Star Gate

Chapter 207: Duel (III)

In this moment, the battle seemed to be Sun Moxian’s alone. His staff broke through the air with unparalleled ferociousness; the hum from Li Hao’s sword was nearly imperceptible. The latter moved like a shadow, swiftly drawing near and swiftly backing away.

Li Hao immediately retreated when his weapon didn’t connect with the enemy. Such was the Ghost Shadow Sword, as if an assassin.

The two sides became entangled with each other once more. The staff swung again and again, blurring into such motion that not even a droplet of water could get past it. It ensured that Li Hao’s sword couldn’t penetrate its defenses.

Sun Moxian abruptly roared and split the ground open. The four sides around the clearing caved in, revealing Li Hao’s figure. The staff instantly honed in on him and shot straight at his head. The aura of the earth had been deployed to great effect, fissuring the four sides around the clearing without anyone knowing. The aftershocks made Li Hao lose his footing and exposed his whereabouts.

“Kill!!” Sun Moxian roared. His staff seemed to split the air as rocks flew apart before the weapon even touched them. Danger was upon Li Hao!

He didn't expect his opponent to fracture the earth; Sun Moxian’s aura was also stronger than he anticipated. Both his feet were off the ground—the situation was hard to endure and the descending staff even more terrifying. Li Hao still didn’t use the aura of the earth—he might not have time to deploy it even if he did.

In that case...

A ray of sword light exploded forth. A second and third followed in the blink of an eye...

The Nine Forged Force!

He instantly completed a switch of breathing methods. The more critical the moment, the more composed he was. He activated another secret art at this dire juncture!

“Break!” Li Hao slashed forward with six rays of sword light interlaid over each other. The longsword flashed out!

Rumble!

A violent collision sounded instead of crisp contact. The staff slammed down on Li Hao; he landed solidly on his feet. Although his feet sank into the ground, he erupted with just as much strength as before. He mercilessly pushed off and put full force behind a return stroke. The longsword followed the staff’s momentum in a domineering slash!

It was fast!

So fast!

The look in Sun Moxian’s eyes altered slightly. This was incredible strength! He shifted the staff with his right hand. Otherwise, the sword stroke would cut off all of his fingers.

Li Hao grabbed the staff the second it moved, thrusting forward in a violent fashion. It thumped into Sun Moxian’s chest—the young man’s rib cage broke and he spewed out a mouthful of blood!

The liquid arced toward Li Hao, who exhaled a mouthful of sword qi!

BOOM!

Blood and gas exploded in the air; bedazzled onlookers held their breaths. Everyone understood that the two were deploying moves and reacting extremely quickly. The slightest misstep would result in one of their deaths, particularly Li Hao! The two had suddenly exploded in the air...

Only Liu Long and the others knew how perilous the fight was. The nervous team captain wiped off sweat from his forehead. That had been too fast. If Li Hao had been unable to instantaneously switch breathing methods, he wouldn’t have been able to layer his force six times and withstand that blow!

“Nice going, kid!” Liu Long watched with amazement. Li Hao had reached six layers of the Nine Forged Force! And the key thing was, the young man completed a switch in methods during battle. How composed did he have to be for that?

Logically speaking, it was a feasible action. But it required absolute calm. Was the kid born for martial dao? Who could retain such composure in a fight to the death? The staff would smash him into oblivion at the slightest slip-up. Wasn’t he afraid?

......

Within the arena, Li Hao instantly reversed the battle situation with the Nine Forged Force, injuring Sun Moxian with his staff instead. The two immediately clashed again. Even though Sun Moxian was the only employing aura, Li Hao still wasn’t suppressed. It was thus apparent how strong he was.

His strengthened organs and physique, the Nine Forged Force, and various secret arts leveled the playing field. His body could withstand too much!

Even Sun Yifei had to frown in the distance. Under normal circumstances, the opponent would suffer internal bleeding if they caught Sun Moxian’s blow. Their organs might shatter as he was deploying his aura, but Yuan Shuo’s final disciple had strengthened his beyond imagination!

He was fine! This shouldn’t be the case!

He looked at Yuan Shuo, who happened to be smirking back at him.

“So what about the aura?” the professor’s lips vibrated. “The Breathing Method of the Five Styles is unparalleled beneath the heavens! How do martial masters have any weaknesses? Their organs are still a major strength!”

Sun Yifei did not respond; he looked back at the arena and lost a degree of confidence in his disciple. Although Li Hao did not seem to have his own aura and looked to be comprehending the one of the sword, the combination of the Nine Forged Force, Ghost Shadow Sword, Five Styles, and powerful internal organs meant that his disciple didn’t command any advantage against Li Hao.

He’d thought that was all there was to Li Hao when the two went through their opening moves. It looked like Sun Yifei had rather underestimated Yuan Shuo and his disciple.

......

Inside the clearing.

Flesh and blood flew everywhere as Li Hao and Sun Moxian pummeled each other with punches and kicks. When Li Hao took a step back, Sun Moxian also took a few steps back. The two were equally solemn.

