The leviathan's fangs.

Huang Ying's lips couldn't help but curve into a ferocious grin as he looked at Ying Feixu and Dao Zenjin, his tongue running over his upper lip in a somewhat bloodthirsty gesture. He stopped for the first time since the start of the battle, his black eyes narrowing as he studied his two opponents and pondered over what the best move would be. But the hair on his face started standing up while he let his gaze roam over the two people, a slight tingling running over the tip of his nose.

Huang Ying's instincts immediately kicked in and he tapped the stone stage with his finger, a four-meter wide and ten-meter tall wall of earth bursting out from beneath it and separating him from the two others. But the wall cracked and shattered the moment it rose, Ying Feixu charging right through it at breakneck speed, faint azure arcs of lightning flickering within her black hair.

Having to break through the sudden wall drastically decreased her momentum but she still moved so fast that Huang Ying had trouble keeping track of her. He pushed himself to the side and rolled along the ground, another pillar of earth bursting out beneath him and launching him into the air just as Dao Zenjin aimed to take advantage of the fact that he was rolling on the ground.

Dao Zenjin's metal-coated fist crashed into the mid-section of the earthen pillar in a descending motion and completely crushed it, his attack missing the now airborne and horizontal Huang Ying. He was still spinning since he had been rolling when he launched himself airborne so he took advantage of the momentum to split his spear in two and slash out with the two blades that it turned into, one after the other.

Dao Zenjin's green eyes followed the blades as they came slashing at his outstretched arm, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he decided on his own course of action. He tensed his outstretched right arm and coated it with the thickest layer of speckled metal he could conjure in this short period of time. And then, just as the first blade collided with his arm and cut into the metal, he raised his left arm into an uppercut aimed directly at Huang Ying's face.

The second blade was right behind the first so pulling it back to block wasn't really an option, an earthen wall wouldn't rise in time and a hastily constructed wind-based defence would be too weak to properly block the attack. But Huang Ying still had to act so he allowed his second blade to collided with the blade already cutting into Dao Zenjin's arm, pushing it in even deeper and drawing blood. He stretched out his shoulder and pulled back his head at the same time and conjured forth a gush of upward blowing wind to slightly reduce the force within Dao Zenjin's punch.

The attack went through the gust of wind and weakened slightly before making contact with Huang Ying, only a small part of his fist actually hitting Huang Ying's face, the rest smashed into his shoulder. Huang Ying's shoulder gave off a soft creaking sound as the attack hit him, Dao Zenjin's fist containing so much force that Huang Ying was sent flying sideways with the taste of blood in his mouth.

His sudden flight to the side caused him to lose his grip on his two blades, as they were parts of a single spear they didn't have any proper hilts to secure his grasp, another point he would have to think about for the future. But right now he had to focus on the blazing heat he could feel coming from the direction he was flying to, from the pillar of scorching flames that Ying Feixu unleashed at his approaching back.

Huang Ying sucked in a deep breath and sent out a very short backhanded punch with his right hand, a strong gust of wind unleashing from his fist and pushing him from his sideways position into a face-down one, simultaneously also pushing him down about half a metre. The pillar of crimson flames roared through the air just above him as he re-positioned himself, turning the back of his robe to ash and scorching his skin.

Huang Ying sent out another backhanded punch with his right arm, a much stronger one this time to propel himself into a full spin. His left hand plunged into the pillar of flame above him as he spun around, a layer of wind circulating around it and forming a bowl of flowing wind that gathered up the flames.

He flung out his right arm the moment he spun into a position where his back was facing the ground, his right arm following his left into the flames and forming another bowl that gathered up flames. He luckily had the gloves he borrowed from Gang Yongye, otherwise his hands would have been charred to a crisp even with the layer of wind covering them.

The two bowls of wind gathered together and turned into a sealed orb filled with blazing crimson flames that were constantly fed wind to grow stronger. Huang Ying then completed his spin, launching the nearly one-metre wide orb directly at Dao Zenjin, who was in the process of coating the one blade that was still stuck in his arm with a layer of metal to stop any bleeding.

