132 Chapter 132 (1/2)

Huo Kong looked at his next opponent, the youth was staring at him, just standing there. He had to agree that he had miscalculated slightly and that these cultivators weren't pushovers. Still, he didn't feel like he would lose even if each one fought him one after another.

”Oh, the friend of the previous contender wants to avenge him! Let's give him a round of applause!”

Zhang Liu's eyebrows twitched as everyone looked in his direction, he could feel people's eyes on him. This wasn't anything new as he was used to getting watched by his own clan members, still, he didn't like the feeling of getting gawked at.

”What a handsome young man...”

”Think he has a partner? He looks to be quite young too... probably some young master...”

”What beautiful snow-white hair!”

You could hear the women talking, Zhang Liu was quite the handsome young lad. Alas he wasn't concerned with things like that, finding cultivation far more important than a relationship. He tried to ignore the swarm of drooling groupies that he had just earned and looked at Huo Kong.

”Why don't you recover some of your stamina before we fight, you will need it...”

Zhang Liu spoke out while looking at the red-haired youth, who in response scoffed at him.

”What? Do you think I need to recover to fight someone like you? You're being overconfident for a little Zhang Clan whelp!”

Liu wasn't trying to be patronizing, he just wanted a fair fight and was trying to even the odds. On the other hand, Huo Kong thought that he would lose face if he were to take a recovery pill. He only fought a meager opponent and thought that he didn't require any outside help.

”I'll show you your place!”

Zhang Liu's face twitched, finally getting slightly angry. He didn't know why this man was so condescending towards his Zhang Clan, but he would show his opponent that they shouldn't be trifled with.

”Fine... show me my place then...”

He squinted and jumped into the ring while leaving an afterimage behind, the display of speed making Huo Kong back off slightly, startled by the display.

'He's fast...'

He instantly realized that this new opponent was far stronger than the ones he faced in the previous bouts. He wasn't discouraged though, he just gathered his energies. His whole body glowed in a bright red hue as the same runes appeared all over it.

”Oh what's this, the opponent seems to be very fast! Oh, is that lightning? Does the challenger cultivate in the Dao of the storms?”

This was an honest mistake, the Dao of the storms was an actual cultivation method in this world. It was a lesser Dao, lightning was just a side product of it though and not the main component.

Zhang Liu was already in the foundation establishment realm and in its middle stage. While being in the Qi condensation realm he couldn't really utilize the more complex techniques that Zhang Dong was using. Now though, he had quite the repertoire of them, they mostly being the same ones that his Master used. They were just versions that required less spiritual energy to use and were weaker in response to that.

Huo Kong didn't wait for his opponent to make the first move like he did with the previous ones. Instead he jumped in, his fists ready to deliver cultivation shattering blows. At least that's what he was attempting to do, but found himself dodging to the side as some sort of spear of concentrated spiritual energy flew towards him. The attack exploded against the arena floor and delivered a residual static shock to the fire cultivator.

This was a weaker version of Zhang Dong's Lightning Javelin, the skills specs got lowered to accommodate a lower cultivation realm. It packed less of a punch but was still a good earth graded technique. Huo Kong didn't have much time to rest as he felt a shiver run down his spine, he quickly did a 180-degree turn and put up a cross shape guard with his forearms. He made sure to push his fire Qi into this block, soon he received a palm strike that sent him flying backward for about ten meters.

Zhang Liu's hand was crackling with blue lightning energy, his opponent managed to push the invading energies away while a drop of sweat run down his forehead.

”Nice block, wonder if you can block the next one as well...”

The crowd exploded in cheers, the combat prowess of this new challenger was over the charts. They thought that no one could beat this fire youth, but this white-haired one was managing to push him back.

”Oh no, the Challenger's strikes are fast and swift like thunder, is this the end for the master of inferno?”

The commentator started coming up with more silly names while the audience shouted out and cheered on some more.

Zhang Liu wasn't underestimating his opponent, after the first clash he felt the massive amount of spiritual energy that his opponent possessed. It was still this high even after he went through six bouts without much rest, if he made a mistake and got too confident the momentum could quickly shift. That's why he was planning to go all-in and end it fast.

He moved his palm forward and tilted it slightly to the side while pointing it against his opponent. His feet were giving off sparks as he was ready to activate his movement technique. Huo Kong was looking at this display in distress as he knew that this opponent would be a tough cookie to crack.

In response to his opponent's fighting stance and forward movement, Huo Kong put his fists up. His body started glowing red and his muscles bulged, steam coming out of his pores which made him look quite peculiar. His hair started catching on fire and his eyes glowed red, he was apparently charging up some secret skill or ability to try and win this next exchange as he noticed that his opponent was going for the kill.

The two jumped forward, the ground under them cracking slightly as they took off. Both fighters were going for an equal exchange, power against power as they charged towards one another. Before they could do that though, something interrupted them.

”That's enough!”

Both of them felt immense pressure pushing them down to the ground and it also immediately canceled out their own spiritual energy. The two stopped in place a couple of meters from each other and looked to the side, to where the voice came from. There they saw an elder looking gentleman that had a characteristic mutton chop beard and was wearing a standard Huo Clan elder's robe.

”E-elder Qiao, t-this is...”