My Path

The sound of broken ribs reverberated, but fortunately, Xueming had the hot fire Qi energy to help heal himself. As a result, as soon as he was crashed, Xueming did not forget to immediately move the heat energy into the right side of his torso, thus slowing down the spreading injury and then stopping it before it would affect the internal organs. Despite no more spread of injury, the pain remained. Xueming took a deep breath, and the veins in his eyes cracked, turning the eyes red. Despite feeling extreme pain, Xueming did not make any sound. Xueming's determination to win was now much higher than at any time in his life.

At the moment Xueming was using his hot Qi energy to heal himself, it was a split second after being crashed. Although most of the body could avoid the attack, the crash impact remained, causing Xueming’s body to fly and bump onto a huge tree more than 10 wahs away. If Xueming's strange hot Qi energy had not somewhat improved from the previous stage a month ago (now the pain and the effects of fractures were reduced by more than half), at this time, Xueming would have been ejected by the magic sphere and already failed the test for sure.

Despite Xueming’s ability to heal the main injury, his ability to use this hot Qi energy was still limited, thus allowing him to control this energy to only one point at a time. Therefore, the wounds on his arms still remained terrible, especially the right arm that was severely cut by the blade from the Rhino's giant horn. The mouth of the wound was open wide and long, almost ten inches. Some of the wounds were open almost to the bone. Fresh blood bathed all over his entire arm that it became fully red. The left arm, though also wounded and painful, was still useful because it was on the other side during the attack by the Rhino.

This battle made Xueming clearly realize that his weak martial skills and his body which was Xueming’s strongest point having obtained from the Divine Body Cultivation Technique were not enough to survive this adult Sword Horn Rhino. Plus, this place was a closed dimension, with no audience watching what happened. Xueming decided to use all the skills he had to survive. Although he was not very confident, it did not hurt to take a risk.

After its gigantic body slid following the centrifugal force from its Deadly Crash Posture, the Sword Horn Rhino's body finally stopped. Turning around, the Rhino found himself about 100 wahs away from its original spot. Its ferocious gaze stared at Xueming who was standing up in a staggering condition. The Rhino's eyes turned red in anger because he had been confident that his Deadly Crash Posture should have killed this human who had only the second level of the basic Qi.

When things didn’t turn out as expected, the Rhino vented its fury, digging a wide hole with its two rear legs until the surrounding area became dusty and making a dust curtain blurring its enormous figure. But then, the same white smoke flew out, clearly contrasting with the brown dust… Now it was preparing to make use of the Deadly Crash Posture again Xueming once more.

Xueming did not hesitate, thus speeding up the use of the hot Qi energy to heal his wounds and broken ribs. The more heat energy was used, the faster it flowed. Now Xueming was able to move moderately. Even though he still felt some pain, he still had enough capacity to avoid the attack toward his fatal point. Xueming, therefore, stopped using the heat energy for further treatment. Instead, he released a scalding flame to cover his left arm that was still able to move.

This deadliest signature attack of the Sword Horn Rhino made Xueming notice that, although the gigantic rhino's body was so swift that he couldn’t avoid, he could predict the direction of the attack at the last moment, which theoretically was not different from the Gut-Piercing Punch of the Yong family. This urged Xueming to use this advantage to deal with the Rhino. Although the very different speed between Xueming’s and the Rhino’s made it almost impossible since there was no better alternative for Xueming. Taking a risk seemed to be the most reasonable because even if Xueming made a slip, he would just lose and not face actual death.

The Sword Horn Rhino hurtled toward Xueming again. Reaching the 20-wah distance from Xueming, the giant Rhino sped up in the blink of an eye, just like the first time. Xueming, who was concentrating, stared at the approaching Rhino, but suddenly something unexpected happened. His left eye—hiding a secret that even Xueming himself couldn’t fathom—suddenly revealed another ability by accident. A faded red mark suddenly appeared on the belly of the Rhino. When that faded red mark became visible, Xueming suddenly realized that it was the weak point of this giant beast whose skin was stronger than stone.

... But because everything happened too suddenly, Xueming lost his concentration for a moment.

In this dangerous battle, a brief moment of carelessness could lead to a great disaster. But because of his determination simmered by the acute situation, Xueming’s decision-making ability was leveled up without realizing it. In the blink of an eye, before the Sword Horn Rhino's massive head would approach closer. Xueming suddenly turned the bruised body around and used centrifugal force to send the right half of the body to collide with the Rhino, causing his flesh to be torn and his right arm pulled off. Yet, his determined concentration forced the heat energy to heal the wounds and alleviate the bleeding not to flow out too much until he fainted. The bright red flames healed and cauterized the wounds at the same time, causing a loud noise—Chee Chee-- constantly hanging by Xueming's ears. The big sweat drops kept pouring out. Xueming's eyes started to blur. His red mouth turned pale, trembling, and his upper body swayed. Xueming knew well that once he fell down asleep, the test would inevitably end at that moment.