The orb struck him head-on and exploded into an inferno that scattered flames everywhere, Huang Ying's body finally making contact with the ground again as he started rolling across it once more. Ying Feixu didn't leave his perception as he rolled across the stage so detected her dashing at him and kicking at his head with all her might, lightning trailing behind her with each step she took.

His teeth curled slightly and a blast of wind burst forth from his soles, pushing him forward a bit so that Ying Feixu's kick hit him in the lower part of his abdomen rather than his head. A sharp pain ran through Huang Ying's abdomen just as Ying Feixu's kick connected, a few small blades of metal poking out through her shoes and stabbing into his stomach. He spat out a mouthful of blood as the sharp pain mixed with the burning pain from the lightning, but looking at how small the blades were and how weak the lightning was, he guessed that she couldn't use them to their full extent yet due to having been born early.

But the kick was still plenty strong enough to cause his body to bend sharply as it once again lost touch with the stone stage. His right hand quickly reached out and punched downward, his fist crashing into her other foot and completely shattering every bone in the front part of her left foot.

She winced at the pain but continued with her kick, sending Huang Ying flying back with a few drops of blood splashing out from his mouth and abdomen. But even as he flew back and spewed a bit of blood, the ferocious and excited grin he wore never once left his face, his bloody teeth laid bare for all.

He saw that he was flying directly at Dao Zenjin, who was still working on putting out the inferno that Huang Ying had just thrown directly at him. The heat was so bad that the metal covering his right arm was dripping off, preventing him from sealing up the blade cutting into his arm. Huang Ying's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he calculated his next move, several gusts of wind pushing his body into the appropriate position.

He flew right in front of Dao Zenjin in such a position that he only had to stretch out his left hand to grasp onto his blade, a gust of wind from behind preventing him from flying further. He twisted his body into a downward-facing position and shot out his right hand, some of his fingers entering Dao Zenjin's open mouth while the rest of his fingers grabbed onto his chin, securely clenching down on his lower jaw.

Thanks to the gloves, he could clench down so hard that Dao Zenjin's teeth and chin shattered, the veins on his left arm bulging as he exerted all his might. He clenched down on Dao Zenjin's lower jaw to hold himself in place and twisted his body into a spin, a gust of wind helping him gain the speed required for what he wanted to accomplish.

The speed and force of his spin were all transferred into his blade, allowing the sharp edge to cut through Dao Zenjin's right arm and severing it just above the elbow. The arm fell to the ground and Huang Ying started exerting force with his right arm, bending it so that he pulled himself closer to Dao Zenjin, a few gusts of wind reversing his spin so that he once again returned to a downward-facing position. He bent his body so that he could place his feet on Dao Zenjin's chest, the eyes of the two locking as Huang Ying gave his verdict.

"Alright, I'm done with you so you can fuck off now."

Huang Ying let go of Dao Zenjin's shattered jaw and kicked off with all his might, launching Dao Zenjin out of the stage while propelling himself into a backflip. Dao Zenjin had lost an arm, his lower jaw was shattered, and flames were still burning his body, there was no way for him to continue battling. Huang Ying's feet touched the ground and he straightened his body, his right arm, stained with some of Dao Zenjin's blood, sweeping his hair back as his pupils moved sideways to glance at the incoming Ying Feixu.

"A good battle like this really makes you feel alive, doesn't it? It's miles better than just bending all the time and avoiding all confrontations out of fear."

Ying Feixu furrowed her brows slightly at his words, which she didn't quite understand as she didn't know his past. But she didn't stop, she had already reached his side by the time he finished his words, one of her curved daggers stabbing out at his waist while the other aimed for his throat. He only had one of his blades right now so she was confident that he wouldn't be able to properly deflect both attacks.

And he proved her correct, his left arm flashing up and deflecting the blade going for his throat, allowing the other dagger to stab into his waist. But just as Ying Feixu wanted to pull out her weapon to stab him again, she found that a layer of earth had extended from Huang Ying's body and latched onto her dagger, the sudden increase in the strength needed to pull it out throwing her off.

This was the sole reason Huang Ying hadn't used his law of earth in this manner during the entire battle, for that one opportunity where he could use it to catch one of his opponents off-guard. His right arm shot forward and grabbed onto Ying Feixu's wrist, his bloody and victorious smile sending chills down the spines of the spectators.

