Chapter 52: Young Master Tang Jin
Xu Min was doing his utmost to avoid every single attack thrown at him, and Tang Jin was not letting up. Since the battle had started, he had not moved even once. Tang Jin would consistently create one creature after another from Qi and send them after Xu Min, who would use his sword time and time again to decapitate the beasts.
Sweat started to pour down Xu Min’s forehead. He knew t he couldn’t just keep on dodging. At some point, he would judge wrongly, make a mistake, and not be able to dodge the attack. Once he got hit from a four-star Warrior, he would be in a dire situation.
‘Leave it to me!’ Xu Min heard Cao Cao’s voice in the back of his mind, but he ignored it since his mind kept reeling with questions. “Which options did he have?” It wasn’t until now Xu Min realized that although he had a trained for a long time, he was dependent upon his sword too much. The only reason he was still standing was solely from the sword’s energy it devoured which resupplied his energy levels. Xu Min had long since used his energy, and the sword alone kept pushing him past his limits. However, no matter how much Xu Min tried, the physical attacks he tried to land on Tang Jin were easily deflected by a Qi armor that covered him.
Xu Min was not the only one growing frantic. Tang Jin felt his reserves were soon being used up from all the energy he kept pouring out. What frustrated him was Xu Min countered every attack. If a four-star Warrior, equal to him, countered his attacks he wouldn’t mind. He had just reached the four-star just recently, but the person in front of him was no four-star Warrior. He was only a two-star Warrior, which seemed to continually dodge his attacks, surviving by a hairs breath every single time.
Anger arose within Tang Jin, but he did not allow his feelings to control him. Instead, he lowered his hand and returned all the Qi which was floating in the air back into his body. Closing his eyes for a moment and having a Qi armor protecting his body, he made himself breathe slowly, made himself forget the humiliation he had experienced so far, which made his demeanor completely changed.
“How unlikeable,” Xu Min mumbled, realizing Tang Jin did not submit to his anger but instead calmed himself. ‘I agree, but if he is too much of a threat, just let me help out,’ Cao Cao’s voice sounded in Xu Min’s mind, but he replied just with smiling a little before shaking his head. This was the one fight he needed to win on his own. He could not afford to lose in front of the Yong family.
Stopping, Xu Min and Tang Jin stood in front of each other. Their eyes were caught in a dead-lock. Xu Min took a deep breath. There was one thing he could do. With a determined expression on his face, Xu Min took a stance, moved one foot and lifted one arm.
Shocked voices could be heard from the audience as they saw that Xu Min was capable of doing stances. Most external experts had not been giving any time for learning stances as they fully focused on using Qi as a supporter for their physical strength. However, here he was Xu Min, a young genius, who seemed capable of doing both internal and external attacks.
“How strong can the stance of an external expert really be?” Tang Jin mocked in his heart before looking at Xu Min whose face was serious and his eyes constantly watched the older man.
Behind Xu Min Qi suddenly started to leave his body and materialize into many arrowheads. They seemed to be made from jade although everyone knew they were created from Xu Min’s Qi.
The Qi that had left his body gathered behind him. The shining jade arrowheads looked like a massive starry sky. The sharp tips of the arrowheads seemed dangerous, and even Tang Jin felt a shiver run down his spine. He once more summoned his Qi shield to protect him.
Although he saw Tang Jin’s shield in front of him, Xu Min lowered his hand, following Xu Min’s gesture the arrowheads shot forward towards Tang Jin. Seeing the arrowheads speeding towards him, a grin appeared on Tang Jin’s face. Though there was a lot of arrowheads, his shield was big enough to protect Tang Jin’s entire body. How could Xu Min believe that his two star Qi attack was able to defeat a four star expert in direct confrontation?
A snicker appeared on Tang Jin’s face as the arrowheads headed towards him. Just before they came into contact with Tang Jin’s shield, Xu Min clenched his fist and the many thousand arrowheads scattered in every direction. Some of them landed on the shield and loud ‘dong’ sounds appeared in rapid succession as many of the arrows still crashed into the shield.
No cracks could be seen in the shield even though it sounded like they severely damaged it. Clearly, the shield was easily strong enough to handle the arrowheads. The other half of these thousands of arrowheads were not hitting the shield. Instead, they evaded it before they once more focused onto Tang Jin. The young master felt frantic, seeing these sharp arrowheads heading for his body. Lifting up the shield, he managed to protect his head. Nevertheless, the arrowheads sharply embedded themselves into the lower body of the young master Tang Jin.
