Fei Yin and Cheng Li’s figures were nothing but silhouettes on the stage as they clashed with their martial arts.
Fei Yin held his backhanded like a short sword slashed at Cheng Li’s neck. It was easily dodged however by Cheng Li flexibly arching his back.
Cheng Li could see strands of his preciously groomed hair severed by Fei Yin’s sword.
In a counterattack, Cheng Li released his chain that had a dragon claw attached at the end.
“Ugh”
The chain sneaky wrapped around Fei Yin’s waist and he barely manage to block the talons of the claw heading for his face.
With a pull, Cheng Li hosted Fei Yin into the air and slammed him onto the stage.
The stage itself quivered upon impact and a cloud of dust and debris was created.
The chain in Cheng Li’s hand was loose, he went to pull it back from the cloud of dust but that chain was suddenly stuck.
In the next moment, Cheng Li looked to his side to see Fei Yin charging at him unarmed. No, his hand was positioned like he was holding a sword despite there being nothing in his hand.
“You can even use you’re Sword Intent like this?”
Cheng Li said as he pulled harder on his chain weapon but it wasn’t budging no matter how much strength he used.
He looked through the dust to see that Fei Yin’s sword was embedded between the gaps in the chain pinning it to the ground.
“Bastard.”
Cheng Li cursed. He had no time to hesitate, he gave up on his chained weapon and retreated.
However, Fei Yin quickly closed the distance between them and stabbed with his intangible Sword Intent.
Cheng Li’s hair stood on end and he didn’t dare be careless in this situation. He shifted his head to the side and he could see several more strands of his being severed.
“Fuck! Do you want to shave my hair bald or something?!”
Cheng Li yelled, but soon after he felt a stinging sensation on his cheek. Touching where he was feeling this caused his fingers to come back with blood.
‘I thought I dodge his Sword Intent. Sword users' Sword Intent lethality is on another level.
‘It's too dangerous to fight him without a weapon like this…is what you think my train of thought would be.’
“Who do you think I am!”
Cheng Li bellowed and instead of dodging, he charged head first into Fei Yin’s Sword Intent that was slashing towards him.
Fei Yin seeing this clicked his tongue. He had long realized this Cheng Li was just as crazy as anyone else in this place.
DANG
Cheng Li used his hand covered in his Qi to deflect Fei Yin’s intangible Sword intent.
This was a crazy move, and Cheng Li’s sleeves were instantly shredded. But it was due to this that an opening was created.
As Fei Yin was recovering from the rebound of the clash, Cheng Li sent out a punch back by a hundred percent of his strength towards his face.
Fei Yin barely managed to recover his posture in time to block it.
Bang
However...
Swoosh
Before the clash fully end, Cheng Li’s next attack came in quick succession.
Despite not having a weapon, Cheng Li was actually forcing Fei Yin back.
This was the difference between the Borderners and Mainlanders.
If anyone else from the Mainland was in a situation like this they would prioritize regaining a weapon so they won’t be at a disadvantage.
But for someone like Cheng Li who had been in countless life-and-death situations against Sea Beast, instead of that regular train of thought, he instead chose to go on the offensive trying to overwhelm Fei Yin so he couldn’t use his advantage properly.
This was smart but was too risky of a move most people wouldn’t dare try.
And another thing was that Cheng Li’s fighting style was too different from what Fei had faced up until now. His attacks were aggressive but were also annoyingly precise, aiming for all of his vitals.
While Fei Yin’s fighting style was being tranquil, allowing him to assess his opponents and instantly take advantage of a weakness shown, Cheng Li’s fighting style was attack-attack-attack and force his opponents to make a mistake and then attack once again.
It can get overwhelming battling someone like that.
But this strategy could be said useless in front of Fei Yin. While Cheng Li’s method was effective in dealing the most amount of damage to his opponent, he was still playing into Fei Yin’s war of attrition.
Cheng Li was getting hits in, but his Qi won’t be able to keep up with his fierce fighting style. And while Fei Yin was receiving the brunt of his attacks, his Qi energy fluctuations were at the same level as if he was just starting the battle.
