Book 14: Chapter 92

Leader

Missing was unimaginable, but losing track of his target was incomprehensible. His reputation of felling his opponent once he drew his weapon suddenly became a punch line.

I knew you were here. I was aware of your presence the entire time. Ming Feizhens tone was devoid of any emotion. Maybe there is a method of avoiding my detection, but you certainly dont know it. I can sense you as if I have you in the palm of my hand. Youre delusional in thinking you can catch me for sure as soon as you strike.

The inability to explain the anticlimactic outcome left Vivianite enraged. The harder he thought about it, the more he mentally trapped himself. Fiends Genesis would have to show him courtesy, yet the death G.o.d said to seal anyones fate in one slash was now relegated to a role as insignificant as the old men covering their heads.

Vivianites biggest loss against Hong Jiu was losing his signature weapon. If he couldnt retrieve it, he couldnt prove nor continue bearing the Vivianite t.i.tle; Six Blades wouldnt welcome him back, either. Aside from that, he was still able to fight just fine and still had the same skills prior. You win some and you lose some. He didnt lose his confidence just because he lost once. Losing 30% of his internal energy in the duel was nothing compared to Hong Jius injuries, not to mention his own damage was recoverable. Moreover, internal energy was never his specialty; his specialty was a.s.sa.s.sination.

When it came to a.s.sa.s.sination, n.o.body in the building couldve held a candle to him. He felt insulted when he heard the group refer to themselves as a.s.sa.s.sins and talk about a.s.sa.s.sinating someone. At the same time, that help him overcome his trauma of defeat.

Vivianite cloaked himself in energy as he bared his fangs once he regained his confidence and restarted his search for his target. Still, he couldnt locate his target. Howbeit, he persuaded himself that there was no way someone could move without whilst concealing their presence to the point of invisibility, not to mention someone who couldnt access their internal energy. Thus, he utilised his ocular technique to finally pick up a mobile silhouette.

Thats not me.

Vivianite saw his foe standing less than three metres away from, holding onto his broadsword. For a moment, Vivianite questioned if he was qualified to call himself an a.s.sa.s.sin when his foe demonstrated prowess far more befitting of an a.s.sa.s.sin.

This is, Ming Feizhen raised his weapon parallel to the floor, how an a.s.sa.s.sin ought to be.

The three b.a.l.l.s of varying colours that Ming Feizhen held out in his spare hand had Vivianite stunned as he just realised that Ming Feizhen pinched them from him without him even realising it. Humiliation flourished in Vivianites mind.

Red signifies a b.l.o.o.d.y battle. Blue signifies foregone conclusion. Green signifies to stay away. You have a habit of using the b.a.l.l.s in reverse, however.

Green smoke coiled towards heaven. The colour of the smoke was but a smokescreen for the odour to work its magic.

Stay away! exclaimed Vivianite.

I was waiting for that. Ming Feizhen raised his hand, somehow opening a big hole in the door and killing the person behind it before fading out of fields of perceptions again.

It was the combination of quick direction and level changes that created the impression Ming Feizhen was disappearing. Anyone who had practiced the motions for a few years couldve performed them as proficiently as him, but even the likes of Vivianite would need time to piece all the manoeuvres together and make sense of their purpose, let alone when he was busy trying to figure out how Ming Feizhen was dropping people effortlessly. From Vivianites perspective, he could only imagine an a.s.sa.s.sin whod killed innumerable people moving so fluidly.

While Vivianite was musing, his three a.s.sistants had perished before him. Before he could even think about telling his a.s.sistants to back off, he heard, Six Blades operate alone, but you require help since youre injured. Its not wrong but it disqualifies you from being League of a.s.sa.s.sins number one.

What do you know? Without backup? You expect me to learn from that solo idiot? What good is anything if youre dead?

So be it if you die. You expect a good ending as an a.s.sa.s.sin?

The anger of being read like an open book took away Vivianites composure, leading to him thinking that his target was an enemy, not a conversation partner, so why bother responding? He charged at his target fast enough to generate whistling winds, sure he would finally succeed this time.

Still too slow.

Vivianites blade cut thin air again.

You were a few inches off to the right compared to last time.

Vivianite unleashed a torrent of slashes, reasoning itd take away Ming Feizhens hopes of counterattacking, but he never made contact.

The more you try to be fast, the slower you end up.

Ming Feizhens voice entered Vivianites ears as slow as footsteps and as soft as a disillusioned master teaching his disciple who was full of openings.

If you want your attack to be undetectable, you need to pay more attention to how you mould internal energy, or are you incapable of attacking without giving yourself away because youre using a different weapon?

Failing to catch his target on three occasions was a worse feeling than failing an a.s.sa.s.sination. They had been going at it for a while, yet Vivianite had yet to catch a clear image of his opponents face.

Whats the matter? Cant see me?

Vivianite heard Ming Feizhens only a few steps away from his left side, but his consecutive misses warned him that his perfected techniques wouldnt work against his foe. The leader could also tell that there was a gap between them that Vivianite couldnt close. Ming Feizhen wasnt significantly stronger than Vivianite; Ming Feizhen just knew what was coming and was ready every time. Needless to say, Vivianite had grown aware of the fact, too.

Vivianite focused all his strength into his right arm and swung, hoping to overcome skill with overwhelming might. Alas, his wrist stung only half way through the movement. The sound of his blade landing on the ground and his wrist tendon snapping off the bone hit his ears at the same time. He looked up in shock at his bored opponent.

Did you think thatd work? Ming Feizhen flicked the blood off the blade that was still warm. Just because youre trying to overcome technique with brute force, doesnt mean you should abandon protecting your arm. Did your teacher never teach you this?

