Bab 95: Chapter 95 - Are they even rank two?
Xin woke up in the camp, his head heavy, his meridians feeling like hot resin was flowing through them, but all of his injuries were fully healed.
"Xin!" Rui Ming exclaimed and smiled widely. His visage doubled in Xin's eyes, but he was still happy to see his friend.
"Oh, there he is. That cunt, was afraid he'd die on me." Lei approached Xin and flicked his nose. He wanted to hug him, but was too embarrassed about how distressed he'd look.
"Oh, back off! What's going on?" Xin looked around, he realised he was lying on a stretcher in an open area, with most of the people in the camp watching the combat area between their camp and Tealstone from afar.
"Master Xiaodan is about to fight. Can you stand?" Lei asked him. "You can't miss the big event."
"Master Xiaodan?" Xin was puzzled. "What about the others? Aren't you supposed to fight before him, Ming?"
"Already did. I won. The other two lost and are now captives. You'll want to know about the rank twos as well. Shen Hao, the husband, perished. Was a short and gruesome fight. His wife, Shen Ning, fought next and killed her opponent. It was quite brutal."
"She... Fought after losing her husband? That's impressive... and sad."
"You forgot to mention how you decapitated that bald fraud, Ming. Xin, what were you dreaming about? You squirmed like an ass worm." Asked Lei.
"I don't remember. I don't. What's with the girl?" Her bloodied face was still in front of his eyes, it felt more real than Wu Lei or Rui Ming.
"The one you fought? You gouged her eye out, she was passed out when they carried her away. She'll probably live, maybe they'll restore her eye, too. She's a scion of the second most wealthiest clan of the Divine Sword sect, after all."
"Hey, Ming, is it true what people say? Xin went berserk and shouted that he'll rape her corpse. I couldn't hear from that far."
"I can neither deny nor confirm this. All I'm going to say is that Xin was roaring like a tiger, it was probably his totem manifesting. Whatever he did or said, he did it to survive. A draw in a match like that is a huge service to our sect. Feels like she was kept a mortal just to win a duel like this one."
Lei smirked. It seems that it's true, and Windsplitter's attempt at speaking diplomatically was nothing but endearing.
Was I also kept a mortal just to help the sect in this fight? Xin felt paranoid.
"I... I could have killed her. There was an opening..." Xin exhaled, he was embarrassed for not finishing Ling Yue off, and being the one to offer a draw.
"Think human qi in you was too destabilised. You weren't able to make the most optimal decision, your mind was clouded. Don't blame yourself." Rui Ming tried to console him.
"You know what I think?" Lei helped Xin stand up. "Think my brother here caught the hots for that girl. Some men want a kind of woman that will stab them and leave them to bleed out, Xin is such a man, wouldn't be surprised if gouging her eye out and rape threats are his idea of courting her."
"Fuck you. You bloody degenerate. She's pretty, but her attitude blows. And her hai..."
"See! I told ya! You kinky fuck!" Lei laughed and punched Xin's shoulder with his right arm. He enjoyed using his regrown limb a lot, and he constantly gestured or touched people with it.
"Oh, back off, you menstrual clot. I almost died, and got mind raped twice, spare me this childishness. Whatever I shouted out, I didn't mean it, I was just trying to intimidate her."
"Whatever you say, big boy. Listen, I was very worried, and I'm trying to banter this feeling away. Sorry." Lei sighed and nodded tragically. It seemed like a genuine apology, but Xin noticed a cheeky gleam in his eyes.
"I'll help you get up." Rui Ming offered Xin a shoulder, and Lei grabbed him by the elbow. Xin leaned on his friends and stood up, the room spinning for a few moments. Seconds later, he restored his balance, but his ears kept ringing.
"Where's Zhan?" he asked his friends.
"Auxiliary in the formation. He's on standby, can't move freely like we do."
"Good. Let's go and spectate." Xin walked towards the crowd. Since the rank twos fought now, the other fighters have retreated to their camp, and there were several masters on standby, ready to deflect the attacks that have gone astray.
"I can't believe I wasn't chosen. Those other rank ones lost, I could clearly do a better job." Lei was still upset about being passed over.
