Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Ba Renxiong Challenges Shi Xiaole
"Is this the cream of the crop in the second tier of prodigies? Indeed, it’s astounding."
"What a Divine Wind Sword move, capable of simulating Sword Qi, it’s truly terrifying."
"Zuo Feiyang came prepared this time. Is he really planning to challenge Liu Mengse?"
After the battle between Ba Renxiong and Zuo Feiyang ended, many people whispered to each other, feeling a surge of emotions.
The primary reason was the great shock the Divine Wind Sword had brought them.
Sword Qi, it is said, can only be wielded by high-level swordsmen capable of Qi absorption, but in reality, most cannot. Only those exceptional high-level swordsmen with extraordinary talent in the way of the sword can display it.
Zuo Feiyang, merely at the first level of Qi absorption, could simulate Sword Qi, proving his terrifying talent.
Many couldn’t help but look at Liu Mengse, secretly thinking that with Zuo Feiyang’s current strength, even he should feel some pressure.
Unfortunately, Liu Mengse’s face remained expressionless, making it difficult to gauge his thoughts from his appearance.
"What a Wind Sword, I’ve underestimated you."
The Grand Elder of the Tyrant Saber Sect took a deep breath.
Being defeated by Zuo Feiyang like this, Ba Renxiong didn’t lose face, although he did feel a little regretful.
"Haha, Feiyang, you’ve greatly surprised me. You should have given me some warning beforehand."
The Grand Elder of the Cloud Sword Pavilion was full of joy, and couldn’t help but laugh. Jiang Qingzhou and the rest of the disciples looked at Zuo Feiyang with admiration.
"It’s quite rare to find such a swordsman in such a remote place."
Even Wang Zuying in the loft offered a word of praise.
However, Xu Nianxue smiled and said, "Don’t talk about that Zuo Feiyang, even Ba Renxiong is no match for Shi, I can rest easy now."
The biggest attraction of the Sky Meeting this time was undoubtedly the duel between the two outstanding warriors.
In addition to the two outstanding warriors, the competition between ’Wind Sword’ Zuo Feiyang, ’Blood-colored Tyrant Saber’ Ba Renxiong, and ’Flying Sky Bear’ Xiong Ni, also received considerable attention.
Additionally, there were other potential rising stars that might appear.
Undoubtedly, by this point in the competition, apart from the first highlight that was saved for the end, the remaining two highlights had been mostly unveiled.
The three top prodigies of the second tier were still leading most of the young talents of the Cloud Triangle and would continue to do so.
Among these three, Zuo Feiyang was the leader.
While Xiong Ni had yet to appear, those familiar with him knew that if he had the confidence to defeat Zuo Feiyang, he would have challenged him long ago instead of keeping silent like now.
Secondly, among the rising stars who emerged this time, five were excellent and worthy of being in the top ranks of the second tier prodigies: ’Shadowless Sword’ Chu Lin, ’Gentle Rain Sword’ Mao Wenjing, ’Lonely Merganser Soaring in the Clouds’ Jiang Qingzhou, ’Wind-capturing Hand’ Tao Ding, and Shi Xiaole, who had yet to receive a nickname.
Among these five, Shi Xiaole was leading the others by a significant margin.
At this point, most people completely relaxed their minds, the only remaining expectation was probably the duel between the two outstanding stars tomorrow.
Of course, a small portion of people were also looking forward to the duel between Zuo Feiyang and Liu Mengse.
Time flew by and the day ended. Under Yue Changzheng’s announcement, all experts from various sects returned to their rooms to rest.
Shi Xiaole lay on his bed, closing his eyes to reflect on the day’s battles.
For one to progress quickly, besides necessary training, referring to others’ experiences was also crucial. Shi Xiaole often put himself in others’ shoes, contemplating how he would deal with an opponent’s attack if he were in their position.
After reviewing these in his mind for about half an hour, Shi Xiaole finally took a deep breath and blew out the lamp to sleep.
The night passed without a word.
The next day, before dawn, everyone once again gathered on the open ground and the corridor.
Compared to the first day’s passion, the enthusiasm of the crowd was visibly less on the second day. After all, those who were supposed to appear had already taken the stage, and what remained either lacked strength or enthusiasm. The competition wasn’t expected to be exciting.
In the meantime, Yuan Qiuwei and Xiao Yuanbo took the stage one after the other and won their respective matches. Both of them didn’t care much about fame and glory, so they stopped participating after their matches were over.
The competition continued uneventfully until the afternoon.
People’s faces grew increasingly excited, for everyone knew that the real highlight of the event was about to begin.
In the midst of the public attention, Ba Renxiong, who was defeated by Zuo Feiyang yesterday, suddenly stood up.
"Senior brother, what’s wrong?"
A disciple of the Tyrant Saber Sect, asked curiously.
Without uttering a word, Ba Renxiong leaped to the open area and glanced around, finally fixing his gaze in a certain direction. "You, come out and fight me."
Following his gaze, everyone was taken aback.
Because the direction Ba Renxiong was pointing at happened to be where the Huajian Sect members were sitting.
"You, Shi Xiaole, come out and fight."
Ba Renxiong emphasized again.
Everyone looked at each other in dismay and the surroundings were filled with exclamations.
"What’s going on, why has Ba Renxiong targeted Shi Xiaole?"
"I don’t know, could it be, there’s some old grudge between them?"
Most people didn’t understand the situation, even Shi Xiaole himself looked confused and puzzled.
His strength, of course, was far beyond what people had seen, but Shi Xiaole didn’t have much ambition to make a name for himself. So he had no intention of stepping into the ring.
