章 71: Chapter 71 - Rui Ming vs Wu Lei! Molten Meteor Drop!
Two days later, in the Combat pavilion.
Xin, who was in no shape to fight after today's rigorous training, was spectating a fight between Rui Ming and Wu Lei. He was drinking tea with Murong Zhan, sitting on a futon near the combat circle. The tea fragrance opened up slowly, spreading through his chest as a feeling of sour warmth.
"Rui Ming is so much stronger, why did Lei even challenge him?" The young noble was curious.
"That's the exact reason he challenged him. Look at all the spectators." Xin responded.
Indeed, many inner disciples and rank one masters were also watching, some circled their ring, some looked from afar.
"Right, Ming!" Lei pointed his blade at him. "All out, as we've agreed! Two spirit stones!"
"You mean two contribution points, master Lei?" An instructor corrected him.
"Whatever, enable the formation! Let's do this!" As he took a springing battle stance, Lei's eyes glowed like embers. Literally.
Rui Ming nodded. He seemed colder than Lei, but Xin knew him better now. He was also a battle maniac, and was just barely hiding his excitement beneath that blank facade.
The battle formation was activated, coating both fighters in golden threads for a mere moment, but this time also creating a translucent wall around the circle, to prevent others from being injured by a stray projectile.
Cutting Wind! A gust of sharp wind was launched towards Lei.
Propulsion! He quickly dived underneath it, and leaped towards Rui Ming. Right where the young swordsman wanted him.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Their blades hit each other at dashing speed. To everyone's surprise, Lei matched the Windsplitter's tempo.
Swirl! Rui Ming trapped Lei's swing and leaned forward, all while pointing the end of his blade, which already had a small hurricane building up, right at Lei's face.
Jetstream dao shard! Rui Ming used his new ability. Lei was sent flying and lost his balance, but used propulsion dao shard to reposition and ground himself again.
Windstrider! Rui Ming rode the wind he just launched and followed Lei, matching his speed, but having an advantage in momentum.
Clang! Clang! Swing! The third block failed, and Lei was stabbed into the gut. He wore no armour, this should have triggered the defensive formation, Xin thought. But no golden threads emerged.
"It worked!" Lei shouted happily as Rui Ming's blade bounced off his body. Iron Lung dao shard!
Rui Ming retreated and circled around his opponent.
"Tell me what you're thinking!" Lei smiled as he followed his motion counter-clockwise.
"Think you'll run out of qi soon."
"So what? I'll match you physically!" Lei responded.
"Shut up and fight, you retard!" Xin shouted at Lei. His own martial spirit was pumped up by such an intense spar.
"Hush, disciple!" Lei laughed as he charged Rui Ming again.
Clang! Clang! His shoulder was then lightly swiped with a blade , but in response, he managed to deliver a qi empowered low kick at an inside of the Windsplitter's thigh.
A dance of blades followed, with Rui Ming having an edge. This passionate exchange was augmented by the use of qi of both opponents, and few mortals would be able to match such tempo. Both fighters had their reserves drained quite substantially, but no one got hit.
Xin watched their fight, astonished. Lei has perfectly adapted to using his left arm as his main, and his Molten Heart more than compensated for the loss of strength in his right arm.
An exchange later, Lei feinted a weakness and baited Rui Ming into a frontal stab, which he tried to direct over his shoulder. Lei's block looked perfect, and the crowd gasped — did this cripple manage to catch the best "seed" fencer off-guard?
Boom! The formation triggered as Lei was hit into the collarbone. Other than infusing his stab to its limit, Rui Ming also propelled himself with a powerful wind gust of wind from his boots! Xin found this technique eerily similar to propulsion dao shard!
What's with that adaptability? That qi control? This just feels unfair! Xin felt his chest get tense as he realised his inferiority. It's not just Rui Ming's amazing improvisation, but the fact that Lei endured it! The crowd also gasped at this display of swordsmanship by the two youngsters. Weapon skills weren't the most popular method of fighting in the sect, so such a flashy show was quite rare.
Lava Spit!
With his opponent locked in place, Lei used this chance to spit his trap card at the opponent's face, but Rui Ming puffed his cheeks and redirected it away. Without cooking the spit properly, its size and strength were reduced, but he was still lucky Rui Ming didn't return it back to his face.
Lei successfully parried Rui Ming's counter-attack, then propelled himself back by launching a stream of heat from under his left foot. With his strong left arm, he held Rui Ming's blade in one place, then empowered his right leg with fire qi, aiming his powerful crescent kick at Rui Ming's chin!
