Martial Arrogance Dragon Soul-Chapter 143 - 134 Cloud Palace Arena

All disciples in the institute underwent two rounds of assessment.

The first round was the recently concluded Ascend Cloud Ladder.

Qin Qing and Jiang Ruorong, this pair of senior and junior disciples, achieved unexpectedly impressive results that surprised everyone.

Over at the East Campus, Qin Chang and the others were naturally very upset.

Once again, the West Courtyard had snatched the spotlight!

As for Xu Fang, Xu Qingyuan, and the rest, they were all smiles.

No matter the final outcome, at least for this round, the West Courtyard had thoroughly slapped the face of the East Campus, especially since before this first round began, many of the East Campus disciples, including quite a few elders, had boasted arrogantly.

The result was that the top two placings had fallen to the West Courtyard.

Moreover, these two from the West Courtyard had even broken the Great Qian Martial Institute’s previous Ascend Cloud Ladder record for the fastest ascent!

"It’s that Qin Qing again!" Qin Chang looked at Qin Qing on the Cloud Palace arena, his heart filled with such hatred that he itched to stretch out his hand right there and then to crush Qin Qing dead between his fingers.

"This person is Qin Qing?"

The Seventh Prince was also sizing up Qin Qing at this moment.

"Yes, your Highness. This is Qin Qing..." Qin Chang hurriedly replied.

"Hehe, Shangguan Yong. The one you want to kill is him, huh..." The Seventh Prince then turned to look at Shangguan Yong beside him.

Shangguan Yong, having accompanied the Seventh Prince, had stayed quiet this whole time.

But from the moment he laid eyes on Qin Qing, his gaze turned bloodshot.

Qin Qing had killed Shangguan Xuan, which for him had already created an unresolvable feud of life and death, not to mention that Qin Qing had foiled him several times thereafter, causing him to fail miserably both in terms of face and the hatred in his heart. He couldn’t wait to eat Qin Qing alive, to chew him up in his mouth until death.

"Yes, Your Highness." Shangguan Yong nodded.

"This Qin Qing is indeed a genius... However, he also has another identity that you, Shangguan Yong, might not be aware of!" said the Seventh Prince with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Oh? What identity?"

"His father is Qin Yi!"

"Qin Yi?" Shangguan Yong frowned slightly.

Clearly, he had not heard of any Qin Yi.

"In the last round-up by the Imperial Court, there was a man named Qin Yi," the Seventh Prince glanced at Shangguan Yong. "This Qin Yi is the Young Master of the Qin Residence in Tianjue City, the very father of this Qin Qing right here!"

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Yong’s frown deepened. "I did know that Qin Qing’s father was the Young Master of the Qin Residence, but I forgot his name was Qin Yi. I was also unaware that among the people caught last time, this Qin Yi was included... Could it be his father..."

At this point, Shangguan Yong cut himself off, a confused expression flitting across his eyes.

"Very likely... However, his mother was taken away by someone, making everything uncertain!" said the Seventh Prince.

"Hehe, uncertain?" Shangguan Yong mused over the Seventh Prince’s words.

"By next spring, things should come to a conclusion..." the Seventh Prince added. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Third Prince was also carefully observing Qin Qing and Jiang Ruorong.

"These two are disciples from the West Courtyard? How did the West Courtyard manage to recruit such talents?" the Third Prince asked with narrowed eyes.

"To report to the Third Prince, these two, one is named Qin Qing, and the other is named Jiang Ruorong. Both are disciples of Elder Bai Qiuhe from our institute!" Xu Qingyuan replied.

"Oh? Elder Bai!" The Third Prince glanced at Bai Qiuhe.

He was familiar with Bai Qiuhe.

Elder Bai was not only highly regarded in the Great Qian Martial Institute but also quite famous throughout the entire imperial city of Luochuan.

Bai Qiuhe had even entered the palace before, offering guidance to the young disciples of the royal family in their cultivation for a time.

However, Bai Qiuhe was a man of uncompromising integrity who lacked tact and smoothness in his dealings.

As a result, he was destined not to survive within the royal family, and it all came to nothing—eventually he left the royal family and devoted himself to serving as the Elder of Transmission at the Great Qian Martial Institute.

Although the Third Prince had not been personally instructed by Bai Qiuhe, he had seen Bai Qiuhe several times and thus knew of him.

"Yes, Your Highness, Qin Qing is my junior disciple. Jiang Ruorong is my second disciple," Bai Qiuhe replied.

"Very good, have them come see me after the assessment is over," the Third Prince said.

Bai Qiuhe saw that the Third Prince’s eyes were flickering, and he couldn’t help but frown slightly.

Yet, after pondering for a moment, Bai Qiuhe nodded and said, "Alright, once the assessment is over, I will have my two disciples visit Your Highness at the earliest chance."

...

Meanwhile.

At the Cloud Palace’s arena.

Disciples from both the East and West Campuses who had passed the Ascending Cloud Ladder round were waiting for the next round to begin.

The next round was the Cloud Palace’s arena challenge.

The very top of the Ascending Cloud Ladder was where the Cloud Palace lay.

There, a rather magnificent Bronze Palace stood.

In front of the palace was an expanse of open ground.

On this open ground, there was an arena.

The disciples who reached the Cloud Palace’s arena would fight challenges here to determine the ultimate winners and losers.

"Qin Qing!"

At that moment, the voice of Mo Nian reached out.

Mo Nian initially was extremely shocked by Qin Qing breaking the record, ascending to the top of the Cloud Palace in just eighty-nine breaths.

But afterwards, thinking of Qin Qing’s exceptional talent, he came to accept it.

Pei Zhenshan felt the same way...

However, when both men remembered the words of warning they gave Qin Qing before the start of the Ascending Cloud Ladder, they couldn’t help but feel somewhat embarrassed.

"Hmm? Brother Mo Nian!" Qin Qing turned his head and looked towards Mo Nian.

"That is, in the first round, you were indeed very impressive, very good, you performed well..." Mo Nian stuttered slightly, then clearing his throat, he continued, "But the Ascending Cloud Ladder doesn’t really reflect true strength. To be precise, it might be more an assessment of talent..."

"Yes, I understand. What are you trying to say, Brother Mo Nian?" Qin Qing nodded with a smile.

"What I’m trying to say is, Qin Qing. You must guard against arrogance and rashness. Don’t think that breaking the record makes you something special!" Mo Nian lectured, adding, "This round is about challenge fighting, and when the time comes, you must follow my arrangement, understand?"

"Alright. I understand!" Qin Qing smiled and nodded in response.

"Don’t take it lightly. Mo Nian is also thinking of your best interest. This round is the real combat and it measures true strength!" Pei Zhenshan, standing beside Mo Nian, chimed in.

"Dong!"

Just then, the bell rang out.

The purple-robed elder overseeing the assessment also arrived at the Cloud Palace’s arena.

"This round is the arena challenge. Disciples from the East Campus can freely challenge those from the West Courtyard, and those from the West Courtyard can choose to accept the challenge or not. Declining will be viewed as a concession! In the arena fight, the loser will lose three points, whereas the winner will gain three points! If both fighters draw, they each gain one point! The final point tally will determine the final rankings!"

"Everyone is clear about the scoring rules. As for the process of the fight, there are no special restrictions. Everything depends on strength!"

"Now, let the arena challenge begin!"

As soon as the words of the purple-robed elder finished, a figure walked to the center of the arena and stretched out a hand pointing in Qin Qing’s direction...