Ling Han was now completely covered in blood. His temporary increase in power to the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier was obtained through sustaining serious injuries. He was now like an injured lone wolf—the more he was injured, the more he refused to surrender.
At first, it was as if the crowd was there just to watch a free show. But when they saw Ling Han being repeatedly injured yet continue to retaliate, their feelings, for some reason, were affected by his performance.
Even if Ling Han was a piece of trash, he was a piece of trash that deserved their respect!
What kind of person could have such determination and unyielding will?
To be unyielding even as his blood spilled, to be dauntless facing any and all setbacks!
Before they knew it, everyone’s thoughts started to lean towards Ling Han, secretly hoping that he would emerge victorious.
In the world of martial artists, the weak did not deserve to be pitied, but an unyielding warrior would be able to gain respect. Ling Han used his blood and strong will to obtain something that his predecessor had longed for the most…
Respect!
This was also the reason why Ling Han had stubbornly decided to fight this battle, and even chosen such a “stupid” method, a head-on clash.
Of course, only he was aware that his current condition was not as horrible as everyone was thinking—Indestructible Heaven Scroll was circulating within his body and continuously healing his injuries, so they looked much worse than they in fact were.
However, even if they already somewhat recovered by now, the injuries he suffered were in no way faked. He was in agonizing pain, as if a fire was slowly burning up his spirit, but it was also this pain that allowed him to erupt with power that far exceeded his actual cultivation level.
He had to continuously take Return Origin Pills, battle and keep up the continuous circulation of Indestructible Heaven Scroll. All this led to too large a depletion of his Origin Power.
Ling Han was repeatedly forced to retreat, but he would keep on charging back into battle. As his fresh blood splattered, his indomitable willpower had affected a large part of the surrounding crowd. Some of the girls had even started shedding tears, asking Ling Han to stop fighting.
“Why won’t you fall!” The longer Cheng Xiang fought, the more flustered he became. How could Ling Han be so determined? Why was it that, no matter how much he was wounded, he refused to fall…? This fight put a great pressure on Cheng Xiang. The power of the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier was enough to be a threat to him, and with the repeated confrontations between them, his internal organs were also boiling over, causing him extreme discomfort.
He roared and attacked with both his fists. He had finally used a martial art skill, wanting to take down Ling Han as fast as possible!
It was one of Cheng Clan’s special skills—Expert Armed Fist.
Double peaks piercing the ear! [1]
A martial artist that uses martial art skills and a martial artist that does not are at two completely different levels of power. Just like cultivation techniques, martial arts skills could also be categorized into Heaven, Earth, Black and Yellow Grades respectively. A good Yellow Grade martial arts skill can roughly double the user’s power.
Every major grade was further divided into three minor levels—high, medium, and low. For example, a Yellow Grade low level martial art skill would increase the user’s power by around thirty percent, a medium level one would be able to raise the user’s power by around forty to sixty percent, while a high level skill would increase the user’s power around seventy to one hundred percent.
The Expert Armed FIst was a Yellow Grade medium level martial art skill. It could increase the user’s power by around fifty percent, and the last three secret moves could increase the user’s power by up to sixty percent!
Ling Han knew countless martial arts skills, even the rarely seen Heaven Grade high level martial arts skills—he knew seven of them and each could increase the user’s power by ten times! However, due to the limitations of his current power level, he had no way to use these skills.
It was not just Heaven Grade skills that he couldn’t use. Even Earth Grade or Black Grade skills were also out of the question for him due to his current limited cultivation.
So, he could only use Yellow Grade martial arts skills.
To use Black Grade martial arts skills, the user had to at least have the cultivation level of Gushing Spring Tier.
He tightened both fists, and moved into an attacking stance.
High level Yellow Grade martial arts skill, Dashing Panther Fist!
“Peng!”
A loud noise was heard, and the two fighters had already exchanged their attacks. Their speed was extremely fast—aside from Liu Yu Tong, only a few of the students who happened to have the cultivation of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier could see it clearly. Meanwhile, the majority of the crowd could only see that, after this confrontation, Cheng Xiang’s body somehow flew outwards.
“Si!” Everyone in the area was struck speechless as they sharply breathed in.