Boom! It took a lot of practice to synchronise his kicking technique with his dao shards, but it was worth it. Somehow, even Rui Ming was caught off-guard by this move.
"Agh!" Rui Ming rolled back as the formation was triggered. In a real fight, they would both be severely injured by now.
"You've both exhausted a lot of formation energy, the next one to get seriously hit loses!" The instructor announced.
Shit, I'm out of qi! Lei pointed his blade at his opponent. If not for the formation, Rui Ming would probably be knocked out, I could easily finish him off! But because of the formation, we're both at full strength, barely injured! Still, Lei's ears were ringing, and his heart was beating too fast for his liking. Need to end this or it's over!
Charge! Lei leaped towards Rui Ming, but he dove under his weaker, less mobile wooden arm, and sliced at his thigh. Lei then stabbed his shoulder, but it was already too late. His formation triggered first.
"Stop!" The instructor shouted. Lei was pumped up by his Molten Heart technique and wanted to keep going, but Rui Ming raised his blade and ceased attacking.
"I almost won. Fuck." Lei quickly recomposed and sheathed his saber. He wanted to make an excuse, blaming his arm, but restrained the urge. Complaining won't get me anywhere!
"You did well, brother. But it wasn't close. I was in control the whole time." Rui Ming answered coldly.
"Sure, you son of a bitch. Let's join the guys." Lei thought that Rui Ming was just trying to save face. In reality, he gave him trouble in fencing, and even caught him off-guard. Given Rui Ming's reputation, this fight was a loss for him.
Xin used his empowered hearing to listen on the gossip around them.
"That Lei guy was so close to winning! Wasn't this Windsplitter the strongest mortal in the sect before he broke through?"
"Your strength at one rank doesn't translate directly to your strength at other ranks, disciple." His master explained.
"That Xin guy, who is he? Why did he insult a rank one master like that? What's his status?"
"He's master Lei's homeboy. Think that's just how they talk. This new crop is rather uncultured."
"Master Ming mimicked Wu Lei's technique to match his movement abilities... Think it was instinctive, or was it preparation?" Another disciple gossiped with their friend.
"Preparation meets improvisation, there's no other way to become a good fighter."
"Oh, there he is!" Lei came up to Xin and patted his shoulder, almost making him spill his tea. He then dropped on a futon near him, still huffing for air. "How's your wood path training?"
"Careful, you dumb fuck! That's some good tea you almost spilled!"
"Smells like fish to me. I drink mine with sugar, haha! Zhan, hello there, you prick!" Lei fist bumped him. Murong Zhan rolled his eyes and responded with quite an uncultured gesture.
"Zhan." Rui Ming bowed to his comrade. He didn't greet Xin, as they already met in their shared room today.
Xin felt an urging need to get some spotlight:
"So, that vine style, it's hard to practice before I remove the conflict. The qi flow is subtle, and I have to make a lot of repetitions to master even the slightest stroke of qi. So it's just snakevine dao shard for now, but I'm quite used to it. Other techniques will have to wait." Xin took a bunch of basic wood path scrolls from the library to create a decoy. He was experimenting with Carnivore Grove inheritance these past few days, but he was seriously struggling.
"Oh, show me your shard!" Lei was agitated. "I can only activate my Iron Lung half the time, it's pretty tough to use in combat. What exactly is that snakevine?"
"So, eh, it's just a specific plant that exists, and it's called that because its point looks like a snake head. And well, it wraps around stuff."
"Like a carnivore plant? That's rad."
"No, it just wraps around things as it grows." Xin rolled his eyes. How can one not know the snakevines? Yes, they are from the South, but that's still common knowledge!
"Use it on me! Show me what it can do!" Lei jumped up and spread his arms, looking like a starfish.
"I'd have to feed it afterwards. I already used its natural qi, and my own qi reserves are almost drained."
"How about I feed you this evening, eh? Any dinner you want! Come on, let me see what it does! Expanding my horizons, that's the only way!"
I could just shoot the mannequin, though? Xin found Lei's eagerness endearing. Other people will surely look at him weirdly, but in his childish excitement, Lei didn't care.
"Fine. Brace yourself." Xin stood up, turned his palm upwards and pointed his middle and index finger at Lei. His second hand was touching a little snakevine root shaped dao shard in his pocket.
"Are you about to use a dao shard, or to finger my pussy, you retard?" Lei smirked.
Snap! A vine emerged from Xin's palm, shot like an arrow. It turned in the air and spread around Lei's neck, then started squeezing it.
