Chapter 370: First Encounter With Xia Yuwen (2)
At the same time.
Among the crowd.
Jia Mingzhen frowned and transmitted his voice, "Where did this barbaric kid come from? He cultivates the Thousand Mountain Art, right?"
"I think so." An elder replied, "A heaven-grade cultivation method requiring 144 acupoints. But at the ninth-stage Great Strength Realm, merging acupoints will be a very difficult task for the cultivators of this method. In fact, it is almost impossible for cultivators of this method to advance into the Infinite Strength Realm. Why did Xia Yuwen teach this method to a student? Is he not afraid that he would ruin this student?"
"He doesn't look like a willpower cultivator. His willpower percentage is too low. So he's a body cultivator?"
"Yeah. I doubt he has even formed a single character. He relies on his strong body and plentiful acupoints."
"Su Yu has quite a lot of acupoints opened as well."
"But Su Yu's acupoints have not been linked into a system. This Zhou Hao's 144 acupoints have been linked into a system. Su Yu's Soul Devouring Art is useless against him. Even with willpower suppression and Divine Characters, he might not be able to defeat this opponent."
The elders had solemn expressions. The Thousand Mountain Art was a top-tier heaven-grade cultivation method. Unfortunately, it was too difficult for the cultivators of this technique to fuse acupoints.
Back then, a lot of people coveted the might of this method. But ultimately, all of them failed in fusing their acupoints and were forced to switch to a different cultivation method. This kid had actually opened all 144 acupoints to successfully cultivate that method. He only needed to fuse his acupoints to enter the Infinite Strength Realm.
Su Yu had a lot of acupoints opened as well, but only 108 of them were linked into a system. His offensive strength was below Zhou Hao's. In terms of physical strength alone, Su Yu might not be this opponent's match.
It was clear that Xia Yuwen had his own considerations for sending Zhou Hao to challenge Su Yu. This Zhou Hao was not a willpower cultivator.
Because of that, the Soul Devouring Art would be far less effective on him. As for willpower suppression, Su Yu wasn't a Skysoar so his suppression wouldn't be too strong. With a high number of acupoints, Zhou Hao had enough explosive strength to even negate the willpower suppression.
...
In the ring.
Su Yu inhaled lightly. Fight to the death.
How confident. This person was definitely not weak. And he probably cultivated a heaven-grade manual too.
Su Yu thought for a bit and said, "My teacher is not around to give his approval for the fight to the death. How about this, since you have suggested this, we might as well enforce a no-surrender rule. Both of us will fight until the very end. The person nearest to death would be the loser."
Zhou Hao grinned, "Sure. What a pity that I wont get to kill someone today."
Su Yu glanced at Liu Hong before saying, "Fellow students, may I trouble someone to notify Head Manager Chen Yong at the books depository about this? I'm worried that a certain referee might be unfair in his judgment."
Soon, someone ran toward the books depository. Beside the ring, Wu Jia had fully regained her consciousness. She looked worried. This person had challenged Su Yu to a fight to the death even after Su Yu's valiant victory over Zhu Hong and the others. Clearly, this person was very confident in himself.
Even more worrying was the fact that this was a student brought back by Xia Yuwen. Xia Yuwen was a super genius who had suppressed the likes of Bai Feng and Wu Qi. Would his student be weak? Wu Jia was worried. Her junior brother had never mentioned that something like this would happen.
Liu Hong smiled and shrugged indifferently. Even better if Chen Yong was here. He would be happy to let someone share the burden with him. There was no way he was going to be biased with so many people watching. And even if he was going to pull some tricks, he himself wasn't sure if his target should be Su Yu or Zhou Hao.
Xia Yuwen had actually returned. How troublesome. He started cursing Zhou Mingren inwardly. Damn it. Didn't Zhou Mingren say that Xia Yuwen would take a month to return? How many days have it been? That old bastard had lied to him!
Before long, Chen Yong arrived. He looked at the two students in the ring and Xia Yuwen before looking at the injured Wu Jia. He felt a great headache coming. He had merely neglected the kids momentarily. Why had the kids kicked such a big fuss in such a short period of time?
