Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Hao’er!” Nangong Tian’s voice was heard again. His eyes were clearly red because even he could tell what a close call that was.
If Nangong Hao hadn’t given up on devouring Yan Xiu’s Bloody Landscape at the critical moment, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
“Head of Nangong family, you seem to be very agitated?” Yan Yin glanced at Nangong Tian’s tightly clenched fists and said with a smile.
“Yan Yin, don’t be too contented!”
“Oh? Head of Nangong family, are you picking a fight?”
“Hmph!” Nangong Tian snorted and his face turned black. His aura also became unstable as he looked at Nangong Hao and the wound on his shoulder.
Meanwhile, Yan Xiu was looking at Nangong Hao too.
He couldn’t possibly believe what Fang Zhengzhi said immediately, or rather, he couldn’t believe it completely. However, that didn’t include their unspoken understanding.
That was because unspoken understanding could only be achieved through a long time of cooperation.
Their combined attack just now was an example of unspoken understanding.
After he used Bloody Landscape, Nangong Hao immediately tried to devour it with Blood Offering Illustration. Nangong Hao could have devoured or reflected Bloody Landscape if nothing went wrong.
However, Fang Zhengzhi attacked him before he could devour it.
This meant that Fang Zhengzhi had predicted his technique and Nangong Hao’s reaction as soon as he moved. Hence, he was able to attack Nangong Hao right when he was about to devour Blood Landscape.
‘Was it a coincidence?’ Yan Xiu wanted to clarify his doubt, but this was obviously not the time because Fang Zhengzhi moved again after he injured Nangong Hao.
He threw a punch!
It landed on Nangong Hao’s wound!
Blood gushed out again.
Fang Zhengzhi really took the idea of ‘Kick someone when they’re down’ to the extreme. Once he landed the first blow, the second and the third blow would immediately follow up.
Yan Xiu also knew that logic.
Therefore, he was aware that the outcome of this Martial Arts Competition would be determined if he kept delaying. Then, his interference would be meaningless.
He stopped hesitating because he had never been an indecisive person.
Yan Xiu moved again in an instant. He turned into a black afterimage and appeared in front of Nangong Hao at an exceptional speed.
Boom!
Nangong Hao, who was already injured, was knocked back once again. He became paler and couldn’t help spitting out another mouthful of blood.
Meanwhile, below the altar, Dao Xin’s nervous expression finally loosened up. However, an unconcealable look of complication remained in her eyes.
“Xiu, I’m not being cruel. I would never lie to you or let you interact with Fang Zhengzhi again if I had a choice. However, you are the only one who could pull this off…” Dao Xin murmured. Then, she gazed at the sky and continued, “Fang Zhengzhi, I never thought that you’d still be alive. However, you have actually survived. In that case, I’d have to kill you again regardless of the risk or price involved!”
“Xin, are you worried that Yan Xiu would regain his memory after interacting with Fang Zhengzhi?” She heard Dao Hun’s voice at this moment.
“No, I am not worried about that.” Dao Xin shook her head and replied.
“Yup, you don’t have to be worried because Yan Xiu would never regain his memory.” Dao Hun nodded softly when he heard that.
“I know.” Dao Xin nodded and glanced at Yan Xiu. She obviously knew what Dao Hun meant, but she still looked a little worried. “To be honest, my real worry isn’t Yan Xiu regaining his memory, rather, it’s whether the two of them would become friends once again!”
Dao Xin didn’t say that out because as long as Yan Xiu would truly try his best today, then her worry would be unwarranted.
Luckily…
In such a battle, even if Yan Xiu’s heart wavered, he didn’t have too much time to find out about the truth.
Boom! There was another bang in the altar.
It had to be mentioned that Dao Xin’s surmise was correct because Yan Xiu truly didn’t have time to think or ask. Everything was going according to her plan.
Thanks to Yan Xiu and Fang Zhengzhi’s impeccable cooperation, Nangong Hao could barely fight back anymore. He was forced back again and again and he was almost out of the edge of the altar.
Fang Zhengzhi didn’t seem to be guarding against Yan Xiu at all. He was still shielding Yan Xiu like before and attacking Nangong Hao relentlessly.
“Yan Xiu, this will be the final blow!” Fang Zhengzhi’s smile grew brighter when he saw Nangong Hao moving closer and closer towards the edge of the altar.
“Yup.” Yan Xiu nodded softly. At the meantime, he clenched his Silver Blood Fan tightly with a determined look on his face.
At this moment, Fang Zhengzhi moved again.
He charged towards Nangong Hao first just like before with a devilish purple light flowing on Traceless Sword. Without any hesitation, he slashed at Nangong Hao.
Nangong Hao placed one hand on his shoulder and held Wuwei Sword in his other hand. He looked more determined as Fang Zhengzhi charged towards him.
He didn’t take another step back because he couldn’t move back any more.
Boom!
A bloody light soared into the sky and completely blocked the sunlight. The entire sky became red as if it was tainted by blood.
A sky full of bloody mist permeated the air. It turned into streams of light at times and transformed into numerous bloody symbols at other times. It was chilling and horrifying.
Following which, a figure suddenly flew out of the bloody light. It drew a curve in the sky like a shooting star and crashed into the ground heavily.
Boom! The ground shattered.
“Did they win?!”
“Is it finally over?”
“Did Nangong Hao lose?”
The surrounding disciples immediately looked at the figure on the ground, but when they saw who it was, all of them opened their eyes wide with disbelief.
That was because the man on the ground wasn’t Nangong Hao.
It was Fang Zhengzhi!
“What’s going on?!”
