No need for verbal confrontation, both parties only needed movements and eye contacts to affirm each other's will.
Cai Zixuan grinned silently with a wide-open mouth, his arms wide apart, ready to clap them together.
Thud!
Li Cheng's legs forcefully kicked the steps, propelling him forward like a cannonball, then he lightly tapped the ground with his toes, jumped slightly, and the Mantis Bone Blade spun with the swinging of his arms, lunging forward to slash.
Cai Zixuan knew he couldn't block it head-on, so he took a half step back, picked up a car door that fell aside, and used it as a shield in front of him.
Clang, clang, clang!
As many circles as the Mantis Bone Blade spun, it left as many slash marks on the metal car door, until it could no longer withstand the force and broke into two pieces.
And the slightly weakened Bone Blade left two deep wounds on Cai Zixuan's arms, spraying a large amount of blood.
Cai Zixuan sneered, twisted his hips, and kicked out a whip kick.
This strike was both swift and fierce, just as Li Cheng, having just stopped his charge, was exhausted and couldn't muster sufficient strength, he immediately chose to retract the Bone Knife, crossed his arms in front of his body, palms open and loosely grasping, to block in front of the whip kick.
Boom!
Li Cheng felt as if he was struck head-on by a high-speed car, his feet fiercely scraping the ground, stumbling back more than ten steps to dissipate the force.
As for Cai Zixuan, the muscles on his arms swelled, forcefully squeezing the blood vessels to stop the bleeding. He casually broke off a nearby metal streetlight pole, weighing it in his hands.
No fancy fighting techniques, a greatly enhanced body was the best weapon.
Cai Zixuan swung the streetlight pole, and Li Cheng kept dodging, unable to avoid it he countered with the Bone Blade, chopping off the top of the streetlight.
Both fought their way into the hospital building, wherever they went, wheelchairs overturned, stretchers flew, unknowingly how many bodies of bystanders were shattered, turning into ashes, taking a long while to reform.
If it wasn't in the Shadow Realm, this place would already be a field of corpses.
Whoosh!
The corridor was too narrow for sweeping attacks, Cai Zixuan pushed forward the streetlight, the cut-off metal pole stabbing towards Li Cheng's shoulder.
Li Cheng dodged by tilting his head, letting the metal pole barely graze past his neck, his left hand snaked along the pole, firmly grasping Cai Zixuan's left wrist.
At the same time, his right foot stamped the ground, his upper body tilted backward, his left leg curled tightly, toes slightly turned inward, foot sole directly facing forward.
His upper body, thighs, calves, and heels aligned in a straight line, twisting his waist, turning his hips, driving his thigh to push his calf, fiercely kicking out.
This sideways kick landed right on Cai Zixuan's groin, kicking him into the air, and as his left wrist was seized by Li Cheng, he couldn't help but crash toward the ground.
As the ground rapidly approached, Cai Zixuan's right hand fiercely slapped the floor, and with inhuman strength, he propped himself up, released the street light with his left hand, and with a reverse grip, also seized Li Cheng, preventing him from escaping. His head held high, he delivered a headbutt to Li Cheng's head.
Thud!
Both foreheads splashed with blood, and both were forced to retreat from the collision.
Cai Zixuan hastily steadied himself, while Li Cheng saw stars, his vision bloodshot, barely making out the silhouette of the other.
Driven by a surge of killing intent and his ferocity boiling, Li Cheng didn't retreat but advanced instead. He moved his left leg forward bending the knee to close the distance, simultaneously shifting his upper body's center of gravity back, raising his right leg, and heavily kicking Cai Zixuan's knee.
Leg technique, intercepting kick.
A sound of a Broken Bone immediately came from Cai Zixuan's left knee, patella fractured, both suprapatellar and prepatellar bursae ruptured, meniscus damaged,
patellar ligament, and anterior cruciate ligament torn.
Yet, he didn't fall. Apart from the unspecified reasons for his greatly enhanced physical abilities, his center of balance supported by his right leg, his right fist clenched, he swung straightforwardly and obliquely.
