"I"m not, to be honest," I admitted. "But I have nothing to lose!"

Zhu Jiao laughed. "That"s the spirit! I"m sure you"ll be able to surprise me again! Come on, Wu! Let"s settle this once and for all!"

We both surged forward, meeting in the middle of the coliseum. I wasn"t stupid enough to parry his punches directly, so once again I utilized Heavenly Flow and Earthly Steps to evade his attacks by the bare minimum, stepping back and avoiding his punches and kicks. Even as I evaded his a.s.sault, I kept my eyes – or rather, my qi senses peeled for an opening.

Visually, there was no gaps in Zhu Jiao"s defenses. Other than his face, which was covered by a golden aura of qi, his body was completely covered by golden armor. The metallic plates seemed impenetrable and impervious to anything I could throw at him.

Even my tactic of trying to bypa.s.s his defenses and freezing his blood didn"t work…

It might have worked against Li Guo Qiang, but that moron only focused on defending against physical attacks and completely neglecting defenses against inner attacks and qi. Zhu Jiao was smart enough not to make the same mistake.

Then how am I going to…?

That was where Heavenly Flow and Earthly Steps came in. one could be forgiven for mistaking it to be a purely defensive (or evasive) technique, but when used in the right way, it could prove to be one of the deadliest techniques.

That was why I was reluctant to use it against the other students during the tournament. It felt very unfair.

Fortunately, Zhu Jiao has his own fair share of cheats and Deus ex machina.

That was why I had no compunctions using this against him. If anything, he deserved to have this used against him.

Even without sight, I could "see" Zhu Jiao"s flow of qi. To be more accurate, I could "sense" rather than see the flow of qi in my opponent"s body. They were like streams of light, swirling around and melding with each other, coded in different colors and merging into different froms of qi. Picking out the difference threads of qi, I could see where the concentrations of qi were the densest, and the segments where they were the thinnest.

"Hah!"

Zhu Jiao didn"t realize what I was doing, for he was continuing his attacks unimpeded and trying to switch around the patterns of his attacks. I dodged his next few strikes and waited for an opportunity to present itself. For now, all I did was move back, step to the side, duck my head backward, spin away and retreated as he punched and kicked, avoiding all of his strikes by the smallest margins. As he closed in, his movements getting faster and more ferocious, I finally found the opening I wanted.

"!!"

"Uwaaah!"

With a shout, I slashed at the places where the concentration of qi were the thinnest. Zhu Jiao staggered back as blood spurted from the rents in his armor, wincing and cursing as he clutched at his injuries.

"How!?"

I replied with a riposte that almost cut through the thin layer of qi protecting his side and drawing a slight trickle of blood. Intuitively sensing danger, Zhu Jiao countered with a punch that forced me to snap my head backward, and quickly withdrew. Jumping back to a safe distance, he studied me keenly with a mystified expression.

"How did you cut through my Sacred Armor that was enhanced by my Sacred Beast technique?!"

"Do you think I"ll tell you while we"re still in the middle of a match?" I retorted.

Zhu Jiao relaxed a fraction and shook his head with a smile. "No, I"m not that naïve. Sorry, that was just a rhetorical question."

I doubted it was, given how most characters in wuxia and xianxia novels and light novels loved to explain their attacks and skills, but decided to let it go. Dropping to another offensive stance, I got ready to advance.

Seeing my aggressive stance, Zhu Jiao nodded. "Well, even if I don"t know how you did it, I"ll just have to be more careful!"

We both clashed again, sparks flying as my blades slid against his gauntlets. I ducked under another of his punch and thrust my right sword forward.

"!!"

Zhu Jiao quickly whirled away with a speed that was belied by his heavily armored form, and my strike that was aimed for his ribs merely slid through the gap and left a shallow cut. Zhu Jiao winced and then smashed his elbow down on my outstretched arm, but I was quick to let go of my sword and withdraw it, allowing his gauntlet to swing through empty s.p.a.ce. I then lashed out with my foot and kicked my sword back upward right at his face, and despite Zhu Jiao turning away, the tip of my blade grazed his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood before I s.n.a.t.c.hed it.

"Uwoooh!"

