Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood Chapter 7 (2)

Clan Training Day

After winter walked in, the breeze from the north blew the vast amount of ice from the north over, covering the majority of the Imperial Capital in snow.
Thick layers of snow covered the ground. Likewise, thick layers of snow covered the area out front of Luo Clan's spacious training grounds.
The servants and slaves cleared the snow on the clan training day. The twelve branches of Luo Clan's descendants orderly lined up at the grounds. They were waiting for the seniors of Luo Clan to examine them.
Luo Clan formerly consisted of thirteen branches. Now, however, there were only twelve branches present, as the Head Family was eradicated two years prior.
The clan training day was conducted once annually, to urge the descendants to train diligently. It was an important day for both the descendants and the "punching bags".
The descendants were provided with resources for the next year, according to their performance on the clan training day. Naturally, a good performance meant more resources, such as tempering pills that could augment the rate of cultivation progress, rejuvenating pills that could enhance recovery rates and so forth.
For the "punching bags", the clan training day determined whether they'd live or die, and survival meant that they got to leave.
Luo Zheng and the other "punching bags" filed into the training grounds. The "punching bags" all wore very grim looks. They all wore expressions showing that they were going to put everything out there, because today was a day that was far too important for them.
The "punching bags" only had two options. They could either win and obtain freedom, or lose, which meant death.
However, the descendants of Luo Clan viewed the death matches as nothing more than a test. Victory meant that they would be awarded and supported by the clan, while losing was merely dealing with embarrassment.
Many of the descendants possessed decent skills. Their skills and strength were inferior to nobody. But many of them often erred at crucial moments, due to lack of experience in actual combat. As a result, losing to those weaker than them was commonplace.
The original intent of the death match setting was to force the "punching bags" into a dead end, which would force them to give it everything they had. The descendants of Luo Clan would fight them to the death. Only that way, could the descendants of Luo Clan get practice in actual combat.
Not long after, a middle-aged person in an indigo robe appeared atop the tower in the training grounds. The middle-aged man had a long beard hanging down from his chin and the facial appearance of an esteemed man. He was Luo Zheng's third uncle, Luo Junyi.
Luo Zheng's gaze turned cold when he saw him. Luo Junyi was one of the culprits that murdered his father. He appears as if he's a modest man, yet concocted a sinister plan to kill his elder brother. He's a hypocrite though and through.
Luo Zheng would've skinned him alive, if it were not for his lack of strength. Luo Junyi is - unfortunately for him - a man that had reached the Viscera Refinement Realm. His organs had been thoroughly trained and he had reached First Stage Strength. He could rip tigers and leopards apart with his bare hands, and smash city walls down with his bare fists!
After he stood properly on the tower, Luo Junyi took in a deep breath and then in a soft voice, said, "I have joyous news to share with everybody today. Our Luo Clan's Young Lord, my nephew Peiran has been accepted into the Azure Cloud Sect. He was directly taken in as an inner disciple."
Luo Junyi didn't speak in a loud voice, but everybody could hear him loud and clear. Once one reaches the Viscera Refinement Realm, their organs are trained, and therefore their breaths become substantially longer.
All of the descendants of Luo Clan revealed looks of delight, upon hearing the news.
Luo Peiran being accepted into the Azure Cloud Sect was, actually, within expectations. However, disciples of the sect are separated into many levels. Disciples are placed into their categories after passing many trials and selected from the outstanding individuals. With that said, the best they could do was become an outer disciple.
Luo Peiran, however, managed to make a big leap and get accepted as an inner disciple. That was beyond everybody's expectations, so it wasn't odd for them to be envious.
Luo Zheng shuddered. The miraculous power of the Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills carried Luo Peiran into the inner disciple ranks. Luo Zheng clenched his fists tightly. He felt very vexed.
His Second and Third Uncle didn't dispose of him, because they didn't consider him a threat to Luo Clan, but they, definitely, weren't going to let Luo Yan off the hook. Luo Yan managed to escape a tragic end, thanks to her being at the Azure Cloud Sect; however, since Luo Peiran surprisingly became an inner disciple, he was bound to harm her.
'I must go to the Azure Cloud Sect, now!'
"My nephew, Peiran, is our clan's pride. Everybody should treat him as an exemplar to aspire after. Today is our clan training day. Children of Luo Clan, you must choose a flesh punching bag to fight to the death. If you defeat the punching bag, you will be provided with two times more the number of supplementary cultivation pills next year and you will receive twice as much monthly spending money, in addition to a Violet Pill…"
That was a very attractive reward for many collateral descendants. Hence, they immediately began to talk among themselves, as soon as it was announced…
The "punching bags", on the other hand, looked even grimmer, because the greater the reward, meant the more vicious the children of Luo Clan would be. That, subsequently, meant that their chance of survival was further reduced.
Once Luo Junyi finished speaking, he sat down on a chair on the tower. General Manager Huang Ge then jumped up onto the tower. He swept his gaze over the "punching bags" then locked his gaze onto Luo Zheng. A sinister intent appeared in his eyes. He thought to himself, "Punk, you won't live to see tomorrow!"
Huang Ge then cleared his throat in a high-pitched tone and announced, "Children of Luo Clan, choose your targets now. The first to take to the ring is the eldest son of the Third Branch Family, Luo Chengyun!"
Luo Chengyun leapt up to the ring in the centre of the training grounds. He bowed to his father, Luo Junyi, and then spun around to choose his "punching bag."
Luo Chengyun's gaze stopped on Luo Zheng. The two of them exchanged eye contact. The corner of Luo Zheng's mouth crept up into a smile. Luo Zheng gave Huang Ge a beating one month ago, and he, therefore, assumed that Luo Chengyun would immediately get revenge on him.
'It was quiet for a month, but it looks like Luo Chengyun was waiting for this day to come. He wants to choose me as his opponent and beat me to death on the ring?'
To his surprise, however, Luo Chengyun didn't choose him. Instead, he chose a tough looking man behind him.
Said tough looking middle-aged man was a prisoner sentence to death that the Luo Clan had just bought. Being new, he had no injuries and looked to be in decent spirits. He wasn't weak, either, as he had reached the Flesh Refinement Realm.
After being chosen, he jumped up onto the ring, without a word. His eyes looked aggressive. As punching bags, they were all aware that there was no backing out of death matches. Retreat meant inevitable death. As such, it was better to give it all they had for a chance of survival, instead of sitting there waiting to be killed.
There are no formalities in a death match.
The middle-aged man went on the offensive, in order to take the initiative, as soon as he got onto the ring. He mustered up all his might and rushed towards Luo Chengyu. He relied on his firm-muscular body to charge like a bull. His charge created loud noises on the ring constructed using black iron rocks.
A smile crept up onto Luo Chengyun's face. He emitted a purple light from his hands. He formed a bow with his fingers. He waited for the man to reach him; then he evaded him with light footwork, before proceeding to use Rosewood Fist - One Inch Technique to hit him on the side of his face.
*Poof!*
Rosewood Fist - One Inch Technique is an obscure attack, that doesn't reveal itself. The middle-aged man still stopped in his tracks on his own. He didn't catch Luo Chengyun with his charge. He then turned and prepared to charge him again, only to get hit by Luo Chengyun before he knew it.
However, when he stepped out to move, six explosive muffled sounds came from within his body. He then immediately spurt blood out of six orifices.
His eyes were large as a bull. His expression showed that he was befuddled and reluctant to accept this. He made a few gurgling sounds from his mouth, but couldn't utter anything comprehensible. Finally, life gradually vanished from his eyes and he fell to the ground.
He was killed with one strike…
The Luo Clan descendants erupted into cheers, with many of them starting the applause. Some of them seemed to realise something from the scene they witnessed and their expressions turned indifferent.
As the eldest son of the Third Branch Family, Luo Chengyun's talent for cultivation could be considered excellent. His cultivation progress was significantly faster than the average descendant of Luo Clan, since he was provided with all sorts of miraculous pills, ever since he was young. Nevertheless, it was impossible for him to progress so rapidly. The only possible explanation for his rapid progress was that he had consumed the last Heaven and Earth Blessings Pill.
Standing among the "punching bags", Luo Zheng shook his head and smiled helplessly. His Second and Third Uncle didn't show any reserve. Nobody dared to touch the pills for generations, yet they split it among themselves, as soon as they came to power…
'Oh, well. Oh, well.'
Luo Zheng was furious - an out of character reaction for him - upon hearing Luo Peiran said that had consumed a Heaven and Earth Blessings Pill, but he was, now, very calm.
Though the pills were excellent, the only one remaining had been consumed.
Luo Zheng's unique body, on the other hand, allowed him to continue purifying his flesh. Hence why Luo Zheng no longer cared about the Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills he could do with or without. However, the deeds of his Second and Third Uncle disappointed the descendants of Luo Clan.
Huang Ge's voice could then be heard again, "First match, Young Master Chengyun wins!"
Luo Chengyun warmed up his wrists and then said to Huang Ge, standing on the tower, "General Manager, that was just my little test match. I want to challenge one more person."
Huang Ge wore a look of Joy. He said to himself, "It's finally time for it," before saying "If you wish to challenge another opponent, please choose your target, Young Master Chengyun."
From the ring, Luo Chengyun turned his head and moved his finger back and forth among the "punching bags". The "punching bags" all turned pale when they saw his finger. They had just witnessed his strength. Whoever Luo Chengyun chose, was bound to die. His finger was, essentially, the death god's scythe. Whoever it pointed it at was next in line to die.
In the end, he set his eyes upon Luo Zheng. He made a gesture for him to come up with his finger. With a smile, he said, "You, come up!"
The crowd followed the direction Luo Chengyun was pointing in, to see that his target was Luo Zheng!
For the "punching bags", the match didn't end until they were dead. There were only two possible outcomes for them, death or victory.
That was the reason the descendants of Luo Clan - wether deliberately or not - avoided choosing Luo Zheng. While he is classified a criminal, the head of the clan never gave the order to execute him, so the children didn't dare to, actually, kill him.
However, Luo Chengyun, unexpectedly, chose Luo Zheng. Those who were discerning realised that Luo Zheng was likely to die today.
'Finally!'
Luo Zheng stepped out from among the "punching bags" without wasting a word. He climbed the ring without any expression on his face. He bowed to Luo Chengyun and said, "Young Master Chengyun, if you please!"
Chengyun narrowed his eyes and replied, "Cousin, why do you insist on being so distant?"
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