Nangong Xuanhe felt like a giant stone was being weighed on his back.
The weight of his own expectations for himself had caused him to nearly collapse.
He gritted his teeth and squeezed his arm.
It was the same all over again!
‘Come on!
You can’t go back to the way you were!’
‘You have power now!
This ring will allow me to surpass my brother!
It will allow me to change the world!’
Despite his words to himself, he relapsed.
He tried to find Gu Xuanming, but he wasn’t even where he should be.
Even more, he felt like the gazes of everyone pierced as deeply as needles hitting his acupuncture points, making it hard to take his first step.
Liu Dazhuang was already standing in the arena, waiting for Nangong Xuanhe to take the stage, finding his stage fright annoying.
“Oi!” he shouted.
Nangong Xuanhe frantically looked up, seeing Liu Dazhuang’s cold gaze.
“Do you think I want to be wasting my time on you?
If you aren’t going to come up, surrender so I can face your brother.”
When he heard those words, Nangong Xuanhe clenched his fist in anger!
‘No.
Not you!’
Steeling his heart, he marched up the steps with his sword, stomping on the ground once he made his way to the arena.
“Hmph, finally.
Don’t worry, I’ll end this fast.”
The sect master stood up and raised his hands.
“Ready?
Set.
Fight!”
At that moment, the world seemed to turn pitch black for Nangong Xuanhe.
‘W-What!?’
Looking into space, he looked at the thing that was invisible to everyone but himself.
‘Warning!?
Vermina incoming?
Vermina?’
The next second, the same feeling he had been feeling from him and the others sparked to light once again, accumulating until Nangong Xuanhe could see it clearly with his sharpened senses.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Dazhuang had disappeared from where he stood!
It was like he was a phantom.
“What!?” Nangong Xuanhe shouted.
“Where is…!?
I can still sense him!”
Nangong Xuanhe blinked again, and a blade coated in bright light was swiftly approaching his chest!
Despite seeing it, he could not move fast enough at the moment to actually avoid it.
‘No!
I won’t lose so fast!
Not to you!
Ring!
Help!’ He shouted in his mind.
In his desperation, his eyes reflected something, something only he could see!
A glowing rectangle with unseeable things from the reflection of his eye.
In his moment of despair, his body immediately reconstructed itself a little, and now with a sharpened body, he could catch the blade at the tip pressed against his chest!
In the aftermath, the wind blew after the attack, and the attack was halted to the shock of Liu Dazhuang.
“What!?
H-How!?
The sect elders, the master, and the star immortals looked in awe.
This C-grade somehow managed to stop a Vermina!
“No way!
How do you have a Vermina!?” Liu Dazhuang shouted.
“…I—I don’t.” Nangong Xuanhe stuttered.
“…what!”
Liu Dazhuang was puzzled, trying to make sense of such an absurd statement.
He glanced around, hoping for some answer, but none came his way.
“Whatever, I’ll just do it again!”
Using his Vermina again, this time, Nangong Xuanhe could see it clearly.
It was residing within the primeval galaxy of Liu Dazhuang.
It was a white, glowing figure, taking the form of a beetle.
‘Is that…a Vermina?’
The pressure he felt from its presence was striking, like something heavy was pressed against his chest.
He didn’t understand exactly what it was, but what he did know was that its power felt pure, like a spell.
He swiftly disappeared from where he stood once again, attempting to put Nangong Xuanhe down for good, but not this time.
Nangong Xuanhe had already seen the attack coming, swiftly dodging it with a little bit of swag.
He looked back at Gu Xuanming’s seat, but he had forgotten he wasn’t here to see him.
‘…right.
Whatever, I’ll still suppress him!’
Liu Dazhuang was caught off guard by the sudden movement again, having thought he could catch him this time.
Nangong Xuanhe would then shoot his knee right at Liu Dazhuang’s chin, nearly breaking it with the help of the quick movement of Liu Dazhuang against his own knee, making it a near-devastating blow!
Of course, Nangong Xunahe also got injured, especially since his knee wasn’t the toughest.
This left him holding his knee briefly before stepping back.
‘Damn, that hurt.’ Nangong Xuanhe looked at Liu Dazhuang, who fell to the ground, clutching at his jaw in agony.
Seizing the opportunity, he wound up a powerful kick, circulating Qiang Qi into his leg to empower it, and BAM, he kicked Liu Dazhuang in the head, racking his brain!
Despite this devastating blow, Liu Dazhuang did not bend the knee.
He rose to his feet, anger fueling each step he made towards Nangong Xuanhe!
‘He’s still moving!?
After that!?
No way…’
Their clash became much fiercer than before.
The onlookers watched as both of them exchanged blows and swords, clashing their weapons while using hand-to-hand combat to either get closer or push each other back.
