Chapter 31: Fight!
"Final match of the training," said Grand Elder Ouyang, looking encouragingly at Meng Hao. "Meng Hao and Wang Tengfei. The victor shall be promoted to the Inner Sect."
Everyone stared at Meng Hao as he leapt up onto the platform. Wang Tengfei opened his eyes and casually stepped up. Conversations erupted amongst the Outer Sect disciples.
"Meng Hao really dares to step onto the platform. His Cultivation base is pretty good, and he did kill Han Zong, but this is Elder Brother Wang he's fighting. He really doesn't know his own limitations."
"There will always be stumbling blocks on the path to power. This is just a little pebble that Elder Brother Wang has to walk over on his rise to the top."
"I remember when he snatched a magical item that Elder Brother Wang had given someone as a gift. When Elder Brother Wang took it back, he was like an ant in front of him." Conversations filled the air, filled with ridicule. It wasn't that everyone felt great enmity towards Meng Hao, but rather, in their hearts, Elder Brother Wang was someone you just didn't mess with.
"If he dies under Wang Tengfei's hand, it won't be easy to get his bag of holding," thought Shangguan Xiu, frowning. He looked at Meng Hao.
Even as everyone in the crowd sneered at Meng Hao, once again putting him at odds against the world, suddenly, a shrill, clear voice suddenly rang out.
"Go Meng Hao! You're gonna win! The next Inner Sect disciple will definitely be Meng Hao!" It was Fatty, shouting out from down in the square in his cracking, teenage voice.
The jumble of voices reached Meng Hao, but they seemed very far away. He stood there calmly, staring coldly at Wang Tengfei. Meng Hao knew that from the moment he had entered the world of Cultivation until now, he had never faced a more powerful opponent. This would be his most difficult battle yet.
But he wouldn't shrink back. He would fight. He would attack. There are some things in life that a man must do, because of dignity.
The scene from that day continued to play out in his head, and he absentmindedly rubbed his bag of holding.
Inside were the ten blood-stained fingernails he'd plucked out of his palms.
Wang Tengfei stood there calmly, giving a cool look to Meng Hao. His eyes were placid, as if he were looking down at an insect. He looked just like he did that year.
He waved his right hand as if he were flicking away a bug, and in front of him a spinning whirlwind appeared, about as tall as a person. It whirled towards Meng Hao.
Meng Hao's eyes gleamed. He had nothing to say to Wang Tengfei. Everything he wanted to say could be said with swords, magic, and this most fierce battle in all his 18 years of life.
He stepped forward, lifting his right hand and sending a Wind Blade screaming toward the whirlwind. It radiated a savage wind as it flew forward.
Fight!
He slapped his bag of holding, and twenty flying swords flew out in a line. Some seemed to be bent, unable to fly straight, but their sword auras glittered blindingly. He lifted a finger on his right hand and pointed. The twenty flying swords became a rainbow as they shot with immense power directly toward Wang Tengfei.
Fight!
The dazzling sword auras were like rain, and as their combined power shot toward Wang Tengfei, the whirlwind slammed into them. An explosion reverberated through the air as the whirlwind was torn open. The flying swords, now directionless, were suddenly sucked up into the whirlwind. From a distance, it looked as if the whirlwind had transformed into a vortex of swords. But the whirlwind was growing weaker, and looked as if it would fall apart at any moment.
Wang Tengfei's expression didn't change in the least. He walked forward, and the power of his Cultivation base, at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Condensation, burst forth, forming into an unprecedented spiritual pressure. The fingers of his right hand moved in incantation patterns, and a thin, sparkling strand of water shot toward Meng Hao.
This was not a technique of the Reliance Sect, but rather Wang Tengfei's clan.
Seeing this, Meng Hao unhesitatingly popped a Demonic Core into his mouth. With his left hand, he called back the flying swords from within the vortex. They flew back to him unsteadily. With his right hand, he formed movements with his fingers to summon a Flame Python, a dozen or more meters long. It charged toward the Water Thread, roaring so loud that it seemed as if a tempest had struck.
"Water-Wind, slay!" said Wang Tengfei. Although he didn't look scornful, his calm expression was the same as it had been that day when he almost crippled Meng Hao's Cultivation base, confident and filled with disregard.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the glittered Water Thread melded with the whirlwind to form a massive, rapidly spinning column which then dropped down toward Meng Hao.
The twenty flying swords spun to block the descending column, and a boom rang out as the swords scattered. Some of them even broke to pieces. Meng Hao had already retreated to the edge of the platform. In front of him remained a large stain of water as wide as a hand and approximately nine meters long, frightening in appearance.
