Proofreader: Papatonks
“Senior brother, what did you say?” A disciple asked, confused.
Wu Qingqiu frowned and pondered before sighing, “I’m not too clear either, but from what I see of the last strike, I have a vague feeling Zhuo Fan had been stringing junior brother along.”
The disciples were startled. Wu Qingqiu continued, “Look at Zhuo Fan’s four dragon souls. Neither of them can stand up to junior brother. But in the end, his dragon soul ended up heavily wounded. Don’t you find it odd? It’s been obvious so far that Zhuo Fan had been on the ropes all along!”
“Yeah, did that punk blindside him?” One shouted.
Wu Qingqiu sighed. “Even if he did, he needed perfect timing. This timing was either when the opponent was the most careless or if he created it himself. Zhuo Fan likely chose the latter.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Based on Zhuo Fan’s purple dragon’s claw attack. He grasped it perfectly to turn the fight around. I find it hard to believe a true expert like junior brother would be so careless as to give his opponent such an opening to exploit. That is why he was made to play along with the other’s tunes.” Wu Qingqiu frowned, “But when exactly did all of this start? I just can’t see it.”
There were so many people just as shocked as he was. Zhuo Fan flipped the table a bit too fast, even by their standards. He had been stomped at every turn till now!
However, a few crafty old foxes around saw through it.
[So young, but not just strong but also cunning. Even we were duped by his act and thought he couldn’t win!]
Exalted Hei Ran held his beard and glanced at Bai Mei, “Old timer, see that?”
“Yeah, four dragon souls paving the way to success!”
Exalted Bai Mei nodded, his eyes flashing, “The scarlet dragon was first taken out to test the golden dragon’s power. The second variant was to lower the golden flame’s threat and lay the groundwork for the coup de grace. The third variant was bait. The azure dragon was in direct opposition to the golden dragon king, and since it was weak in direct battle, it was the perfect cover to get him close.”
“And to attack the azure flame and wound his opponent, the golden dragon used all its golden flame to strike the azure dragon’s flames within it, but it also left itself wide open for an attack.” Exalted Hei Ran finished.
Exalted Bai Mei nodded, “All of this had been prepared in advance. Ye Lin revealed an opening in the end because Zhuo Fan’s three variants left a huge impression on him, causing him to lower his guard. The demonic dragon and azure dragon had weak attacks, with only the scarlet dragon strong but not explosive enough. It was the only one that could have attacked him. But who would’ve thought the real killer move was yet to come? “
“I don’t find this purple dragon impressive at all, but the purple lightning is savagely brutal, just like the golden flame. But Zhuo Fan had yet to train it to its peak, or at least stand up to the golden flame. Ye Lin just had to leave a bit of golden flame around his body, and the purple dragon would’ve failed.”
“However, hadn’t Zhuo Fan done everything to get him to lower the golden flame guard?” Exalted Hei Ran sighed, “Especially that azure dragon. Its defense is the best, but it had no power to attack. It’s like a three-year-old fiddling with a golden bauble surrounded by two bodyguards with one arm and one leg. Any self-respecting thug wouldn’t be caught dead missing such an obvious easy target. He’d go as far as ignoring the crippled bodyguards as he went for that bauble with a blade out.”
Bai Mei sighed, “Old timer, that’s a bit crude. Being confident of victory, Ye Lin fell for Zhuo Fan’s trap. If he had been coolheaded, the victory might have been his. A shame…”
“What, the world doesn’t lack people yearning for a win. If you were to see your adversary removing your advantages one step at a time, wouldn’t you go for the kill when you find the best chance show itself?” Exalted Hei Ran raised an eyebrow.
Exalted Bai Mei chuckled, “It’s all due to that weird kid Zhuo Fan’s twisted mind. Ye Lin is stronger than him but fails in terms of mentality. This battle was like a spider biting at its prey until it fell over. You can’t guard against something like that!”
Exalted Hei Ran gave an understanding nod. “The kid has his path and heart. His future’s going to be bright. The western lands are going to change…”
In the little valley, Danqing Shen watched the fight clearly and nodded, “Ha-ha-ha, I bet those two coots could tell how the soul battle would turn, yet they never would’ve thought this outcome had been set up ever since the melee.”
