107 Victory! 1 (1/2)
Chapter 107: Victory! 1
A huge crowd gathered around the courtyard of the Circling Dance Gate; some martial artists had even jumped onto the walls for a good spot to watch the fight from. Others who were watching the fight were the inhabitants of the tall residential buildings in the vicinity.
The members of the Celestial Circle Gate stood in front of the courtyard, and following behind were the Seven Moon Gate and the Red Obsidian Gate.
The few girls of Circling Dance Gate stood at the entrance of the wooden door of the dojo.
Everyone’s sights were nervously pinned on the two people in the middle of the field.
Andrela rushed towards Garen, his figure creating black lines. He plunged his sword in.
Ding ding ding! A series of metallic clashes rang out violently. In a flash, numerous sparks erupted from the rapier on Garen.
Hu!!
Andrela did a backflip and jumped away, narrowly missing Garen’s hand chop. The green and black arm, as thick as a concrete pillar, crashed onto the earth on the ground.
Bham!
The fine, grey dirt exploded violently, as though a bomb had gone off. The huge amount of grey dirt, under the intense force, turned into countless of shrapnels which flew ruthlessly towards Andrela.
With another rain of little tinkling sounds, a big mound of earth and mud had all come before Andrela and defended him...
A silver mirror seemed to have materialized in the air before him in that instant. Blocking all the finely crushed dregs.
Chik!
The silver mirror disappeared, turning into a rapier pointing towards the ground.
Having had their first turn against each other, they resumed their positions, a few meters away from each other.
Garen lowered his sight to look at where he had been stabbed. Dabs of blood had appeared indistinctly on the skin there. Clearly, some tiny blood vessels had been cut.
”You are able to hurt me, surprisingly... Not bad... You are indeed the opponent I have been waiting for!” The corners of his lips curled into a deeper grin unconsciously. A surge of turbulent emotions shook in his chest, ready to erupt at any time, like boiling hot lava.
Andrela held his sword, as though he had yet to make a move, standing in his original position, his long hair flowing.
”One who can receive a full-strength blow from my sword in my normal state. You are definitely the person who killed my brother.” He spoke slowly, in a low voice, but his tone did not weaken and was heard by everyone clearly.
”Tenstar Ni is your brother?” Garen was stunned but he immediately recovered. ”No wonder you have come in person, I see that this is the reason. As for killing Tenstar Ni, I do not regret it. It is difficult to avoid getting hurt or dying in a contest of combat. If you wish to avenge him, I stand here. Come and kill me yourself, if you can.”
There was a flash in Andrela’s eyes.
”Life and death are inevitable on the path to the truth. What a pity. If we had not met under such circumstances, we could have been really good friends... Although now, I still do not wish to kill you...”
He lifted his rapier; a greenish black piece of muscle, shaped like a cross, protruded suddenly from the back of his hand, exactly the same as had happened with Tenstar Ni.
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”Big brother is using his secret weapon already?” At the Celestial Circle Gate, Xin Luo exclaimed, somewhat astonished, ”He should not be needing to use this against Garen, right? Even if he can’t pierce through the other parts of the body, but he should be able to pierce through the ears and the eyes, no?”
”What do you still not understand?” The Elder, standing on the side, said in a deep voice, ”Take a closer look at Garen’s stance.”
Xin Lo and the other two took a moment to look over, with fixed concentration.
Garen’s entire body had formed a strange V shape; at the same time, both his arms were slowly moving, continuously in a gentle motion. His entire body had blended into one harmonious figure.
Wisps of white vapor were released from his nostrils, surrounding his body in vague, blue forms, flowing slowly. From afar, he looked as though he was shrouded in the body of a huge, white elephant. Every slight movement he made came with the faint sound of a mammoth’s neigh.
The expressions on the three people shifted slightly.
”Such powerful bravery!”
The Elder nodded, looking grave and solemn.
”His secret weapon is to unite his body into one; the blood qi of his entire body becomes incomparably sensitive. No matter which point you attack him at, it will be deflected easily by his excellent combat skills. After all, however fast you are, can you be faster than that slight move of the shaking of his head?”
He watched the strong and ferocious Garen from afar: ”Looks like everyone underestimated this young lad from White Cloud Gate!”
On the other side of Circular Dance Gate, a few people, including Jaimae Lilliette and Imogen Lilliette, had become solemn after seeing this scene.
”These two people have such strong bravery!” There was an uncontainable shock on Jaimae Lilliette’s face. ”Indeed! Garen has indeed become an Ultimate Adept of the Grandmaster of Combat!”
”Mummy, what is bravery? Senior Brother Garen looks so powerful, but that Andrela does not look weak either. Will Senior Brother Garen be alright?” Imogen Lilliette asked in a small, anxious voice.
The other disciples also looked to the dojo master doubtfully.
”Bravery is the combination of a martial artist’s physique, technique, spirit, released as a single aura. Or, it can also be called a sort of threat! A sense of danger! You should know, every living being has natural responses to danger. As for elite martial artists, they have a method to blend everything in and of themselves together, giving off a fierce, threatening feeling. This method is called bravery. When you see a venomous snake, would you feel that it is dangerous, highly toxic? Your entire body would then be nervous. This is a similar principle.”
Jaimae Lilliette watched the two people in the field, with mixed emotions reflected in her eyes.
”As for excellent martial artists, having such an ability lets them display their strength, and can even achieve an exaggerated effect without having to resort to battle, making their opponents desist from having thoughts of retaliating! This is to achieve victory without having to fight. Look closely at that Andrela.”
Imogen Lilliette and the rest paid close attention to Andrela for a moment, and indeed, vaguely discovered that his long black hair was flying all around his body; there was a delicate sound of windchimes echoing slowly around his entire body. At the same time, both his arms were raised up before him, making a strange hand gesture. It gave them a very weird feeling.
”It looks a bit like a black cross!” Imogen Lilliette blurted out.
The two people in the courtyard, one a giant, white elephant, and the other a black cross, were facing each other; a huge horrifying and threatening aura was spreading out, unrestrained. Some martial adepts nearby had a momentary misconception, as though even with the great distance between them, they were still in danger at any given time. They automatically retreated, one after another, only relaxing when they had backed off quite a bit.
The members of the Seven Moon Gate, furthest in the back, were the ones watching the confrontation between the two people in the field with unusually mixed feelings right then.
The Second Elder, leading the team, stood at the forefront. Next to him were Shia and Rampas.
”This is bravery…!” His voice was dry, ”Bravery that only an elite martial artist can have.”
It was not only him; all the other higher-ups of the Seven Moon Gate had complicated looks in their eyes; they were all the higher-ups whom Rampas had pleaded for mercy before. Now, looking at Garen’s terrifying and humongous bravery, they were momentarily rendered speechless by an indescribable, mysterious feeling.