“Fang Zhengzhi… Was blown away?”
“How is that possible?”
They wouldn’t be surprised if this had happened an hour ago and if Nangong Hao blew Fang Zhengzhi away with a single move at the start of their fight.
However, at the moment…
Fang Zhengzhi obviously had the absolute upper hand, so they couldn’t possibly believe that he was suddenly blown away.
The disciples weren’t the only ones who were filled with disbelief.
Mo Shanshi, Mu Qingfeng, and even Qian Yu were all clearly shocked. They couldn’t understand what was going on.
However, Fang Zhengzhi did actually crash into the ground, and he looked like he was in extreme pain.
“Nangong Hao, you… I didn’t expect you to have one final trick up your sleeve…” Fang Zhengzhi suddenly jerked, rolled his eyes, and passed out at the most inappropriate time.
This sudden change came too quickly.
“He fainted?!”
“Just like that?”
“Really?”
The spectating disciples couldn’t wrap their heads around this. After all, Fang Zhengzhi seemed too weak at the moment as compared to his impressive performance just now.
‘If you are blown away, just get up and keep fighting.’
‘How could you just pass out?’
The disciples glanced at Fang Zhengzhi, who had passed out, then at Nangong Hao, who was shrouded by the bloody light. They were clearly unable to accept the outcome.
In fact, even Nangong Hao himself was visibly astonished. He was actually stunned when he saw that Fang Zhengzhi had been knocked out.
The atmosphere was intricate, so much so that even Bai Fei stopped tapping the armrest of his chair. His finger was suspended in the air almost motionlessly.
However, if there was one person on Heaven’s Peak who wasn’t overly surprised, it was definitely Dao Xin.
“Xiu, thank you.” Dao Xin lips moved a little, then, she looked towards the distant figure in the altar.
However, Yan Xiu didn’t seem as calm as Dao Xin. In fact, he was a little startled as well.
Moreover, his expression was almost identical to Nangong Hao’s.
He glanced at Fang Zhengzhi who had passed out, before looking at Nangong Hao who was shrouded by the bloody light. Yan Xiu was also standing there in a daze.
That was until he heard a voice.
“Yan Xiu, seize the opportunity!” This voice obviously came from Yin Yang Hall. However, it was Dao Hun instead of Dao Xin.
His voice definitely sounded a little excited because the outcome of this Martial Arts Competition was already foreseeable at this point in time.
Yan Xiu finally regained his composure at this moment.
Even though he still looked astonished, he hastily turned towards Nangong Hao and bolted towards him.
“Hmph?!” Nangong Hao also responded. As Yan Xiu rushed towards him, he took two steps forward and charged towards him.
Boom! Their fists collided.
The black radiance clashed with the bloody light intensely. However, the bloody light soon faded after it was suppressed by the black radiance.
Nangong Hao was forced to move back.
One step, two steps!
After the second step, Nangong Hao was already pale as snow. However, he bit his lips so tightly that even his teeth were trembling.
The third step!
Nangong Hao’s foot was in the air, but it eventually stopped in the air. He was one step away from crossing the edge of the altar.
“You can’t win.” Yan Xiu looked at Nangong Hao’s suspended foot and said coldly with his brows furrowed together.
“I… Know.” Nangong Hao was obviously trembling. He spat out blood as he replied.
Just as Yan Xiu mentioned, it was impossible for him to win. After all, his injuries were so severe that he couldn’t keep fighting even though he possessed the Blood Offering Illustration.
Yan Xiu’s offensive power was so strong that Nangong Hao couldn’t possibly defeat him in a few moves even if he was at his best. Most importantly, Yan Xiu’s power also didn’t depend on Gifted Bloodline.
“Hao’er, this is the final step. The only opponent left is Yan Xiu. You have to keep going no matter what!” He heard Nangong Tian’s voice at this moment.
“The final opponent, huh?” Nangong Hao looked slightly bitter.
“Hao’er, you are one of the Nangong Nobles. How could you be defeated here?”
“Yeah, too many sacrifices have been made for this moment. How could I lose at the final step… However, some things are meant to be undoable… Maybe this is fate…”
“There’s no such thing as fate. Us Nangong Nobles will succeed for sure!”
“Succeed? How?” Nangong Hao looked at Yan Xiu. His Wuwei Sword had already penetrated the ground. If he couldn’t even hold his sword, how could he stop Yan Xiu’s attack?
“Sacrifice, we could still sacrifice!” Nangong Tian’s eyes turned red when he saw that Wuwei Sword was on the verge of falling off Nangong Hao’s hand. Then, he suddenly turned towards Nangong Mu and said, “Mu’er, I want to borrow a thing from you, are you alright with that?”
“Thing? What… Thing?” Nangong Mu trembled. He obviously witnessed the situation in the altar, however, he couldn’t do anything to stop it since he was injured and had collapsed onto the ground.
Fang Zhengzhi’s domineering power and Yan Xiu’s interference were destined, just as Nangong Hao had mentioned. It was fate that prevented the Nangong Nobles from succeeding.
Nangong Mu didn’t understand.
He couldn’t understand what else could be done at this point in time.
However, it soon dawned on him because he saw a dagger in his father, Nangong Tian’s hand.
“Mu’er, I’m sorry, but this is your fate. In fact, this is destined since the moment you swallowed the fruit of the Tree of God. The thing is, I really don’t want to do this unless I have no other choice, I really don’t…” Nangong Tian had already teared up at this moment.
“Father, you…” Nangong Mu’s eyes opened wide with disbelief because his father, his birth father, had stabbed a dagger into his chest.