“Did you really think I couldn’t beat you in melee?”
Zhuo Fan looked at Ye Lin with a smug look. Ye Lin glared at Zhuo Fan, his heart in shock.
[You’re telling me the whole thing was staged?]
Zhuo Fan shrugged, “Fine. I guess I lost the melee. I can’t beat you there.”
Ye Lin’s face twitched as he glared.
[Are you toying with me?]
“However, while I had been prepared to lose in that aspect, that didn’t mean I liked it.”
Zhuo Fan squinted and showed a crafty look. “An ever-winning general isn’t always victorious because he never lost, but because he turns defeat into victory. You’re the dragon ancestor’s disciple, a sacred beast priding itself on its strong body. Since you’re his disciple, your body can’t be any weaker. You got its entire inheritance, while I only got bits and pieces from a Qilin. It was obvious melee was lost to me.
“Though the loss had its perks. Sacred beasts are hugely arrogant, and you’re not far off either. You had let the melee win get to your head, thus giving me the advantage. Moreover, when you beat me in melee, you already thought you had crushed my strongest form and were sure of victory. This led to being careless in the soul battle, my second advantage. As for the third, when you used the golden flame in melee, it gave me time to analyze it and set the best way to fight you in soul.”
Ye Lin shook, staring at Zhuo Fan’s evil grin in complete stupefaction. He never thought Zhuo Fan would be so invested in this fight that he took everything into account. His master never taught him that.
Master only said that the winner lorded over the loser and that power was everything.
What could possibly be more important in a fight than one’s strength?
Reality showed his master was just a wild beast. Their fights were crude and simple, while humans’ used their brains. He was so strong that no one could have played him. Adding to that, he had never met someone as crafty as this prick among the simple people of the Ultimate Clarity Sect. That was how he ended up like this.
Now that he met Zhuo Fan, lording over him with power, but not in brains as well, being duped all the way. He only realized it when he fell for it.
[So a simple fight has so many aspects when humans are involved. The human world is so complicated.]
“Later, you still held me in contempt when you were stronger than me, to the point you went easy. Why? Because you overlooked my purple lightning!”
Zhuo Fan continued, “While it’s still fairly weak, it’s not useless either. As the three dragon souls were laid to bare, and you defeated them one by one, stroking your ego and startling you, the sudden mood changes made you forget my purple lightning. Making you rush was part of the plan, like insurance, in case you were paranoid to the extreme and this attack of mine went bust since I stood no chance against you in a prolonged battle. But now, ha-ha-ha… Didn’t I tell you, punk, that you’re too self-righteous… “
Zhuo Fan made a sign, and the purple dragon flicked its claw, pulling it out of the golden dragon’s body before letting purple lightning flash and sink into its chest again.
Ye Lin cried out. His soul was already damaged; if this one hit, he would be a goner.
So he had the golden flame cover its body and defend against the purple lightning attack. The purple lightning struck the flames but fizzled out.
This showed Zhuo Fan’s purple lightning wasn’t up to par.
Ye Lin felt like crying. He shouldn’t have been so eager to win and let himself suffer for it. Even if he had Zhuo Fan beaten to a pulp, he still couldn’t hurt him with four rubbish dragons.
But now, that same rubbish did him in.
The golden dragon was wrapped in golden flames, so the purple dragon turned into the demonic one and bit down to suck the flames right out of it.
When the golden dragon shot its scales in defense, the other just turned into an azure dragon to cancel the attack.
Then it changed into a scarlet dragon as it flicked its tail and sent the golden dragon flying. This wouldn’t have hurt, but since he was so heavily wounded, it added insult to the injury.
The scarlet dragon aimed for its wound as it clawed at him. Even if its claws didn’t harm the golden dragon, the heavy impact went deep into the wound and made the whole affair highly unsettling.
Ye Lin had to spit blood every time because of it. The pain in his head got so bad he felt it would explode.
Four rubbish dragon souls were ganging up on a perfect heaven dragon soul. The Decimating Dragon Ancestor would’ve exploded in anger if he saw this…
