Chapter 141: Hindrance to Cultivation
Li Miao waited for nearly an hour before the academy gates finally swung open.
Principal Wang Yan and the students escorted Chu Qiguang out of the academy, while Hao Yongtai, Ye Ye and the others got ready to approach him.
Li Miao took a deep breath and pulled out the Bloodbath Pill he had prepared. He had gone to great lengths to obtain this pill, and a look of determination appeared in his eyes as he swallowed it without hesitation. In the next instant, his skin turned bright red, and his mind became incredibly active, greatly enhancing his reflexes.
He tore away the black cloth, revealing the spear strapped to his back, and his aura slowly began to rise.
Just as Chu Qiguang emerged from the academy entrance, Li Miao let loose a thunderous roar. Veins bulged all over his body as he charged forward with his spear held high.
"Li Miao of Azure Heaven County has come to challenge Chu Qiguang!"
His explosive roar rang out across the entire street, giving all the students a huge fright. Li Miao's overwhelming aggression and killing intent made everyone instinctively leap out of his way, opening a direct path to Chu Qiguang.
Principal Wang Yan immediately tried to rush to Chu Qiguang's aid, but he was too far away.and couldn't make it in time.
He could only watch as Li Miao sent a flurry of spear projections hurtling toward Chu Qiguang like a lethal storm.
That's the Storm Spear Technique of the Vast Heavens Faction! Hao Yongtai thought to himself with an alarmed expression. This is bad! How is Brother Chu going to defend himself unarmed?
Even the young woman, Xiao Xiao, couldn't help but grow a little excited at the sight of Chu Qiguang's completely unarmed and defenseless state.
She had full confidence in Li Miao's abilities as a martial artist, and in her eyes, there was no way any unarmed third state martial artist could defeat a spear-wielding Li Miao.
Before launching his attack, Li Miao had imagined that Chu Qiguang would most likely retreat. After all, that would be the natural reaction of someone caught off guard by a sneak attack, and Li Miao was fully prepared for it.
However, to his surprise, Chu Qiguang advanced instead and unleashed the Undying Seal. His hand touched the tip of Li Miao's spear as lightly as a feather, leaving Li Miao completely astonished.
He's using his hand to block my spear? Has he gone insane?!
He immediately thrust his spear forward with even greater force, already tasting his imminent victory. However, the instant that his spear tip made contact with Chu Qiguang's hand, Li Miao felt all of his power abruptly vanish.
A loud thump rang out as the ground beneath Chu Qiguang's feet exploded. At the same time, he thrust his palm forward, sending a burst of immense force into the spear and causing its shaft to bend drastically.
The spear was wrenched straight out of Li Miao's grasp
Immediately afterward, Chu Qiguang landed a kick on his chest, sending him flying.
Li Miao tumbled across the ground for nearly twenty meters before finally coming to a stop. He tried to stand with one hand pressed over his chest, only to throw up a large mouthful of blood.
"You said your name was Li Miao? Your spear technique isn't half bad, but I really can't condone taking pills and launching sneak attacks. Maybe you should go back and work on your character instead of your spear techniques."
Li Miao was furious to hear this, and he threw up another mouthful of blood.
The thought of Chu Qiguang's derogatory remarks on his character spreading throughout the northern martial arts world instantly had him throwing up a third mouthful of blood. Then, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Xiao Xiao hurried over to attend to Li Miao, while Chu Qiguang spoke to Wang Yan, and the latter immediately instructed some students to carry Li Miao into the academy for treatment.
"Courage and confidence really do come from mastery," Wang Yan praised. "Even if I had the ability to pull off what you just did, I wouldn't have had the courage to try and block a spear with my bare hand."
"You're far too kind, Principal Wang," Chu Qiguang replied in a modest fashion. "That was nothing more than a little party trick, and even then, it took me over a month to master."
Wang Yan was rendered speechless upon hearing this.
I guess this is what a true prodigy is like...
All of the students quickly gathered around Chu Qiguang to shower him with praise, with Ye Ye yelling, "Man, that guy was trash! I managed to throw two punches at Chu Qiguang and emerge unscathed, but he got knocked out right away even with a spear!"
***
Meanwhile, Jiang Longyua was sitting behind a nearby second-story window, his brows tightly furrowed.
"That was very impressive, wasn't it, Young Master?" the servant beside him praised. "Not many people could ward off a spear strike from Li Miao with their bare hand like Chu Qiguang just did."
"No, he's become weak," Jiang Longyu disagreed with a displeased expression. "If he had been fighting against an opponent of Li Miao's caliber during the martial examination a month ago, he would've been able to end the battle right away simply by redirecting the force of Li Miao's attack back at him. The ground beneath his feet wouldn't have exploded, and he wouldn't have had to kick Li Miao to end the fight, either."
Once he entered the Demon Vanquishing Department, Jiang Longyu would no longer be able to take part in higher-level martial examinations to secure the wujuren title, so he had come here to directly challenge Chu Qiguang. After all, he didn't know that Chu Qiguang had also been summoned to take part in the Demon Vanquishing Department's selection trials.
After more than a month of arduous training, he felt that he had made great progress, and he was confident that he would be able to even the score against Chu Qiguang. However, before issuing an official challenge, he wanted to see how much progress Chu Qiguang had made over the past month.
Thus, he sent someone to goad Li Miao into challenging Chu Qiguang, but the outcome was very disappointing. Judging from what he had just seen, his assessment was that Chu Qiguang's martial arts ability had regressed significantly.
"I heard that he's been spending all of his time in some textile workshop. Unsurprisingly, that has hindered his martial arts cultivation."
"Why do you seem so disappointed, Young Master?" the servant asked with a puzzled expression. "If Chu Qiguang has become weaker, then wouldn't that make it easier for you to defeat him?"
"You don't know anything!" Jiang Longyu snapped. "I'm not trying to surpass Chu Qiguang. I'm trying to surpass the version of myself that lost to Chu Qiguang a month ago! Right now, challenging Chu Qiguang is completely pointless to me. Let's just go straight to Jade Face Mountain. I hope I can find a worthy opponent there. Actually, before we go, leave a note for him."
Upon returning to his courtyard, Chu Qiguang discovered that someone had plastered a note to his front door. The note read:
"Dedication and focus are key in martial arts. I hope you will focus more on your cultivation and not take your talents for granted. Do not be blinded by the temptation of riches and waste all of your time trying to make money.
A fellow martial artist"
