The crowd’s murmuring only grew when they saw Wun Ping draw his sword. Most were pointed criticisms at him. Using a sword against a sixth-level Martial Disciple? Heh, that was like an adult challenging a kid to a duel and then throwing a tantrum after he lost. Wun Ping felt completely disgraced. He couldn’t even bring himself to look down at the faces beneath the stage. He was scared of those judgmental looks.
“Brother, I thought we agreed there shouldn’t be blood amongst brothers?”
Wun Fan smiled naively, but the mocking intent of his words was very obvious.
Wun Ping didn’t wait any longer when he heard that. He let out a roar and charged forward. Wun Ping took advantage of the night and the arena’s dim lighting to attack Wun Fan from odd angles and blind spots. Wun Fan couldn’t figure out Wun Ping’s tempo immediately and was forced to dodge and weave. Even though Wun Ping didn’t have a good character and wasn’t particularly strong, his sword techniques were admittedly quite refined. He had a very pronounced style of sinister swordsmanship that an average disciple would not be capable of.
Horizontal slashes, strikes from below, strikes from above, thrusts; it didn’t matter what angle the attacks came from, Wun Fan would always be able to barely dodge them. This made Wun Ping even more frustrated than he already was. His attacks became even more vicious, every strike aiming for a vital spot on Wun Fan’s body. One of these attacks even managed to graze Wun Fan’s ribs.
Wun Ping’s offence finally slowed down after a dozen attacks without anything to show for it. He had used up all the breath in him and needed more air to keep his muscles going.
“Now!”
Wun Fan had been waiting so long for this moment! His body shot forward like a cannonball, a flying knee crashing into Wun Ping’s firm chest. Wun Ping grunted and crashed heavily into the ground. The sudden attack surprised him and he quickly did a backwards roll and repositioned himself.
“Press the advantage!” Wun Fan shouted and lunged forward. He refused to let Wun Ping put distance between them again. He attacked in rapid succession, striking at his wrist, shoulder, arm and neck.
“Slanted stance and a crooked back.”
“Curved wrist leading to tilted sword strikes.”
“Weak blows exposing yourself to enemy attacks.”
Wun Ping grunted again and again as Wun Fan struck him several times in a row. He even lost his grip on his sword when Wun Fan landed a punch on his wrist. Finally, Wun Fan finished the combo with a high kick to Wun Ping’s face, sending him stumbling backward to the edge of the arena.
“Man, it feels good to get it out of the system!”
Wun Fan brushed the dust off his robe, looking relaxed and composed, seemingly mischievous and yet, domineering. He looked at Wun Ping with pity in his eyes, as if he was looking at a poor child and mouthed the words, “If I weren’t only sixth level, they would have had to carry you out of here.”
There was no way Wun Ping could have simply tolerated such provocation. Anger rushed through his mind and his eyes turned bloodshot. He had completely lost his rationality. Aether surged from all ten vital pressure points as he rapidly closed the distance on Wun Fan. He swung his hand, easily hitting the younger boy and sending him flying before crashing to the ground.
“Wun Fan!” Wun Siu Lan leapt down to the arena from her seat, “Martial soul, descend.”
Her face was dark. She was suppressing her fury, afraid that she would kill Wun Ping by accident.
“Just like how he drew his sword for my honour back then.”
Wun Fan couldn’t help but cough up blood. His face was sickly pale. He thought to himself, As expected, a sixth-level Martial Disciple can’t deal with an all-out attack from a tenth level. The difference of four levels of aether is tremendous.
Wun Fan gave Wun Ping a middle finger for breaking the rules and using aether in their match.
“Die!” Wun Ping picked up his sword and lunged forward in response.
Even the third elder didn’t expect Wun Ping to use aether, or to pursue Wun Fan after injuring him so heavily. He couldn’t stop Wun Ping, because the sword was already inches away from Wun Fan.
“Lethality: Slashing Swords.”
The clan master’s voice boomed in the air. Several blasts of sword energy rushed forward and parried Wun Ping’s strike. Sparks flew and he stumbled back. Wun Ching Yeung appeared between the two combatants, preventing Wun Ping from attacking again.
Wun Ping finally regained his senses and pacified his soul energy. Just as he was about to admit his fault and apologise, the great elder’s silhouette flickered and appeared before him. He pressed a hand against Wun Ping’s chest as he chanted softly, “Lethality: Seeded Swords.”
Wun Ping took a few more steps back when hit by the palm, but he seemed otherwise unaffected. He was wondering why the great elder’s blow was so light and even gave him a warm feeling in the chest when all of a sudden, his face turned pale and regret overwhelmed him.
“Lethality: Unleashed Swords.”
The great elder clenched his fists at Wun Ping and soul energy erupted from within Wun Ping’s meridians. His organs were injured and blood came pouring from his mouth. His body was knocked a dozen meters away, as if he had been hit by a giant hammer. He crashed into the ground and sent dust into the air. No one could be sure if he was still alive.
“Wun Sing, you old bastard! How dare you kill my son! You’re finished!”
The second elder moved the moment the great elder leapt onto the stage. He knew Wun Ping was in the wrong, but that was his son after all. So what if he made a mistake? How could a cripple compare to his precious son? When he saw Wun Ping fall unconscious, he flew into a rage. He summoned his martial soul, drew on his soul energy and unleashed a devastating move.
He was usually a mean and intolerant person, but for a widower like himself, there was nothing more important than his son.
“Lethality: Coiling Serpent’s Sword.”
The second elder immediately lunged forward like a serpent that had spotted its prey.
The great elder remained composed in the face of the second elder’s attack. However, soul energy surged through his body as he waited for the second elder to approach. A clan had rules, rules that even elders could not break. As the second elder of the Wun Clan, he was to show respect to the great elder. The reason was simple—the great elder was superior to him, Wun Ching Muk, in strength, in seniority and in status!
Wun Siu Lan wanted to attack the second elder as well. Even if she wasn’t all that powerful, it was about showing her attitude. Fortunately, the clan master noticed her movements and stopped her. Even he wouldn’t be able to save her from punishment if she struck an elder.
“Lethality: Morning Glare Sword.”
The third elder also drew his sword. There was a flash of light from his sword as he thrust forward. The second elder’s attack was pierced with the force of the glaring morning sun.
The second elder immediately prepared to switch to another move when the third elder said coldly, “Wun Ping is fine.”
The third elder’s words were like a bucket of cold water. The second elder immediately came to his senses. He landed on the ground and sprinted to Wun Ping’s side. He placed his hand on his son’s wrist and felt a weak pulse.
These injuries are bad! Anger rose in him again. He was about to lose his cool.
“Enough.” Wun Ching Yeung stepped forward and spoke up. He looked at the second elder unkindly as he continued, “Wun Ping lost the fight and decided to break the rules of the match. He then proceeded to go for a killing blow. The great elder’s punishment was deserved. Moreover, the third elder already said that rule-breakers would be punished.
“Is this how you teach your son?”
Wun Ching Yeung glared at the second elder with the authoritative air of a clan master. His voice was clear and loud as he reprimanded the second elder. The hint of anger behind his words made the second elder nervous.
“It was because I saw Wun Ping on the ground, I…”
Wun Ping was the second elder’s only son. He couldn’t even bear to see him injured, let alone unconscious and on the brink of death. That was why he had attacked the great elder so angrily. Looking back now, he felt foolish for his actions. A second elder drawing his sword on the great elder? The other clans would laugh at the Wun Clan’s complete disrespect of seniority if they were to hear of it.
Wun Ching Yeung interrupted the second elder before he could explain himself, “Do you think the great elder would be as imprudent as Wun Ping? How dare you attack the great elder for no reason?”
“Clan master, I have always heard great things of the great elder’s abilities. I simply wanted to challenge him to a match.”
The second elder thought for a bit and immediately came up with this explanation that would also allow him to exact his revenge.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsuzrOOKSm
