"YANGLIN! WAKE UP! YOU'RE LATE FOR YOUR MATCH!" Xia Xuan-Xuan screamed beside his ear after coming into his house without his approval.
"What do you mean by late? It was still early... Wait... What time is it now?" Yanglin looks groggy as he rubbed his tired eyes. But looking at the brightness and the direction of the sunlight, he realized that he messed up with his mind clock.
Having no time to bother with shame and indecent thoughts, he quickly gets himself changed before rushing out of his house at full speed and made his way straight to the village square.
As for Xia Xuan-Xuan, she was left inside his house with a blushed cheek, just like the color of a ripened peach.
"How... How dare he change right in front of me? Ah!" Xia Xuan-Xuan felt embarrassed after seeing the buck naked Yanglin with only underwear. Perhaps she's already at the age where naughty thoughts started to cloud her mind.
While she was still pondering what kind of thoughts she should have when looking at Yanglin, the latter was in a rush.
With no time to think about the consequences, Yanglin spreads some Spiritual Energy around his legs to make himself run faster. The method of cladding his body with the Spiritual Energy was too unrefined. Still, for casual use like this, it was more than enough.
**Bam!**
Yanglin crashed into the arena just before the village chief was going to announce that he forfeited.
"I'm sorry, chief." Yanglin cupped his hand and apologized to the public for being late in his duel against Tong Xun.
By right, the spectators were about to shout at him for being late. But looking at his attitude and willingness to apologize right in front of the public, he got himself off from a sticky situation right off the bat.
Even Tong Xun's father, Tong Wansi, was impressed by this youngster's manner.
'It was said that one shall start from manner, mentality, and attitude to be successful. Looks like my Xun-Er will learn a lot if he were to befriend him. I shall recruit him into my Bronze Lion Escort Agency before that sneaky village chief got his hand on this youth.' Tong Wansi thought.
"Alright. Let me get through the rules since both fighters are here. First of all, killing your opponent is prohibited. Usage of Spiritual Energy is allowed, but you're not allowed to inflict serious injury on your opponent." the village chief started to go through the dueling rules.
"Second rules, no sneak attack is allowed. This means attacking the throat, genitals, eyes or using tricks like throwing sand or dust will result in disqualification. And lastly, you're not allowed to use any weapon. Do you both understand?" the chief added.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Yanglin and Tong Xun both replied to the village chief's question.
"Then, without further ado, let's get started!" the village chief's words made a bystander give the musical instrument a knock to indicate the start of the match.
Yanglin immediately clads the Spiritual Energy along his wrist as he went for a preemptive strike. Using his experience from fighting against this opponent through the Eight-Elemental Treasured Formation, Yanglin is confident that he'll fight against Tong Xun as an equal.
But sometimes, too much confidence was the cause of a miserable defeat. With a skillful maneuver from Tong Xun, he successfully made Yanglin lost his balance before throwing him to the side of the arena.
Although the counterattack hardly hurts him, it caused Yanglin to lost a chunk of confidence he had earlier. His opponent then took the initiative to come forward and delivering a chain of attack at him.
The fall from before wakes Yanglin up as he knew that this was not a practice. He was fighting with the real deal. He might have fought against Tong Xun's mimic over hundred times by now, but not the real one.
"Bring it on!" Yanglin focused on his defense as he charges forward and engaged in a fistfight against Tong Xun.
The two seem evenly matched until Yanglin coughed a mouthful of blood from Tong Xun's attack on his face. But in the act of retaliation, Yanglin wrapped as much Spiritual Energy in his right fist before delivering the blow at Tong Xun's chest.
His attack bears some result, but it was not as effective as he thought. His fist still feels sore from the attack, which felt like he punches landed on an iron wall.
"Are you still in your dreams? Trying to break my Mysterious Iron Body with that half-assed attack? You can keep trying, but the result will be the same!" Tong Xun stepped forward and retaliated with another fist straight to Yanglin's face.
The attack throws Yanglin rolling on the ground until he was at the edge of the arena. Coming back on his feet straight after taking the blow, Yanglin charged forward like a ferocious beast that lost its mind.
Relying on his average Obsidian Body Technique, Yanglin went against Tong Xun in a battle of attrition. He immediately engaged against Tong Xun, who had a better fistfighting experience. His opponent might have more experience and power but not stamina.
Compared to Yanglin, who practiced day and night to strengthen his cultivation, his foundation is firmer than his opponent that got to this level through outside help.
"Aargh! Get down on the ground and give up!" Tong Xun was getting tired as he starting to lost his patience with his opponent.
This was the opportunity Yanglin was waiting for. Using the chance when Tong Xun let down his guard, Yanglin immediately retaliated and sent a punch at Tong Xun's face. The latter's failure to clad his head with Spiritual Energy left him defenseless again Yanglin's blow.
"Damn!" Tong Xun's head was spinning after getting a punch straight on his face. If it's not because his Mysterious Iron Body was much better than Yanglin, he would have a difficult time right now after taking that blow.
"Xun-Er, don't falter! Defend yourself!" tong Wansi noticed that his son's ego seemed to be crushed by that last attack from Yanglin.
His shouting made the spectators fired up as they started to stand at the side they're supporting.
"Defeat Tong Xun!"
"Defeat Yanglin!" the villagers started to scream in excitement from witnessing the match.