Chapter 134: Playing Cat and Mouse, Part 2

Because Ma Lianliang's Five-Tiger Gate-Breaking Saber technique had suddenly expanded into thousands of blade flashes, carrying a surging and torrential true force as it rolled forward in an onslaught, this was presumably the first time since the duel began that Ma Lianliang had fully unleashed his saber art. Especially now that Ma Lianliang had burned his own vitality to elevate himself to a higher tier, this saber momentum was all the more tyrannical, unbridled, and devoid of any retreat.

At this life-or-death juncture, Qi Fei was not even sure how to execute his eighth saber strike. Driven by absolute necessity, he had no choice but to suppress the true Qi that had accumulated within his body, and rely on the footwork learned during the skin-tempering stage of the Body Refining Manual to evade Ma Lianliang's boundless and thunderous blade flashes as best as he could. If anyone had previously been looking forward to Ma Lianliang displaying his full might, it now seemed he had indeed reached the state everyone had anticipated.

Yet, strangely enough, even though Ma Lianliang had forced Qi Fei into a position where he could only dodge without any room to parry, the Innate masters watching from behind not only failed to emit the cheers they should have, but every single one of their faces turned grave, and not a soul dared to breathe a word. Unlike Qi Fei, who was ignorant of the Heavenly Demon's Chaotic Dance True Scripture, this group of Innate masters watching from the sidelines knew all too well the drawbacks of forcibly elevating one's tier right in the middle of a combat engagement.

Just as Qi Fei's Myriad Sabers Returning to Origin had numerous restrictions, methods of forcibly raising one's realm like this came with even more profound limitations and lingering aftereffects for a martial artist.

The Heavenly Demon's Chaotic Dance True Scripture, as the name implied, was a method that forcibly elevated one's strength tier at the cost of burning one's own vitality. Moreover, because of the varying amounts of vitality possessed by each individual, the duration for which the caster could maintain this state differed accordingly.

However, one aspect was indisputable: if this technique was executed for even slightly too long, or if it consumed more than a quarter of the caster's own vitality, the martial artist's realm would suddenly drop by an entire tier once the technique concluded. If, in a single-minded bid to strike down the enemy, the practitioner continuously burned their vitality beyond the half-way mark, all of their martial arts cultivation would immediately scatter into nothingness upon the battle's conclusion, reducing them to an ordinary person forever incapable of practicing any martial arts. And if the amount of consumed vitality exceeded three-quarters, then no matter how formidable that person had been moments before, they would be left with only a few dozen days to live. As for consuming all of one's vitality down to the very last drop—while the tier elevation would last considerably longer, the aftermath...

In other words, if Ma Lianliang did not wish to inflict irreparable damage upon himself in the aftermath, then if he failed to achieve his goal after this single move, he would have at most two more strikes left in him. Fortunately, although Qi Fei appeared capable of dodging this particular move, it was already the ninth saber strike. If two more strikes truly passed, then Qi Fei's declared intention of defeating Ma Lianliang within ten moves would be reduced to nothing more than a joke. This was akin to draining all the blood from one's body; the outcome required no explanation, and anyone could easily imagine what kind of horrifying scenario would ensue.

As for the present situation, though Qi Fei did not fully understand it, the Innate masters behind Ma Lianliang could all perceive that in the span of just a single move, Ma Lianliang had consumed a full tenth of his own vitality. Under these present circumstances, everything depended on whether Ma Lianliang was merely striving to endure for ten moves or acting with the intent to slay Qi Fei.

Having reached this point, everyone could see that in terms of comprehensive strength, Qi Fei was indeed a cut above Ma Lianliang. Although they still failed to understand what heaven-defying method this youth of the initial Innate stage was employing to gain the upper hand in his duel against Ma Lianliang, the facts lay starkly before them, and everyone understood that this youth truly possessed the formidable strength to ignore the rules of certain minor tiers. A youth at the initial Innate stage engaging in a fierce battle against a fourth-layer Innate expert and completely seizing the upper hand—if word of this got out, it would probably shock a massive horde of martial artists.

Ordinary onlookers had by this point even mentally drafted the talking points they would use to boast to others later, and thus they watched the battle with great relish and boundless joy. Only the group of Innate masters behind Ma Lianliang wore grave expressions while a myriad of different thoughts swirled within their minds. Among them were those itching to step in and assist, those secretly pondering how to handle their future relations with the Ma family, and those inwardly lamenting that coming to offer birthday congratulations was truly a grave mistake. In short, among these dozens of individuals, their disparate motives and thoughts were endlessly varied. Truly, each person had his own agenda.

Because right now, although Ma Lianliang firmly held the advantage on the field and every one of his attacks seemed on the verge of striking Qi Fei, Qi Fei managed to use various bizarre evasive maneuvers amidst the thousands of blade flashes to render Ma Lianliang's attacks futile at the most critical moments. Thus, while his dodging appeared fraught with boundless peril, the reality was that from beginning to end, Ma Lianliang had not even managed to touch a fraction of Qi Fei's hemline. Qi Fei was not particularly anxious about this state of affairs, but Ma Lianliang genuinely felt a profound sense of awkwardness.

Fortunately, even though Ma Lianliang was consuming his vitality, he had not yet lost a shred of his sanity. Seeing that Qi Fei focused solely on dodging, his eyes rolled, and he immediately shouted aloud: "To think you dare not clash head-on with this old man! Brat, you are still far too green; you simply haven't learned the bearing an Innate master ought to possess!"

Ma Lianliang's underlying meaning was naturally to remind Qi Fei that during their previous exchanges, he himself had never dodged a single hair's breadth, whereas Qi Fei now adopted a strategy of blindly dodging without daring to engage in a frontal battle—something clearly unbecoming of a true martial artist. However, Qi Fei did not possess his mindset of disregarding everything for the sake of family interests.

Therefore, even upon hearing Ma Lianliang's thinly veiled sarcasm, Qi Fei merely twitched the corner of his mouth and offered no response whatsoever. Secretly, however, he controlled the heaven and earth Qi accumulated within his body to undergo continuous transformation, thinking to himself that since only two moves remained, he had no choice but to directly abandon the eighth, ninth, and tenth strikes of Myriad Sabers Returning to Origin. Instead, he would unleash his absolute limit to test whether he truly possessed the capability to withstand Ma Lianliang head-on for a few moves while the latter was in this state. Following the ninth strike, Ma Lianliang had gained zero results, while Qi Fei remained completely unharmed.

This situation filled Ma Lianliang with immense fury. Having gone to great lengths to risk self-inflicted bodily harm and unleash such a tremendously powerful technique, Qi Fei merely dodged blindly instead of meeting him head-on. This feeling was akin to winding up with all his might to strike a person, only to end up punching empty air with no resistance whatsoever; one could easily imagine how excruciatingly uncomfortable that sensation was. Moreover, this attack had been launched at the cost of consuming his own vitality—how could he not be anxious when he saw Qi Fei persistently dodging?

That was why Ma Lianliang resorted to verbal humiliation to provoke Qi Fei, hoping the opponent would clash with him head-on for a few moves. Otherwise, if Qi Fei continued to rely solely on this bizarre footwork to evade, even if he dragged it out for two more moves, Ma Lianliang would have to concede that he had indeed lost to him. Fortunately, Qi Fei remained unaware of his true condition, and judging by his behavior, Ma Lianliang believed his provocative words still stood a high chance of success. Sure enough, after the two of them ceased their movements, Qi Fei's gaze immediately narrowed. Then, the youth uttered words that sounded to Ma Lianliang like the music of heaven: "Very well, in the remaining two moves, allow me to experience your ultimate trump card."

With that, Qi Fei seemed to completely ignore Ma Lianliang's existence, gently closing his eyes as if brewing something within. Ordinarily, this situation presented the optimal moment for Ma Lianliang to launch an offensive, but fearing that any interruption to Qi Fei's brewing would cause the opponent to revert to his previous evasive tactics, Ma Lianliang forcefully suppressed the impulse to strike first, deciding to wait until Qi Fei had fully prepared himself before acting.

Without allowing him to make some preparations, this brat would absolutely never clash with me head-on; if that were the case, wouldn't my vitality have been consumed in vain? Thus, at this moment, Ma Lianliang could only wait—wait for Qi Fei to brew what he believed to be his strongest move, and then engage him in two fierce, head-on clashes. He was not afraid of Qi Fei unleashing some formidable technique; after all, his own strength now faintly bordered on the mid-Innate stage, and he was confident that no matter what means Qi Fei deployed, it would simply be impossible to contend with his current self.

As for Qi Fei, although he had long since been secretly brewing the twelfth and thirteenth strikes of Myriad Sabers Returning to Origin while dodging, he had never attempted to skip the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth strikes in this manner before. Therefore, he required a considerable amount of time to regulate the heaven and earth Qi within his body, ensuring that when he unleashed his absolute limit of two strikes, his body could adapt to the sudden surge in pressure without developing any major flaws.

Consequently, in the eyes of all the onlookers, after the ninth strike, the two adversaries on the field unexpectedly chose a temporary silence. Those ignorant of the inner workings might even have assumed that, failing to inflict any injuries upon one another, they had chosen to call it a draw and make peace. Only the Innate masters, who could perceive the continuously rising momentum emanating from each of them, understood that both parties were merely awaiting the final decisive moment.

Half a cup of tea's time later, amidst the waiting of Ma Lianliang and everyone else, Qi Fei slowly opened his eyes.

As his eyes slowly opened, the momentum suddenly rising from the surface of his body vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye, much like melting snow meeting sunlight. By the time his eyes were fully open, that momentum had receded to the point where not a single trace remained. To the profound astonishment of all the Innate masters present, the flash of light in his eyes vanished in an instant, and he spoke in a calm voice: "Very well, come and receive my tenth strike."