Shao Xuan’s words were just what Luzong wanted.
Although they were prepared to fight the Black Bears, if they could avoid it, they would. They would suffer losses in battle. Fighting one person was so much simpler.
Now that Shao Xuan volunteered, it saved Luzong many problems. Winning would obviously be great– but if Luzong lost, his men would step up to fight Shao Xuan. They had already discussed this beforehand. Luming had agreed to this. This wasn’t being shameless, it was just strategy.
Lubi also told him that the Flaming Horn bastard was peculiar. If Flaming Horn had such an impressive figure, they naturally had to kill him and not let him return.
Even if Shao Xuan could win Luzong, he would be severely injured in the process too. Then it would be simpler for other people to interfere and kill him off. As long as they could stop Black Bear from intervening.
The Linlu tribe was prepared in a few moments. Till now, everything was as expected.
“But I have one condition,” said Shao Xuan.
“Speak.” Since everything was as expected, and it was an efficient path, Luzong was in a good mood.
“If this area, or the wall is damaged, you’ll incur the costs,” said Shao Xuan.
“Alright.” To solve this problem, even if they cracked a hole in the wall and broke the thick slab of stone, which was the entrance, it was not difficult for them to repair it.
Shao Xuan and Luzong were not speaking softly so everyone could hear, including the people on the tower.
When they conversed, three fruits flew from the tower. They were hurled at Shao Xuan.
Shao Xuan moved his head to dodge them.
The red fruits fell on the ground, splattering some juice around. It was bright against the grey stone.
The people on the tower had woken up early for a good show. They wanted to watch the Lu family battle the Black Bears- that would be awesome! They didn’t want to watch two people fight, this was boring! Some upset audience members hurled fruits at Shao Xuan, who suggested this.
However, there were some who were eager to watch too. Shao Xuan had beaten Lubi and the stories said it was an effortless victory. Not sure how he’d do with the Lu family’s patriarch. The ones who were smarter knew that Shao Xuan would never walk out of the city alive. It didn’t matter if he won or not.
Black Bear knew this too. That was why he didn’t understand why Shao Xuan accepted the challenge. Why would he do this?
“Stay back,” said Shao Xuan to Black Bear and Guang Yi.
Black Bear sighed and did not say anything. Any advice would be useless now. The kid can suffer a bit and he’ll intervene if something went wrong.
“Further,” said Shao Xuan.
“What are you thinking?!” yelled Back BEar.
“A little further,” said Shao Xuan sincerely.
Black Bear: “...”
Would they be able to intervene in time?
Not just Black Bear, Guang Yi was told to stay away too.
“Make decisions based on what happens later,” said Shao Xuan.
“Make what fucking decision if we’re so far away?!” Black Bear instructed Maoda to bring the party further because the fight might damage their goods. At least the space in front of the gates was wide enough.
On the tower, Yi Bing did another reading with his jade stones to check who would win. However, none of his readings showed results.
Luzong gave his men a look, implying for them to watch Black Bear. They must not let him intervene.
“I am Luzong, patriarch of the Lu clan,” said Luzong loudly, stepping forward. He did not announce what would happen if he lost or won, just announcing his name so the people of King City would remember him.
When he saw Guang Yi and the rest had backed away, Shao Xuan turned around. “Shao Xuan, Elder of the Flaming Horn tribe.”
Elder?!
Such a young tribe Elder?!
No wonder he won Lubi, forcing Luzong to personally take action.
He must not live!
A gust of strong wind blew.
Outside the city, the stalks of unharvested grains and weeds were bent in one direction with the breeze.
Within the city was silence. Tensions ran high.
“I see that you’re younger, you go first,” said Luzong as if he was generous. In reality, he was better at defensive tactics to retaliate based on the other person’s weakness.
“No, you’re older. I’ll let the old man go first.” Shao Xuan did not move.
Luzong wasn’t old, he was about Guang Yi’s age.
Luzong’s face froze but then smirked like he was mocking Shao Xuan. However, he was privately more cautious now. Why was this kid so confident in himself?!
Fine, he’ll go first! Was he afraid of a kid? But…
“You’re not taking your sword out?” Luzong just felt like Shao Xuan was a very peculiar young man. Didn’t Gongjia Heng make this kid a sword?
“To defeat you, why would I need my sword?” Shao Xuan did not move.
Not just Luzong, this sentence made Black Bear and Guang Yi frown.
Everyone else in the crowd wanted to spit on him. Young man, why are you faking your confidence like that?!
