Chapter 258: Fatal Weakness!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"Ah, what's going on? Why is Nie Feng-ming throwing up blood too? The opponent didn't even hit him!" The spectating people were all dumbfounded. Even some of those combat experts were boggled, with only a few people at a higher realm becoming speculative ...
Inside the Wuji box, Han Yu, Wei Ji, and the rest, who had initially been happily chatting and joking around, not thinking much of this match, finally found their expression's twisting in shock. Han Yu in particular could not help but exclaim, "What the bloody hell is going on? It can't be that this is a supernatural encounter, right?"
The opponent was clearly not as skilled as Nie Feng-ming, and he had already been pummelled by Nie Feng-ming till he was half-crippled — even stranger was the fact that Nie Feng-ming had not been hit whatsoever ... how then had he mysteriously gotten injured to the point that he was puking out blood?
Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun shared a glance, Zhao Jun's eyes similarly brimming with confusion. This was because there was no one who could intercept an opponent so many times at the precise spot where the opponent's strength was the weakest. As this bizarre situation had never occurred before, most people just could not conceive of it, and hence were unable to figure things out.
Li Lanfeng's eyes remained as calm as before, but inside his heart, he kept thinking that those movements were rather familiar — it was as if somewhere deep in his memory, someone else had done something similar before ...
When Nie Feng-ming began throwing up blood, he had no choice but to stop attacking. He leapt back abruptly, pulling away, thinking that Qi Long would follow him, but unexpectedly, Qi Long only stood there, not moving a single step. Instead, Qi Long's eyes were wide as he continued to sport his split-mouthed grin — backdropped by his bloody face, his expression seemed rather stiff and eerie.
Nie Feng-ming swiped at the blood on the corner of his lips, eyes trained on this unbeatable youth before him. No matter how steady and level-headed he was, at this moment, he could not help but become anxious internally. He sorely wished he could strike this detestable youth down with one punch and end this unending sticky-candy of a match.
"Feng-ming, be patient!" Right then, Nie Feng-ming heard a familiar voice ring out from behind him. Turning to look, he saw that Boss Huo had already come up to the edge of the stage, and was giving him a quiet reminder.
As long as the people by the stage did not climb onto the stage, verbal communication was within allowed parameters during the fights. Thus, Ling Lan's words to Li Yingjie, as well as Boss Huo's words now to Nie Feng-ming, were all considered legal actions — neither side would have any objections.
Nie Feng-ming nodded at Boss Huo, his initially slightly restless and impatient heart settling down. He turned once more to look at the motionless Qi Long — it was just as Boss Huo had said, the current Qi Long was not the Qi Long at the beginning of the match. Even though he looked half-crippled, for Nie Feng-ming to truly defeat the other, he needed to first find a way to avoid the other's perfectly timed interceptions.
Nie Feng-ming took a deep breath and moved. However, the direction he chose to attack in was no longer straight on, but from the side — he was betting that Qi Long's broken body was unable to move.
As expected, Qi Long's body did not move — his head did not even twitch. Only one fist again appeared abruptly before his eyes, again aiming for that most uncomfortable spot.
So the side doesn't work? Nie Feng-ming leapt back the moment his fist bumped Qi Long's. He then once again changed directions to get behind Qi Long.
This scene made everyone cry out in shock, because they all knew what Nie Feng-ming was planning — he wanted to attack Qi Long from behind. This action might seem somewhat unsporting, but on the battlefield, there was no such thing as fairness. Only the person who survived would be the winner.
However, were things really as he imagined them to be? Just as his foot was about to hit Qi Long's back, he suddenly found that a large fist was once more before his eyes, accurately striking the side of his kneecap.
There was a 'crack!' — this was the sound of a joint being dislocated. Qi Long's strength had accurately struck at the most fragile spot on Nie Feng-ming's leg, finally causing Nie Feng-ming to grunt involuntarily.
Nie Feng-ming was no ordinary person — even though his knee had been unexpectedly dislocated by Qi Long, he did not yell out. With a stomp of his left leg, he flew backwards to once again stand at his original position. However, now he was using only his left leg as his support. His right leg was dragging on the ground, no longer able to exert any energy.
Qi Long had in fact not turned around completely. He had only shifted half a step, but this half step had been enough for Qi Long to obtain the angle he needed to swing his fist, intercepting the opponent's attack in a timely manner while bringing him the unexpected benefit of wounding the other further.
With this, the outcome of the match was once more shrouded in mystery — it was possible for either side to win or lose. After all, one person's body was heavily injured, while the other's right knee was dislocated. The scales of the match were once again balanced. At this point, even Boss Huo from Leiting could not help but frown, because now even he could not tell how this match would turn out.
He peered at Qi Long, who was still wearing that bloody grin, and felt that that grin of his was really too creepy and unnatural. In his memory, the other had seemed to be like this ever since he had begun using that inscrutable fist to intercept Nie Feng-ming's attacks ...
Could it be ...? Boss Huo's gaze lit up, and both his eyes locked onto Qi Long, tracking him closely. The fight was still ongoing — even though Nie Feng-ming's knee was dislocated, this did not prevent him from attacking. Very soon, Qi Long and Nie Feng-ming were once more engaged in combat.