With a roar, I then slashed with my other sword, seeking yet another weak spot. By now Zhu Jiao had grown wise to my attacks – even if he didn"t realize how my attacks were penetrating his previously impervious defense, he was smart enough not to underestimate me. He caught my blade with his elbow and knee, halting the blade mere centimeters away from his side.

"!!!"

I was forced to let go of the sword again as he countered with a vicious hook that would have broken my nose had it landed. Gripping my remaining sword with both hands, I unleashed a powerful Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike that was off by several centimeters, missing the weak spot that my Heaven and Earth sense had picked out.

"Hmm…?"

Zhu Jiao had expected to suffer a grievous blow from my hastily executed attack, but his thick armor and dense qi protected him from the worst of my strike. Not going to waste the chance, he quickly retaliated with a riposte, his gauntleted fist literally tearing the s.p.a.ce apart as he launched another punch at my head.

"d.a.m.n it…!"

I cursed under my breath as I slid away, retreating to a safe distance. My other sword spun uncontrollably in midair before landing on the ground, its blade sticking deeply into the ground before vibrating ominously.

I had wasted a perfect chance to take out Zhu Jiao when his guard was down. Unfortunately, that was reality for you. No battle plan ever survived contact with an enemy, and I wasn"t some G.o.d Mode Mary Sue who could perfectly execute every attack with flawless precision. I was bound to miss quite a lot of strikes, especially when under pressure and overwhelmed by the heat of battle.

"I see…it"s not as if all your attacks can penetrate my armor…but those previous strikes didn"t feel like luck or a fluke…?"

Zhu Jiao was studying me, not sure what to make of the earlier exchange. But him being him, he decided not to dwell on the matter for too long and instead focused on finishing the battle. Dropping to a crouch, he raised both his hands and clenched them into fists.

This was definitely going to be a big attack.

"Haaaah~"

I let out a sigh and readied myself for yet another blow. Zhu Jiao kicked off the ground and launched himself at me.

Counter aggression with stillness. Like a rock in the waterfall…allow the water to flow around me. Don"t rush toward my opponent head-on.

It was almost the opposite of the match between Zhu Jiao and Bai Ning Xue. This time I was the one who remained stationary while Zhu Jiao sprang forward to attack. Closing my eyes, I allowed my qi perception to track Zhu Jiao"s trajectory before I moved slightly to the side. Twisting my sword in a backhanded blow, I slashed at the gap between the armor at Zhu Jiao"s stomach, hoping that my calculations were spot on.

They were, but just barely. My sword went a few millimeters than I intended, but I still managed to find the s.p.a.ce between Zhu Jiao"s armor and gouged his skin. If Zhu Jiao didn"t have his Golden Kirin Sacred Armor and Sacred Beast technique, he would have been eviscerated by that fatal blow.

"Kuh!"

Zhu Jiao grunted and swung his gauntlet back, hoping to take my head off, but I ducked under his huge fist and reversed the grip in my sword, yanking it out along with a fresh spray of blood. Zhu Jiao stumbled, the flow of his qi slightly disturbed for a moment.

I was definitely not going to let this chance slip through my fingers.

Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike!

I held my sword with both hands as I whirled around and unleashed a huge black dragon from my sword, which struck the off-balance Zhu Jiao with meteoric force. Despite his Sacred Armor and Sacred Beast technique, Zhu Jiao was thrown off his feet and sent hurtling across the arena. He yelped as he crashed onto the ground, but credit where it was due, he quickly recovered and rolled to his feet. Wincing, he clutched at his wound, then stared at the blood staining his metallic glove.

"Hmm…as I thought, it was not a fluke."

"Ugh…"

I was a little disappointed that I wasn"t able to deal a decisive blow. Despite drawing blood and knocking Zhu Jiao down, the injury I left on his gut was still too shallow. Zhu Jiao could still stand and continue fighting.

"You continue to amaze me, Wu."

He shok his head as he studied me. His fingers curled as he clenched his fists and his blazing golden aura surged once again.

"I still have no idea how you"re cutting through my defenses." He frowned as he stared at my sword. While he remained still, I slowly strolled over and picked up my other sword. As I expected, I preferred fighting with two swords.

"Secret," I replied, my voice tinged with slight humor. Zhu Jiao laughed good-naturedly and nodded.

"Of course, of course. I don"t expect you to tell me." Of course you did. You thought I was one of those arrogant antagonists in the typical wuxia/xianxia novels or light novels, who enjoyed bragging about my techniques or skills to the protagonist, didn"t you? Of course such things wer done so that the readers could appreciate the workings behind those techniques, but if you thought about it, no sane combatant would do that in real life.

Zhu Jiao then shifted his gaze to my swords and studied them for a few moments. I shifted them uncomfortably under his stare, wondering what he intended to do.

"No…those are just normal swords."

"??"

I stared at him, not comprehending. Zhu Jiao sighed.

"Initially, I thought it was possible that you"re cutting through my armor because of your swords. You know how most martial artists, especially those from the major sects, possess high quality spirit armaments and weapons. I suspected that you were using one of those…but now that I see them clearly, no matter how I look at them, they"re just normal swords. Even if they are spirit swords, they are of the lowest quality."

I glanced down at my swords and saw that they were chipped and heavily damaged. Honestly, I was actually surprised they lasted this long in the tournament. It was a miracle they hadn"t snapped or broken already.

"You"re right," I conceded. There was no use concealing that fact from Zhu Jiao. He could clearly see the swords for himself. "These are just normal swords. The lowest quality spirit weapons I can get for free from the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. There really is nothing special about them except that they belong to me."

Zhu Jiao chuckled. "You were always quite the sentimental person."

"Maybe." I raised both my swords. "But they"re more than enough to defeat you."

c.o.c.king his head, Zhu Jiao studied me in disbelief, then his hands and eyes went to the gouges I left in his armor. The bleeding had stopped, but there were still bloodstains on the gleaming armor and his gauntlets.

"Normally I would think you"re joking, but after taking those strikes from you, I can"t afford to dismiss that claim lightly."

Dropping to a crouch, he got ready to launch himself at me in a predatory pounce.

Not willing to allow Zhu Jiao to dictate the flow of battle, I also used Jin and advanced toward him. Slipping into his flow of qi, I predicted his movements and evaded his attacks while leaving another few cuts on his armor, slicing through the places where his defenses were the thinnest and drawing more blood. Undeterred, Zhu Jiao continued his relentless a.s.sault, forcing me back. I hopped back as his fist carved a destructive path toward me while deflecting his other fist. Then I jumped over his kick before slashing at his shoulder. Zhu Jiao shifted imperceptibly to absorb the blow, and this time I was unable to cut through his defenses.

"Hah!"

"!!"

I sprang back, flipping my body in midair as his fist seared through the s.p.a.ce where my head had been. Stumbling back, I hastily executed another Black Dragon Blast that slammed into Zhu Jiao and drove him back, causing him to stagger.

"Kuh…!"

Zhu Jiao braced himself and waved away the smoke. Swinging his arm out to swat at me, I ducked under his gauntlet and opened up another fresh cut on his forearm, causing him to flinch and withdraw it from instinct.

"Huff…"

Even as I left more damage across Zhu Jiao"s body, I felt myself slowly tiring. I couldn"t keep this up for much longer…

Zhu Jiao seemed to be aware of this too. His attacks intensified and he seemed to get more powerful and faster.

"I"m sorry…but I can"t afford to lose here!"

I couldn"t help but grin back, despite my rapidly deteriorating situation. "Neither can I."

Parrying a few strikes and being pushed back, I then dodged under his next punch and slashed him right under his guard, causing him to stagger back as blood dripped from the rents in his armor. Growling, he threw a hook at me, which I dodged.

"Golden Kirin Divine Claws!"

"!!!"

I just barely managed to evade the five beams of light that stabbed out of his gauntlet and sought to pierce me. Kicking out with a Lunar Rabbit kick, I managed to throw Zhu Jiao off balance and slashed him across his chest.

Black Dragon Blast!

"Kuh!"

Stumbling back as the huge explosion rattled him inside his armor, Zhu Jiao desperately threw his arm out.

"Golden Kirin Holy Blast!"