As for his injuries, Cheng Li could have sworn he had dealt more damage to him than what he currently saw.
‘Did his wounds heal mid-battle? What the fuck?’
Cheng Li’s flurry of attacks paused for a moment and his chest heaved up and down.
Seeing that Fei Yin still wore his tranquil expression, Cheng Li thought this was unfair.
“Bastard, how the hell am I supposed to beat you if you have the resilience of a cockroach?”
“You’re asking me? This attitude is quite different from the one you show when we first started. Where’s your frivolous and nonchalant attitude?”
Hearing this, Cheng Li gritted his teeth.
“That frivolous attitude is what keeps me sane in this place. A Mainlander like you wouldn’t understand what we Borderners go through on a daily basis. Having family, friends, and comrades dying left and right, it would be difficult not going insane when you realize you could be next.”
“…So that’s the reason for the uncaring and boastful attitude?”
“If I’m gonna die at any moment what better way to live than to live frivolously? Why care how others see you? Boastful, arrogant, so what? Everyone here has their own way to coop in this hellish environment, but as I said, a Mainlander who lives comfortably because of our sacrifices won’t ever understand us. So you can continue to judge me as you like, it won't reach me.”
Hearing this, Fei Yin couldn’t help but reevaluate his previous assumption of Cheng Li. He was right, who was he to judge someone’s behavior if he hadn’t experienced what they’ve been through?
Thinking about his own past, Fei Yin had to admit he was inferior to Cheng Li. He had obviously lost loved ones at the Southern like most people here probably have, but he dealt with it way better than Fei Yin did.
“It looks like senior brother Cheng is at a disadvantage.”
“Yeah, I have to admit that Mainland's Qi reserve is too terrifying. Anyone would feel frustrated battling him.”
Within the audience, most people had come to this sentiment. They acknowledge Fei Yin’s strength somewhat.
It was clear Cheng Li was slightly stronger, but with Fei Yin’s ability to recover mid-battle, that gap in strength was not enough to defeat him completely in a spar.
The Celestial Academy disciple clenched his fists, and his blood began to boil in excitement.
“It’s not over yet! Brother Cheng could still win!”
Back on the stage, Cheng Li began to rapidly form hand seals.
Power converge on the stage which caused Fei Yin to become on high alert.
“I’ve already had my fun, now it’s time to completely end the match. Since you're a roach with endless vitality, I just have to deal damage faster than you can recover.”
Cheng Li's hands became faster.
Fei Yin’s cautiousness rose and he could sense that the surrounding stage began to give off a feeling of extreme danger.
“That’s-!”
One audience member upon seeing Cheng Li's hand seals and feeling the power from the stage widen his eyes.
“This bastard, he’s actually using that move in a sparing match?”
Ji Niu said with a frown.
“Sister, is alright for that pervert to use that skill?”
“…If his opponent can’t handle it then it’s just that he was too weak.”
Despite her sister’s words, Ji Niu still had a doubtful expression.
On the stage, the feeling of danger Fei Yin was sensing became stronger. Suddenly, numerous runes appeared on the stage surrounding him.
Seeing this, Fei Yin was startled.
'When did these runes appear on the stage?'
“Did you lay out these runes during our fight?”
Fei Yin looked at Cheng Li and asked.
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom “That’s right, I never intend to use them and it wasn’t like I created them because I was battling you. I just have the instinctual habit of creating them when I fight. So don’t go thinking I saw you as a threat enough to go to such lengths, however, since I’m using them now the match has already come to an end.”
Cheng Li’s overconfident attitude appeared once more, but this time Fei Yin could understand where it was coming from.
Fei Yin’s body flickered, appearing next to his sword before he pulled it out.
“Come then, I’ll receive you’re final strongest move and return it in kind.”
Fei Yin said, preparing for Cheng Li’s attack.
Cheng Li’s smirked and with a final hand sigh, he pointed at the ground. Immediately, the light from the numerous Formations engulfed Fei Yin’s figure. The power caused the stage and even the seats in the battle arena to tremble uncontrollably.