"That turtle style guy would wipe the floor with you. You should be thankful the sect isn't asking you to risk your life." Rui Ming responded in a calm voice, without any hint of malice. He had a habit of bluntly gauging the people's combat strength, and the worst part about this trait was that he seemed to always make a correct judgement. Xin wondered if Ming was oblivious to how angry that made people, or if he genuinely didn't care.
"Yes, but I could take that crane guy. I counter his metal feather arms directly."
"It would be an equal matchup. If you were matched with the other two, you'd probably die or get captured. Calm down, friend."
"Pff." Lei scoffed. "Underestimating me again." Lei was about to keep arguing, but he saw the inspector fly up.
"Master Xiaodan, master Yan — ready?" He asked, his voice as pleasant and calm as always.
Master Xiaodan flew into the air on his floating rock.
"Yes." He answered coldly, his huge arms crossed at his chest.
The opposing master rode his fiery sword at an angle, pointed half-way towards the ground, while his fists were set on fire, his arms spread widely.
"I'm ready. There will be no judges to bail you out this time, Xiaodan." The Ember Fist responded. Xin wondered what the story behind the comment was and how long their rivalry lasted at this point.
"You can fight now." The inspector said coldly and flew away on his flying sword. Xin noticed that his procedure for initiating fights was slightly different every time. He expected him to be more strict and structural, given his profession. Is he bored?
Master Xiaodan and Ember Fist stood poised, eyes locked in a deadly gaze. The air crackled with anticipation as the crowd waited for one of them to initiate a first move.
Seeing that his opponent wasn't moving, master Xiaodan lowered his cube. The way Xin saw it, his comfortable area was around the ground, where he could manipulate his home element to his advantage. He tried to read Liu Yan's intentions. He is a martial artist of fire element, and he should have at least some ranged attacks. Why isn't he launching them? Master Xiaodan should be more durable, in both stamina and defensive ability, while Ember Fist is probably more destructive and rapid in his movements.
Master Xiaodan manifested several stones spinning around his wide waist, then touched the ground and opened up his aperture, procuring the materials from within.
Vermillion Bird Descent! Master Yan was instantly covered in a fiery aura, the energy from his fists rising towards his shoulders and creating ethereal wings, while his flying sword emanated a massive amount of propulsive fire, similar to the dao shard Lei used, but larger in scale. He rushed towards master Xiaodan with dashing speed, making cracking scorching sounds as he moved.
"He's as fast as that sword path master I fought!" Lei exclaimed in awe. Seeing a master of fire path, even if he wasn't a xiandao user, was very inspiring to him, but also terrifying, given how pathetic his own abilities were in comparison.
Smash! Master Xiaodan launched four little rocks at Liu Yan, but only one of them hit. Still, it exploded, covering him in black mud. This made the aura covering his body flicker and grow smaller in size.
Inferno slash! Ember Fist roared, launching his body forward with a fierce twist. His fists propelled him in a spiralling motion, and he delivered a powerful fiery kick, the blade still stuck to that foot. The weapon erupted in a blazing wave of energy.
Earth grasp! Mid-flight, master Xiaodan manifested a massive hand made of dirt from below the ground, trying to grab Liu Yan as he lost momentum.
Phoenix Uncaged! Master Yan flapped his arms as he flew back, destroying the hand with a fiery wind his move unleashed.
Master Xiaodan manifested more materials from his aperture, forming a black rock around his fist. He then used the moment of respite his grasp move had just bought him to smash his flying cube into the ground.
"Not letting you!" Ember Fist chased again.
"I didn't ask your permission!" Master Xiaodan exploded a black mud ball in his arm, covering the area around his flying cube in mud. He was now fully covered by earth, imitating an earth elemental, and manifested crystals on his fists, bracing for impact.
Vermillion Beak! A massive bird's head made of pure fire manifested and crashed into master Xiaodan, as Ember Fist himself followed right after. Master Xiaodan raised an earthen wall, but it wasn't enough to fully nullify the attack, and it was cracked, the shockwave sending him flying again.
