“Finally! I have gathered all of the Ethereal Coins I need!”
Zhang Xuan was overjoyed to see the starting digit of the balance of his Ethereal Card growing from a ‘1’ to a ‘2’.
He had thought that he would have scared away the cultivators from the Ethereal Hall due to the overwhelming prowess he had displayed, but from the looks of it, it seemed like he had been overthinking the matter.
It seemed like there were plenty of masochists there who enjoyed being killed by him after all!
The elder in charge of the Ethereal Hall’s dueling ring looked at Zhang Xuan and asked, “Do you wish to continue?”
“There’s no need for that anymore.” Zhang Xuan waved his hand with a smile as he walked out of the dueling ring.
“Wait a moment!” A figure suddenly leaped onto the dueling ring. “I would like to have a duel with you!”
He was none other than Pavilion Master Kui Xiao.
He was usually unfazed by most matters, but after witnessing the defeat of the First Elder, his fighting will had been ignited for the first time in many years. He wanted to know how well he could fare against such a powerful opponent.
Yet, who would have thought that right after he registered at the counter, the other party would suddenly withdraw from the dueling ring and leave!
You can’t just excite me and leave me hanging right after! That’s unfair!
“I still have matters to attend to, so pardon me for not being able to entertain your request.” Zhang Xuan waved his hand leisurely.
After earning the amount of money that he needed, he did not have any motivation to carry on fighting. It was not as if he was a battle maniac after all; he would only fight when there was a need for him to do so.
“Have a duel with me first before leaving. I want to see just how powerful you are,” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao said as he released a surge of zhenqi to block Zhang Xuan’s path.
A thought had arisen in his mind after witnessing how this young man defeated Elder Hong Wu and the First Elder with ease.
“I’m not free,” Zhang Xuan replied impatiently.
He was in a rush to deliver money to the elder so that he could head to the Ocean of Exiled Stars with those from the Sevenstar Pavilion. It would be a tragedy if he somehow missed them due to getting delayed here.
“Then I’ll have to ask you to make time for me!” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao scoffed as he launched a palm strike toward Zhang Xuan.
His palm strike was not as imposing as the Dragon Transformation Palm, but the sheer sharpness of the attack made it a huge threat. It was aimed at a point that left Zhang Xuan with no choice to retaliate. If the latter continued hesitating, he would surely be injured.
The abrupt assault made Zhang Xuan frown in displeasure. He tilted his body slightly as he took a small step to the left.
It was an extremely minor movement, but it effectively unraveled Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s palm strike.
“You have really keen eyes!” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
It was no wonder the other party was able to defeat the First Elder so easily. The other party’s ability to overcome his attack with minimal movements was truly a beautiful work of art. He never would have expected someone to be capable of something like this.
To untrained eyes, it would have appeared nothing more than a mere sidestep, and it was excessive to be so impressed by such a simple movement.
However, as the person behind the palm thrust, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao was well aware that his move had a total of 136 transformations in order to deal with all kinds of scenarios. No matter how his opponent reacted to his palm strike, he would have a way to press on and eventually corner his opponent!
Yet, that single move was completely out of the calculations of his transformations. This was because that location happened to be the blind spot of his attack, such that his energy would not be able to flow smoothly if he attempted to force that attack.
Just like that, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s palm strike fell empty.
He could not imagine how powerful the young man’s intuition and reflexes were in order to make such a sharp judgement in the midst of a battle.
Intrigued, he began on his next move.
On the other hand, seeing how the other party was practically throwing himself at him in order to stop him from leaving, Zhang Xuan said with a frown, “If you insist on it, I’ll have to ask you to pay me 2,560 Ethereal Coins.”
It was surprising how quickly the situation had turned around. Initially, he was worried that he was scaring customers away with his overwhelming might, but who could have thought that this fellow over here would be drawn to his strength instead, desperately trying to keep him there.
“If you can take me down, I’ll give you 10,000 Ethereal Coins!” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao harrumphed coldly.
What did mere Ethereal Coins matter? He had mountains of those in his storage ring! As the head of the Sevenstar Pavilion, any problem that could be solved with money was not a problem to him at all!
He would pay any amount of money as long as he could explore the depths of the other party’s strength!
“10,000 Ethereal Coins?” Zhang Xuan was stunned. “You are being too kind. How can I accept so much money from you?”