"Aw. It doesn't hurt. That's it? Ahh! Khe! Khe!" Lei was now wearing a collar of vines, growing with every moment, making their grip on his neck stronger and stronger. He tried to cut them with his blade, but it was easier said than done. When the vine is stretched and you have a good angle and a good chopping weapon, getting it off is trivial, but when it's wrapped around your neck and tries to suffocate you, it's nothing to scoff at!
Xin quickly rushed Lei and tapped the vine with his finger. It loosened its grip and fell to the ground.
"Fuck! Khe-khe. That's a good... Khe-he. That's a good trick."
"Takes a long time to master. But apparently, Xin trained to weave vines from a young age." Murong Zhan said.
"It's true, I even hunted using my mortal-level vines. Killed birds and rabbits."
"So many useful abilities, brother. Would you trade them for one strong ability, though?" Rui Ming asked. He was a versatile fighter himself, so Xin's answer interested him.
"Let me think..." Xin took a long pause.
"He's actually thinking! Look, that small vein on his temple is actually bulging! What a guy, haha!" Lei laughed as he roughly patted his friend's hair.
"Back off, tard." He pushed Lei's hand again and smirked. "So, Ming, you know how life is. You do random shit, and you think it's random, but in reality you have this image of you in your head, and it's buried, and you are approaching it from all angles. And it's akin to making a sculpture.
Other people see a piece of stone and walk past it, but your intuition tells you that there is something there. You envision a statue, but they try to drag you down and persuade you that it's a stone. They even give you a pick and tell you to break this stone and make it into drainage stones for the sewers...
But if you shape the stone long enough, you rediscover the stone's true potential. You quickly rediscover the connection between those unrelated things that make you unique. And that's exactly what's going on with me. It will take longer for me to mature, as I have several occupations and two conflicting elements. But once I ascend, I'll wipe the floor with other shallow rank ones."
Several other people were standing nearby. When they heard Xin's determined monologue, some rolled their eyes, some looked confused. A few people nodded.
"That's an interesting thought, brother." Murong Zhan said. "Still, I'd say you have no makings of a poet with those weird ass metaphors. To play the opposing side's advocate, with the effort put in, you could have been rank two by now."
"I could... If the circumstances were different. No point in arguing about it. Speaking of you, Zhan. Aren't you a rich kid? Why aren't you rank two already?"
"Haven't you noticed? I was trained to become a monk. Took quite an effort to persuade my family to let me cultivate."
"How so?" Lei asked.
"He's a younger kid, dummy. From the heir's perspective, letting him join a sect is risking having a rank three relative pop out of closed cultivation twenty years after, completely dominating their noble family with his power and influence."
"Xin's correct." Murong Zhan sighed. "I gave up a lot to be allowed to join the sect. If you aren't a favourite child or an heir, you're heavily suppressed. At least my family's not fucked up. Many would outright kill me for what I'm currently doing. Mine just placed some limitations on me. But I guess that's because they know me to be reasonable."
"Or because they don't think you'll ascend very high, and want some sect connections." Rui Ming was elegantly blunt, as always.
Xin chuckled and squinted his eyes at him. Was he oblivious to how rude he was or was he genuinely that candid?
"Well, I'm beginning my breakthrough preparations soon. Xin, what about you?"
"Yeah, brother, thought you were in a rush?" Lei raised an eyebrow. Wasn't Xin supposed to begin his preparations immediately? What's with these reading and tea drinking sessions?
"I AM in a rush. I'm waiting for the correct moon phase, for the metal element. It's in two days. I'm also passing some leftover exams to be assessed as qualified. Otherwise they won't help me with setting up a breakthrough room, and it's a big deal, since I have conflicting elements."
"Eh, somehow I managed just fine." Lei smiled innocently.
"You burnt a rank three breakthrough material! Of course you managed fine!" Murong Zhan raised his voice, but Xin gently hit his shoulder with a fist.
"Calm down, brother. He's baiting you."
"Hehehe." Lei manifested a little fire on his fingertip. That used the last drop of qi he had. "I'll go drink from the elemental fountain, then I'll go train again. Guys, before I left, anyone heard of any money making opportunities?"
"Didn't you get enough money from our mission, brother Lei? What do you need money for?" Rui Ming was confused.
"I'm not too keen on investing into that matchstick shard while I still haven't mastered the Iron Lung. Think I should invest in some equipment instead."
Xin fell into his thoughts again. Lei is certainly not a conventional thinker. If he was Lei, he'd finish assembling his combat system first. Still, maybe Lei was right.
"What are you going to buy, then?" Xin asked.
"I don't know. Something that doesn't burden my soul foundation too much, but gives me more qi? Maybe a new weapon?"
