Chapter 64: Bloody Battle
After sending Du Qing flying, Cloud Leopard landed on the ground.
He had yet to make any moves when a sense of danger suddenly welled up.
Cloud Leopard knew something was wrong and instinctively leapt to the side.
Whoosh!
A thin, red needle flew past his back, leaving behind a thin streak of blood. However, the wound hurt with a searing pain.
Without even turning around, Cloud Leopard leapt into the air and rolled.
Three thin, blood-red needles whizzed by.
A blood-colored shadow appeared in front of him, leaving behind afterimages. The shadow slammed its hand down towards Cloud Leopard.
It was Blood Demon Zhong Ding.
Thick killing intent was written all over his face, and an inky pattern spread across his hand.
Black Fiend Hands.
The Bloodriver Beast Clan’s Black Fiend Hands was one of the most annoying Origin Skills to deal with. The dark demonic Qi it unleashed could pass through a variety of barriers and directly harm the target.
The Black Fiend Hand seemed as if it was about to impact Cloud Leopard. Zhong Ding could almost see Cloud Leopard’s tendons tearing and bones breaking.
But at that moment, Cloud Leopard suddenly turned around. His right hand formed a hook and shot towards Zhong Ding’s wrist.
Serpentine Palm.
During his years spent wandering, Cloud Leopard had studied under a regular martial arts instructor.
This technique wasn’t even an Origin Skill. It was just a regular martial skill.
Even so, this regular martial skill possessed a frightening amount of strength under Cloud Leopard’s control.
Zhong Ding discovered that his palm strike could not land. If he forcefully continued on the same path, his wrist would be broken.
He was not willing to trade blows with Cloud Leopard. He unwillingly retracted his hand, as did Cloud Leopard, who simultaneously raised his knee.
The knee strike slammed into Zhong Ding.
Zhong Ding sharply exhaled as he raised his arm to block the knee strike. He was forced back half a step. He had yet to even feel astonished when Cloud Leopard had already leapt towards him, his leg aimed at Zhong Ding’s neck.
The kick was both quick and vicious, fired off immediately after the knee strike.
Zhong Ding let out a strange yell as he rapidly retreated.
Bang!
He suddenly felt a pain in his midsection as he flew into the air.
What?
How is this possible? When did he launch another kick?
Zhong Ding stared at Cloud Leopard in disbelief.
Cloud Leopard once again advanced. His palm morphed into a blade and swung through the air, the sound of thunder rumbling ear-piercingly.
Both of them were Origin Qi Scholars that had quick reactions. They had cultivated body-tempering Origin Skills while also raising their speed and reaction time. Thus, they exchanged nearly ten blows in the blink of an eye, their movements too fast to see clearly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Clay Giant’s heavy fists were still waving through the air, generating extremely loud rumbles. However, when compared to the conflict between the two speed-type individuals, it was just a backdrop. All it could do was serve to demonstrate the speed and precision of their battle.
Boom! Boom!
After two loud blasts, the two of them separated once again.
Zhong Ding flew through the air. His chest had been struck by a fist, and a footprint was clearly visible on his face.
“Bastard!” Zhong Ding was infuriated.
Cloud Leopard silently charged forwards like a bloodthirsty leopard pouncing at its target.
“Do you really think this makes you qualified to take on someone from a Bloodline Nobility Clan? Keep dreaming!” Zhong Ding howled.
He sliced open his wrist, and blood began to spurt out.
However, when the blood flew into the air, it did not fall to the ground. Rather, it rapidly congealed into a blood-colored figure.
This was Zhong Ding’s Blood Clone.
The Bloodriver Beast Clan could use their own blood to construct a Blood Clone. This was not an illusion technique, but rather a genuine clone with genuine offensive capabilities. The true body could also jump between different clones at will, making the user’s movements unpredictable. This could be considered the Bloodriver Beast Clan’s number one Origin Skill. The only downside to the skill was that the Blood Clone had a unique shape and had some obvious differences to the true body. Thus, it could not confuse the opponent. Of course, this was not really much of a downside.
After Zhong Ding created his Blood Clone, he and his Blood Clone combined to attack.
Cloud Leopard also advanced, making no attempts to dodge or avoid it. His fists flew through the air in a flurry, simultaneously attacking both Zhong Ding and his Blood Clone. Surprisingly, he did not seem to be disadvantaged at all.
