Chapter 49 - Carry On
“It’s all over for Ma Heiqi? That’s impossible, right? Both of Jiang Yi’s hands are unable to attack. How is he going to defeat Ma Heiqi? From my calculations, Jiang Yi’s only way to damage Ma Heiqi is to use the Exploding Essence Palm. The problem is, without any hands, how can he release the Exploding Essence Palm?”
Manager Yang couldn’t understand why the Hall Master thought that way. With his eyes locking on the stage, he saw Jiang Yi being pulled over by Ma Heiqi. As Jiang Yi’s dantian was about to be destroyed, he felt his heart being picked up.
The Martial Arts Hall Master remained as he was and calmly said, “Intuition! I feel that the kid intentionally allowed his opponent to slash his right arm? And he didn’t even bother to heal it immediately and asked for a battle instead. He should be… trying to push himself to a dead end so he can surpass his own limitations!”
“Tsk Tsk!”
On the stage, Ma Heiqi’s eagle talon was already almost in contact with Jiang Yi’s abdomen. His eagle talon wasn’t just a form, but it was a high-grade martial skill. Now right, his fingers turned longer; and his fingernails were exceptionally sharp. Just like an eagle’s talon that could crush the bones of beasts.
It’s over!
Yi Lingxue, who was knocked off the stage, by Leng Qianqian couldn’t help but turn her head away. She didn’t want to see Jiang Yi’s abdomen and dantian being ruined.
“Ma Heiqi, you wish to seek revenge for Ma Fei and the others—with your current strength? Let your father take revenge for you instead!” Hanging on the last string, Jiang Yi suddenly said something. His originally fearful expression turned calm, and his eyes let out a cold intent.
The wound on his right arm violently shot out fresh blood that flew like a blood arrow towards Ma Heiqi. While Ma Heiqi raised his head instinctively after hearing the declaration from Jiang Yi, he got sprayed all over his face.
“Ah!”
Two of the Jiang clansmen under the stage suddenly exclaimed. They once saw Jiang Yi used this trick before. On the Western Hills, he opened his mouth and sprayed Jiang Ruhu’s whole face with blood. It caused Jiang Ruhu to lose his vision for a short period of time and had his combat strength plummeted. But today, Jiang Yi’s blood wasn’t sprayed but shot out from his wound with extreme accuracy and at the perfect moment.
Ma Heiqi originally had his head lowered but raised his head due to Jiang Yi’s shout and looked directly at his enemy as the blood arrow hit his face. He instantly closed his eyes, but the blood still managed to enter his eyes, causing them to have this burning sensation. He knew in his heart that this wasn’t a good situation. He swung his flexible whip, trying to get rid of Jiang Yi and concurrently retreated with haste.
“Good!”
Jiang Yi’s mouth let out a trace of a smile as Ma Heiqi reacted just as he expected. This shake of the flexible whip helped expel the restraint on his left hand. With his left hand now free from obstructions, he could simply execute his killer move.
“Trying to flee?!”
The Martial Arts Hall Master let out a shout knowing that he guessed it right. Jiang Yi intentionally let himself get injured just for this moment. He had planned out this scheme for such a long time; how could he allow Ma Heiqi to just simply escape?
Jiang Yi shifted his hand as soon as the whip released its tension slightly. Jiang Yi effortlessly broke off the restraint of the whip and tossed the Green Destiny Sword aside. He then grasped the whip with a reverse grip and tugged on it with force. Using the tug, he accelerated towards Ma Heiqi. As he approached Ma Heiqi, he used his head to slam into Ma Heiqi’s face and crashed using his left shoulder. Jiang Yi circulated the Snake Whip Legs to constantly kick at Ma Heiqi, too.
Jiang Yi utilized every part of the body that he could and launched a storm of attacks. The fearful Ma Heiqi was now in a complete state of panic. The only thing he could do was to swiftly retreat while attacking randomly with his left hand’s eagle talon.
“Tsk Tsk!”
In this chaotic battle, Jiang Yi’s body had countless claw marks carved out, but he didn’t retreat a single step—nor did he panic—as though the body didn’t belong to him.
After his series of attacks and putting Ma Heiqi into a state of panic, Jiang Yi suddenly took a step back. The left hand that was motionless from just now suddenly moved. A black- and blue-colored radiance was vigorously slammed on Ma Heiqi’s body.
Exploding Essence Palm released!
Heiqi lost…
When Ma Kui saw Jiang Yi released the Exploding Essence Palm, he powerlessly shut his eyes. Ma Heiqi’s eyes were currently disabled, and he completely lost his bearings when Jiang Yi launched the storm of attacks. If he had been able to maintain his cool and continued using the Black Dragon Whip to restrain Jiang Yi’s left arm, Jiang Yi wouldn’t be able to utilize his left hand to execute his killer move. Now that Jiang Yi released the Exploding Essence Palm and at such proximity, the result was obvious without the need to see it through.
“Bang!”
An explosion could be heard as Jiang Yi and Ma Heiqi flew after being blasted. Jiang Yi was quite near the center of the explosion; his body, which was riddled with wounds, was now in an even worse state. His clothes got blown into pieces, and there were many parts of his body that were in a bloody mess. Luckily, he was the attacking force and was able to back off quickly, allowing him to escape fatal damage.
Ma Heiqi was in a sorry state. His left chest got blasted into smithereens and revealed parts of the bones. His body tumbled off the stage like a rucksack and even knocked into two martial artists. He landed on the back of his head and crashed against a limestone, letting out a loud thud. Even the people beside him could feel his physical pain.
