Whoom!
The howling tempest smashed into Bubai like a living beast, and his wide-open body was sent flying back like a ragdoll!
His ears rung from the impact. Stinging pain licked his skin all over.
A few head over heels tumbles later, Bubai finally planted his foot back on solid ground and held his crouch to tough through the remnant wind.
When the wind's wrath at last subsided, Bubai lowered his arms, only to see the paper-thin cuts crisscrossing all over it!
Hiss~ His first real injury in all his matches.
Bloody rlin, he got a bit careless!
He really didn't expect the difference between the sa Galestorm spells to be so absurd when used by different cultivators at the sa realm!
All those previous gale storms caused his mind to form a misconception regarding its power.
Now, he got slapped by the real deal!
Bubai can only say: Affinity, go pound sand!
After a silent curse, Bubai gave his beggar outfit a once-over…
What's left was lightly-battered pouches of steel versus shredded rags that failed its censorship duty.
Phew~ What's important is safe. What's not… who cares if it's an open book.
It's just that… beneath that sorry excuse for a dressed-up story, Bubai felt more poison bleeding into his system from every single wound.
That's a double bumr.
But at the sa ti, Bubai could feel his spores already hard at work, automatically repairing all his wounds... whether he wanted them to or not.
Seems his special physique really can't stay under the hood any longer.
Above the battlefield.
"That kid!" Elder Jia Gufan's rugged fra sat up straight.
"Even the body-building juniors from the clan won't suffer lightly against that. That level of defense… it's almost at the realm of copper skin! And that recovery… it's too similar. Too similar! Isn't it, elder brother?"
"Hoh, indeed…" Jia Wunan's weathered face creased into a thoughtful squint. "What an interesting physique. It's the ideal mold for sculpting body trainers of our Jia Clan..."
The Grand Elder's gaze slid to the side. "What do you say, Elder Ma?"
Ma Pei leisurely stroked his gray beard.
"Hoh... the competition days are still long. There's no need to make a decision so quickly. Let everyone have so ti to take a good look."
The matriarchs made no comnt. Needless to say, the Feng Clan didn't welco n.
A seat over, the scarecrow Tai Yinjun similarly sat back disinterested. "Aye, count us out. Our Taiyin clan isn't interested in muscle-heads like that dollie."
"Hohoho…" There was a smile in Ma Pei's eyes. "Old thief, don't be so quick to decide. Perhaps the day will co when you'll eat those words."
Tai Yinju let out a dry scoff.
"Gah! Make eat my words? That dollie will have to first live through this match! According to our sources, that smiley dollie hasn't missed once in recent years..."
Below.
With chest heaving, Du Ge chewed a pill while his almost-shut eyes observed the foe on his knees.
That wide smiley face of his beca a bit stiff when he saw all the freshly inflicted wounds visibly healing up.
Du Ge hoped he was just hallucinating, but he was sure he wasn't affected by any drugs or illusions.
"Sah… how outrageous."
Yet… the smile never left his face.
There is a reason why he is always confident to take on tough nuts like these.
After all, there's no need to outfight him. Just outthink him.
On the flip side, the kneeling Bubai was having the exact sa thoughts.
That smiley face was really a thorny opponent.
That jerk actually forced him to expose more than he expected this early on.
The most annoying part is that Bubai didn't know if this sneaky jerk had any other cards up his sleeves.
If he keeps pressing forward, his win is almost guarantee, but... at what cost?
This led Bubai to consider another side of the coin.
Every card shown was already a sunk cost.
If the tenacity he shows scared his foe into raising the white flag… ugh.
So much was invested, just to release the tiger back into the wild?
That really doesn't sit well with Bubai.
Gotta think of another way...
Feeling the coagulated toxin being squeezed out, an idea clicked in Bubai's mind.
A lump welled up in his throat, and… Pfff!
Black blood sprayed out!
Panic flashed across Bubai's face.
From his pouch, he dug out a pill bottle and hurriedly popped a common low-grade antidote.
Seeing this, Du Ge folded his hands back into his sleeves and straightened out the facts.