The two of them exchanged nearly ten blows so rapidly that there was no time for them to think. All they could rely on was their high-speed reflexes and variation.
Suddenly, after the sounds of a few collisions, Cloud Leopard, Zhong Ding, and his Blood Clone separated into three distinct entities again.
Cloud Leopard’s chest had been struck by a Black Fiend Hand, while Zhong Ding and his Blood Clone had also been struck at the same time.
Cloud Leopard only swayed slightly, but a trace of blood had appeared at the corner of Zhong Ding’s mouth.
“Is this not enough? Try another!” Zhong Ding said in a shadowy voice.
He cut his wrist open again. Another fountain of blood appeared, and another Blood Clone was formed.
“I want to see what you can do this time!” Zhong Ding savagely laughed.
The two Blood Clones charged forwards towards Cloud Leopard along with Zhong Ding.
Cloud Leopard stared mutely at the three figures fearlessly. A towering desire to do battle could be seen in his eyes, and his body began to exude an intense aura.
Zhong Ding charged, six fists simultaneously slamming into Cloud Leopard.
Cloud Leopard lifted his head. Once again, he struck out with a flurry of fists.
Cloud Leopard blocked the six fists from the three people.
The two parties once again became entangled. Zhong Ding’s three bodies constantly revolved around Cloud Leopard, sending punches and kicks towards him. These punches and kicks were coated with powerful Origin Energy, and every attack was extremely powerful. In addition, one of the Blood Clones had turned its arm into Blood Demon Needles, constantly shooting out poisonous needles at Cloud Leopard.
Cloud Leopard’s body continuously twisted in midair. He flew up and down, leaving behind a trail of afterimages. He precisely countered every one of Zhong Ding’s attacks.
His attacks were simple and direct. Apart from the Serpentine Palm and Thunder Blade, he didn’t possess any other offensive techniques, but these simple methods were enough to give Zhong Ding a great deal of trouble.
Su Chen’s Thunder Blade was powerful because of its ability to generate the loud rumblings of thunder with every strike, allowing him to ensnare his opponent. This reflected Su Chen’s personality, which was one that advanced by retreating and set up meticulous traps at every step. Cloud Leopard’s Thunder Blade, however, was completely different; he did not pursue the strength of the thunder, but rather the speed.
This rapid speed was incredibly deadly, and it gave Cloud Leopard’s attacks a unique penetrative ability.
He had only achieved this through countless hours of bitter cultivation and practice. Su Chen had used his research to discover a way to strengthen himself, but Cloud Leopard had chosen a simpler, more direct, and effective method.
Every blow Zhong Ding exchanged with him felt like he was being struck by an extremely sharp blade. Even if he was able to withstand the blow, he could feel the pain as the attack seemed to pierce his bones.
The Bloodriver Demon Clan’s Black Fiend Hands should have been the Origin Skill with the greatest penetrative ability. How come this dark-skinned brat’s attacks could penetrate even more than his own?
And what was with his frightening speed?
How come he wasn’t able to suppress him even with the aid of two Blood Clones?
How come he seemed to strike faster and faster as time went on?
The more Zhong Ding fought, the more shocked he felt.
The two of them separated once again as they simultaneously dodged the giant’s attacks. Zhong Ding took advantage of the opportunity to cut himself again, forming a third Blood Clone.
“I don’t believe I can’t kill you!” Zhong Ding charged forwards as he screeched.
The three clones and the true body simultaneously charged forwards. The four people and their fists weaved an extremely intricate net of fists.
Cloud Leopard maintained his calm, silent demeanor.
It didn’t matter to him whether he was facing one opponent or many.
Fights on the streets were never fair. It was almost always a group of people ganging up on a single person.
When in those kinds of situations, complaining and pleading was useless. Only by fiercely battling could one survive.
Tactics were also necessary when battling. It was impossible to beat every single one of them, but he could at least target the most important one.
Thus, every time he was attacked by a group of people, he would focus on savagely beating the leader of that group.
Usually, by the time he had been beaten half to death by the others, the leader was not in much better of a condition.
As time went on, no one dared to fight him anymore.
Later on, he was the one who began to target other groups.
Cloud Leopard wasn’t afraid of anyone from the streets he had grown up on.
When Zhong Ding charged towards him with his three clones, Cloud Leopard only focused on the true body.
He charged forwards. In that instant, his battle tactics had changed.