"A fire path sword will cost you a fortune, and enchanted mortal-level equipment isn't as strong as a new dao shard." Murong Zhan argued.
"I know! I know! I know!" Lei raised his hands into the air like a little kid as he shouted out, then slapped his forehead.
Xin tried to analyse Lei and predict what he was about to say. He looked like he thought of something that was fairly obvious, so it was something that he already did or encountered, and not something new he came up with. Not Lava Spit. Something about Molten Heart? Xin didn't know of any equipment that would help him function, except his stamina bracers. Oh.
"I think I know, too!" Xin smiled at Lei's childish display, but also wanted to one up him.
"Ha, try it." Lei smirked.
"Leaper boots!"
"Shit. How did you do this?" Lei looked genuinely puzzled.
"Elimination. Logic, past experience. Artefact knowledge. Your dumb fucking face."
"Makes sense, brother. So, what do you think?"
"Those are expensive, but recharge over time with spirit stones. Little soul strain, and synergize well with your other abilities. Easier to activate than similar dao shards, too. A decent choice." Dao shards were often the most cost effective choice, but came with their own drawbacks. In this case, it seems like the boots are indeed better.
"Wait, let me come back! This gave me an idea!" Lei quickly sprinted away, but as he was tired from using Molten Heart, he started jogging seconds later.
"Ha, look at that fucker." Xin laughed.
When Lei returned, he looked fresh and eager to show them something.
"Disciples, bring me enough mats to climb two human heights!" He pointed at the internal disciples on duty. Xin and Murong Zhan also stood up and helped them.
Lei quickly climbed the mats by sticking his foot between the gaps between them, then proudly raised his arms as he stood on top.
"You're all beneath me, hahaha! I'm the king of the world! Eh, not yet." He scratched his forehead.
"What's your idea?" Murong Zhan looked worried.
"I think I know." Xin smirked.
"Master Lei, please be careful! Do you need my assistance?" An instructor called out, clearly concerned. Martial arts required refinement, the only thing to rival "I have an idea!" in terms of injury risk was "Look what I can do!"
"Lei, describe your idea before attempting it, please." Xin warned. "Maybe there is a fatal flaw in it?"
"Sure, Xin. So, as you are now fodder and I can't fight you, I spent some time thinking about you instead!"
"I'm flattered. I'll leave you to Yao Nang, though. So?"
"So I thought about how our fight will look when you rank up! And your strongest weapon is, of course, Woodcutter's Downswing! I reflected on this move and it inspired me."
"My strongest weapon is my perception, you dummy."
"Shut your virgin ass, master Lei is speaking! So, Woodcutter... Axe... Axe kick!" Lei effortlessly raised his foot above his head. He was very well-stretched.
No way. I was right, Xin thought. This is terrible.
"Lei, please reconsider. Let's try with reduced height, first. Or at least refine the technique."
"Maybe you're right, but I already climbed up here! It won't look cool if I climb down! Listen, people! I will probably get myself injured, but this is a birth of a new unique technique, only possible due to my bloodline! It needs a cool name! How about 'Molten Meteor Drop!'"
"That's pretty cool, brother Lei." Rui Ming gave him a thumbs up. Xin slapped his wrist.
"Don't indulge him."
"Too late."
Lei looked at the ground below. His qi was now restored, and his meridians weren't too stressed. I shouldn't use Molten Heart for this, it might make my fire qi too intense. He thought about the move activation in order, and visualised the process in his head several times.
"Let's do this!" He shouted out to an excited audience. Lately, people found their company very entertaining, their spars and banters were very dynamic, and their prestige was also significant after the caravan mission, their exploits widely known.
Propulsion dao shard! Qi augmentation! Lei surged three heights upwards and raised his leg parallel to his torso, his foot above his head.
Propulsion dao shard! As he fell, he used his shard again, now to empower his fall.
Iron Lung dao shard! He made his leg more firm, all while augmenting his downwards kick, coated in beautiful flames.
An axe kick! His leg crashed into the mats, and his second leg also landed on the floor. It sounded like someone cracked a giant whip.
"Aghhh!" Lei cried out in pain. "Fuuuuuck! Awww!" He rolled on the ground. The instructor quickly ran up to him, his fingers coated in qi.
"That's bad. Tore his hamstring. I'll alleviate the pain for now." He used an ice element ring to block the trauma and ease the pain. "Get him to the hospital."
Xin rolled his eyes. Wasn't it obvious that it would happen? The kick was nice, though. Could kill a rank one master, and that's without Molten Heart! Left the mat torn and scorched, but it's such an impossible attack to deliver!
"Hehehe." Lei giggled mischievously as he was carried away by his friends.
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