I flipped myself back and rolled away as the golden beam of destructive qi tore the air above me into shreds, almost replacing it with a vacuum. The shockwaves buffeted me, knocking me off my feet and sending me tumbling away.

Fortunately, I could make use of the momentum to distance myself away from my opponent. And not a moment too soon – Zhu Jiao"s foot stomped onto the ground where I was sprawled on a few seconds earlier, causing an earthquake.

"Huff…huff…"

I struggled to my feet, still roughly imbalanced, only to sway to the side to avoid Zhu Jiao"s Golden Kirin Divine Fist by the narrowest of margins. Gritting my teeth, I dug my heels in and struck with my swords at the gaps in his qi defense, drawing another spray of blood.

"Ugh!"

Swearing, Zhu Jiao stumbled back, but he managed to retaliate with a kick that I barely blocked with my crossed swords and sent me flying a few meters away. Fortunately, this time I was more prepared and was able to land elegantly on my feet.

"Hu…"

Breathing out, I straightened myself and glared at my opponent. Zhu Jiao had also recovered, stemming the bleeding with sheer force and reared back to meet my gaze. He smiled slightly, then propelled himself forward.

Pushing my gla.s.ses up, I then took another deep breath before using Jin to meet him in mid-clash. We both collided in the middle of the arena, though I spent most of the exchange evading rather than directly blocking and parrying while leaving as many injuries as I could. Zhu Jiao remained calm despite seemingly being at a disadvantage.

"!!!"

His fist came dangerously close to sc.r.a.ping my cheek and I retreated a step. d.a.m.n, but Heavenly Flow and Earthly Steps was mentally demanding and exhausting. I could feel my concentration gradually slipping. It wouldn"t be long before my mental stamina ran out and I would no longer be able to keep up my evasive maneuvers.

I had to deliver a decisive blow soon.

Forcing myself to calm down, I picked out the holes in Zhu Jiao"s defenses, the places where the qi was thinnest, so that I could exploit those vulnerabilities as much as possible. While death by a thousand cut was a valid strategy, I knew I wouldn"t be able to hold out for that long. I didn"t possess the same endurance and stamina that Zhu Jiao did.

Even now, I could feel my focus fading. It took every ounce of effort I had to keep my mental state together, to continue fighting until the bitter end…

…until I defeated my opponent.

"UGH!"

And finally I saw it. A huge opening. In his overzealous attempt to deliver a decisive blow himself, Zhu Jiao left himself wide open to a counterattack. Stepping to the side to avoid his powerful punch, I whirled within his guard.

"!!!"

Zhu Jiao"s eyes widened when he realized his fatal mistake. Not giving him a chance to correct it, I stabbed him with one of my swords, slipping it through the cracks in his qi armor and ramming the blade into his chest.

"Gaaah!"

Blood spurted from Zhu Jiao"s lips as he staggered backward. However, despite his injury, he actually smiled.

"!?"

I realized something was amiss and tried to pull away. As I expected, Zhu Jiao delivered a backhand that would have swept my head off my shoulders if I didn"t dodge it.

d.a.m.n it! I cursed when realization dawned on me. Zhu Jiao left himself open on purpose! He let me attack him with what I thought was a decisive blow so that he could counterattack!

And I had played right into it!

Fortunately, I had dodged his…

"…AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Agony shot through my foot and I stumbled, only to find myself held in place. Glancing down, I saw that Zhu Jiao"s boot had slammed and stomped onto my foot, pinning me to the ground. Gritting my teeth, I tried to wrench my foot away, but his other leg came in – causing more pain to surge through my leg as his entire weight crushed my foot – and smacked into my knee.

A red haze of excruciating pain exploded through my leg and flooded my mind and I heard the deafening crack. Howling in pain as my leg gave way, the bone snapping cleanly and fracturing from the blow, I fell to my knee.

"Guh…!"

Zhu Jiao mercilessly snapped the blade I had stabbed into his chest by ramming his elbow into it, breaking my sword. The upper half of my body snapped back from the sudden blow, but I was still held in place by my broken leg. Realizing what Zhu Jiao wanted to do, I tried to bring my other sword to bear, but I was too slow.