This time, Boss Huo did not spare any of his attention on Nie Feng-ming. He put his entire focus on Qi Long — whether it was Qi Long's smile or gaze or even his reflexive actions, Boss Huo missed none of it. In the end, his eyes brightened even more. He had discovered what condition Qi Long was in right now.
Apparently, Qi Long was already at his limit. The grin on his face was not a true grin, only there because Qi Long just did not have any spare energy to shift the muscles of his face. He had funnelled all his remaining energy into his fists. As long as Nie Feng-ming continued to harass Qi Long, and drain all his energy, the other would fall in due time ...
While Boss Huo was just figuring out Qi Long's condition, Ling Lan, as Qi Long's boss, had already begun frowning deeply the moment Nie Feng-ming had chosen to attack Qi Long's back.
When Qi Long had shifted that half step to counterattack, the furrow of Ling Lan's brow had deepened even further. That's right, at that point, when no one else had noticed anything, Ling Lan had already discerned that Qi Long was already running on fumes.
For that half step, Qi Long had had to hold back the agonizing pain all across his body to move with a Herculean effort. Beneath both of Qi Long's almost immobile feet were two average-sized puddles. The puddles did not consist of the blood Qi Long had spat out from his mouth, but of sweat which had poured from his body when he had pushed through the pain to execute that half step ...
Ling Lan closed her eyes in regret, feeling sorry for Qi Long. She knew Qi Long's personality well — as long as there was a chance of winning, he would not think of losing at all. However, Qi Long's breakthrough had still been too late. His internal injuries were too severe; his broken body simply could not support his counterattack.
However, this pity Ling Lan felt only lasted for a brief instant. What she prioritised the most was still the improvement Qi Long had gained in this match. Trading one defeat for Qi Long's breakthrough, Ling Lan felt that this was unbelievably worth it.
"Feng-ming, don't be so one-minded! Attack from all angles!" shouted Boss Huo once again.
Nie Feng-ming had the utmost trust in his boss. Thus, hearing his boss's instructions, he did not pause to think about it — with a spring of his left leg, he flew into the air like a large bird of prey. This time, he did not attack Qi Long directly, but in accordance with Boss Huo's instructions, he came up behind Qi Long ...
And then he leapt into the air once more, sending a fist hurtling towards Qi Long's lower back!
With a 'bam!' the two fists collided forcefully. Although Qi Long tried his best to turn around, his battered body would not allow him to abuse it a second time, finally lodging its protest.
This time, Qi Long only managed to shift a small half step, even smaller than that of the first time. Although he did manage to turn, it was not a complete turn, so he did not have the time nor the space and angle to disrupt the opponent's attack. In order to protect his body, he could only take this attack by force.
This was the first direct Qi-Jin confrontation between Qi Long and Nie Feng-ming since Qi Long's breakthrough. The difference was that this attack of Nie Feng-ming's was of a tentative nature, and so did not contain his full power, so Qi Long managed to bear it.
The two fists could be seen to push against each other for about 1 to 2 seconds, and then Nie Feng-ming was sent flying back by the rebound force of the collision. Meanwhile, Qi Long's body swayed violently in place, and the blood which had stopped flowing began to trickle from his mouth once again. Still, even so, he did not retreat even half a step.
It was not that Qi Long did not want to retreat, but once he did, the breath holding him upright would escape. Even under these circumstances, Qi Long still did not want to give up, because he did not want to lose to anyone other than Boss. In Qi Long's mind, he could only lose to Ling Lan.
As expected! Nie Feng-ming landed on one foot, because his other leg was powerless, and to stabilise himself, he had to take several hops back. Though he looked a little clumsy and dishevelled, all this could not stop him from smiling. Due to Boss Huo's advice, he had found Qi Long's fatal weakness.
It turned out that Qi Long was really already at his limit, and could no longer turn around!
"Has it still been exposed in the end?" Ling Lan sighed. Even though Ling Lan had known that Qi Long's weakness would eventually be discovered by the opponent, Ling Lan had still hoped for a lucky fluke in her heart. She had hoped that Qi Long would have a chance to defeat the other before he was figured out by the opponent.
Since Nie Feng-ming had discovered Qi Long's weakness, he naturally did not prolong the fight. He once again moved to Qi Long's back and attacked with a rapid fist ...
Qi Long was still holding on. From the stage, sound after sound of fists colliding could be heard. Following the increase of Nie Feng-ming's strength, the swaying of Qi Long's body became more and more extreme. The blood never stopped flowing from his mouth, instead increasing in volume with time, until it was flowing out like water ...
Now was the time! Nie Feng-ming sensed the power levels from Qi Long's fists once more, and his eyes instantly shone with a radiant light. The next move would be when the outcome would be decided — with just one more punch, he would defeat Qi Long.
However, he did not want to end things like this! As the second strongest combat expert within the military academy, this fight with Qi Long had greatly hurt his pride. Under the situation where he had the full upper hand, he had actually been inflicted with internal injury in a mysterious way. Moreover, the opponent had even found a chance to dislocate his knee. Nie Feng-ming felt that this performance of his was a disgrace. If he could not utterly crush the opponent, he would never be able to lift his head before the people of Leiting ...
A trace a cruelty flashed through Nie Feng-ming's eyes. He took in a powerful breath, concentrating all the Qi-Jin in his body, and shouted, "Pneumatic Punch!"