Xue Wei was incredibly calm. He could feel the vibrations in his body when his inner Qi dragons roared, ready to be unleashed at any moment.
Looking at the opponent, Xue Wei behaved casually and even gave a little smile to him. But that smile was short-lived. Xue Wei’s blood started boiling when the sensation of a life-and-death battle set in on him, which caused his smile to turn slightly malicious.
"Well, let this daddy show you all the might of the youngest of the Tiger Triplets!" the challenger called out. The corner of Xue Wei's lips twitched slightly. Tiger Triplets? What kind of name was this?
This daddy guy was very self-assured, but Xue Wei had the impression that he was pretending to be a sheep when he was in fact a wolf.
Xue Wei waited patiently. He had already decided to not use his transformation unless he was brought to the brink of destruction. He would only use it as a last resort. Even if his opponent beat him black and blue, he would not allow the transformation to come out.
This was his personal decision. His decisiveness was so extreme that, despite allowing himself to use it as a last resort, he was likely to hold himself back even if it killed him.
Standing opposite of him was the man who called himself daddy all the time. He was extravagantly dressed and his face had a small smile hung on the corner of his lips. The man waved his hand, withdrawing a machete from his storage ring.
Xue Wei had not brought Bai Tianyi with him. Even if he had, he would not be able to use the sword spirit as his sword anymore because Bai Tianyi had gained a soul body that had completely transformed him. He no longer looked like a sword but a person, so having him enter the cage with Xue Wei would probably be deemed cheating.
Since he could not use Bai Tianyi, his only option was to rely on Inner Might and transform his Qi into a sword or some other kind of weapon.
Xue Wei was actually at a disadvantage. He had decided to not use his transformation, and Bai Tianyi was not there to support him either.
It had been a long time since he had fought on his own, all by himself, with so many restrictions, but he felt that he had to challenge himself if he wanted to improve his strength.
Right now, he had a physical body stronger than the fifth layer of the Heavenly Warrior realm, and his Qi was also much purer than most experts at his level.
He had superior and profound grade martial arts techniques. These were the cream of the crop back in the backwater kingdoms, and even here they were quite extraordinary. The experts that came to the cave cage battles were usually those without any special background hoping to earn money or resources.
These experts might have had some lucky chances or used some of their wealth to purchase profound martial arts, but it was not likely that they had as much diversity in skills as Xue Wei had.
Xue Wei was aware of this. His skills, his physical strength, and the purity of his Qi were all above average. When taking all of this into account, he should be capable of easily defeating anyone at his own rank, but he still felt a faint sense of danger coming from the Tiger Triplet Daddy guy in front of him.
"Begin!" While Xue Wei was thinking, the voice of the clerk sounded out and then his focus was back on the Tiger Triplet Daddy in front of him. Contrary to the last match between Lu Yuping and Jia Lu, where they began fighting at the moment the fight began, neither Xue Wei nor the Tiger Triplet Daddy moved. Both of them were extremely tense as they observed one another.
Eyes narrowed, the first to move was Xue Wei, who stretched out his hand and created a sword of Qi.
Tiger Triplet Daddy’s machete gleamed in the dim light that illuminated the cage. No rust could be seen on the weapon; it was clear that it had been properly maintained.
Tiger Triplet Daddy had finally stopped talking. He looked at Xue Wei solemnly. He was clearly aware that Xue Wei had not fallen for his trick of trying to lure him into quickly attacking him so that he could quickly end it with a harsh counter.
Xue Wei had never been in a battle like this before. So far he had been in battles where he was up against a large number of people each time, often where they were much weaker than him. The one time Xue Wei had fought stronger experts, he had not been alone but been supported by Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou.
These experts in the cage battles might not be the ones with the purest Qi. They might not even be the ones with the strongest bodies, but their survival instinct was much more profound than someone like Xue Wei.
Xue Wei had fought many battles, but never had he actually experienced a fight of equals. This was also why Xue Wei had signed up for this. He wanted to test his own abilities.
So far he had always been looked down upon by his opponents, or he had been against desperate people. Here, he was the underdog. This time, he was the one who had to prove himself.
Taking a deep breath, Xue Wei activated Forbidden Rush. With a series of afterimages, Xue Wei advanced like a line of light towards Tiger Triplet Daddy.
He lifted the Qi sword in his hands and got ready to slash down. However, Tiger Triplet Daddy withdrew slightly, causing the attack to narrowly pass by him.
The moment Xue Wei moved past him, the machete came slicing down towards his head. Qi poured out of Xue Wei, solidifying into a transparent shield of Qi he had created with Inner Might above his head.
A massive boom resounded and both Xue Wei and Daddy were thrown backward. However, because of Xue Wei's awkward position, he was thrown further back than Tiger Triplet Daddy.
