Chapter 223: Pummeling Lu Xun (Second Half)
After flying a dozen meters backward, he crashed violently onto the ground. The impact created a huge crater on the ground.
Below him, Yuan Tao suffered nearly eighty percent of the impact. But even so, he hadn’t loosened his grip in the slightest, locking the latter firmly in place.
"What kind of fighting style is that?"
"Does he have a dying wish? He’ll really die like this..."
"He won’t. He has an extraordinary defense and even given Lu Xun laoshi’s strength, it would take a significant amount of time to shake him away. Clearly, Zhao Ya and the others wouldn’t grant him that amount of time."
...
Seeing how Yuan Tao firmly held onto Lu Xun laoshi, not even budging in the least as if he cared not about dying, everyone’s mouth twitched.
It is just a duel, is there a need to go so far?
At this rate, if Lu Xun were to go on a rampage, he might really get beaten to death!
Peng peng peng!
While everyone was overwhelmed by shock, Lu Xun didn’t remain idle. Using his elbow, he struck Yuan Tao’s chest repeatedly, and every single strike held astonishing might. Under the barrage of attacks, Yuan Tao’s face grew increasingly pale.
Even though he possesses the Emperor Bloodline, he had only activated a tenth of it. While he had no problem warding off the attacks of Dingli realm cultivators easily, it was clearly insufficient for him to do the same for Lu Xun, who is strong even among Pixue realm pinnacle experts.
"Hurry up!"
Enduring the excruciating pain, Yuan Tao hissed through gritted teeth.
Boom!
Right afterward, a spear shot into view midair.
Having missed his previous strike, Zheng Yang had placed all of his strength into this blow. Executing the strength of the Heaven’s Path Spear Art to the limits of his ability, under the augmentation of Spear Intent, the spear shot straight toward Lu Xun as though a shooting star.
"Damn it!"
Facing the spear, Lu Xun narrowed his eyes and hurriedly backed away. Even so, the spear managed to inflict a wound on his chest, leaving a trail of red blood sailing in midair.
"You aren’t going to escape!"
Shortly, a blurred figure appeared before Lu Xun. With a flip of her palm, it felt as though the heavens was crushing down.
Battle Technique [Falling Heavens]! The descent of the palm induces terror in all!
Of Zhang Xuan’s students, the one with the best circumstances for cultivation wasn’t Wang Ying. It was Zhao Ya.
Her father was the city lord of Baiyu City, and his position was only inferior to that of Emperor Shen Zhui in the entire Tianxuan Kingdom. All kinds of battle techniques and resources were at her disposal, and this Falling Heavens was one of the strongest techniques in Baiyu City.
Due to her insufficient cultivation, she was unable to practice it before. However, after her Pure Yin Body was awakened and her strength reached Dingli realm pinnacle, she became much more powerful than even the ordinary teachers in the academy, allowing her to train and execute this move.
As expected of a top-notch battle technique in Baiyu City, even before the strike landed, a frigid air had already frozen the surroundings.
"Hmph!"
Held firmly by Yuan Tao, Lu Xun was unable to parry the move. Even so, he didn’t panic. His zhenqi flurried and he turned half a round on the spot. As such, Yuan Tao stood between him and Zhao Ya, turning into the fatty into a meat shield for him.
If Zhao Ya were to go ahead with that strike, Falling Heavens would definitely land on her comrade.
"Lu Xun laoshi is... throwing aside his dignity!"
"Indeed, to be using the student as a meat shield, shameless!"
"Actually, this shows that the few students exert a great amount of pressure on him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have thrown aside his pride to do this."
"As a Pixue realm pinnacle expert, Lu Xun laoshi is ranked at the first or second place among the elders in the academy. Yet, to be forced to such a state by five freshmen who have enrolled for just half a month... Scary!"
"However, it will still be difficult for Zhao Ya and the others to win. With Yuan Tao serving as a meat shield, they will be hesitant to attack Lu Xun laoshi. However, if Yuan Tao were to let go, Lu laoshi, with his speed and movement technique, would be able to escape easily from their assault."
The wiser experts saw through the crux of the problem.
Previously, as Lu laoshi still held considerations for his reputation, he hadn’t resorted to his other means. However, now forced to a corner, he decided to use Yuan Tao as a meat shield. This leaves the other students at a loss of whether to strike him or not, thus causing them to fall into a disadvantageous position.
"Look, Zhao Ya isn’t ceasing her attack..."
Everyone thought that the battle would end in a standstill when they noticed that Zhao Ya’s Falling Heaven didn’t slow in the least. It landed straight on Yuan Tao’s body.
Hu!
As though striking a leather, there wasn’t a loud impact. It seemed as if Zhao Ya had withdrawn her power at the very last moment, and the palm that had fallen on Yuan Tao’s body was only an ordinary strike.
"Seems that she held back. Otherwise, Yuan Tao would have definitely collapsed from the simultaneous attacks from both in front and behind him!"
A person commented. However, right after that, another exclamation rang.
"Something is amiss, look at Lu Xun laoshi!"
Everyone hurriedly turned to look at Lu laoshi.
With a glance, their eyes narrowed.
Right after Zhao Ya’s palm landed on Yuan Tao, who was hugging Lu laoshi, the latter shuddered and his face turned pale.
Clearly, the strike that landed on Yuan Tao had struck him instead.
"It is the modification of Falling Heavens, Descending Heavens!"
City Lord Zhao Feng abruptly stood up, and his disbelief reflected in his eyes. "Descending Heavens can strike a person even at a distance. However, the skill is extremely difficult to practice, requiring one to undergo all kinds of pain. More importantly, one has to at least execute a hundred thousand palm strikes before he can grasp the skill... It has only been four days since Zhao Ya awakened her unique constitution. For her to be able to execute it... What kind of pain did she undergo in the past few days?"
