Volume 1 Chapter 39

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Volume 1 Chapter 39: Blood Battle

"Let’s see who wins, your Firebirds or my speed!"

As Xu Qingfan watched the swarm of Firebirds flying toward him, he did not panic. Instead, he took a deep breath and pushed his speed to the limit, jumping and dodging swiftly in the small space, skillfully avoiding the Firebirds’ attacks.

Just as Xu Qingfan expected, in such a small area, even Feng Qingtian could not control so many Firebirds precisely. Both their speed and agility were greatly reduced. With poor control, some Firebirds crashed to the ground, while others collided with each other and exploded early, without harming Xu Qingfan at all. Xu Qingfan endured the pain from the explosions around him and used the force to increase his speed, reducing the threat from the Firebirds.

"Interesting," Feng Qingtian murmured, watching Xu Qingfan’s performance from the other side.

Feng Qingtian also noticed the problem with his attacks. A smirk of sarcasm crossed his lips, but his hands remained steady. With a flick of his fingers, most of the Firebirds surrounding Xu Qingfan suddenly burst, transforming into pure Fire Spirit essence that flowed into the remaining Firebirds.

As a result, the flames on the remaining Firebirds surged, clearly increasing their power. Although the number of Firebirds had greatly decreased, there were still nearly a hundred left, allowing Feng Qingtian to move them more easily. The Firebirds successfully blocked all of Xu Qingfan’s escape routes, causing him to face an even greater threat.

As time passed, Xu Qingfan realized that the space he had to dodge was becoming smaller and smaller, and the situation was becoming more unfavorable for him. So, while continuously dodging, he quickly thought of ways to deal with it.

The space to avoid was shrinking under the pressure of the many Firebirds; merely dodging would not be enough. Although these Firebirds were small, they contained a lot of Fire Spirit Qi, and with the defensive strength of iron cattail leaves, he could barely withstand the impact of twenty or thirty of them; any more and he would surely be blown to pieces.

What should I do?

"Sigh, it seems I have no choice but to take a risk," Xu Qingfan thought to himself.

With this thought, Xu Qingfan snapped his fingers, creating countless Blade Grass and Explosive Flame Flowers that rushed towards the Firebird. In an instant, flowers and the Firebird filled the air, creating a stunning scene.

Feng Qingtian knew that if the Firebird didn’t reach Xu Qingfan directly, the explosion’s aftereffects would hardly cause significant damage, so he quickly made the Firebird dodge Xu Qingfan’s attack.

However, this made Feng Qingtian’s control over the Firebird’s attack slightly falter. Xu Qingfan seized the moment, quickly transforming his fingers, creating numerous iron cattail leaves that shielded him from water and fire, gathering them into a sphere that completely covered his body, leaving no gaps, ready to endure Feng Qingtian’s "Firebird Technique."

Upon seeing Xu Qingfan’s actions, a mocking smile grew on Feng Qingtian’s face, as if he was laughing at Xu Qingfan’s overconfidence. He brought his hands together, and all the Firebirds surged toward Xu Qingfan from all directions, crashing into the protective sphere made of iron cattail leaves.

As the deafening explosions of the Firebirds echoed, gasps erupted from the spectators. Jin Qinghan stared intently at the scene, his fists clenched so tightly that they turned pale, looking anxious and clearly worried for Xu Qingfan’s safety. Unfortunately, after the Firebirds exploded, smoke filled the arena, obscuring the view of the spectators and Feng Qingtian, plunging the area into chaos and uncertainty.

Finally, as the wind blew and the smoke cleared, the scene gradually reappeared before everyone’s eyes.

They saw that the place where Xu Qingfan had stood was in ruins, littered with the remnants of exploded iron cattail leaves. Even the stone platform had tiny cracks due to the force of the explosion.

But Xu Qingfan’s figure could not be found.

Could it be that Xu Qingfan has been obliterated by Feng Qingtian’s "Firebird Technique"?

Seeing all this, Feng Qingtian furrowed his brow slightly, feeling a little uneasy. This unease did not come from thinking he might have accidentally killed Xu Qingfan. In Jiuhua Gate, the competitions focus on real combat, so during each major contest, there are usually a couple of disciples who are mistakenly harmed. Also, with Feng Qingtian’s character, he would never feel uneasy about accidentally harming someone unrelated to him. He just felt that with Xu Qingfan’s skills, it shouldn’t have been so easy for him to be defeated.

On the high platform where the elders were seated.