Their left hands holding each other, meanwhile Cai Zixuan's arm was longer, even as Li Cheng leaned back to dodge, the whip-like punch would still hit his left arm and break his left hand.
At this point, Li Cheng immediately grasped his left wrist with his right hand to prevent dislocation. His left foot stamped the ground, his right foot kicked the wall, propelling his entire body to crash into Cai Zixuan.
Displayed fully was the incredible leaping strength granted by the cricket gene, erupting with tremendous force, taking them both crashing out of the building.
The experience of losing gravity seemed to awaken some terrible memories. Cai Zixuan instinctively loosened his palm, curling up to protect himself.
This saved Li Cheng the effort of breaking free. He let go of the other party, adjusted his landing posture in mid-air, and bounced a few times on the ground to dissipate the kinetic energy.
"..."
Cai Zixuan, who had solidly landed on the ground, slowly got up from the flower bed, blood continuously flowing from his forehead, trickling down around his eyes, resembling bloody tears.
Li Cheng's forehead was also bleeding. Fortunately, in the Shadow Realm, external objects would disappear over time, so there was no need to worry about hair or blood being left on the ground and discovered by the Special Affairs Bureau.
He raised his palm, smoothed back his blood-soaked hair, and flattened his bangs.
Both parties were severely injured; the next strike could well be the last.
A sense of enlightenment rose in his heart as Li Cheng leaned forward, his thigh muscles sharply defined.
Suddenly—
His figure moved swiftly like an arrow, disappearing from the spot, not heading straight for Cai Zixuan but bouncing off the exterior walls of the four buildings around the flower bed, accelerating.
His speed increased to the point where only an afterimage remained.
Cai Zixuan clenched his fists, timing his move, and his right fist suddenly struck out.
He hit, but also missed.
A jacket hung from Cai Zixuan's fist edge, the fabric tearing, blown away by the fierce wind.
While Li Cheng himself, under the shadow of the clothes, rapidly closed in like a monkey and climbed onto Cai Zixuan's back. His legs wrapped around his waist, and his left arm locked around his neck.
This was not a submission hold from grappling.
Li Cheng raised his right hand high, the Mantis Bone Blade springing from beneath his forearm, then, targeting Cai Zixuan's head, he plunged it downward.
Thud—
The skull was directly penetrated by the Bone Blade, Cai Zixuan's frame violently shuddered, and his left fist, which had been aimed at Li Cheng's temple, lost all its strength and drooped powerlessly.
He staggered forward a few steps, kneeling by the corridor window, his palms slowly joining together.
He could draw Strength from slaughter; as long as he kept slaughtering, he could heal his injuries and grow stronger.
He needed, to undo the Shadow Realm.
He needed, more blood.
"Where is my son? Where is my son?"
A middle-aged woman in a coat and an anxious expression rushed into the hospital lobby.
Her face was carefully made up, well-maintained, wearing a shiny new wedding ring on her index finger, dragging a suitcase — the handle of the case still had United Airlines' baggage tag attached, not removed in time.
"Lady, please calm down."
A nurse approached her, asking: "What's your son's name? What is he suffering from?"
"Cai Zixuan, Cai as in Cai Lun, Zixuan as in the Xuan of Xuan Yuan."
The woman anxiously said: "He fell from upstairs, got a Broken Bone and was hospitalized. I just got off the plane, and all the calls I made to his dad on the way went unanswered. I shouldn't have left him with his dad, I should have taken him with me..."
Cai Zixuan, looking at the woman through the glass, heard her familiar yet unfamiliar voice. He suddenly stopped expanding the Shadow Realm and just silently pressed his head against the window, unmoving.
Gradually, he ceased breathing.
Two rows of black tears slid from his eyes, falling to the floor, forming two semi-solidified blobs.
"..."
Li Cheng slowly released his hold, unclear what had happened to the Giant, but respectfully closed his eyes. He picked up the black blobs and the torn clothes from the ground, rushed back to the restroom on the first floor.
Seconds later, the Shadow Realm, lacking its Sustainer, gradually dissipated. Li Cheng had already changed into spare clothes, emerged from the restroom, and swiftly left the hospital before Cai Zixuan's body was discovered.