Chapter 243: First Blood of True Martial Realm Expert!
"This is bad!"
Seeing the halo, Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka's faces darkened. They immediately realized that they had picked a difficult opponent. The 'Halo of Bog' was a type of halo unique to Goguryeons. While it was, in essence, a strength-type halo, due to the unique geographical terrain of the Goguryeons, it carried the effects similar to a bog, thus limiting the movement of their opponent while boosting their own strength.
This halo would only appear in the hands of a few rare elites among the Goguryeon warriors.
Initially, Wang Chong had wanted to start out with a slightly stronger opponent, but Miyasame Ayaka seemed to have made a mistake in her selection of opponent.
"Gongzi, be careful!"
At this moment, Miyasame Ayaka had also noticed her mistake. The enemy was clearly much stronger than her.
Most likely, the other party had been staked out in waiting for them.
"Hahaha, you two pesky brats. Recently, more than ten warriors have disappeared from the first base. If I'm not mistaken, the both of you are the culprits, right?"
The one-eyed fatty chuckled as he examined Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka with his only eye. This time around, he spoke in the tongue of the Central Plains.
He was no fool. Considering how the two fellows intentionally provoked him and drew him here, there was a good chance that they were involved in the consecutive disappearance of their men a while back.
"Die!" With a savage grin, a powerful might roared around the one-eyed fatty, and instantaneously, it seemed as though Miyasame Ayaka and Wang Chong had sunk into a heavy, viscous bog.
The halo of a True Martial realm expert wasn't just for show. Harnessing the law of nature, they allowed one to tap into the natural energy of the environment to bring out might far greater than their own limits.
And with his enhanced strength, the one-eyed fatty was completely suppressing Miyasame Ayaka and Wang Chong.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same moment that he activated the Halo of Bog, the one-eyed fatty charged up toward Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka with his three sabers.
He had intentionally waited for Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka to come into proximity before activating his halo so as to catch the both of them off-guard. Wrapped around in the power of his halo, the both of them would find themselves panicked and unable to escape.
For at least ten breaths from now, Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka's foot movements were sealed, and this was more than enough for him to clear them up.
"Pay for the lives of those warriors with your own!" Three sabers fell frenziedly toward Miyasame Ayaka and Wang Chong as though a storm, and in an instant, the both of them were put in an extremely difficult position.
Both Spectre Steps and Phantom Steps were extraordinary secret arts, but it just happened that the one-eyed fatty's Aura of Bog was a perfect counter against them.
Like an ordinary human wading through a marsh, even taking a single step forward was highly difficult for them at the moment.
A swift leopard falling into a marsh would find his fighting prowess reduced exponentially, and Wang Chong and Miyasame Ayaka were in the exact same position.
"Yiiii! ——"
Suddenly, a piercing shrill sounded from the distance. Wang Chong's heart jolted. This was the signal that he agreed on with King Song's master archer.
As long as he replied to that signal, the master archer would immediately offer his long-range cover.
And with that archer’s strength, this Goguryeon elite could possibly be severely wounded in the first encounter.
But Wang Chong didn't want to do so.
Master archers tended to be proud people, and this was more likely to be the case the more formidable the master archer was. If Wang Chong were to be defeated in his first fight against a True Martial realm expert, the master archer might end up underestimating him, and such thoughts would damage his credibility. The lack of trust in Wang Chong's ability might hinder the master archer from following his orders in future operations.
And Wang Chong would require his help on many affairs in the future!
No matter what, I've to find a way to defeat this Goguryeon warrior. I'll only engage the help of the master archer when it reaches a desperate situation!, Wang Chong thought.
The master archer was an important person in his plans, and Wang Chong had decided only to mobilize him when needed. Besides, if the master archer were to act contrary to his instructions in crucial moments, that could prove to be fatal.
Sou!
Wang Chong activated his Single Character Consecutive Slash and dashed forward. By just a hair's breadth, he dodged the one-eyed fatty's sabers, and in the midst of doing so, he even shot out surges of Sword Qi of Massacre, but the both of them ended up being negated by the other party's saber qi.
The other party's Aura of Bog was indeed formidable, and its effects on Phantom Steps was huge. Fortunately, Phantom Steps wasn't the only footwork technique that Wang Chong knew, and Single Character Consecutive Slash happened to be less affected by the aura.
On the other hand, despite Miyasame Ayaka's higher cultivation, her movements were bound even more tightly than Wang Chong’s.
Peng!
Shadows flashed, and under the one-eyed fatty's control, the air bog crushed down heavily on the ground, creating a loud rumble. Drenched with sweat from the pressure, Miyasame Ayaka staggered for a moment, and before she could react, 'chi!', she was struck on her left shoulder by a saber qi before she could even react. The saber qi cut through her clothes and etched a deep laceration on her shoulder. Fresh blood spurted out profusely.
"Lass, you must be from the Eastern Islands. Those from the Central Plains don't move like you do. Hehe, wait till I take you down and bring you back to my base!" the one-eyed fatty roared in laughter. Embarrassed and furious, Miyasame Ayaka made another mistake and suffered another slash.