Long-range attacks are difficult to grasp, even if one is talented. It requires relentless experimentation and practice.
Even using the most conservative estimates, it would require one to at least practice at the skill at least a hundred thousand times. That was to say, she had practiced the skill over a hundred thousand times over the course of four days?
What hardship did this daughter of his suffer in these four days?
And what was it that made her persevere like this?
After all, repeating such a boring and dull movement over and over again isn’t easy, and back then, he had nearly given up himself, needless to say, a sixteen to seventeen-year-old girl like her.
"It is all for victory!"
Yao Han exclaimed with reddened eyes.
He had witnessed the hardship that his xiaojie had gone through in the past few days personally.
In the past, she wasn’t serious in her cultivation, allowing her mind to wander during training. Otherwise, as the young mistress of a city lord, possessing countless profound battle techniques, cultivation techniques, and the guidance of experts at her disposal, even though she was affected by her pure yin body, it was impossible for her to still be a merely Fighter 1-dan despite having reached sixteen years of age.
Initially, he thought that xiaojie wouldn’t be able to persevere practicing such a difficult technique, but she managed to pull through... Her determination far exceeded his expectations.
"Victory?"
"Yes. She wants to win for Zhang laoshi. All of them... don’t want to lose!"
"Don’t want to lose?"
Turning his attention to the five students on the stage, he narrowed his eyes.
As a city lord and an expert, he understood how difficult cultivation could get. How much hardship did the five children have to go through within half a month in order to be able to rival a star teacher, even forcing him to abandon his pride?
"What kind of magic does this Zhang laoshi possess, to be able to induce such change in Xiao Ya and forge such strong camaraderie among his students?"
City Lord Zhao Feng glanced at Zhang laoshi, and respect for the latter reflected in his eyes.
He understood his own daughter well. It was surely this Zhang laoshi’s credit for such changes to appear within her in just a short span of half a month.
Furthermore, even though the formation Zhang Xuan’s students were using was rather crude, their teamwork could be said to be impeccable. Taking, for example, Zhao Ya’s Descending Heavens, as she had yet to master the skill, if Yuan Tao were to resist in the very least, it was likely for the blow to have struck him instead of Lu Xun.
To remain completely unguarded in the face of such a powerful technique, just how much trust did he have in the other party in order to be able to do so?
The crowd was left completely dumbfounded and the entire field went silent. On the other hand, Lu Xun, who was hiding behind Yuan Tao, was infuriated, and he was just a step away from going crazy.
He thought that these fellows only had that single ace up their sleeves, and he never expected them to have done so much preparation in advance. Furthermore, they showed incredible tenacity and were willing to endure all pain for the sake of victory.
Suppressing the frost in his body, Lu Xun retreated once more.
Hu!
But before he could get away, another blurred figure appeared before him.
Wang Ying!
At this instant, the embarrassment she possessed during her fight with Du Lei was completely absent. On the contrary, she now carried unwavering determination.
She sent a kick straight toward Lu Xun.
With Wang Ying in front and Zhao Ya at the back, Lu Xun had nowhere to escape. Furiously driving the zhenqi in his body, the muscles throughout his entire body tightened.
Peng!
Lu Xun felt a powerful force striking him on his chest. Once again, he was sent flying.
The strength of the kick far surpassed his imagination. If not for having experienced it personally, he wouldn’t have dared believe that such a powerful attack could come from such a gentle lady.
No wonder Du Lei nearly died from her kick! This lass’s leg technique is indeed astounding.
Putong!
Falling on the ground once more, Lu Xun felt a dull ache in his chest.
Having received several blows consecutively, despite his powerful defense and overwhelming strength, he found himself about to cave in.
Pu!
He vomited a mouthful of blood and his face lightened by another shade.
Initially, he thought that he could make a quick job out of these students, but to think that he would land in such a tragic state instead.
"Let go of me!"
The main reason why he had been suffering attacks after attacks without any chance of counterattack was Yuan Tao’s grip. Lu Xun glared at Yuan Tao before roaring. He gathered zhenqi on his head and crashed it forcefully onto Yuan Tao’s head.
Peng!
As their heads crashed together, Yuan Tao felt faint-headed and fresh blood streamed from his forehead.
Even though he possessed incredible defense, he was only able to endure the attacks up to the level of a Dingli realm expert. The other party had augmented his attack with zhenqi, causing Yuan Tao to sustain a severe injury instantly.
"You wish to get rid of me? Dream on! I will never let go even if I were to die!"
Yuan Tao felt giddy and his face was dyed with crimson blood, but this only increased his determination. Roaring furiously, not only did he not release his grip, he even tightened it, making it difficult for Lu Xun to breathe.
"Damn it, don’t you fear death? If I were to continue banging your head like that, you will die..."
Seeing how the lad was reluctant to let go, Lu Xun seethed with rage.
Given Lu Xun’s powerful offense, if he were to continue knocking the other party like that, even though Yuan Tao’s defense wasn’t weak, he might really die...
Does this fellow really not fear death?
Lu Xun was astonished. He was considering whether he should really knock this fellow to death when a gust of wind cut through his skin, and a mighty force shot straight at him.
A spear stopped right before his throat.
Zheng Yang had been waiting for an opportunity all along. Upon noticing Lu Xun’s momentary distraction, he dashed forward immediately and executed the Heaven’s Path Spear Art augmented by Spear Intent. Within the blink of an eye, he was already before Lu Xun, prepared to pierce the other party’s throat.
The spear was like an arrow on the bowstring, ready to shoot through the other party’s neck at any moment. Standing upright, Zheng Yang stared at Lu Xun with sharp eyes.
"Lu laoshi... You’ve lost!"