Night of the Broken Gliph

“Chui Yim, just one attack and you already can’t continue anymore?” Chan Ngou Tin sneered arrogantly. He took two steps forward and kicked Chui Yim’s stomach. 

Pop! 

The kick made Chui Yim slide backwards. But just when Chan Ngou Tin was about to kick him again, Chui Yim jumped up all of a sudden, dodging the attack while punching Chan Ngou Tin’s face. 

Pfff!

Chan Ngou Tin’s nose started to bleed profusely when Chui Yin added another kick, sending him flying. Both parties might be a whole stage apart, but Chui Yim, who trained the past eight years, wasn’t any worse than Chan Ngou Tin. He wasn’t as strong, but it still wasn’t something Chan Ngou Tin could disregard. 

“How! You dare!” Chan Ngou Tin wiped his bleeding nose and yelled. “You dare make me bleed!” 

“It’s a fight, stop whining like a kid,” Chui Yim replied with a sneer. 

“Go to hell!” Chan Ngou Tin growled and sped towards Chui Yim. 

Chui Yim had only been doing physical training, and he knew absolutely nothing about fighting, thus he didn’t know how to tackle this. All he did was dodge. Chan Ngou Tin was similar. Despite having his first gliph tattooed, he hadn’t learned anything about fighting yet. The current battle was just like two children’s play fighting, but one of them had ten times more power than the other. Another punch landed on Chui Yim’s left arm, and the sound of bones cracking was heard. 

Chor Shing Chit could tell that Chui Yim’s left arm was broken, but there was nothing he could do, with Chui Yim currently curled up weirdly as he observed Chan Ngou Tin’s attacks closely and dodged with a cold expression. 

Chan Ngou Tin was too fast and strong, and all Chui Yim could do was try to lessen the damage received. Besides his last punch and kick, Chui Yim didn’t counterattack, only receiving all his attacks without any reply. 

The other students watched the fight silently. To them, it wasn’t a fight, just pure bullying. All of them couldn’t bear to see Chui Yim beaten up so severely, covered in bruises and blood, yet none of them spoke up for him. The Chan Clan was too powerful to offend; Chan Ngou Tin was infamous for his bratty character, and none of them were friends with Chui Yim. He was so reserved that he made no friends ever since Lam Ming’s departure. Moreover, Chor Shing Chit and Bak Wun who viewed him so highly, couldn’t do anything due to the laws of the South. 

During the later part of the fight, Chui Yim only remained on the ground, protecting his vitals. 

“Huff, huff!” The continuous beating made Chan Nguo Tin out of breath. But just then, Chui Yim, who was curled up on the ground, opened his injured right eye. His eyes lit up, and his curled-up body lit up brightly. 

It wasn’t a metaphor, but precisely what happened. A bright red light was drawn. It was a gliph, albeit a basic one. 

It was the basic Flame’s Knife gliph. 

It was a common gliph that resembled the edge of a knife. Due to its simplicity, it was an excellent choice for many one-chambered g-chefs as it assisted them greatly when preparing g-food. 

But when used by a gliphist, it was no longer that simple. 

The entire place lit up, and everyone present could feel the heat. As if alive, the flame turned into a knife’s edge in a blink of an eye and landed. 

Szzz! 

Even Bak Wun, Chor Shing Chit and Old Tung weren’t able to react in time. 

“Ahhhhh!” 

When they realised what had happened, the hall was filled with blood-curdling screams.

“Oh my god!” the spectating students screamed and fled from the scene. 

An arm fell from the sky. There wasn’t any bleeding as the wound was cauterised.  

The most harrowing scream came from Chan Ngou Tin. His entire arm was cut off, and the wound was now scorched black. Chan Ngou Tin collapsed onto the ground, struggling as the pain made him faint. Chui Yim stood up, looking like a poor figure as he looked down at the fainted person before him. 

Since Chui Yim could already be a doctor with his current knowledge, he could tell that it was impossible to reconnect the arm as the flesh and nerves from his wound were all burnt. The gliph on the severed arm started to wither from the lack of energliph, turning into dull, black lines.

“Beat you till you bleed? That’s nothing; I even dare cut off your arm.” 

Bak Wun, Old Tung and Chor Shing Chit sat silently in the principal’s room. Chui Yim and Chan Ngou Tin had now been sent to the infirmary, both of them seriously injured. A few of Chui Yim’s ribs and his left arm were broken, and even his organs were damaged. Still, it was better when compared to Chan Ngou Tin who lost his left arm, which was deemed to be irreparable by the most famous gliphist doctor in Southary. 

“This kid is very ruthless, huh…” Bak Wun sighed. How could a twelve-year-old cut someone’s arm off just like that without any reaction? 

“I’m more curious about how he did it.” Old Tung had a deep voice, but he was obviously in utter disbelief. “His wind chamber isn’t even filled yet he could cast a gliph! This is so unbelievable.” This incident was totally beyond his expectations, and nobody could react in time. 

“There’s still a possibility,” Chor Shing Chit said slowly. Old Tung looked at him. Even though Chot Shing Chit mentioned nothing about his background, somebody who could become a two-chambered glipher at such a young age was definitely someone with some backing, and he’d at least have more knowledge than an old man like him who lived on the edge of the South his entire life. 

“Principal, Old Tung, do you remember the Flowing Flame Finger that Chui Yim took from the Cultivation Style Pavilion?” The unforgettable scene came to mind. “He might have mimicked the gliphility’s energliph route and congealed the energliph on his fingertip. Unlike ordinary gliphists who can turn energliph into gliphs with but a thought, he drew the entire Flame’s Knife himself.” 

Chor Shing Chit had a deep voice, but it was filled with surprise and admiration. “Remember how Chui Yim curled onto the ground with his hands hidden, keeping it hidden from view. He might’ve already been drawing the gliph then. Legend has it that Man Chin Hung, the talent who only filled her wind chamber when she turned twenty-two, was able to draw gliphs before she broke through too, and the results were comparable to a ten-gliphic stage gliphist.” 

Bak Wun and Old Tung remained silent; they had heard of this too. 

Gliphist and gliphers have different states. Gliphists went by single-gliphic, ten-gliphic, hundred-gliphic, and thousand-gliphic.

A gliph made by a single-gliphic state gliphist was as good as the gliphility of a two-chambered glipher. Gliphers had the advantage of their strong body, while gliphists wrought destruction more powerful than a glipher of their state. Gliphers made use of the energliph they cultivated to perform the different gliphilities tattooed on their chamber, while gliphists used heaven and earth as their canvas, drawing gliphs to make the best out of their energliph. If gliphists had ample time to produce their gliphs, their strength would crush gliphers of the same stage.