A shockwave blast travelled throughout the beach as Rong, the Ox Demon Cultivator slammed his two handed Bull Horned hammer on to the ground. When the impacted sand finally settled to the ground, Rong was still panting from his continuous attacks. Jin gracefully dodged the attack and struck towards his legs once more.
Rong partially blocked the attack, no longer having the same stamina he had at the start of the fight. “Are you fucking messing with me? Why are you always aiming my legs?!” Rong complained when Jin took a few steps back, still feeling refreshed. The battle was taking so long that the sun had already set and was replaced with a waning crescent moon shining its best to keep the place lit up.
“Ehh, isn’t that because that’s your weak point?” Jin asked back, and Rong was speechless for a moment. He had no idea how he knew it as he had tried to cover it up as much as he could.
“What the fuck do you even mean?” Rong faintly tried to bluff his way out of the accusation as he tightened his grip on his bull horned hammer and charged forward once more.
“How did Jin knew that was his legs were the weakest part?” Lian asked and Grandma Yuan was gracious enough to speak the answer out.
“It is because Rong overcompensates his weakness. See how Rong gets flustered the moment Jin tries to aim for the legs? This kind of body language, as well as the strong retaliation attacks from him, proves that he can’t afford to let himself get injured there. In other words, it’s exactly where Jin should aim for. Now, most people would do the opposite the moment they see that there are no openings for his legs.” Grandma Yuan explained.
“Also, notice how his hammer swings are not as swift when it comes to defending his lower part of the body? It is an inherent weakness of the hammer techniques due to the shift in weight to block the attack. Which is why most hammer cultivators would have learned how to push their opponents away and strike them back. Unfortunately for him, Jin isn’t one to be pushed around, and he is capable enough to avoid any attacks.”
“But you have to give credit to Rong, he had been practising his Ox Leg techniques for the longest time and continues to do so after he picked up the Ox Demon cultivators.” Lian chimed in defence of her teammate.
“Still, you saw how Jin always attacks the left leg instead of the right whenever he got the chance?” Grandma Yuan clarified, but apparently, her disciples had not noticed that details.
“Fools! I believed Jin saw a slight difference in movement with his left leg instead of his right. Rong might have practised a lot of his Ox Leg techniques, but he predominantly uses it on his right side rather than left which causes that foot to react slower” Grandma Yuan scolded them reiterating her point to underestimate Jin.
“Still, it looks like he is withholding his punches against Rong as if he knows that we were going to analyse them and use it against him.” Su Zhen said as she was the only one who had her eyes affixed on Jin’s movement.
While the interaction between her fight against him was short, it was enough to know that he seemed more agile than the last time they met. Visibly agile and less panicky. Was it because he was prepared to fight them this time as compared to the previous surprise ambush? She would not know until Su Zhen fought with Jin one on one.
“He could be, but does he really need to?” Claire fired the question back at Su Zhen which broke her gaze on Jin.
“Yeah, Rong is already bearing the burden of the sword slashes on his legs,” Lian replied to the group on behalf of Su Zhen. “With his leg injured, Rong cannot fully expend his Ox Demon powers as much as he wanted to. The fear that Jin would attack him again at the same spot limits his options against Jin. Rong might be a frontline fighter, but he requires support to distract the enemy so he could unleash his dynamic, powerful attacks.”
“Indeed.” Claire agreed as she eyed at Lian, who was itching to go down to help him. They were, after all a pair when it came to training, each of them covering for the other’s shortcomings, providing an almost perfect offence.
If it was not Jin who fought against them in the 30 seconds trial, the Demon Exorcist trainees were sure to have gotten a victory within the first five seconds.
“Last but not least, his full body plated armour only covers his shins,” Claire added as Rong was the only one in full armour amongst the Demon Exorcist Trainees although he only affixed plated armour parts which did not affect his overall movement.
“His inscription was working, and leg strikes prevented a number of hits before it got serious.” Su Zhen commented as Jin suddenly changed his stance.
Not caring for those watching him and their talk, Jin had not only been dodging to taunt Rong. Instead, he had been using this fight to get more used to his upgraded Pandaromic Eyes ability ever since he was able to control his chi to a certain degree.
Jin was finally able to link it up with the System and use it like a digital display which the System showed the potential weakness that Rong had. In his defence, Grandma Yuan never stated that he wasn’t allowed to use the System to the fullest potential.
The Pandaromic Eyes 2.0 made everything look very game like him. He could see an estimated percentage of Rong’s health in a bar, which made he doubt the analysis that the System gave him.
“Are you sure this is accurate? The last time I used this Pandaromic Eyes feature on Zeru, all you gave me was a ‘??????’ question marks all over his so called health bar!” Jin complained to System while he was fighting with Rong.
That was another reason why Jin had not fought to the best of his ability. It was not because he was hiding his skill, but arguing with the System. “System has collected over thousands of cultivator’s data to provide such an estimate, so User could gauge how much damage is needed to defeat Ox Demon Cultivator Rong.” The System replied back.
“Then why are there times his so called health bar increases when he is obviously not taking any health potions or anything of the sort? He was just recharging his chi!” Jin pointed out as he parried the hammer blow while looking extremely focused when he was actually very annoyed by the System.
“As Bellator Peppers would put it, ‘because this is reality, not some sort of video game. Unlike in the virtual world, no one can fight at 100% top strength while only having 1% of his HP remained’. Chi is a factor that has to be taken into account as it helps reduce bleeding, enhances body recovery in a short burst as well as expending energy output.” System stated its rationale to Jin.