Zhang Hualing, who had been quietly watching the contest, suddenly laughed and said, "This Xu Qingfan is quite a clever person and has a strong character. If only his talent was better, he could be someone worth nurturing."

Surprisingly, Zhou Huahai, who had always had a bad impression of Xu Qingfan, also nodded slightly, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Hmph, but he underestimates Feng Qingtian. Although he has some skills, he is definitely going to lose this match," said Dharma Protector Xu with a cold snort, clearly unhappy about Xu Qingfan ruining his prized disciple’s performance in the last match.

Hearing Dharma Protector Xu’s words, the other elders fell silent, clearly agreeing with him.

On the field.

Just as Feng Qingtian frowned silently at the spot where Xu Qingfan had just been, something unexpected happened!

Dozens of Iron Vines suddenly appeared around him, quickly wrapping around Feng Qingtian. He had no time to react and found himself tightly bound, like a rice dumpling.

At that moment, Xu Qingfan’s figure slowly emerged behind Feng Qingtian, looking disheveled, with blood continuously flowing from his mouth, clearly injured from Feng Qingtian’s earlier attack. But now, Xu Qingfan didn’t care about that; he waved his right hand, and "Ruler of Wither and Flourish" transformed into a green light that swiftly lunged towards Feng Qingtian.

It turned out that the moment the Firebirds under Feng Qingtian’s control charged at him, Xu Qingfan suddenly broke free from the protective ball made of iron cattail leaves. He used "Ruler of Wither and Flourish" to block a few Firebirds rushing at him, and then, taking advantage of the explosion from the collision of the Firebirds and the iron cattail leaves, he propelled himself to maximum speed. Using the cover of the smoke from the explosion, he activated "Art of Invisible" and hid behind Feng Qingtian, finally launching a surprise attack when Feng Qingtian let his guard down.

However, because Xu Qingfan also used the explosive force of the Firebirds to boost his speed, he inevitably suffered serious internal injuries. His insides churned, and blood continuously flowed from Xu Qingfan’s mouth. This strike gathered all the remaining strength within Xu Qingfan, so the victory or defeat rested on this one moment!

At this moment, after the bloody battle and fierce confrontation, Xu Qingfan had forgotten the purpose of participating in the competition: that he only needed to secure third place. His mind was only focused on defeating this person who seemed never to fail—Feng Qingtian!

Unfortunately, Xu Qingfan was ultimately disappointed.

Just as "Ruler of Wither and Flourish" was about to hit Feng Qingtian, a long red staff suddenly appeared, radiating a strong fiery red light, as if flames were burning. The top of the staff was carved with a lifelike phoenix, and its eyes sparkled with mysterious red light. The tail of the staff trailed three phoenix tails that jingled beautifully. This staff was immensely powerful, easily blocking Xu Qingfan’s "Ruler of Wither and Flourish" attack.

However, this strike had already drained the last bit of Spirit Qi from Xu Qingfan, so when "Ruler of Wither and Flourish" was blocked by the staff, it seemed to lose all its strength and fell to the ground.

"Ding ding…"

With the sound of "Ruler of Wither and Flourish" hitting the ground, Xu Qingfan also used up all his strength and fell weakly to the ground. At the same time, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly inside.

"Sure enough, even if I give it my all, I cannot defeat Feng Qingtian. Well, it doesn’t matter. My goal was just to get third place to reclaim my master’s relic, so I haven’t lost much. Moreover, at least this time I forced Feng Qingtian to use his magical tool, and I learned some of his hidden strength, which should help Jin Qinghan," Xu Qingfan thought silently as he lay on the ground, unable to stand up.

At this moment, Feng Qingtian finally turned slowly, flames suddenly bursting from his body, instantly burning away the Iron Vine that was wrapped around him. Then with a gentle wave of his right hand, the long red staff floating in the air flew back to him. Only then did he look down at Xu Qingfan, who lay weakly on the ground, and softly said, "I’m sorry."

Hearing Feng Qingtian’s words, Xu Qingfan was taken aback, not understanding why he would say that. Feng Qingtian did not seem like someone who would apologize for hurting a fellow competitor.

Seeing the confused look on Xu Qingfan’s face, Feng Qingtian continued softly, "You are a worthy opponent, resilient and sharp. You risked everything for victory, and you have even forced me to use the ‘Phoenix Feather Staff’ for defense. At first, I underestimated you."

"But I still lost," Xu Qingfan said with a bitter smile.

"Winning and losing are not as simple as that. Although you lost this match, you have won my respect," Feng Qingtian said mildly.

