บท 27: If I Can’t Do It, Then Who Can?

บรรณาธิการ: GemVoo

The human's emotions were hard to discern from their face, but their psyches in their psyche ocean would change and shift in tandem with their emotions. Taking Zhong Yue as an example, his psyche ocean was now swirling and fluctuating violently; there was a distinct scent of blood and metal in the air!

This denoted that he was now fervid in great excitement, his desire and spirit to fight were sent into overdrive. He was craving for the battle, longing for the fight, and he was hungry for victory and to prove his strength. But none of this was apparent from his eerily calm expression.

"Nicely said!"

Xin Huo praised him, "You have the temperament befitting one of the Fuxi Celestial Race! Know the difficulties and face it all with great courage and bravery, never back down and never fear the giants, but rather, you will trample them and all other adversity beneath your feet, this is the anima of the Fuxi Celestial Race!"

Zhong Yue took a step forward and stood face to face with Shui Qinghe. The thunder totem flashed into a Jiao Dragon that wound around his body. His voice was calm as he declared, "Zhong Yue of the Zhong Shan Clan, accepts your challenge."

Accepts my challenge?

Shui Qinghe was dumbstruck. His intention was to teach this arrogant brat a lesson, how did it turn out to be him challenging the little brat?

A challenge is only a challenge when a weakling raises it. When the challenge is issued the other way around, it would be taken as an act of bullying. He says that I am raising a challenge, then wouldn't it make me out to be the wimp?

"Funny, this is the first time someone ever talked to me like this. You fancy yourself as a physique-refiner. Good… then I will beat you in your proud physique refining arts! Three moves, I only need three moves to crush you!"

With a smile on his face, the water beneath him swirled and lifted him around, his movement speed was high, the sound of the water currents just sounded, and he was already sent over to Zhong Yue by the water currents, he then threw a fist onto Zhong Yue's face!

The strike he punched out was followed by a great wave of currents, behind the Hebo body Shui Qinghe consummated was a flood, the water tides were a thousand feet high gushing down toward Zhong Yue!

A single punch he gave out contained the power and rage of a thousand feet of flooding water, how strong would that be?

The Jiao Dragon winding on Zhong Yue's body grew bigger and clearer, it's ferocious head grew more dreadful, and its body grew to the size of a water bucket. It was starting to fuse into Zhong Yue's body, the pure psyche of his turned into the Jiao Dragon totem and thunder totem markings on his body surface as if dragon scales were emerging out of his skin!

His body muscles bulged out, and his veins were stretched taut in tension like a fully-drawn bow!

Not only that, his blood flowed quicker in his body, and in a split second his heart could pump the blood all the way to the end of his body and back. The torrent of blood could even be heard by the upper house disciples!

Facing Shui Qinghe's punch, Zhong Yue had no intention of evading it, and along with the voice of dragon whistlings, he returned the blow!

The faces of the surrounding upper house disciples changed drastically, a thousand feet flood water and a dragon winded body, the prowess of the two disciples were unreachable to the others!

The two disciples were like two gods of war fighting each other in brutal and unrefined combat, the impact and shock they brought to the others was unimaginable!

Peng! Peng!

Both of their fists struck each other, the Hebo body of Shui Qinghe was indeed strong, with a punch he was able to strike off the Jiao Dragon and land directly on Zhong Yue's body. His fist even rent away the thunder totem pattern on Zhong Yue's skin!

The thunder totem pattern was not completely used to form the Jiao Dragon, a part of it was still used for the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill], with the sword art's sharpness he fended off Shui Qinghe's punch.

But the Hebo body of Shui Qinghe was too strong, it even crushed through the last defense line and rendered the [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] useless!

The fist landed on Zhong Yue's body creating a muffled impact sound, the power of the Hebo body spread out through his whole body, concussing his psyche, psyche ocean, and soul!

At the same time, Zhong Yue had also struck his fist onto Shui Qinghe's body. The strength of the Hebo body was then clearly shown, the immensely strong punch given out by Zhong Yue was unstoppable to any other Shui Tu Clan core disciples, but Shui Qinghe's Hebo body was able to withstand it at the cost of the body scales. Meanwhile, Shui Qinghe was left unharmed.

His body was armored with fish scales like a god of water, not only did he strike an impressive figure, but the defensive capability was also outstanding!

But that was not all, after Zhong Yue's fist struck Shui Qinghe, he opened his palm, and along with a loud dragon's roar, another Jiao Dragon rammed into Shui Qinghe. It immediately perforated a hole in the Hebo body to expose Shui Qinghe inside it!

The Hebo body was not an actual Hebo body, but rather, it was only a creation of his psyche that he hid in.

This was not a true physique-refining art. It would not increase one's strength; instead, he was only borrowing the strength of Hebo body using a psyche imitation. The strength of Hebo would disperse as soon as the Hebo body was gone.

Whereas on the other hand, Zhong Yue was a true physique-refiner, his bodily strength increased continuously. Even without the Jiao Dragon wounding around his body, his strength would still be immensely strong.

This was the difference between a physique-refiner and a Qi cultivator.

The Qi cultivator visualizes close-combat arts such as the Hebo body, with arts like these they can then engage in close-quarters combat—some were even able to surpass other physique-refiners.

