Chapter 598 – The Great Banyan Tree King (1/2)

The surroundings had already gone from a wasteland to a glacier. The ice was over thirty meters thick, clearly to limit the scarred man’s earth element techniques.

Under these circumstances, not only would it take up tremendous amounts of spiritual energy for the scarred man to use earth element techniques, but they would also be nowhere near as effective as they were in the wasteland earlier either. Even the rate at which he recovered his spiritual qi slowed down slightly. He could only depend on the Earth Shattering Hammer of the Eight Directions to launch attacks.

Snow drifted through the air. Wind whistled wildly as the Earth Shattering Hammer of the Eight Directions tore through the beautiful landscape, swinging over. Not only was it vicious, but it was also startlingly fast under the simultaneous control of the scarred man’s soul sense and brute force.

Yan Xixin slid to the left, but he was still unable to escape from the range of the war hammer’s attack, so he tilted his huge shield slightly. With a great boom, pieces of ice were smashed into the air on his right side. They were all as sharp as blades, brushing past his body viciously. Fortunately, he had the armour to block it all.

The scarred man grunted as some of the power rebounded back at him.

Not only could the huge shield in Yan Xixin’s hand redirect most of his power, but it could also reflect a small part of it. That should not have been enough to cause him any real harm, but when Yan Xixin blocked the attack, he immediately slashed out with his sword.

Blood splattered from the scarred man’s shoulder. He let out a furious roar. A small wound like that was nothing, but the battle was extremely dissatisfying. He seemed to have gained the upper hand firmly, but he was unable to stop himself as he gradually slid towards the abyss of defeat.

His battle experience was extremely plentiful. He purposefully revealed openings many times to lure Yan Xixin into attacking, but Yan Xixin played it safe, completely unswayed by the bait. However, whenever the scarred man tried to recover, Yan Xixin would immediately press closer to him and pressure him.

The scarred man wielded the Earth Shattering Hammer of the Eight Directions even more violently than before, but everyone present could tell that the outcome of the duel had already been determined. Although Yan Xixin’s reactive fighting tactic was very safe, it was extremely reliable too, trumping over his opponent’s battle tactic extremely well. It took a far smaller toll on him compared to his opponent.

Si Qing said, “Yanying, so this is the trump card you managed to nurture!”

“I’m really not an expert in this aspect.”

Wei Ke’s miserable defeat did leave her rather surprised. Fortunately, Qian Rongzhi had made up for his failures, while the true trump card was originally Yan Xixin. But now that she had Li Qingshan as a safeguard, there was even less reason for her to worry. She was confident that even if this guy faced all four of them, he would not lose.

Si Bao mockingly said, “Si Qing, it’s been so many years, yet you’re still so unskilled with duels. Advancing and retreating where necessary and able to both attack and block is the superior way. Battles tactics that involve momentary domination can only defeat weaker opponents. Once your offence is thwarted, all you can do is admit defeat.”

Li Qingshan agreed with her very much. In his past life, there was a saying with regards to soccer, “Offence sells tickets. Defence wins championships.” Fierce charges and attacks seemed intense and fascinating, but playing steadily and safely guaranteed victory.

He also began to reflect on the way he fought all this time. Had he been overly reliant on the tiger demon’s claws and fangs and neglected the profound shell of the spirit turtle? When he faced opponents of similar strength, it would often be very difficult to achieve victory in one fell swoop through a powerful attack. Instead, it would also require defence and patience.

Si Qing sneered and replied, “Pursuing victory mindlessly has already deviated from the true meaning of duels. I’ve always objected to your title as a dragon fighter. And, there’s no need to boast right now. The true outcome has yet to be determined!”

However, Yan Xixin won the round before long, but with his fighting style, he obviously could not take the opponent’s life. Just this aspect alone turned off Si Qing. When Qian Rongzhi had killed a powerful subordinate of his, he praised her ecstatically, but now that the scarred man had emerged alive, there was not even a hint of joy on his face. He completely disapproved of Yan Xixin too.

Li Qingshan smiled inside and thought, I couldn’t tell, but this guy is so enthusiastic about this! Even going on about some true meaning of duels!

He did not know that many people in the Dragon province were like this. Duels had already become sacred. There were not a lot of people who did whatever it took just to achieve victory.

The battleground of the third duel had already changed to an extremely dark and thick forest. The huge trees plunged into the sky like skyscrapers, unbelievably large and thick. Their broad, dark-green leaves blotted out the sun in the sky.

The ground was completely covered in roots. Aerial roots dangled down in the air as verdant snake-like vines coiled around the vegetation in the thick, milk-like mist. And, if someone paid attention to them, they would discover they squirmed about.

Li Qingshan had also witnessed the lushness of tropical rainforests in his past life, but compared to this jungle, it was basically comparing a child to a giant.

A cultivator as skinny and small as a dwarf moved between the trees as swiftly as the wind under the shrouding of mist and darkness. Not only did he conceal all of his aura, but his figure had completely merged with the surroundings.

If they had not been spectating from the outside, where their viewing angle was locked onto the fighters at all times, probably even a moment of negligence would be enough to lose sight of him. No one knew whether it was because of his arcane artifacts or because of the wonders of his cultivation method. Perhaps, it was a combination of both.

An environment like this was without a doubt an assassin’s paradise, and the dwarf was the strongest assassin.

“I specially collected this rainforest from the Mist province. It contains a part of the Great Banyan Tree King’s roots.”