Chapter Twenty-One: The Trial

  The equipment brought by Master Yiyang was tailored to each of his disciples, as the saying goes: "A master can only lead you to the door, but it's up to you to cultivate yourself." Under the same master, different disciples can turn out differently. Yang Hao, in particular, had a life path altered by fate's twists and turns. Not only did his fate change, but everything around him, including his own body, underwent earth-shaking transformations. On top of that, Master Yiyang took out the Nine-Pure-Yang Pill, refined from decades of his heart's blood, which made Yang Hao's power surge like a great leap forward. The two other disciples were also distinct: Yu Deng had a straightforward and explosive personality, like a pile of gunpowder waiting for a spark to ignite boundless fighting spirit. He liked close combat and practiced hard, developing iron-like fists and steel-whip legs. Yu Zhuo was introverted by nature, taciturn, with an aura that was unassuming yet shocking when unleashed. He preferred one-hit-kill techniques. Both of them had mastered the two internal energies, ice and fire. Although they also received equipment from their master, who had condensed his heart's blood into it, they couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards Yang Hao, who had received the Nine-Pure-Yang Pill.

  "Look at my junior brother, this time he's obtained a great treasure... his power has increased several times over. If I were to take it myself, I estimate that the true God of War would be born from then on." As soon as Yu Deng's words fell, Yang Hao's intuition told him that his senior brother was jealous. Looking at Yu Zhuo again, although he didn't say anything, the emotions revealed in his eyes also showed that he had a heart full of envy.

  Yi Yang Shu saw everything with his own eyes, and this is all normal human emotions. Yang Hao was the last one to enter the sect. Why should he get the crystallization of Master's decades of hard work? I guess anyone would feel unfair in their heart. So Yi Yang Shu spoke up.

  "Yu Deng and Yu Zhuo, you two shouldn't talk big either. It's not that I'm being biased as a master, but the power of this dan is not something you can handle. Even I myself don't dare to try it. Yang Hao's body is special because he was given a reborn physical body by the White-Faced Ghost in the underworld. His meridians, bones, muscles, and nerves are all several times stronger than those of an ordinary person. And they're also more sensitive. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have taken out this dan either. You two should just forget about it." Yu Deng and Yu Zhuo didn't say anything else, but they still had a lingering resentment in their hearts that couldn't be vented.

  "You two are not bad now, I don't know if you dare to have a competition with Yang Hao?" As soon as the voice of Yi Yang Shu fell, Yu Deng's eyes suddenly burst out with a strong desire for battle, staring tightly at Yang Hao.

  "Master, this..." Yang Hao seemed to think it was inappropriate, after all, fists and feet were blind, and if either side got hurt, they couldn't end the fight. But Yi Yang Shu smiled and stood by, signaling him not to speak further.

  "Yu Deng, you go first and exchange two moves with him," Yu Zhuo said to his senior brother. Yu Deng felt a bit surprised upon hearing this, but he was itching for a fight, so without thinking, he charged towards Yang Hao. Just as Yang Hao was pondering what to do next, he sensed the intense killing aura emanating from Yu Deng.

  "Big Brother?!" Yang Hao shouted, but Yu Deng didn't respond, instead leaping into the air and unleashing a spinning knife technique on Yang Hao. With both hands holding flat, he spun rapidly in mid-air, like a human fan slicing diagonally towards Yang Hao.

  Yang Hao knew he couldn't take it head-on, so he quickly retreated and jumped back, simultaneously swinging his left hand to send five streams of true fire hurtling towards Yu Deng as he spun. When Yu Deng saw that his spinning attack had missed its mark, he felt a wave of heat approaching and knew the true fire was upon him. He didn't dare hesitate, combining his two swords into a small shield to protect his upper body, and amazingly managed to deflect the true fire.

  Yu Deng didn't relax his guard after this, instead launching another series of whirlwind kicks, each one swift and deadly, with the added menace of the throwing knives hidden in his shoes. Yang Hao dodged and weaved while using his true fire to attack, but Yu Deng relied on his powerful killing techniques to close in on Yang Hao.