While it didnt require much strength for one to sever a tendon as a counter, it required them to know precisely the volume of energy their target utilised at all times whilst putting themselves in the line of fire without slow judgement. The difficulty was compounded due to the nature of Vivianites concealed style.

If there was ever a need for proof that Ming Feizhen couldnt utilise his internal energy, then this risky strategy was proof of it. That also meant that he could only attack when his opponent was weakened. As long as Vivianite could deceive Ming Feizhen into believing he was weakened, then there was an opening to exploit, such as now!

Youre an a.s.sa.s.sin.

Vivianite started bleeding from a body part he had yet to cover in true qi, forcing him to switch from attempting a sneak attack to using his true qi for defence. As a result of the sudden change in direction, though, his back was no longer s.h.i.+elded. The pain of a cold blade penetrating his back made him lose control of his true qi, effectively cancelling out his armour.

Speaking from overhead, Ming Feizhen chided, Why would you think of absorbing damage to counter?

n.o.body was more perplexed about how a supposed-to-be examinee, who was devoid of internal energy, dominated League of a.s.sa.s.sins top a.s.sa.s.sin without breaking a sweat or giving the a.s.sa.s.sin a single chance than the a.s.sa.s.sin himself.

Vivianites instincts warned him to crawl away, but the pain of having his qi armour pierced still incapacitated him, so he could only wait for Ming Feizhen to come close. The sense of powerlessness gradually shaved away at his will to fight. Even when he went up against Lady Bai and Redsnow, he never felt this sense of helplessness. No matter what technique, methods, strategies, a.s.sa.s.sination techniques, whatever it happened to be, his opponent predicted it and dismantled it faster than he could impose his will. It was as if he was fighting himself.

Youre Youre

You dont need to know who I am. There are a number of things I want to say to you, though. Ming Feizhen removed Vivianites mask. Instead of commenting on the handsome a.s.sa.s.sins young age, Ming Feizhen fiddled with the mask as he reproached, Youre too impatient. Youre brash, impatient, hubristic and overzealous for success. You have no respect for anyone since youve reached a feared level. Youre a good fighter, but the priority for an a.s.sa.s.sin is their mental cultivation, not the process of hiding, waiting and striking. Can you see my attacks when I perform them in front of you? Have you considered defence?

Vivianite had a moment of enlightenment, the knowledge to surpa.s.s his current self.

Theres no point. Ming Feizhen shook his head when he saw Vivianite ruminating. While its not easy to realise it, its even harder to do. Its pointless for me to point it out to you. If you were several times more talented than you are and were willing to dedicate ten years to training, you might be qualified to challenge me From the look in your eyes, you mustve thought of someone, but that person isnt you, is it?

This is unfair! I just grasped an advanced concept! I cant die here! I cant die yet!

Impossible Vivianite uttered in a raspy voice. You lost all your internal energy You

I admitted to that.

When Ming Feizhen smiled, Vivianite noticed Ming Feizhen was around his age.

But its not the first time Ive been without internal energy. Ming Feizhens smile was that of one reminiscing the past. I killed a tougher opponent than you when I was unable to utilise internal energy. If you think youre tough to kill, youre putting yourself on a pedal much higher than youre qualified for.

Dont kill me Dont kill me Ill tell you everything I know. The man referred to in the pugilistic world as the death G.o.d spilled all the beans on Six Blades without even first waiting for Ming Feizhen to agree to his proposal. He disclosed the history of their formation, the unique traits of every member, all their rendezvous points, their oral codes, bans, rules He didnt withhold any information. Once he rain out of content, he continued racking his brains for more.

Ming Feizhen snorted under his breath. Sounds like youve looked me up.

Dont kill me

You know I dont like to kill, specially after Ive gained something, right?

Dont kill me!

Ming Feizhen could tell Vivianite had lost an excessive amount of blood based off the latters heavy breathing and was close to pa.s.sing out. I have a question.

Vivianite squinted.

Ming Feizhen smiled. Youre Vivianite, correct?

Vivianite couldnt understand why he was asked the question when the answer was obvious. Nonetheless, he nodded.

Hmm, so I have the right person. I heard you hurt my junior brother.

The appearance of the person to hand Vivianite his first defeat in the pugilistic world came to the front of his mind. Perhaps it was impossible for him to forget due to how deeply the result was imprinted in his mind; for a point in time, he forgot he and Hong Jiu were one a piece each.

Makes things easy since you remember. Ming Feizhen got his answer from the look in Vivianites eyes. He got up with a smile and continued, Although you did a sloppy job of learning the technique, I never taught it to Second, so he didnt know how to defend against it. Thankfully, he had seen my blade techniques, so he still remembers a fragment of the mental cultivation, or hed have perished when he defended your attack.

So thats why he survived

Hong Jiu was the first person to be hit with the technique and not meet his demise on the spot, which Vivianite couldnt understand how. His initial mindless theory was that Hong Jiu was just tough enough to not be split in two. But now that he learnt Hong Jiu happened to understand the technique, a myriad of new questions sp.a.w.ned. For one, what did, I never taught it to Second mean? The inability to find answers drove him mad.

Youre right about me. I, indeed, dont like to kill people if they offer me something useful. That said, that is under the condition that they dont hurt people around me.

Vivianite saw the blade in Ming Feizhens hand leave behind a silver trail as it travelled downwards and then blood pouring down. It took a second for it to dawn on him that the blade had just been pulled out from his back; however, it happened so fast that he never saw the process. Vivianite would be able to mould energy a brief while after the blade was pulled out from him, so even an idiot would know why Ming Feizhen pulled the blade out.

No! No! No!

I cant die. I cant die I I am His voice wasnt loud, but Vivianite repeated himself tirelessly in the loudest voice possible.

I dont care who you are. A silver light flitted from one side of Ming Feizhens eyes to the other. Dont touch my second brother.