Between stopping Miguo and breaking the formation, Shen Wuzheng chose the latter because only he could locate the source of the formation and undo it.
“You seem to be really concerned about the Ming kid.”
For once, Leng Jingliu didn’t turn around to his mentor, affixing his gaze on the lotus platform instead. “If he dies, the pugilistic world will be boring in the future.”
A smile came to Shen Wuzheng’s lips. “He won’t die,” he, too, glanced back to the platform, “if… he is that man’s son.”
***
No differently to the first match, Ming Feizhen sent Miguo flying, and then Miguo rose without any damage. Ming Feizhen rained down punches without an inkling of regard for technique, while Miguo solely defended, waiting for Ming Feizhen to tire.
Curled up on the ground, Yungu tried to open her eyes for she couldn’t miss a second of the action on the platform. After all, all the planning, investments and work had been for the clash. Sure, Valley of Villains’ involvement wasn’t foreseen, but nothing mattered as long as they could confirm that Ming Feizhen was the one they were looking for. “You are God of Battle’s son. The violent consciousness won’t take over you. You’re the master of power. Don’t let it control you. Just like your father, you, too, can do it,” she mumbled under her breath.
Yungu expected it to be one-way traffic for Ming Feizhen. Howbeit, Miguo was nothing short of a mountain. Ming Feizhen’s execution gradually went further and further away from human resemblance. Anyone from the orthodox sects who saw their fight would mistake Ming Feizhen as the one who needed to be slain for mankind’s sake and Miguo the saviour of the world.
While Ming Feizhen expended energy with nothing to show for it, Miguo collected energy from his disciples via his formation. In addition, owing to the nature of Buddhism’s mental cultivation disciplines being the bane of evil, Ming Feizhen’s face twisted more and more in pain as the fight dragged out contrary to Miguo’s face.
Miguo opened his eyes. “Evil fiend, cease this at once!” Miguo released a punch at Ming Feizhen’s, sending the teenager into a rock.
Lying on the ground, Ming Feizhen grumbled in a breathy voice, “God damn it, he can take more of a beating than a bull,” and then gasped up blood.
Hua Qing supported Ming Feizhen’s back whilst transferring over his own internal energy to alleviate Ming Feizhen’s symptoms. Zhuo Fengru was near Ming Feizhen’s west, but he was powerless to help, so he could only say, “Brother Ming, the page this old one gave you…”
Zhuo Fengru betted on Ming Feizhen being able to reach new heights with the page of “Abyss Theory”, which was why he risked his life to deliver it.
“Yeah, I read it.” Ming Feizhen coughed nastily. “I wouldn’t let you down when you staked your life to get it to me.”
Hua Qing softly exhaled. “What enlightenment did you glean from it?”
“What enlightenment did I glean from it? I didn’t even understand it.”
Zhuo Fengru and Hua Qing: “Say what?!”
“How do you expect me to learn what took you an entire lifetime? What am I? My shifu?”
Yungu noticed the redness in Ming Feizhen’s eyes had faded. “H-how did you recover? Didn’t y-”
“Never let it out,” Ming Feizhen replied.
Ming Feizhen wanted to break out and could have broken out. In saying that, it’d result in him losing control over the Fengpeng’s energy inside him. It took Ming Huayu and Daoist Shenfa’s combined efforts to reinforce Ming Feizhen’s internal strength to a point where the balance inside him wouldn’t be prone to breaking. Without their seal, Ming Feizhen couldn’t use his own internal energy without apprehension. Their hope was for him to reach a level where he could reinforce the seal himself.
In the words of Ming Huayu, “It is better to free than to block, better to guide than to seal.” What joy could there be if one was constantly being extremely cautious so as to not lose control? The final goal for Ming Feizhen wasn’t to seal the Fengpeng but to control it.
Even now, Ming Feizhen still hadn’t found a solution to the lesson. In reality, the solution was always inside him. It, after all, was next to impossible to find someone who would understand the aggressive consciousness inside better than someone who spent every moment with said consciousness. Although he thought the portion of Abyss Theory that Zhuo Fengru shared could help him counteract the aggression, there were two problems. Firstly, there wasn’t enough time to figure it out. Secondly, “counteracting” and “controlling” weren’t the same thing.
The balance gradually tipped as Ming Feizhen fought, leaking the Fengpeng’s energy out of his limbs. It was akin to him riding a horse that’d lost control and was prone to diving off a cliff at any moment. Meanwhile, trying to rein it in would leave him exposed to Miguo’s attacks.
Miguo sauntered over to Ming Feizhen, looking at the latter as though he was an ant. “This is the subject Sky Palace wanted to use this one as an experiment for? Disappointing.”
Ming Feizhen sneered. “Talking big now, are we? Imagine if you went and lost now. After Lord San Shen laid you out, you sulkily ran to the Central Plain. Where you going to run to if you lose again here?”
“Fair point. Winner takes all has always been the law. This time, I’ve beat you.” Miguo suddenly looked elsewhere and squinted. He found the relic no longer glowing as brightly as before. “Shen Wuzheng…”
Though Miguo knew Shen Wuzheng was troublesome, he didn’t expect Shen Wuzheng to be this troublesome. It was only a matter of time before the formation crumbled now, so his death would be imminent if he didn’t kill Ming Feizhen now.
Hua Qing jumped in front of Ming Feizhen as he saw Miguo turn back to Ming Feizhen despite his legs trembling.
“What are you doing, Hua Feihua?”
