74: Chapter 71: Rigidity 74: Chapter 71: Rigidity As the drum sounded, Zhuang Hongfei also pushed his heel back, his figure retreating instantly like a bolt of lightning.
Zhuang Hongfei had long been prepared for Chu Xisheng’s Draw Sword Style.
As he retreated, he activated his Secret Technique Totem, which briefly increased the speed of his movement technique by fifty percent!
Even so, he hadn’t completely dodged Chu Xisheng’s Blood Refining Light Steel Blade.
However, the dagger in his hand managed, just barely, to block the black blade edge three inches from his throat.
When the two blades collided, there was a sharp ‘clank’ sound, and sparks flew in all directions.
The force of Chu Xisheng’s full-speed sword made Zhuang Hongfei’s hand tremble slightly, causing the dagger to fly out of his grasp.
At this moment, a thunderous explosion sounded from all sides of the arena, and everyone was amazed by the scene unfolding before them.
Wo Meiniang in the private room raised her eyebrows, “Oh?
That’s great strength, and his Nourishing Essence Skill must have reached the third layer.”
However, since Chu Xisheng’s first strike hadn’t taken down Zhuang Hongfei, it was going to be troublesome next.
This man was best at his movement technique and hidden weapons!
On the arena, a thread of blood spilled from Zhuang Hongfei’s mouth.
This was caused by the impact of Chu Xisheng’s ‘Vengeance’ Sword Intent.
Luckily, this fellow across from him had revealed his Sword Intent once twenty days ago, giving Zhuang Hongfei a chance to prepare.
His employer, Li Cang, had specially purchased a ‘Solid God Pill’ at a high price, which could enhance his Spiritual Sense and mental power to resist the Sword Intent.
What Zhuang Hongfei had not anticipated was that Chu Xisheng’s Sword Intent was much stronger than they had expected.
Nevertheless, he had ultimately blocked this move, ’empty wind.’
A cruel smile appeared on Zhuang Hongfei’s lips.
His figure flickered as he waved both hands, continuously throwing out Iron Tribulus from his palms.
Each one flew as fast as a shooting star, chasing the moon.
Chu Xisheng, like a ferocious tiger, relentlessly pursued, his blade also slashing swiftly through the air, as quick as lightning, cutting through all the Iron Tribulus in front of him, producing a series of ‘ding ding’ sounds.
He remembered Chu Yunyun’s words—never to allow his opponent to gain a distance of ten feet.
But just after ten breaths, Chu Xisheng noticed a change in the arena’s environment.
The ground around him, covering an area of about two acres, was now filled with Iron Tribulus.
These were hidden weapons shaped like tribulus, each with four iron spikes extending outward.
Whenever one fell to the ground, one spike would always point upward, like a nail.
The military used Iron Tribulus for defense against infantry and cavalry, scattering them on the ground to injure anyone or any horse that stepped on them, rendering them immobile.
The Iron Tribulus scattered by Zhuang Hongfei were tiny—only slightly larger than drawing pins.
However, their tips were black, evidently coated with deadly poison.
Chu Xisheng’s eyes narrowed slightly; he knew that if he was even slightly careless and stepped on these Iron Tribulus, he would surely die at this man’s hand today.
Yet his speed was still ferocious like a wild tiger, still as aggressive as before, continuing to chase after the figure of Zhuang Hongfei.
The distance between them was consistently maintained at about six feet.
Zhuang Hongfei had already thrown out over seven hundred Iron Tribulus, and surprise began to show in his eyes.
Chu Xisheng’s speed was faster and more agile than he had imagined.
His previous opponents could not last until he had finished scattering the Iron Tribulus.
They usually stepped on the spikes during the chase, then were at his mercy to be slaughtered at will.
This guy, however, had managed to last until now—
Zhuang Hongfei then scoffed disdainfully.
He was now curious to see how much longer this fellow could last.
At this moment, his Secret Technique Totem had already expired, but after losing more than seven hundred Iron Tribulus, his total weight was less than half of what it had been, so his speed had not decreased much.
Zhuang Hongfei switched to another hidden weapon at the same time, a ‘Thunder God’s Cone’ as small as a fingertip but with a heavy and forceful attack.