Blood started flowing, and the entire arena was completely still. Although the wounds were not incredibly serious, they had drawn blood. The first person in the battle to draw blood was Xu Min, the two-star Warrior, and not Tang Jin, the one person whom they assumed would cripple Xu Min within a few attacks.
The angered Tang Jin once more had to collect himself. He was so angered that he felt his veins throbbing in his forehead. He knew if let the anger control him, he would likely be defeated. This loss was something he could not afford. Thus, he forcefully calmed himself down once more before he snorted. The wounds stung but they were not deep, nor were they threatening. Channeling his Qi to the wound, he quickly managed to close the wounds up and took a stance.
This stance was nothing like the previous ones. Tang Jin was finally taking Xu Min seriously, and the attack he summoned was a massive spear created from Qi. The spear appeared as real as could be, and while one looked at the edge, one could easily guess how incredibly sharp it was.
The surrounding atmosphere became unusual. Shockwaves from the energy’s ripples could be felt exuding from the spear. Xu Min knew this was the moment he had waited for. Now, he would fight Tang Jin with everything he had.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Xu Min did not unsheathe his sword; instead, he too took a stance and lifted his arm. Qi poured out from his body and created a massive palm above his head, a palm which seemed as real as Tang Jin’s spear in front of him. Looking at these two experts, it was easy to understand that both attacks were incredibly outstanding. However, no one could forget that one of the experts was a four-star Warrior while the other was a two-star Warrior. There was a great difference in strength between them. Nevertheless, Xu Min was not backing down.
The spear shot forward as the palm descended. A loud boom resounded in the arena and dust whirled from the ground, masking everything which just occurred. The experts sitting down were all astonished to see the colliding attack. Unfortunately, the dust made it impossible for them to see the result of this impact.
With the dust disappearing, everyone was shocked to notice that both experts were still standing on the stage. Xu Min had a slight trail of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. This was the first time Yong Meilin appeared worried. The expression quickly returned to being confident However, quite a few noticed the brief change in her expression and secretly felt happy.
Eliminating Xu Min became the earnest wish of many families present. Some families who were not supportive of the Tang family, but the Yong family, amongst these were the Guo family, the Xiao, the Han and Han and the Shiu families, were also somewhat uncertain in where their allegiance laid. Seeing this two-star Warrior expert standing up against a four-star Warrior was refreshing, they found themselves hoping Xu Min would prevail – albeit, they knew it was unthinkable.
Xu Min wiped the corner of his mouth as he unsheathed the sword on his back, ‘Let me, let me, let me, let me!’ Cao Cao repeatedly whined, but the young man kept ignoring the snake. Although Cao Cao wanted to attack, he knew Xu Min would not forgive him if he jumped in without being allowed to do so. Thus, the snake stayed behind, doing nothing, even if it meant Xu Min was in severe danger.
“Let us see how this works then,” Xu Min mumbled. He twirled the massive sword in his hands before getting ready to meet the spear once more.
The palm attack done earlier had managed to push the spear away from Xu Min, but it did not manage to destroy it. Rather, the palm shattered the moment it successfully managed to push the spear away.
Tang Jin did not wait to let Xu Min calm down. He instantly shot the spear forward once more. Avoiding the spear by sidestepping, Xu Min swung down the sword. With a loud boom, the sword cut the spear in half. A shockwave appeared from the impact. Both Xu Min and Tang Jin were shot backward like a kite with a broken string. They landed heavily against the arena walls, coughing up blood.
Standing up, Xu Min felt wobbly. The world around him started to spin; he bit his lip hard enough, so the pain would sharpen his senses. Tang Jin was in a slightly better state but not much. His head had banged straight into the arena wall, and blood had started dripping from the back of his head. His eyes were filled with anger, and his body was jolting as he tried to force himself to calm down.
Tang Jin’s strength was not something to trifle with. Now that he was on the edge of letting go of his anger, Xu Min could not help but smirk. If Tang Jin did let go of his anger, he was likely to win. Nonetheless, this lowly two-star Warrior did cause him to bleed twice. This was an undeniable humiliation the entire city’s upper class had witnessed. Even if he had tempered his mind, he knew he could not afford to let anger control him. But, he had a hard time accepting the humiliation he had undergone today.
“You disgusting little shit, I am going to trample you! I am going to make you wish you were dead!” Tang Jin finally howled before rushing forward. He was not taking a stance; instead, his Qi flowed around him. He wished to crush Xu Min with his Qi alone. Smiling sweetly, Xu Min did not move. He had been waiting for this exact moment.