Both of them followed the established rules, not killing or fatally injuring each other, while also doing just enough.
In the sky, Murong Xuanji watched intently, focusing on every move that Nangong Xuanhe made.
He noted in his head that for a C-grade talent, he displayed skill that should have taken him a lot longer to master.
At most, 2 months, yet he had already mastered quite a hefty number of martial techniques.
Layering his recent feat of surviving a Vermina, he seemed to be a B-grade talent, not C-grade.
‘Just what is this boy?’ He pondered.
‘He’s doing things that shouldn’t be possible for his talent.
Is he…somehow related to that man?’
‘But that wouldn’t make sense.
He was killed for defying the heavens of their will.
I personally slaughtered him.
But perhaps he lied about his talent?’
‘I don’t know much about this boy, but perhaps he lied about his talent so he could cultivate by himself.
While rare, I could definitely see that possibility.’
‘Perhaps I should confront him about this?
No, that would be too direct, at least for someone like me.
Instead, I should ask Gu Chenyin to ask him.’
“Cough!
Cough!” Liu Dazhuang coughed violently, trembling as he held his sword tightly.
Nangong Xuanhe was the same, only he was a lot less injured compared to Liu Dazhuang. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
‘I’ve been hitting him with everything I’ve got.
There’s no way my punches are weak, right?’
Nangong Xuanhe had also thought something similar.
He wondered why Liu Dazhuang’s punches were so weak, and it wasn’t because of any enhanced durability.
After a while of thought, he came to the conclusion that perhaps Liu Dazhuang didn’t train his fists as well as his swordplay.
Of course, this was only speculation, but based on what he’s seen and felt so far, it was certainly a possibility.
He spat the blood from his mouth and stepped forward.
He also threw his weapon to the side as he had accidentally broken it during their back-and-forth.
Raising his hands, he lunged forward!
Liu Dazhuang immediately tried to block with his sword, but with quick footwork, Nangong Xuanhe side-stepped and struck him in the jaw!
He then followed up with two more swings to the jaw and then threw the knee in between his legs.
All the men watching instinctively felt phantom pain upon seeing the attack.
For a moment, they thought they had been struck, some moving their hands in front of their genitals, trying to calm themselves.
Some people found it barbaric, feeling Nangong Xuanhe was more fit for the Southern Wastelands with that kind of fighting.
Only the star immortals from above laughed, finding it amusing that he would go for such a cheap shot.
“Not bad, not bad.
That reminds me, brother Xuanji!” Tai Ben Yen Shong exclaimed with joy in his voice.
“Remember when you tried to do the same thing to your brother when he was doing the trial of heaven?”
“Don’t remind me…”
Nangong Xuanhe threw Liu Dazhuang to the ground and began punching him over and over again.
By this point, it was a losing battle, yet he didn’t yield.
“Just…surrender!
You…lost!” He continued hitting him until he had concluded.
“You’re never going to give up, are you?”
Liu Dazhuang didn’t speak, as he was far too beaten to even say anything, yet he still held onto Nangong Xuanhe’s wrist tightly.
“…sorry.” Nangong Xuanhe reeled back his fist and struck him directly in the face, knocking him out cold.
After he did that, he stood up, looking at the sect master.
After waiting for a bit longer to see if Liu Dazhuang would stand, he stood up, raising his hand.
“Nangong Xuanhe is the winner!
The final battle will be underway!
It will take place in two hours!
Nangong Xuanhe vs Gu Xuanming!”
Hearing those words, Nangong Xuanhe curled his lips.
“Hehehe, finally, this is it!” His eyes widened, shining with brilliance.
“I’ll make sure I defeat him!”
He looked to the sky, feeling he was ready.
It had been 15 minutes since the fight had ended.
Gu Xuanming was sitting by himself in his dorm, having listened to everything that Feng Qingwu had told him.
‘I see.
So, my brother had managed to defeat his enemy with ruthless efficiency.’
‘I would certainly like to know what he is using to grow so abnormally, but it is not required.
The only thing that matters is the inheritance from my father and the Liquor Poison Monk.’
Gu Xuanming looked down at his hand, circulating the Qiang Qi throughout his body, which he had absorbed into his primeval galaxy.
“Once I reach the advanced level, I will reach my second constellation and start learning how to morph my body to an even greater extent.
Unfortunately, I cannot use the Three Flowers Dantian technique until my perfect constellation, and even then, I will need to survive the wrath of heaven.’
‘Hopefully, that monk left me something good.’
After standing up, Gu Xuanming decided to open the wardrobe, intending to battle with his brother in the attire that he hadn’t used up until this point, another robe his father had given him.
His face was like stone for a moment, lacking any emotion, but then something curled at his lips.
It was a mischievous feeling, something he had rarely felt.
A smile grew, and something even darker as well.