Chapter 20
After the tense, yet disappointing showdown between Jin Xieren and Lin Yai, the crowd was getting ready for the showdown between Liang Chen and Qiu Jianyi.
It was a match between two monsters who never lost control. Two precision killers disguised as cultivators.
Liang Chen was a calculating killer, he struck with immense precision. Qiu Jianyi moved with elegance, just like Liang Chen, she simply observed, then made a move.
Soon, the Elder's voice spoke.
"Combatants to the ring!"
Liang Chen was the first to step through the barrier and enter the arena. He still wore his dark combat robes, but something was different.
The Whispering Gale was gone.
It was replaced by a weapon of Liang Chen's choice. His secret weapon he hadn't revealed up until now. He gave Qiu Jianyi the impression that this was going to be a sword melee, but now, with his new weapon, that changed everything.
In his hand was a Guan Dao, nearly seven feet tall with a dark jade shaft wrapped with wooden fibres. It had an almost crescent like blade, but with the presence of a back spike giving it that classic Guan Dao look.
The elder's raised eyebrows. "He changed weapons?"
Zhao Su grunted. "Last second. Only someone suicidal or supremely arrogant would do that."
Only Yu Miaoran was aware of his true intentions. "Or someone who hasn't needed to show his real weapon... until now."
Qiu Jianyi stepped onto the arena. When she saw what was in Liang Chen's hand, her eyes widened. He was holding a Guan Dao, she had seen him with a saber sheathed at his waist, why had he changed his weapon.
Now Qiu Jianyi was at a disadvantage, she had prepared for a sword duel, now it was completely different. She hid her worry under a smile. She wasn't going to let him get under her skin.
Liang Chen rolled his neck and tapped the crescent blade of the guan dao on his shoulder with a lazy grin on his face.
She tried to be casual. "Didn't think you'd go for the oversized cleaver today."
Liang Chen didn't even blink before he replied.
"Didn't think you'd show up without a leash."
The audience laughed.
Even the elders chuckled a bit, before they regained their composure.
"Let's see how long you stay on your feet." she said.
Then the elders' voice rang like a gong.
"BEGIN!"
Liang Chen closed the distance in two quick steps, the Guan Dao swinging in a wide diagonal slash. Qiu Jianyi barely managed to pivot sideways, her feet gliding across the arena.
Her blade flicked out from her scabbard.
CLANG!
Their blades met, the sound of steel clashing echoed through the arena.
Liang Chen didn't relent. He twisted the guan dao, the shaft spinning, using the hook on the back end to pull her guard downward. Qiu disengaged and leapt back, but it was too late.
[Blood Petal Barrage]
A red mist bloomed from his hand, coalescing mid-air into dozens of sharpened, petals of blood. They hovered for a half-second, then launched like shrapnel.
SHHH! SHHH! SHHH!
Qiu Jianyi's eyes narrowed. Her sword swung in an arc.
[Whirlwind Kiss]
Wind erupted outward from her blade in the form of a protective dome. The petals crashed into the gale and exploded one after another.
But Liang was already moving.
He ran through the blood mist, using it as cover. His guan dao glinted red.
She slashed the wind again.
[Chaotic Wind Flush.]
A spinning tempest spiraled outward. But Liang anticipated it. He skidded low under the current, his guan dao scraping the marble, sparks flying.
And as he spun past her.
[Stinging Eruption.]
A spike of blood erupted from the floor beneath her left foot.
Qiu leaped back, narrowly avoiding being impaled by the spike, the spike grazed her ankle and shredded her boot. She landed and instantly raised her blade to block. But she was a second too slow.
Liang Chen rammed the butt of the guan dao into her sternum.
THUMP!
She flew backward, skidding across the arena. She coughed, wheezing for air.
Zhao Su muttered, "...He planned that entire sequence. The petals were just bait."
Yu Miaoran's eyes were wide. "He's using blood like a second weapon. It's flowing with his intent."
Qiu Jianyi rose slowly, blood staining her inner robes. But she smiled.
"You fight like someone who bathes in their own ego."
Liang tilted his head.
"You fight like someone who quotes poetry and dies in the first act."
She laughed, a short, breathless laughter.
And then lightning crackled on her blade.
"Alright" she said, getting up slowly. "No more games"
She raised her free hand and the wind spun on her palm.
[Storm Style: Heaven's Conviction.]
She vanished. She appeared in front of him with a sonic boom, and for a moment, Liang Chen was caught off guard.
Liang spun just in time to parry her lightning-charged slash. He stepped in and elbowed her chin.
She twisted mid-fall and kicked him in the ribs. He grunted, but didn't move.
[Blood Whip]
The blood around his arm twisted, forming a writhing whip that lashed toward her mid-air form. She sliced it in half with a precise blade slash, but that hesitation was all he needed.
Liang stepped in, guan dao rising. Qiu met the blow with both hands on her sword.
BOOM!
She was knocked through the air again.
She summoned a spear of pure lightning and hurled it, but Liang split it with the guan dao and responded by erupting a dozen blood spikes in a circular pattern.
Qiu floated upward using wind, dodging them but one spike grazed her shoulder.
Qiu Jianyi's blade was trembling now, more from power than exhaustion.
Liang Chen's chest rose and fell heavily, his blood swirling slowly like steam.
They eyed each other from across the cracked marble battlefield.
Qiu raised her sword.
"Come, demon."
Liang pointed his guan dao like a spear.
"Come, corpse."
The moment they clashed, everything exploded.
Steel clashed against steel multiple times in the span of a few seconds. Their whole fight had barely even taken a minute at this point, but to Qiu Jianyi, it felt like an eternity.
She ducked under a high arc of the guan dao and went for his ribs. He twisted his torso and let the blade graze him, trading flesh for positioning.
[Crimson Blooming Step]
Blood exploded from his feet sending him flying backwards. While mid-air, he spun, slinging a crimson disc of blood from his hand.
She slashed it easily. But she didn't see the second one behind it.
It grazed her cheek, opening a long, shallow cut that sparked with blood.
Liang Chen landed behind her, low and steady.
He spun his guan dao around his arm, the blade moving with unnatural fluidity. Blood pooled in his hand again, now thicker, more concentrated. It curled around the shaft of his guan dao like a serpent.
"You've got grace, Jianyi."
"But I've got the funeral arrangements ready."
Qiu's eyes widened.
She barely had time to scream before he shot forward, his guan dao now burning red.
She raised her blade to block.
CRACK!
His strike shattered her defense, the guan dao crashing down like judgment itself.
Her knees gave up.
Her sword fell from her hand and clattered against the marble.
The elders voice rang out.
"Winner—Liang Chen."