This rune hidden weapon was not only immensely powerful but could also generate a bit of Thunder Power.
Each time Chu Xisheng swung his saber to block, he would be electrified by the ‘Thunder God’s Cone,’ causing his body to tremble and his movements to slightly hesitate, greatly affecting his movement technique.
Apart from that, between the uses of the Thunder God’s Cone, Zhuang Hongfei also mixed in some completely black long spikes.
They were called Funeral Door Nails, also coated with a potent poison.
Just a slight graze on the skin could penetrate the human body, causing one’s consciousness to become dizzy.
However, Chu Xisheng splashed out his saber light, weaving a dense and impenetrable silver-white saber curtain.
Whether it was the Thunder God’s Cone or the Funeral Door Nails, both were deflected and blocked by his saber light.
Zhuang Hongfei moved smoothly among the many Iron Tribuluses, his figure as nimble as a civet cat; Chu Xisheng was equally swift, resembling a tiger or a leopard.
The platform continued to ‘clank,’ and the iron railings around were also sparkling with sparks.
That was the sound caused by the hidden weapons Chu Xisheng blocked, hitting the iron railings.
The rune formation around the platform had been activated early to prevent the hidden weapons from causing accidental injuries.
In the beginning, the audience on all sides was relatively quiet, but as time passed, people began to whisper and discuss.
Some who had bet on Zhuang Hongfei couldn’t help shouting out loudly, cheering for Zhuang Hongfei, thus the buzzing sound once again resounded inside the building.
At this point, the battle had been going on for 15 minutes, and it was still a stalemate.
Chu Xisheng hadn’t won with a single strike, and Zhuang Hongfei also hadn’t managed to get rid of Chu Xisheng cleanly.
“This Chu kid is impressive!”
In the VIP box on the sixth level, Wo Meiniang blinked her eyes in disbelief, “His movement technique is actually this good, not inferior to Zhuang Hongfei at all.”
The 1,300 taels of Demon Silver Li Daogui had offered as a reward back then didn’t seem so foolish now.
“It’s not just the movement technique.” Cloud Sword Manor Master Du Yunlai was quite interested as he watched below.
“He’s very agile and has strong control over his steps, but the key is still his perception ability.
He must have some sort of perceptive talent, as each step precisely avoids the Iron Tribulus on the ground.”
“Indeed, what a good movement technique!
He wields the Chasing Wind Saber sharply like a fierce wind.” One-Armed Blade Li Cang smiled slightly, “In this case, Zhuang Hongfei may not necessarily win this round.
My ten thousand taels of Demon Silver and two platforms, it seems a bit risky.”
His words were teasing and his demeanor relaxed.
Simply because he knew Zhuang Hongfei had yet to use his strongest move.
Zuo Qingyun appeared indifferent to the words of the three.
The fact that Chu Xisheng could fight Zhuang Hongfei to this extent had already surprised him immensely.
He was now just curious whether Chu Xisheng had not yet used that Magic Artifact leg binding because he was worried that after activating it, his speed would be too fast, leading to a loss of control?
Or did he think that even without this Magic Artifact, he could still overcome and control the enemy?
At this moment, the platform saw another change of events.
Chu Xisheng saw Zhuang Hongfei raising his right hand and lifting his arm above his shoulder.
His pupils slightly constricted, and he didn’t hesitate to stride towards Zhuang Hongfei’s left side.
Chu Yunyun had not explained to him why he needed to do this, only saying that once on the platform, he would understand for himself.
And just as he dashed to the left, Zhuang Hongfei suddenly splashed out a large number of Black Needles from his sleeve.
Not only were they densely packed like rain, but they were also full of force, striking the rune formation at the outer perimeter of the platform and consecutively piercing through two layers of the Spiritual Power barrier.
That was clearly a powerful hidden weapon move, ‘Heavy Rain Qiankun’!
At the same time, a trace of light shone in Chu Xisheng’s pupils.
He understood why Chu Yunyun had instructed him not to retreat in any other direction but specifically towards Zhuang Hongfei’s left.
The person obviously hadn’t fully mastered the control of ‘Heavy Rain Qiankun’; there was a bit of stiffness in his upper body when using it.
Chu Xisheng almost didn’t hesitate and swung his saber right!