  The two exchanged blows, each strike swift and relentless, as they clashed for over 20 minutes without either gaining the upper hand. Yu Deng's knife technique was incredibly fast, always aiming for Yang Hao's vitals, while Yang Hao's flames were either disrupted by Yu Deng's sword or deflected by his shield.

  Yang Hao couldn't help but feel a deep respect for Yu Deng's formidable martial arts skills. If he hadn't learned the Tian Pan step from his master, he would probably have lost already. Just as he was thinking of how to counterattack, he saw Yu Zhuo move into action.

  One Yang uncle whispered something in Yu Zhuo's ear, and then Yu Zhuo joined forces with Yu Deng to take down Yang Hao. Now Yang Hao was really in trouble, having to avoid Yu Deng's ferocious attacks while also watching out for Yu Zhuo's sneak attacks. After just a few exchanges, Yu Zhuo suddenly launched himself forward with a flying kick, followed by a rolling somersault that brought him to Yang Hao's side.

  Yang Hao didn't notice the sudden attack and was caught off guard when Yu Zhuo struck his right leg with a spear-like thrust. Yang Hao stumbled for a second, but that was all the time Yu Deng needed. With a forward flip, he landed behind Yang Hao and pressed the blade of his knife against Yang Hao's belly, while his other hand held a large sword poised at Yang Hao's neck.

  Everyone thought that the martial arts competition had ended, but Yang Hao's overbearing aura suddenly spread out, and the red glow in his eyes appeared instantly. The two senior brothers seemed to have felt a change as well, and they hastily retreated. Because the red-eyed Yang Hao was only seen by them during life-and-death battles. At this time, Yang Hao had already cast aside his worries and was preparing for an all-out battle. He was seen jumping to the left side of his body while his senior brothers were retreating, forming a "one" shape with his body, with one foot stepping on a large tree beside him, and charging towards Yu Deng like a swift arrow. Yu Deng was startled by Yang Hao's sudden change, but as he saw him approaching, the arrogance and anger in his bones surged throughout his entire body.

  "Good... coming good~~~~" Yu Dang's dual blades merged into one, and he withstood the incoming fierce punch, both people were shaken back several steps. Yu Zhuo did a backflip, landed, and spun around, his body flashing behind a large tree, the inertia from the spin didn't decrease, his body reappeared from the other side, a long gun stretched out, eyes just reaching the scope, before he could fire, a purple-black flame came flying towards him. Yu Zhuo immediately withdrew his gun, rolled on the ground twice, and dodged that Five Elements True Fire that could burn everything into thin air. He lay flat on the ground, gun pointing forward, this time he didn't look through the scope, because Yang Hao's position was already determined, as the gun fired, a blue energy ball went with it. Yu Dang shouted loudly at this moment, using his Walking Knife Technique. His feet moved left and right, his body flashing left and right with each step, dual knives in hand, stabbing and slashing, perfectly coordinated, Yang Hao also retreated hastily, throwing flames left and right. Just as he was about to escape, an icy energy ball flew towards him from the side, Yang Hao raised his hand to block it. "Clang" His right hand froze over with a layer of ice. Yu Dang had already approached Yang Hao's front, his right hand slashing down, spinning around, left leg kicking towards Yang Hao's abdomen. Yang Hao dodged the slash, but because his right hand was frozen, he slowed down for a moment, and his stomach felt a sharp pain. However, at this time, his head was still clear, although his right hand was frozen, it still had attacking power. That icy right hook hit Yu Dang's face. Yang Hao's right hand ice shattered immediately. Both people exchanged blows.

  "Wow wow wow... wonderful!" The master walked over, clapping his hands.

  "I didn't expect my disciples to have such great skills, as a master I'm truly delighted from the bottom of my heart!" The three people heard Yi Yang Shu's words and quickly put away their tools and welcomed him.

  "It's still better if Master taught us... But Yuzhuo, I'm just playing with my junior brother, what are you interfering for?"

  "Master asked me to help, besides, you two are fighting fiercely, it's hard for me to watch too."

  "But really, if you hadn't helped me, I'm not sure I could have caught up with my junior brother," Yu Deng said, turning his gaze towards Yang Hao.

  "Haha, I also learned Master's Tianxia Step, so I can catch up with a few moves from Senior Brother, otherwise I would have lost long ago"

  "Oh... no wonder... haha" Yang Hao's words made Yu Deng laugh heartily. It turned out that Yang Hao had used his master's Tian Gang Step to repeatedly turn danger into safety, which made Yu Deng feel balanced in her heart.

  "If Yang Hao had practiced boxing, even if the two of you joined forces, you wouldn't be able to take him down. This time, let's have a friendly match between the two of you, first to improve your communication and speed up your progress, second to remind you not to underestimate your opponents, there may be many formidable characters hiding on the island." Yiyang Shu patted Yang Hao's shoulder with satisfaction and made a summary.

  "Master, don't worry about what ghosts or monsters are on that island. Even if the evil gods come, when facing us, there's only one word: 'death'. What do you think, two senior brothers?"

  "That's nothing, even if the Japanese emperor himself came, I'd dare to fight him to a victory or defeat." Yu Deng stroked his beloved sword.

  "Hmm... you guys did pretty well just now, I can see that you were all fired up for a while. Ucho's sneak attack was quite impressive. When you're under attack, you managed to keep your head cool and think about counterattacking at the same time. I reckon when you fired that shot, you didn't even aim properly, did you? Just blindly sniped?" Yiyang Shu commented on their previous fight.

  "Hmm... I felt he was there, so I didn't aim. That way, it saves time." Wu Zuo said about that momentary thought, and his master nodded in agreement.

  "However, your shortcomings are also very obvious. You use remote attack spells, so when the battle starts, you must hide yourself better. Because your footwork and close combat are the most deadly. The fight just now is an example, the first time you wanted to shoot, you didn't hide well and were disturbed by Yang Hao's Five Flavors True Fire. If it was against a more powerful existence, you would have been killed in one move. Why didn't you go to the treetop at that time? Find a secluded spot with dense leaves to launch a sneak attack? Remember your task is to assist and sneak attack, never expose your tracks again."

  "Uh-huh, I see, Master."

  "How about me? How was my performance, Master?" Yu Deng eagerly awaited his master's evaluation.

  "You're not bad, your knife skills are pure and your footsteps are swift and steady. However, you always think about hard collisions, but you should know that whether it's blocking or punching and kicking, they all consume a lot of physical energy. As the main force in close combat, you must understand this point. When fighting with an opponent whose strength is unknown, you must try to minimize blocking and punching. Think more about how to annihilate your opponent without getting hurt. If you hadn't been lucky earlier, you would have probably been burned to ashes by Yang Hao by now."

  Yu Dēng listened and was even more delighted to caress the pair of daggers called Hèn Tiān in his hand.

  "Master, I was also impulsive just now... suffered two sneak attacks. From now on, I will never be infatuated with battle, strive for complete victory." Yang Hao self-consciously summarized his performance just now.

  "Hehe... not bad, not bad ~~ quite interesting. Since you all recognize your own shortcomings, I think it's time to go on a trip to Ghost Island," said Uncle Yang, gazing in the direction of Ghost Island.

  "With Master here, plus Tiger Head and Gale... we will definitely succeed" Yang Hao said, recalling the true identity of Tiger Head, that king-like aura, swift and fierce killing moves. It made his blood boil with excitement. The sun had slowly climbed to its peak in the sky, the mist on the sea surface had retreated, revealing an eerie calmness. Tiger Head and Gale had already received Yang Hao's notification and were rushing over, Master's words "No evil spirits eliminated, no becoming immortal" echoed again in Yang Hao's ears... If Master can do it, why not us??? Devil Island... we're coming.....