Xu Min smirked as he saw the furious Tang Jin rushing towards him. All the Qi from within his body started to burst forward, laying itself like a dense blanket on the arena. The energy rushed towards Xu Min who was standing completely still, looking at the heavy energy coming his way.
Here was a four-star warrior releasing his Qi, intending to let it crush anything on its way; yet, Xu Min dared to meet it head on. It was a crude way to fight. Unlike a stance, releasing one’s Qi like this was the most destructive way of fighting. Nonetheless, this technique was like a two-edged sword. A fighter would release all the Qi in their body; the moment the attack died out, they would be unable to continue fighting.
“So, you are finally going all out,” Xu Min laughed at the desperate attack from Tang Jin. Tightening his grip on the sword handle, he prepared to cut the blanket of Qi. His face focused and a small smile could be seen.
The Qi moved swiftly. Within one moment of time, the energy reached Xu Min. He swung the sword down, managing to cut through the blanket of Qi, he saw Tang Jin’s face suddenly turned pale.
No matter how hard he had tried. Tang Jin had been completely blinded by anger. He previously knew that it was possible for Xu Min to absorb Qi by his sword; however, the short moment he had acted upon his anger, he had forgotten all about this strange ability. Now, he was like a mouse locked in a trap with no way to get out of it.
Once the sword landed on the Qi, a humming sound could be heard, filling the entire arena. At the same time, the blanket of Qi was turning transparent. The more transparent the blanket became, the higher the humming sound was.
The Qi which the sword was devouring was the highest grade of Qi. Previously, when training with the sword, the experts had made various stances, and a stance could be cut forcefully. However, using a raw form of Qi to attack, it was impossible to disconnect the Qi from the sword no matter how much Tang Jin tried. The sword continuously gulped down more and more Qi.
Half of this Qi was being refined through the sword. It entered Xu Min’s body, and his dantian was constantly quivering as more and more energy filled it up. It was so full that it was about to explode. Channeling the Qi from the dantian to his body, he managed to make sure he was not being crippled. The amount of Qi entering his body was so ferocious that Xu Min was almost in a worse position than Tang Jin who was being sucked dry.
The moment Tang Jin felt the suction force he backed away, but it was too late. The energy was being swallowed whole by the sword. While the Qi was pouring into Xu Min, he poured it out into the surroundings, making blanket of Qi similar to Tang Jin’s. However, Xu Min’s blanket was smaller than the previous one, and it was not as dense. Still, it was enough to be terrifying, especially for Tang Jin who had been completely emptied and now defenseless.
Having sucked up the final Qi from the atmosphere, Xu Min stomped on the ground and shot forward. The Qi blanket roiled around him, and shockwaves were constantly being emitted.
Moving forward, Xu Min’s Qi blanket enveloped Tang Jin. Soon, blood-curdling screams could be heard. Although Tang Jin was a four-star Warrior, he was currently completely useless as all his internal energy was depleted. He had never physically trained his body, so there was no way for him to stand against the Qi which was crushing him.
His arms were raised for protection against the Qi, but these arms soon broke like twigs. His legs followed soon after, and blood started pouring from his eyes and his ears. His screams resounded through the silent arena until suddenly someone yelled out and a boom could be heard, “My son!” Tang Ye yelled and as he landed on the ground. Xu Min could feel an outstanding pressure behind him. Using the Sword to suck in the Qi, half of it returned to his body, and the Qi blanket on the arena vanished. With the Qi blanket gone, everyone was able to see Tang Jin had been crippled by the one Tang Jin said he would cripple. The two-star Warrior defeated the four-star Warrior, something completely unheard of.
However, Tang Ye, Tang Jin’s father, was fuming with anger. His body trembled when he saw his son, his pride, laying there crippled. He would never again be able to advance once in the world of cultivators.
“He was going to cripple me! If I crippled him first, it’s just too bad old man,” Xu Min said honestly to Tang Ye. Xu Min was fully aware that the expert’s power he could not defeat.
Retreating backward, Xu Min knew what Tang Ye was currently contemplating to do. His anger was clear. It was obvious he wanted to make Xu Min suffer, but the arena’s audience was filled with Ri Chu City’s top experts. Personally acting in front of all of them would cause Tang Ye’s family to be disgraced, losing their position and respectability. This was a battle between the younger generation, and he had to admit Tang Jin had intended Xu Min to undergo a ferocious defeat. Thus, only Tang Jin was to be blamed.
Glancing towards his young son, his anger arose once more. He decided his son was worth more than his pride, and he strode towards Xu Min who wore a bitter smile on his face, beat the young one, and the older man would appear.
“That is enough old Ye! ” someone suddenly called out as he joined the arena. It was a man Xu Min had never spoken with before; but looking at him, he knew that it was the patriarch of the Guo family.
“You don’t want the city to know what I know,” he said with a low voice. A voice he thought only he and Tang Ye could hear; however, the words were just loud enough for Xu Min to hear them as well.
“You have the skillful alchemist Huang Zhen as your guest in your mansion right now. Why don’t you hope he can do something for your son. Rush to the medics now and see what can be done. His dantian is not shattered. It’s just his arms and legs that have been crippled. Even if he cannot walk, he can still be an internal expert.”
These words were loud enough for all to hear, and the audience all nodded their heads in agreement. What he had said seemed reasonable to the audience. It was just bad luck that it had been Tang Jin that got crippled instead of Xu Min. Everyone was shocked seeing Xu Min standing still in the arena while Tang Jin was a b.l.o.o.d.y mess. The judge finally stepped in, “Older generations of the Ri Chu City have no reason to be on this stage. The battle has finally finished, and no one has died. I declare Xu Min of the Yong family has won this year’s younger generation tournament.”
After his declaration, no one knew if they were supposed to cheer or not. The dark horse had proven to be a true dark horse all the way to his victory. It was the first time anyone had succeeded in battling twenty-one experts in one go, and, even more outstanding, being a two-star Warrior who defeated a four-star Warrior. What they did not realize was that Xu Min only won because Tang Jin lost control of himself due to his anger for a short moment, and this short moment allowed his demise. It gave Xu Min the one mistake he needed to win.
Had he fought the other experts, the ones who had willingly stepped down, then he would have likely lost? The only reason he could anger Tang Jin enough was that he was so over confident.His c.o.c.kiness stopped him from crushing Xu Min from the very start.
Everyone was still shocked, even the Yong family. Even Yong Meilin was shocked, but her face was as tranquil as it had been almost the entire battle. Pride was shining in her eyes as a beautiful smile shone on her porcelain-white face.
As Xu Min stepped down from the arena, he was greeted by the experts who had stepped back from him at the beginning of the tournament. All of them tried to curry favor with him. However, Xu Min excused himself quickly, saying he had sustained internal injuries and needed to move back to the Yong family compound, but they could find him there later on.
The Yong family, alongside Dong Liang, had faces full of smiles as they looked at Xu Min. Seeing blood was still trickling down the corner of his mouth, Yong Meilin found a cloth tissue from her dress and gently wiped away the blood before she gently supported him. Together the two of them headed to the Yong family compound. Xu Min had not been lying, he had sustained internal injuries, and he needed to heal himself before continuing down the road of revenge.
‘You did pretty good,’ Cao Cao said, but his voice was sullen. It was clear he had wanted to battle the stronger expert himself. Understanding Cao Cao’s disappointment’s Xu Min chuckled in turn causing more blood to appear.
Yong Meilin who had been certain in Xu Min’s victory greatly worried as she gently wiped his mouth again. She helped him back to his house where she placed him on his bed. He instantly fell asleep. The final battle had severely exhausted and injured him.
After a few moments, Dong Liang suddenly showed up He knocked on the door before he entered the room. A great smile was on his face as the Yong family’s patriarch stood behind him.
“This young man won against the cultivator who was personally looked after by Huang Zhen. This is my victory,” he cackled with laughter and reached into his cloak. He took out a small jade case which he opened, and a strong medicinal smell wafted out.
“This is a special pill. Even I only have around thirty percentage chance of succeeding in creating it, but it can heal any injury. Allowing me to win against Huang Zhen, I don’t mind parting with one of these pills. Little girl, give this pill to him,” he said as he reached out his hand and pa.s.sed over the pill to Yong Meilin who took it gratefully. Tears were in her eyes while she quickly placed the small pill within Xu Min’s mouth.
The energy in the room started rushing towards Xu Min, being absorbed by his body and slowly the sound of bones against bones could be heard. Grunts of pain escaped Xu Min’s lips; but even so, he did not wake up.
Dong Liang sent a final glance to the two youngsters in the room before he nodded his head and turned around. “Take good care of him!” Was the patriarchs only words before he hurried after Dong Liang.
Looking at the two departing figures, Yong Meilin quickly went and closed the door. She once more sat down next to the bed; her eyes were glued to Xu Min’s sweat covered face. She found some cold water and started wiping him down. She could not wait for him to wake up once more as healthy as he had been before entering the tournament. Yong Meilin wanted once more to return to the days where she and Xu Min would spend their time training together in the small courtyard, eating together and talking together and training together for their entire lives.
Although Yong Meilin wished for a daily life like this, she also remembered the cold expression on Xu Min’s face when he thought of his past. She understood his future was not with her, but in the viciously compet.i.tive world. He would rise to fame and become a known figure who would reside in another world than her.