A line of blood appeared on Meng Hao's forehead. It slowly oozed down his nose, giving him an even more savage appearance.
Twenty flying swords had been able to shake Han Zong, but this was Wang Tengfei, and he hadn't even used any magical items yet, merely some techniques that Meng Hao had never seen before. Thankfully, Meng Hao had been able to evade death. Were his Cultivation base at the fifth level of Qi Condensation, he would not have been able to dodge.
"Wang Tengfei has powerful latent talent," thought Shangguan Xiu, "and has a lot of experience using the powers and abilities of Qi Condensation. Even someone of the seventh level would have a tough time with him. Meng Hao is definitely going to die." His frown deepened as he looked at Meng Hao, and his eyes shone with murder. However, he still didn't know how he would retrieve Meng Hao's bag of holding after he died.
Wang Tengfei seemed as calm as ever when Meng Hao evaded his attack. It was as his attack had been a mere afterthought. If an elephant wants to crush an ant, and its first step misses, the second will not. He gave a beautiful, indifferent smile then took another step forward, raising his right hand and waving a finger toward Meng Hao.
As soon as he waved his finger, Meng Hao heard a buzz from the surrounding audience. It reminded him of that day when he had stood against the world. Wang Tengfei had used one finger attack to bind him, one to destroy his jade pendant, one to take away the gourd bottle, and one to attempt to cripple his Cultivation base.
A powerful fighting spirit shone in Meng Hao's eyes. He had been humiliated by Wang Tengfei's finger attack, but he was a different person today. Even though he hadn't made up his mind to register for the Inner Sect training, but had rather been forced to sign up by circumstances, he had been prepared to do so for some time. In the past month, most of his time had been spent learning how to sacrifice a bit of dexterity to be able to control large amounts of flying swords.
As Wang Tengfei's finger descended, Meng Hao slapped his bag of holding, consumed a Demonic Core, and then began moving his fingers in incantation patterns. Suddenly, the ten or so remaining flying swords began to tremble, then suddenly lifted off the ground and flew back toward him from all directions.
They rotated around his body, and he lowered his hands, then pointed toward Wang Tengfei. The flying swords shot out with shocking speed, screaming toward Wang Tengfei.
At the same time, more flying swords appeared from within his bag of holding, until his limit was reached. There seemed to be enough to break down a city wall. With frightening power, they filled the sky, flying toward Wang Tengfei's finger attack.
BOOM!
An explosion rattled the entire Outer Sect as twenty flying swords collided with the invisible power emanating from Wang Tengfei's index finger. Amidst the explosion, the twenty flying swords twisted about, some of them shattering into pieces. They had successfully blocked the finger attack.
Blood seeped out of Meng Hao's mouth and veins of blood filled his eyes. He consumed another Demonic Core. His killing intent flared, but he still hadn't spoken a single word. That was just his personality; the more he wanted to kill someone, the more furious he became, the quieter he would be.
Wang Tengfei looked as placid as ever, as if he didn't give a care in the world that Meng Hao stood in front of him. Only he could be filled with such arrogance and disregard.
Taking another step forward, he made his second finger attack.
This was the attack that had shattered Meng Hao's jade pendant. Meng Hao didn't bother to spit the blood out of his mouth. He swallowed it. Fingers flickering with incantations, he sent the remaining scattered flying swords shooting toward Wang Tengfei in another attack. Then, surprisingly, he severed his control link to the swords, letting them fly forward with their own inertia.
He slapped his bag of holding, and suddenly more sword auras appeared, another twenty, forming a second wave that whistled forward. This was a sword rain that contained nearly forty flying swords in total!
Meng Hao knew that this tactic had its weaknesses. The flying swords wouldn't be dexterous, only fast and sharp. His opponent wouldn't find it difficult to avoid an attack. But Meng Hao was betting that considering his opponent's vast arrogance, he would most likely not try to dodge.
Even if he did try to dodge, Meng Hao would be ready. He had naturally considered this possibility, and was prepared for it.
The scene that was unfolding could only be described as an epic battle. For Cultivators practicing Qi Condensation, it was something seldom seen. In the entire State of Zhao in the past several hundred years, there had never been such a battle between two people of the sixth level of Qi Condensation!
Meng Hao had plenty of flying swords. After his experience on the black mountain, he had put a lot of thought into his use of battle magic. With the help of the Wind Blade, he could control large amounts of flying swords. However, it took a lot of spiritual power, and he could only summon twenty each time. Furthermore, his Cultivation base only permitted him to exercise basic control, enough to shoot them forward. He couldn't move them nimbly in the air, or cause them to change directions. He essentially sacrificed the dexterity of the flying sword and focused on its ability to fly.
