The interval of two months had transformed both competitors. Stone Bai was now standing firmly at the center of the ring, his feet spread apart. His two arms were larger in size with obvious blood veins protruding. Each punch created a gust of whistling wind, which brought with it a stream of hot air, making the temperature of the arena rise a little.
On the other hand, the small body of Blue Phoenix seemed even more fragile under the attack of Stone Bai’s fierce punches. But she agilely avoided each strike, her waist as flexible as a snake. Her body shifted in the wind like a willow leaf, her bright eyes fixed on Stone Bai’s movements. This attack-and-dodge process lasted for several minutes, and throughout this period, Blue Phoenix did not attempt a counter-blow even once, as if intending to work down her opponent’s energy.
For a time, the two just remained in the deadlock.
Shi Mu knew immediately, from their brilliant arts, that the two must have become Houtian Warriors and started training in their respective arts. The fist art Stone Bai was performing was called the Fire Fist, whereas Blue Phoenix’s erratic shifting seemed similar to some shadow arts Shi Mu had come across in the General Sutras House.
Judging from their movements, apparently both had reached the primary state of their respective arts. Moreover, the way they could easily perform the art meant that they had gathered much more real qi in their body than Shi Mu did.
Shi Mu sighed. The waste bloodline of the stone monkey had truly been an obstacle in his progress, otherwise, with two months’ time and large amounts of pills, he should have reached the second grade of his Heaven Elephant Art.
“Brother Shi, what has brought you here? I haven’t seen you for ages.” Just then, a hearty smile came over his face before Shi Mu saw the big-mouthed Xiao Ming nudging through the crowd.
Xiao Ming’s loud greeting drew the attention of some disciples, who obviously recognized Shi Mu and began whispering to each other.
“Brother Xiao, nice to meet you.” Shi Mu gently smiled to Xiao Ming. The two exchanged some pleasantries and then stood next to each other, watching the match.
“Brother Bai is an absolute genius. I would never have believed his Qi had reached this level, if not for seeing it in front of my eyes!” Shi Mu commented, smiling.
“Acute eyes. Yes, brother Bai has just reached the third grade in his All-Yang Art.” Xiao Ming nodded.
Shi Mu was shocked to hear that. Though he knew little of this All-yang Art, it should be of the same level as that of his Heavenly Elephant Art. Reaching the third grade, within two months, was astounding. Stone Bai’s talent must be far above Shi Mu’s!
“But why is brother Bai challenging Miss Blue Phoenix? What happened?” Shi Mu suppressed his astonishment and managed to ask a question in an easy manner.
Xiao Ming’s look changed, a trace of embarrassment crossing his face.
“You’ll definitely laugh at me about this. Actually, brother Bai is doing this for me. You know, the day we entered the sect, I was forced to give up one of my Black Fire tokens to brother Qu. So...” Xiao Ming forced a smile.
Shi Mu frowned. He knew of this matter.
“Brother Shi has always been practicing in his own house, so it’s natural you don’t know this. Our newcomers are very proud and ambitious, now that they have learned some strong Houtian arts, they just can’t resist the temptation of trying each other’s strength. The winner shall have a token from the loser. Miss Blue won one from a disciple yesterday, and brother Shi asked her for a challenge as soon as he got the news, intending to win that token for me...” Xiao Ming continued.
Shi Mu nodded as he understood what was happening. He silently commended Stone Bai’s loyalty to his friend, but to beat Blue Phoenix was not an easy task. Judging from the current situation, it seemed that Stone Bai had the advantage, but that was because Blue Phoenix had not used her bloodline power at all. Therefore, the result of this match was, in fact, quite unpredictable.
Far from the ring, six disciples were watching the match. Their uniforms told that they were all junior disciples, and Qu Kun, who had robbed the new disciples of their tokens, was among them. He had his two fellow disciples standing behind him. The other three formed another group that seemed hostile to Qu Kun’s, led by a youth with golden hair and blue eyes, and one of his two followers was none other than Huo Mao. The leader youth seemed to have foreign blood.
All of a sudden Qu Kun opened his mouth, “Brother Jin, who do you think will win?” He sneered while looking at the youth with golden hair.
“I heard that brother Qu has tried their strength the day they entered our sect. And your fist was dodged by that bell girl in a strange way. So I guess brother Qu thinks she’ll win?” The golden-haired youth did not answer the question directly but asked in reply, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Qu Kun raised his eyebrows and curled his lip, “Bloodline warriors are born with better chances. That Stone Bai is a good warrior, but only among ordinary ones...how could he manage to beat a bloodline warrior? I assume brother Jin knows this better than anyone. Plus, though he might progress really fast at Houtian level, that does not mean he would have any luck at Xiantian level...”
The golden-haired youths snorted, his face falling. “Brother Qu, say what you like, this Stone Bai is ours, as for that Blue Phoenix, we, the Holy Spirit Association, won’t take her, so do what you like. Are we happy with this decision?” He said coldly.
“Perfect! That’s a deal!” Qu Kun nodded instantly.
......
On the ring, the two had been in the deadlock for a long time, both exhausted and filled with impatience. That was when Stone Bai let out a low shout, stamped hard on the ground, leaned forward with his body, and then punched at his opponent.
Immediately, a hot air welled from his fist, forming an air wave several meters long. As he shouted again, his arm sweeping through the air. The scorching hot wave blasted toward Blue Phoenix, almost sweeping half the ring. However, though Blue Phoenix ducked, she felt her strength dwindling, unable to dodge this fierce strike. In a minute, she was pushed to one corner of the ring by the air wave.
Stone Bai’s face turned somewhat pale due to this exertion, but seeing this development, he was delighted and did not hesitate to stomp on the ground to shoot himself forward. His fingers bent, his palms looking like a pair of claws, shining cold light faintly.
“Dragon Claw!”
Stone Bai shouted again, his palms moving in from an angle that was almost impossible for his opponent to evade. He grasped at Blue Phoenix’s throat.
The bells rang, and in the next moment, Blue Phoenix had passed Stone Bai. Her figure retreated quickly like a faint shadow in the wind. As she steadied herself again, her beautiful face ghastly pale. Her clothes were torn with a long slit at her left shoulder, a part of her white arm was bare with five red scratches where blood was gushing out, dying her arm red.
Her eyes glared with fury, and, after she gently touched the ground with her tiptoes, she turned around to dash at Stone Bai. A white light flashed as she took out a dagger from her sleeve.
Blue Phoenix also shouted, but in a delicate tone. The dagger reflected a cold light as it was flung at Stone Bai’s Shoulder.
But she did not aim to kill him. However furious she was.
At the same time, Stone Bai was looking in front of him with a tired appearance, his eyes lacking strength, his body remaining in the same posture as it was in earlier. Reading his face, it seemed that he did not know or care about the incoming dagger.chaptererror();