He no longer cared for the Blood Clones’ attacks. His fist landed on Zhong Ding’s face.
All Zhong Ding saw was a fist growing larger and larger. An instant later, he was sent flying.
Pain!
Zhong Ding felt as if his nose had been shattered by his opponent.
Even though his own Blood Clones had also struck Cloud Leopard, his opponent seemed to completely ignore it. Cloud Leopard continued to charge towards him and attack.
Zhong Ding retreated in a panic, but Cloud Leopard wasn’t slower than him in the slightest. His fists carried a powerful momentum as he chased after Zhong Ding.
Zhong Ding released a Blood Demon Needle right at Cloud Leopard, but Cloud Leopard completely ignored it, allowing the needle to pierce him. Simultaneously, he reached Zhong Ding and punched him again.
“AHH!” Zhong Ding let out a cry of pain.
The momentum behind this fist was many times greater than the ones he had used before.
Being wounded hadn’t decreased Cloud Leopard’s strength in the slightest. On the contrary, his attacks had become even scarier.
He allowed himself to be injured in order to stimulate himself!
Zhong Ding instantly realized that both of Cloud Leopard’s Origin Skills grew more powerful the more he was wounded.
The more injured he was, the more powerful he was.
No wonder his opponent wasn’t afraid of being injured and even invited it.
Only truly vicious people would be willing to learn and use these kinds of Origin Skills.
A wound for a wound!
A life for a life!
Blood for blood!
This was his battle style!
In reality, Zhong Ding was already able to form four Blood Clones.
However, when faced with an opponent that wasn’t afraid of being injured and only targeted his real body, Zhong Ding knew that relying on numbers wasn’t going to be of much use.
“You’re crazy!” Zhong Ding yelled. Just when Cloud Leopard leapt forwards, his figure disappeared.
What appeared instead was a Blood Clone.
This was Blood Demon’s secret clone technique. He could switch places with his Blood Clones at will. However, every swap would expend some of the Blood Clone’s energy, so he generally avoided using it lightly.
But now, when faced with an insane opponent who not only didn’t fear being injured but welcomed it, he finally felt fear.
His true body reappeared. Zhong Ding was about to attack Cloud Leopard from behind, but an instant later, Cloud Leopard retreated without even looking behind him, using his body to slam into Zhong Ding.
How could this be?
Zhong Ding opened his eyes wide in fear.
It was not strange for Cloud Leopard to know about the fact that he could swap between Blood Clones. After all, the Bloodriver Demon Clan had existed for quite some time, and this was no longer much of a secret.
But how had he known which Blood Clone he would emerge from?
Zhong Ding’s heart was filled with surprised. He watched as Cloud Leopard’s figure charged towards him. His charge did not carry much momentum, his body was as cold and hard as metal as it slammed into Zhong Ding.
At the same moment that Zhong Ding was sent flying, he heard a snap as a rib broke.
NO! He yelled in his heart.
Cloud Leopard flew into the air, blood flowing from his body.
Those three Blood Clones had left behind claw marks on his body, tearing off chunks of his flesh.
However, he took flight again as if nothing had happened, his eyes fixed on Zhong Ding.
Zhong Ding let out a strange cry. He forcefully endured the pain and activated his evasion technique, reappearing at another Blood Clone.
He had yet to step out from the Blood Clone’s body, however, when Cloud Leopard had already changed directions in midair.
How was this possible? He could sense things without seeing them and charged backwards towards the Blood Clone that Zhong Ding was about to emerge from.
Not good!
Zhong Ding knew that he was screwed. In that instant, all he could do was command his two other Blood Clones to try and force Cloud Leopard back.
The two Blood Clones attacked Cloud Leopard, one from the left and one from the right. One struck Cloud Leopard’s back, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood, while the other congealed a blood needle, shooting it into Cloud Leopard’s body.
Cloud Leopard ignored them and continued to charge forwards.
Whoosh!
Cloud Leopard’s arm entered Zhong Ding’s body as if it were a sword. A surge of energy exploded within Zhong Ding’s body, basically smashing his organs into a pulp.
The four figures simultaneously froze in midair.
“You…… how did you know…… where I was?” Zhong Ding asked, his voice trembling.
“Instinct,” Cloud Leopard replied.
This was the only sentence he had spoken during this entire battle.
An instant later, his fist slammed down onto Zhong Ding’s head.
