132. Bitterly Disappointed

Master Li let out a heavy sigh, a deep sense of disappointment washing over him. He had initially hoped that Qi Fei might pose some real threat to the crowd, but to his dismay, within just two or three moves, Ma Lianliang had already seized the upper hand. Master Li, the very instigator of this calamity, now cast a gloomy gaze over the rapidly shifting scene before him, his mind racing with calculations: "This Qi Fei, young as he is, possesses such audacity. If I do not use Ma Lianliang's hands to eliminate this brat today, I fear I will never know peace again."

Ma Lianliang stared blankly at Qi Fei. Although the form of Qi Fei's previous strike was identical to the one just executed, the true Qi contained within this latest blow was tenfold greater than before.

He stared at Qi Fei in sheer disbelief. Meanwhile, the spectators standing behind Ma Lianliang all visibly relaxed. Ignorant of the true situation between the two combatants, they assumed Ma Lianliang had firmly secured the upper hand and were simply waiting for the ten moves to pass, eager to see how Qi Fei would swallow his own arrogant words. One must admit that humanity inherently possesses a spectator's mentality; even these congenital experts were entirely immune to this flaw. Because most people relish watching others boast only to see them swiftly humiliated and trampled upon, this exclusionary psychology exists in almost everyone.

In particular, Qi Fei's solemn and deadpan expression made him look as though he were merely putting up a desperate front, making him as laughable as a performing monkey.

Qi Fei let out a sharp cry: "Old wretch, take my third strike!" By this time, Qi Fei had gathered his entire mental focus and plunged himself completely into the battle. Thus, he paid no psychological heed whatsoever to the ridicule and expressions of the onlookers.

Qi Fei quickly stabilized the churning true Qi within his chest, uttered a calm greeting to Ma Lianliang, and then unhurriedly delivered his third strike. If Ma Lianliang's initial disdain for Qi Fei's attacks had been at a level of ten, then after receiving the second strike and abruptly realizing that Qi Fei retreated a shorter distance than he had during the first blow, that contempt instantly dropped by three tenths. Especially after their direct clash, when he discovered that he had been forced back one more step than in the previous exchange, a strange and utterly bizarre feeling inevitably welled up in his heart. Clearly, the second strike looked no different from the first, so why had the resulting effect differed to such a degree?

Ma Lianliang pondered deeply. This battle-hardened old wretch, experienced as he was, could not for the life of him figure out how Qi Fei had forced him to retreat an extra third of a distance while pushing himself back that extra step. Although it was merely a single step of difference, in a battle between congenital experts, a minor psychological flaw could dictate the final outcome. Whether that single step might become the decisive factor in the struggle required no verification. Yet the interval before the launch of the third strike was visibly shorter than the gaps between the first and second. Quite apart from Ma Lianliang, who was deep in the fray, even the congenital experts standing guard behind him failed to perceive the distinction.

Naturally, while this eerie development left Ma Lianliang momentarily baffled, as a fourth-tier congenital martial artist, he still sensed that if things continued this way, a very bad situation would arise. However, time did not permit him to ponder further, for the glittering Soul-Cold Sabre had suddenly arrived, slashing straight toward his face.

Instinctively, Ma Lianliang jerked up his Five-Tiger Door-Breaking Sabre, sweeping it horizontally with the hilt to meet the edge of the Soul-Cold Sabre squarely. Yet this time, Ma Lianliang—who had felt entirely at ease moments before—sensationally felt the Five-Tiger Door-Breaking Sabre in his hand sink downward uncontrollably. Realizing abruptly that the force attached to the Soul-Cold Sabre was far greater than in the previous two strikes, he hurriedly gathered his breath into his abdomen and, with a deep grunt, pressed down hard on his weapon.

With a soft "thud," although the Soul-Cold Sabre was deflected by the elasticity of his blade, Ma Lianliang could not help but shudder slightly inside.

Yet, after easily repelling Qi Fei's first two blows and securely seizing the upper hand, Ma Lianliang had originally intended to unleash his signature ultimate sabre technique right after this exchange to launch a fierce counterattack. He wanted to let this arrogant brat know that a fourth-tier congenital expert was not someone he could surpass at the peak; short of coughing up blood and sustaining severe injuries, he would at least teach this kid that his boast of ending the fight in ten moves was nothing more than the talk of a frog at the bottom of a well. But once this strike connected solidly, he felt a tremendous force surge up from the hilt of his sabre, completely neutralizing all the momentum he had accumulated for a counter-offensive, forcing him to abort his plans just to dissolve this shockwave.

With great difficulty, Ma Lianliang managed to fend off the reverberating force. Just as he wanted to ponder why the disparity in his opponent's strikes was so vast, he looked up and discovered that Qi Fei had simultaneously neutralized the force he had projected. Furthermore, Qi Fei's face remained calm, yet his eyes gleamed with an exceptionally chilling light as he locked onto him, slowly speaking in an indifferent and ethereal tone: "Next, try my sixth strike."

