My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 136

Liyu was genuinely feeling slightly excited as Shi Mo’s attack was truly something that he actually felt. It managed to make him feel something... pain perhaps.

It was not deep enough though, but simply feeling it made him excited. Of course, the reason why he was able to be hurt and crushed into the ground by Shi Mo’s first attack was none other than the fact that he had allowed himself to be attacked.

Just as he had given Shi Lan and the Twin Fiends the chance to show what they were capable of, only after they displayed their strength did he deem them worthless.

Once he reached that conclusion, he didn’t waste any time re-evaluating them. Instead, he simply did what he loved doing the most. He broke them, just as he had promised. But Shi Mo... he was different from those three. His attacks were effective.

The fact that they were able to make Liyu feel pain spoke volumes about just how strong the guy truly was. But still... it was not enough.

"That makes a nice massage," Liyu said with a grin, not caring in the slightest that the eyes of the entire crowd twitched at those words of his.

With the calm grace of someone casually walking toward a friend, Liyu strode forward and soon stood before Shi Mo, who, despite everything, didn’t lose his composure as he looked at Liyu with a calm, unreadable gaze.

"Come on, dude... another one," Liyu said with a sincere smile on his face. The big guy’s expression darkened as he spoke, his tone filled with annoyance, "As you wish." He struck Liyu with full force.

His punch, amplified by a tenfold increase in gravity, slammed directly into Liyu. BOOM!! A deafening bang echoed in every direction as the explosive sound filled the entire arena. The echoes slowly faded.

Shi Mo’s face couldn’t help but twitch in pure disbelief as he looked at Liyu, who was standing there calmly. The force of his attack hadn’t even managed to push him back by a single step. The best it had managed to do...was ruffle his long dark hair slightly.

And that was it. That was all. Liyu’s warm, sincere smile slowly disappeared, replaced by a blank expression carrying a trace of disappointment.

A small frown appeared on his calm face, "Is that all you’ve got? I told you that is weak." Liyu’s tone sounded genuinely disappointed, "It barely tickles me."

The moment those words left his mouth, Shi Mo’s heart thumped heavily once... then twice. He began to feel something he had only ever felt toward one person before. Fear. Not anywhere close to the fear he felt toward the Devil.

Of course not. Not even remotely close. But without a doubt... he was feeling fear toward this Liyu. How? Why? He wondered. But the answer was painfully obvious. Because this Liyu made absolutely no sense.

Taking one of his punches, amplified tenfold by gravity, directly to the face... That kind of attack would be enough to knock out an ordinary peak Qi Refining cultivator and kill anyone below the Qi Refining Realm with a single blow.

And this Liyu...who was only at the very first stage of the Qi Gathering Realm... What did he call it? He had just said...that it tickled. No wonder fear crept into Shi Mo’s heart. But it wasn’t fear toward the current Liyu.

No. He feared what kind of monster this young man would become once he stepped into the Qi Refining Realm. By then... he would become absurdly powerful. Powerful enough to crush the current Shi Mo with perhaps nothing more than a single tap.

No. Shi Mo wasn’t exaggerating. He was completely sincere in his evaluation. If this Liyu reached the Qi Refining Realm before standing before him again, Shi Mo believed there was an extremely high chance that Liyu would crush him before he even realised what had happened.

Shi Mo knew his own strength. He understood his own capabilities better than anyone. And because of that... he was more than certain that he wouldn’t even be worthy of standing against Liyu if this monster maintained this level of power after entering the Qi Refining Realm.

His mind kept replaying the same sentence over and over again. This Liyu... he is dangerous. Very dangerous.

As that thought crossed his mind, his gaze sharpened. Since his hand was still resting on Liyu’s head, he decided to use it. This time... he applied his gravity enhancement with his full strength.

Normally, whenever he manipulated the gravity surrounding his opponent like he had done to Liyu earlier, its actual effectiveness would decrease by almost forty percent.

That was why he hadn’t been completely shocked that Liyu was able to move after being subjected to fivefold gravity. Because in reality... the force acting upon Liyu had only been around threefold gravity.

It was a weakness Shi Mo desperately wanted to overcome. If he could eliminate that flaw, his strength would increase tremendously. But he had a feeling... perhaps only after stepping into the Core Realm would he finally be able to break free from that limitation.

