117 Chapter 116: Champion (1/2)
”Oh?” Zhu Jiao remarked rather casually. ”You seem rather confident.”
”I'm not, to be honest,” I admitted. ”But I have nothing to lose!”
Zhu Jiao laughed. ”That's the spirit! I'm sure you'll be able to surprise me again! Come on, Wu! Let's settle this once and for all!”
We both surged forward, meeting in the middle of the coliseum. I wasn't stupid enough to parry his punches directly, so once again I utilized Heavenly Flow and Earthly Steps to evade his attacks by the bare minimum, stepping back and avoiding his punches and kicks. Even as I evaded his assault, I kept my eyes – or rather, my qi senses peeled for an opening.
Visually, there was no gaps in Zhu Jiao's defenses. Other than his face, which was covered by a golden aura of qi, his body was completely covered by golden armor. The metallic plates seemed impenetrable and impervious to anything I could throw at him.
Even my tactic of trying to bypass his defenses and freezing his blood didn't work…
It might have worked against Li Guo Qiang, but that moron only focused on defending against physical attacks and completely neglecting defenses against inner attacks and qi. Zhu Jiao was smart enough not to make the same mistake.
Then how am I going to…?
That was where Heavenly Flow and Earthly Steps came in. one could be forgiven for mistaking it to be a purely defensive (or evasive) technique, but when used in the right way, it could prove to be one of the deadliest techniques.
That was why I was reluctant to use it against the other students during the tournament. It felt very unfair.
Fortunately, Zhu Jiao has his own fair share of cheats and Deus ex machina.
That was why I had no compunctions using this against him. If anything, he deserved to have this used against him.
Even without sight, I could ”see” Zhu Jiao's flow of qi. To be more accurate, I could ”sense” rather than see the flow of qi in my opponent's body. They were like streams of light, swirling around and melding with each other, coded in different colors and merging into different froms of qi. Picking out the difference threads of qi, I could see where the concentrations of qi were the densest, and the segments where they were the thinnest.
”Hah!”
Zhu Jiao didn't realize what I was doing, for he was continuing his attacks unimpeded and trying to switch around the patterns of his attacks. I dodged his next few strikes and waited for an opportunity to present itself. For now, all I did was move back, step to the side, duck my head backward, spin away and retreated as he punched and kicked, avoiding all of his strikes by the smallest margins. As he closed in, his movements getting faster and more ferocious, I finally found the opening I wanted.
”!!”
”Uwaaah!”
With a shout, I slashed at the places where the concentration of qi were the thinnest. Zhu Jiao staggered back as blood spurted from the rents in his armor, wincing and cursing as he clutched at his injuries.
”How!?”
I replied with a riposte that almost cut through the thin layer of qi protecting his side and drawing a slight trickle of blood. Intuitively sensing danger, Zhu Jiao countered with a punch that forced me to snap my head backward, and quickly withdrew. Jumping back to a safe distance, he studied me keenly with a mystified expression.
”How did you cut through my Sacred Armor that was enhanced by my Sacred Beast technique?!”
”Do you think I'll tell you while we're still in the middle of a match?” I retorted.
Zhu Jiao relaxed a fraction and shook his head with a smile. ”No, I'm not that naïve. Sorry, that was just a rhetorical question.”
I doubted it was, given how most characters in wuxia and xianxia novels and light novels loved to explain their attacks and skills, but decided to let it go. Dropping to another offensive stance, I got ready to advance.
Seeing my aggressive stance, Zhu Jiao nodded. ”Well, even if I don't know how you did it, I'll just have to be more careful!”
We both clashed again, sparks flying as my blades slid against his gauntlets. I ducked under another of his punch and thrust my right sword forward.
”!!”
Zhu Jiao quickly whirled away with a speed that was belied by his heavily armored form, and my strike that was aimed for his ribs merely slid through the gap and left a shallow cut. Zhu Jiao winced and then smashed his elbow down on my outstretched arm, but I was quick to let go of my sword and withdraw it, allowing his gauntlet to swing through empty space. I then lashed out with my foot and kicked my sword back upward right at his face, and despite Zhu Jiao turning away, the tip of my blade grazed his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood before I snatched it.
”Uwoooh!”
With a roar, I then slashed with my other sword, seeking yet another weak spot. By now Zhu Jiao had grown wise to my attacks – even if he didn't realize how my attacks were penetrating his previously impervious defense, he was smart enough not to underestimate me. He caught my blade with his elbow and knee, halting the blade mere centimeters away from his side.
”!!!”
I was forced to let go of the sword again as he countered with a vicious hook that would have broken my nose had it landed. Gripping my remaining sword with both hands, I unleashed a powerful Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike that was off by several centimeters, missing the weak spot that my Heaven and Earth sense had picked out.
”Hmm…?”
Zhu Jiao had expected to suffer a grievous blow from my hastily executed attack, but his thick armor and dense qi protected him from the worst of my strike. Not going to waste the chance, he quickly retaliated with a riposte, his gauntleted fist literally tearing the space apart as he launched another punch at my head.
”Damn it…!”
I cursed under my breath as I slid away, retreating to a safe distance. My other sword spun uncontrollably in midair before landing on the ground, its blade sticking deeply into the ground before vibrating ominously.
I had wasted a perfect chance to take out Zhu Jiao when his guard was down. Unfortunately, that was reality for you. No battle plan ever survived contact with an enemy, and I wasn't some God Mode Mary Sue who could perfectly execute every attack with flawless precision. I was bound to miss quite a lot of strikes, especially when under pressure and overwhelmed by the heat of battle.
”I see…it's not as if all your attacks can penetrate my armor…but those previous strikes didn't feel like luck or a fluke…?”