"Clang! Clang!" Qi Fei delivered a strike with the exact same posture, showing no intention of changing his offensive method whatsoever, as if he deliberately intended to engage Ma Lianliang in a direct, head-on collision. Following the exact same trajectory as the previous three strikes, he thrust straight toward Ma Lianliang.

"Hmph, you brat dare to bully me this much! Come and experience this old man's Five-Tiger Door-Breaking Sabre!" Having no time to dwell on superfluous thoughts, Ma Lianliang let out a loud roar to dispel the various negative emotions in his mind. He spun the Five-Tiger Door-Breaking Sabre into a massive arc, leaped entirely into mid-air, and—wielding the weapon almost like a flying sword—smashed it fiercely down toward Qi Fei's incoming Soul-Cold Sabre in a cleaving motion.

This was the first time since the battle began that Ma Lianliang had proactively launched an overwhelming wave of moves. Previously, Ma Lianliang had merely stood there casually, waving his long blade to parry whenever Qi Fei attacked. But this time, not only did he proactively move his body, but he even unleashed his signature sabre techniques. What precisely did this signify? An observant and quick-witted bystander might have perceived some underlying truth from it.

However, the congenital experts behind Ma Lianliang merely assumed that Ma Lianliang had grown impatient with passive defense, and that he was deploying his renowned ultimate technique simply to bring the fight to a swift conclusion. Not only these congenital experts, but the onlookers as well shared an astonishingly uniform mindset. After all, given the events of the preceding rounds, everyone at this moment believed that Ma Lianliang was about to launch a counterattack, dispense some color, and let the youth opposite him understand why he had firmly occupied the throne of Yunshan City's foremost expert through years of trials and tribulations.

Without exception, everyone assumed that the upcoming moment would witness Ma Lianliang displaying his majestic prowess.

Yet, just as this thought arose in everyone's minds, the situation in the arena underwent an unexpected transformation.

This was Qi Fei's sixth strike, and also Ma Lianliang's first counter-strike utilizing his renowned sabre technique. Judging by the earlier progression, when Ma Lianliang unleashed his reserved ultimate skill, the teenage genius regarded by everyone as a demonic prodigy should have been reduced to struggling bitterly, and the victor should have long since been decided. As for the timing of the outcome, it would only be delayed because Ma Lianliang wished to toy with Qi Fei a little longer.

However, the instant their two blades collided and a massive explosive sound echoed across the entire arena, everyone discovered that the two combatants had simultaneously stumbled backward by nearly a zhang. Even so, the spectators still felt nothing amiss; two congenital experts clashing head-on and subsequently retreating was the most ordinary thing in the world.

Yet what followed began to feel somewhat wrong. After Qi Fei's calm voice once again rang out with the words "Sixth strike," everyone was astonished to discover that the genius youth had dissolved the impact force even earlier than Ma Lianliang, and had launched an attack against his opponent just as before.

And in this exchange, although Ma Lianliang employed his Five-Tiger Door-Breaking Sabre to execute a sabre technique once more, to any observant onlooker among the crowd, his posture was indescribably strained, unmistakably conveying a sense of arduous struggle. Even more astonishingly, after this fifth head-on clash, not only did Ma Lianliang stagger backward a full zhang, but the youth merely retreated a mere four tiny steps.

This scene not only completely reversed the dynamic of the second strike, but also caused every single person present to widen their eyes, their minds paralyzed and incapable of processing a single thought for a long time.

The crowd was utterly astounded, their mouths agape—wide enough to stuff an egg inside. When everyone uses conventional thinking to analyze a matter, fully expecting the outcome to fall entirely within their framework of understanding, they suddenly discover that the reality before their eyes is moving forward in a direction diametrically opposed to their reasoning. This is not merely a sense of shock; more importantly, when hard, unyielding facts overturn their entire cognition, the impact is enough to cause the mental pillars supporting them to collapse at the slightest touch.

Yet, for the onlookers present, while the current scene did not quite evoke the full measure of sheer horror, the psychological blow was magnified a hundredfold. They had thought Ma Lianliang was about to display his majestic prowess, wielding the aura of Yunshan City's number one expert to sweep away his opponent like falling flowers before a raging gale. Instead, they discovered that the awe-inspiring figure was the opponent, while the scattered falling flowers were none other than themselves. The blow dealt to their comprehension by this sudden, drastic reversal of the expected victory naturally expanded exponentially.

Had Qi Fei maintained a continuous advantage from the outset, they might have found such a spectacle formidable, but it certainly wouldn't have rendered their minds incapable of functioning for so long. Had Ma Lianliang remained at a constant disadvantage, such a result—though alarming—would have been acceptable. But just as they anticipated Ma Lianliang's imminent victory, the opponent abruptly erupted with an unbelievable, formidable might.