"Hiccup!" Bernie didn't seem to realize what had just happened as he raised his hand once more, pointing it at the beggar who was now walking towards him. "Come here! Hiccup! You must be very, Hiccup! Afraid! Right?
"Yeah, I am," Apollo said, but his calm voice told otherwise. He could actually cut the projectiles the thin man was throwing and hadn't even put much strength behind it, only raising his sword out of instinct. However, just to make sure, he wanted to confirm it again. "Throw another one, maybe it will kill me this time."
Hearing this, Bernie felt like he was being humiliated. "I'm only playing with Hiccup! You! You really want to die, huh?! Then take this!"
A red whirlwind was hurled towards the beggar, tearing the grass on the ground while a strong whistling sound echoed in the area.
Apollo placed the wooden sword in front of him and waited for the attack to land. He could see that behind those cringe-worthy words the thin man said, he packed quite a bit of power and Qi into this one.
As the red whirlwind was only a few feet away from him, the beggar raised the sword higher.
The wooden sword didn't make a sound and just moved as if it were in the vacuum of space. The moment it touched the projectile, the sword continued all the way down without meeting any resistance and, with a whooshing sound, the red whirlwind was cut in half!
"How'd you like— Hiccup!" Bernie didn't manage to finish his words when he saw that scene, his drunk mind slowly clearing up.
"I knew it," Apollo smiled. He brought the sword in front of his eyes and smacked his lips. "You are full of surprises."
Apollo knew that it wasn't because of the sword, but because of the Simple Sword Technique. A sword is meant to cut, not to be flashy or produce special effects.
"You… This is wrong!" Bernie shouted while clutching his head. "Wrong! How could you! No!"
"This guy is crazy," Apollo muttered, shaking his head.
"Hiccup! F*ck you! I can still defeat you!" Bernie raised his hand again and fired another red whirlwind.
But the beggar only had to raise the sword and slice the attack halfheartedly.
"Die! Die!" Bernie didn't stop at just one; he continued to fire while shouting at the same time. The blood vessels in his eyes had already erupted, making his red eyes even redder. The current Bernie resembled a demon, but contrary to his appearance, his heart that had been burning with rage and confidence a few moments ago was now beating with fear and anxiety.
He went through a lot of trouble just to steal this 'deadly' technique even though he wasn't fully qualified to learn it because of his lack of cultivation. After forcefully learning it at the Beginner Stage, he immediately went to find the Beggar. However, no matter where he looked, he couldn't find him.
Frustrated and feeling disappointed, he decided to drink alcohol at the bar. He kept drinking until he got drunk. That's when he went out of the bar and saw some martial students. Even though he was drunk, an idea came to his mind as the martial students came from the direction of the training ground.
Hoping to find the beggar there, Bernie went to the training ground, and his decision was proven correct when he saw Apollo. This made his thirst for revenge act up.
Because of the beggar, he was kicked out of the Great Serpent Cultivation School. Bernie blamed the beggar even though it was his own fault for stealing a cultivation technique from the school's library, the Air Palm Explosion.
If it weren't for him, Bernie wouldn't have revealed that technique, which caused him to be expelled. Yeah, it's the beggar's fault, not mine. How can someone lower than me dare to humiliate me like that? This thought made the fury in Bernie's heart reach its highest point.
But despite all this, the current situation made Bernie rethink his choices.
How is this guy so strong?! Bernie kept sending red whirlwinds, but the beggar cut through them like it was nothing! Suddenly, he could taste a strong metallic tang in his mouth.
Although his insides were already injured, Bernie continued to use the Air Palm Explosion.
"Die! Die! Die!" Bernie kept shouting, but in the next second, he couldn't hold on anymore as he vomited a mouthful of blood. His skin became as pale as paper.
Apollo, who was already a few feet away from the thin man, tilted his head. It didn't take him long to realize what was happening. This guy mentioned that he took great effort to steal… his technique? Maybe there's a side effect and his body couldn't handle it.
"Hey, you okay?" Apollo asked.
"You! Don't come near me!" Bernie waved his hand as he fell to his knees, coughing hard.
"Come on, man, you should have taken my talk no jutsu from earlier," Apollo said and proceeded to walk towards the defenseless thin man.
"F*ck you!" Bernie cursed, looking up, but when he saw those cold eyes, a shiver ran down his spine. "I… I," He fell on his bottom and slowly moved backward using his hands and feet.
Seeing this, Apollo smirked. "You must be thinking, how can a beggar like me defeat you? How come I am so strong, and no matter what you do, you are still hopeless?"
Bernie stopped in his tracks, his shaky eyes staring at the beggar with fear. Fck! Fck! Don't humiliate me! This thought remained in his heart, but he didn't dare to say anything at the moment. Bernie had already realized that he bit off more than he could chew.
Even with the Air Palm Explosion, he couldn't kill the beggar. No matter how dumb and drunk he was, he still recognized his situation, especially when he greatly valued his life. "Pl-please spare me…"
The beggar stopped as Bernie was already below him. Although Apollo's current height is around 4 feet, his cold presence made up for the lack of height, making him appear bigger in the thin man's eyes.
"No," Apollo shook his head, placing his wooden sword beside Bernie's neck.
"Y-you can't kill me!" Bernie pleaded, the alcohol within his body long since evaporated from the fear he was currently feeling. "I… I know someone important, if he finds out I was killed, he will definitely find you!"
Of course, this was a lie.
Apollo went silent, his eyes staring directly at the thin man.
Seeing the beggar not saying anything, Bernie sighed in relief. My bluff worked. I'm just barely at the 1st-Step Foundation Building. Who would want to associate with a weakling like me? he thought.
"Yup, that's right, put your sword down and let's talk this out, okay?" Bernie forcefully smiled.
"Okay," Apollo answered and 'brought down' his sword.
"That's goo-" Bernie couldn't finish his words as his vision started spinning. Eh? With a thudding sound, he saw his body in front of him. Headless.