Chapter 92 - Mortal combat.

Xin felt his heart beat faster. He met with a satisfied gaze of an enemy combatant, who was clearly happy she got matched up with him, despite his rejection. He felt like he gave her a psychological advantage for their fight, but he also felt like her overconfidence might become a weakness he could exploit.

Meanwhile, Yao Nang began her fight. She rushed the opponent with a battle cry and delivered a series of glaive slashes. The enemy swung his sword around, forcing her to jump back. Given that he was more armoured and thus more encumbered, and that it was Yao Nang who faced him, Xin expected the endurance battle to go in her favour. On the other hand, he felt like she was barely avoiding his moves, and the opponent wasn't going all-in, mindful of being clenched or otherwise counter-attacked.

So far, it was a pure battle of physical cultivators. No spiritual abilities or qi techniques were used, not even mentioning the dao shards. Still, the fight was rapid enough, and an average person would have trouble following all of its subtle nuances. 

Eventually, Yao Nang started losing ground. Her shoulder was stabbed, and her grapple attempts were countered too easily, as the opponent was constantly jumping back, threatening with wide slashes. 

Xin felt the irritation building up, both fighters were fighting rather suboptimally.

The enemy swordsman was fast and skilful at evasion, but was ignoring the opportune attack angles that Yao Nang opened up. Meanwhile, Yao Nang insisted too much on swinging her polearm, all while failing to utilise its reach and different attack methods it provided. Both opponents were too mindful of a potential strong move being unleashed, to the point that the actual fight suffered. Still, at this pace, it was Yao Nang who'd get injured and lose, unless she figured out a way to harm the opponent. 

After a successful dodge, the enemy exploded in a surge of speed as he exhaled. A breathing technique! Yao Nang was parrying and tried to counter-attack, but the enemy was too swift. He was slashing at her mercilessly now, with his tongue out like a rabid dog, aiming to hit her at all costs.

Yao Nang needed to deliver a counter-attack. If she gave him space to just assault her, she'd soon be overwhelmed, losing all the tempo and bodily momentum as he pressed her back.

"Sideways steps, girl! Not back-forward! You'll lose balance!" Master Xiaodan shouted. Yao Nang was now too focused on going up and down, failing to leverage her swings. She used her glaive akin to a pike, but it was normal given how overwhelming her opponent was. Still, she had to break out of this deadly pattern, and the only way to do it was matching him head-on.

"Use the other end, too!" Xin shouted to her. She clearly didn't use the guandao to its full potential.

Yao Nang nervously sidestepped and tried stabbing the opponent's sole with the other back of the glaive, a sharp spike below. 

Fuck. Xin completely frowned. She's truly retarded, I meant the back end of the blade.

Shoulder tackle. She was knocked to the ground, as the opponent stepped on her chest and raised his blade above her head.

"Give up! I! I give up, stop! Stop!" She mumbled nervously. 

Xin felt his heart drop. What a stupid fight, they are both so much more talented than this showing. 

"Winner — Meng Longhuan!" The inspector announced. "Please heal the prisoner, and hand her over to the Divine Fist sect. She'll be treated humanely."

"Waaait!" A voice shouted from afar. Xin heard the rumbling of hooves, someone rode a horse towards them. "Wait!"

It was Tu Qiang, galloping towards their positions. He was momentarily enveloped in golden chains, produced by master Zhi. His white horse just stood there, confused, and started eating grass moments after.

"What is the meaning of this? You aren't a part of this fight, junior." Master Zhi spent quite an effort to look composed.

"Please take me instead! I'm rank one, you should take me prisoner instead of her!" His voice sounded very desperate.

"Qiang? Why? What's going on?" Yao Nang was still in pain, as she received medical attention from lady Shen Hao. 

"There is no hidden meaning behind this! I love you, Nang, and want to take your place as a prisoner! Nothing else! And I'm not expecting anything from you in return, either."

"I don't think it's a wise idea." master Zhi rubbed his chin. "A mortal, for a rank one? I can't authorise it."

Xin looked at Tu Qiang, then nodded to him and raised his hand.

"Master Zhi, I know I'm overstepping my boundaries, but may I share my opinion?"

"Yes, let's listen to the mortal's opinion. Of course. Quickly, kid."

Xin knew what he had to say. I'll pretend that I took his comment literally.

"First, I'd like to ask the opposing sect if they'll agree to take a rank one prisoner instead of a mortal."

"Obviously. We agree." An old monk said. He was wondering what Xin's plan was, and what was the trick. 

"Well, now that we have a deal, I have to explain something. Yao Nang is just a mediocrity, but she might get strong one day. Tu Qiang, he is just hopeless. I fought him, I fought with him, I served under him — he isn't a valuable asset. Still, he is a stronger fighter now, so it's better for the enemies to accept him as a prisoner, but Yao Nang is better for us long-term, so it's better for us to keep her. It's the best solution for everyone. And he's clearly eager to sacrifice himself, if we crush his heart now, he'll be useless in the fights to come, anyway."

