Chapter 67: Forbidden Arts
Li Bai had the absolute advantage.
While Yuan Luoyang's skin was filling up with wounds every time they clashed, Li Bai had already planned his next attack and was about to execute it!
Yuan Ruogang saw what was happening and looked in disbelief. This was the first time that he had seen his brother bleeding all over his body.
He was used to the sight of his brother always winning, desensitized to the sight of corpses all around him.
But now, Yuan Ruogang's heart was filled with terror as he watched on. His heart was filled with worry for his brother who was obviously on the losing side.
However, he knew that he would be of no help if he just rushed in blindly. Maybe, he would even become a hindrance to his brother.
As such, he could not do anything as he stood still, frozen at the side.
.....
Inside the Silverstone ring.
Zhao Mei suddenly woke up!
She opened her eyes and saw unfamiliar surroundings. It was pitch black everywhere.
Anywhere she looked, there would only be an abyss of darkness looking back at her.
She turned her head downwards to look at her clothes.
They were still the same torn clothes as before.
There was also her Serpent Coat on the ground, hacked and torn into pieces.
"Eh...? Where am I?" Zhao Mei started getting worried. Now was not the time to be conscious of her visible breasts, as she needed to get out of there as soon as possible!
She got off the bed and stood up, observing that the blanket she was using was the same one that Li Bai provided.
"Hello! Hello, is anyone here?" Zhao Mei shouted as she wandered around the place.
'Come to think of it, how did I fall unconscious in the first place?' She could not recall any of the memories immediately before she fell asleep. She could only remember vague details.
"Ahh, I have to check if Uncle Wu is still alive!" Zhao Mei's worries were stacking up as she hastened her pace.
She was getting further and further from the bed, the only object in wherever she was. It was the only point of reference she could use.
Zhao Mei got more and more chilled as she got further from the bed. No matter where she looked, the only object in near proximity was the bed.
She rushed back.
"Ah, where am I...?"
.....
Yuan Luoyang panted heavily.
He had used the maximum speed his body could exert at the moment, but all it could do was startle his opponent before regaining his senses almost immediately.
He himself knew that this was a futile battle. He was bound to lose.
Seeing the battered state of the other party, Li Bai did not attack further.
He had lived enough lives to become a kind man, a passive man, and an evil man, just like the one before him.
His previous lives have taught him valuable lessons, and one of them was "Avoid pointless bloodshed."
In one of his lives, he tried to go against this rule, but in the end, his mind was wracked with guilt for all of the losses he caused.
Another lesson was "Do not show mercy if your opponent does not do the same."
He had died for too many times in his previous lives to know that he should not spare people if it they meant harm to him, at least, until they change their mind completely.
These two lessons were the foundation of Li Bai's whole character.
Li Bai folded his butterfly knife as he put it back in his storage ring.
Yuan Luoyang saw Li Bai's action and was bewildered. He stared at the child before him weirdly.
His mind was filled with thoughts, ones that told him to take advantage of the situation. Ultimately, he decided against it.
"Yuan Luoyang, was it?" Li Bai said, breaking the absolute silence.
Yuan Luoyang could not utter any response, so he just nodded absentmindedly.
"Stop this assassin nonsense." Li Bai told him matter-of-factly.
With just these words, the situation between the three of them became awkward.
.....
Wu Tai had planted his feet into the sand. With a solemn expression, he prepared to walk away.
He looked behind him, intending to see the corpse of the fellow who ruthlessly murdered his sworn brother.
His eyes widened as he saw what was behind him.
The body of the disguised man earlier turned into sand.
Slowly being blown away by the wind, the sand sculpture eventually faded away.
While Wu Tai was preoccupied thinking about what happened, a voice sounded out from somewhere undetectable.
"Hahaha! Do you really think that it's that easy to kill me?" The demented voice of the man had a sarcastic tone in it.
Wu Tai's hand trembled. "This... You are a Forbidden Arts user?"
He could not believe it.
He did not expect that this man would be this mad!
The Forbidden Arts was a set of techniques created by the infamous Qiao Huang. He was a man who had experimented with whole towns to develop his new techniques!
Sometimes, the dwellers all died, and sometimes, they all got sick. One thing was for certain: any town that Qiao Huang visited was bound to fall.
This caused the Dark Ages of this world. Many people were massacred for the sake of a technique! It was absolute madness.
There were many people in the higher part of the hierarchy that wanted to stop this madman.
Many of them attempted to attack Qiao Huang, but they ended up being the next ones up for experimentation!
This was the problem. Qiao Huang was actually a Marked Genius, so no one could do anything to him!
His reign ended abruptly when he decided to kill himself, which relieved many people of their worries.
His death became one of the holidays, "The End of the Dark Ages".
Of course, Qiao Huang was actually one of Li Bai's past lives. He killed himself out of guilt and shame in this one, and ended up learning a lesson.
What happened though, was that Qiao Huang had gotten devout followers that ended up continuing his work after his death.
They had developed techniques known as the Forbidden Arts.
Although Wu Tai did not know what specific Forbidden Art the other party used, what made him sure was the black mist that appeared after.
"Hahaha. You sure aren't dumb for a captain. Usually, it would be one or the other, the brains or the brawn." The disguised man answered.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone