Before the battle began, Xue Wei considered his options. First of all, he could choose to use Mind Infestation and take over the fatty’s mind, finishing the battle with a clean suicide or at least confusing him enough to easily execute him. However, this method was incredibly boring.
Secondly, he could use his beast transformation, but doing so was the same as him admitting to being a beast.
Lastly, he could fight with his other abilities, which would be the many martial art techniques he had gotten from the heritage ring and along the way. This would be the most interesting way to fight. A way to be equal to his opponent and a way to test himself while truly enjoying the battle in the best way possible.
The truth was that Xue Wei had a clear advantage. If he wanted to, he could kill his opponent instantly with either Mind Infestation or pure power from his transformation, but there was no fun in doing that to him.
The real reason he had come here was to feel his blood boil again, to feel alive. Nothing could beat the intoxicating feeling he got whenever he was battling in these underground cage battles.
Even before the battle had begun, Xue Wei was smiling. The smile on his face was sinister and cold, and his eyes gleamed dangerously with a dark light that promised great suffering for the opponent.
He knew nothing about the opponent in front of him, but he did understand that he was a slight threat to him – his senses told him as much, but this only served to make his blood burn more intensely.
The fat man facing Xue Wei glanced at him with eyes that resembled a pig’s. He did not laugh out loud or in any way seem to be aggressive; in fact, he was incredibly quiet and humble. It was clear that he was serious about the coming battle.
Xue Wei cracked his neck and observed the man. He was clearly not an expert in speed. It would be incredible if he could move fast with that body of his, so that could not be his forte, but what was it then?
Could it be that he specialized in defense? It seemed likely, but just the thought alone made Xue Wei feel excitement. The uncertainty, the fact that he had to learn this person’s battle style on the go excited him. The thought of killing him thrilled him even more.
"Battle start," the bookie announced, signalling to begin the battle.
Xue Wei closed his eyes for a brief moment and calmed his wildly beating heart.
When his eyes opened again, a shine that had not been there before could be seen. His eyes were sharp and focused. His muscles pulsed with varying degrees of tension as though he was priming them, and he slowly cracked his wrist a few times before he balled his hands up into fists.
Xue Wei exhaled a deep breath. It was as if he could sense the calm before the storm. Although his heart was beating like mad and the killing intent was driving him insane, telling him to start the battle right away, he felt extremely calm and collected at the moment.
The contradicting feelings of violence and calmness had a strange way of engraving themselves into Xue Wei's inner being. Although he was bloodthirsty and eager to start the battle, he had not lost his head in the moment.
Neither the opponent nor Xue Wei moved. Both observed one another; one was casual and had a malicious smile on his face, the other was alert and careful with furrowed brows.
The first to make a move ended up being Xue Wei. After observing his foe for some time, he had noticed that the opponent had no intention whatsoever of moving. The fat man was like a mountain, rooted on the ground, waiting for Xue Wei to deliver himself in front of him. Xue Wei did not disappoint.
Forbidden Rush!
Xue Wei vanished from the spot where he stood, moving so fast that only those of a higher rank could track his movements.
His opponent's eyes widened; a slight fear rose in his heart, but he quickly quelled it. He was not willing to give up, as giving up meant losing his life.
Taking in a deep breath, the man steeled himself for the impact he knew could come at any moment. Qi started cloaking his entire body, laying itself like a layer of extra skin.
This layer of Qi seemed almost useless, but Xue Wei's eyes narrowed when he saw it. It was clear that this thin layer of Qi was unlike any shield he had ever seen before.
Still, he was not going to stand back and cease fire. If he stopped the attack now, the chances were likely that he would fall into an unfortunate position.
Shattering Mountain Palm!
Xue Wei shot forward like a shooting star, his momentum carrying with it a strong sense of power as the palm descended.
Just as the palm landed on the chest of the opponent, Xue Wei felt a tremor run through his arm. The outcome of his attack this time was different from anything he had experienced before. Some of the power from it had actually been rebounded straight back to Xue Wei. Although he had an overwhelming amount of physical strength, he still very much felt the shock, which left his hand numb with pain.
Retreating faster than he advanced, Xue Wei was at first stunned, but then a maddened smile spread on his lips.
