BS: Bullshi--?
Out of the seven members of the clear sky clan's team, Tang Min, the leader, was the strongest. But from many battles they had already witnessed, he wasn't the tactician. Due to their extreme strength, the Clear Sky Clan can form tactics beforehand. Bibi Dong speculated that the team's teacher, the Second Elder of the Clan, formed tactics and might even have backup plans explained. It's just that the Clear Sky Clan has never been pushed to its limit.
The fourteen men and women stepped on the stage. Tensions were sky high as Tang Min glared at Ja Sun. Nurtured by the elders and adopting their view, Tang Min rejected Tang Hao's praises that spread within the clan regarding Ja Sun and only held to the point that he was the reason Tang Yuehua left.
Ja Sun took a deep breath himself. A little excited. He was now spoiled rotten by this world and not being able to get an S-ranked mission for a week already sent him over an edge. Excitement coursed through his veins as he began setting up missions. His lips moved since he had to create the missions verbally— the trigger of his trait. Still, no voice emerged. Ja Sun kept his voice compressed. Only after a few trials and errors did Ja Sun finally settle on a more familiar mission format... further divided into optional objectives.
[Objective: Defeat the Clear Sky Clan's team and find an enclosed space privately to pump your fist.
Optional Objectives:
1) Do not use Vajra Gauntlets.
2) Do not use martial souls.
3) Do not use spirit bones.
4) Do not use mental energy.
5) Do not let any teammate get hurt by the opponents.
6) Defeat the opponents within 10 minutes while keeping the first four optional objectives active.
7) Defeat the opponents within 5 minutes while keeping the first four optional objectives active.
8) Defeat the opponents within a minute while keeping the first four optional objectives active.
Mission Rank: B-B-S-S-S-S-S/S/S
Mission Rewards: Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer— Ancestral Suppressing Hammer— Great Sumeru Hammer— 75000-year-old Nine-headed Giant's Left Leg Bone— Dragon's Mind Core— Chunk of Life Gold— Clear Sky Nine Absolutes/ Clear Sky Nine Absolutes/ Clear Sky Nine Absolutes.
Time Limit: 60/60/60/60/60/60/10/5/1 minutes]
Ja Sun looked at the mission. His heart thumped and his cheeks flushed unnaturally. Those around him noticed his glazed state as his breathing, too, turned heavier. There were going to be a lot of repercussions— physical, mental, and political. But...
"What's gotten into you?" Liu Erlong inquired.
"Once the match begins, please step down."
Ja Sun's compressed voice entered everyone's ears and they frowned. Especially Liu Erlong. But despite her reluctance, she found Ja Sun one individual to who she didn't feel like talking back at. Especially when now that he strangely looked feral.
"What are you trying to do?" Bibi Dong's expression darkened, finding such a sudden change a bit annoying.
"I..." Ja Sun slightly licked his lips, feeling his throat dry up a bit. Aside from the Life Gold, he had no idea what the other items did. But just the term 'S' and so many of them... well, it made something rise.
"I promise I won't be this selfish when facing Dai Taiyin."
Ja Sun reasoned that even if Dai Taiyin is strong, and even when he gets all the S-ranked missions again, he couldn't be completely sure. In fact, if he did get multiple S-ranked missions next time and one of them netted him another chunk of Life Gold, Ja Sun knew that he will be able to let go of it only if he gained it right now.
And he fully believed others to get hurt so they needed to step down even if he ended up hurting them somewhat.
"I'm not going to chicken out--" Xie Xan and others, too, looked reluctant, but Liu Erlong hurriedly retreated the moment she sensed a bloody odor emanating from Ja Sun. After returning from Slaughter City, many things about Ja Sun had changed. The odor from his body attracted the confident team in front of him.
"Ugh," Ja Sun let out a groan, and clarity flickered in his eyes. He shook his head and looked back again, "On another thought, don't step down just yet. Sorry, but I wish to make some changes to the plan only if you agree," Ja Sun inquired Bibi Dong and she finally nodded.
In his excitement, Ja Sun barely, but timely, realized that he hadn't added the mission of fighting alone. It meant that these ranks came in while keeping others' value intact, too. He could either let others fight and risk the Life Gold or he could actually start controlling his emotions and think clearly in the face of one thing that represented his goals and accomplishments.
'S.'
Bibi Dong's and others' expressions eased. As Ja Sun's words entered their ears after Bibi Dong agreed to hear him out, the referee gave Ja Sun a cautious glance— clearly startled by the potent bloodlust.
