Book 13: Chapter 146
Hai Yecha wasn’t the only person taken aback; not even Valley of Yearning’s own members could wrap their heads around it. Bai Zhiqing knew Hong Jiu wanted to fight Vivianite, so it was unexpected for Hong Jiu to take to the arena already. Thus, he asked, “Why do you want to fight the first match? You… want to beat him? You should rest for now if you want to fight Vivianite.”
Even Hai Yecha had a good guess of Hong Jiu’s plan after hearing that. Hai Yecha had confidence in Darkcloud’s skills, but he could never account for all the possible underhanded tricks his opponent might deploy. If Bai Zhiqing was right, then Hai Yecha’s guaranteed victory was no longer guaranteed.
If Hong Jiu defeated Darkcloud and then Squall, there would be no reason to fight Vivianite as it was best out of three. Of course, that was the best outcome. The worst outcome was that Darkcloud beat Hong Jiu. However, the worst outcome was also the best because, if he couldn’t even beat Darkcloud, then Vivianite would kill him all the same. The only difference would be who killed him. Bai Zhiqing couldn’t see Hong Jiu losing to Darkcloud, having said that.
The primary concern was that Hong Jui would wear himself out. If he barely won against Darkcloud, and then Bai Zhiqing lost to Squall, then… Hong Jiu would have to face a fearsome opponent he had previously lost to in one exchange. Even with his newfound skills and being in optimal shape, Hong Jiu didn’t even have a confident fifty-fifty chance of winning against Vivianite.
“You must preserve your internal energy,” stressed Bai Zhiqing.
“There’s no need to use your head that much, Third Brother Bai.” Hong Jiu pointed to Darkcloud. “One.” Then, he pointed to Squall and said, “Two.” Finally, he moved his gaze to where Vivianite was hiding and declared, “I’m going to exterminate three stinky bugs in one go today.”
Darkcloud and Squall were livid. Although Vivianite had yet to reveal himself, it was irrefutable that he, too, wasn’t happy about what he heard.
“Excellent! Excellent!” Hai Yecha was wise enough to know what Hong Jiu was trying to achieve without having to think too hard. So, in a booming voice, he praised, “No wonder why they call you a hero, the most courageous hero of the young generation. I respect you from the bottom of my heart. Some people have mouths that are as useful as b.u.t.t cracks, except b.u.t.t cracks can relieve discomfort, while their mouths only spit stupid garble.”
“Hahaha, why don’t you finish what you’re trying to say. Don’t be a p.u.s.s.y now.”
“We agreed to three matches. You can dispatch three people for three matches or one person for three matches. You can’t fight two and then have someone else subst.i.tute.”
Hong Jiu was Valley of Yearning’s ace, but even he wouldn’t be able to beat Darkcloud and Squall back to back. However, he’d be able to tire out Squall to an extent. That would make it easy for Bai Zhiqing to beat Squall so that he could then fight Vivianite. Vivianite couldn’t perform the technique he defeated Hong Jiu with consecutively. Consequently, if Bai Zhiqing could force Vivianite to use it, then Valley of Yearning’s last contestant would have a much better chance of winning. Therefore, Hai Yecha wanted to stipulate a rule that circ.u.mvented the strategy.
“That was the plan all along. What was the point of you even saying that?”
Hai Yecha: Where is his confidence coming from? Did he contact Mount Daluo for help? I better have someone look into it.
Hai Yecha spun around and ordered one of his subordinates to investigate.
Master Qi: I get the impression he was planning to fight all three of them from the beginning. What exactly is he thinking? Does he truly believe he can defeat all three of them?
Master Qi had every intention to chide Hong Jiu, but her vocalised words ended up becoming, “… Be careful.”
Hong Jiu looked over his shoulder to meet eyes with Master Qi. He froze up for a good while, then flashed a big smile. “I’ll be very careful.”
“Pay attention then.” Despite possibly having an element of surprise working in his favour, Darkcloud decided to vocally prompt Hong Jiu first and cancel out his advantage.
Darkcloud dashed in and swung his eagle claw hand at Hong Jiu’s xuanji accupoint on his chest. The violent wind created from his arm motion would usually be enough to terrify his foe into freezing up. Their subconscious would prompt them to dodge. As soon as they moved, though, they’d be out of position to block the attack.
As an expert on hand techniques, Hong Jiu felt no fear. Standing his ground, he executed “The Dragon Fights in the Wilderness”. A loud boom comparable to thunder clap overpowered the sound of Darkcloud’s winds. Darkcloud was rather far away from Hong Jiu before he launched his offense, but he had enough time to charge up an attack, so a loud wind was expected. On the other hand, Hong Jiu was only just over three metres away when he retaliated, yet it completely overpowered Darkcloud’s wind.f?ℯℯ????oν?Ɩ.c?m
Hong Jiu extended his arms straight out, confident that no weapon, no s.h.i.+eld, no defence, absolutely nothing could deny him.
Although Darkcloud had heard the legends pertaining to Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, he had confidence in his own skills, especially when he had been training for longer. He extended his other hand into an attack, each hand performing a different claw technique that positioned Hong Jiu’s extended arm in a pincer between his two hands. No matter how much firepower Hong Jiu packed in his hands, it was nothing to fear if his arm was snapped.
Before Darkcloud’s hands could touch Hong Jiu’s extended arm, a ball of white light sp.a.w.ned and expanded, redirecting the trajectory of Darkcloud’s hands with loud clangs accompanying the clashes.
Once Darkcloud had orderly retreated several metres, he saw Hong Jiu still standing in the same spot, except he was now armed with a sharp and s.h.i.+ny broadsword. Darkcloud flicked his hands, summoning a half-length metal cudgel from his sleeve.
Darkcloud might’ve been more bloodthirsty than Squall, but he was also shrewder. Hence, he prioritised his life over taking another life. He did his research on his three antic.i.p.ated opponents, making sure to note the unique things about their skills, their weapon of choice and so forth. Master Qi was written off. Bai Zhiqing led a life of seclusion, so he was the one shrouded in the most mystery. As for Hong Jiu, who didn’t know of his palm specialty when he had a long track record across the land? For that reason, Darkcloud’s game plan centred around disabling Hong Jiu’s arms. Never did he expect Hong Jiu to use a broadsword, not to mention so proficiently.
While Hong Jiu’s broadsword counter didn’t belong to a particular discipline, it was clear that he knew how to use a broadsword properly. His swings might’ve been thoughtless, but the ferocity nearly cost Darkcloud his hands instead of him taking Hong Jiu’s hands. Had he not kept the short staff hidden inside his sleeve, the match would’ve been over already.
Hong Jiu held Hunt up high to reflect the sunlight. “I’m the G.o.dfather of open-handed techniques. I promise I can split you in two with one swing. You look malnourished. Come over. I’ll give you a hand.”
In a low voice, Darkcloud apathetically responded, “Don’t get full of yourself.”
Contrary to his conniving personality, in combat, Darkcloud was a brute force fighter.
As Darkcloud closed in a second time, Hong Jiu stood his ground. Hong Jiu might’ve learnt mental cultivation from Yearning Broadswordplay, but his techniques were rooted in Moyan Clan’s ferocious style, which was the most ideal style to adopt against Darkcloud’s style.
As the two began trying to catch the other, the gaps in between their collisions reduced. This sort of constant-clas.h.i.+ng fight was rather rare when the contestants were at their level. At their level, the typical fight would consist predominately of feints, evasions and moving around. In the early stage, the two of them evaded some attacks. As time went on, though, it became a situation where they abandoned evasion and went blow for blow.
Unable to fathom the strategy the two were following, Master Qi queried, “Patriarch Bai, has… he fully recovered yet?”
Focused on observing the match, Bai Zhiqing absentmindedly replied, “Mm, he was already fine by the second day, and his internal energy had improved. Darkcloud’s internal energy is really potent. He shouldn’t be this good.”
Even if the Mount Wu duo was truly prodigious, there had to be a limit to what they could achieve. Under normal circ.u.mstances, physical attributes should’ve diminished with age, yet Darkcloud was proving he had exceeded his standard during his younger days. Watching Darkcloud made Bai Zhiqing feel more and more perplexed. “How is he so strong?”
Hong Jiu and Darkcloud had upped the ante to a point where there was no possibility of stopping short. Hong Jiu’s broadsword skills were no longer enough to fight on even footing, forcing him to sporadically rely on his palm skills to reset the odds. The only problem was, he wasn’t Song Chi, so his switches left him with openings to exploit. Luckily for him, he was so advanced with palm skills that supplementing his palm skills with his broadswordplay made for a tough system to conquer.
By this point, Darkcloud had demonstrated he could perform eagle claw, wolf claw and tiger claw all to high standards. One bizarre thing that stood out was that he delivered them in an orthodox manner rather than using foul play or oozing any sort of sinister energy.
Upon spotting another opening, Darkcloud seized Hong Jiu’s shoulder with his right hand and squeezed. As soon as Hong Jiu felt the sharp pain in his shoulder, he used Empty Palms to slip out, much to Darkcloud’s chagrin.
There was no clear victor after the long round, but there was a trail of blood to show that one of them had gained the upper hand, and Hong Jiu was the one who was holding onto his bloodied shoulder.
“Fool.” Darkcloud flicked his hand to get the blood off. “That’s what happens when a beginner gets c.o.c.ky.”
“I’m impressed.” Hong Jiu checked his wound and chuckled. “No wonder why you’re so arrogant. You’ve learnt Shaolin’s Dragon Claw, I see.”
Glossary
Xuanji accupoint – Right below the collar bone, in the middle of your sternum