Zhu Jiao struck me with his Golden Kirin Divine Fist. I managed to bring my right arm – which was no longer holding the sword – to parry the blow, but his powerful punch shattered the bones in that arm, rendering it useless. I almost blacked out from the pain, tears streaming from my eyes and an agonized howl erupting from my mouth.

Swinging my remaining sword desperately, I executed Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike at pointblank range. Zhu Jiao"s eyes widened but he managed to deflect the blow with both of his gauntlets. Fortunately, my defiant attack had driven him back.

For only a second.

His fist burst out of the smoke and slammed into my chest. Blood spurted from my lips and my ribs caved in as they broke, puncturing my lungs. Tumbling head over heels, I helplessly cartwheeled across the arena before crashing helplessly on the ground.

Shin…

For a moment, the spectator box fell silent. Obviously I hadn"t been paying much attention to them since I couldn"t make out the m.u.f.fled voices from behind the soundproof window, but for the first time I was aware of the ominous silence.

No…that was wrong. I was no longer aware of the voices, the cheers, the outrage or the jeers because I had lost consciousness.

d.a.m.n it…I want to win…! I want to win! I can"t lose like this…!

Clenching my teeth in frustration, I forced myself to stand on my remaining, unbroken leg. As long as I still had one leg, one arm and one sword, I could still make a comeback.

I wasn"t going to…!

"…kuh…"

Unfortunately, my body refused to listen and I found myself sinking into the oblivion of unconsciousness.

*

Everyone had went silent as they watched the two combatants in the coliseum.

The match had been decided long ago. It should have. The winner was clearly Zhu Jiao. He was still standing upright, and despite the numerous wounds he had sustained, he was at least still conscious and capable of combat.

The other person was in a sorry state. With a broken arm and leg, he had difficulty standing even if he somehow managed to preserve his consciousness. His eyes were glazed over, and it was clear that he had blacked out.

Even so…no one declared the outcome of the match. Zhu Jiao was still watching his opponent, his shoulders sagging.

"Wu, you…"

His voice was weak. Probably because he was heavily injured, despite his armored appearance. Or perhaps he was exhausted after such a grueling fight.

"…you still haven"t given up?"

The other boy was still standing on his unbroken leg. He was holding his remaining sword in his left hand and pointing it at Zhu Jiao, a vortex of black qi swirling dangerously around it. Even though he had clearly lost consciousness, he refused to admit defeat…to the point where his body continued to resist even though his mind was gone.

Zhu Jiao closed his eyes and shook his head bitterly.

"Man…in terms of spirit and determination, I"ve lost to you."

However, his eyes turned steely and he stared at the other boy firmly.

"Unfortunately, I can"t afford to lose here. I"m sorry, but this will be my win. As one final act of respect, I will…"

Golden qi began coalescing in his hands as he prepared to launch one final attack to seal the result of the match. As if reacting to the sudden surge in qi, Zhu Jiao"s opponent"s body jerked and pointed the glowing sword at him, as if getting ready to meet his attack.

"That"s enough."

Teacher Cai dropped down next to the unconscious but defiant boy. He placed a hand on the struggling teenager"s shoulder.

"Student Fei Wu, it"s over. You can stop fighting now."

He lowered his head and shook it.

"You"ve done your best. You"ve already proven yourself to everyone. There is no longer any need for you to continue fighting."

"Allow me."

Teacher Jiao had entered the coliseum as well. At Teacher Cai"s nod, he proceeded toward the boy, reached out and gently pushed the unbroken left hand down. At the movement, the black qi swirling around the intact sword slowly dispersed.

"Excellent work Student Fei Wu. You can rest now."

As if a puppet whose strings were cut, the boy finally allowed himself to fall. Fortunately, Teacher Jiao managed to catch his body before he hit the ground. He then turned and nodded at Teacher Cai.

Raising his head, Teacher Cai announced the outcome of the match.

"The match is over. The winner is Zhu Jiao."

To the side, Teacher Jiao smiled slightly and placed the boy gently on the ground while waiting for the medics to arrive and tend to his wounds.

"They"re both winners," he murmured softly.

Above, in the spectator"s box, everyone applauded.