"Prepare!"
He called out and everyone but Ja Sun and Bibi Dong retreated.
Bibi Dong could use poison but it would still be hard to defeat their opponents. It meant that Ja Sun's opponent had the ability to counter Bibi Dong's poisons.
*Zap*
*Zap*
*Fsshh*
Coarse sounds echoed from the opposite side of the battlefield. Clear Sky Hammer could increase the explosive strength of any element or attribute. This allowed the wielders of the Clear Sky Hammer to choose one direction of element and it was their more basic school of thought. Those who are backed by elders and subsequent resources could accept the stronger path of better self-enhancement skills. According to the history of the clan, there have been two individuals with Spirit Rings that could provide a little above 500% increase in damage and that is why the spirit rings of the Nine-headed Giants are so valued by the clan.
Tang Hao and Tang Xiao followed this line of thought. Their skills did not travel on the path of explosive elements but sheer strength.
Right now, in front of Ja Sun, seven hammers appeared. Each hammerhead was the size of a barrel and they were all multicolored. Green, dark blue, purple, red. Tang Min's handle was pitch-black and six rings were moved onto the hammer's halo.
Unlike Ja Sun, the team opposite to him didn't shy from revealing their entire sets of spirit rings.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, and black.
Finally, the referee calmly waved his hand and the Clear Sky Team prepared to move when Ah Yin suddenly created a dome of blue silver vines where they stood and covered everyone except Bibi Dong and Ja Sun.
Seeing this, Tang Min instantly shouted.
"Start with the wind hammers," he gave a low roar.
---
In the viewer's seat, specifically, the middle ring occupied by the higher-ups of the various factions, everyone focused on the match.
"That bloodlust, and the ability to control poison, to think that the actual evil cultivators are all present in Spirit City already," Dai Laohu chuckled. His deep and magnetic voice made others feel their bodies trembling.
Not every leader is a Titled Douluo. Aside from the Spirit Hall, the concentration of the Titled Douluo level beings is quite low everywhere else. This was the natural restriction of focusing on one family instead of pooling the talents of the continent at large.
"Evil intentions make evil spirit masters. As long as power is used for the safety of others, all of this is merely a means to a better end. Wouldn't you say so, White Tiger Douluo?" Qian Xunji chuckled. His expression was gentle.
This was a facade. Those who belonged to Qian Xunji's generation were deeply aware of his venomous and striking personality yet he received the admiration of others because he could do things that others only dare imagine.
"What a good phrase," Yu Yuanzhen sneered, "Is this what you teach all the members you poach from others' families?"
"Indeed," Qian Xunji nodded, "It is something that many fail to understand anywhere else. Sigh, the world has gotten stranger and stranger. Protectors now turned predators. It is quite sad to recall about your third brother, Dragon Douluo. Had he entered the Spirit Hall, my father could have shown him a better path."
Yu Yuanzhen's eyelids twitched. The world mostly knew about his younger brother— Liu Erlong's father. But they had another sibling. A genius, like him. However, he took the natural endowment of a dragon's lust too far. Lust not only for women but also the desire for power led him to the path of the massacre. The bloodshed mutated his martial soul to a blood variant but he was soon executed by Qian Xunji himself. However, at the time, this wielder of Blood Dragon Mutation had already cost the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan many expenses so no tears were shed on his demise.
"But I have to say that poison won't work on my Tang Min and others," Tang Peng chuckled as he saw Ah Yin covering everyone but Ja Sun while light pink smoke began to emerge from Bibi Dong's pores. Just the fact that the poison was now visible to the human eye made everyone who had experienced its peculiarities gulp.
"Oh?" Qian Xunji looked curious, "Do you mean your subordinate, the Attack Clan? I have long heard of their passion for medicines. And it is indeed not against the rules to have taken something before the match."
"Hah, the Attack Clan's methods are strange. For the next hour, the kids are going to be extremely resistant to any and every form of poison. I almost feel bad that they will need to face diarrhea for the day," Tang Peng chuckled.
---
"It won't work, Bibi Dong. Your vile ways come to an end," Tang Min chuckled as Ja Sun calmly heaved in a deep breath. He only smelled the sweet scent and seeing him act as such, Bibi Dong couldn't help but roll her eyes internally. Now she seemed to have understood why Ah Yin would rebuke the man to not act 'inappropriately' but would still look happy. It was a conflicted emotion but seeing the otherwise suicidal lover of hers enjoying her scent made Bibi Dong feel somewhat satisfied.