"Master Zhi, if I may." Master Xiaodan smiled and approached Xin. 

"You dumb fucking child." He whispered gutturally. "The idea is fine, but you're drawing too much attention. Calm down, your fight is the toughest out of the three."

Xin gulped. That girl, stronger than this massive guy? 

"Our decision is made. We'll let master Qiang take disciple... What's her name, Nang? Nang's place." Master Zhi said. 

Tu Qiang bowed and performed a martial gesture, his eyes shining with pride. He turned to Xin and bowed, then exclaimed:

"Thank you, Xin, I won't forget your assistance!"

What the fuck is wrong with this guy? Xin rolled his eyes as Tu Qiang's arms were tied behind his back, and he was carried away. He only intervened to keep Lei's girlfriend safe, as her becoming a captive could make him act out again.

"Next fight. Hurry up, we wasted enough time." The inspector said. "Tei Zhuo, Matuni — step forward."

Disciple Tei Zhuo stepped forward. His skin was tanned, hair was dyed white, in contrast to his sparse black bristle. Overall, he looked tired and somewhat bored, his naturally wide eyes looked half-closed. Clad in simple looking scale armour, he carried a short jian blade with a blue stripe splitting the blade in half, reaching the handle. Should be a simple enchantment to channel water qi through the blade, Xin thought.

His opponent, an upbeat bald teenager, carried a quarterstaff, metal-bound on both ends. He approached the designated fighting area, a flat patch of land with nothing remarkable about it, performed a martial gesture and bowed. He then put his closed fist on his chest, a Fist sect gesture to signal his determination. Tei Zhuo just nodded, disrespecting the opponent.

"Can we fight already?" He asked the inspector.

"You may begin."

Matuni exploded in a burst of speed and started moving in zig-zags towards his opponent. His legs were like springs, launching him into the air with remarkable ease, and he twisted his quarterstaff in the air, changing into different stances, seeking to confuse his opponent. Xin was impressed, this boy was certainly well-schooled, and his mobility was at the peak of mortal realm.

Tei Zhuo swung his blade at the air several times, then emanated a subtle blue glow out of his blade.

Rapid Spring Stance! 

Xin knew this move, it was a staple of water path fencing, favoured by rank one masters. It made the user's attacks faster, and increased their agility as water qi flowed through their body, but also limited the amount of strength one could imbue their attacks with. 

Tei Zhuo was at a disadvantage, given his weapon's shorter reach, but he didn't seem too bothered, he bounced up and down as he walked towards his opponent, who started circling around him, holding his quarterstaff closer to its bottom, to maximise its reach.

Frontal Somersault! He suddenly switched the grip of his quarterstaff and leaped forward, making a full somersault in the air, as his glowing staff dropped on Tei Zhuo, making a rustling sound.

Some sort of qi infusion? Xin shuddered, how would he block this attack if he was Tei Zhuo? Blocking with two Resonance Palms seemed like a bad idea. 

Sidestep! Tei Zhuo read the opponent's intention and stepped sideways in a weird motion, for a moment, it even looked as if he lost balance. That's a water qi infused move, boosted by Rapid Spring Stance, Xin understood.

Tei Zhuo pointed his blade at Matuni as he evaded, and a fist-sized bubble was launched towards the opponent's head! 

Bubble dao shard! The hit was strong enough to make the opponent back away as he was drenched in water, but he quickly recomposed and charged again.

Wait. Is that it? Xin felt like he predicted Tei Zhuo's intentions.

Stab! Stab! Matuni used his reach to attack the opponent with the metal end of his quarterstaff, keeping him at bay. 

Swing! The opponent gained momentum and was emboldened to close up and try a nastier attack.

That's it. Tei Zhuo leaned his body back, then quickly changed his balance in an unnatural movement. He wasn't in the range to attack Matuni, but he didn't need to. Instead, he stuck his blade towards where his enemy was retrieving his quarterstaff, disrupting its movement. It wouldn't be enough to disarm or stop him, but it was just enough to close up!

With his second arm, he grabbed the middle of the opponent's quarterstaff and pulled. 

Matuni quickly pulled back and jumped away, his physique superior to his opponent, despite his smaller stature.

But Tei Zhuo wasn't pulling his opponent towards him, he pulled himself towards the enemy! His legs exploded like springs, in a motion similar to those his opponent used, and he jumped towards the retreating monk. A moment later, they were head to head, and Matuni prepared to grapple.

That's it. Xin felt like his prediction was about to come true.

Frost Breath dao shard! A stream of white icy energy was launched towards the monk boy, and his head was momentarily covered in ice!

The rank three enemy master was about to intervene and stop the fight, but it was too late.

Torrential Rising uppercut! Tei Zhuo connected his fist with the opponent's chin, and his head snapped backwards with a loud crack. Before he landed on the ground, Tei Zhuo's blade was already in Matuni's temple. He acted ruthlessly, not wanting the enemy sect to revive their fighter with high-ranked healing moves.

He wiped his blade and sheathed it, bowed to an enemy corpse and walked back towards his group.