Phewww…!

Fresh blood shot out from the lower lip as soon as Xueming bit. The fleeting pain brought back his almost-lost consciousness a bit more clarity. However, every action that took place within this Sphere of Illusionary Spell revived the thoughts having dormantly hidden in Xueming's soul all along to rise up again.

The decision to sacrifice his right arm was just to save his last weapon meant for the counterattack. Mouth biting was for awakening himself, despite little effect. Taking all risks to win the fight was the real character of Xueming.

... His true self insisted that even if he was to die, he would not give up. The pain was severe, but the fire of hatred was far superior. He would not surrender to Li Biao or anyone who had malice against him.

Little by little, Xueming's unique path of cultivation was formed. It was the path of an opposer to superior power. The unlawful and hostile powers all formed a path for a king who agreed to accept death rather than bow his head to anyone... the king who smiled at the twisted fate.

Xueming knew that his consciousness regained would not last long, thus requiring that his every action must race against time. But as he took a deep breath, the right half of the lower body ached like being pierced by a hundred knives all at once. His cold sweat poured out until the whole body began to tremble. The blurry eyes tried to gaze at the Sword Horn Rhino who was posing for another strike. Although his two feet were so exhausted that he could collapse anytime soon, now he was stimulated by the last fire of stubbornness that was lit up for the last time before it was to be extinguished.

Xueming had to suppress all the pain he had. He stomped his feet on the ground until it collapsed. His remaining left arm, despite being in a poor condition, was lifted up to chest level. The scalding flame was no longer used for healing. Instead, it was completely amassed on Xueming's left arm. With Xueming's determination and mindfulness this time, the bright red flame was more intense than ever before as though it could fathom the mind of its master. The flame that wrapped Xueming's left arm instantly transformed from the shapeless one into the shape of fire wings. A bright red wing spread covering Xueming's left half of the body.

The noise of the ground loudly reverberated, and with every step, the Sword Horn Rhino made toward him, his mind was even tenser. Even though his body was completely exhausted, Xueming's concentration remained steadfast. He could clearly hear his heart beating ... although its sound was so faint as if it was about to stop. The sound of the wind blowing past his body, no matter how faint, everything became clearer to him as if it were tangible: the sound of the burning flame bathing his left arm and, of course, the sound of the Sword Horn Rhino that was moving fast toward him.

…30 wahs.

…25 wahs.

…22 wahs.

…20 wahs. As soon as the Sword Horn Rhino reached the attack distance, its sound suddenly disappeared. Its feet rose above the ground. Only for a split of a breath before the collision would happen, Xueming sensed every movement around him, choosing to let his exhausted body slide down the wide hole that had previously been crushed with the foot.

The Sword Horn Rhino that was dashing with full force could no longer change its direction. Xueming flopped into the wide hole. The sharp sword horn intended to split the enemy’s body into two immediately missed the target at the last moment.

Suddenly, Xueming's languid figure regained consciousness. The eyes that had been narrowly opened suddenly widened. All his strength was used to raise the remaining left arm pointing toward the sky. The left arm covered with fiery flames instantly pierced through the soft fatal point of the Sword Horn Rhino until almost half of the arm disappeared into the Rhino’s abdomen. The jerking force of the Rhino’s dashing posture continued to push its giant body forward unstoppably, causing the firmly erected arm to tear its belly in two. The internal organs that were filled with blood were all overflowing onto Xueming's pale body until all soaked up. Yet, Xueming's last attack posture consumed too much of his energy as well. Xueming's consciousness suddenly drifted off, along with the fire on the arm that was extinguished a moment later.

.

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In the test room, the other nine contestants all failed already. Only Xueming remained, causing even Buzhen to walk out to see whether the last person would pass the test. Zi Hui himself stood still and watched with a calm expression, but his heart felt restless as he stared at the long incense stick which had just a bit more length to reach the time limit set by the Azure Dragon Academy.

Li Biao's side was also equally edgy. It was just that they were waiting for Xueming to open his eyes due to being knocked out by the magic sphere before the incense stick completely burned out and fail this test.

"That's…" The newly failed contestants suddenly spoke when they saw a fast flash of light, which was a sign that Xueming was about to lose. All eyes interchangeably looked at the Chinese character whose light blinked increasingly faster and the incense stick that was about to go out.

Li Biao stared at the magic sphere without blinking and almost forgot to breathe. At that moment, Li Biao unconsciously shouted. "His eyes are opened !!!" An extremely happy expression appeared on Li Biao and his minions' faces. But Zi Hui had a disappointed and frustrated expression. Only Elder Buzhen was still staring at the spell altar.