“System originally wanted to place a chi/stamina bar factor right underneath the health bar but decided otherwise. This was because chi can be affected by an individual’s willpower. Therefore, System cannot properly estimate a chi bar.”
“Hence, System decided to include the chi factor into the health bar algorithm, to represent a more accurate indication of a cultivator’s health. Through the constant use of Pandaromic Eyes, System believes that it could push out products similar to that to the store’s cultivators.”
“Oh please, if you wish to push it out, you would already have done so. Aside of that, you can also control each and every minion, and if you want them dead after a certain hit, you could make it happen.” Jin added as he made an irritated sound in front of Rong as if it was just too bothersome to fight with Rong.
“What the fuck is wrong with this person? This was supposed to be a fight to the death… why does it feel like I have interrupted him mid-thought? If he is feeling irritated, why can’t he just finish me off quickly?” Rong thought as he panted heavily and began to feel the pressure on his left knees and ankle.
After seeing that it seemed impracticable for him to continue, Rong had wanted to withdraw from the fight. No matter what, he wanted to escape the sensation of death, but remembered boasting those big bombastic words of his to Jin.
If he withdrew from the fight, it would be guaranteed that the others would remember him as a coward, including his opponent. Or maybe Grandma Yuan would personally cut him down since she already declared that there was could be one person to be left alive.
“That is actually a very good idea, User. By introducing health bars to the monsters, System could artificially control the amount of health a minion can have. Upon reaching the threshold, System can then teleport the minion away as if it disappeared into nothingness. While in actual fact, the minion is still alive. Thus, it will save a significant cost in the long run.” The System sounded excited upon hearing Jin’s proposal.
“But your initial cost will be quite troublesome if you have to invent like some glasses or contact lenses for them to see through.” Jin avoided another incoming hammer strike from the exhausted Rong. Because of the heavy blast impact that he made, Rong was stuck in mid air due to the momentum he made, but Jin was not bound by any since he had the Green Panda Wind energy infused within him.
With a slight push, Jin was able to slip through the sandy impact and slash at both of his legs. Blood was visible with Rong unable to block in time and he fell to the ground in pain. Jin did not waste any time and finished him off with a slash to the neck. The others saw how effortlessly Jin killed Rong, but none of them noticed the Green Panda Wind Energy he utilised because of the sand fall from the impact.
Except for Grandma Yuan.
“Looks like he is able to mask his technique with Rong’s attack. For him to control his chi to such a level as compared to just a few days ago, there’s no doubt he had been trained hard by Master Zeru.” Grandma Yuan thought as she continued to drink her tea.
Meanwhile, the rest scorned Jin for killing Rong so mercilessly while at the same time trembled at the fact that Grandma Yuan had been deadly serious about this being a fight to the death.
Though they could afford the resurrection given their family status, death was still something unknown to them, and it was definitely something no one would want to experience. They had heard rumours how resurrection could go wrong, or be damaging to the spiritual soul and hence reducing the cultivation grade.
Some extreme gossips even claimed that it might render the cultivator handicapped from chi production because of the dantian dysfunction after the resurrection.
“Ah! How about reusing the masks that we made the cultivators wear during the Goblin Raid? Maybe we could add a cosmetic lens enabling the cultivators to see each other’s grades, by showcasing the data from their account. You should be able to cut cost if you proceed that way. Well, if you want, we can try and make the cultivators pay for an upgrade at a small fee to offset some of the costs. The new masks can be produced via the Lost Tech Counterfeiter if needed.” Jin suggested while looking coldly towards the sea. To the other Demon Exorcist trainees, they believed that he was looking down of them.
In the meantime, Lian came down to retrieve the body of her close friend while tearing a little at the fact that Rong was killed just like that. She knew that he would be resurrected, but still, such a sight wasn’t easy to behold. “You did well…you did well…” Lian sobbed as she repeated those words. Angered by Jin’s indifference, Lein had decided to be the next opponent.
“Lian, you recover your composure first. I shall defeat this nobody before he dares to lay another finger on either you or Su Zhen.” Lein announced, but the White Snake Demon Cultivator jumped into the fray with her weapon already out.
“I want to fight him too.” Su Zhen words were direct and cold.
“Like I said, one on one fight!” Grandma Yuan spoke with an uncaring tone. She knew such a scene was bound to happen after seeing one of their comrades killed. Yet, the two Demon Exorcist trainees would not budge at all.
“Sigh, they have so much more to learn than just revenge for their comrades.” Grandma murmured her troubles at Claire and she nodded her head quietly. She remembered how blinded she was by the same thoughts during her training.
“No, he is mine!” Lian argued as she was filled with rage. Her portrayal of the Nine Tailed Fox Demon silhouettes was burning brightly above her head as she moved towards him.
“Actually, how about we change the rules a bit. I fight against all three of them.” Jin suggested as he stretched his arms to loosen the ache in his waist.
“You sure about this? … Alright then, the deal still stands so don’t blame afterwards if you lose. But if you win, I shall throw in a little something for your…kindness. Other than that, Proceed.” Grandma Yuan started the match verbally. Claire shook at her head for their rashness but believed it was a still a good indicator to see if Jin had truly improved from his stay in the isolation ward.
“Then let me end his life in this instant.” Lian did not hesitate as three tails appeared right behind her. Jin noticed that her rage for revenge had nearly consumed her entirely, and her control was seem very limited that it could breakdown anytime. Lein and Su Zhen immediately knew that Lian would not be playing around when her tails had appeared, therefore giving way to her make the first move.
“So, I guess its Round Two?” Jin smirked at himself for the deja vu he experienced when he saw those three tails waving radiantly right behind Lian.
