Chapter 39: Real Military Poise (1/2)

[Volume 2 - Bloom of the Other Shore Flower]

In this chaotic time and place, almost all of those who held seats of power had slaughtered their way out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood relying on their own abilities. On this abandoned continent, there was no room of survival whatsoever for those incompetent wealthy hedonistic youths.

Once Instructor Liu moved, the dignitaries that were watching the fight were instantly hooked. This was a killing technique from the battlefield!

Compared to him, those two bloody fights earlier were just mere street brawls, all brawn with no brains. In comparison, the techniques of the assassins were highly deadly, but were lacking in confrontational ability. They were completely unable to demonstrate them on the stage.

But Qianye was of a different style. He was extremely agile, constantly changing positions around Instructor Liu so quickly that it made others dizzy. But out of ten of his moves, about seven or eight of them were feints. Added to the fact that Qianye’s silhouette possessed such beauty, they couldn’t help but wonder which family his particular brand of martial arts had come from. It was so mesmerizing that not to mention those powers, but even the audience couldn’t help but think of it as being an extremely flowery display of martial arts.

Instructor Liu’s fighting style should, by right, have been the most adept at curbing Qianye’s insubstantial fighting style, but what the audience couldn’t have predicted was that the two of them were extremely evenly matched in strength. The battle turned into a stalemate.

Although it was a virtual combat system, his strength was the complete strength of a rank one Fighter. As Instructor Liu fought, his forehead gradually wet with sweat.

Qianye could be said to have a hundred flaws, but every single time Instructor Liu tried to catch one of these, he would inexplicably fail. Once or twice could be written off as coincidence, but this many times, if he still hadn’t realized that something was wrong, then he wouldn’t have been fit to be called “instructor.”

Instructor Liu’s face darkened, Qianye was evidently an expert that was worth his full effort to deal with. Suddenly blowing a long whistle, his face became incomparably calm, and his breathing slowed, as if he was preparing for a long, drawn-out fight.

Instructor Liu’s solemnity made the audience clamor with excitement as he seriously assessed Qianye.

In a box seat, a certain big shot quietly said, “There’s more to Qianye than it seems.”

A youth that was sitting in another box seat heard it and turned to laugh. “Are you afraid that Liu Zifan would lose? He’s the current combat instructor on active duty, you know?”

“An identity doesn’t mean anything.”

The youth playfully pondered, looking at Qianye, and then said, “I favor Liu Zifan, to the contrary. Want to make a bet with us?”

That big shot whose face was obscured entirely in the shadow mulled it over, and then nodded. “Alright.”

The youth gave a smirk. “A small bet is boring. How about this, let’s make the stakes one hundred imperial gold coins?”

“Just as you said, a small bet is boring. Other than one hundred imperial gold coins, I want that ‘Blackfang’ you’ve got, how about that?”

Killing intent flashed through the youth’s eyes, and then slowly faded. He said blandly, “If you’re willing to bet your ‘Igniter’ as well, then I’m fine.”

“That’s that, then.”

The two box seats quieted down, the two sides no longer talking as they concentrated on observing the battle.

The battle had already gone on for fifteen minutes but neither side looked like they were winning. Both parties’ foreheads were sweating, but their movements were just as they were earlier, and it looked like they could continue fighting like this for an hour or two without an issue.

After activating the first origin node, the condition of one's body would see a massive increase and their physical strength would far outstrip commoners'. In one prolonged battle, a rank one Fighter could often consecutively slaughter several dozen common soldiers and still have enough energy left to continue battling.

Liu Zifan still had that clean and practiced military style, while Qianye was still as flashy as ever, just that he had started to reduce the number of silly leaping actions.

The audience’s cheering had subsided, but nobody had lost their patience.

This was practically an exhibition match in fighting technique and many people were secretly trying to figure out and learn the fighting techniques of the two, with some success. Even the little tricks that Qianye was using would have great value in a real fight.

But Tiger Yan was somewhat unsettled. He suddenly turned around, saying something to his subordinate, and that subordinate immediately left, returning a short while later with a woman in hand.

The woman was young and pretty, and she possessed a certain wildness of character. Even in Blackflow City she was considered one of the greatest beauties. Her face was pale after being forcibly pulled into the area and then to Tiger Yan’s side.

Tiger Yan suddenly raised his voice, calling out, “Kid! You’re called Qianye, right? Take a good look at this woman! She seems related to you!”

Qianye turned to look, and was struck dumb for an instant. Min’er was right beside Tiger Yan. She didn’t usually leave Lighthouse Town, so how was she here?

But in this moment of distraction, Qianye’s movements slowed a tiny bit, and Liu Zifan instantly grasped the opportunity, sweeping his leg across Qianye’s thighs. Qianye staggered and Liu Zifan instantly grasped at the chance to unleash a flurry of vicious attacks. Qianye took a series of punches, and the two of them separated.

A few slightly red regions began to show on Qianye’s virtual body, and that was a sign of damage. If the damage reached the point where it was fully red, then it would be rendered unusable. If it was the brain, the chest, or the lower half of the body that was red, then it would be judged to be an instant loss.

Sir Zhao’s face became extremely ugly. Standing up abruptly, he called out, “Tiger Yan, are you this shameless? You want to play dirty?”

Tiger Yan laughed, spreading his hands. “But I didn’t force that kid to lose! Qianye, did you hear that? Fight brutally, fight to the death! Fight! Haha!”

As he laughed, Tiger Yan stood up, and pulling out a short blade, he stuck it into Min’er’s collar, and forcefully pulled down! With a ripping noise, Min’er’s blouse had been completely torn open. Tiger Yan pulled off her blouse with a tug, letting her entire upper body be exposed.

Min’er hugged herself, covering as much as she could, but she was slapped instead.