Chapter 229: One Move
Among York's sword skills, Mad-monster Hacking was his most powerful move.
The refinement technique he practiced had some attributes of wind, since his martial arts emphasized being quick, hard and violent.
As he wielded his machete in preparation to hack Zen, whirlpools appeared before his black-blue antique machete. A sharp coldness could be felt from the consequently formed spinning currents.
The intents of blade, sword, and spear
were extremely difficult to grasp.
For even just coming to understand a bit of blade intent, York was already an amazing warrior. No matter what martial arts move he used, the blade intent greatly multiplied its power.
The only problem was that York was incapable of covering the whole machete with the blade intent, so he could only apply a little blade intent to the revolving aura on the blade before trying to hack Zen.
Given the situation, York actually felt that his use of the blade intent was enough to beat or even kill the man.
“How can you resist this?” murmured York with narrowed eyes.
A cold smile appeared on his face as he rushed towards Zen with the Mad-monster Hacking technique.
As his opponent dashed towards him, Zen squinted at the machete in the other's hands.
He could feel the blade intent flowing through the black-blue antique machete.
Be that as it might, the blade intent wasn't enough to hurt or even threaten Zen.
It hadn't been long since Zen started to feel and create the sword intent himself--he was already capable of using the intent at will. It would cover more than three square meters surrounding his body and if anybody attempted to enter his circle of defense, he could easily snap his fingers and they would be torn to pieces.
The blade intent, which York was so proud of, was nothing to Zen.
Before York's hacking technique could even reach Zen's body, Zen's eyes began to glow. His sword intent suddenly formed and immediately smashed York's blade intent to bits.
Because the real strength and power of Mad-monster Hacking lay in the blade intent, once it was destroyed, he was basically harmless to Zen.
“What the heck?”
Zen's counterattack left York shocked and paralyzed.
The blade intent which he had taken a great amount of his effort and time in mastering disappeared in the blink of an eye.
'Impossible!'
The blade intent was formless and his understanding of its nature was profound and unforgettable.
It was indestructible unless Zen had created his own intent, be it sword intent, spear intent or others.
'Has he come to understand some kind of intent on his own?' Doubts began filling York's mind.
The lack of refinement in his attack made York let his guard down. Zen's counterattack was so swift and he withdrew it even more quickly, leaving York clueless as to why his blade intent disappeared.
Due to the doubts in his heart, his Mad-Monster Hacking technique began to sway unsteadily.
A capable warrior should have a strong heart and mind no matter what was thrown in his path. If he was swayed and began to doubt himself, he would find himself losing the fight.
Anyhow, Zen was already certain that York was no longer a threat after losing his blade intent.
Bang!
When Zen pounded at the blade of the black-blue machete and applied great power on it, York could no longer hold his weapon, causing him to back up quickly. Moments later, he freed himself from Zen and stood there, panting heavily.
Although he was well capable of finishing York off quickly, Zen didn't intend to defeat his opponent in a single move. Instead, he smiled at York and said, “You'll fail. You know that, don't you?”
"Fail?
Are you kidding me? My technique didn't work well today, that's all. Don't get cocky. I'll show you my real strength," York replied with heavy breaths, sounding rather desperate. Lifting his machete to wield it again, York intended to start another attack. All the while, he thought he failed due to his insufficient understanding of the blade intent. The idea that Zen was merely able to smash his blade intent didn't even occur to him.
“Ha! You have poor memory,” Zen laughed with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Poor memory?” asked York, puzzled. "Didn't you tell me you would lose if you couldn't beat me in three moves?
You seemed so confident about that. Where's that confidence now, huh?" Zen chuckled as he taunted York.
His words made York take a nervous gulp.
After hearing Zen's remarks, York seemed rather embarrassed.
Because he underestimated Zen's ability to resist the Mad-Monster Hacking technique, York boasted of his skills in martial arts, certain that he could defeat the disciple of Drizzle Peak easily. However, things didn't go as well as he thought they would.
When he tried to use the third move of his technique, York realized that his blade intent suddenly disappeared. If he intended to keep his previous promise, it would mean that he had already lost.
However, he was standing where he was for the All Peaks Competition, not for a personal fight. If he lost the fight, he would lose any chance to compete with the other participants. It was too shameful for someone like York, so he refused to admit defeat or leave the arena.
On the other hand, though, he would be considered a promise-breaker if he refused to give up.
