Chapter 407 - Cut Some Slack?
Why did they always say that real combat could sharpen the fighting capabilities of an elementalist?
It was because in real combat, one would encounter various types of elementalists and fighting styles. In real combat, one would also face bizarre and unpredictable situations that forced him or her to progress, think faster, and react quicker. As long as one could survive real combat, he or she would gain a new level of understanding toward the type of enemy he or she had just defeated.
Life-and-death situations could unleash one’s potential, allowing him or her to make incredible moves, display wondrous creativity, and possess unimaginable endurance. During peacetime, one could never achieve these.
These were all because of fear, intense fear. Mankind had an instinctive fear of death. Whether it was a man or woman, an elderly or a youth, a genius or a mediocre individual, it made no difference. All of them had an instinctive fear of death.
And right now, Ai Hui could feel the instinctive fear of death.
The 20 grass seeds exploded at the same time, so there was not a single gap in between the explosions for him to escape!
Even at this point in time, Ai Hui could not help but admire the precision and viciousness of Xiao Sen’s attacks. The 20 grass seeds had various types of effects. There were spiderwebs, clouds of poisonous smog, flying masses of needles, etc.
No matter how one looked at it, Ai Hui had nowhere to escape to.
Even if he managed to break out of the surrounding explosions, Huo Dun’s deadly strike would be waiting outside for him.
At this moment, Ai Hui, who was falling through the air while facing the sky, did something that no one expected.
He curled up his body and fell ferociously toward the ground. At the instant when his back made contact with the ground, he abruptly arched his back.
[Arching Fish Back]!
Even though Ai Hui had not used this move for quite a long time, he was still adept when using it now. The hard work that he had put in day and night outside of the Suspending Golden Pagoda had made this move instinctive.
The surface of the ground silently crumbled into fine powder, resembling crumbs from crushed crisp biscuits.
When Ai Hui was still in Central Pine City, his elemental energy was very weak. Now that he had reached Second Elemental Realm, the strength of his elemental energy had increased several hundred times!
Boom!
All of the onlookers lost their balance. It was as if someone had heavily slammed a gigantic hammer on the ground.
Huo Dun and Xiao Sen felt the direct impact of Ai Hui’s move. The ground beneath their feet trembled. A powerful dusty shock wave suddenly erupted in the arena like a gray ring.
The first thing that was hit by the shock wave were the grass seeds. Like weak and delicate rice straws, the grass seeds were dispersed and shattered by the shock wave.
What kind of move was this?
Huo Dun and Xiao Sen’s faces paled as they quickly put up their defenses.
As the shock wave swept past them,their bodies trembled, but they were still safe and sound. Both of them were stunned. They were not surprised by how powerful the shock wave was, but rather, how weak it was!
However, in the next moment, their facial expressions changed.
The shock wave that swept across the area was accompanied by an immense amount of dust. Currently, the entire arena was shrouded in dust.
Not good!
Xiao Sen was an expert in sneak attacks. As such, when he discovered he was surrounded by dust and that his vision was impaired, he knew something was wrong. He channeled his elemental energy and moved toward Huo Dun’s location. This was the only way he could survive.
Suddenly, three streaks of green sword gleam silently emerged from the fog of dust.
The three streaks of sword gleam were executed marvellously in the sense that they locked onto the position he was heading to.
Xiao Sen, whose mental state was stretched taut, suddenly stopped in his tracks. His body bent awkwardly like a piece of paper. Without making use of any external force, he changed his direction abruptly and headed for another direction.
He had just used his dodging techniques to change the outcome of the situation and heaved a sigh of relief. Success!
Luckily, his opponent had not figured out his dodging techniques. This was the first time he encountered such a powerful opponent. Ai Hui’s keen observation was indeed terrifying. Xiao Sen suspected that if the battle continued, Ai Hui might figure out his dodging patterns.
Suddenly, Xiao Sen had a premonition, and his facial expression changed drastically.
Not good!
An excrutiating pain erupted through his lower body, and he could not help but release a blood-curdling scream. His body curled up as the elemental energy in his body went into chaos. His completely lost control over his body and landed heavily on the ground like a sandbag.
Xiao Sen’s scream came too suddenly and sounded extremely dreadful. Everyone’s facial expression changed drastically. Xiao Sen’s scream had set off their fear and trepidation. Everyone knew Xiao Sen was a tough individual who would not have screamed if it was a normal injury.
"Stop it!" Lu Feng yelled in panic.
Huo Dun’s face turned deathly white as well. Since he was closer to Xiao Sen, he was more frightened than the rest upon hearing Xiao Sen’s scream. Huo Dun had rich combat experience and knew that this fog of sand was the enemy’s greatest cover. Huo Dun adopted an impregnable defensive stance and used his vine spear to sweep up a gust of wind to blow the dust away.
Immediately, he could see clearly within a ten meter range.
Suddenly, a figure shot out from the fog of dust. To Huo Dun’s surprise, it was Ai Hui, who was moving together with his sword.
Huo Dun clenched his teeth as killing intent swept across his eyes. Unwilling to retreat, he simply pierced his vine spear at Ai Hui.
All of a sudden, his vine spear split into five thinner vine spears that simultaneously pierced toward Ai Hui!
Apparently, his vine spear was made up of five thinner vine spears. Usually, he would use it as a single vine spear. Only when a critical situation arose would he split it into the five thinner vine spears. Usually, this move would work perfectly in a critical moment of battle.
However, he did not expect Ai Hui’s body to change direction and fly over his five vine spears.
[Gale Bat Slash]!
Huo Dun’s face froze as his eyes widened with incredulity. How could Ai Hui increase his speed to such a terrifying level without a single sign?
A sword gleam flashed past his vine spears.
"Ahh!"
Huo Dun let out a blood-curdling scream. His right arm flew up into the sky as blood incessantly spurted out of his right shoulder.
The sand and dust had completely settled, revealing the entire arena.
Ai Hui was the only one standing in the huge arena. His Wintry Jade Blade was not stained with a single drop of blood. Not far away, Huo Dun was half-kneeling on the floor while holding his right shoulder. He had an anguished look on his face. Meanwhile, Xiao Sen was lying on the ground and howling in pain. His body was curled up, resembling a dried shrimp. The lower part of his body was drenched in blood.
Mingxiu was flabbergasted. She knew her junior’s strength had increased greatly but she still had not expected that he was actually so powerful!
Even though Ai Hui was fighting against two people, he was not injured at all, while the opponents were severely injured.
Lu Feng and his counterparts had ashen faces. They could not believe what they had just seen. No one knew Huo Dun and Xiao Sen’s strength better than them. Both of them suffered a crushing defeat despite joining hands to fight Ai Hui!
Ai Hui calmly walked out of the arena and stood beside Mingxiu. "Senior, your arena needs to be repaired."
It was at this moment that Mingxiu saw an enormously deep hole in the center of the arena, which looked as if it had been created by a falling meteor. She suddenly thought of Ai Hui’s [Arching Fish Back] and remembered the marks that he left outside of the Suspending Golden Pagoda.
So, Junior had already grown to such a level…
She was deeply moved.
One of Lu Feng’s subordinates flew into the arena and checked on Huo Dun and Xiao Sen’s injuries. Following which, he shook his head at Lu Feng. Lu Feng’s face immediately blanched. How would he not know that these two had been completely incapacitated?
Xiao Sen’s vital body part had been severely injured, and it was unknown that whether or not he would survive. Even if he survived, his nature would drastically change. Meanwhile, Huo Dun’s right arm had been severed. How could he still wield a spear in the future?
For a moment, the rest of Lu Feng’s subordinates sympathized with them. Their eyes blazed with fury as they glared at Ai Hui, wishing that they could rip him apart.
"Sir, do you not think your attacks were too ruthless!" someone yelled with hatred.
A tinge of rage flashed across Mingxiu’s face. Just as she was about to say something, Ai Hui held her back.
He turned around and replied calmly, "Is it? It’s on the behalf of Second Brother that I spared their lives. It seems that I should have killed them to live up to my reputation of having total disregard for human lives."
Everyone’s facial expression changed as they trembled with fear. It was at this moment that they remembered that this seemingly calm and indifferent man was an executor who massacred people without blinking.
Ai Hui smiled at Lu Feng. "I am a straightforward individual. I will pay a debt of gratitude if I need to and will seek revenge if I need to. Second Brother gifted me this treasure sword, so I have to think on behalf of Second Brother. The Grass Bandits desired to harm Senior Mingxiu, so they deserved to be killed. Haha, this issue has not been settled yet. Sooner or later, I will still have to go and deal with them. I would rather cut the weeds and completely eliminate the roots than cut them some slack. Second Brother, what do you think?"
Ai Hui’s smile and words made everyone’s hair stand on end. One could sense a strong sense of killing intent in his words. They had met all kinds of ruthless people before, but they had never encountered someone like Ai Hui who spoke so lightly of killing people.
Everyone was speechless. They knew this seemingly young fellow was a merciless individual who was not to be trifled with.
Lu Feng had a very stiff look on his face. He forced a smile and said, "Junior Hui is indeed an extraordinary hero."
"Second Brother is the true hero. You’re a division leader and hold great power and wealth. Everyone envies you. Everything about Second Brother is great. The only thing that you lose out compared to me is that I live my life as I please and I fight alone. If I want to kill somebody, I kill somebody. If I want to walk away, I walk away."
By now, Lu Feng had already regained his composure, and he chuckled. "I really envy Junior Hui! Every day, I’m busy with work and fussing over trivial matters. How can a person be carefree and happy like you?"
Both of them shook hands happily. One could not see any ill-feelings between them.
After chatting for around two hours, both of them unwillingly ended their conversation as Lu Feng and his men bade farewell to Ai Hui and his counterparts.
Ai Hui even personally sent Lu Feng and his counterparts to the entrance of the embroidery workshop.
As Ai Hui watched Lu Feng and his men walk into the distance, the smile on his face disappeared and a keen look flashed across his eyes.
Suddenly, an intense pain spread across his ear. Apparently, Mingxiu was wringing his ear.
"Tell me, where did you learn this bad habit from? Hehe, killing people with total disregard for their lives, right? So you only learned how to fight and kill after you grew up? Ah! You have become so bad after just a few years! Where has my innocent junior from the past gone to? Now you even learned how to boast! One against two! Arrogant, huh! You would rather cut the weeds and completely eliminate the roots than cut others some slack, right! Tsk, tsk, such domineering words!
"Hey, hey, hey!, Ouch, ouch, ouch! Senior, don’t use so much strength! Ouch! We can discuss this nicely. Yes, yes, yes, I will cut them some slack, I will cut them some slack! I will do whatever they want!"
Mingxiu released Ai Hui’s ear from her hand as her voice reverted to her usual gentle and refined tone. No one had expected her to do this.
Ai Hui grimaced in pain and heaved a sigh of relief.
"Junior."
Senior Mingxiu’s tone was gentle and soothing. She gently brushed the dust off from Ai Hui’s body.
A cold shiver sped down Ai Hui’s spine as he froze like a clay figurine. "Senior, feel free to order me around!"
"After thinking about it, Senior thinks that it’s better for you to clear the weeds."