"Martial Uncle, please keep an eye out for me. Furthermore, this is a fight of no surrender. Death and life do not matter. Only victory and defeat matters. We will keep fighting until a victor is decided."
Chen Yong wanted to say something, but he hesitated.
Seeing that, Su Yu smiled, "Martial Uncle, I enjoy challenging strong opponents."
Chen Yong sighed. He nodded and looked at Liu Hong. He said nothing. He looked at Xia Yuwen again. Xia Yuwen merely stood there with his hands clasped behind him, completely ignoring Chen Yong.
Chen Yong did not say anything with his mouth. But the next moment, Xia Yuwen's body shifted slightly.
"Xia Yuwen, we can't afford to get involved in the Xia Family's fight for the prefect's position. But it is not proper for you to make us your stepping stone. The multiple character faction does not have a lot of members left. I'll be frank. When you reach the ninth-stage Cloudbreach Realm, I'll be giving your strength a try."
Xia Yuwen turned his head.
Chen Yong smiled and nodded at him. He continued his voice transmission, "This is unrelated to you, but you insisted on getting involved. In that case, I'll be waiting for you. You're already a third-stage Cloudbreach so it won't take you long. You're growing much faster than my junior brother. Come find me after reaching the ninth stage."
Xia Yuwen's eyes flickered. Find him after reaching the ninth stage. Chen Yong.
Chen Yong ended the talk and focused on the ring.
...
In the ring.
Liu Hong looked at the two students and smiled, "Since everyone agrees to the match, let us begin."
Whoosh!
Two figures dashed forth, leaving a series of afterimages.
As the two met, a loud rumble rang out. Su Yu was forced to take a step back. When his foot landed on the ground, the ground cracked.
Zhou hao grinned. Inside his body, 144 dots of light were shining brightly. He threw himself forward and clawed at Su Yu with both hands. He moved at an incredible speed.
Su Yu's willpower erupted and pressed down on Zhou Hao.
Boom!
A massive pillar of source qi shot forth and dispersed Su Yu's willpower.
Su Yu's face paled slightly. So powerful! And Zhou Haos source qi was also very pure. Linking 144 acupoints into a system had indeed granted him an impressive strength. This offensive power was at a level beyond Su Yu's.
"Battle!"
"Kill!"
With a roar, Su Yu decided to give up on willpower suppression. He stomped his foot on the ground and streaked forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two instantly exchanged dozens of moves. With a roar, Zhou Hao clawed at Su Yu's arms, painting both his arms red with blood.
Ninth-stage Great Strength Realm.
Both were at this cultivation level, but the qi undulations from their fight were causing even some ninth-stage Infinite Strength students to be alarmed.
Su Yu, someone with 180 opened acupoints.
Zhou Hao, someone with 144 opened acupoints.
One had 108 acupoints linked into a system while the other had 144 acupoints linked into a system. The two were actually evenly matched. Su Yu's explosive strength was slightly weaker, but he surpassed Zhou Hao in terms of source qi density, body strength, and defensive prowess.
...
"Are these two still cultural researchers?"
Someone grumbled. Could they even be considered cultural researchers? More like brutes from the war academy! With their strength, they could probably enter the Infinite Strength Ranking of the war academy relying only on their body cultivation.
Why were there so many freaks this year? In the previous years, one such student from the war academy would be enough to wipe the floor with all the geniuses and freaks of their academy.
...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kick after kick was unleashed by Su Yu untiringly. His kicks ripped through the air, blasted the surrounding source qi apart, and forced Zhou Hao to retreat repeatedly.
But Zhou Hao also demonstrated incredible strength. The Thousand Mountain Art came with its own martial technique.
A supplementary technique.
It was similarly powerful as it was a heaven-grade martial technique.
His body had turned as heavy as a mountain, granting him extraordinary strength which he harnessed to throw fist after fist at the soles of Su Yu's feet. Suddenly, a crack rang out as Su Yu landed a kick on Zhou Hao's arm.