"Don't bother. Unless you've got the Scorpion King's heart, no antidote can save you from my Trinity Fragrance of Death. Even the foundation-builders who've tasted it has crossed over to the Other Shore."
Bubai almost rolled his eyes. Yeah, yeah, keep boasting.
Pretty sure a high-grade antidote would do the trick. If not, then earth-grade.
Of course, those were not sothing he had, but his dew wasn't that far off, if not better.
Even without that, it didn't matter. After all... there was no need.
Bubai gritted his teeth and pushed himself up from his knees.
He staggered and almost fell, but eventually planted his feet firmly.
Bubai wiped the black blood trickling from his lips and glared back at his foe with all the venom he could muster.
"Heh, what a load of nonsense. I feel totally fine."
Du Ge's ever-narrowed eyes seed to crease in amusent. "Sah… I wonder about that."
Bubai's face hardened. "If you don't believe …"
One hand took out the dented heavy sword and slamd it into the ground. Deng!
"Co try ! I can still fight ten more rounds!"
"Really?" Du Ge tilted his head. "But, I'm pretty sure there isn't even ten rounds left."
Cough. Er, right… there's five rounds at most.
Bubai didn't mind the small details and defiantly pointed his finger at his foe.
"It doesn't matter how many rounds there are! Just bring it on!"
"Sah… then co."
Du Ge slowly pulled out the last two knives from his waist belt, idly flipping them back and forth.
The two stared each other down. Tension humd like a live wire, yet neither budged.
Bubai cursed inside. This poisonous viper is too cautious!
So, Bubai's eyes beca fierce, and he took a step forward. Then another… and another...
The baby steps broke out into a light run, and the heavy sword dragged behind him like a shadow of impending doom…
Seeing the slowpoke with purplish-black lips stumbling over, Du Ge didn't even bother to move.
He just let his prey get closer and closer.
Of course, Du Ge wasn't so silly to really let a cornered beast get up close.
When the gap was just about right, the storm gathered in his palms and the knives shot out!
Twin vipers bulleted over!
Bubai's eyes bulged, and he swung his heavy sword with "all" his strength! "Yaaaah!"
Daaang! Both death shots were successfully knocked off course, but the rebound sent his sword flying out from his grip!
Yet, there was no ti to care because an unseen wind scythe was already whistling over to bisect him!
"Mooove!" Roaring, Bubai threw himself out of the way, barely letting death scrape by.
Clang! The weighty blade hit the ground behind and lost all its montum, toppling over and falling flat just like its owner.
Bubai struggled to push himself up. Pfff!
Another glob of black was coughed out.
Bubai tried brushing it off, but his other shaky hand gave in.
Bam. Face hit the ground.
He tried struggling up again, but this ti, his legs showed disobedience and even his arms acted like jelly.
Seeing this, the smile on Du Ge's face curled into sothing more grotesque.
"Sah… how does it feel? Like a thousand ants gnawing you all over? The more you exert yourself, the worse it gets. Fun, isn't it?"
Fun indeed. Classic predator behavior. Wear down the prey's defense, then go for the kill.
Heaving hard with a soaked face, Bubai hoarsely gasped out. "You've done... your testing. Isn't it... high ti... you forfeit?"
"Sah… who knows if it's enough. When all's said and done, I have yet to check what secrets you're hiding in… that pouch of yours."
Oh, no wonder. Seed this smiley face was eyeing his storage pouch.
Not too surprising that it's attractive.
Let's not even ntion the value of the high-grade pouch itself.
Just the eleven spirit stones recently added under public watch was enough to tempt most outer disciples to bet their lives!
Vice versa, most would bet their lives to keep this wealth.
Bubai protectively grabbed his pouch, growling back, "Then… hah... co get it… if you dare-"
Cough. Cough! Another bloody black rose blended right into the obsidian floor.
The fragrance of death grew, yet the twin embers glared back, refusing to die out.
Du Ge let the fierce glare breeze past.
"Sateh. It's ti for to claim what's rightfully mine and in return... let kindly bring an end to your suffering."
The executioner's hands vanished back into his sleeves and the soundless footsteps of the grim reaper approached.
The other shore was waiting. The underworld judges above watched with interest.
Who will get the last laugh in the end?
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