Chapter 51: Yin Jing's defeat
Li Zhu and Yin Jing finally reached the center of the arena, both getting into a fighting stance, and staring each other down in an attempt to notice any small movements which could signify an attack.
Neither of them was willing to attack first, since it would mean exposing themselves, which could put them at a disadvantage if the opponent made use of the opportunity.
Li Zhu did not have as much of a concern for this, since he could use Shadow Lurk to escape if needed. Buddy, of course, was by his side, and Blue was flying in circles high up in the sky, ready for a perfect opportunity to strike.
Li Zhu was mostly waiting for Yin Jing to get impatient, which would make an attack in Shadow Lurk more likely to cause harm. By now almost everyone knew about his stealth skill, so Yin Jing would not be taken off guard by him, which made striking him while he was also using a skill so much more important.
As Li Zhu had expected, it did not take long for Yin Jing's face to begin to twitch, sign that he was close to losing his patience. After all, as the heir to a great family, the young man had been given everything he wanted the moment he wanted it, so he was not used to being patient.
Although Li Zhu had also been the heir to a large family, his childhood had been much different, with most of his days being spent training, instead of having fun.
Yin Jing swung his sword, ten ice shards forming in the air, shooting towards Li Zhu. He continued to swing his sword as fast as he could, each time producing a varying number of ice shards, each as long as his sword, but about twice as thick.
All this was for naught, though, since Li Zhu simply did as he had planned, fusing with Buddy, and entering the shadows. He then traveled behind Yin Jing as fast as he could, before jumping out, his usual punch extending towards his opponent's back.
Yin Jing had a seemingly shocked expression as he sensed Li Zhu behind him. That said, if one looked closer they would notice a small smile, hinting that he may have predicted this turn of events.
This seemed to be the case, as the moment Li Zhu's fist hit Yin Jing's back, his arm was instantly covered in a thick layer of ice. Yin Jing had used heavenly energy to strengthen the frost aura around him, making any barehanded attack on him close to impossible.
His plan having worked perfectly, Yin Jing quickly turned around, before Li Zhu had the time to recompose himself. Turning around, he mercilessly slashed Li Zhu across the chest with his long sword, which sent him flying, breaking the ice which had kept him in place.
Li Zhu landed many yards away, and Yin Jing did not even bother to follow up on his attack, knowing that it would simply be avoided with that mysterious stealth skill. He had achieved his goal, anyway, since Li Zhu was now in extreme pain, and had a long gash on his chest, which would restrict his movement greatly, as well as cause blood loss.
'I can't fight him like this!' realized Li Zhu, rethinking his strategy for facing Yin Jing. Using Shadow Lurk to attack Yin Jing would not work, since the frost aura emitted by the young man would freeze Li Zhu's arm every time. Although Li Zhu could still fight with the gash on his chest, he could not be sure that the next time Yin Jing attacked him it wouldn't end up worse, so taking the risk of being hit was not wise.
Understanding this, Li Zhu decided to fuse with Blue, which would give him resistance to Yin energy, making him immune to the frost aura. That said, he would not be able to use Shadow Lurk, which was his strongest and only escape and mobility skill.
Sensing Li Zhu's intentions, Blue swooped down from the sky, fusing with him the moment they touched. Buddy, in the meantime, entered the shadows, ready to work with Li Zhu in the upcoming fight.
"You aren't going to run away, anymore?" mockingly asked Yin Jing, noticing that Li Zhu was not in the same form as before, when wolf ears and small fangs had been visible.
Now, instead, Li Zhu was covered in ice, which Yin Jing assumed was a way to counter his frost aura, though he was still confident in his own skills, and was simply happy that Li Zhu wouldn't escape every time an attack was about to harm him.
Knowing Li Zhu had no way to escape, Yin Jing charged forwards, his sword leading the way. As he reached Li Zhu, he began to swing around the sword, aiming for the weak spots.
Li Zhu had been an expert swordsman in his previous life, though, so he easily dodged Yin Jing's amateur slashes, which were lacking in refinement. His eyes darted around Yin Jing's body, noticing every small detail, which hinted to the next movement. In this way, Li Zhu predicted every single attack, much to the fury of Yin Jing, who felt as though his opponent was always one step ahead of him.
Feeling helpless, Yin Jing started to swing his sword randomly, in hopes that his movements would be harder to predict.
This had the adverse effect, though, since Li Zhu now noticed many openings in Yin Jing's swings, giving him a chance to launch his own attack.
The moments Yin Jing's sword had almost reached the end of its swing, Li Zhu jumped forwards, extending his hand towards the hilt.
Yin Jing did not even have the time to retract his sword, before Li Zhu's hand was already on the hilt. Using Frost Touch, Li Zhu managed to send frost qi into the sword, causing a thick layer of ice to form over it.