Cheng Xiang had actually flown out due to the force behind Ling Han’s attack… what kind of unfathomable event was this?
Meanwhile, even though Ling Han’s body was entirely covered in fresh blood, he had only taken a few steps backward.
What a grand reversal of the situation!
What was going on? Cheng Xiang had had the upper hand all this while, so why was it that he was actually horribly defeated once he used a martial arts skill?
But no matter how far their thoughts travelled, none of them would be able to guess that Ling Han had just used a high level Yellow Grade martial art skill.
How could that be possible? Even the two Great Clans of Gray Cloud Town only possessed medium level Yellow Grade martial arts skills. If an ordinary person managed to learn a low level Yellow Grade martial arts skill, he’d already die happy!
Only Liu Yu Tong’s beautiful eyes flashed with understanding. She was the only person who clearly knew that Three Yin Mysterious Arts Ling Han taught her was a Heaven Grade cultivation technique. Thus, what would be strange about Ling Han knowing a high level Yellow Grade martial arts skill?
Cheng Xiang moaned, wanting to get back up. However, the power behind Ling Han’s attack was really terrifying. Even just moving caused him to continuously throw up blood!
Just now, when they repeatedly exchanged their attacks, Cheng Xiang’s internal organs had already suffered from huge tremors, and the one attack just moments ago had immediately caused all the damage he had already sustained to blow up. This was a deciding attack that transformed quantity into quality!
“No, this isn’t possible!” Cheng Hao’s expression was one of utter disbelief. His older brother was an elite of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier, how could he lose to a piece of trash?
This was definitely not real!
Ling Han walked towards Cheng Xiang. With every step, the injuries he had suffered were quickly healing. Once he was right in front of Cheng Xiang, all the injuries were fully healed, a testament to the great power of Indestructible Heaven Scroll.
“I, I’ve lost!” With everyone looking at them, there was no way for Cheng Xiang to deny the fact that he had lost. He glared ferociously at Ling Han, his face filled with denial. He could not understand how Ling Han had defeated him.
Ling Han slowly raised his leg, moving it above Cheng Xiang.
“You, what are you planning to do?” Cheng Xiang could not help revealing a fearful expression. Was Ling Han planning to step on his face? “Don’t go too far!”
“Too far?” Ling Han snorted, one foot already firmly placed on Cheng Xiang’s face, “You, as a cultivator of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier, fighting with me… it isn’t considered ‘too far’? The first thing your younger brother told me was to get lost, and the first thing you did was to accuse me of using despicable means… isn’t that considered ‘too far’?
So you’re the only ones allowed to do as you like? There is no such logic on this world!
Since your skills are inferior, you should speak less rubbish!”
He put more strength into his foot and Cheng Xiang immediately let out a pained groan. However, what he felt more was shame—he had actually been trampled underneath someone’s foot! Furthermore, this person was the publicly acknowledged trash of the academy! Of course, after today, Ling Han would definitely be able to clear his name as a piece of trash, but this all came at the price of stepping on Cheng Xiang’s face. This was even more unacceptable to Cheng Xiang.
People in the surrounding area too were lost for words.
Before this, they had only hoped that Ling Han would emerge victorious, but who amongst them had truly believed that Ling Han would win?
They could not help recalling Liu Yu Tong’s words—in less than three months, Ling Han would become an existence that all of them could only look up to!
Perhaps, three months might not even be necessary. Presently, there was already quite a number of them looking up to him!
“Ling Han, you will definitely regret this!” Cheng Xiang said in a furious, poisonous voice. To actually be trampled beneath the foot of a piece of trash, this was a shame that he would never be able to clear from his reputation.
“Is that so?” Ling Han smiled faintly, this kind of threat was completely meaningless on him. “Beg for mercy!” he said, “If your attitude is sincere enough, I will spare you, otherwise, you may have to lie down here for quite a long time!”
“You-“ Cheng Xiang felt as if he was about to explode. Ling Han actually wanted him to beg for mercy in front of all these people?
[1] ED/N: Alternate translation is twin peaks piercing/passing through the ear(s). For obvious reasons, that is not the appropriate one here, but I thought it would be interesting to share that… it’s likely a pun on the part of the author.