Chapter 15

Comparing Yu Zhijue's tiny body to that macho man's ox-like stature made their contrast even more glaringly obvious. Not only was this something Ling Xia noticed, but Cui Yu, who was sitting in the VIP section, also clutched her whip and shouted with a pout, "This is clearly unfair! What if Zhijue gets hurt?"

She had just learned Yu Zhijue's name when the supervising disciple announced it and had already repeated it in her heart numerous times. Thus, she couldn't help but call him so intimately when she opened her mouth just now, and though she blushed immediately, she inwardly felt pleased and delighted. Mo Dai saw this look of hers, and his headache got worse, but he did become a bit curious about Yu Zhijue, also turning his attention to the boy's figure.

Yu Zhijue placed both hands in front of his chest and made a defensive pose, then coldly replied to that macho man, "Let's start."

That man laughed out loud and flung his arm, the heavy iron chain suddenly swinging towards Yu Zhijue like a snake striking. Yu Zhijue reacted extremely quickly, dodging with a tilt of his head and jumping on top of the iron chain. Before that macho man could retract it back, he dashed directly along the chain, still suspended in mid-air, until he was right in front of the other. Taking advantage of an opening, he kicked the man's jaw head-on!

Ling Xia was so excited in his heart; he could understand a little of why Yu Zhijue was more popular than the protagonist among the female fans at last! Looking that cool truly held an advantage, you know?

Even though Yu Zhijue didn't go through formal body cultivation training, his actions were naturally graceful, and every movement was exceptionally elegant and captivating. When he leapt into the air, a few stray strands of hair brushed past his calm and exquisite face as a pair of slightly hidden, starry, and pitch-black eyes glittered—despite his youth, he already appeared majestic and divine.

This counterattack was remarkably beautiful, and Cui Yu could no longer hold back her cheers and applause, but in the end, Yu Zhijue's strength was weak, so that macho man's body only swayed lightly. However, being kicked in the face by a small child like Yu Zhijue in front of so many people made him fly into a rage in shame, his empty left hand promptly grabbing towards Yu Zhijue's leg. His momentum was immensely powerful and savage, as he roared ferociously like a tiger. One could foresee that if Yu Zhijue was caught, the bones in his leg would definitely break!

Yu Zhijue flipped in mid-air and steadily landed on the iron chain, forcing it to drop down by half a foot, barely evading the attack. When he kicked the other's jaw a moment ago, it felt as if he had kicked a slab of steel, his entire foot stinging with pain, and he immediately understood that this opponent couldn't be defeated by depending solely on physical techniques. He vaulted off the chain and jumped backwards about a dozen feet, calmly pondering over his next step.

That macho man furiously and indignantly retrieved his chain, a pair of eyes glaring at Yu Zhijue as he loudly swore, "You little rascal, only knowing how to play small tricks!"

The more agitated his opponent was, the more advantageous it was for himself, so Yu Zhijue blatantly disregarded those words, deliberately raised an eyebrow, and slightly lifted his chin, flaunting a provocative and arrogant attitude.

As was to be expected, the burly man's rage heightened, and with the understanding that Yu Zhijue would avoid long-range attacks, he charged at him directly with the aim of capturing him.

Although Yu Zhijue's strength was weaker by a far cry, nevertheless, he was remarkably quick and nimble, dodging with a flash of his body as his opponent only pounced on air. Over the course of time, although that macho man wasn't able to touch even a corner of Yu Zhijue's clothes from beginning to end, Yu Zhijue couldn't do anything to him either, merely seeking for openings and striking him a few times.

That macho man, having been kicked by Yu Zhijue again and again, flew into an even greater rage. In any case, there weren't any restrictions on weapons or methods of fighting inside this ring, so thinking that he might as well, he randomly swung and whipped the iron chain all around, shattering the stone floor of the stage. Pieces of rock and stone flew and spun into the air, forcing even the supervising disciple to have no choice but to duck for cover.

Ling Xia worried for Yu Zhijue while, at the same time, adamantly spurning his opponent. Competing against such a young child, was it necessary to seethe in anger and get emotional to this extent? Even if you won, how likely would it be that you'd receive those Shaoyang Sect elders' favour? These floorboards were all meticulously carved from ornate and expensive water-attribute energy stones. To be destroyed in such a crude manner, do you not see how the complexions of some of the old men sitting above have changed?

As he silently cursed, an unforeseen situation had already taken place onstage. Even if Yu Zhijue was quick at evading, broken rocks as sharp as knives were everywhere, and in dodging one too late, his leg was cut by a piece of jagged stone. He stumbled, and that macho man swiftly grabbed him by both his arms and lifted him into the air! At once, Ling Xia was so tense that his face turned pale.

"Little bastard, you sure run fast!" That macho man was worn out and panting for breath as he gnashed his teeth and clenched his free hand into a fist, smashing it into Yu Zhijue's stomach in one go.

This punch did not contain the slightest trace of mercy, and Yu Zhijue's body reeled, a trickle of blood instantly flowing out from the corner of his mouth.

"Ah Jue!" Ling Xia clenched his fists in terror, wishing he could simply go on stage and kick that man straight out of the Milky Way! What the fuck! Being able to lay your hands on such an adorable child, you bleepin' son of a clocking fish!

On the other side, Cui Yu was also panic-stricken as she widened her eyes, standing up and shouting, "Zhijue!" She raised the whip in her hands, intent on interfering.

With sharp eyes and quick reflexes, Mo Dai hastily pulled her back, wiping off his cold sweat in fright as he implored, "Youngest junior sister, don't make a scene. Just wait, they're currently in the middle of competing, so how can you go there and disrupt things? Take heed that you don't incur his wrath!"