But now... his hand was touching Liyu, and in this case he could use it fully without any decrease in force. The tenfold increase struck Liyu directly, and his knees buckled, but he didn’t collapse to them, shocking Shi Mo. Still, Shi Mo quickly recovered and struck again.

His punch landed true this time and forced Liyu to take four steps backward. Shi Mo didn’t give him any time to breathe or recover. That would be a fatal mistake. Now that he was more than certain that Liyu was dangerous, he was going to take him out as soon as possible.

Liyu reacted quickly as he sensed Shi Mo coming for him. His face turned as he calmly looked at him with a smile. That attack was exactly what he wanted... something that actually made him feel something and not just a tickle, Liyu thought.

Finally... a worthy opponent whose bones were worth breaking. With that thought, he decided to fight seriously as well. The two moved and clashed.

Using nothing but their fists, they met in the middle, and soon several loud bangs echoed outward as the two sides exchanged barrages of attacks and counters. Bang! Bang! Bang! The sounds echoed over and over again as Liyu and Shi Mo locked themselves into a fierce battle of fists and kicks.

As the people watched, they slowly became immersed in the battle. It wasn’t the same battle of swords and daggers like that of Yuexin and Xueyi, but it was by no means any less beautiful.

It was a little more brutal and forceful due to the deafening bangs that echoed outward, but the two fought with nothing but pure martial skill. If the battle of the ladies... the battle between the Battle Princess and the Beast Slayer... was called the Dance of Tempest, then the battle between Shi Mo and Liyu had only one worthy name.

"This... this is the Symphony of Fists," someone from the watching crowd said, his mouth wide open in sheer shock at how fluid the battle styles of the two participants were.

It was as if they shared a single soul and were putting on a performance for those watching to enjoy.

Of course, the fact that the stage itself was cracking and breaking apart, alongside the terrifying bangs that kept echoing from every point of impact, was enough to tell everyone that what was happening was far from being a performance. Rather, it looked like a war waged by two men with nothing but their fists.

At the Shi clan camp, Shi Meng looked forward at the scene in astonishment. "Someone is really matching Brother Mo in hand-to-hand combat..."

she muttered, finding it impossible to believe. How in heaven’s name was that supposed to be true? Shi Mo was the greatest hand-to-hand combatant the Shi clan had produced in decades.

Even Shi Lan, who was exceptionally skilled at throwing punches, was nowhere near his equal. And yet she was supposed to believe that the very same man, who was considered almost unbeatable in close combat, was now being matched blow for blow... strike for strike... counter for counter... by Liyu, someone whose cultivation realm was supposedly too low to even stand before Brother Mo.

This is making no sense... She thought while holding her head as though her entire understanding of the world had just been thrown into the trash.

She turned her head toward Shi Tian, wanting to see what kind of expression he was wearing at this moment. But when she looked over, she saw that Shi Tian’s eyes were still closed.

His hands were crossed over his chest, and his expression remained the same dead-calm, emotionless look he had worn since the very beginning of the tournament.

It was almost as if he truly didn’t care whether Shi Mo was defeated or not. As if he believed that he alone could win the entire tournament by himself. And... that might actually have been exactly what he was thinking.

Shi Meng and the others knew Shi Tian well enough to understand just how monstrously strong he was. Many who had witnessed his battle against Li Feng already believed that after seeing how effortlessly he had crushed him.

But they would be utterly shocked to know that Shi Tian hadn’t even really attacked. Nor had he taken that battle seriously. To him, it had been nothing more than a small, meaningless chore. Had he become even slightly serious... The battle would have ended before it had even begun.

As for Li Feng... Let’s just say he wouldn’t even have known how he died. Shi Meng quickly took her gaze away from Shi Tian, almost as if she feared he would kill her simply for staring at him for too long. That sounded ridiculous, didn’t it?

But anyone who knew Shi Tian’s personality well enough would know that he had killed people for even lesser reasons... like someone mumbling a sentence that wasn’t clear enough for his ears.

He was a crazy psychopath with overwhelming talent for cultivation... and even more overwhelming combat ability for someone of his realm. To put it simply... He was a freak among freaks.

