Wang Li Tian finally comes to a stop in front of a platform. To everyone's surprise, not only did the mysterious straw hat boy skip one placing, he had went directly to first place!
"The Straw hat boy may have a chance against the first place, Liu Fei Ling. After all, they both ended their fights instantly. Who knows how the fight may turn out?"
"This battle would probably be the highlight of today! Even though I wasn't able to get onto any of the fifty platforms, being able to watch this fight is worth it in its own right!"
"Yes, same for me too! However, I do think that Liu Fei Ling would win as he had not shown the famous Liu Family Sword Style!"
Wang Li Tian walked up the platform slowly. His head was lowered, preventing Fei Ling from seeing into his eyes. Placing down his own personal sword on the ground, Li Tian headed to the weapon stand to pick up another wooden sword again. As compared to just now, Li Tian introduced himself to his opponent.
"Wang Li Tian, Early Body Enhancement stage."
"Li Tian?" Watching from the fourth place platform, Jiang Rou Xuan's ear piqued in interest. Did the straw hat boy say his name was Wang Li Tian?
On the first place platform, Liu Fei Ling bowed slightly while introducing himself. This time, he did not throw down hidden weapons on the field. He could tell if he did it right now against his current opponent, the tactic would not work. Fei Ling picked up the wooden sword that he placed by his side. It was time for him to become serious.
With that, the battle on the first place platform began. Li Tian stood straight, one hand held onto the scabbard, while the other held onto the sword grip. It was the same position that he was in when against Heng You Bei. There was nothing weird or wrong with his stance, yet it gave off the vibe that his sword style was not simple.
Liu Fei Ling did not want to make the same mistake that the previous guy made. To prove his point, while his opponent stood in front of him and looked directly into his eyes, Fei Ling knew that his opponent had saw through his tactics. Li Tian's eyes emanated the aura of clairvoyance. Fei Ling felt naked in front of Li Tian.
Shaking himself out of his trance, Fei Ling started to make his way around Li Tian. He made sure to keep himself 5 arm lengths away from Li Tian. That distance was more than enough even if his opponent tried to attack him with his sword. Unsurprisingly, Li Tian did not make his move. Fei Ling decided that he should test the waters.
Reaching into his robes, Fei Ling felt for his hidden wooden toothpicks. As he ran around Li Tian, he suddenly quickened his footsteps, in hopes of getting behind the Li Tian's vision span. Ghostly Wind. Fei Ling disappeared like the wind and appeared in the air at the back of Li Tian. Throwing out his empowered toothpicks, it flew straight at Li Tian's neck. Strike him down! Fei Ling shouted inwardly, thinking that his plows had worked.
Unfortunately, as the toothpick flew into a meter radius of Li Tian, the weapon had disintegrated without any signs of resistance. When the sneak attack had failed, Li Tian turned his body around, looking up at the youth that was a few meters in the air. Shit! Fei Ling now knew that he was in trouble. Just as Wang Li Tian had jumped towards him, using two hands, Fei Ling immediately held his sword upwards to block his front.
"Quickdraw 1st Style - Slash."
The same move was used again, but this time, Li Tian's opponent had reacted timely. However, that was not enough to defend Li Tian't attack. The slash strike from the wooden sword had repelled Liu Fei Ling backwards. The sudden repulsion had caught Fei Ling off guard and so his right wrist had been injured as he could not tighten his grip.
"Interesting." That exchange did not make Fei Ling worried, rather, his fighting drive was fired up. "That quickdraw of yours was truly fast. If I did not react in time, I would've become just like your previous opponent."
"Thank you." Li Tian gave a straightforward reply, catching Fei Ling off guard again. Why was his opponent so vain. Usually, a martial cultivator was meant to be humble and would compliment their opponent back during a close exchange.
This type of exchange etiquette was not taught and understood by Li Tian. In his mind where the 1000 great virtues book laid, there was a page describing that: "A person's compliment to you should always be received with a thank you."
This may have worked for other situations, but right now, it made Li Tian look like a cocky bastard. Seeing that Li Tian replied like that, Jiang Rou Xuan who watched from afar, had a smile form on her face. The Li Tian I know would say thank you in that scenario too.
"Anyways.. It is time for me to become serious." Liu Fei Ling tore a bit of cloth from his robe and tied up his right wrist. His opponent had given him time to recover and so, he should reciprocate by giving him a good fight. That wasn't actually the case as Li Tian was thinking about whether his performance right now had allowed Jiang Rou Xuan to find out who he was.
The next move shall be my grand reveal, sniggered Li Tian inside his heart. Bending his left leg slightly and his right straightened in the back, Li Tian got into a different stance. His hands covered his sword in the same position.
"Watch for my move. Flowing Dragon Of The East! Strike for me!" Spinning his blade around himself, Liu Fei Ling charged up his strongest sword move. Although he had not mastered it, this move had great destructive capacity. As his wooden sword started to glow blue, the spiritual aura of an Aqua Dragon appeared around Fei Ling. The boy tightened his grip on his sword. He pointed his blade forward and the Aqua Dragon rushed straight at Li Tian.
"Rrarrgh!!" The Aqua Dragon roared in frustration, moving straight towards its target. It was truly surprising that someone so small in stature like Liu Fei Ling, could summon the aura of an aqua dragon.
Yet, even when the dragon was about to hit Li Tian, the boy remained in his quickdraw stance. Li Tian was waiting. If anyone could look into his eyes right now, they would be able to see that Li Tian had already broken down how Fei Ling's Flowing Dragon Of The East worked. There were too many flaws that made the strike from the genius boy useless.
My Turn.
"Quickdraw 2nd Style - Lunge."
Bursting off with his right leg, it was as if Li Tian had torn through space and time. He was like a streak of lightning, a blur of some sort. The Aqua Dragon had obviously missed its target and now, Li Tian stood directly in front of Liu Fei Ling. The tip of his blade pointed straight at the Fei Ling's neck. Any closer and Fei Ling would be dead already.
Dropping his wooden sword on the ground, Fei Ling raised his arms and forfeited. His opponent was too formidable and he himself had to admit it.