In his view, only one’s own strength was everlasting. Fame was nothing but a fleeting cloud.
Shi Xiaole was utterly perplexed as to why Ba Renxiong would challenge him.
"Kid, it’s not that you’ve offended me, but that you’ve offended Yue Xunxian."
Ba Renxiong looked at Shi Xiaole with pity.
Yue Xunxian had sought him out last night, willing to pay the price of a top-tier, third-rate martial arts manual, asking him to teach Shi Xiaole a lesson.
Ba Renxiong didn’t understand it all, but it didn’t prevent him from accepting the deal.
A top-tier, third-rate martial arts manual would be a temptation for anyone, any force within the Cloud Triangle, let alone just disciplining a trivial lad. You’d be a fool not to accept.
As for whether this would break the rules of the gathering in the Clouds, haha, in a martial arts competition, who doesn’t get hurt? Besides, it’s not a serious injury, just making the opponent lie down for a month, who can say anything?
"With my status, personally taking action is tantamount to bullying the weak and is detrimental to my reputation. Miss Xu, do you know what I had to give up for your small request?"
At the Astonishing Dragon Castle’s side, Yue Xunxian turned his head to look at a certain pavilion, a slight smile on his lips.
"Young Master Ba, what offense has my disciple committed against you?"
Amonst the spectators’ strange gazes, Yu Fangge was the first to step forward, asking in a stern voice.
"None."
Ba Renxiong shook his head.
"If that’s the case, why did you pick on him? His skills are far behind yours."
If possible, Yu Fangge did not want Shi Xiaole to compete.
With Ba Renxiong’s odd behavior today, who knows what he has in mind? If anything were to happen to Shi Xiaole, how would he explain it to Su Yanru?
"I just wanted to have a small spar with your disciple, what, you’re scared?"
Ba Renxiong said jokingly, with a hint of disdain in his words.
Indeed, in Ba Renxiong’s mind, if it weren’t for Yue Xunxian asking him to take action, he wouldn’t be interested in a guy like Shi Xiaole until two or three years later.
"My disciple is not your match, let’s call off this duel."
Without any hesitation, Yu Fangge said straightforwardly.
Ba Renxiong laughed out loud, ignoring Yu Fangge, his superior gaze fell on Shi Xiaole. "We martial artists should forge ahead fearlessly, undaunted by challenges. Young Shi, I won’t kill you, why are you so afraid of me?"
"Or are you just a pitiful coward, so timid that you don’t even dare to face me? If that’s the case, I won’t insist, lest it lowers my own standards."
Anyway, Yue Xunxian had said that as long as he could publicly humiliate Shi Xiaole, the mission would be considered accomplished.
Under his own words, Ba Renxiong believed that the consequences of Shi Xiaole not competing would be more severe than being injured by him.
A martial artist doesn’t need to be powerful, but if he lacks integrity, he will become an object of ridicule in the martial world. By then, this stain will accompany Shi Xiaole for life, even becoming his heart demon when practicing skills.
Hu.
Shi Xiaole’s dark pupils were calm as he lightly exhaled, then stood up from his seat.
"Junior brother, what are you doing? Sit down first."
Yuan Qiuwei also worried that Ba Renxiong bore ill intentions, he hurriedly said.
"Senior brother, it’s just a spar, there’s no big risk, you all can rest assured."
Shi Xiaole said indifferently.
He might not be ambitious, but it doesn’t mean that he is cowardly and retreating. In fact, Ba Renxiong’s words just now had backed Shi Xiaole into a corner, leaving him with no choice but to fight.
"But..."
Yuan Qiuwei wanted to persuade him further, but Shi Xiaole had already stepped into the arena.
Yu Fangge sighed slightly, but had made up his mind. If Ba Renxiong really intended to harm Shi Xiaole, he would intervene, even if it meant breaking the rules of the gathering in the Clouds.
Pitiful eyes set on Shi Xiaole. Many guessed that this young man must have offended Ba Renxiong somehow, thus provoking his ’revenge’.
Poor him, he had only just gained fame and now he was going to face ruthless suppression.
"Haha, refreshing! I bet this lad will suffer."
On the Fiery Fire Sect’s side, Tao Ding couldn’t help laughing out loud, feeling overjoyed.
Zhang Qingfang next to him maintained a poker face, but inwardly he said, this young man surnamed Shi, you’re lucky. If it weren’t for Ba Renxiong, I would have stepped in to recover yesterday’s lost face.
"Junior sister, seems like Brother Shi’s fortunes aren’t so good."
On the Light Sword Sect’s side, Zhu Qian feigned a sigh.
Lan Ning let out a snort, her heart secretly anxious.
"Junior brother, you have such faith in your friend, but I wonder, can he create a miracle this time?"
The senior brother from the Silver Spear Sect chuckled.
Wang Yangming wore a bitter smile. This time, even he didn’t believe that Shi Xiaole could win against Ba Renxiong.
"Shi youngster, make your move."
In the field, Ba Renxiong held his long saber, speaking coldly.
His loss to Zuo Feiyang yesterday had already made him lose face, so today, he planned to swiftly and decisively deal with Shi Xiaole.
"Let me make the first move?"
A smirk at the corner of his mouth, Shi Xiaole took hold of the Hundred Battles Blade at his waist.
"Using a saber against me? You’re really arrogant."
Seeing Shi Xiaole’s move, Ba Renxiong squinted his eyes, feeling a surge of anger. A swordsman who is stronger with the sword, using a saber against him, was this a sign of disrespect?
"Kid, I’m going to make you regret this!"
If at first, Ba Renxiong was acting with a task-completion mindset, now, he was truly angry.