"Miyasame, three cun below the left of his waist!"
(~10cm)
At this moment, a decisive voice sounded in her ear. Miyasame Ayaka was starting to panic, but those words seemed to possess some kind of power and brought her rationality back instantly.
"Three cun before the left of my waist? Hah, brat, do you think that you can succeed?"
Hearing Wang Chong's words, the one-eyed fatty's body tightened, and he instinctively felt threatened. But in the next instant, his body loosened once more and he burst into laughter. Given the situation and his superior strength, the duo couldn't even get close to him. Even if that brat had noticed his weakness, it was for naught.
"Brat, your cultivation might be weak, but you sure are slippery. I wanted to kill her first before dealing with you, but since you're so intent to die, I'll grant your wish!" the one-eyed fatty bellowed in savagery and turned around. Wang Chong's words had piqued his killing intent. Even if he had to turn his back against Miyasame Ayaka, his instincts were telling him that he had to eradicate this brat who threatened him.
"I sure would like to see how you intend to get a hit on three cun below the left of my waist!"
Boom! All of a sudden, it was as if the heavens had moved. In a single breath, the 'air bog', along with the three sabers, carrying the powerful force from the Deluge of Stellar Energy, came crashing toward Wang Chong with astounding speed.
If this attack were to hit Wang Chong, his death would be inevitable.
"Hmph!" In the face of the astounding might of the one-eyed fatty, Wang Chong simply sneered coldly.
It wasn't out of recklessness that he didn't send a signal to the master archer behind him. In truth, he still had a trump card he had yet to use.
In the next instant, without any hesitation, Wang Chong activated the Bane of the Battlefield halo. Weng! An invisible ripple immediately diffused into the surroundings. It was as if nothing had happened, but this would be the turning point of the duel.
Weng!
Before the one-eyed fatty could react, a unique white ripple suddenly appeared around him. Along with the appearance of this white ripple, a mysterious force suddenly came into action.
Boom! Without any forewarning, the one-eyed fatty's 'air bog' was weakened by at least two-thirds. It was as if he was abruptly drained of his energy, and for an instant, the Origin Energy within his body seemed to have stalled.
"What?!" the one-eyed fatty blurted out as he paled in alarm. Despite having been dispatched to the Central Plains for over six years now, he had never met with such a situation.
This kind of abrupt and inconceivable weakening of his cultivation came too suddenly, and it had caught him off-guard!
As a veteran warrior, he understood the implications of losing control over one's Origin Energy in the midst of a battle, and that was the reason why his fear was even more intense.
A fight between experts hinged on the slightest opening, and this was an unimaginably huge one!
Good opportunity! Sensing the change in the Halo of Bog, Miyasame Ayaka immediately grasped tightly onto this chance and dashed forward. Puchi, fresh blood splattered in the air. A dagger had been deeply lodged into the three cun beneath the left of the one-eyed fatty's waist. It was so deep in that the tip of the dagger could be seen out the other side.
Puchi!
At the same moment, Wang Chong's Sword Qi of Massacre pierced the right side of the one-eyed fatty's chest. Following that, Wang Chong drove his Phantom Step to propel himself forward and stabbed the Little Yinyang Sword into the latter's heart.
"AH!" The one-eyed fatty widened his only eye in shock. His hands were still frozen in an offensive position, and a look of disbelief was frozen on his face.
To his dying breath, he couldn't understand what had happened!
Along with the one-eyed fatty's death, a dense surge of Origin Energy, incomparable to the previous few occasions, flowed through the Little Yinyang Sword into Wang Chong's body.
"Ahhhh!" Closing his eyes, Wang Chong could feel his bloodstream flowing furiously along with the absorption of the energy, nourishing his body. "What powerful energy!"
Naturally, an Origin Energy realm cultivator couldn't compare to a True Martial realm cultivator. The benefit Wang Chong derived from this kill was far superior to any he had gained before.
The concentration and flowing rate of his Origin Energy had increased, and his strength had been enhanced too.
Who knew how much diligence it would have taken to progress that much by ordinary means...
It was not for no reason that the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art was known as one of the greatest techniques in the world. At this moment, Wang Chong was finally understanding its true strength.
There was no technique he could imagine that could possibly raise one's cultivation faster than this.
If I can continue progressing at this rate, in less than a month, I'll be able to reach Origin Energy Tier 9, Wang Chong thought.
Upon reaching Origin Energy Tier 9, a martial artist would gain the strength to emit his internal energy. Wang Chong would also be able to learn more advanced martial arts, such as the Hundred Steps Divine Fist. On top of that, he would also be able to comprehend the laws of nature and convert his Origin Energy into Stellar Energy. He would be able to infuse Stellar Energy into his movements in the form of white ripples, thus raising his fighting prowess immensely.
On the path of martial arts, Origin Energy Tier 1 could be considered as an awkward toddler, whereas Origin Energy Tier 9 could be considered as the mark of adulthood, the stairway to reaching a higher, more powerful realm.
More importantly, one would be able to grasp martial halos, and harness the laws of the world!