On the other hand, the Lu family muttered to themselves. Shao Xuan looked so confident, there must be something wrong. Were there other Flaming Horn people around?
Luzong’s eyes darted at the Lu family members nearby. They nodded. He did not overthink since that implied everything was going according to plan. What was there to question?!
“Since you’re not using your sword, then I shall not use my knife either!” He wasn’t used to his sword anyway.
Luzong’s eyes glowed and his totemic patterns appeared. The patterns on his face made him look more and more savage, the veins on his neck bulged and each step he took cracked the ground. On his crossed arms, ten fingers contorted unnaturally and made crackling sounds as if every finger was filled with a huge amount of power. The strong breaths he exhaled grew from hoarse to sharp breaths. He resembled a mighty buck.
Bang!
With a bang, Luzong leapt in the air with one step on the ground, heading directly at Shao Xuan.
All ten fingers came with cold violence, like the gigantic antlers of a fearsome buck. His target was locked, and upon impact, the antlers would impale their target!
At the moment Luzong moved, Shao Xuan focused his totemic power to his peak and in his mind’s eye, thick blue flames roared and tumbled out of the glowing shell into the bone ornament on his chest like surging waves.
Manic life force exploded and surging power was injected into every muscle, every bone, every vein. His muscles stung like he was stabbed by needles, he felt like his blood was literally boiling while his bones shook. This was the price to pay for such power!
Fire-like totemic patterns covered Shao Xuan’s body in an instant, ablaze.
Shao Xuan stood with his legs wide open, his right hand extended towards Luzong, who was charging at him.
He was going to face Luzong with brute force!
“He’s biting off more than he can chew!” Everyone agreed on this.
The Lu family’s strength lied on brute force!
Ji Yuan and Ji Jing on the tower were panicking now. They were already planning to intervene when Shao Xuan was suffering during the course of the fight. If the bastard agreed to tell them Ji Ju’s secret, they would continue helping him. However, right now, would they have a chance? Shao Xuan would die instantly!
In the face of such power, anyone with a brain would dodge! This boy chose not to wield a weapon and stood there without moving a muscle. This was absolute stupidity! What the hell was he thinking?!
However, Luzong, on the other hand, felt the sudden change in Shao Xuan within a second.
The air around him seemed to solidify, then turn to ice as if he was freezing the world to shatter it later. Luzong’s heart clenched but it was too late to dodge this. He had already leapt mid-air and he was not stable now. He felt like he was going to face a tsunami, which was planning to destroy the world.
Shao Xuan stood unmoving. After the surge, power filled his bones and flew out into the air around him.
Shao Xuan’s extended arm erupted in flames that wrapped and engulfed his entire arm.
Guang Yi, ?who was initially frowning, suddenly had a thought and backed ten meters away. Then he felt like it wasn’t enough so he retreated more.
Boom—
Two sources of energy collided and created a deafening boom enough to disperse every layer of cloud in the sky, shaking the lands and everyone’s soul. Not just the humans- even the bears carrying goods stood on their hind limbs in shock and accidentally tipped over backwards. With the goods on their backs, they fell on their butts.
Air ripples visible by the naked eye exploded outwards.
As if the stone slabs on the ground melted, they shattered around Shao Xuan’s feet and the crumbling and cracking accelerated. The red fruit on the ground became vapour in an instant. As if gravity intensified in one spot, the entire cloud of red vapour hit the ground. It felt like one invisible palm had slapped the ground. At the edge of such power, clouds of pebbles and dust flew.
Strong gusts of wind blew the pieces of rock away.
The Lu men at the city gates were thrown up in the air due to the invisible force, clearly hearing consecutive cracks across their bodies. Blood spluttered out of their pores.
Everyone nearby was hurt. The ones further away felt their scalp tightened as chills penetrated deep into their souls.
The tall city walls bore the brunt of the force from air currents sweeping in all directions. Wave after wave of energy hit the walls consecutively, like a large beast butting its head at the walls.
In the towers, tables, stools, teapots and cups were all thrown in the air and shattered heavily on the ground.
Luzong, who was the closest to the impact, flew the instant he touched Shao Xuan.
The people of King City looked up and saw Luzong fly above their heads. Their eyes tracked the shadow in the air as he flew further and further away from him.
In the limited memory of this city’s people, the incident of Shao Xuan hitting Lubi with a hammer was erased and replaced with this unforgettable moment.
When the air currents calmed, there was a dead silence.
Crack—- crack crack crack—
Crisp cracks appeared on the tall city walls, creeping across like healthy creeper vines. The cracks branched out and multiplied at great speed.