons?"

"Does he know both the sword and the saber?"

Actually, Li Fangnan was being very polite; anyone with eyes could see that Xiao Weiqing's way of holding the saber was that of a complete novice.

"Don't worry, Brother Qing knows what he's doing. It's not a big deal."

Zhang Dawei wasn't worried at all. At this stage, 'Art' didn't have much of an advantage, but that certainly didn't include Xiao Weiqing. With that eerie flame, he'd probably win as soon as he touched someone.

Inside the main control room.

Several people were staring at the screen.

"I'll go down and take a look. True Art is no joke; we don't want any accidents."

Wang Fu walked down.

For the third match, the person stepping up from Luohe City was another girl.

The girl had a petite build and held a scimitar. It seemed she had either 'Technique' or 'Weapon' talent.

Neither of them wasted words.

After cupping their hands in respect, the woman charged forward with her blade.

A simple, vertical slash.

Xiao Weiqing raised his blade with one hand to block, and a massive force traveled through the wooden saber.

The next second.

The woman lunged forward, her fair palm about to strike Xiao Weiqing's chest.

"It's a win."

The people from Luohe City felt relieved.

The woman's name was Hu Qing, a Level 3 'Body' talent with the Strength of the Savage Elephant. Even though she had just awakened her Extraordinary Talent, her strength far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Holding the saber was just a distraction; they didn't believe anyone could take a palm strike from her at this point.

It all happened in a flash.

At the same moment her palm struck Xiao Weiqing's chest, he kicked off the ground and retreated rapidly, while Spiritual Qi erupted from his upper body.

Bang!

A palm strike landed.

Xiao Weiqing couldn't stop himself from stumbling back.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Every step he took on the floor made a clanging sound.

Xiao Weiqing was surprised. "This woman has incredible strength."

If not for the Spiritual Qi blocking the blow, that single strike would have sent him flying.

"Whoa, Spiritual Qi overflow? Does Xiao Weiqing have this much Spiritual Qi?"

"I'm also a Level 3 'Art', and I struggle just to summon a gust of wind, let alone achieve Spiritual Qi overflow." Ning Zhi felt a distinct gap for the first time.

Wang Fu, who had just arrived, had his eyes light up. "Good kid, what kind of monster is this? Looking at this, he's already injected quite a bit of Spiritual Qi into his Shenque."

Xiao Weiqing had only obtained his Extraordinary Talent for a day. Even without eating or drinking, it should be impossible to achieve this, especially since he only had a Level 3 Extraordinary Talent.

"Hu Qing, be careful."

The people from Luohe warned her, clearly seeing that Xiao Weiqing was extraordinary.

Hu Qing nodded.

The next moment.

Xiao Weiqing took a step forward.

He swept his blade horizontally. The blade moved through the air and quickly turned red. By the time it reached Hu Qing, it had transformed into a flaming saber.

Hu Qing was also startled. How could anyone achieve this level at this stage? She hurriedly raised her blade to block.

"Boom!"

As the two blades met, the fire rapidly spread toward Hu Qing. Looking closely, there were two hair-thin red lines within the flames, winding toward her.

"Let go!"

Xiao Weiqing shouted.

Hu Qing was stubborn as well. "I won't!"

"Bang!"

A figure appeared beside Hu Qing and slapped her away.

It was Wang Fu arriving just in time.

Then, with a wave of his hand, water appeared out of thin air, enveloping the wooden scimitar in an attempt to extinguish the fire.

To his surprise, as soon as the water and fire met, the Qi Fire attached to the scimitar erupted violently.

"Hmm?"

Wang Fu was surprised.

He made a grasping motion with one hand and shouted, "Seal!"

The wooden scimitar was instantly frozen, becoming an ice sculpture. The flames burned inside but could not escape until the wooden scimitar was completely incinerated and the fire gradually died out.

Wang Fu glanced at Xiao Weiqing. Good kid, the fire isn't extinguished by water and can even burn Spiritual Qi; this is no ordinary flame.

"You Trainee, has a donkey kicked your head? Do you realize you were almost crippled?"

Wang Fu barked at Hu Qing.

Hu Qing pursed her lips and turned her head away, nearly bursting into tears.

After speaking, Wang Fu ignored everyone and went back upstairs to the main control room.

Fang Lingyun stepped forward. "Our skills were inferior; you win."

Then, he led the group of over a hundred people toward the back.

Xiao Weiqing returned to his sofa seat.

"Impressive, Xiao Weiqing. I've finally seen why True Art is so amazing." Li Fangnan crowded around.

Wei Lan gave Xiao Weiqing a thumbs up. "Brother Qing, you're awesome!"

Xiao Weiqing smiled and said nothing.

Main control room.

"Jiang Peng, where did you pick up this monster? This flame intensity and cultivation speed are comparable to Level 5. Even True Art shouldn't be this powerful."

You should know that Wang Fu, like Jiang Peng, was from the Upper Academy and had the strength of the Fourth Realm. He had almost slipped up against a new Trainee in the Initial Realm just now; those flames felt truly eerie to him.

"Hehe, Luck, just Luck..."

Hadn't he indeed picked up Xiao Weiqing?

He had originally taken Wei Lan to hide in Linhai County, but he had accidentally run into Xiao Weiqing. They met by chance, and more importantly, the kid was ambitious. He had obtained a Level 3 True Art through Awakening and hadn't become complacent.

His character was even more beyond reproach. Just because Jiang Peng had taken him through a simulated Awakening, he hadn't hesitated to reject the invitation from the Azure Dragon Academy later on.

"Alright, stop acting like you've got it tough. If Xiao Weiqing enters the Upper Academy, you'll have to treat us."

Jiang Peng waved his hand. "Sure, sure, hahaha..."

Beside them, Zhou Zhen was filled with envy. By recruiting a student for the Upper Academy, they could earn a significant amount of points.

The Middle Academy also gave points, but very few.

The Lower Academy?

Sorry, no points.

If the orientation mission was seen as an investment, the Trainees assigned to the Lower Academy were a losing business in their eyes.

In Zhou Zhen's view, he was already losing big this time. Although he had recruited over a hundred people from an entire city, there was only one Level 4 Extraordinary Talent. Whether a Level 4 could enter the Upper Academy depended on Luck; it might be possible if there weren't many powerful characters in the Prefecture City.

But he didn't feel it was likely.

It was said that this year, batches of powerful geniuses were appearing in the Prefecture City.

While they were chatting and laughing.

The zhi yong ship welcomed two more groups.

They were from Donglin City and Yueshan City.