Normally, he would only earn 2,560 Ethereal Coins each time around. Thus, he was a little taken aback to see the price getting jacked up fourfold all of a sudden.
“We can talk about that after you have defeated me!”
Huhuhu!
Seeing how the other party was acting as if he had already won the battle, Pavilion Master Mo Xiao’s face turned livid. With a roar, he thrust his palm forward with a speed two times faster than before.
But with just very slight movements, Zhang Xuan was able to avoid his moves with ease. He placed his fingers under his chin contemplatively as he asked, “Since you are willing to pay so much, I shouldn’t take advantage of you… Alright, feel free to tell me how you wish to be defeated. I’ll try to fulfill your request as best as I can!”
“What?” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao nearly fainted on the spot.
You are asking me how I wish to be defeated?
What the heck do you mean by that?
Are you trying to tell me that you are so powerful that there are plenty of methods you can use to defeat me?
You must be joking!
“There’s no need to get too excited. You are still rather powerful, so the choices you have are quite limited,” Zhang Xuan explained with a smile.
As the saying went, ‘the customers are the masters’. What else could he possibly do after the other party offered him 10,000 Ethereal Coins?
Nowadays, the service was much more important than the product. Since he was accepting so much money, he would have to make sure the other party enjoyed the entire process thoroughly.
“Limited?” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao gnashed his teeth together in fury.
So, you are saying that even though I am strong, you still have several ways that to defeat me? Very well, let me see what you capable of then!
Feeling so stifled that he could explode, Pavilion Master Kui was just about to speak when the other party beat him to it.
“Indeed. All in all, there are just 173 options… There’s the ‘a fist smashing your head’ package, ‘a palm blasting off your head’ package, ‘sword qi severing your neck’ package, ‘a leg crushing your heart’ package… If physical means aren’t enough to satisfy for you, I also offer various soul and mind crushing services as well. May I know which one you prefer?”
“173 options?” Pavilion Master Kui Xiao nearly spurted blood.
When the other party said limited, he had thought that it would be less than ten, but it seemed like he was being too optimistic.
Was this fellow being serious?
Those who could defeat him in a battle, even in the same cultivation realm, could be easily counted on two hands, but this fellow was actually asking him to choose a way to die while fighting with him?
“If you are that capable, why don’t you kill me right now?”
By this point, Pavilion Master Kui Xiao could not be bothered to waste his breath with the other party. He channeled his energy into his palm and pressed it down upon his opponent.
This was his strongest battle technique… Bolting Lightning Clutching Cloud!
The execution of this technique produced a deafening rumble reminiscent of thunder. If one achieved a mastery of Major Accomplishment in the technique, one would be able to even shatter lightning bolts and dissipate clouds with a single palm strike.
He would not execute this palm strike easily because there was no one within the sect who would be able to withstand it.
However, he simply could not stand just how arrogant the fellow before him was, so he decided to execute his trump card.
Huala!
His palms descended like two massive mountains, crushing everything in its pathway. The surrounding space seemed to have frozen under the sheer pressure, rendering those that stood in its path incapable of fleeing.
But Zhang Xuan chuckled softly on the spot, seemingly oblivious to the overwhelming strength of this attack.
“You wish to be killed right now? That’s easy.”
So, he made a move.
Hu!
In contrast to Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s offense, Zhang Xuan’s palm strike appeared to be weak and powerless, reminiscent of a light breeze.
Pah!
Before the two palms could collide, Zhang Xuan’s palm was already right above Pavilion Master Kui Xiao’s head. The latter’s vision immediately went black as the palm smashed his brain right into his chest.
Putong!
A corpse fell to the ground.
“It sure is weird. I offered him so many services, but all he wanted was to be killed right away… I guess that masochistic fellow just couldn’t wait for the climax,” Zhang Xuan muttered beneath his breath as he walked out of the dueling ring.
To be honest, the other party was plenty strong. Without using the Library of Heaven’s Path, he had to admit that he had been pressured slightly by the other party’s offense.
However, facing numerous assassinations from the experts of the Hall of Gods had allowed his comprehension of battle to deepen significantly. Even without the Library of Heaven’s Path, there was no one in the same cultivation realm who could be a match for him anymore.
It was with such confidence that he had dared step into the dueling ring and face any opponent.
