Yun Qiang instantly fell into battle stance, while warily looking at his opponent.
Tian Lei was a nineteen-year-old boy, traces of gold could be seen in his brown hair, further accentuating his well-defined facial features.
He walked forward, stopping only when he was ten paces from Yun Qiang. He didn't draw his sword, only gripping the handle with his left hand.
"Take your time to recover. I won't strike until then."
Surprise briefly flashed in Yun Qiang's eyes. He still hadn't recovered from Tian Jian's killing intent. His complexion still looked pale, and a small tremble was still present in his legs. If Tian Lei decided to attack now, it wouldn't be difficult for him to gain an advantage and use it to slowly win the fight.
"Honorable..."
He nodded to Tian Lei, accepting his offer while keeping his guard up. His hands were still tightly holding his spear forwards. Tian Lao was a deceitful and cruel man; who could say if his younger brother was the same?
He couldn't completely trust his opponent on just a few words.
The two stared at each other while time slowly ticked away, and Yun Qiang's complexion slowly went back to normal.
To his surprise, Tian Lei was a man of his word and didn't attack him while he recuperated.
He cupped his fist.
"Thank you."
Tian Lei didn't say anything, only slightly nodding before drawing his blade.
Yun Qiang also took position. Even if his enemy had given him some time to rest, it didn't mean their situation had changed.
This was still a duel to the death.
Yun Qiang was the first to move. He didn't attack; instead, he started walking sideways. Tian Lei mirrored his moves, both of them slowly started circling each other, searching for any openings.
Suddenly, Tian Lei stepped forward, attacking with an upward swing.
Yun Qiang reacted immediately, striking downward, forcefully bouncing back Tian Lei's blade. This caused a few flaws to appear in Tian Lei's posture, however Yun Qiang didn't press the offensive.
Both of them were still studying each other.
There was no way to know if it was a trap or some kind of setup.
After a few more steps, Yun Qiang executed a small thrust.
Tian Lei reacted immediatly, pushing Yun Qiang's spear to the side while slowly stepping forward.
Yun Qiang didn't resist; instead, he let his spear slide to the side, leaving his chest open, goading Tian Lei to attack again.
However, Tian Lei didn't take the bait. Small tricks and obvious traps wouldn't work on him.
When they completed a full circle, they tested each other one more time.
Their exchanges resulted in nothing more than a few hollow sounds and moves, neither seemed willing to take the initiative and commit to a full offensive.
They completed another circle.
Suddenly, Tian Lei took a step forward, this time swinging his sword downward, calmly closing in towards Yun Qiang's spear. To the onlookers, this looked like another testing strike; however, halfway through the move, Tian Lei's sword sped up, swiftly bypassing Yun Qiang's weapon. Yun Qiang reacted almost instantly, changing his grip, swinging the blunt part of his spear forward in a strange and unorthodox defensive move.
He gritted his teeth.
Sword and spear met each other, pushing both of them a few steps back, but their exchange hadn't ended yet.
As Yun Qiang moved backwards, he rotated his spear and thrust it forward, trying to poke his enemy from the distance. Tian Lei did something similar; however, instead of rotating, he moved his sword upward, perfectly meeting the arrival of Yun Qiang's spear succesfully pushing it away.
Yun Qiang stumbled to the side, carefully balancing his footing before going on the offensive again.
Tian Lei was already coming towards him.
In a blink of an eye, their weapons met, locking them in a confrontation of strength. Both parties' arms were trembling, neither of them wanted to be the first to back down.
They locked eyes.
Fighting spirit burned brightly in Tian Lei's pupils, while a relentless will to survive shined in Yun Qiang's eyes.
Suddenly, both of them disengaged.
Their physical strength and speed were equal.
This meant only one thing.
Their techniques would be the decisive factor in this duel.
Yun Qiang bit his lips while advancing again, his spear held forward while his Qi circulated madly, forming a short dagger in his free hand.
On the other side, Tian Lei moved his sword to a ninety-degree angle, his Qi slowly flowing towards the tip of the sword.
Yun Qiang's pupils shrank. He recognized this technique.
Tian Lao had used it in their fight. He sped up. He still remembered the maddening speed that Tian Lao's technique could produce, and he wasn't keen on experiencing it again.
As he closed in, his footing hastened while his breathing slowed down to a halt. His spear was about to touch Tian Lei's sword. He knew that this was the moment that would decide the outcome of their duel. If he arrived first, then Tian Lei would get gravely injured, but if Tian Lei's sword was faster, then Yun Qiang's life would be swept away by a lethal tempest of sword attacks.
Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded in the distance, and a strong wind swept them up, throwing both of them on the ground.
Yun Qiang rolled uncontrollably a few times, his mind temporarily grinding to a halt. When he finally stopped, another explosion sounded somewhere in the distance, sweeping up a huge cloud of dust and broken pieces of wood.
"Cough, cough."
His eyes were half closed due to the dust. However, he could have sworn it for a single moment the sky had turned completely black.
"What is happening!"
As if responding to his exclamation, a huge gust of wind swept away the dust, letting him see his surroundings.
What he saw completely shocked him. A large army of spiritual beasts had invaded the battlefield, killing everyone they saw.
Liang Wei, Tian Jian had disappeared.
Chaos had enveloped both armies. Cultivators of every rank were running in every direction while beasts of different sizes chased them, sometimes alone, sometimes in a group.
He moved his gaze to a group of beasts nearby. They were four, all of them with Foundation Realm cultivators. Even if chaos surrounded them, they didn't seem to mind. Instead, they were focusing their entire attention on the previous duel participants that lay dead on the ground.
Yun Qiang gulped. He started to slowly stand up while retreating backwards. He didn't know what had just happened; however, he knew he had to run away from this place.
However, just as he was about to turn tail and run, a wave of sword energy rushed towards him, almost killing him.
"Our duel hasn't ended."
He instantly recognized the owner of this voice.
"Tian Lei, this ins—"
His words were interrupted by a loud beastly scream. The wave of energy had attracted the four beasts' attention.
Yun Qiang turned his head around, briefly meeting Tian Lei's gaze.
Then, as if sharing the same mind, they ran away.
Time rewound to a few minutes ago.
Tian Jian and Liang Wei were flying above ground, their faces inscrutable, their voices too distant to hear.
Liang Wei fanned himself.
"I didn't expect your brother to be this upright. It really reminds me of you when the Phoenix and Dragon competition started."
He let out a light laugh.
"Even Lan Jun managed to fool you back then."
Tian Jian let out a small sigh.
"It's normal. He will learn with time. However, I should thank you for providing him with a clear target to hate and fight. However..."
There was a small moment of silence.
"Which one of your subordinates killed my brother?"
Liang Wei's face became serious.
"I'm telling you the truth. I have no reason to lie to you. I guess he just got lucky."
Tian Jian snorted, his hands swiftly moving, gripping the marble handle of his sword.
"He can't even resist my killing intent, and we found traces of a series of arrays in the Lifen River. You either sent someone to kill Tian Lao or you did it yourself."
Tian Jian partially sheathed his blade.
Liang Wei sighed.
"I really wanted to see the end of this duel..." His voice sounded regretfull yet decise.
Suddendly a silver dagger flew towards Tian Jian, forcing him to block it with the sheath of his sword.
Tian Jian senses scanned the forest below. He could barely sense a silver shadow moving from tree to tree.
"You finally called out your accomplice. Liang Wei...."
Tian Jian's cold and threatening gaze swept upwards towards the feminine-looking man in front of him.
Liang Wei smiled, leisurely fanning himself.
"But I'm not the only one who brought a guest, right?"
Before Tian Jian could respond, a crazed laughter sounded from the distance, and a man dressed in green closed in, parking himself behind Tian Jian. The man had long green and red hair, his eyes were deformed in a strange way, giving him a beastly and wild appearance.
Liang Wei let out a small laugh.
"Oh, isn't this Su Lei, the rabid animal from the north? I didn't think you'd hire such a noble assassin. Tian's family pockets are truly deep. I'm honored." Liang Wei's mocking smile was as clear as his voice.
Su Lei bared his sharp fang at him.
Tian Jian blocked him with his hands.
"Su Lei, you will take on Sylas. Liang Wei is mine. Your companions should be able to track him."
Su Lei nodded, his wild gaze falling towards the plateau close by. They had yet to notice what happened here.
"Your brother is too close. I can't assure you my beasts won't attack him."
Tian Jian's expression became cold, his face becoming like that of an indifferent god. He drew his blade.
"All victories come at a cost."
Su Lei let out another crazed laugh.
His hands started moving chaotically, drawing unpredictable and strange patterns.
"Only the strong will survive. My lords, I offer you this battlefield. Send me an army of beasts to fight and track down my enemies."
Suddenly, red thunder broke the sky, briefly reflecting a dark void before quickly disappearing. When the sky returned blue, a series of animals had appeared, their cultivation levels were varied and most of them seemed out of control. Only two of them had some kind of intelligence and started relentlessly tracking the elusive silver shadow while the remaining beasts moved towards the soldiers below them.
Suddendly Su Lei flew down, loudly hitting the ground; his face quickly deformed, becoming that of a red wolf.
For a moment, the sky seemed like the only safe haven in the world, as waves of beasts flooded the ground, killing wherever they went.
However, the calm in the sky didn't last long.
Liang Wei and Tian Jian locked eyes.
It was time for the true elites to fight.