A Will Eternal

Chapter 88B - The Valiant North Bank

The fourth battle unfolded very quickly. Lu Tianlei’s whole body surged with lightning as he dashed onto the arena in a flash. The North Bank youngster, who wore a black robe and had had his eyes closed from the start slowly, opened them. There was a calm expression on his face as he walked up to the arena.

Oddly, not a single person from the North Bank cheered for him at all when he appeared, on the contrary, everyone’s expression distorted, and even Bei Hanlie and the other of the five great Heaven’s Chosen from the North Bank took a deep breath. 

This scene surprised everyone from the South Bank. Lu Tianlei carefully inspected the black-robed young man with a serious expression.

“North Bank, Gui Ya.” When the black-robed young man stood on the arena he calmly spoke, the expression on his face did not change in the slightest and even his voice seemed devoid of emotion.

“South Bank, Lu Tianlei!” Lu Tianlei took a deep breath. He knew that the other party was the top Heaven’s Chosen in the North Bank and Lu Tianlei’s fighting spirit gradually rose.

“I will spare nothing to defeat this person. Even if my losses are huge and I am unable to continue competing, I would still be the number one!” The fighting spirit in Lu Tianlei’s eyes rose to the heavens as a low roar escaped his mouth, and the lightning surrounding his whole body rumbled. Countless lightning bolts crashed into the floor; with him at the center, a lightning field with a radius of ten zhang formed.

(ED note: one zhang is approximately 3.58 meters, or 3.64 yards)

However, at this moment, Gui Ya raised his right hand and pointed towards the sky without a change in his expression. Where his finger pointed, the clouds and mists in the sky suddenly roiled. Countless black clouds appeared out of nowhere and coagulated in a flash, causing countless people to raise their heads to look at the sky. The complexions on the faces of the North Bank disciples changed and some even had fearful expressions.

Lu Tianlei let out a low roar and he bolted out, driving the lightning in his surroundings along, straight to Gui Ya. 

Gui Ya remained expressionless, and as he stood there, he actually closed his eyes. 

“You are courting death!” Lu Tianlei felt he was being seriously humiliated, as a Heaven’s Chosen, his self-esteem was truly big. He snarled and the lightning field surrounding him actually increased in size once again, its force now even greater. 

However, before he could get close to Gui Ya, the sky above thundered. The black clouds seemed to have been sundered as an enormous black-coloured ghost claw, like a pillar of the skies, descended from the layers of clouds and onto the earth in the blink of an eye, crashing down on Lu Tianlei’s with a massive force. 

Before the enormous ghost claw even arrived, Lu Tianlei’s whole body was already shaking as blood flowed out all over his body. The lightning outside his body crackled loudly, struggling before it crumbled. Kaka. In this moment, cracks appeared on the ground beneath his feet, the ruble forming circles around his body. 

Fresh blood continued to flow from his whole body as he let out a pained howl. All seven apertures of his head were bleeding as he tried to struggle before despair swept over him and Lu Tianlei’s world turned pitch-black in an instant. 

“No!”

In the instant this ghost claw appeared, regardless of whether it was the North Bank or the South Bank, all of them couldn’t hold the fear that rose within. The Qi in their bodies too was suppressed from this fear and created the illusion that their very souls were going to be extracted from their bodies.

The expressions of the Sect Head and the others on the terrace also changed.

“There has been no one who could cultivate the Nightwalker Technique in thousands of years, and this boy has actually cultivated this technique to such a high degree!”

“Not good!” The expression on the Purple Cauldron Mountain’s Xu Meixiang changed. She suddenly flew out and quickly headed straight for the arena. She instantly arrived and raised her right hand, waving it towards the ghost claw. A monstrous rumble rang out, but even though the ghost claw was pushed back, it actually didn’t crumbled in mid-air. 

Lu Tianlei vomited a huge amount of fresh blood and immediately fell unconscious. If Xu Meixiang had arrived a moment later, Lu Tianlei was bound to become a pulp of meat, exterminated in both body and soul. 

Xu Meixiang’s mind sank and she coldly looked at Gui Ya.

“Even though you are young and born with a talent, you are actually malevolent enough to dare kill one of your fellow sect disciples right in front of us. You are really courting death!”

Gui Ya remained silent with a somewhat strange expression appearing on his face. It was as though he was unsure of what emotion he should portray on his face in this moment. 

“I never would have thought that he was this weak.” Gui Ya raised his head and looked at Xu Meixiang with a chilling calmness. Once he said that, he turned around and walked off the arena. 