Li Hao still bled from his head whereas Sun Moxian’s wounds had run dry. The latter tightened his grip on the blood-stained staff. Li Hao yanked out the longsword that he’d stuck in the ground and charged with a loud laugh!

This wasn’t enough pressure!

The stroke from that day resurfaced in his mind. Attack! Sever the self! Kill the enemy!

Sun Moxian’s face twitched and he roared, bringing his staff down in a dozen swings. Bam bam bam bam...

Both weapons were precious treasures. With how Li Hao was using the sword, the staff splintered and the sword cracked from the stress. A loud explosion sounded as both exploded into fragments, shooting in all directions!

......

In the distance.

A grave Wang Ming’s eyes widened when he saw a fragment from the sword launch at him. He reached forward, wanting to catch it, but suddenly looked startled and manifested a pair of golden gloves around his hands. They were made of his metal energy.

Screech!

An ear-piercing sound assaulted the ears as the longsword fragment and a bit of sword qi sliced through the gloves. Drip drip drip... blood flowed from Wang Ming’s hands. Gone was his usual joking banter—only a weighty solemnity was in its place.

I am a Sunflare!

These were just fragments from the two’s ruined weapons. His mysterious power defenses were cut through when he tried to stop it. It continued through to injure his hand and nearly slice through that as well!

The pain didn’t register. Lost in thought, Wang Ming stared at the cut that ran to his bone.

Powerhouses around the perimeter also tried to stop the fragments, as did a few supernaturals wish to pit themselves against martial master might. A Darkmoon emanating fiery sparks from his hands wanted to burn a fragment away, but it drilled through his power like it didn’t exist and blasted his head apart!

Silence!

Deathly silence!

The two in the clearing were just Sunderers, the equivalent of Darkmoon. All Darkmoons in the audience quieted down; some Sunflares regarded the duel with incredible gravity. They no longer disparaged the fight in any way.

This was what it meant to be a Sunderer?

Was this what martial masters truly were?

......

“Idiot!” Hong Yitang cursed lowly. Even initial Sunflares might die if the dueling disciples attacked together! Both were Sunderers—one had comprehended the aura and the other was nearly on the same level. That blow had been the equivalent of two martial masters in command of the aura shattering each other’s weapons with full strength.

How dare Darkmoons attempt to catch the fallout?? Who would die, if not that idiot?

Supernaturals of small organizations were ignorant, alright! Did they think they could look down on martial masters just because they were larger than life? How had they not learned their lesson when Yuan Shuo and Sun Yifei acted earlier?

......

Attention refocused on the center of the clearing. The longsword had shattered and the staff snapped into splinters. Wounds crisscrossed the two combatants—a byproduct of each other’s internal force.

Sun Moxian heaved for breath, his panting clearly audible. He flung his right hand at Li Hao, the aura of the earth enveloping his fist. Punch after punch resounded, sending his opponent back again and again.

Still operating the Nine Forged Force, Li Hao didn’t have a chance to switch to the Five Styles. He could only take the blows head-on. Regardless of how strong his organs were, blood began bubbling at the corners of his mouth from the relentless barrage.

This was what was meant to be a martial master! Blow after blow of gore and violence!

Fatigue didn’t seem to touch Sun Moxian’s battle craze. He alternated between hands as he continued punching, wanting to hold down his opponent until he beat the other to death!

Fist collided with fist, hand with elbow, and feet against feet. Their pant legs had long been shredded by the fight, revealing bloody legs.

It took quite a toll on Sun Moxian to overwhelmingly suppress his opponent in this manner. His own organs weren’t strong enough and the recoil almost too much to bear. Some of them were giving out and bleeding internally. But he didn’t give up, retreat, or stand down. It was the best time to go for the kill when his opponent faltered!

Li Hao was stronger than anticipated, but that was a source of excitement. Killing Li Hao was his goal! That would disrupt Yuan Shuo’s mindset and might help the next duel to come.

The same thoughts ran through Li Hao’s mind. In Silver Moon’s martial world, the disciples fought first. Whichever side won saw a boost in momentum and hammered at enemy morale. Victory between evenly matched powerhouses was often determined by whoever’s disciple won the earlier fights.

Killing the other side’s representatives first was frequently the key to triumph. It was Liu Long who once mentioned this, not Yuan Shuo.

Although Li Hao was doggedly receiving a beating in the face of a heavy offensive, the look in his eyes was clear! His teacher had said that all aspects of battle and techniques were preparations for the final move. Everything was preliminary work to killing the enemy. Thus, this was only part of the process.

When Sun Moxian pulled back for another punch, Li Hao abruptly roared and spat out white mist that was as if sword light!

Sun Moxian subconsciously followed through his action, breaking the sword light apart. That, however, wasn’t Li Hao’s final move. He raised his right hand with a grin, baring teeth through bloody spittle. The Nine Forged Force erupted once more!

Internal force layered over his right hand as he thought back to that stroke. He fashioned his internal force into a sword, splitting his hand as force shot out of it.

In the distance, Sun Yifei’s expression changed drastically.

“For...” He wanted to call out forfeit—something about this felt different!