As such, he could use even larger groups of them, the same way an ordinary person might just throw objects in succession. Except, he wasn't using his hands, he was using spiritual power to ensure their forward movement. As long as he had enough swords and his spiritual power didn't run out, he could pay the price.
Wang Tengfei didn't use Reliance Sect techniques, because he disdained the Reliance Sect and their techniques. He used techniques of his powerful Clan, enabling him to gain an edge on his peers.
Chapter 32: This Finger Brought me Humiliation, Today, I Cripple it!
Meng Hao's flying swords and Wang Tengfei's special magic techniques left the surrounding Cultivators awestruck. No longer did they look down on Meng Hao, but rather were stunned by his vast array of magical items.
It wasn't just them. Shangguan Xiu, Grand Elder Ouyang, and even Sect Leader He Luohua stared in amazement.
Wang Tengfei was strong, able to inspire fear into his Cultivator peers. Everyone knew this, so to see Meng Hao go toe to toe with Wang Tengfei caused everyone watching to feel shocked.
At the moment, forty flying swords descended upon him from multiple directions, a Sword Tempest that seemed as if it could rip apart any living thing that stood in its path. An ordinary Qi condensation sixth-level opponent would have difficulty standing up against it.
Meng Hao coughed up more blood. The only way to force himself to remain upright was to continuously consume Demonic Cores.
A booming sound erupted as Meng Hao's forty flying swords collided with the power of Wang Tengfei's second finger attack. More than half of them were destroyed, but the finger attack could do nothing to Meng Hao other than force him to cough up a bit of blood.
Anyone else would be cautious in their approach to dealing with Meng Hao, but Wang Tengfei was as dismissive as ever. He stepped forward and waved his finger a third time.
Meng Hao's spiritual energy was almost completely exhausted. But he had a lot of Demonic Cores available to replenish himself. During this entire time, he had managed to keep his spiritual energy at roughly an even level. As he watched Wang Tengfei make his third movement, he could not help but recall the same finger attack taking away the gourd bottle. The killing intent in his eyes grew stronger. He didn't retreat, and in fact took a step forward, flingers flickering in incantation movements. Three or four of his bags of holding began to tremble, and then suddenly a succession of sword auras appeared, to the astonishment of all the onlookers.
Waving his sleeve, he sent forth one wave, two waves, three waves of flying swords. They transformed into a dazzling sword rain. One sword, ten, twenty, thirty swords… Seventy swords in four waves, an unbelievable sword aura. They shot toward Wang Tengfei.
Meng Hao constantly coughed up blood, then consumed medicinal pills. His eyes were completely bloodshot, but the killing intent in them was as strong as ever. Even if he ran out of spiritual power, he would spare nothing!
Wang Tengfei gave a cold harrumph. With so many people looking on, he didn't want to dodge the attack, but there were just too many flying swords. They appeared to be approaching in a direct line, and yet something about the attack looked off. He had a dark premonition that if he attempted to dodge the attack, he would still be walking into death.
For the first time, something flickered within Wang Tengfei's eyes. Lifting his finger, he immediately moved into the fourth finger attack. A ripple appeared in front of him, and even as it began to spread out, Meng Hao's fingers stopped moving and he clasped his palms together flat in front of him.
"Wind-construct Sword!" As soon as the words came out of Meng Hao's mouth, the seventy flying swords suddenly began to combine together.
The onlookers gaped in shock as the fourth wave of swords picked up speed, slamming into the third wave, which then swept into the sword rain of the second wave, and then finally smacked into the back of the first wave. Then a sweeping wind pressed in from multiple directions to form them into the solid shape! From a distance, it appeared as if they had formed a gigantic flying sword.
This was Meng Hao's Flying Sword Matrix, created along with the issuance of his Wind Blade. It was a sword technique he had developed after his time on the black mountain. It shot toward Wang Tengfei with irresistible force. Popping sounds filled the air as the ripple in front of Wang Tengfei began to warp as if it were being pushed against by a massive force. This in turn caused Wang Tengfei, for the first time ever, to take a step backward.
"How arrogant of you to force me to take a step back." This was the first time he had spoken to Meng Hao during the entire battle. His left hand slapped his bag of holding and a glittering, crystal statue appeared. It was a statue of a horse, vivid and lifelike, seemingly full of energy and spirit.