Xu Meixiang furrowed her eyebrows and raised her head, glancing at the terrace above, as if she was slightly apprehensive of something. She snorted coldly and carried Lu Tianlei away. It was impossible for Lu Tianlei to continue participating in this battle to the point that with how serious his injuries were, she was afraid that it would even be very difficult for him to recover in a short period of time. 

The North Bank remained silent, and the South Bank too remained silent. 

Gui Ya’s lonesome figure silently returned to its original position where he closed his eyes. 

A good while later, the North Bank was the first to recover and one by one as they started cheering. 

“The South Bank is finished, even their Heaven’s Chosen are not our match. You people are bound to lose this time!”

“The South Bank has already lost three rounds and their win in the first round was just a fluke. You people are sure to continue losing from here on out.”

Facing the North Bank’s taunts, pained expression surfaced on the South Bank disciples’ faces. The North Bank… was really too strong. 

The South Bank had only been victorious in that first round and had lost the three following rounds. The Heaven’s Chosen Lu Tianlei in particular was almost killed in battle. This scene had already caused the South Bank to lose all hope in their previous desire of wiping away their previous disgraces. 

Shangguan Tianyou stared unwaveringly at Gui Ya. His heart shook with unprecedented shock. He suddenly realised that he had actually been shaking in fear just now. 

He wasn’t the only one behaving as such, but all of the nearby South Bank Heaven’s Chosen too were mind-blown at this moment. The North Bank… even if there was just Gui Ya alone this time, it seemed as though they could still sweep away everyone from the South Bank. 

“This is already not Qi Condensation… even the attack from an Ancestor was unable to exterminate that ghost hand. That was… one of the ten great secret techniques in the Spirit River Sect and one of the two techniques thought to be lost… the Nightwalker Technique?”

“The only technique that could rival the Nightwalker Technique is… the Water Nation!” 

Bai Xiaochun had a grave expression on his face. This battle had shook his mind as well. Gui Ya’s strength had caused Bai Xiaochun to quake with fear.

Soon after, the fifth round began. The person that walked out of the North Bank made everyone from the South Bank feel just as bitter. The other party was one of the five great Heaven’s Chosen that instilled fear in the crowds… Gongsun Yun. 

He was wearing a black robe with only his yellow eyes exposed, insects and parasites obviously squirming around within them. After a long while, a South Bank disciple grudgingly went up to the arena. Just as he went up, Gongsun Yun’s eyes revealed an ice-cold look, and before they even introduced themselves, he flourished his sleeve. Instantly, a buzzing sound spread as countless black-coloured insects immediately flew out from his sleeve, making a beeline for the South Bank competitor.

No matter how that disciple resisted, it was all useless as his body was soon covered with countless black insects from head to toe. All of his defenses were not in the slightest bit useful as the insects drilled their way through any possible gap. This shocked everyone watching, even the North Bank was unable to adapt to this scene. 

“I concede!” The South Bank’s competitor immediately cried out with a trembling tone in his voice. He felt that with but a single thought of his opponent, all those insects on his body would devour him in the blink of an eye. 

A mocking look appeared in Gongsun Yun’s eyes. He turned around to walk off the arena and the black insects squirmed towards the ground like a tide. They quickly rushed to Gongsun Yun and climbed up his body, disappearing within his sleeves. 

As Bai Xiaochun watched this scene, his scalp felt slightly numb. He wasn’t the only one to feel that way, Zhou Xinqi and even Shangguan Tianyou too felt their hearts sink.

In this moment, all of the South Bank disciples felt the strength of the North Bank. The South Bank was not the North Bank’s opponent in this Heaven’s Chosen War at all. The South Bank disciples sighed. 

“We have lost this time…”

“The North Bank… is too strong!”

At the same time, the North Bank had once again managed an overwhelming victory. 

“As said before, you lot can only win the first round and will lose all the following rounds!”

“The South Bank? They are but a joke, bound to forever remain underneath us, the North Bank!”

“Thirty years ago, there was one person from the South Bank who managed to enter the top ten. Today… not a single one of you will be able to!” Voices from the North Bank spread all around. The South Bank disciples wanted to retort, but not one of them could say a word from the extreme humiliation. 

“Sixth round. Those holding the beads numbered eleven and twelve, come to the arena!” Ouyang Jie’s voice suddenly rang out after Gongsun Yun took his leave. 

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath and lifted his head, the eleventh bead in his hand.