'This is my chance!' realized Li Zhu, as his other arm formed into a fist, aiming for Yin Jing's gut. At the same time, Buddy popped up from behind Yin Jig, his jaw opened wide. They were trying to cause as much damage as they could, now that Yin Jing could not use his weapon.
Li Zhu's fist and Buddy's bite reached Yin Jing at the same time, bringing with them a large amount of damage. Something strange, though, was that no blood could be seen on Yin Jing's body, as he fell to the ground.
'Did we not harm him?' wondered Li Zhu, very confused. Yin Jing's body was lying on the floor, seemingly dead, but there was no blood coming out from his wounds.
As if answering his question, the body shattered into hundreds of pieces, before Li Zhu heard a voice from behind, "You didn't think it was that easy to beat me, right?"
Turning around, Li Zhu saw Yin Jing, standing about 30 yards from him. He was smiling, as he said, "Just as you can escape strikes, so can I!"
'So that's how it is!' thought Li Zhu, realizing what had happened. Yin Jing had probably activated a skill of his, the moment his sword had been frozen. This skill created an ice clone of himself, and brought him a few yards away, enough to avoid Li Zhu and Buddy's attacks.
"You don't have your sword, though, Yin Jing… what are you going to do about that?" replied Li Zhu, noticing the long sword lying on the ground, near the broken pieces of Yin Jing's clone.
"I have more methods that you can think of to win this fight" was Yin Jing's only reply, though he seemed quite furious about losing his sword.
Proving his statement, Yin Jing slammed his hands into the ground, causing an ice pillar to rise up from the stone. Just as Yun Huan's water pillar, this ice pillar began to shift around, changing its shape into something more recognizable.
The ice pillar continued moving for a few seconds, eventually forming into a vaguely humanoid shape, about twice the size of Li Zhu.
"So this is your strategy?" asked Li Zhu, not particularly impressed. The ice soldier was very sloppy, and it could be seen that Yin Jing had learned this conjuring skill recently. After all, Yin Jing was a swordsman, so he did not have enough time to also practice other skills to a high degree.
Although the ice soldier was not as strong as it could have been, It would still take Li Zhu quite a long time to destroy, if he simply used his fists as usual. In that time Yin Jing could attack him many times, albeit with no weapon.
'I guess it won't do any harm if I use this sword, as long as I don't display any skills that may cause suspicions about my identity' thought Li Zhu, his gaze landing on Yin Jing's sword.
Using a sword, it would be much easier to destroy the ice soldier, and as long as he didn't use any skills, no one would suspect anything.
Yin Jing looked furious as Li Zhu picked up his sword, but he stayed behind his ice soldier, not confident in his abilities, when barehanded.
"Can you even use a weapon, Li Zhu? You know that real swordsmen go through years of practice to achieve their skills?!" He asked, confident that if Li Zhu fought barehanded, it meant he was not skilled with a weapon.
Li Zhu ignored Yin Jing, stopping his fusion with Blue, and fusing with Buddy, instead. He then entered Shadow Lurk, ready to strike the ice soldier, which had been charging towards him.
What followed was a spectacle that the crowd would remember for quite some time to come. All that could be seen was a series of flashing lights, each time causing a piece of the ice soldier's large body to come off, shattering.
Li Zhu was striking the ice soldier and then entering Shadow Lurk, before popping up somewhere else, and slashing his sword again. In the span of ten seconds, Li Zhu's sword had swung about a hundred times, causing the lights that the spectators saw.
It only took ten seconds, and with each strike taking off a piece of the Ice soldier's body, by the end there was only a small ice rock, no longer able to even move, let alone cause harm.
Yin Jing stared at the scene in shock, his powerful Ice soldier being defeated, with no chance to retaliate. He then looked at Li Zhu, who had already turned around, staring at him with an evil grin.
Li Zhu charged towards Yin Jing, slashing his sword, before the young man could admit defeat to the elders. Yin Jing had displayed killing intent at the start of the fight, for which Li Zhu wanted to at least injure him, in order to remove a future threat.
Yin Jing could do nothing, as he was hit by the full brunt of the sword strike. As he landed ten yards away, he scrambled to yell, "I give up, I give up!" but the harm had already been done, since he now had a large gash across his chest, even deeper than the one he himself had inflicted onto Li Zhu.
Li Zhu knew he could not take any further actions on Yin Jing, so he simply dropped the sword, before returning to the sidelines.
He was incredibly happy, as he realized, "I have entered the top ten! Now all that I need to do is enter top four, and I will achieve my goal!"
To win the competition would be tough, especially since he was still an eight stage qi gathering cultivator, facing powerful ninth stage ones. That said, Li Zhu was confident that he could find a way to win a few other fights, and at least enter top four.
Weekly Power Status
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