213 A Glorious Defea

In that moment, Tang Wulin gained a newfound appreciation for Wu Zhangkong.The Stargod Sword’s attack patterns were very similar to Wu Zhangkong’s FrostScars.

Facing her formidable sword technique, Tang Wulin already knew how toretaliate.

A radiant strand of Bluesilver Grass sprung up in front of him, golden scaleslining it. The strand wrapped along the length of the sword, disturbing itsstargod energy and restricting its movement. Most of the sword stabs wereblocked by the troublesome grass while his dragon claw held the rest of theattacks at bay. With these defensive measures, he was barely able to endure YeXinglan’s offensive.

Naturally, it was all thanks to Goldlight that his Bluesilver Grass couldsubdue the explosive stargod energy. He activated Bind, specifically for thestrands of Bluesilver grass encircling the sword, and charged forward with theaid of his spirit soul.

An orb of starlight fell onto his Bluesilver Grass, interrupting his soulskill. Ye Xinglan’s figure flickered. She bypassed his golden Bluesilver Grassand appeared just before him.

She thrusted out her Stargod Sword, ten stabs manifesting all at once.

“Let’s see how you deal with this!” Ye Xinglan roared. She had never expectedthat with her abilities, she would have so much difficulty against a mereone-ringed opponent. Though his martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, it wasn’tordinary—a variant. What was most alarming was his golden dragon claw.  

She felt the greatest threat from his claw and didn’t dare let go of hersword. She had a gut feeling that the match would be lost if he managed to grabher sword.

Although her Stargod Sword was powerful, once removed from her grasp, shewould be helpless against his spirit soul-enhanced Bluesilver Grass. For now,she wanted to see how Tang Wulin would deal with her.

Indeed, Tang Wulin found it increasingly hard to block all her attacks. Evenif he could sense all of the incoming sword thrusts, his reaction time was tooslow!!

What do I do?

In this moment of crisis, he made a valiant choice.

Ignoring the incoming stars, Tang Wulin charged toward her, his golden dragonclaw serving as the vanguard. He brandished his claw wildly to do two things:protect his body and grab Ye Xinglan.

Mutual destruction!

Tang Wulin was confident in the destructive power of his claw. He also knewthat his body could endure the blow for a brief moment. In that moment beforehis body collapsed, he would attack her in a frenzy.

Shooting stars were lodged into Tang Wulin’s golden dragon claw, envelopinghim in a bloody aura. The stargod energy was about to erupt, but he was alreadyin front of her!

hock flashed through her eyes. She jabbed her sword forward and activatedboth her soul rings. A mass of starlight descended, encasing her body like astellar fortress.

Multi-colored light exploded as the golden claw and the shield of starlightclashed. Yet the starlight shield proved short-lived as Tang Wulin dug hisclaws into it, tearing the starlight into shreds.

The last couple of moves illustrated just what made Ye Xinglan a Shrekstudent. She bent over backwards, evading the claw by an inch while thrustingher sword simultaneously at Tang Wulin’s right armpit.

Tang Wulin recoiled his arm, deflecting the sword’s path.

Finally, Ye Xinglan’s defensive maneuvers came to an end; his claw gripped hersword with incredible strength, issuing out a metallic ‘clang’.

She nearly lost hold of her sword when a sudden wave of force propagatedthrough it.

A  boom resounded as light shot out from Tang Wulin. With a low groan, hisgolden dragon claw disappeared and the explosion hurled him back through theair.

“Stop!” The referee shouted. He flew over to Tang Wulin’s side. Holding TangWulin with one arm, the referee used the other to apply a healing white lighton the wounds, preventing further blood loss.

Ye Xinglan sat on the ground, staring at Tang Wulin in despondency.

Throughout her life, she had never achieved such a difficult victory against apeer.

That guy, how is he able to fight so hard? And there’s his dragon claw… It’sso strong! How was it able to stop my soul skill? I should have been moreprepared, then I wouldn’t be in such a situation.

Is he okay?