"Are they truly rank two?!" Xin was astonished. These two were nothing compared to the plant woman or the mantis yaoguai, or even the people he saw fight at the tournaments. They are both using lots of resources and are unrestricted in their techniques and artefacts, it's pointless to compare this fight to an average sterilised tournament, Xin concluded.
"You're predictable!" Liu Yan span and manifested a powerful fiery whirlwind, rising upwards but quickly turning liquid and falling to the ground in a flood of raindrops, descending upon the area master Xiaodan covered in black mud.
What is this? Xin smelled the air again, as the wind had just changed its direction and blew towards him, from where the two masters fought.
"Can you guys feel it?" He asked Ming and Lei.
"No. What?" Rui Ming was captivated by the fight, and asked without looking back at Xin.
"The burning mud smells... Musky. Like unwashed genitals. It's not the mud Taowei used."
"Genitals? You sure you're feeling well?" Lei also asked with his gaze locked on the fight.
"Must be some sort of rare material. I know!" Xin made a wild guess. "Rare earth path animal's musk, qi infused, mixed into black mud. He's claiming the area!"
"That's what rank threes do, though?" Rui Ming said, as master Xiaodan was thrown around and punched by Ember Fists, struggling to block.
"Any other explanation?" Xin shrugged. Seems he was right.
Master Xiaodan disappeared under the ground, then popped where the mud was covered in fire. He manifested an enchanted cauldron out of his core. His opponent stopped chasing and smashed his fists together, the fire that emerged forming into a lance made of pure fire.
In response, master Xiaodan flipped the cauldron, and massive amounts of water started pouring out of it, it was as if he manifested a little waterfall!
"Yes, pour your water on the earth path materials. Very smart. Once I manifest the lance, it's over."
"Hehehe, we'll see" Master Xiaodan laughed menacingly as the rising steam obscured his visage. Liu Yan's eyes glowed just like Lei's, as he took out an enchanted lance out of his bag of holding, merging it fully with the fire lance he had just manifested. Without a second thought, he launched himself into the mist, aiming to impale master Xiaodan once and for all.
Boom! A loud explosion was heard in the mist, as the mist started dissipating, pushed to the sides by the heat waves. A moment later, master Yan's figure emerged, sent flying by master Xiaodan! He crashed on the ground, tripping over his leg and breaking it, twisting it unnaturally. If not for his armour, his bone would stick out, Xin thought.
"Agh!" He shouted out in pain. "Phoenix rising!" He exhaled a surge of fire as his leg was mended back together.
There was no response from master Xiaodan. When the fog finally dissipated, all the crowd could see was a human-sized coffin, made out of black granite, standing where master Xiaodan stood. It was covered in fiery liquids, and had a massive hole on its shoulder, looking completely hollow, no flesh or blood inside. After a brief pause, it lifted itself into the air and floated towards the Ember Fist.
"What the fuck is this?" Lei pointed his finger at it. "Did he transform?"
"His nickname is Black Coffin, are you surprised?" Rui Ming said.
"You're focusing on the wrong things. Look at the ground beneath him, it's also covered in granite!" Xin pointed to a patch of land master Xiaodan was working on with his mud.
"What's the point in doing this?" Lei asked.
"You don't get it? He manifested his realm!"
"He did what? Won't it fade and leak his will? He won't be able to retrieve it!"
"Seems like he has a method." Rui Ming was also amazed, but restored his composure.
The Black Coffin had a little flagellum that looked like an umbral cord on its back, another end of it still stuck to the granite hill that emerged. It flew at the Ember Fist, hurling qi infused granite daggers at him, which he mostly avoided, but one of them was now stuck in his gut, slicing his armour like butter.
"A cheap trick! Not enough to give you an edge!"
Xin rolled his eyes, this enemy master was quite annoying, another idiot constantly boasting and announcing his intentions when he fought. He found it quite lame. The Ember Fist charged into master Xiaodan, his lance still in his hands, aiming to cut the flagellum off.
The black coffin didn't respond, it just sucked on the energy of the hill and hurled an even deadlier whirlwind of daggers at its opponent, all while kiting back towards the hill.
"Why won't he fly back? He can poke master Xiaodan with ranged techniques."