At the seat of the Guan Clan, Guan Haoran watched the battle with a calm, small smile on his face, his eyes flashing with interest as he looked at the fight with the gaze of someone expecting a fun battle. "He is more skilled," Guan Haoran thought, looking at Shi Mo.

Then his gaze shifted toward Liyu. "But he is more experienced in fighting, and his combat style is far more brutal." Haoran rubbed his chin as he wondered who would take the lead in this battle. If he had to pick a side though, he would lean more towards Liyu.

His combat style seemed more like something created purely for killing and hunting down prey.

He was incredibly strong, something that had already become crystal clear by now, and despite the fact that Shi Mo seemed to be the one taking the lead, the fact that none of his attacks had left any visible marks or lasting impact on Liyu was something that was totally worth noting.

So yes, he believed that if the battle continued this way, then Liyu would eventually take the victory. After Liyu won, he would be the next one to face that unreasonable guy. Everything about him simply made no sense.

Guan Haoran wasn’t freaked out by the fact that he would be facing Liyu though. If anything, he was thrilled by the thought of crossing fists with him soon. "I can’t wait," Haoran thought, a small smile curling at the corner of his lips.

Meanwhile, at the seat of the leaders... Being the most powerful among everyone present, they were naturally able to see and understand what was happening far better than the rest.

The fight that looked too fast and chaotic for most of those watching was as clear as day to them. Each of them had their own thoughts, as usual. Guan Ju rested his cheek lazily on one hand as he looked at Shi Mo with a faint smile.

"He sure is plenty strong and skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and yet he is still nothing compared to my ace," he thought proudly. Guan Ju was more than one hundred percent certain that if it were Haoran whom Shi Mo was fighting, the battle would have already ended in Shi Mo’s defeat.

His Haoran, the Iron Behemoth of the Guan Clan, was simply the superior version of Shi Mo. Shi Mo was fast, but nowhere near Haoran’s speed.

Shi Mo was strong, but comparing that strength to the overwhelming strength wielded by the Iron Behemoth was nothing more than the peak of stupidity. And most importantly... There was defence.

Shi Mo’s defence, especially with the aid of his Gravity Qi, was massively impressive. But still... All of that defence, when compared to the unbreakable defence of the Guan Clan’s Iron Behemoth, was like comparing the endurance of a tiny twig to that of a massive iron pillar.

One would snap with little force. The other would never break. Never waver. That... was true strength. Guan Ju thought with a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the Shi Clan Lord had another thought on his mind. "He wouldn’t be able to win if he continues to utilise his Mutated Qi at only this level..." Shi Gubing thought as he looked at Shi Mo, who was locked in a heated battle against that bastard, Liyu.

Liyu had yet again shattered Shi Gubing’s expectations. After all, in terms of hand-to-hand combat, Shi Gubing had never seen anyone of the younger generation who could come anywhere close to Shi Mo.

And that wasn’t him exaggerating. Shi Mo really was that skilled. Yet... He was being matched by Liyu. No... Shi Mo was still the more technically skilled fighter.

But Liyu seemed vastly more experienced in actual combat, as if he had been fighting life-and-death battles since he was a child. If that even made any sense. And Liyu’s battle style was brutal and lethally efficient.

Every strike was aimed at a vital point. Every movement sought to unleash a deadly attack. Every counter was meant to cripple. Shi Gubing’s gaze darkened as he looked back at Shi Mo, who was trying to overwhelm Liyu.

If he wanted to win... Then he needed to increase his current utilisation of his Gravity Qi. Shi Gubing didn’t want to admit it, but deep down he was already certain of one thing. If Shi Mo didn’t do that... He would lose this battle.

Meanwhile, Elder Ting’s thoughts were completely different and far more complicated. He looked at Shi Mo, who was fighting seriously with battle skills that even Elder Ting couldn’t help but admire.

"The kid sure is skilled... and completely serious about winning as well." Then his gaze shifted toward Liyu. His eyes twitched. The twitching had happened more during these past few minutes than in all his long years of living.

With twitching eyes, Elder Ting focused on Liyu once more... And then he saw it. "Am I seeing things...or doesn’t that kid seem serious whatsoever?"

He focused on Liyu’s grinning face. His hand twitched. That kid didn’t merely seem unserious... He wasn’t serious.

Instead... He was grinning because he was actually having fun.