While the group stood to a standstill, the two members behind Tang Min began waving their hammers. Their bodies would exert strength dangerously and with each rotation, their momentum would rise to another level.
The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
Ja Sun knew of this move but he didn't really consider it a threat. Not when there are more effective manners to deal with them.
"Remain steady," Ja Sun compressed his voice and stated to the team. Bibi Dong stood close to the dome of vines, almost leaning on it. The poison she let out was constantly moved due to the gales rising out of the hammers of the two members.
"Why... aren't you moving?" Tang Ping inquired. This wasn't in the script.
"No reason," Ja Sun smiled, "Say, have you spent your entire life only training?"
"Of course," Tang Min nodded.
"Oh..." Ja Sun nodded, "That's why you keep on being so awkward around women? A word of advice, your elders have had their fun already. Don't always follow what they tell you to do."
"Don't you dare insult me!" Tang Min clenched the handle of his hammer.
"What?" Ja Sun was confused, "I haven't insulted you... sigh, I'm just trying to converse with you."
"Brother, they must be plotting something," One of the men spoke up and Tang Min frowned.
"Of course, we are," Bibi Dong smiled, "Do you think we would really want to converse in a battle if it did not serve any purpose? We are waiting for those two to complete 81 rotations."
The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer uses the air around oneself as a pressure to cut and exert more strength and stack it with each rotation. There are a total of 81 rotations and the 82nd strike holds the strength almost equivalent to a Spirit Sage when delivered by a Spirit Emperor. In fact, this kind of technique barely used any spirit energy and the strongly built Tang members only needed enough time to reach 81 rotations.
"What do you mean?" Tang Min hesitated.
"We want to see if the Clear Sky Hammer really deserves its reputation or not," Ja Sun lied.
The poison was already beginning to dissipate. But what Bibi Dong had done wasn't just for show. Resistant or not, Ja Sun only wished for the poison to enter their systems. He didn't think that everyone would have a physical core and as strange as his that not only recovered his stamina extremely quickly but also broke down any external energy into basic units to refine his physique continuously. This was the effect of yin, yang, and war attributes.
"Brother Min, the more we talk, the higher the chance of them trying to beguile us," one of the girls spoke.
"Being afraid even to talk and thinking that you might be fooled... even when we admitted that there is a plot afoot... you must be quite stupid, right?" Ja Sun smiled.
"No need to give them anymore face," Tang Min spat coldly. He and another youth shot out instantly.
"Why don't the rest of you come?" Ja Sun taunted, his middle finger rising to the occasion.
"I'll break your arm. And then your face," Tang Min growled as his gaze turned gloomier.
Ja Sun calmly jogged forward, "Why my face? With how much I worked your pretty sister Yuehua, I thought you'd target something else entirely. Something southward." He winked. Ja Sun didn't raise his voice too loud. His only motive was to make the group more excited, not besmirch Yuehua's name.
"Fucker!" Tang Min instantly hissed and the expression of the other youth turned cold when two web strings zoomed in on his position.
"Oh, that's actually close to what we did!" Ja Sun laughed. When facing Tang Min's hammer getting closer to his face while his second ring had already brightened, Ja Sun could only dodge while slapping towards Tang Min to have his attack dodged, too.
"Tsk, tsk, such a large hammer is going to slow you down. But I could use mine to move quicker and better," Ja Sun snickered, weaving around Tang Min. The fact that others did not intervene only made it better for Ja Sun. If he were not limiting himself due to his trait and faced a single opponent with an entire team... he'd make the team jump on the opponent together.
Bibi Dong, meanwhile, did what she was asked. She agreed to the strange request of keeping the attacks long-range. Her sixth spirit ring was already active as numerous Bloodsucking Spider Thorns now kept the opponent busy. As if having faith in whatever remedy they used, the youth only had his third spirit ring brightened as he brought his hammer down smashing while letting many thorns stab into his skin. His endurance was amazing. But Bibi Dong still remained alert. If her poison accidentally killed the youth, she'd be the one to be blamed. It was good that her thorns also acted as an extension of her control over her poison.
Every gaze was attracted to a defenseless youth moving around like a phantom. Every strike of the hammer dodged by a hair's breadth while the accompanying lightning around the hammer caused Ja Sun's clothes to slowly contract at times.
