Night of the Broken Gliph

The person in white was none other than Mo-Yung Yin. He smiled in reply before heading to his seat while the Clan Leader Cheung spoke up for him instead.

“Clan Leader Suen will also have this privilege if he ever steps into the divine master realm. Sadly, there’s only one Divine Doctor in this world currently, and that’s the Mo-Yung Clan leader.” 

Obviously, the Suen Clan was on the Ping Clan’s side, while the Cheung Clan supported the Mo-Yung Clan. 

Besides them, the last elderly man sitting on the leftmost seat kept his eyes shut as if he was ignorant of the argument. Clan Leader Cheung saw this and raised his brows. 

“What’s your opinion, Clan Leader Wong?” 

This elder was none other than Wong Ding Tin, Clan Leader of the Wong Clan of Southern Ping. “I have no opinion,” he opened his eyes upon hearing his name and replied in his low voice before shutting his eyes once more, as if there was nothing that could get his attention. 

What an old fox. Both Suen Ho and Cheung Shan chided secretly. Wong Ding Tin looked neutral, not choosing either the Ping or Mo-Yung Clan, but all of them knew that Wong Ding Tin just wanted to get a clearer view of the situation before deciding. 

Ping San Yat ignored them as if the bickering between the Suen and Cheung Clan Leaders about Mo-Yung Yin was none of his business. He stood up, activating his energliph so his voice could be heard across the entire plateau.

“The Outstanding Talent Competition will now begin.” 

“There will be three competitions in total, the first of which is battle. Any disciple of the five clans is welcome on stage, as long as you’re confident in your strength.” 

Ping San Yat then returned to his seat, watching the centre calmly. As soon as he took his seat, a figure jumped onto the stage. It was a Suen Clan disciple, a brawny youth and a glipher. Southern Ping was famous for its alchemy, medicine, and powerful gliphists. At the end of the day, there were still more gliphers in the city due to the requirements of becoming a glipher. 

It was Suen San Kuk, the strongest glipher of the Suen Clan’s younger generation. 

“I shall go first.” Suen San Kuk had a loud voice that matched his size. The gliph cover on his left foot showed that he had an innate left foot chamber that he had already broken through. 

Like how the Mo-Yung and Ping clans were rivals, the same went for the Cheung and Suen clans. A disciple of the Cheung Clan stepped up in no time. The Cheung Clan disciple looked skinny and fragile, but if one looked at his eyes, one would be surprised by their shine. 

“Cheung Ching of the Cheung Clan,” the disciple spoke. He had a voice like a cold wind. 

Suen San Kuk and Cheung Ching were the best gliphers of their generation, so they were no strangers to each other.

“Draw your sword, Cheung Ching!” Suen San Kuk laughed. 

With a sneer, Cheung Ching patted the jade on his waist as a shiny, long sword appeared. 

After spending some time with the Ping Clan, Chui Yim understood that clans or organisations would make items for their disciples for identification purposes. Not only would it symbolise their clans’ status, and be nigh impossible to copy, but most would also have a storage space that allowed their disciples to store necessities like weapons and elixirs inside. The old bag with a gigantic interior space that Chui Yim had was something that only some elders or clan leaders would possess. This was why he became more and more curious about Chui Tin as he travelled. 

Suen San Kuk fished out a pair of metallic gloves, and with a roar, a huge crater appeared where his left leg was. Like a projectile, he shot toward Cheung Ching, who reacted coldly. He dodged the attack and swung with his sword in return. Chui Yim could tell that both the sword and gloves were grade-one weapons. 

Rather than dodging the blade, Suen San Kuk met it forcefully. 

Clang clang clang…

The sound of metal colliding rang out as sparks flew across the arena. They both fought in close quarters, the battle gradually becoming more intense. Suen San Kuk fought ferociously, while Cheung Ching moved lightly and was more passive compared to Suen San Kuk. 

All the spectators knew that this didn’t represent an advantage. Suen San Kuk was known to fight violently, so if Cheung Ching mistakenly believed that he had the upper hand and let his guard down, Suen San Kuk would end it instantly.  

Suddenly, Cheung Ching moved behind Suen San Kuk’s back. He pointed the long, sharp sword at Seun San Kuk’s head! But instead of ducking, Suen San Kuk turned and struck the sword with his right hand. Cheung Ching halted his advance and stepped back instead. He was so light that he moved like a feather. At the same time, energliph could be seen rippling on his right arm chamber. 

The Cheung Clan Leader, Cheung Shan, watched the fight in satisfaction. Rather than having an aggressive style like Seun San Kuk, Cheung Ching was better at skirmishing like an assassin. He knew that Cheung Ching was waiting to get behind Suen San Kuk after he missed, so he could launch a deadly strike. 

Pff! 

The fist landed on thin air; it was a wasted punch. 

Cheung Ching sneered as his right arm chamber lit up brightly under his robes. He had a Vanguard Soldiers gliph tattooed on his right arm chamber, a gliph that Chui Yim had carved on the Fallen Star Rod. Vanguard Soldiers was a gliph meant to be used together with sharp weapons like knives, swords and spears. After activating the gliph, the gliph would create an invisible sharp energy surrounding the weapon, strengthening its destructive capability. This gliph was best for an assassin. 

As Cheung Ching activated his energliph, he pointed his blade forward as a sword energy strike flew forward! 

This gliphility was known as the Three Raindrops. 

Three sword energy strikes in a triangular formation shot towards Suen San Kuk who had just missed his last attack, and he was unprepared for this. Cheung Ching sneered at Suen San Kuk, who surprisingly flashed a wide smile. 

He might have just attacked with his fist, but his left leg chamber lit up suddenly.

Cheung Ching snickered as he thought, Trying to be mysterious.

As an opponent who fought Suen San Kuk frequently, he knew that Suen San Kuk had the Broken Rock gliph tattooed on his left leg chamber, a common gliph mostly tattooed on arm chambers. When a glipher activated this gliph, the limb would gain great strength and durability that could crush rocks and metal! 

Common gliph didn’t necessarily mean that the gliph was weak, as clan members would use top-grade ingredients to tattoo the gliph so they could make an ordinary gliph much more powerful. Not many people would choose to tattoo the Broken Rock gliph on their left leg chamber, but Cheung Ching knew that Suen San Kuk was a battle fanatic who loved aggressive fights. He chose to tattoo a gliph that helped increase his strength instead of speed. The memory of how Seun San Kuk slashed his robe open despite missing him by a few centimetres was still fresh in Cheung Ching’s mind.  

But what was the point of activating the Broken Rock gliph now? 

Having the Broken Rock tattooed on his leg chamber meant Suen San Kuk could only fight in close range. Distance was Suen San Ku’s weakness, which was why Cheung Ching activated the Three Raindrop gliphility to attack him from afar. 

Long-range attacks were always superior, the further the greater!