Chapter 747: Melee
Almost a hundred of martial pract.i.tioners hailing from various forces were gathered on the giant airs.h.i.+p. Luo Chen, Du Xiangyang, Chu Li, Yu Men, and Feng Yiyou; both his allies and his enemies in the Graveyard of G.o.ds were here.
Qin Lie was very puzzled by this unexpected gathering.
He hadn’t heard Xue Moyan and Ju Ruijie’s verbal spar earlier. Therefore, he didn’t know that Xue Moyan had come and then left in anger because of Ju Ruijie’s ridiculing words.
“What are you all doing?” He frowned and looked at Chu Li with a face full of suspicion.
“They’re waiting for you, I think.” Chu Li shrugged.
“You finally came out.” Du Xiangyang approached with a cheerful smile on his face. “Luo Chen and I came to drink with you!”
Heavenly Sword Mountain’s Luo Chen was currently dressed in white and carrying himself like a sharp sword.
He tugged the corner of his mouth a little and nodded as a form of greeting when he saw Qin Lie looking his way.
At the beginning, he and Qin Lie were sworn enemies who slowly repaired their relations.h.i.+p over time. In the end, they settled down old grudges and became friends after fighting alongside each other as comrades.
The ill feelings between the duo were long gone.
“Are you Qin Lie?” Tian Yu walked over.
An aura as fierce as a giant savage beast’s abruptly appeared from her tiny body. In an instant, an explosive amount of life force abruptly broke out of her body like river water.
Her aura poured over Qin Lie and made him feel as if a river was trying to flood him.
Qin Lie’s expression changed slightly and asked in surprise, “Who is she?”
“She’s Yu Men’s senior sister, Tian Yu. She’s also the person with the strongest const.i.tution out of all the youths of the Land of Chaos. She may be a woman, but her combat strength is absolutely terrifying,” Du Xiangyang explained briefly with a troubled expression before saying, “Let’s just ignore her and leave.”
Chu Li and Luo Chen stood next to Qin Lie on his left and right side.
“Senior Sister Tian Yu, Qin Lie hasn’t quite stabilized himself right after he came out of his seclusion. Don’t you think you should you find a another time and place even if you’re eager to make your challenge?” Chu Li said with a displeased look on his face. “Also, we brothers haven’t met each other for a long time. We’d like to find a place where we can speak alone.”
“Why are you so anxious about someone else’s business?” Celestial Artifact Sect’s Luo Kexin giggled.
While giggling, she walked over and stretched open her ten delicate fingers. They were all gleaming with jade-like l.u.s.ter.
The spatial rings on her fingers emanated with clear ripples of spirit energy as if the spirit artifacts hidden inside them would burst out into the open at any moment.
“Junior Qin, is it?” she said while smiling. “I heard that you’ve damaged some of my junior brother’s spirit artifacts when you were in the Graveyard of G.o.ds, haven’t you? Hehe, it so happens that I have even more spirit artifacts that you may test your mettle with.”
“Stand aside, Luo Kexin!” Tian Yu snorted and swung her fists. She said, “You’re at the late stage of the Fulfillment Realm, and he is only at the early stage. Plus, you are armed to the teeth with spirit artifacts. This battle wouldn’t be fair at all!”
“And you think your fight is fair?” Luo Kexin said in annoyance.
“Of course.” Tian Yu lifted her head and said naturally, “I’m not going to use even a bit of spirit energy against him. I will not suppress him with my realm or spirit artifacts either. My fists will be my only weapon!”
“Alright, you may go first then.” Luo Kexin stopped approaching Qin Lie with a giggle.
“You aren’t afraid, are you?” Ju Ruijie raised her voice with slightly cooled eyes. “Blood Fiend Sect disciples aren’t cowards who only know how to hide behind our Illusory Demon Sect’s back, right?”
“And who’s she?” Qin Lie looked puzzled.
“She’s Ju Ruijie, Xue Moyan’s junior sister. You have no idea how that woman…” Du Xiangyang lowered her voice and told Qin Lie about the verbal conflict between Ju Ruijie and Xue Moyan earlier. “She seems to be very prejudiced against Blood Fiend Sect, and I think Illusory Demon Sect disciples around us hold no goodwill towards Blood Fiend Sect too. They seem to think that the only reason Blood Fiend Sect could rise again was all thanks to Illusory Demon Sect’s aid. They seem to think that Blood Fiend Sect of the Setting Sun Islands had seized the lands that rightfully belong to them.”
“Just ignore them,” Chu Li said solemnly.
“Fight me!” Tian Yu invited Qin Lie to a challenge.
Nearby, a lot of Heavenly Sword Mountain, Illusory Demon Sect, Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, Celestial Artifact Sect, and even Terminator Sect disciples gathered over after hearing the commotion.
It didn’t take long before all kinds of flying spirit artifacts such as giant carriages, war chariots, flying carpets and so on were parked nearby the giant black iron s.h.i.+p.
Many of these martial pract.i.tioners of the five great Silver rank forces were bored and idle, so they began hooting as if they were afraid that a clash would not start.
“Look, that’s the guy who’s been pretty famous lately named Qin Lie!” someone pointed.
“I heard that he’s the biggest reason the geniuses of all forces were outshone during the Trial of the Graveyard of G.o.ds! Heh, it would seem that a lot of people are displeased about this!”
“Mn. This kid played a ma.s.sive role in the resurgence of Blood Fiend Sect and the two recent battles that occurred at the Setting Sun Islands!”
“I heard that Forefather Terminator himself had given Qin Lie his guidance!”
“Let’s see exactly what makes this kid so special!”
For a time, private discussions were erupting everywhere amongst the martial pract.i.tioners. They all looked to be full of expectations.
Qin Lie looked at the swelling number of martial pract.i.tioners, Tian Yu, Luo Kexin, Ju Ruijie and the others. Slowly, his face took on a gloomy expression.
He was starting to realize what was going on here.
Compet.i.tions had always existed between the Silver rank forces, and this compet.i.tiveness between sects didn’t disappear entirely even at a time when they were united against a common enemy.
After the battle of the Graveyard of G.o.ds and the two battles of the Setting Sun Islands, he had leaped from a nameless kid to the center of everyone’s attention.
Before he knew it, his fame had spread far and wide and attracted many people’s attention.
There were plenty of people who knew little about him and doubted his strength. They wanted to witness his strength with their own eyes and know if the rumors were true.
Some people thought that the rumors of his strength were intentionally exaggerated, so they wished to penetrate the lies and unveil the truth.
The martial pract.i.tioners of five Silver rank forces were gathered right here. They only needed to witness one battle to recognize his true strength and see the truth of the matter.
Therefore, when people heard that someone was issuing a challenge to Qin Lie, the guy whose name kept being brought up as of late, they couldn’t help but grow excited about it.
The saying “popularity brings trouble” would be usually used to describe these types of situations.
“Let’s have some fun then.” After figuring out the spectators’ thoughts, Qin Lie smiled and nodded at Tian Yu. “You, come at me.”
“I’ll go easy on you!” Tian Yu obviously grew excited.
Chu Li and the others were caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.
Qin Lie waved at them to move further away just as they tried to stop him.
Tian Yu could no longer restrain herself as a wild gleam appeared in her eyes. She clenched her teeth before immediately charging at Qin Lie.
“Arrr!”
The roar that sounded like it came from the mouth of an ancient beast erupted inside Qin Lie and everyone else’s ears. It actually blurred their eyes for an instant.
“Killing Fists of Tiger and Lion!”
Tian Yu made fists with both hands, her left fist looking like a lion’s head and her right fist looking like a tiger’s head. When her tiny fists flew towards Qin Lie, he felt as if a raging lion and a furious tiger was charging down at him from a mountain.
In fact, a tiger and a lion’s angry roar actually broke out from inside her fists. The roar was so fierce that Qin Lie’s heart trembled strongly in his chest.
“Whoosh whoosh whoos.h.!.+”
A violent, fleshy aura erupted from inside the two fists, distorting and crus.h.i.+ng even the air around it.
Qin Lie’s pupils shrank as he opened and closed his hands in the blink of an eye to conjure the Blood Weeping Ghost Claws. He swung his claws at both the lion and the tiger.
Blood Weeping Ghost Claws and Killing Fists of Tiger and Lion instantly clashed against one another dozens of times.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Tremendous, heavy strength surged out of Tian Yu’s fists and rammed into Qin Lie’s arm like rampaging mountains and rivers.
The bones in Qin Lie’s arms tingled, and he thought he heard a crack from somewhere inside his bones. Even his eyes had turned blind for a moment.
He had no choice but to back up for a moment and put some distance between him and Tian Yu. He took the time to adjust the rich life force inside his own flesh and blood.
“It is said that the Blood Fiend Sect’s Blood Spirit Art tempers both the blood and the body. I see that there actually is something behind those claims,” Tian Yu muttered to herself but didn’t go after Qin Lie immediately. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
“Crack crack!”
She moved her neck around and stretched her arms. Strange crackling noises that sounded like joints being moved around resounded from inside her pet.i.te body.
When the crowd focused their attention on her, they discovered in surprise that her small body was growing taller little by little.
That wasn"t all. Her arms had actually grown long enough to touch her knees when they were lowered too.
Tian Yu moved again.
“Afterimage Fists of Demon Ape!”
Afterimages of a crazed ape were left trailing behind Tian Yu when she charged towards Qin Lie at top speed.
At first glance, it was as if a dozen of so violent apes were charging towards Qin Lie with open claws and bared teeth.
Qin Lie inhaled deeply as his eyes slowly reddened. They quickly took on a blood-red color.