Miguo hated Hua Qing, his actions, manners, expressions and thoughts. When he first heard of Hua Qing, he brushed the latter off as just a petty, unlucky thief trying to make ends meet. His ideal end would’ve been Hua Qing dying at the hands of one of his henchmen; by his standards, sending the three who made an attempt on Hua Qing’s life aboard the ship was making a deal out of nothing.
Only after a year of searching for Hua Qing in vain did Miguo think that, although he was just a nobody, he was an annoying nobody. Using Hua Qing as his scapegoat only made Hua Qing famous with time. Still, it wasn’t enough to make him respect Hua Qing until the third time Hua Qing was brought up.
Miguo finally gave Hua Qing some acknowledgement when he heard Hua Qing was involved with Su Li, had an adept helping him and found a friend in Zhuo Fengru. Even so, he didn’t expect Hua Qing to come the eye of the storm with the relic in his possession, creating one miracle after another with his small steps.
Miguo acted as though he couldn’t see Hua Qing in front of him. In truth, he was actually irate. They were both ordinary men reaching for things beyond their reach and men capable of staking everything they had, but Miguo didn’t perceive it to be something to celebrate.
Miguo didn’t have the aptitude of the other two branch leaders and, by extension, paled in comparison in terms of accomplishments. With outworking them as his only means of being competitive, the amount of effort and suffering he had to subject himself to were far more than the other two. Even then, he was late to a leadership spot compared to the two. Therefore, it was vexing to see Hua Qing suddenly surpass his two disciples.
By the time he left his thoughts, Miguo was already in round one against Hua Qing, making him freeze for a moment. He was going to laugh, not at Hua Qing, but at himself for actually being vigilant of Hua Qing. While one could raise their internal energy quickly via cheating methods, there was no shortcut to learning and refining technique besides repetition. Whatever Hua Qing was attempting, Miguo’s technical superiority should’ve empowered him to drop Hua Qing whenever he willed it.
“How are you still standing?”Miguo blurted. He made three attempts to splatter Hua Qing’s skull already, but he failed all three times.
Grovelling on the ground, Hua Qing uttered behind his walls of red teeth, “I… must take you down,” then shakily hauled himself to his feet.
“Yeah?” Miguo went up to Hua Qing’s side and sneered. “Try it.”
Anyone experienced would easily discern Miguo was provoking Hua Qing into attacking from his relaxed posture, yet Hua Qing bit the bait.
“Soul Banishing Order!”
Instead of guarding Hua Qing’s target – the spot Leng Jingliu ran his sword through – Miguo placed his hands together as he did his eyes and smiled. To aim for that same spot when Miguo focused his true qi there was folly because it was the equivalent of hitting the hardest spot on a wall. Unexpectedly, Hua Qing changed his target faster than Miguo, or anyone else present for that matter, could react; Miguo didn’t even have enough time for his sensors to alarm him.
Miguo’s calculation consisted of two errors. First, Hua Qing’s internal energy level was on par with Miguo’s prior to absorbing energy from the relic, granting him the ability to endure a couple of blows and the strength to inflict enough damage to injure Miguo. Second, had Wugou been Hua Qing’s only teacher, then Miguo would’ve dominated. Howbeit, in order to control the new energy obtained, Zhuo Fengru consulted Wugou multiple times. With an offensive expert and someone who knew Vajra Realm in more depth than Miguo as his consultants, Hua Qing wasn’t all show and no go.
Soul Banishing Order wasn’t something Zhuo Fengru came up with to beat Miguo but something he grasped from Abyss Theory. Zhuo Fengru replicated the technique almost exactly again. Alas, he could never feint and then catch his opponent as spectacularly as before now that he was no longer in the same realm as before. Nevertheless, once one learns a skill, the opportunity to regain it in its entirety always existed. Notwithstanding a different approach, Zhuo Fengru’s execution of “Soul Banishing Order” was as blazing fast as in the past.
While Miguo obtained the energy circulation method for Vajra Realm from analysing Wugou’s, his lack of knowledge in regards to its mental cultivation rendered his version an imperfect version. Without injuries, there’d be no means of hurting him; however, once injured, he’d defend the injured spot excessively, leaving a chink in his armour to exploit.
In Zhuo Fengru and Wugou’s script, either Zhuo Fengru or Ming Feizhen was meant to hurt Miguo. Unfortunately, it appeared impossible at the rate they were going, particularly after Miguo absorbed his followers’ energy. Thankfully, Hua Qing’s determination paid off.
The surge of internal energy that cascaded into Miguo’s body by surprise informed him of the fact that he lost to his senior. The emotional turmoil and distraction reduced his defences even further, resulting in him gasping blood.
Leng Jingliu’s stab was a hole in a wall that could be mended. Hua Qing’s blow on top of it was tantamount to hammering the wall down; even with the sarira’s energy, Miguo was in no condition to utilise it.
Hua Qing rode the momentum to land a second finger thrust, drawing more blood from Miguo’s mouth and dropping him on his back. Nonetheless, Hua Qing’s wounds and fatigue also dropped him onto his bottom.
“Brother Hua.” Su Li prevented Hua Qing from folding. As much as she wanted to help, she withheld as she knew she’d only be a burden.
Hua Fei had to rely on his nose to identify Su Li since his eyelids were too heavy. “Sorry… for breaking my promise to not be reckless.”
Su Li pulled Hua Qing into her shaky embrace, abandoning all other concerns. While her tears sprinkled down onto the nape of his neck, she expressed, “I was scared out of my mind when you confronted him. I was scared you’d die right before my eyes. I was scared he’d kill you. I… I…”
Hua Qing forced his eyes open.
“What are you staring at?!”
“You’re beautiful.”
Su Li couldn’t resist a giggle. “You dork!”
Other victims of Miguo’s formation were still impacted, though they could smile because all that was left was for Shen Wuzheng to undo the formation.
Zhuo Fengru chortled. “Save it for once we get out. If you wish, this old one shall personally visit on behalf of Hua Qing to propose. Of course, the wedding dowry will be up to standard.”
They were worried Zhuo Fengru only said it in passing, yet they couldn’t look each other in the eye when the chance of him being sincere also existed.
“Hua Gezi, watch out!” Ming Feizhen came in yelling.
That was the first time Hua Qing heard Ming Feizhen sound so anxious.
“Die…” Miguo sprung up from the ground, teeth gritted and nose wrinkly. “Die! Die! Die!”
“Brother Hua!”
Before Hua Qing could react, Su Li had thrown herself in front of him to shield him from Miguo’s ruthless punch.
“Miss Su!”
Glossary
Zhuo Fengru’s realm – Don’t mistake this for being another realm, such as Divine Realm. It’s the abstract realm, where you’re physically and mentally there. You know how we describe some fighters as being a shell of their former self? That’s pretty much the idea. That’s why someone who trains martial arts isn’t necessarily fit to get in a ring. Technically, they may be the same as always, but it’s this abstract thing we struggle to name that’s gone. Although “instinct” isn’t wrong, it doesn’t encompass everything we’re talking about. In professional combat sports, sometimes fighters decide to take time off after a spate of poor performances. You’ll notice how some find that thing they were missing and return to the win column. Some may come back but underperform and then hang up their gloves.