Su Yu also retreated. He could feel an acute pain coming from the soles of his feet. Zhou Hao grinned and charged forth again. He was using no weapon. He relied only on his two hands.
Once again, he clawed with both his hands. Source qi itself exploded from his claw attacks as sounds of explosion rang out repeatedly. Each time his strikes hit, he would create several bloody holes on Su Yu's body. Su Yu responded with his own punches. The two continued moving at a rapid speed.
Booming sounds echoed in the area.
Suddenly, a particularly loud bang rang out.
The two figures separated once again. A new claw mark was left on Su Yu's chest while Zhou Hao had suffered a wound deep enough to show his bones on his shoulder.
"Hehe. You're very strong." Zhou Hao, who had been silent since the start of the match, licked his lips and said, "I have never encountered a match in the Great Strength Realm. Senior Brother, you have not disappointed me."
"Don't worry. You won't be disappointed."
Su Yu sounded calm and indifferent. As for the pain he was feeling, it wasn't important. Zhou Hao's killing intent was too thick. He fought like an animal, carrying an innate bloodlust with him. Clearly, this was someone who had grown through slaughter.
But Su Yu believed that he was no weaker than this opponent. He himself was very experienced with death. He had never feared death since he was a child. Once again, the two collided loudly.
Countless sparks were generated on the tough floor of the ring. And booming sounds reverberated in the area.
Legs swept across the ring.
Claws swam through the ring.
A crisp crack rang out and Su Yu's left arm drooped down. His arm had been snapped. Blood could be seen flowing down his arm. But he appeared completely indifferent as he countered with yet another kick.
An illusory mist accompanied his kick. With a pop, the tip of his leg stabbed into Zhou Hao's thigh. Blood spurted out.
Zhou Hao merely grinned and pounced forth, dragging his crippled leg with him. Taking advantage of the split second Su Yu took to regain his footing, Zhou Hao grabbed Su Yu's right arm. With the same pure look in his eyes and a warm smile on his face, he twisted and snapped Su Yu's right arm.
"Hmph!"
A cold snort rang out as a saber suddenly appeared before swinging down with the momentum to sever everything in its path. Zhou Hao's expression changed. He hurriedly let go. But right that instant, Su Yu twisted his right arm and locked it around Zhou Hao's arms.
Splurt!
The saber landed. Three arms dropped to the ground.
"Ahhh!"
The crowd exclaimed in alarm. How ruthless. To sever his opponent's two arms, he had sacrificed one of his arms. Blood poured out madly from the two stumps on Zhou Hao's shoulders, but the bleeding only lasted for an instant. However, Zhou Hao had turned incomparably pale.
Su Yu was also looking deathly pale with a broken left arm and a severed right arm. A smile formed on his face. He stepped forth. His leg swept forth like a bolt of lightning.
Boom!
With no arms left, a bestial look covered Zhou Hao's face as he met the kick with his own kick. In that manner, they exchanged over a dozen moves. A crack suddenly rang out from Zhou Hao's leg.
At this point, both of Su Yu's legs were already dyed red with blood. To be precise, both combatants were already dyed red in blood. Yet neither was conceding.
"Don't concede."
Su Yu smiled as a saber dropped down from the sky. Lightning cackled around the saber.
Boom!
Zhou Hao rolled away from the attack. After leaving a deep gash on the ground, the saber switched direction and shot toward Zhou Hao again.
Zhou Hao clenched his teeth and roared. His body enlarged, and his mouth turned even larger before chomping down on the incoming saber. Multiple cracks sounded as his teeth broke. Not all his teeth broke, so he was able to stop the saber's advance. The saber shook, trying to break free, but he refused to let go even after his entire mouth was mutilated.
Right that moment, Su Yu leaped into the air before stomping down with one leg. A bestial growl rang out from Zhou Hao's throat. His hair, that was already soaked with blood, stood on end as he rammed his head into the incoming leg.
Boom!