Chapter 3788 — Scared Stupid?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
The new recruits below the stage burst into laughter. For a straight-shooting blockhead like Qiao the Waste, managing a jab that roundabout was nothing short of overachieving.
"Yeah? You're the one with the stink-breath—your whole family's got stink-breath!" Meng Zhou was so furious his mouth twisted crooked. Had there not been a referee watching from the sidelines, he would have loved nothing more than to sweep Qiao Hongcai into a heap of garbage with a single kick.
The Xuanji Pavilion referee likewise had trouble keeping a straight face, and only after a pause did he announce, "Third round, first match of the Qingyun Pavilion Newcomer Challenge: Meng Zhou of Cave Dwelling No. 13 at the foot of the mountain challenges Qiao Hongcai of Cave Dwelling No. 12. Begin!"
The instant the words fell, Meng Zhou pushed his speed to its very limit and shot straight at Qiao Hongcai, giving him no chance to open his mouth and concede.
As a skilled early-Foundation-Establishment cultivator whose specialty was the Thousand Legs leg technique, Meng Zhou's speed ranked among the finest even at his level. To the Heaven-rank great-perfection newcomers of Qingyun Pavilion watching below, his footwork was simply impossible to follow with the naked eye, utterly impossible to defend against.
Quite a few newcomers swallowed hard. Though they generally held Meng Zhou's intelligence in contempt, the man's strength was genuinely formidable. Were they in Qiao Hongcai's position right now, defense would be out of the question—they would not even get the chance to beg for mercy. Most likely they would just be kicked to death on the spot.
And though Qiao Hongcai was a shade stronger than they were, that shade was thin indeed. Facing Meng Zhou's ferocity, he had no fate awaiting him but death.
"Thousand Legs, Form Twenty-One—go die!" Meng Zhou bellowed, driving his footwork to its utmost; his figure flickered and he was already before Qiao Hongcai.
Thousand Legs, Form Twenty-One—this was true early-Foundation-Establishment power. The qi upon his legs was biting cold, a thousand layered leg-shadows gleaming with frost; real and feigned blurred beyond telling. Though the challenge rules barred any weapon, the intimidation of this strike was in no way inferior to that of a divine blade.
Even the newcomers below, a full dozen or more zhang away, could not help holding their breath, their scalps prickling.
Yet to everyone's astonishment, in the face of Meng Zhou's ferocious Form Twenty-One, Qiao Hongcai did not shout surrender as all had expected. He did not even show the slightest intent to dodge—he simply stood there dead still, letting Meng Zhou's thousand leg-shadows envelop him completely.
One had to understand: once the Thousand Legs reached the twenty-first form, it was not only the real kick that carried unmatched lethality—even the illusions that seemed meant only to confuse packed no small killing power of their own!
They could not compare with that single fatal kick, true, but for a Heaven-rank great-perfection cultivator, being struck by those illusions would likewise leave one gravely wounded—and those with weaker defenses might well die outright!
"Don't tell me Qiao the Waste has been scared stupid? Why isn't he moving at all?" The newcomers below exchanged bewildered glances.
Even a cultivator with the poorest judgment could gauge the peril of the situation. Qiao Hongcai's present pose—solemn and motionless—was little different from lying down to die!
Had he been quicker on the uptake and bolted at the first instant, he might not have fully escaped Meng Zhou's thousand leg-shadows, but at least he could have minimized his injuries. That way, if he weathered this savage first wave, there might still be some hope of catching a breather—and some chance to get out the words "I yield"!
Grave wounds were unavoidable, but with effort, a sliver of survival might still be won.