Chapter 4386: His Determination
“I never expected you to admit to it, Zhao Xuanhe. I’m only asking you if you dare to accept the bet,” Liu Shangwu said.
“What do I have to fear? I only worry that you’ll regret your own decision once you lose the match!” Zhao Xuanhe said.
“Hah! If I, Liu Shangwu, lose the match, I’ll fulfill the end of my bargain! How do you intend to hold this match?” Liu Shangwu asked.
“Just like the previous time around, we’ll have three matches, one on the offensive side and one on the defensive side.
“In the first round, you’ll attack and I’ll defend. In the second round, I’ll attack and you’ll defend. In the third round, the two of us will attack until one side finally succumbs. The time limit is an incense’s time,” Zhao Xuanhe said.
“Fine, we’ll go with what you have suggested,” Liu Shangwu accepted the offer.
“You may begin,” the Sagacious Grandmaster said, signaling the start of the match.
As he spoke, Chu Feng could sense a formless energy wrapping itself around the entire dueling ring.
At the same time, an incense joss stick materialized at the top of the dueling ring.
Weng!
Weng!
A powerful surge of spirit power gushed up from two points on the dueling ring before swiftly morphing into something else.
Liu Shangwu and Zhao Xuanhe had begun putting their all into building their formations simultaneously.
Chu Feng watched the two of them intently as he prayed for Liu Shangwu’s success. After all, the price to pay for losing was not small at all.
After watching for a moment, Chu Feng felt his heart calming down a little.
Just by watching the process as to how they constructed the formation, he could tell that Liu Shangwu’s ability to control his formation, as well as the ingenuity of his formation, were all above that of Zhao Xuanhe’s.
Soon, an incense’s time passed, and it was time for the two of them to begin the fight.
Hualala!
Liu Shangwu’s formation created into towering waves that crashed down on Zhao Xuanhe one after another.
On the other hand, Zhao Xuanhe’s defensive formation transformed into a transparent sphere that protected him.
Under Liu Shangwu’s onslaught, cracks soon appeared on Zhao Xuanhe’s defensive formation.
“Formidable. As expected of Liu Shangwu, his offensive formation is remarkable. Will Liu Shangwu win the first round like that?”
Seeing such a situation, everyone thought that the conclusion was already decided.
After all, Liu Shangwu’s formation was just getting started. With each wave of attack, the might of his formation would grow stronger and stronger, eventually forming an unstoppable force.
If Zhao Xuanhe’s defensive formation was already cracking in the first few waves, it would surely be torn down soon enough.
Weng!
But all of a sudden, Zhao Xuanhe’s defensive formation glowed brightly, and a bizarre sight occurred.
Zhao Xuanhe’s cracking defensive formation suddenly began healing under the brilliant glow of the light, and the prowess of the formation suddenly became severalfold stronger than before.
“It’s a treasure! That fellow has a world spiritist treasure on him! What a formidable treasure… But why didn’t I see him using it earlier?”
Chu Feng had already noticed that it was a powerful treasure that had raised the prowess of Zhao Xuanhe’s formation. However, he couldn’t help but feel that there was something atypical about the treasure.
“This is really bad. Brother Liu, how are you going to deal with this?” Chu Feng looked at Liu Shangwu worriedly.
From the moment that Zhao Xuanhe revealed the prowess of his treasure, Chu Feng knew that Liu Shangwu’s offensive formation wouldn’t be able to breach Zhao Xuanhe’s defensive formation.
That was how powerful Zhao Xuanhe’s treasure was.
If Liu Shangwu didn’t have any countermeasure to it, he would lose the second round too.
Everything went in the direction as Chu Feng guessed. Liu Shangwu lost the first round.
On top of that, he also noticed a hint of bewilderment in Liu Shangwu’s eyes as well.
Clearly, Liu Shangwu didn’t think that Zhao Xuanhe would have such a treasure on him, and he realized that he would lose if this were to go on.
Unable to take it any longer, Chu Feng asked loudly, “Is using a world spiritist treasure not against the rules?”
If it was just in terms of their capabilities as world spiritists, Liu Shangwu would have surely won. It didn’t feel fair for another competitor to bring in a treasure to aid him and win on the basis of it. That would render the tournament meaningless.