From the large screens, it could be seen that Ja Sun was still conversing with Tang Min but the contents couldn't be heard. However, from the increasingly worse look on Tang Min's face, they felt that it was anything but good.
Ja Sun simply loved to pick one soft spot and squeeze until it's torn and then still poke the bleeding wound and drip lemon on its surface and—
"To be honest, if she had thought of you even once, I wouldn't have been able to train her to be such a wonderful pupil," Ja Sun sighed.
—sometimes add chili to the wound.
"Stop! Talking!" Tang Min screamed.
His fifth spirit ring brightened and his body began to spin like a top.
While others were still stacking up the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, Tang Min used his spirit ability to quickly stack attacks as he followed Ja Sun furiously. His attack stacked 36 times and he growled, "Go to hell!"
"I would love to," Ja Sun's gaze brightened as he shot into Tang Min before phasing out strangely.
'What?' Tang Min's pupils contracted. Ja Sun had long masters the movement technique created by an agility-type Titled Douluo and even added the momentum conversion of storm steps. His speed, at maximum, was a frightening concept amongst his peers.
"Behind you. Oh look, another thing I warned Yuehua about, too," Ja Sun cackled and the spinning Tang Min instantly gritted his teeth.
'Clear Sky Nine Absolutes: Shock!'
His gaze glinted and his hammer produced a pitch-black shockwave that expanded, instantly covering Ja Sun before contracting again.
"This is new," Ja Sun narrowed his eyes while Tang Min turned around, the hammer directly moving towards Ja Sun's chest as the wielder of the hammer growled internally.
'Clear Sky Nine Absolutes: Explode!'
The face of the hammerhead grew glistening and lightning poured out of its surface frantically.
'A shockwave...' Ja Sun scoffed. These were two clever use of shockwaves produced by the movement of spirit energy and the pressure of the hammer.
'Let's see... expand,' A white glow emerged from Ja Sun's bandaged arms.
'And contract!'
The glow turned sharp and the hammer tilted from aiming at Ja Sun's chest to his left arm.
"H-how?!" Tang Min gasped but Ja Sun still didn't let himself get compromised with injuries. If everyone were attacking together, however—
"You fools! Are you all fucking idiots? Attack together! Don't fall into enemy's plot!"
A loud shout only erupted into the ears of the Clear Sky Team Members. The Referee suddenly frowned and glared in the second elder's direction but seeing the man still sitting quietly, he only snorted.
The rules of the competition were quite loose and only death meant dismissal. Even if Bibi Dong didn't need an advisor, other team teachers would seldom compress their voice and advice. It wasn't against the rules but teams like this would lose reputation if they did it continuously.
Just only felt a slight fluctuation of spirit energy and suddenly, the other two teammates shot out, leaving one of them to protect the remaining two now stacking their 62nd rotation.
"My god, can't even finish a job. How are you ever going to satisfy your wife? By calling your teammates?" This time Ja Sun didn't lower his voice since it didn't connect with Tang Yuehua.
Bibi Dong's expression fell and so did the other members of the Clear Sky Clan. Tang Yuehua included. It was a fortunate circumstance that she didn't hear other slanderous phrases Ja Sun had to speak of.
Dai Taiyin's expression turned bitter and so did Tang Hao's, who was only a little away from his father alongside his brother in the middle ring.
Weaker poison can be temporarily resisted through medicine...
But there is no medication for the burns of verbal lashings!
"Stop talking!" Tang Min roared. Eyes red. His other teammates' hammer reached for Ja Sun and the defenseless youth looked towards Bibi Dong. She still kept her opponent away using various means but most of the time, she would only shoot webs that would entangle with her opponent.
Ja Sun was positive he had gained the aggro and he finally called out, "Now!"
His compressed voice traveled through the dome of vines where Oscar and others calmly ate Tofu without knowing what to do until Ah Yin's eyes snapped open.
Ah Yin's domain had the ability similar to her first spirit ring— Growth. Just that the capability of her domain to grow blue silver variants was greater and its reach farther. It wouldn't be wrong to call Ah Yin a walking forest.
And her domain's other ability was to bestow every blue silver within the perimeters of the domain with a single spirit ability at once. It could be her second, third, fourth, fifth, or even her sixth Spirit ability. Why not first? Because it wasn't needed. However, she could only grant the blue silver variants one spirit ability at a time. To grant another, the effects of the previous one would be removed.
Right now, Ah Yin was clear on the situation outside, her domain completely spread out waiting to act.
***
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