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Chapter 283: Ulterior Motive

There were no wonderful opening remarks, nor were there any enchanting declaration. Xia Fei and Butcher’s match started very normally, which caused the audience on the stands to rain out boos. In the past history of these spectators, warriors would always brag and make promises before they got to fighting, claiming that they would make a bench out of the enemy’s head and so on.

Though the match started without any preamble, Xia Fei’s and Butcher’s performance was still sufficiently exciting, and that very quickly led to everyone watching to spectate intently.

Xia Fei’s Bloodthirsty Screech clashed with Butcher’s Cold Steel Greataxe, creating loud crashing sounds whenever the two men passed each other, their weapons in hands still reverberating through.

Butcher never thought that the slim built Xia Fei would actually possess so much strength to cause his wrist to feel sore as that over three hundred catty heavy axe continued to give a low hum.

“That’s some strength you’ve got. Again!”

Butcher yelled at the top of his lungs even as he leaped over three meters high and swung his greataxe overhead.

The wind howled as that heavy axe came crashing down to Xia Fei from above.

Xia Fei’s foot shifted diagonally as his body shunted to the side. Exerting strength from his waist, not only did he evade the attack, he retaliated with his longsword in hand like a blade in a blender, slashing in an arc aimed at Butcher’s legs.

Moving astonishingly fast, there was no way anyone could clearly make out what Xia Fei was doing in that instant without the aid of HD slow-motion playback.

Butcher abruptly retracted both his legs, nimbly doing a back-flip evasion maneuver as that greataxe adjusted and went swinging for Xia Fei again.

It must be mentioned that Butcher was almost two meters tall, weighing no less than three hundred catties himself. While it could still be understood just how quick Xia Fei was able to move, seeing someone of Butcher’s size move as agilely as a hawk was proof of how strong his martial arts foundation was.

This time, Xia Fei did not attempt to return the favor. Instead, he sternly swiveled his body outward, using his greater dynamic range of motion to turn himself into an oblique spring.

With a forceful push of his legs, Xia Fei sent his whole body bounding outward.

The greataxe smashed into the thick metal flooring, creating a deep depression and causing plenty of glaring sparks to fly out as the metal met metal.

“What strength!”

“You’re the best, Butcher!”

The audience up in the stands were all cheering for Butcher. The man looked to be really giving it his all today. In all the hundreds of battles before, Butcher had never shown such great strength until today. To be able to create such a depression on the metal flooring was evidence that he was giving two hundred percent of his effort in this match.

The crowd went wild, cheering with glee. Hook was also very satisfied, assuming that the opponents Butcher had faced before were too weak to stir him so much unlike today. It looked as if he ought to find some more warriors with higher cultivation or those with strange abilities for the man to fight. This way, the fights would be exhilarating, attracting even more viewers, which would naturally increase his revenue as well.

The black-robed girl anxiously covered her eyes in that second, and as if a cold war was being waged in her body, she kept shuddering. The older woman beside her saw how she acted and coldly harrumphed, evidently very dissatisfied with her reaction. Xiao Yu nervously let go and forced herself to endure the worry she felt inside her as she continued to watch the match.

The fight carried on, and it gradually intensified.

Xia Fei and Butcher pulled themselves together and focused hard on the fight, showing their top form as they kept trying to kill each other.

The metal flooring began to look more and more unsightly. Butcher’s greataxe and Xia Fei’s Bloodthirsty Screech were both heavy and large weapons, and with how they were exerting great strength every time they struck, each blow ended up causing plenty of collateral damage to their surroundings.

Furthermore, their fight was concentrated. Technically speaking, with an arena tens of thousands of square meters, there should be more than enough space for the two men to maneuver about, yet Xia Fei and Butcher kept clashing within a small space, taking turns to slash and cleave with their weapons respectively. It was almost as if backing down from the fight was a sort of insult to either man.

The commentator was excitedly describing every action of either Xia Fei or Butcher.

“Xia Fei contorted his body and successfully evaded Butcher’s attack, and now the former is taking the opportunity before the latter can recover his footing to go straight for his exposed back!

“I’m sorry; I’ve already forgotten how many times I used the words ‘contort’ and ’tilt’ to describe Xia Fei’s dexterous motions, but I truly can’t think of any other words to describe what I’m witnessing. His form is simply just too strange, always tilting and slipping right past his opponent’s attacks. I don’t even have a clue on how he’s able to make such unorthodox motions, not to mention doing so in the middle of actual combat.”

The commentator kept apologizing for his limited vocabulary, since it was truly difficult for anyone to describe Xia Fei’s motion when his Sly Thrust technique was in full play. This was all due to the fact that his figure’s movements were just too weird. He was clearly heading to the left, yet Xia Fei would somehow twist and bend in the middle, such that he ended up on the right, instead, giving off this illusion that those watching had gotten distracted in the process.

Xia Fei’s Bloodthirsty Screech split a palm-length wound on the flooring, then the two combatants parted to the left and right once more.

“I’m grateful that I’m able to enjoy myself going up against an opponent like yourself!” Butcher loudly called to him.

Xia Fei pulled out several Snake Eye Berries from his spatial ring and threw them at the latter. “Replenish your energy and continue our fight.”

Butcher burst out laughing. “You’re straightforward, indeed. Fine, I shall fight you till the end!”

An enthusiastic applause rang out from the stands. It was evident that Xia Fei and Butcher were fighting for the sake of the fight, and their pure warrior’s spirit had infected quite a lot of them. Of course, there were some who had placed their bets that wished for this fight to end as soon as possible so that they could cash out their tickets.

The ratings kept rising as the audience got passionate. Hook was delighted, and so were the viewers, but far away in the capital ring, Li Mo was not in the least bit happy.

“Just what is Hook up to? Why is the outcome of the match still in a limbo? Wouldn’t this all be done and over with if they drugged Xia Fei a little?” Li Mo huffed.

The drug that he was referring to was a substance that people in the fighting world used; sometimes when the difference in strength between the two fighters was huge, the betting submitted would become very one-sided. At that point, all that was needed was a bit of debilitating drug being added to the food of the warrior that the majority of bets was on to limit what the person could demonstrate during the match; doing so would let the organizer easily collect all the bets in one fell swoop.

The mustachioed man near him chuckled. “Young master, this is actually a good thing. You can now see how hard Xia Fei is fighting for his life. Now, imagine that, despite trying so hard, he still fails to escape the shadow of death; the level of disappointment he feels then will surely be immense. Aren’t you hoping to see something like that happen?”

Li Mo smirked as he nodded. “Indeed, you’ve got a point. The more Xia Fei resists, the greater the despair he will feel at the end of this. Good, this is indeed an ingenious plan. I heard that you’d recently found yourself a woman. I’ll be sure to give you a bungalow in Dongshan Valley to hold your harem.”

The mustachioed man was elated, smiling as he said, “Thank you young master. From today onward, I will most certainly pledge to serve you from the bottom of my heart, just like an obedient hunting hound.”

...

Pang Xing was hiding in his room. Starlink Corporation’s technical department had obtained the signal and sent it to his computer, and he was watching the match go down as he kept tugging at his sparse beard.

...

Several minutes ago, he went out to see that Avril had already started another lesson with her etiquette teacher after a shock break after dinner, and she had even set about preparing Xia Fei’s suit.

Xia Fei was not one for details, so Avril would usually personally help pick out the materials for his suit, even repeatedly instructing the tailor to be very careful with every part of it. Avril’s taste was naturally impeccable, so she had chosen a style that was understated but elegant.

Pang Xing felt as if his heart was being stabbed with a knife. Just how would he explain it to Avril if Xia Fei really failed to make it back?

That was when his personal communicator rang, and he picked it up to answer.

“Head butler Pang Xing. I’ve already looked into the number you instructed me to check. Mr. Thuram agreed to speak with you, and we’ve already connected the call.”

Pang Xing hurriedly said, “Send it through immediately.”

Pang Xing lowered the volume of the broadcast of the Blood Matrix and tidied himself up. When Xia Fei moved to take down the Plumagers who had tried to kidnap Avril, he did so with Thuram’s men. Given the emergency, Pang Xing sought the man, in hopes of getting some news from the latter. After all, Thuram was a high-ranking official in the Adjudicator Union, and the strength that organization possessed far outstripped Starlink Corporation’s. There was no telling if the Adjudicator Union would face a similar impedance Starlink was having trouble overcoming.

The screen popped up, and what he saw was not one but two old men on two separate windows. He obviously recognized Thuram, but it was the other tanned and obese old man that he had no idea of.

Thuram glanced at Pang Xing before saying to the other old man in the other window, “This is Pang Xing, a butler of Avril. Xia Fei seems to have a good relationship with him.”

This obese, old man was not an outsider but Qin Mang. The three did general introductions before Pang Xing anxiously asked, “Starlink Corporation already sent out their most capable men to search for Xia Fei, but we have yet to hear a word back. I wonder if the Adjudicator Union has any news on this front?”

Qin Mang shook his head. “No further developments yet. The Adjudicator Union isn’t omnipotent either.”

Pang Xing was visibly disappointed, slapping his thigh heavily.

Qin Mang asked, “Since you are a butler of Avril, I have to ask. Has Avril learned about this?”

Pang Xing replied, “Not at all. Why would I dare tell the young mistress?”

Qin Mang nodded. “That’s good. This incident is a little unusual; best if we let it all play out before saying anything.”

Pang Xing was slightly taken aback, but he had no idea what Qin Mang meant by ‘unusual’. All he saw was Xia Fei desperately fighting against Butcher, and though there was no outcome to the fight nor had either of them been injured, every blow was struck with such strength that they further deformed the metal flooring. If any of these blows were to land, then there would surely be irreversible consequences. No matter how amazing Xia Fei’s combat suit was, anyone would have a very hard time withstanding such a reckless assault.

Just as Pang Xing was about to ask, it was the impatient Thuram who first blurted out.

“Just what do you see, you old coot? Quick spit it out! Stop being all secretive and the like.”

Qin Mang simply responded, “You two know Xia Fei. What is his strongest ability?”

Thuram gave it some thought before answering, “It should be his ability to attack with both his speed and psychokinesis.”

Qin Mang laughed. “That’s right. Have neither of you wondered why Xia Fei has only been using his speed and not his psychokinesis?”

“This...” Thuram was momentarily rendered speechless. “That’s indeed strange. Xia Fei appears to be putting his life on the line, yet he has yet to unleash his strongest ability. Could he have an ulterior motive?”

Qin Mang chuckled. “Correct.”

His finger lightly pointed to an inconspicuous spot in the picture. “Take a look at this.”