Cui Yu hesitantly halted her actions, then stomped her foot and snarled, "To dare humiliate Zhijue like this, I'm going to slice him into mincemeat later!"

Although the macho man onstage wasn't aware of these eyes glowering at him, nonetheless, a chill went up his spine. Right now, he only needed to throw Yu Zhijue off the stage to win, but he was extremely unwilling, slapping his hand towards Yu Zhijue's cheek instead. A stain of purple instantly bloomed across that snow-white skin, and half of Yu Zhijue's face swelled up.

"Brat, what happened to that lofty attitude of yours now?" That macho man raised Yu Zhijue to his eye level, watching the other's reactions while feeling somewhat pleased with himself.

Yu Zhijue merely shot him a frosty glare, spitting out the piscine blood in his mouth. He loathed this kind of fish-like flavour that was so incredibly, incredibly disgusting… This taste clearly and unquestionably confirmed how useless he was right now—how powerless and weak!

He vaguely thought that he had heard a familiar voice calling his name anxiously a moment ago, and peeking out of his peripheral vision, he immediately caught sight of a pair of pitch-black eyes. Those eyes were staring attentively at only himself, full of tenderness and empathy…

An indescribable power welled up inside his body, as if gradually breaking out of his control…

That macho man saw his ominous and sinister gaze up close and spontaneously shivered, reflexively lifting Yu Zhijue high above his head, wanting to hurl him far, far away!

Yu Zhijue slowly closed his eyes; there was some kind of gentle yet chilly presence in the air, countless and invisible, all rushing to gather inside his body—just like last time in the water, but a lot more intense!

Feng Shuming had been continuously and silently paying attention, and at this change, he faintly nodded his head. This child's aptitude was undeniably second to none amongst thousands—to actually awaken the water-elemental energy all by himself, not to mention the speed at which his spiritual force converged—truly the rare find of a century! Many talented people possessed water-elemental energy, but to be so young while not having any cultivation yet surprisingly able to reach this kind of level…

Not only were the aptitudes of the disciples sitting below him extremely lacking in comparison, even speaking of himself, he was also incomparably inferior at Yu Zhijue's age!

On account of the floorboards all being made from water-attribute energy stones, Yu Zhijue's amassment of water-elemental energy doubled in effectiveness. In the split second before that macho man threw him, he seemed to have sensed a kind of intangible and powerful force in the air.

Yu Zhijue soundlessly used his elemental energy to guide that force into supporting his back, turning in a beautiful arc mid-air, and solidly landing on the ground! He shot a glance at the dumbstruck Ling Xia, imperceptibly nodded his head, and without an ounce of hesitation, while using all his strength, pitched the energy he had gathered in his hand towards his opponent!

As if facing the entire weight of Mount Tai, that macho man only felt a violent surge of pressurised air rushing directly at him, nearly suffocating right then as his body involuntarily flew backwards!

By the time his consciousness returned, he finally discovered that not only had he left the stage, but he had actually been knocked all the way to the VIP section!

He gawked in disbelief at the far-off combat arena, gaping as he croaked, "What…"

It's just that, before he could finish the rest of that sentence, he realised how all the blood in his body was as cold as ice and how his four limbs were as good as paralysed, and against his will, his body fell down with a loud bang.

"Winner, Yu Zhijue!" The disciple recording the results onstage snapped out of his daze, only now loudly announcing the results.

The situation a moment ago had changed too abruptly, and apart from the elders and high-level disciples who had a certain amount of cultivation here, the many low-level disciples essentially didn't understand what had happened.

In the instant that Yu Zhijue was lifted up earlier, Cui Yu had rushed below, next to the stage, and was now a bit lost on what to do. Mo Dai noticed the puzzled expressions of the elders nearby, hurriedly wiped another layer of sweat from his forehead, and dragged his youngest junior sister back up. He gave Yu Zhijue a somewhat complicated look; who would have thought that Shaoyang Sect would gain such a capable disciple…

Ling Xia was basically happier than if he had won himself, but after looking distressingly at Yu Zhijue's heavily swollen cheek, he was unable to muster any words of congratulations. Speaking of which, the wound on that child's hand must still hurt a lot, right…?

Song Xiaohu was in the distant resting area, not able to do much at present, only capable of jumping and yelling with a terribly battered face, "Ah Jue, you're so strong!"

Yu Zhijue ignored everyone's distinct and varying gazes, and for the sake of concealing that his leg was injured, he slowly came down from the stage. But when he walked by Ling Xia, in the moment that they brushed past, he said two words in a low voice: "Be careful."

"I will!" Ling Xia nodded his head and silently shed tears in his heart. This kid learnt how to worry about others!

Yu Zhijue maintained a normal pace and walked towards the resting area, and only he himself knew that his palm trembled uncontrollably. Just earlier, in that single wink of time, he could have chosen to completely kill that macho man, making that disgusting and loathsome face never appear in front of him again!

He tried to suppress that desire as if his life depended on it, but only with Ling Xia's smile suddenly flashing across his mind was he able to control this ruthless urge inside his heart, holding back some of his strength so that person wouldn't transform into a pile of waste under his strike…

Not only were his abdomen and organs injured right now, but due to overexerting himself, his already wounded palm had once again split open, and his leg was also cut up and scorching in pain.

However, his heart actually felt like it contained an excited flame that burnt and danced incessantly!

This kind of powerful, wonderful feeling of having control over another person, just recalling it, almost made him shiver with ecstasy…

"Ling Xia! Xu Yan!" A disciple looked at his list and loudly called out the pair of names for the next match.

With a shudder, Ling Xia's face instantly turned twisted and bleak. Fuck, his turn had come up this quickly!