“York, you've already used up your three moves. Give up and leave the arena,” a scornful voice came from a man in the audience.
“Shame on you! How could you break your promise? Admit your defeat, loser!”
Previously, the disciples of Sea Peak never missed the opportunity to laugh at those from Drizzle Peak. Now, it was Drizzle Peak's disciples' turn to fight back and mock York.
With an unpleasant smirk, Master Wen said, “Master Wang, your disciple promised to defeat his opponent in three moves. Surely he wouldn't go back on his own words, would he?” In truth, Zen worried him. The fact that he resisted York's three strong attacks so effortlessly was shocking.
Hearing the mocking tone, Master Wang shot a partly disapproving and partly embarrassed look at Master Wen. He had faith in York's strength in martial arts. Although York might lose during the next round when he had to fight those top-level disciples, Master Wang thought nobody could defeat him at the current stage.
What was worse, some excellent disciples from the top ten peaks also attended the group competitions. Because he wouldn't allow York to be defeated by them at the group stage, Master Wang couldn't let York keep his word and admit defeat.
With all that was at stake, Master Wang was facing a dilemma.
After a moment of thought, he finally decided that participating in the competition outweighed keeping a promise and his image as a warrior. Standing firm in his decision, he got cheeky and shouted at his disciple, “York, forget about your stupid promise. You're a good student, so focus on winning every fight in the competition!”
His words stirred an uproar among the Drizzle Peak disciples.
“Shameless! Promise-breaker! How dare you tell your disciple to do that?”
“Ha! You should change your peak's name to shameless or dishonest!”
"Promise-breakers fight for the shameless peak!
What a good match you are!"
Some disciples from Drizzle Peak mocked master Wang as they laughed rowdily.
The disciples of Sea Peak were energetic and cynical by nature. Therefore, upon hearing the Drizzle Peak disciples' taunting, they couldn't refrain from cursing back at them anymore. Before the fight at the arena could come to a conclusion, most of the audience were already busy squabbling among themselves.
The noises drew curious attention from disciples from the other peaks. It was quite a rare occurrence to see people quarreling at the grand All Peaks Competition.
“Quiet!”
A saint glided past the crowd and stared them down with a dark glare. The intimidating eyes got the disciples to shut up in an instant.
Back at the arena, York smiled awkwardly. “Master Wang's right. The competition is too important for me to give up over little trifles.”
Turning to Zen with a determined look, he said, “Zen, I'll show you what I can do.” With that, he wielded the machete once again and dashed across the arena.
"Trifles?
As the saying goes, a promise is worth a thousand ounces of gold. Does a promise really mean nothing to you?
Do you want to be known as a promise-breaker?
Someone who can easily go back on his word?"
As he avoided York's attack, Zen derided the other's inconsistent words.
“Shut up!”
Not able to stand Zen's accusations any longer, he concentrated on striking him down.
“Your fourth, fifth, sixth move…”
While warding off York's hacking, Zen counted each of his moves.
It was beyond York to predict how fast Zen moved and responded to his attacks. Exhausted from all his attacking, York had to try his best. Still, Zen remained untouchable, making it clear who was the more agile and cleverer one between the two. What was worse, whenever York made a move, Zen never failed to counter it and mock him like a joke.
"Your eightieth move…
Your one-hundredth move. Such a loser you are, York. You've made a hundred moves and still couldn't touch me."
Zen's laughs and mockery were relentless.
“Go kill yourself.” York's heart was filled with nothing but flames of rage, driving him to use the Mad-Monster Hacking technique once again.
“You made your move a hundred times, but failed to attack in every single one. Let me tell you the truth, York. I can defeat you in a single move.” After rambling on with his taunts, the smile on Zen's face disappeared. In a single blow, he bent forward and punched York's chest before his hacking could do any harm.
Before that moment, it turned out that he was still hiding his trump card. Zen's move was so quick that the whole audience was stunned frozen by his tremendous speed and explosive power.
Bang!
With a powerful strike, York flew into the air and hit the enchanted barrier above the arena.
The entire area was divided with enchanted barriers into nine parts to avoid chances of the participants getting disturbed or influenced by the other contestants.
Luckily for York, the enchanted barrier was built soft and protective. Otherwise, his bones would have been shattered to pieces as his body slammed against it.
Still, the blow was absolutely crushing.
Several of his ribs were broken, and all he could do was lie on the barrier, shocked and terrified into silence.