“Such terrifying wisdom! Brilliant strategy and a ruthless heart!”
As they looked at the blood-drenched figure which struggled to stand, they saw the pair of extremely cold eyes. The formidable figureheads on the spectator’s stand had their emotions stirred up.
Jiang Yi’s every move and schemes were caught by their eyes. Jiang Yi’s strategy was simple: he first showed weakness to his opponent and enticed them. He then used an unexpected blood arrow to turn the tables, and everything fell in place.
It might seem simple and even naive in the eyes of these formidable martial artists. But everyone present asked themselves a question: if they were in the shoes of Jiang Yi, would they be able to execute it as flawlessly as Jiang Yi did under such circumstances? It was apparent that the difficulty was immensely high.
Right now… everyone suspected whether Jiang Yi’s numerous wounds were intentional. The final objective was to gradually break down the guard of Ma Heiqi When Jiang Yi was on the spectator’s stand, was his speech to the Jiang Clan’s Head and Jiang Yunshe on purpose, too?
What made everyone deeply moved wasn’t just Jiang Yi’s abnormally high wisdom—he was exceptionally ruthless! Ruthless to his enemies and to himself, too!
With such severe injuries, had Ma Heiqi been a tad bit more cautious or if that blood arrow been slightly out of control, it wouldn’t have hit Ma Heiqi’s eyes. If that had happened, Jiang Yi’s entire plan would have gone to waste. The result wouldn’t be like this, and his dantian would have been ruined!
None of the martial artists on the spectator’s stand felt curious about how Jiang Yi controlled the blood spray. Anyone present here could do it by simply circulating the essence force to expel the blood. But no one had ever thought of using such an odd move. Jiang Yi taught a lesson to everyone: during the crucial moment, anything could be used as a weapon to harm the enemy!
“536, eight consecutive victories!”
The veteran’s voice brought everyone’s thought back to their senses. The veteran couldn’t help but look at Jiang Yi and ask, “536! Do you want to carry on with the tournament?”
After being clawed by Ma Heiqi’s random claw attacks, Jiang Yi’s body had additional wounds. Although none of his wounds were fatal, and even if he could carry on and win two more matches, his body wouldn’t be able to take it and would most likely die of blood loss.
“Stop competing, 536. Go back and heal yourself. This is just a tournament, and if you were to carry on, you will die.”
An icy voice suddenly echoed from the pavilion and shocked the crowd. This voice was from the mouth of that Mentor Su. This Mentor Su had an extremely cold personality. She, who even ignored Ji Tian, actually viewed Jiang Yi in such light?
“No! I will carry on!”
Jiang Yi shook his head and took a look at Mentor Su through the beaded curtain. He let out a forced smile and said, “Don’t worry. My life is much tougher than this. I won’t die.”
What Mentor Su said was right.
But to another individual, this tournament might be a fated opportunity. To Jiang Yi, this was his only opportunity to escape from Skyplume City. If he couldn’t do so, then death would await him—not even the Martial Arts Hall could protect him. It was a simple task for the Ma Clan and the Jiang Clan to kill him… unless he was to hide within the Martial Arts Hall for life. If he had to live like this, he would rather die. This was why he had no other choices but to fight with his life!
“Alright then, carry on the tournament!” After hearing no other objections, the veteran sighed and waved his hand.
“Swish!”
A shadow dashed onto the stage like lightning. His eyes were filled with murderous intent and darted at Jiang Yi instantly. The dagger in his hand had this cold light that made everyone feel a chill.
“No killing is allowed!”
The veteran yelled when he saw the situation. This individual was obviously a Ma clansman who wanted to take revenge after seeing Ma Heiqi in such a severe state. His strength might only be at the sixth stage of the Cast Tripod Realm, but if he wanted to risk his life to kill Jiang Yi, it would truly be troublesome.
Jiang Yi felt something wrong; this person’s killing intent was too overwhelming. Looking at the eyes of his opponent, Jiang Yi saw an overflowing malevolence in his eyes. Jiang Yi let out a cold grin and stood motionless. He channeled one of the last two wisps of black essence force into his left fist. As his opponent was about to thrust the dagger into his heart, Jiang Yi launched a ferocious punch.
“Tsk!””Pong!”
While dagger went an inch into his body and was just millimeters away from his heart, Jiang Yi’s fist finally crashed into his opponent’s chest and forced him to fly backward. With the fusion of the black essence force, Jiang Yi’s strength reached the power of seven horses. It was normal that his opponent was sent flying in a single punch.
“Pfff…”
Jiang Yi couldn’t suppress himself and violently vomited a mouthful of fresh blood. His body swayed and finally gave way. Jiang Yi kneeled with a single leg while supporting himself with his left hand. The wound on his chest bled into a consistent line that dyed the stage into a blood red color. He closed his weak eyes to rest for a moment before looking below the stage and shouted coldly, “Carry on!”
“Tss…”
Countless young male and female participants took in a deep cold breath and felt the shock deep in their spirits. They looked on the stage and saw a blood-bathed body with a face that was pale white as snow. Those eyes filled with battle intent didn’t feel like it belonged to youth who was 15 years of age. Those eyes belonged to a true warrior, one that didn’t fear death and had an undying will. He didn’t treat this as a tournament, but a fight—a deathmatch that either he dies or his enemy does!