“World spiritist treasures are banned in the tournament, but Zhao Xuanhe’s action has not flouted the rules,” the Sagacious Grandmaster replied.
“Why? Why is he an exception to the rules?” Chu Feng asked in incomprehension.
“His treasure has already fused into his soul, becoming a part of his bloodline and his being,” the Sagacious Grandmaster replied.
“But it still isn’t his own bloodline but an external object!” Chu Feng argued.
“Audacious! Who do you think you are to question the Sagacious Grandmaster? Grandmaster, shall we chase him out?”
Chu Feng’s words incurred the dissatisfaction of many present in the room, and some of them even threatened to drive Chu Feng out.
On the other hand, the Sagacious Grandmaster simply waved his hand quietly, indicating for the others not to make things difficult for Chu Feng.
His response caused those who had stood out indignantly earlier to back down and fall silent.
“Brother Chu Feng, it’s fine. I understand the rules here. Since I dared to come here to challenge Zhao Xuanhe, I have already made preparations accordingly,” Liu Shangwu said.
Hearing those words, Zhao Xuanhe scoffed coldly, “If that’s the case, I hope you all the best in the second round. Otherwise, you’re going to have to dig out your own eyes and sever your own limbs. I don’t want to even put my hands on your filthy body at all.”
“You’ll need to prove yourself worthy of making me do that first,” Liu Shangwu replied confidently.
The bewilderment in his eyes had vanished, replaced with determination instead.
Following that, the second round came to a start.
This time, Liu Shangwu would be setting up a defensive formation whereas Zhao Xuanhe would be setting up an offensive formation.
Since Zhao Xuanhe had already revealed the prowess of his treasure, there was no reason for him to hide it anymore. So, he simply used its prowess openly.
The offensive formation Zhao Xuanhe constructed was a sword formation that rained tens of thousands of sharp swords.
The formidable prowess of his formation made it obvious to everyone present that it was impossible for Liu Shangwu’s defensive formation to stand a chance at all.
And just as everyone expected, Zhao Xuanhe’s offensive formation swiftly pushed Liu Shangwu’s defensive formation to its very limits.
Weng!
But right at this very moment, a blood mist suddenly emerged from Liu Shangwu’s body.
Following that, his defensive formation began to grow stronger and stronger, till it finally reached the point where it could withstand Zhao Xuanhe’s offensive formation.
“Brother Liu, you…”
However, despite seeing this scene, Chu Feng couldn’t feel the slightest relief at all.
He realized that Liu Shangwu was using a special means to ignite his world spiritist bloodline and soul.
Even if he were to win the battle, it would inflict irreparable trauma onto him, such that it would be hard for him to progress in his cultivation anymore.
This could almost be said to be an act of suicide.
“Liu Shangwu, is there a need for you to go this far?”
Some of those spectating also couldn’t bear to see the sight, such that they began to advise Liu Shangwu against it.
“If I don’t exact vengeance, I’ll be letting my cousin down! AHHHH!” Liu Shangwu bellowed furiously.
His anger and determination could be heard from his tone.
However, such a method had its limitation too.
Through the augmentation of the treasure, Zhao Xuanhe’s offensive formation was able to rain relentless waves of attacks upon Liu Shangwu, and there were signs that he was intending to drag the battle on.
He was intentionally delaying for time so that Liu Shangwu would burn himself down.
But Liu Shangwu had no choice but to go on with it. He had to win this battle.
If he were to lose, the outcome that awaited him would be tragic.
But in the end, the match still ended in his loss. Even though he forced himself to persevere on, he still eventually came to his limits.
As soon as he reached his limit, his defensive formation also came crashing down too.
Zhao Xuanhe could have inflicted severe injuries to Liu Shangwu subsequently, but he chose to hold himself back too.
Initially, everyone thought that Zhao Xuanhe was doing it out of goodwill, but who could have thought that when Zhao XUanhe was declared the victor, he turned to Liu Shangwu and said, “It’s time for you to fulfill your end of the promise. If you aren’t going to do it, I’ll have no choice but to dirty my own hands.”
In other words, he was determined to take Liu Shangwu’s eyes, hands, and legs away with him today.