Fu Xiang sighed to himself that he was unlucky to run into a treasure now of all times. He was honestly a little worn out from today. Fu Xiang wasn't initially worried about fighting for an extended period of time since he possessed profound internal strength. He's tried fighting with someone for three days and managed to score the win due to him having more stamina. However, he had to go all out against Ming Feizhen, then he had to put on an act with Eunuch Nan in front of the emperor, then he fought with Shen Yiren where he never got to catch his breath after her. Tang Ye was now his fourth opponent. Fu Xiang isn't made out of iron after all so he was starting to fatigue.
Moreover, trading powerful blows against Tang Ye's continually changing hand techniques was taxing.
Just as he was at a loss for how to beat Tang Ye's unique fighting style, Tang Ye suddenly retreated which surprised him. Tang Ye retreated like an eagle soaring through the skies. He glided through the air, suddenly made a turn and gave the Black Winds Thirteen Wings member locked in battle with Long Zaitian a big elbow to his back.
The guy he hit wielded two hooks. Long Zaitian was already pushing it by fighting him bare-handed. Just as he saw Long Zaitian tire out, he was sure he could take his life. But then he took a heavy blow to his back, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood. Thus, Long Zaitian was able to escape his predicament. He laughed out loud and then kicked the downed-man away.
A moment of distraction caused Fu Xiang to lose another man. He charged over furiously only to discover that Tang Ye had taken his two hooks. Tang Ye spun around and used an odd hook technique.
The technique used by Tang Ye was strange. There was a strange change mid-way through his attack. Since it was executed in tandem with Tang Ye's Yang blood True Qi technique, it was a different animal. Fu Xiang got caught with surprise. He couldn't make out the moves so he didn't dare to force his way forward, thereby opting to retreat for now, judging it to be the better decision.
Long Zaitian shouted: "The Green Leviathan's Group's Leviathan Hooks the Sea, nice!"
Hooks are a unique weapon that's rarely seen. Without years of practice, it'd be impossible to grasp even the basics. Tang Ye however, used a brilliant technique as soon as he got his hands on a pair. It was like he'd practiced for decades so who wouldn't be bewildered?
"Nice!" Long Zaitian shouted another compliment that was louder than his last: "Triple Talent Hook Arts! Brother Tang, I was right about you!"
Tang Ye used one set of techniques on one hand and another set on his other. He used them as independent hooks and as twin hooks. Different weapons naturally mean different techniques. Tang Ye used the two hooks as two singular hooks so it was perfectly understandable as to why Long Zaitian was surprised.
When Tang Ye wielded the hooks, it made the ring look like a tank of mercury. He leapt up and somersaulted, landing two yards away from the orange prince. Fu Xiang didn't believe it at first, but he now understood what Tang Ye was planning. He was going to solo the orange prince's men in the flying fish pavilion alone.
"What an arrogant punk. You have to get past me first if you want to touch his majesty!"
Tang Ye didn't take on Fu Xiang's palm strike. Tang Ye was thinking: He can go hit the air or something, I'm going to go and hunt my target.
Fu Xiang held back to avoid casualties or damage. He didn't dare to use his full power in case he hurt the orange prince, but that gave Tang Ye the opportunity to swiftly circle around the orange prince's group of guards. The hooks flew into the air and hooked into the necks of two of the mercenaries causing them to shriek in pain. The orange prince suddenly found himself isolated and without assistance.
The orange prince Shouted: "Y-You dare?!"
Tang Ye just gave a blunt response: "Your majesty, you revolted. I am Liu Shan Men's Tang Ye. I have received an order to arrest you. Please cooperate."
"No! Come get me yourself if you can!"
The orange prince pulled out an exquisitely decorated ancient sword from his belt. The blade emitted a shiny light. It certainly was a high-quality sword. The orange prince isn't diligent so his skills are so-so. His teachers on the other hand, were virtually all masters so he knew a move or two. The orange prince shouted loudly and stabbed with his sword. He looked the part for sure.
Tang Ye didn't evade. No one knows how he moulded energy, but he just reached his left hand out and gently caught the sword. Without even looking, he casually pulled the sword over and performed a figure-eight before throwing it behind him toward Fu Xiang who was sneaking up from behind. Fu Xiang caught the tip of the blade. If he put his strength into it, it would become an internal strength deadlock.
"Get lost!!"
Tang Ye roared. The metal blade of the ancient sword shined its light in all directions nine times like a dragon's movement. Not even Fu Xiang was able to catch it with his strength, leaving him with no choice but to let go. The orange prince himself was dumbfounded too. He thought to himself: "This Heaven Shocker Blade has been with me for years, yet I have never seen it shine like so. How did it become so powerful after this shit-face got his hands on it?!"
Shen Yiren had finally suppressed some of the poison. She saw Tang Ye's sword technique. Her eyes reflected the light emitted from the metal blade. She joyously said: "Fantastic! Kun Lun's sword art certainly lives up to its reputation. Such fierce and swift techniques. That's The Dragon Flashes Nine Times in the Sky! No, eighteen times!"
The Dragon Flashes Nine Times in the Sky has nine variations. Tang Ye then went and added Ming Jing Palace's unique footwork, creating the perfect storm of yin and yang. The sword also exuded two different powers being yin and yang, thereby turning the nine flashes into eighteen flashes.
Fu Xiang never wanted to deal Tang Ye a heavy blow. What he truly wanted to do was to use retreat as a means to advance. Taking advantage of Tang Ye leaping into the air to execute his sword technique, he switched positions with him and ignored Tang Ye's sword strike then ran toward the orange prince.
"Fu Xiang! Hurry and protect me!"
"Don't worry, your majesty! No one will be able to lay a finger on you with me here!"
However, he got stopped again. Tang Ye's move didn't end there. He wasn't after the orange prince or Fu Xiang. He created a whirlwind that was intended to destroy. He leapt up in an instant and ran the ancient sword through the last member of the Black Winds Thirteen Wings who was fighting a few of the warriors of the imperial court who had just been released.
This particular member wielded a chain-gun. Chain guns are the most difficult weapon to master. It was straight as an iron rod and yet curved like a snake. It was both tough and soft. It was a hard weapon to guard against when a skilled user wielded it.
It was as though the Black Winds Thirteen Wings had met their natural-born nemesis today. Despite how odd and rare their weapons were, they weren't unique in any way for Tang Ye. As a matter of fact, he was able to use high-level skills with them right off the bat.
Seeing Tang Ye and Fu Xiang fight on equal footing for so long, he naturally knew that he wasn't a match. However, the chain-gun is no ordinary weapon. Breaking through his defence in a short timeframe was no easy feat and he was using the chain-gun to its maximum potential at the time.
Normally, not even Tang Ye would be able to break down his defences in a short timeframe, but this time it was different. Tang Ye didn't aim for the gun. Instead he used techniques that corresponded with his own. He used The Dragon Flashes Nine Times in the Sky against him.
The assassin thought to himself: Your overconfidence will be your downfall. Don't blame me.
Just as he was about to use his chain gun to tie his hand holding the sword with before dealing with his other hand, the sharp blade of the ancient sword had cut the chain into pieces before nine flashes had even landed. Tang Ye had managed to identify the weakness in his style and realised his weapon was his true trump card, thus destroying it swiftly and effortlessly with his sharp blade.
Tang Ye then tossed the Heaven Shaker ancient sword to Long Zaitian. He formed a gust of wind below his feet which he used to leap back over to Fu Xiang.
Tang Ye cut the chains of the chain gun extremely quickly. So quickly he had returned before Fu Xiang could move his feet. He thought to himself: There's no chance of me beating him on technique or speed. For the sake of today's plan, my only hope of winning is relying on my internal strength to fight with brute force.
After he made that decision, he and Tang Ye began to try and dismantle the other's techniques one palm strike at a time.
Tang Ye's palms were like Guan Yin's thousands of hands. He utilised palm techniques from multiple styles, but Fu Xiang's awkward power and technique fighting style countered his own efforts. Once Tang Ye gathered his qi, the air around them turned hot again because he had used Yang Blood True Qi once again.
Fu Xiang had a way to counter it a while ago. He just had to avoid trading palm strikes with him. He was fine as long as long as Tang Ye's palms couldn't contain the odd hot qi.
Fu Xiang forcefully moulded energy and struck with his palms again. He put more than two-times the strength behind his palm strikes than before so Tang Ye couldn't get close. Though that cost him a lot of energy, the consequences of playing to Tang Ye's tune would be even more severe.
Tang Ye was now unable to get close to Fu Xiang but the atmosphere only got hotter. Tang Ye however, didn't look like he was fighting any pain.
Fu Xiang noticed that Tang Ye was moving as usual as he unleashed hand-strikes powerful enough to create gusts of wind. The area around his palms was probably hotter than boiling water. Based on Fu Xiang's superior sense of touch, he felt that his palms were virtually as hot as bright-red soldering iron. How was one able to contain such heat in their hands? He must be using a trick!
Fu Xiang didn't buy it!
And he must be expending a massive amount of internal energy to keep up with his fighting style. He shouted: "I'm getting serious now!" He then struck with two palm strikes, clashing with Tang Ye's own.
Tang Ye got sent flying backwards from the shockwave as he expected. Unfortunately, the hot energy still entered his meridians causing burn wounds on the meridians of his hands. Fu Xiang looked at Tang Ye with utter disbelief as Tang Ye rushed back toward him like a cursed spirit that wouldn't go away. His palms were flesh and bone too, so by what power was he able to reach such a level?!
Tang Ye's hands then suddenly glowed red due to his usage of Yang Blood True Qi. But he clearly saw the red-blood colour fade from his hands and turn black when they exchanged blows.
It was the black colour you find on iron. There's only one reason that someone's hand would be that colour, and that is they were using the high-level Iron Palm technique similar to Tie Hanyi's techniques.
Fu Xiang suddenly had a spark of realisation. He thundered: "Iron Palms Style! You fucking played me!" Fu Xiang was too late to realise it. His breathing was in disarray and he had wasted plenty of energy. Tang Ye's palm aimed toward him like Yangtze River coming to shore. Not one technique was delivered as a heavy blow, instantly burying Fu Xiang in his flurry of attacks.
Long Zaitian who stood to the side was full of compliments: "Iron Fist, huh? One must have great patience and determination to master it. Tie Hanyi is formidable as is. I'm afraid one can't achieve that level with Iron Palms before the age of thirty."
Long Zaitian looked at Tang Ye's emotionless expression and sighed: "It's hard to imagine how such a young man can be so rational and determined."
"One requires two things to master a style like Iron Fist. They are discipline and determination. It's not that hard really." Shen Yiren watched Tang Ye with compassionate eyes as well feelings no one knew. She faintly said: "When your mind is occupied with vengeance every day, you will live with discipline and your determination will be unshakable. This… applies for everyone."