Dominating Martial King-Chapter 42 - 39 Concession

42: Chapter 39: Concession

42 -39: Concession

Upon the northern platform, when Shao Lingshan saw the scene of Liu Xingruo being knocked out of the ring, his face turned ashen.

His hands unconsciously clenched tightly, and veins bulged on his arms as he crushed the armrest of his chair into powder.

Yet, Ye Zhiqiu was in high spirits, smiling as she glanced at Shao Lingshan across from her.

“Oh, isn’t that Liu Xingruo from the West Courtyard’s Inner Sect?

This man excels at Light Cloud Jump, Nine Palace Sword, and Cloud Clearing Palm, recognized as one of the top three among the Inner Sect Disciples.

Who thought he would get eliminated so quickly?

Brother Shao, don’t take it out on the chair; it was bought with public funds, after all.”

Just for the fact that Chu Xisheng had pushed Liu Xingruo out of the ring, she decided she would be a bit gentler when she taught him a lesson later.

Shao Lingshan remained silent, giving a cold huff and turned his gaze toward another platform.

He had nothing to say now.

All he could hope for was that other disciples from the West Courtyard could salvage his reputation.

On the green stone platform, Xiang Kui and Chu Xisheng exchanged a glance before continuing to hack at the bamboo leaves.

His tone was deeply meaningful, “Junior Brother Chu is really crafty!

What a strategy!”

Chu Xisheng felt wronged, it wasn’t his fault that Liu Xingruo was unlucky.

It happened just as he was getting a handle on ‘Time Instant Shadow Body’ when Liu Xingruo came crashing towards him.

But he guessed that no matter what he said, Xiang Kui wouldn’t believe him.

Thus, with a snort of laughter, “Senior Brother Xiang, your words are unfair.

I have always been honestly chopping my bamboo leaves without any intent to harm others.

If Liu Xingruo hadn’t harbored ill intentions and charged at me, how could I have taken advantage of that?”

Xiang Kui was momentarily stunned, thinking that what Chu Xisheng said was also true.

Liu Xingruo’s malicious intentions had backfired, and he deserved to be knocked out of the ring since he had failed to anticipate Chu Xisheng’s hidden skills.

Next, both of them remained silent, focusing on their task of chopping leaves.

The two divided the platform in two, not interfering with each other.

Because the amount and speed of the bamboo leaves were increasing, making it nearly impossible for them to slice every leaf even with their full effort.

Chu Xisheng’s mindset had relaxed a lot with a ‘West Courtyard Inner Sect Chief’ as his backup; losing wouldn’t be shameful for him, reputed as the ‘Top Inner Sect Disciple of the Martial Arts Academy’.

Once relaxed, he became more fluid in movement, and his speed in slicing bamboo leaves significantly increased.

Chu Xisheng even had the leisure to check his system panel.

The bright red negative number in the Martial Arts Points section had concerned him quite a bit, but at that time, he had been adapting to ‘Time Instant Shadow Body’ and watching Liu Xingruo, unable to closely inspect it.

Now the value of Martial Arts Points had changed to ‘−1’.

Clearly, his move of knocking Liu Xingruo out of the ring had helped him regain 5 points of reputation.

As Chu Xisheng concentrated on this number, a piece of information appeared in his mind.

— “Exchanging for ‘Time Instant Shadow Body’ has overdrawn a significant amount of your Blood Essence.

Please turn the Martial Arts Points positive within a month, or suffer blood marrow depletion and organ failure leading to death.”

Chu Xisheng furrowed his brows, a serious expression appearing in his eyes.

He didn’t doubt the authenticity of these words.

It seemed that the system didn’t merely afford him gifts like ‘Time Instant Shadow Body’ and ‘Pure Yang Thunder Body’ talents out of thin air but rather overdrawn Blood Essence from his body.

So how would he replenish the Blood Essence he had overdrawn?

Was it reliant on his own reputation and people’s trust?

He then closed the holographic screen.

Fulfilling the ‘−1’ in Martial Arts Points was a simple task, and with a month’s time, Chu Xisheng was not overly concerned.

At that moment, Chu Xisheng was surprised to find that his score had even surpassed Xiang Kui by thirty-two leaves.

In the north of the green stone platform, there was a holographic white screen.

It clearly displayed Chu Xisheng’s score as ‘seven hundred sixty-three’, and Xiang Kui’s as ‘seven hundred thirty-one’.

Just then, all the bamboo leaves on the platform vanished.

“The hour has arrived,” said the red-faced martial arts instructor, glancing at the two of them.

“Chu Xisheng wins!

Next is actual combat, you may take a moment to catch your breath and prepare.”

At this point, Chu Xisheng’s Martial Arts Points changed again, not with fireworks, but returning to the positive value of ‘2’.

Xiang Kui gave a slight smile and bowed to Chu Xisheng, “Brother Chu is indeed superior in skill!

I admire you.”

Chu Xisheng, with unusual eyes, returned the gesture, “Thanks for letting me win!”

He suspected that this person was holding back significantly, his true strength probably exceeding that of Liu Xingruo.

It was because of the person’s undercover identity that he didn’t want to attract attention.

Of course, this was just Chu Xisheng’s speculation; he had no evidence.

Following this, the spirit light shining down from the green jade plate changed, transforming the original eight platforms into four.

At this time, Chu Xisheng’s mindset was still very stable.

What followed was genuine hand-to-hand combat, facing those three-leaf disciples, he had no false hope.

But when Chu Xisheng was moved to the left-side green stone platform, he was slightly startled.

He found himself facing a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth with dry, yellow hair.

The key was the young man’s waist badge, which showed only two leaves.

Chu Xisheng was astonished, then his eyes lit up.

If the opponent was only a two-leaf, could he perhaps try to win one round?

Speaking of which, among the original eight platforms, indeed, one had all four contestants who were Second-leaf Inner Sect Disciples.

He hadn’t expected his luck to be so good—

At this time, on the high platform to the north,

West Courtyard Instructor Shao Lingshan, North Courtyard Instructor Qiu Feng, and the Magic Institute Instructor, Zijing Daoist, were all looking at Jian Cangfeng with unusual expressions.

This Senior Brother Jian, while proclaiming fairness and justice, was unabashedly cheating.

Lei Yuan had also found out the truth, and he, too, looked dumbfoundedly at Jian Cangfeng.

He hadn’t expected the Sect’s Inspector to behave so inappropriately.

Jian Cangfeng, looking up at the sky, leisurely whistled, ignoring the gazes of everyone on stage.

So what if he cheated?

Today, he had bungled things into a big mess.

If he didn’t allow Chu Xisheng to win a couple more rounds to save some face for Ye Zhiqiu, what face would he have to see his beloved?

Ye Zhiqiu felt somewhat embarrassed; she couldn’t say much, simply watching the four platforms as if it were none of her concern.

In this round of the top eight battles, Chu Xisheng’s match was the first to conclude.

No sooner had the instructor thrown the copper coin to the ground than Chu Xisheng’s Hundred-refined Light Steel Saber was already ‘clang’ drawn from its sheath!

The ‘Time Instant Shadow Body’ not only enhanced his movement technique but also his sword speed.

The doubling of his body’s agility and coordination greatly increased his control over his limbs and wrists, pushing his hand speed to the extreme.

Just as the youth with blond hair drew his sword, Chu Xisheng’s saber light was already upon him.

However, this time, Chu Xisheng precisely controlled his Hundred-refined Light Steel Saber, steadying the edge right in front of the blond youth’s neck.

The blond youth’s face turned pale, but he neatly sheathed his sword and bowed to Chu Xisheng, “Junior Brother, your saber is incredibly fast; Cheng admits defeat wholeheartedly.”

Chu Xisheng also sheathed his saber and returned the salute, “Thanks for letting me win!”

He noticed that in his field of vision, suddenly a firework burst forth, and his reputation changed from Ninth Grade ‘virtual’ to Ninth Grade ‘real’.

The count of his Martial Arts Points also changed from 2 to 8.