"Master Xiaodan is barely using his meridians to fight, his limits are those of his coffers, as he is using the energy of the materials, not his own qi, and his new transformation can endure any of the opponent's ranged methods. He'll outlast him, and they both know it. To win, the Ember Fist needs to assault him directly." Xin explained.
"Take this!" Ember Fist stabbed the black coffin once again. It suddenly manifested black arms of pure stone, one holding a shield, another a spear of pure crystal, and blocked the attack. The stab was followed by a fiery explosion, pushing the black coffin back. Master Xiaodan then unleashed a series of stabs of his own, forcing the opponent to defend.
The Ember Fist quickly regenerated his wounds, fell back and consumed a qi restoring elixir. He knew that he'd get outlasted, it was time to go all-in!
Radjput's final sutra! He sang a small hymn in an unfamiliar language, filled with an elevated desperation of a warrior about to die, filling Xin's heart with unease. It was his first time hearing a foreign language, and he was creeped out. The enemy master covered himself in ritual oil, and set himself ablaze, a massive spinning sun disk appearing behind his back, shining bright enough to blind the front rows of both armies. The crowd gasped.
The black coffin quickly retreated to a granite hill, and started building a fortification out of its stone blocks.
"They can't be rank two, this is absurd!" Lei was blown away by this fight.
"That move is flashy, let's see if it works first." Rui Ming was still sceptical.
"Hear me preach, you scoundrel!" The Ember Fist flew towards master Xiaodan, a lance in one hand and a glowing ball of fire in the other. "This whole world is nothing but a lie! This whole universe, nothing but an illusion! As Muni proclaimed, the Golden Order will descend, making things right, making them real! The Chaos will squirm and fight back, but will be pushed back until the End of Times! You're nothing but a fertiliser for The One who'll emerge afterwards!" He charged at the Black Coffin's fortifications, his speed twice of what it was during the first charge. It was hard to follow with a naked eye.
"The Golden Order? Sounds like a dumpling house promotion, fuck off!" Master Xiaodan shouted from inside the coffin, and buried himself into the ground, creating a sarcophagus of rocks.
"I see you! You can't hide from me, I see your karma, it's small and insignificant! You can't hide from my lance! It longs to drink your heart's juices!" The Ember Fist descended upon him, tearing the rocks off the sarcophagus with his bare arms and throwing them away. He kept stabbing the space that emerged with his lance, creating more weaknesses in the structure.
"Ridiculous shit. Shendao..." Xin was astonished. Just like master Xiaodan jumped above his rank using a ton of materials, the enemy master activated a weird foreign hymn, and his strength was enhanced. What was the cost, though? Heaven gives, and heaven takes, there must be some downsides! At least Xin hoped so.
"He's inverted his meridians. I can see it." Lei's eyes were glowing with his fire vision technique. "He'll die soon. Even if he wins, it will be hard for him to stay alive."
"Die!" Master Yan shouted as he stabbed into the coffin. Master Xiaodan crystalized the stone and took the hit head on, then emerged from the ground. Ember Fist wasted no time and tried to finish his opponent off.
Swirl! Master Xiaodan emerged from the coffin's back, his burly body completely naked, his arms holding a cauldron! Ember Fist tried changing directions, but the black coffin bumped into him, giving master Xiaodan a brief moment to aim.
Water Hose! Master Xiaodan leaned the bottom of his cauldron on his gut, and it launched a massive stream of water at the enemy master, washing him away.
The Ember Fist stood up momentarily, preparing to rush again, but his fiery aura faded, the spinning wheel behind his back dissipating. Master Xiaodan wasted no time and encased his legs in earth. He tried to stab these shackles with his fiery lance, but master Xiaodan put him on his knees and encased his arms as well.
"Chill out, you'll kill yourself." Master Xiaodan kept showering him in water. "You're my prisoner now, surrender and we'll give you medical help." He sent his stone to float above the enemy master's head, as if saying "try anything stupid and I'll squash you".
Ember Fist just groaned in pain, unable to answer.
"We give up! Take and heal him, please! We'll pay a generous ransom!" The rank three bald master shouted from behind the enemy walls. It was over.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone