Chapter 372 – Spear Dancing In the Clouds
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Zhan Huo proudly floated 200 feet in the air, a smug smile crossing his lips.
“The art of war says that those with the higher ground occupy the overwhelming advantage. Lin Ming, you have already lost!”
The truth was that Zhan Huo was hoping Lin Ming would jump into the air and fight with him. For any martial artist below the Xiantian realm, they would not be able to find leverage in the air. Thus, they naturally wouldn’t be able to block his attacks. At that time, Lin Ming would lose all of his jumping momentum and be at his weakest point.
Also, he wouldn’t be able to dodge any attacks, becoming nothing but an easy target. If Lin Ming dared to jump up, that was the same as putting his face out so that Zhan Huo could slap him. This was what Zhan Huo wished for.
“What a bastard!” A Divine Phoenix Island disciple openly denounced him. There were many other disciples that wished they could take the dishes and bowls on the table and throw them at Zhan Huo in the air.
“What a cheap and shameless method, is this the way you fight?”
“Are you Five Element Region disciples turtles or something? If you’ve got the guts, come down and fight!”
“This person doesn’t care about face at all! So shameless!” The young girls of Divine Phoenix Island made a simple judgment.
The Five Element Region disciples also had an ugly look. But as they remembered how Lin Ming had just stood there challenging them a moment ago, some calmed down, and some grit their teeth in anger; they didn’t want to be belittled and impeded by Lin Ming.
As long as they could defeat Lin Ming, any immoral and ignominious act would be permitted.
As for Zhan Huo, he turned a deaf ear to the jeers from the Divine Phoenix Island disciples. In every true battle since ancient times, as long as a tactic won, that was the only measure that mattered.
“Lin Ming, just stand there and be beaten by me. I’ll lash you to death. Watch my whip!”
Zhan Huo moved. True essence stirred within his entire body, and a blue light wrapped around his silver whip. There was a sharp sound as if the sky was split in half by the whip. The 50 foot long whip naturally couldn’t reach Lin Ming, but Zhan Huo had incorporated the Concept of Wind into his every attack.
With the whip shades fused into the wind, it was simply unpredictable.
Pa pa pa pa pa!
Dozens of whip phantoms slashed downwards, the silver metal mixed with a blue light brightening the sky. The thin lines of blue energy wove together, cutting apart the entire stage’s tiles like a sharp knife, leaving deep scars.
Lin Ming covered his body with azure true essence. Even moving he was still struck by some true essence from the whip phantoms. He could instantly feel a faint icy energy contained within the whip phantoms that drilled into his body like a poisonous snake. This energy also contained a light corrosive nature, melting away the true essence in his body. Even though the power of the True Dragon was endless and immortal, it still required a great deal of energy to counteract.
Ka!
A large hole was ripped in Lin Ming’s clothing.
‘Mm? The whip contains an icy energy that can pass through my protective true essence, what a bizarre attack method. The world is truly great, so many fantastic individuals exist.’
With the whip phantoms fused into the wind, one could manipulate the thousands of whip phantoms to simultaneously attack. One could even change attack directions at will. This was truly a breathtaking technique.
Lin Ming was interested in studying this technique and having a little match with Zhan Huo to gain some insights. But, now he had consumed a bit too much true essence. If he really wanted to have an extended match with Zhan Huo, he wouldn’t have the ability to fight a chief disciple once they appeared. Although a chief disciple was arrogant and treasured their own pride, if he continued winning, they would definitely challenge him.
“Haha, Lin Ming, are you only planning on hiding? You’re just like a rat in the street, getting smacked around!
“Good! Since you want to hide then I’ll turn your clothes into rags. When you’re finally naked, let’s see just how you’ll continue hiding!”
Zhan Huo was deliberately angering Lin Ming. It seemed that the disciples of the Five Element Region really liked to use this approach. Lin Ming realized that since Zhan Huo was in the air and also attacking while maintaining his flying technique, his true essence consumption was much greater than his own. Zhan Huo’s plan must have been to anger him so that he would jump into the air on his own. If he did that, Zhan Huo would have a great advantage.
Before a martial artist reached the Xiantian realm, they would minimize any unnecessary jumping as to avoid any opportunity of being aimed at. This was a common sense approach that even martial artists at the Strength Training or Viscera Training stage knew.
As for jumping dozens of feet, that was simply a suicidal attack that only an idiot would try. Initially, when Huo Gong had tried to assassinate Lin Ming in the skies of the Southern Wilderness, because he had engaged Lin Ming in the sky, there was no place for him to leverage his strength. The result was that a high and mighty half-step Houtian master had been severely wounded by the Altering Muscle cultivation Lin Ming. Afterwards, he was even killed.
Of course, Lin Ming was an exception to this rule. The air was his grand stage.
“Since you want to anger me so much, it will be as you wish!” Lin Ming’s lips curved up in a smile, and he waved his long spear. His knees bent down, and he prepared to jump high.
“Mm?” Zhou Lie realized what Lin Ming was about to do, surprised in his eyes. He sneered, saying with disdain, “If he jumps then he will lose!”
Facing Zhan Huo’s roguish fighting style, the only way to deal with him was to compare consumption of energy with him. Since Zhan Huo was in the air, his true essence consumption must be much higher than Lin Ming’s. Once Zhan Huo’s true essence was fully exhausted, it would be Lin Ming’s victory. Of course, Lin Ming would also consume a corresponding amount of true essence. But it was still better than being defeated.
Jumping up into the air was tantamount to stepping into Zhan Huo’s home turf. When that happened, Lin Ming would only be a target, there was nowhere for him to find leverage to counterattack. If he couldn’t find a way to defend or dodge, he would undoubtedly lose.
Mu Yuhuang furrowed her eyebrows. Although she only knew Lin Ming for a short time, she could still feel that Lin Ming wasn’t an impulsive character. He was courageous, but not blindly so. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to obtain the Purple Flood Dragon Divine Thunder within Thundercrash Mountain. So why was he jumping into the air? Did he have some backup plan?
Mu Yuhuang glanced at Mu Qianyu and saw the she was looking unsure too. They no longer spoke, instead turning their full attention to the match.
Peng!
The stage tiles that Lin Ming stepped on burst apart. Lin Ming shot upwards into the sky like an arrow!
“Haha, you’re seeking death, boy!”
Zhan Huo raised his right hand and slashed out with his whip. This whip produced a wave of whip phantoms, converging on Lin Ming from all sides. This was just like a massive hive of bees coming at him, he would be ripped to shreds!
In a moment, Lin Ming would smash into this inescapable net!
“Lin Ming will lose.” Zhan Yunjian’s eyebrows rose and he shook his head. Lin Ming was too eager to win, leading to his loss.
He hadn’t expected that the Five Element Region would win in such a manner. Still, in the end they won…
The Five Element Region disciples’ eyes lit up. This idiot had actually jumped up of his own volition, running himself into an attack!
Against such a dense and terrifying attack, one would be severely wounded after being stuck. But in such a match, once one was injured like this, it was the same as losing.
The Five Element Region disciples were elated. This palpable joyful feeling revealed itself in their words and actions.
“You small fry, let’s see how you’ll challenge anyone again! What kind of act are you going to show now!?”
“What goes up must come down, you will pay the price for your rampant arrogance!”
“Go die, you idiot!”
At this moment, Lin Ming didn’t know that these Five Element Region disciples had assumed they had won and were cursing him. Of course, in that split-second, these curses were only in their hearts. Before they had even spoken halfway, Lin Ming had already run into the endless whip phantoms.
All of the whip phantoms converged from all directions! From the audience’s perspective, they could clearly see that all of these whip phantoms that covered the heavens formed a dome. And in the center of this deadly dome was Lin Ming!
The dome of whip phantoms began to shrink at an alarming rate. As for Lin Ming, he rushed into the center! Lin Ming was about to run into this concentrated attack. Even if he had thick true essence that protected his body, he would still be bombarded by so many attacks and severely wounded!
As all of the whip phantoms converged onto a single point, Lin Ming suddenly dropped! His speed approached an extreme, and all that was left was a afterimage.
Bang!
With a fierce explosion, blue air currents surged in all directions. But Lin Ming was like a swift bird that flew out from the storm. As soon as he dropped, he flashed forward at an incredible speed, crossing the air in a half arc and bypassing this massive explosion. With his long spear in hand, he stabbed towards Zhan Huo from behind!
At this time, Zhan Huo was watching the brilliant rainbow energy that was produced from the explosion, a happy smile on his lips. He didn’t think that he would win so easily. This Lin Ming was nothing but a mediocre simpleton in the end. Although he was brawny, he couldn’t handle the provocation and had jumped up like the idiot he was to die. But he wouldn’t be killed in a terrifying explosion like this, right?
If he had really died like this, that wouldn’t be fun. It was best if he became a complete cripple, or at least if several of his meridians were destroyed. Maybe he could even win some true essence stones to spend.
As Zhan Huo thought that he had completed his mission and was preparing to come down, he suddenly felt a horrific fire origin energy stirring behind him. The sound of a roaring flame reached the back of his ears.
“Mm!?”
Zhan Huo turned around. To his horror, he saw a fiery crimson phoenix flying towards him, growing larger. It had already flooded his entire field of vision.
Lin Ming held his long spear, the spear point directed at him, spear dancing in the clouds!
Flames roared forth, reaching the heavens.
Phoenix Wings Ascending Sky!
Bang!
The massive inferno explosion produced a sound like a clarion phoenix cry, echoing throughout the world. Zhan Huo’s body was suddenly engulfed in this blazing flare!
As the explosion of fire passed, a shockwave of true essence blew out. Zhan Huo was like a dead fish, falling straight down from the sky.
The situation had changed too fast, this was completely unexpected!
Many of the Five Element Region disciples that were cursing and making nasty comments suddenly had their words die in their throats. Their arrogant and prideful expressions froze on their faces, utter disbelief clouding over them.
How… how was this possible!?
What just happened?
Lin Ming’s speed was too fast. In addition, because of the cover of the explosion of fire, only a few people were able to clearly see Lin Ming’s movements.
He had changed direction in midair. Not only that, but it was completely sudden and he had done so twice! Such agility and deft movement was totally alarming!
Even the Xiantian masters present gasped. Although they could fly, their movements in the air were inferior to their movements on ground. But Lin Ming’s speed and ability to change angles in the air caused them to feel utter shame!
Especially the many masters of Storm Valley. They all had expressions like they had seen a ghost.
This was absolutely the Concept of Wind! When had Lin Ming comprehended the Concept of Wind!?
And it was even more profound and wonderful than the Concept of Wind from Storm Valley. In comparison, Zhou Huo’s flying technique was nothing but a joke!