Tang Wulin was in a dire state. His body was dyed crimson, face pale and eyesclosed. His consciousness had long since been lost.

During their final clash, Tang Wulin had held on by sheer will alone. When hecould no longer endure the stargod energy, and his soul power collapsed withinhis body, he was incapacitated by the damage. He could no longer sustain hisgolden dragon claw either. Yet, if he had been able to persevere for anothersecond, perhaps the outcome of the match would differ.

Wu Zhangkong ascended to the stage quickly. He retrieved Tang Wulin from thereferee’s hold and applied an icy mist onto the wounds. Without sparing YeXinglan a single glance, he exited the stage with Tang Wulin in his arms.

Gu Yue and Xie Xie rushed over to their teacher. Upon seeing her bloodiedcomrade, Gu Yue emanated killing intent.

A chilling shiver ran down Ye Xinglan’s spine as she pushed herself off theground. She turned toward Gu Yue subconsciously.

The two girls’ gazes clashed in midair, sparks shooting everywhere.

Wu Zhangkong’s hands moved in a blur as he examined Tang Wulin. A momentlater, he declared, “He’s fine. They’re just superficial wounds. I’ll bring himback first.” He lifted Tang Wulin and after few mystical steps, he disappeared,his silhouette but a dream.

The second round of the individual competition concluded: Tang Wulin lost!

After Wu Zhangkong left, Gu Yue approached the stage, her eyes gleaming withsix different glints and her bloodlust exploding. Even Xie Xie, who wasundoubtedly on her side, treated her like a volcano about to erupt.

Once she descended from the stage, Ye Xinglan waited for the approaching GuYue, not one bit afraid.

“I want to challenge you.” Gu Yue’s voice was ice-cold.

Ye Xinglan snorted. “I’m only doing one match for the individual competition.If you want to challenge me, then do it in the team competition.”

She departed after spitting out these words. Gu Yue was about to chase afterher, but Xie Xie restrained her arm. “Don’t be impulsive Gu Yue! She’s fromShrek.”

Gu Yue whipped her head back at Xie Xie, giving him a fright. “So what ifshe’s from Shrek?”

Xie Xie released her in haste. Embarrassed, he said, “What I’m trying to sayis that it won’t mean anything unless we defeat them in a fair match. Actually,Wulin was an inch away from victory. So you should have an idea of how strongShrek is now.”

Gu Yue’s bloodlust gradually subsided, the thick killing intent around herlessening. She snorted before walking away.

“Hey, don’t you still have your own match?” Xie Xie called after her.

“I’m forfeiting! I’m going to go see Wulin.” The instant she finishedspeaking, she broke into a run.

☀

Tang Wulin awoke to a cool sensation. When he opened his eyes, he saw theusual glacial expression of Wu Zhangkong.

“Teacher Wu,” he called out softly. He struggled to get up, but the tearingpain halted his efforts.

Wu Zhangkong glanced at him. “You’re awake? You still need to recover.”

Tang Wulin said, “But, my match…”

Wu Zhangkong said, “Don’t even think about it. Recover first. You’ve done welltoday. You had a chance of winning in that match, but what you’re lacking innow is combat ability. Once you’re better, I’ll teach you another secret art ofthe Tang Sect.”

Tang Wulin was at a loss. “But, aren’t I only allowed to learn two right now?I’ve only passed the medium level test so far.”

Wu Zhangkong said, “A third rank professional can learn an additional secretart. I didn’t teach you a third one last time because I was afraid you would bebiting off more than you could chew. I’ll choose another art that is suitablefor you. For now, you just rest and recover.”

“Wulin, you’re awake!” Gu Yue brought a cup of water over to him. She added astraw for his convenience. “Drink slowly; you don’t want to choke.”

A smile graced Tang Wulin’s lips when he saw the concern in her eyes. He dranka bit of water through the straw. “Thank you. What time is it right now?”

Gu Yue answered, “It’s just past noon. Are you hungry now? I’ll go get yousomething to eat.”