"Fun!" he exclaimed while starting to laugh. "This is fun!" The audience outside the cage had become as silent as an empty graveyard. Many of them knew of Xue Wei’s opponent and his ability to return damage to the one who had sent it out, so they were not shocked about that, but where they would usually see someone with a terrified expression after going through that, Xui Wei’s maddened excitement was so different and so scary that it sent a chill down their spines.
Not only the audience, but the opponent was also terrified. Although he had managed to return some of the damage and mitigate a lot of the remainder with his stocky body, the palm attack had set a deep, lingering fear into his heart.
He had never seen someone so excited to face him. It was clear that Xue Wei was enjoying the battle. He could clearly see that Xue Wei was the type to sink into the depths of carnal thrill from hunting and killing, especially so considering the latter’s killing intent had now begun leaking from his body.
His killing intent was so dense that everyone felt the temperature around the cage drop a few degrees. It was clear that it was getting colder, but the cold was not the only thing that came with the killing intent.
The killing intent also made their bodies tremble uncontrollably. The legs of the weaker experts among the audience started buckling, and their vision turned hazy and blackened. The ones at Xue Wei's level of strength felt their bodies tingle and become sluggish. Those stronger felt a slight electrical current enter their bodies.
The people who watched this battle were filled with shock. Such a dense killing intent… how had he gained it? It was clear that one had to have walked out from a mountain of corpses to achieve something like that, but this man seemed so young.
Xue Wei was like a wild beast. Usually, the Fierce Beasts would make a lot of noise in their pens, roaring and screeching, and the other experts currently fighting in their cages would yell and shout, but right now the entire underground realm had gone silent and the other fighters had halted their matches.
Every person, man or beast, converged around the cage Xue Wei was battling in. No one spoke, and everyone watched with bated breath.
"I thought that the fatty would be the winner, but with such killing intent, I think it is quite obvious who will win," someone finally muttered. Those that heard the statement could not help but nod their heads.
Everyone had reached this conclusion, including Xue Wei’s opponent himself. His face was pale and sweat was beading on his brows. They had only exchanged one attack so far, but that one attack had truly awakened a sleeping dragon.
"Let us try this again!" Xue Wei laughed out loud. His eyes turned slightly red as he stomped on the ground and charged at his opponent with Forbidden Rush.
Kick of the Forgotten Kings!
Xue Wei had already used one attack, so now it was time for another. His leg had been covered with scales inside his boot and his nails became claws, but the transformation was subtle enough to not tear through the boot itself.
The kick was strong. Flame-like Qi was emitted from his leg as it drew an arc through the air toward his opponent, shooting out like a flying flood dragon.
A crunching sound could be heard when the leg came into contact with the layer of Qi that covered the fat man.
When they came into contact, it was as if time had stopped; neither moved, and cracks appeared on the ground beneath the opponent. Soon afterwards, however, both men shot backward, one a bit more graceful than the other.
Xue Wei retreated five steps, the smile never once disappearing from his face. When he finally came to a stop, he stomped his foot on the ground a few times to make the tingling and numb sensation go away.
Even after he protected his leg with scales, the reflected damage still made it feel numb.
The opponent was much worse off though. He had been blown backward like a football, and his entire body was trembling. Blood was trickling out of the corner of his lips.
"Don't give up already!" Xue Wei said with roaring laughter before he rushed at his opponent again. "I am not satisfied yet!"
The fat man was terrified, and he was unaware of what he should do.
He did not know how to escape from Xue Wei. He knew that he would not be able to get away even if he tried, and his defense which had always been like an unbreakable iron wall was now useless.
Xue Wei was very much a madman. He was completely drunk on the fight, but he had, all things considered, actually not lost his rationality.
This was indeed the most dangerous kind of person and situation to face for anyone. Facing a person who was both maddened and at the same time rational was too scary.
The opponent eventually lost his will to fight back. He simply gave up. He stopped protecting himself with Qi and gave up on running away.
His eyes were listless, and his body quickly became riddled with wounds. But Xue Wei was unhappy. The listless and defeated expression on the fat man’s face was enough to awaken Xue Wei from his engrossed state of mind, which upset him so much that he ended up just cutting off his opponent’s head, ending the fight in an overwhelming fashion. Unfortunately, his mood did not improve afterwards.