Zhu Jiao was studying me, not sure what to make of the earlier exchange. But him being him, he decided not to dwell on the matter for too long and instead focused on finishing the battle. Dropping to a crouch, he raised both his hands and clenched them into fists.
This was definitely going to be a big attack.
”Haaaah~”
I let out a sigh and readied myself for yet another blow. Zhu Jiao kicked off the ground and launched himself at me.
Counter aggression with stillness. Like a rock in the waterfall…allow the water to flow around me. Don't rush toward my opponent head-on.
It was almost the opposite of the match between Zhu Jiao and Bai Ning Xue. This time I was the one who remained stationary while Zhu Jiao sprang forward to attack. Closing my eyes, I allowed my qi perception to track Zhu Jiao's trajectory before I moved slightly to the side. Twisting my sword in a backhanded blow, I slashed at the gap between the armor at Zhu Jiao's stomach, hoping that my calculations were spot on.
They were, but just barely. My sword went a few millimeters than I intended, but I still managed to find the space between Zhu Jiao's armor and gouged his skin. If Zhu Jiao didn't have his Golden Kirin Sacred Armor and Sacred Beast technique, he would have been eviscerated by that fatal blow.
”Kuh!”
Zhu Jiao grunted and swung his gauntlet back, hoping to take my head off, but I ducked under his huge fist and reversed the grip in my sword, yanking it out along with a fresh spray of blood. Zhu Jiao stumbled, the flow of his qi slightly disturbed for a moment.
I was definitely not going to let this chance slip through my fingers.
Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike!
I held my sword with both hands as I whirled around and unleashed a huge black dragon from my sword, which struck the off-balance Zhu Jiao with meteoric force. Despite his Sacred Armor and Sacred Beast technique, Zhu Jiao was thrown off his feet and sent hurtling across the arena. He yelped as he crashed onto the ground, but credit where it was due, he quickly recovered and rolled to his feet. Wincing, he clutched at his wound, then stared at the blood staining his metallic glove.
”Hmm…as I thought, it was not a fluke.”
”Ugh…”
I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to deal a decisive blow. Despite drawing blood and knocking Zhu Jiao down, the injury I left on his gut was still too shallow. Zhu Jiao could still stand and continue fighting.
”You continue to amaze me, Wu.”
He shok his head as he studied me. His fingers curled as he clenched his fists and his blazing golden aura surged once again.
”I still have no idea how you're cutting through my defenses.” He frowned as he stared at my sword. While he remained still, I slowly strolled over and picked up my other sword. As I expected, I preferred fighting with two swords.
”Secret,” I replied, my voice tinged with slight humor. Zhu Jiao laughed good-naturedly and nodded.
”Of course, of course. I don't expect you to tell me.” Of course you did. You thought I was one of those arrogant antagonists in the typical wuxia/xianxia novels or light novels, who enjoyed bragging about my techniques or skills to the protagonist, didn't you? Of course such things wer done so that the readers could appreciate the workings behind those techniques, but if you thought about it, no sane combatant would do that in real life.
Zhu Jiao then shifted his gaze to my swords and studied them for a few moments. I shifted them uncomfortably under his stare, wondering what he intended to do.
”No…those are just normal swords.”
”??”
I stared at him, not comprehending. Zhu Jiao sighed.
”Initially, I thought it was possible that you're cutting through my armor because of your swords. You know how most martial artists, especially those from the major sects, possess high quality spirit armaments and weapons. I suspected that you were using one of those…but now that I see them clearly, no matter how I look at them, they're just normal swords. Even if they are spirit swords, they are of the lowest quality.”
I glanced down at my swords and saw that they were chipped and heavily damaged. Honestly, I was actually surprised they lasted this long in the tournament. It was a miracle they hadn't snapped or broken already.
”You're right,” I conceded. There was no use concealing that fact from Zhu Jiao. He could clearly see the swords for himself. ”These are just normal swords. The lowest quality spirit weapons I can get for free from the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. There really is nothing special about them except that they belong to me.”
Zhu Jiao chuckled. ”You were always quite the sentimental person.”
”Maybe.” I raised both my swords. ”But they're more than enough to defeat you.”
Cocking his head, Zhu Jiao studied me in disbelief, then his hands and eyes went to the gouges I left in his armor. The bleeding had stopped, but there were still bloodstains on the gleaming armor and his gauntlets.
”Normally I would think you're joking, but after taking those strikes from you, I can't afford to dismiss that claim lightly.”
Dropping to a crouch, he got ready to launch himself at me in a predatory pounce.
Not willing to allow Zhu Jiao to dictate the flow of battle, I also used Jin and advanced toward him. Slipping into his flow of qi, I predicted his movements and evaded his attacks while leaving another few cuts on his armor, slicing through the places where his defenses were the thinnest and drawing more blood. Undeterred, Zhu Jiao continued his relentless assault, forcing me back. I hopped back as his fist carved a destructive path toward me while deflecting his other fist. Then I jumped over his kick before slashing at his shoulder. Zhu Jiao shifted imperceptibly to absorb the blow, and this time I was unable to cut through his defenses.
”Hah!”
”!!”
I sprang back, flipping my body in midair as his fist seared through the space where my head had been. Stumbling back, I hastily executed another Black Dragon Blast that slammed into Zhu Jiao and drove him back, causing him to stagger.
”Kuh…!”
Zhu Jiao braced himself and waved away the smoke. Swinging his arm out to swat at me, I ducked under his gauntlet and opened up another fresh cut on his forearm, causing him to flinch and withdraw it from instinct.
”Huff…”
Even as I left more damage across Zhu Jiao's body, I felt myself slowly tiring. I couldn't keep this up for much longer…
Zhu Jiao seemed to be aware of this too. His attacks intensified and he seemed to get more powerful and faster.
”I'm sorry…but I can't afford to lose here!”