Shui Qinghe threw his second punch, Zhong Yue stood his ground and returned the punch, aiming right at Shui Qinghe who was exposed in the Hebo body!

The two exchanged punches, and a stream of blood trickled down Zhong Yue's mouth. Zhong Yue had to take tens of steps back to offload the incredible impact force inflicted from the Hebo body.

The mountain rocks and quartz slabs burst when he stomped on them, causing a billowing wave of sand and dust.

Shui Qinghe also let out a muffled groan, the fishtail swam backward, and blood trickled down from his mouth.

In two strikes, Zhong Yue was able to destroy the body of Hebo and wounded Shui Qinghe!

Shui Qinghe's body was not as strong and as sturdy as the body of Hebo. He was wounded with Zhong Yue's strike; but his body was still after all, far stronger than most of the upper house disciples' bodies. That was why his injuries were not as severe as they should have been!

"Zhong Shan Clan member, you are indeed strong…"

Shui Qinghe inhaled deeply, his face stiffened up, he was the 'thousand miles horse¹' of the Shui Tu Clan. The Shui Tu Clan was one of the top ten clans. They had painstakingly invested meticulously in him; he was constantly bathed in various kinds of medicinal herbs, and his body was forcibly strengthened through their medicinal powers.

The witch doctors of the clan even drew markings of totems on his body with the blood essence of the marvelous beasts to further strengthen his body!

When he arrived at Swords Gate, Shui Qinghe was then treated with medicinal pellets. His body could be said to have been thoroughly nurtured from birth!

But now, he was wounded!

Zhong Yue's strength exceeded his predictions, the Jiao Dragon totem pattern was raised to an extremely high level, but even the [Jiao Dragon Winding Body Totem Art] and [Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill] could not hurt him. What had really injured him was Zhong Yue's incredible explosive strength!

An explosive force of strength capable of striking through the body of Hebo!

The toughness of Zhong Yue's body also exceeded his estimations, how incredibly strong was the body of Hebo, but even after landing two punches on his body, it could only affect his internal organs, and the injuries were also not that serious.

Only the Qi Practitioners of Swords Gate and the magnificent beasts or demons could train their body physiques to such an extent!

Zhong Yue wiped off the blood on his face, and he calmly said, "Senior Martial Brother Shui can unleash your strength all you want."

"Two moves are made, now this is the third!"

Shui Qinghe took in a deep breath, with a solemn face his fishtail gently swung around, water was condensing out of thin air forming a small pool that lifted him higher and higher.

The pool suspended in mid-air with Shui Qinghe standing on it, his imposing manner became stronger, and he was ready to release it onto Zhong Yue!

He was casting his strongest skill, a secret move he prepared to use during the year-end Lawless battle, he intended to crush Zhong Yue with a single strike, utterly defeating him in totality!

Zhong Yue's face stiffened up; he was prepared. All of a sudden, Shui Qinghe saw a few figures out of the corner of his eyes. He gave a cold sneer, dispersing his psyche and releasing the Hebo body. He then turned around, and before he left, he said coldly, "That's it for today, Zhong Shan Clan member, we will continue this battle during the Lawless Battles!"

Zhong Yue was startled, he followed Shui Qinghe's sights, and he made out a few human figures walking down from the Swords Gate mountain toward the upper house.

The auras of the latecomers were strong, comparable to Shui Qinghe's. They should also be the outer disciples training in the inner hall, Zhong Yue wondered which clans they came from. From the way Shui Qinghe reacted, they should be of the top ten clans, and their strength must match their statuses accordingly.

Shui Qinghe only backed down because he did not want to reveal his hidden ace to them. Otherwise, he would have been placed at a disadvantage during the Lawless Battles.

"What a formidable opponent…"

Zhong Yue's hands couldn't stop trembling, and another stream of blood trickled down from his mouth. His internal organs faintly ached in pain, and he thought to himself, The top ten clans all have their own unique techniques. The totems passed down through their families are stronger than the others, this Shui Qinghe is really strong. He could reach this level without using his Qi cultivation arts. I am weaker than him.

But he did not take in consideration that he had only truly started the cultivation for a month or so, while Shui Qinghe was meticulously raised and trained for more than five or six years—only he could be this strong!

In the upper house, there are more formidable opponents like Shui Qinghe from the elites of the prominent clans! These people, they will all bloom in the year-end Lawless Battle, competing with each other for the chance to enter the Ethereal Palace. When that day comes, they will not hide their hands in the shadow anymore. They will surely give it their best!

Zhong Yue strode his way back to Ting Lanyue and He Chengchuan. His thoughts continued, Two months, I have two months left!

After two months, when I encounter with the clan elite disciples, I wonder who will have the edge over the others?

There was a surge of heroic spirit in his chest, he mumbled, "The one to have the edge over the others… if I can't do it, then who can?"

"Zhong Yue of the Zhong Shan Clan, these are the two soul weapons I promised you!"

Elder Pu saw Zhong Yue coming and called Zhong Yue over, he took out two soul weapons and placed them in front of Zhong Yue, he smiled, "Twenty days I've spent on these two soul weapons, I am quite exhausted, how do you like them?"