After the Immortal Disappeared

The moment his Wooden Blade made contact, he pressed one hand against Meng Shan’s shoulder armor. Using the force of the rebound, he shot upward with a swish. Meng Shan’s embrace met only air, and he couldn’t help but let out a roar.

Hee Lingchuan did a backflip, landing behind Meng Shan, and struck with his blade once more!

This time, he aimed for the back of Meng Shan’s neck, a spot unprotected by his leather armor. Even without a sharp edge, a strike to a vital point could still make his opponent’s vision go black.

Down below the stage, however, Sunx Fuling frowned slightly and gently shook her head.

Meng Shan ducked just in time to avoid the Wooden Blade.

After that roar, his movements were noticeably faster. His physique, on the other hand, seemed to have shrunk a full size. With an agility that defied his frame, he lunged forward, swinging his Wolf Fang Club straight at Hee Lingchuan’s torso. The attack was both vicious and swift.

A dense, red light suddenly erupted from the wooden spikes of the club.

All these weapons were plain, unadorned wood, possessing no special properties of their own. For it to suddenly glow could only mean one thing: Meng Shan was channeling his True Power to execute a finishing move.

Hee Lingchuan, trapped in mid-air, had no way to dodge. Taking the hit head-on, he was sent flying more than thirty feet away!

He almost fell off the stage.

Meng Shan activated his Shadow Following Form. His speed was astonishing, and he caught up to Hee Lingchuan in just two steps.

The commoners only saw a blur of club-shadows, unaware that in just half a second, he had frantically smashed three heavy blows in three different directions! But the civilians leaning on the railing felt their hair get whipped about by the wind from his swings.

With no way to dodge, Hee Lingchuan had no choice but to channel his strength into both arms, grip his blade, and block head-on.

Each block felt like being struck by a giant hammer, making his arms go numb and splitting open the Tiger’s Mouth on his hands.

What was even more terrifying was that with every smash, Meng Shan’s aura grew stronger, until his momentum, surging like a tidal wave, threatened to crush him.

Hee Lingchuan felt his entire body lock up. Meng Shan’s power seemed to press in from all directions, pinning him to the spot, unable to move a muscle.

This was exactly how the wild boar had fallen earlier.

In his past challenges against Meng Shan, Hee Lingchuan had been eliminated this way at least twice.

Meng Shan’s three heavy blows grew stronger with each strike. The final one was always a direct overhead swing aimed at the crown of the head, a move of peerless ferocity. His form was like a pile driver going at full throttle.

Honestly, at this moment it didn’t matter whether he was using an iron club or a wooden one; the result would be the same. The victim’s head would be smashed in one blow. The surrounding Great Wind Soldiers who were watching also felt a chill run over their scalps, wondering how they would counter such a move.

But Hee Lingchuan dodged the third blow.

To be precise, he planted a hand on the ground and executed a combat roll, slipping away past Meng Shan’s side.

It was as if he’d been squeezed out.

Xiao Maoliang let out a long, drawn-out "Huh?" and Hu Min rubbed his eyes.

Hee Lingchuan’s body moved like a fish in water, twisting at an impossibly sharp yet nimble angle. He practically launched himself away with the strength of his waist and back. He had somehow found a tiny crack in that all-encompassing, seemingly inescapable pressure.

In that hair’s breadth of a moment, he had seized his chance.

Sunx Fuling, for her part, narrowed her eyes.

She had caught it: as he moved, Hee Lingchuan’s Wooden Blade had pricked Meng Shan’s side, quick as a needle.

But the area was protected by leather armor; the Wooden Blade couldn’t penetrate.

And with a CRACK, the weapon shattered on impact.

The next second, Meng Shan’s shield was already there, smashing toward Hee Lingchuan’s temple.

The commoners below the stage cried out in alarm.

To them, it looked like Hee Lingchuan had attempted a counterattack but failed to even break his opponent’s defense, shattering his own weapon in the process.

"Damn it!" Skinny exclaimed, clenching his fist.

How was this any different from their last few fights? Everyone knew that if things kept going like this, Meng Shan would be the winner again.

Hee Lingchuan’s footwork might be nimble and his fighting style flashy, but Meng Shan wasn’t afraid of agile opponents. He just needed to meet skill with raw power. If Hee Lingchuan made a single mistake, it would be all over.

And who doesn’t make mistakes? Time was on Meng Shan’s side.

Fortunately, Hee Lingchuan was unfazed and didn’t linger. Grasping the hilt of his broken blade, he moved. At the very last second, he dodged the shield strike and rolled several feet away.

Meng Shan’s shield smashed into empty air.

The Wooden Blade had taken three of Meng Shan’s powerful blows; no matter how well-made, it had reached its limit. It was precisely because Hee Lingchuan had seen the visible cracks on its surface and sensed it couldn’t withstand another hit that he had desperately dodged Meng Shan’s overhead strike.

A Martial Artist must have a clear assessment of their weapon’s condition.

After his swing missed, Meng Shan immediately followed up with a mighty stomp, then lunged forward with a horizontal sweep of his club.

The stage floor trembled like a magnitude-eight or nine earthquake. Xiao Maoliang and the other Great Wind Soldiers were deeply moved when they saw this. During the battle at Yan River Valley six months ago, Meng Shan had toppled many foes just like this.

His timing was perfect now, too. Hee Lingchuan had just scrambled to his feet and was still unsteady. If he fell, he would surely be unable to block the sweeping club that followed.

As the club swung over, the wind it generated stretched out more than twenty feet. A sharp WHOOSH cut through the air, creating an immense sense of pressure.

Though invisible, getting hit by it would certainly not end well.

With this move alone, Meng Shan was worthy of being ranked among Military Generals.

Clearly, Hee Lingchuan wasn’t the only one who had improved in the last six months.

Among the connoisseurs in the audience, a wave of cheers erupted.

But the moment Hee Lingchuan saw Meng Shan raise his knee, he knew what was coming. As his opponent’s foot slammed onto the stage, he used one hand to vault backward, perfectly avoiding the stomp’s shockwave and landing behind the weapon rack.

The rack, which was firmly nailed to the edge of the arena, took the full force of the sweeping club for him.

With a loud CRASH, the rack snapped in two, and the weapons on it clattered to the ground in a disorganized heap.

Hee Lingchuan casually grabbed a few wooden Flying Blades and flung them at Meng Shan’s eyes and throat.

Meng Shan raised his shield and charged forward. All the Flying Blades struck the shield.

They were only twenty feet apart. With his height and long legs, he closed the distance in two steps.

But Hee Lingchuan had already grabbed a wooden Long Saber and engaged him in battle.

In a flash, they exchanged more than a dozen blows.

Hu Min watched, his eyes glued to the fight. "This kid, Broken Blade, is really something."

Facing an opponent who dominated the field with sheer power, Hee Lingchuan always dodged at the last possible second, even taking a few hits head-on. He had Meng Shan’s attack patterns memorized, making him seem increasingly at ease.

One was powerful, the other agile. It made for a spectacular duel.

The soldiers and civilians around them applauded again and again, all feeling they had gotten their fill of excitement for the day. But the two combatants had already tuned everything out, focused solely on the life-or-death struggle!

Xiao Maoliang suddenly said, "Meng Shan is slowing down."

The spectators outside Ring Seven couldn’t quite tell, but a discerning eye could see that Meng Shan’s attack speed had slowed. His turns, his strikes, even his footwork for attacking and dodging—all were at least half a beat slower than before.

As his speed dropped, that mountainous, oppressive feeling he exuded was cut by at least half.

A closer look at Meng Shan revealed his facial muscles twitching, the veins on his temples throbbing uncontrollably.

Sunx Fuling suddenly said, "Meng Shan’s internal injuries are severe."

Her voice was soft, and only Commander Xiao heard her. He frowned slightly.

’Did Hee Lingchuan’s earlier attacks finally take effect?’

Meng Shan was indeed injured.

Every time he turned, a sharp pain shot through the spot on his side where the Wooden Blade had struck. Every breath was a grating, stabbing agony, as if his diaphragm had been pierced. Hee Lingchuan’s two earlier strikes hadn’t seemed to break his defense, yet a current of True Power had penetrated and was now running rampant inside him, impossible to dispel.

Others couldn’t tell, but Meng Shan could feel it. He suspected his liver, gallbladder, and lungs were all injured.

His vision had already gone black a few times, and he fought the urge to vomit.

’This is bad. I have to end this quickly!’

For the first time, Meng Shan, who had always dominated the stage and defeated his opponents like a cat toying with a mouse, felt that the fight was dragging on for too long.

With a shift of his eyes, he deliberately staggered, leaving a wide opening at his chest.

Such an opportunity was rare; of course his opponent wouldn’t miss it.

Hee Lingchuan turned the tip of his blade and aimed straight for his throat.

Meng Shan endured the intense pain, swelled his chest, and unleashed a mighty roar at the enemy before him!

The sound was like a lion’s roar right next to one’s ear, enough to shatter a man’s courage.

His back was still to the edge of the stage, but several civilians standing there collapsed from the sound, knocked unconscious.

Meanwhile, Hee Lingchuan, who was directly in front of him, faced the full force of the sonic attack. The blast was ten times more explosive than a clap of thunder, and it actually pushed his entire body backward!

Meng Shan put all his strength into that roar, even spraying blood from his lungs. He had finally caught Hee Lingchuan and wouldn’t let this last chance slip away. He swept his great club horizontally with his right hand, and it finally connected with his opponent!

However, as Hee Lingchuan was sent flying, the Long Saber also slipped from his grasp. Meng Shan leaned back, dodging the tip of the blade.

But an invisible, foot-long blade of Gang Qi still extended from the tip, striking him squarely on the Adam’s apple!

Amid the crowd’s gasps, Hee Lingchuan was swept ten feet away. He rolled twice upon landing and coughed up a large mouthful of blood. He tried to push himself up twice but couldn’t get to his feet.

Across from him, Meng Shan stood motionless.

The wooden saber landed, rolling half a turn.

Sunx Fuling mouthed a single word:

"Won."

The arena was still for several seconds before Meng Shan suddenly vomited blood.

Once he started, he couldn’t stop. Blood sprayed like a fountain as he collapsed like a toppled mountain, falling to his knees with a THUD.

He felt as if his insides were being churned, as if two blades, one of ice and one of fire, were taking turns scraping his organs. His mind was a dizzying mess, and as he watched Hee Lingchuan run toward him, he saw several overlapping images.

The crowd below gasped.

Most people hadn’t seen clearly what happened. All they knew was that Hee Lingchuan had been sent flying by Meng Shan’s club, yet somehow Meng Shan seemed to be the one who was more seriously injured, unable to even stand.

It was utterly baffling.

Hee Lingchuan reached Meng Shan in two steps and tapped him lightly on the temple.

Even that tiny amount of force was too much for Meng Shan to bear, and he collapsed headfirst.

Silence fell around Ring Seven. Everyone’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

They, of course, didn’t know that Meng Shan was already struggling from the force of the first two blade strikes. The internal injuries had been gradually accumulating, and the damage from Hee Lingchuan’s third strike caused them all to erupt at once!

The first strike, then the second, and then the third.

In contrast, Hee Lingchuan had only suffered superficial wounds from start to finish. In reality, time had been on his side.

Hee Lingchuan clutched his left arm and yelled toward the courtyard, "Someone, he needs medical attention!"

Aluo rushed onto the stage carrying his medicine box and ordered two soldiers to turn Meng Shan over. They saw that he was bleeding from all seven orifices, his eyes staring blankly.

At that moment, the crowd’s enthusiasm finally exploded. Thunderous applause and shouts filled the air.

As Aluo busied himself, he couldn’t help but ask, "How did you beat him this badly?" He hadn’t clearly seen what happened either.

"I got lucky."

"Your shoulder is badly injured, too. Let me take care of it for you!" After all, Hee Lingchuan was one of their own; Aluo’s loyalty had been clear from the start.

’As for Meng Shan... he can wait.’