"You shouldn't waste your time on stabs when you have the upper hand in speed. Quick cuts to bleed your opponent dry are better, otherwise, you end up like this. And now, goodbye."

He let go of the blade he was holding in his left hand and punched forward with all his might, grasping onto Ying Feixu's wrist so that she had no way to escape. Her dagger attack had just been deflected rather forcefully so she needed about a second of time to readjust her arm's position, a second Huang Ying had no intention of giving her.

His fist crashed into her nose and broke it, dyeing her entire face red with her own blood and leaving her disoriented for a second. Huang Ying took this chance to launch several more punches at her face, disorienting her a bit more each time and staining her feathered robe with more and more blood. By the time he punched her for the seventh time, she had gotten so disoriented that her entire body had turned somewhat limp, a chance Huang Ying did not let go of.

He exerted force with his right arm and raised her into the air, bringing her slamming down like a sack of potatoes so hard that the stone stage cracked. He then flung his arm upward to lift her into the air and then smashed her down again, repeating the process again and again, flinging her around like a ragdoll until the last sliver of strength left her body. He then swung his arm out one last time to throw her out of the stage, giving his final verdict.

"A good try, but far from enough to kill me. Come back when you're stronger and have gotten more control over your elements, maybe then we can have a better fight."

Huang Ying pulled out the dagger still stuck in his waist and picked up the other one from the ground, tossing them after Ying Feixu before covering his wounds with a thin layer of earth to stem the bleeding. He took out a few pills from his interspatial ring and swallowed them, turning away from Ying Feixu so that he could head over to Gang Yongye. But his steps halted before he could leave the stage, Ying Feixu calling out to him with a voice that gargled slightly due to the blood within her throat.

"Wait, don't you walk away from me!"

Huang Ying lowered his foot again and half-turned his body, his gaze landing on Ying Feixu, who had already stood up and was struggling to remain on her feet. She was heaving for breath, blood spurting forth from her seven orifices each time her chest rose and lowered, but she continued to look at Huang Ying with her unwavering crimson eyes.

"I want to become stronger, strong enough to even kill you. So train me!"

Her sputtering words could only be considered foolish and even downright shameless, no one present had ever heard some ask to be trained while also saying that they wanted to get strong enough to kill the very person training them. But when everyone thought Huang Ying would just laugh at her idiocy, one of his eyebrows actually rose and he fully turned his body, walking over to Ying Feixu until he stood directly in front of her.

"You want me to train you? You openly state that you want to kill me, yet you ask me to train you? That's a bit dumb, don't you think?"

His words could be considered a somewhat vague refusal, but the interest apparent in his raised eyebrows made it a bit difficult for people to immediately conclude that he rejected her. Ying Feixu ignored the dumbfounded onlookers and snorted coldly, some blood splashing onto Huang Ying from her nose.

"And you think you aren't dumb? You tore me down from my peak and dragged me to the earth, proclaiming that you'd welcome me at any time, didn't you? You want a good fight, don't you? You want to feel alive, no? Then train me, let me give you a good fight before I kill you for tearing me down."

The spectators didn't know about the story behind what she meant when she said that Huang Ying tore her down, but none of them could laugh at her still ridiculous words, the boundless confidence and determination she radiated shut them all up. And faced with her confidence, Huang Ying responded by bursting into laughter, a bit of blood spurting out from behind the earth he used to cover his wounds. He continued to laugh for a few seconds before turning around, his laughter dying down into a chuckle filled with unshakeable confidence and burning excitement, his black pupils gleaming with a faint light as he cast one last sideways look at Ying Feixu.

"Heh, alright, consider me dumb to the extreme. Come find me when you want to train, let's see if you're actually able to flap your wings and fly back to your tiny little peak before I conquer the endless ocean."

In that moment as he glanced back, despite the fact that he was half a head shorter than her, Huang Ying looked infinitely larger than her to the spectators. He had only been back for half a day, but in that time, the leviathan had shown his true colours and fangs, and no one was able to refute it as mere arrogance this time.