Chapter 1026 - 1022: Drawing Hatred!
The reason was very simple. Earlier that long‑haired old man had told everyone to go up and "skirmish," and the expert who just died had been using exactly that skirmishing method, hadn’t he?
Hit or miss, after a single strike he would immediately flee far away, from start to finish following the long‑haired old man’s instructions to the letter.
Yet just as he was about to run, in that moment when the reserve experts were about to act but hadn’t acted yet, that expert died on the way out. Pitifully, it was only right before he died that he finally realized what was happening, so at least he didn’t end up dying as a total fool.
Still, that was secondary. What really puzzled everyone was whether the long‑haired old man’s tactics could actually work. If it turned out like before, getting counter‑killed before they even managed to escape, then wasn’t it no different from going up one by one just to die?
They had no idea the long‑haired old man was secretly cursing them in his heart. His own batch of experts really were absurdly stupid. He had seen clearly that not long ago these experts were chased all over the place by Xiao Tian, and not a single one of them even thought of counterattacking.
Granted, that had quite a lot to do with the terrifying combat power Xiao Tian had exploded with, but the long‑haired old man still felt that those experts who were caught and killed by Xiao Tian had died with no value whatsoever.
If, seeing they couldn’t get away, they had resolutely used the tactic of self‑detonating their power, he believed that no matter how much stronger Xiao Tian became he still wouldn’t be able to withstand that kind of insane bombardment.
Since they already couldn’t escape and would sooner or later be killed anyway, they might as well die in a way that meant something, paving a path for the living. That could at least count as dying a worthwhile death!
However, thinking it is one thing; the long‑haired old man knew perfectly well that this idea absolutely could not be spoken aloud. Otherwise he would inevitably be fiercely denounced, even become the enemy of all the world’s experts, hunted to the ends of the earth.
Because leaving aside whether the long‑haired old man’s idea was right or wrong, this kind of precedent absolutely could not be set.
Take the Mizuno Clan and the Fujino Martial Arts Hall as an example. The former was right now in its prime, even faintly showing the strength and potential to rival the royal family. The latter, after multiple first‑rate experts had fallen one after another, was showing signs of decline.
Under normal circumstances, the strong naturally get stronger while the weak get weaker. The Mizuno Clan would of course be anxious to seize this chance to widen the gap between the two sides to the maximum, while the Fujino Martial Arts Hall would likewise strive to find any possible chance to turn the tables. That was the most natural thing in the world.
Yet if we follow the long‑haired old man’s line of thinking, then when the Fujino Martial Arts Hall can’t grasp any opportunity, it could simply throw caution to the wind and fight the Mizuno Clan to the bitter end. If you dare suppress me, I’ll fight you one for one with my life. At worst we all go down together, that’s all!
In a straight contest of hard power, the Fujino Martial Arts Hall naturally couldn’t match the Mizuno Clan. But if it adopted a tactic of detonating its power to strike, then even if the Mizuno Clan were a few degrees stronger than now, it still absolutely wouldn’t be a match for the Fujino Martial Arts Hall.
Risking your own body to carve, daring even to drag the emperor off his horse—that’s all this is about.
Or to put it more simply: the barefoot aren’t afraid of those wearing shoes. If you refuse to let me live, am I supposed to obediently go die for you?
Of course, the chances of the above situation actually occurring were basically zero, because Mizuno Pengyu wasn’t an idiot. Without having the strength to withstand a desperate counterattack, he would never force the Fujino Martial Arts Hall into a dead end. Otherwise, in a fish‑dead‑net‑torn outcome, no one would come out well.
In short, regardless of what the long‑haired old man thought, this tactic of detonating one’s power was something the vast majority of experts didn’t even have a concept of, and even more so something that would never be accepted by the world’s experts and factions.
...
Seeing the many Mizuno Clan experts frozen in place, Xiao Tian’s eyes rolled, and he suddenly burst out laughing, laughing very freely, as if he’d just encountered some great fortune, leaving everyone baffled.
A moment later, Xiao Tian stopped laughing. His gaze swept across the faces of the surrounding experts one by one, then a trace of pity appeared in his eyes. Shaking his head, he sighed, "You ignorant people..."
On hearing Xiao Tian’s insult, everyone’s first reaction wasn’t anger but a kind of doubt and confusion. What the hell did these inexplicable words mean?
Before they could ask, Xiao Tian continued, "Being used as cannon fodder like this, yet still swallowing it willingly—I truly feel sorry for you."
At that, someone finally couldn’t hold back his temper and curiosity, and barked, "Is this you cursing us at death’s door?"
Xiao Tian snorted with laughter, giving him a look that said your question is downright stupid, while secretly pleased—someone had finally taken the bait. As long as someone spoke up, the rest would be much easier!
"Just now that old geezer told you to come up and skirmish. You saw the result. Doing that is nothing but going up to die for nothing." Xiao Tian sneered coldly. "Believe it or not, if one more of you comes up, the result will be exactly the same as before?"
"That’s why I said you really are foolish to the extreme!"
Although everyone was quite displeased with Xiao Tian’s words and felt he was boasting far too much, none of them actually went up to try. To stake your life just because of a sentence from the other side—that’s something only an idiot would do.
And this was precisely the effect Xiao Tian wanted. Seeing the mood about right, he said lightly, "I know that most of you think I’m just bragging, but don’t have the guts to come up and verify it. But that’s fine; I have another way. You don’t have to risk coming up, and I can still prove your stupidity..."
At this, everyone’s eyes filled with anger. Who the hell said you could prove anything?!
"Quit playing these tricks to divert attention. Nobody needs you to prove anything. You killed so many of our brothers—do you think we’re just going to let that slide?" A burly, thick‑set man stepped out from the crowd and shouted.
"Oh?" Xiao Tian looked at the man opposite with keen interest and smiled. "So you’re saying your stupidity is already beyond the need for proof?"
"You—!" The burly man’s eyes bulged with fury, but he was choked speechless, and could only snort coldly and retreat.
At this, Xiao Tian was rather disappointed. He hadn’t expected this big, thick guy to have such thin skin—just a few sentences and he backed off, leaving Xiao Tian with a sense of having nowhere to display his talents.
But that was fine. If he wanted to offend people, that wasn’t hard at all.
A few casual curses would be enough to draw their hatred. But Xiao Tian felt that approach was too low‑level. Besides, he wasn’t doing this just to provoke hatred, so he couldn’t be that crude. He still needed to guide them step by step.
"If I recall, you just said I killed so many of your brothers?"
Xiao Tian showed a devilish smile. "Sorry, but that was because they wanted to kill me. So, out of responsibility for my own safety, I could only see them on their way. I’ll give you a piece of advice too: before you try to kill someone, you’d better be prepared to be killed in return. Otherwise that’s a bit too unreasonable, don’t you think?"
As he spoke, Xiao Tian raised a hand and pointed straight at the burly man who’d just stepped out to confront him, his expression hovering between a smile and not...