A neighing sound filled the air, and the crystal statue seemed to come to life, leaping out of Wang Tengfei's palm and flying straight toward Meng Hao's giant sword. As soon as they collided, the giant sword began to collapse, starting from its tip. Layer after layer of swords peeled away, torn apart by the crystal horse. Within an instant, a huge portion of the giant sword had been destroyed, and the only thing left was the hilt. Flying swords scattered about in all directions.
Seeing this, the onlookers' hearts raced, and they had little time to even process in their minds what was happening. They appeared shocked beyond belief.
And then, just as the giant sword was broken down into a mere hilt, a new sword flew out from the midst of the other swords. A sword made of wood. It shot toward the crystal horse, and when the two hit each other, a sound boomed out louder than any sound which had been heard so far during the battle. It echoed out multiple times.
As of now, the wooden sword was the only sword under Meng Hao's control. Everything up to this point had been a ruse to keep it concealed, then use it in a surprise move.
The sword, once meant for Wang Tengfei, was now in Meng Hao's hands. To Wang Tengfei, it was a treasure, but to Meng Hao, it was worth two thousand Spirit Stones. Regardless of how powerful it was, it was the most powerful weapon he had, so of course he would use it.
Amidst the deafening boom, the crystal horse began to shake, and a multitude of cracks appeared on its surface. Then, it simply collapsed into pieces.
Wang Tengfei's expression changed instantly. Carrying with it the remaining flying swords, the wooden sword shot toward him. As it neared, he reflexively lifted his arm, focused his Cultivation base on his finger and shot out an explosive force. The force sent all the flying swords spinning, but not the wooden sword. It continued on, stabbing into his finger and shredding it to bloody pieces. Then it spun back to hover next to Meng Hao.
"That finger brought me humiliation," Meng Hao said slowly. "Today, I cripple it!" He spat out a mass of blood, staggering back several paces. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.
Wang Tengfei took several heavy steps back, ignoring the pain of his finger, eyes filled with disbelief. He stared at the wooden sword floating next to Meng Hao. The words Meng Hao had just uttered rang in his ears. And then, an unspeakable rage welled up within him.
He recognized this sword!
The moment Wang Tengfei's finger was shredded to pieces, all the Cultivators in the square were shocked. The buzz of conversation again arose.
"Meng Hao destroyed Elder Brother Wang's finger. This… this can't be!"
"Elder Brother Wang is injured. He's a Chosen, but Meng Hao decimated his finger… Meng Hao…"
"It's scary that he has so many flying swords. And he used seventy of them to make a giant sword. How astonishing!"
Shangguan Xiu sucked in a deep breath. Everything that was happening seemed unimaginable. He wasn't the only one surprised. Grand Elder Ouyang had stood up and was looking at Meng Hao, his eyes filled with deep admiration and intense anticipation.
Even He Luohua, standing atop the East Mountain, stared down at Meng Hao, his eyes glittering.
The buzz of conversation reached Wang Tengfei's ears, but he paid it no heed, as if he hadn't heard it at all. Fury burned in his eyes, and he stared murderously at the wooden sword circling Meng Hao.
"So it was you!" Wang Tengfei didn't even bother to stop the blood from gushing out of where finger had once been. He had only been furious once before in his life, and that was the day in the cave when he realized the treasure he had hunted for years had been snatched away. His inner humiliation and madness, and his hatred toward that unknown person, had seeped into his very bones.
This matter was his biggest regret. His shrill screams that day still seemed to echo in his ears. Often, he was shaken from meditation deep in the quiet of night, his heart dripping with blood, feeling like a fool. Every time he thought about it, he fought the urge to go crazy.
Today was the second time in his life that he was furious. He recognised the sword. In his eyes, it belonged to him, his own treasure with which control heaven and earth. And today… here it was in Meng Hao's hands.
"So it was you!" Wang Tengfei's eyes overflowed with murder. His desire to kill Meng Hao could not be any stronger. This look was so different from his usual calm visage that the surrounding Cultivators could not help but murmur to each other about it.
"It was you who stole away my treasure!" Wang Tengfei stared at the wooden sword, murder roiling in his eyes. He felt an impulsive desire to rip Meng Hao to pieces. He suddenly laughed, and as the laughter rolled out across the square, he seemed to grow even more awe-inspiring.
"I have no idea what Elder Brother Wang is talking about," said Meng Hao coldly, wiping the blood off of his mouth. "This sword is yours? Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?" He consumed several Demonic Cores.
"I planned for years to get that sword. It is one-of-a-kind, the only like it in the world. The gold lines on its surface were etched by Heaven itself. Of course I haven't made a mistake." Wang Tengfei looked up to the skies and laughed. It was a grim laugh, a laugh that seemed to make everything around it grow cold.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
16 Power
stone 
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