Xue Wei's first step caused the floor underneath him within the cage to shatter, sending stones and debris flying in every direction, but the force pushing him back dwindled drastically after his third step.
From this collision one could see that they were not using any probing attacks. Every move was made to kill.
Once again, both Xue Wei and Tiger Triplet Daddy looked at one another with narrowed eyes, hesitating to move. From the last encounter, both of them had learned something about their opponent.
Tiger Triplet Daddy had an outstanding ability to sense danger and reacted prudently to this sudden sense of danger. He was a quick thinker and could get the best results with the least effort.
The way he carried himself in battle inspired Xue Wei. Although Xue Wei felt that he himself was very skillful at avoiding attacks and moved fast, he had never considered efficiency of movement to save energy. He always used Forbidden Rush at its full power every time.
Although he had done all in his power not to look down on Tiger Triplet Daddy, he could not help but feel more solemn now than he had just moments ago.
It was clear that Tiger Triplet Daddy had quite a lot of experience in fighting. He could be a perfect grinding stone for Xue Wei to become a better fighter and a person who had strong survivabilities.
However, at this point, he understood that, if he was not careful, he might very well end up as the fat sheep they had all perceived him as to begin with.
Gripping the Qi sword in his hand, Xue Wei started pacing towards Tiger Triplet Daddy again. This time, it was a steady pace. It was clear that Tiger Triplet Daddy’s senses were almost otherworldly, allowing him to sense even the slightest danger, so using Forbidden Rush was not necessarily a good thing. If he was not careful, he would have the tables turned on him, leaving his back wide open.
So if he could not rely on speed, he could use strength. He had complete and utter faith in his strength. If he could just get one attack in, he could turn the tides.
Tiger Triplet Daddy stayed still. He held the machete in his hand, gripping the handle tightly, and waited for Xue Wei to get within range before engaging.
Xue Wei had not used all his strength in their previous exchange; he had used quite a bit, but not all of it. However, things were different this time around. Xue Wei went directly for his opponent head on, intending to bulldozer him down. The closer he came, the more momentum he picked up.
Every step caused tremors to run through the ground, his steps containing so much power that Tiger Triplet Daddy’s eyes widened with shock.
He understood that this fat sheep was not quite like other fat sheep. In fact, he started to fear that Xue Wei was a wolf in sheep's clothes.
Still, he did not panic and quickly calmed down. He raised the machete overhead and took a stance, ready to meet the attack that would be coming.
Xue Wei snickered. He had been underestimated. The pace picked up and soon he was right next to Tiger Triplet Daddy. The Qi sword came slashing down, filled with hundreds of Qi dragons that roared like a pack of proud lions.
As the machete met the Qi sword, Tiger Triplet Daddy was forced back so far that he slammed into the cage wall. blood was coughed out from his mouth, but he did not die from the concussive impact, causing Xue Wei to raise an eyebrow in surprise.
This attack had contained his full strength, but it was still not enough to deal with the Tiger Triplet Daddy in one go. It seemed that this battle would become much more interesting and also much more challenging than he expected.
The more Xue Wei felt his bloodlust raise, the more he felt his blood boil, and the more the smile on his face grew. There was a ruthless air about him, ruthless to himself and to others.
Xue Wei knew that his body had tremendous healing ability, so he went for the most brutal and straightforward way to fight. Seeing that he had already pushed Tiger Triplet Daddy back to the cage wall, he followed closely and sent out another slash.
This second slash did not have the same momentum as the first, but Tiger Triplet Daddy did not have the same amount of time to prepare for the attack, so he could only dodge to the side, causing him to get a deep cut in his shoulder. However, he kept his arm and managed to stay alive.
Xue Wei smiled ruthlessly. He was enjoying this, felt his blood boil, and he felt the thrill of the hunt. But that did not mean he was not using every last shred of focus in this fight. One mistake and he would end up being the one severely injured or even dead.
This kind of stimulus was new to Xue Wei. He had never before experienced this thrilling feeling of hunting someone down. Although he had killed numerous humans and a few beasts already, he had never felt this excited in a battle. He was walking on the edge of the sword; one wrong move and his life would be forfeit.
Arcane Fist!
Xue Wei's Qi sword vanished. In lieu of a weapon, he sent out a fist attack. Thousands of illusive fist imprints were emitted when he used Arcane Fist. When they landed on Tiger Triplet Daddy’s body, the damage done to it made him gnash his teeth angrily. He had done everything to avoid them, but he had not been able to fully avoid all the fist imprints of Qi.
He suddenly sensed how the foreign Qi entered into his body. Like thousands of small dragons, they penetrated his meridians and clashed with his own Qi strands, devouring them and draining him for energy.