“This is brother Cheng Li’s signature move! The Myriad Formation Technique. It combines all the different techniques brother Cheng receives from the Battalions and transforms them into a Runic Formation attack. Countless Sea Beasts were slaughtered under this move allowing brother Cheng to claim the number sixth position. That Mainlander would be lucky to survive this.”
However, as the Runic Formations’ power reached its peak, a single thin green light suddenly appeared in the midst of this overwhelming power.
Accompanying this seemingly weak green light was the faint projection of a sapling tree. Then in an instant, this thin green light tore through all of the Formations and headed straight for Cheng Li.
He didn’t even have time to register what this green light was before it shot past him. Immediately, Cheng Li felt a burning sensation on his neck.
If that green light was two inches to the right, his head might have left his shoulders right then and there.
Cheng Li looked at where Fei Yin was, his Formations in the surroundings had already shattered and were in the process of dispersing.
Before long, Fei Yin’s figure was revealed.
Cheng Li saw a tattoo of a green leaf on his forehead that was in the middle of fading away, along with the faint projection of a sapling tree around him.
“You-”
Cheng Li went to say something but he suddenly coughed out a mouth full of blood as he suffered a backlash from his Formations being destroyed. Losing strength in his legs, Cheng Li couldn’t resist as his body fell backwards and landed on the stage.
Sword in hand, Fei Yin walked over to him as the crowd became somewhat silent. Upon reaching Chang Li’s side, Fei Yin looked down and asked.
“Are you alright? I tried to hold back but I’m not used to this power yet.”
Glancing up at Fei Yin, Cheng Li said.
“Were actually holding back? No, I get the feeling that power didn’t solely belong to you.”
Fei Yin nodded.
“You’re right, it’s not mine, it’s a gift I received from a friend. Since I used a power that isn’t my own you could say this match ended with your win.”
“What? Are you pitting me? I don't want it, you clearly won the match.”
Cheng Li slowly rose into a sitting position.
“I don’t feel like I have though since I had to resort to a borrowed power. You were stronger in our fight.”
Cheng Li paused, before looking up at Fei Yin and saying.
“But you seemed to have made that power yours somewhat, so it’s indistinguishable from whether it’s borrowed power or your own.”
Seeing that Cheng Li won’t accept this match as his win, Fei Yin said.
“Then let’s just call this match a draw.”
Cheng Li got up and released a sigh.
“Sure, let’s go with that.”
He then moved to walk off stage.
Fei Yin did the same. Yang Su and the others weren't worried about Fei Yin's safety at any moment throughout his battle. They knew his strength better than anyone else.
“I guess it’s a draw then. You Mainlanders at the very least have some talents comparable to ours.”
Upon saying that last sentence, this person looked towards the Celestial Academy disciple from before. Who in return released a wide grin.
Even though the match concluded as a draw, it still showed that the geniuses on the Mainland aren’t inferior to the ones from the Southern Border.
“This isn’t finished yet, brother Yin is strong but he isn’t considered the strongest of the group. We’ll definitely win the other match!”
This disciple felt like he could finally breathe after coming to the Southern Border. Not only him, but a few more disciples in the crowd, some of who weren't even from the Celestial Academy, were heard cheering after seeing Fei Yin's battle. These Borderners to them had seemed like invincible beings, but they had geniuses of similar caliber too!
“Huff! The same can go for us, brother Cheng is only sixth place on the Southern Border Ranking and he’s considered the weakest compared to the others. For the next match, we’ll be the ones to w-”
The person was about to finish his words by saying that they would the ones to win, but upon looking at the stage to see Wu Kai leaping onto it, his words got stuck in his throat while his face changed to a doubtful and even helpless expression.
Wu Kai was still in his well-equipped battle attire and after leaping onto the stage, he immediately pointed his sword at Jun and barked.
“White-haired kid, I want to battle you, come up on stage!”
**
//Tseth: Hey guys, if you have the time after reading this please consider leaving a review, it'll help the book a lot and I'd greatly appreciate it. And I wonder how the past few chapters have been for you, do leave a comment and let me know. I do see comments and respond to them quite frequently.//
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