"Winning your respect should make me feel honored, right?" Xu Qingfan asked quietly, struggling to calm the turmoil in his chest, realizing that his injuries were worse than he had imagined.

"I should. At Jiuhua Gate, there are not many people I respect." Feng Qingtian’s voice was calm, but it held deep pride inside.

"In the first match, Feng Qingtian wins." At this moment, an elder on the high platform stood up and announced.

With the elder’s voice, the crowd suddenly erupted in loud cheers, celebrating Feng Qingtian’s well-deserved victory and the exciting contest between Xu Qingfan and Feng Qingtian.

As soon as the match ended, Jin Qinghan quickly stepped onto the stage. He first shot a cold glare at Feng Qingtian, then crouched down to help Xu Qingfan up, gently asking, "Senior Brother Xu, how are you feeling?"

Hearing Jin Qinghan speak kindly, Xu Qingfan’s heart warmed a little, and he reassuringly said, "It’s nothing, just a bit of internal injury."

At this point, Xu Qingfan couldn’t hold back the turmoil in his chest and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Seeing Xu Qingfan suddenly spit out blood that stained both of their clothes, Jin Qinghan’s expression changed. He pressed his hands against Xu Qingfan’s "Giant Tiger Point" and slowly sent a flow of Spirit Qi into Xu Qingfan’s body to check on his condition. What he found made Jin Qinghan’s face turn pale; Xu Qingfan’s internal injury was far worse than he had imagined, and he might not even be able to participate in the finals the next day.

"Senior Brother Xu, you shouldn’t push yourself so hard." Jin Qinghan said in a serious tone.

"It’s okay, at least we learned more about Feng Qingtian’s hidden strength. His ‘Phoenix Feather Staff’ is very powerful, so be very careful when you compete against him," Xu Qingfan said with a faint smile, though his smile carried a hint of pain.

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Jin Qinghan was stunned. He never expected that Xu Qingfan was trying so hard to compete with Feng Qingtian just to help him understand Feng Qingtian’s hidden strength better! Jin Qinghan was usually cold, but now he felt touched by Xu Qingfan’s actions.

Feng Qingtian, who was still standing on the field, glanced back and forth after hearing their conversation, but he didn’t know what he was thinking at that moment. Maybe, at that instant, he also felt a slight longing for friendship?

If a person is lonely for too long, they will always begin to crave these things.

As Jin Qinghan continuously poured Spirit Qi into Xu Qingfan, he felt that the flow of Spirit Qi within him became smoother, so he pushed away Jin Qinghan’s support and managed to stand up.

He didn’t like looking weak and collapsed.

After walking off the field with Jin Qinghan’s help, Xu Qingfan said to Jin Qinghan, "Junior Brother Jin, you have a match coming up soon, so you don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine."

As he spoke, Xu Qingfan patted Jin Qinghan’s shoulder to encourage him, then turned to walk toward the back mountain. His injury was too severe this time and could affect the finals between the third and fourth places the next day, so he prioritized getting back to his cave on the back mountain to treat his internal injuries quickly.

Watching Xu Qingfan stagger away, Jin Qinghan had mixed feelings. He knew Xu Qingfan’s character was not one for fighting. The reason he participated in the inner sect competition was to win third place to reclaim his master’s relic—the "Three Meters Green Silk." But now, to help him, Xu Qingfan had suffered such serious internal injuries at the most crucial moment. Jin Qinghan couldn’t quite express his feelings—was it being touched? Guilt? Or happiness for having such a friend?

"Senior Brother Xu has always helped me, now it’s time for me to do something for Senior Brother Xu," Jin Qinghan thought quietly.

Thinking of this, a golden light slowly began to glow around Jin Qinghan. He no longer looked at Xu Qingfan but turned and walked into the arena. With each step he took, the golden light around him grew stronger. By the time Jin Qinghan reached the arena, he shone like a small sun. Then, the golden light faded, revealing a suit of golden armor made of Golden Spirit Qi that covered his whole body, leaving only his eyes uncovered, as if he were wearing heavy armor like in the mortal world. In his hand, a golden battle axe had appeared without him noticing. His appearance was extremely mighty.

What greeted him was the shocked gaze of Lv Qingshang, the third favorite in this competition, and the lazy smile on his face had completely disappeared.

"Golden Spirit Armor! It’s actually Golden Spirit Armor! Wasn’t it said that no disciple at the Inedia Stage in Jiuhua Gate has been able to master this Taoist spell for nearly seven hundred years?"

The crowd watching below erupted in astonishment.