Mu Rong Feng crashed into my position, but my war spirit appeared right in front of him before he could reach me. Parrying Mu Rong Feng's strike with his great spear, he then flung the poor guy back. Unlike Mu Rong Qiu, however, Mu Rong Feng was more skilled and thus he was able to avoid a grievous injury. He flipped himself in midair and landed on the ground, stumbling slightly but was otherwise unhurt.
"This again!" He sneered. He swung his hands and hurled a few wind blades at me, but my war spirit cleaved them apart with his spear. The war spirit silently charged forward, slashing at Mu Rong Feng with his spear.
"You…!" Mu Rong Feng snarled and blocked the strike with a wind barrier. The impact rocked him back and blood dripped from his mouth. He grunted and dove to the side, rolling across the ground. My war spirit swung his spear down in a lethal arc, trying to finish my fallen my opponent off. He tried to attack, but his wind blades bounced off my war spirit's gleaming armor. His eyes widened. "How powerful! Just what the hell is this?!"
"This can't be!" As usual, the peanut gallery was doing their trash-talking. "Zhao Huan Shi overpowered Mu Rong Feng!? That's impossible! He's trash!"
"Summoning techniques are trash! Summoners are trash! He should be losing!"
"He must have cheated somehow!"
Oh, come fucking on. They just had to pull that dialogue, didn't they? Can't they be more imaginative? I swear, every single fucking time, the peanut gallery just had to repeat the same damned lies over and over again.
There was on word to describe them. Delusional.
Mu Rong Feng evaded the spear, which gouged holes out of the concrete. He grunted and jumped away, using his wind techniques to put as much distance as he could between himself and my assaulting war spirit. He jumped to the side, swinging his hand and unleashing another barrage of wind blades that my war spirit simply batted aside.
"What the hell is this monster!?" He bellowed. My war spirit lunged at him again, his spear flashing as it swung downward, but Mu Rong Feng quickly darted away. He then laughed and darted away when he realized something. "Hah! Your summoned spirit might be powerful but it's too slow!"
He then dashed toward me, his wind propelling himself forward at incredible velocity. He conjured a few wind blades and got ready to slice me apart. My war spirit spun about and tried to pursue, but it was clear that Mu Rong Feng would reach me before he could intercept.
"As long as I kill you, it's my win! It doesn't matter how powerful your summoned spirit is, as long as I kill you, your spirit will inevitably disappear too! I'll show you why summoning is trash! Even with such a strong guardian spirit, when your physical body is weak and fragile, you will fall to just one hit from me! That's the weakness of all summoners!"
He swung his wind blades at me, cackling triumphantly.
"DIE!"
"Really?"
I shook my head and raised my hand. Far behind Mu Rong Feng, my war spirit disappeared. Instead, a spear materialized in my hand and I swung it with both hands. The sheer force of my strike dissipated the wind blades instantly and blew a stunned Mu Rong Feng back.
"What the hell?!"
I let go of the spear, which instantly transformed into my half-formed war spirit. Darting forward like an arrow, he swung his spear and smashed through the defensive wind barrier that Mu Rong Feng hastily erected, nearly pulverizing him in one strike. Blood spurted from Mu Rong Feng's mouth as he fell onto the ground, his body going into spasms.
"No way…impossible!"
"We've been calling Zhao Huan Shi trash all this while?! Yet not only did he defeat Mu Rong Qiu, he also defeated one of the three geniuses, Mu Rong Feng? Someone please wake me up, this can't be real. I'm dreaming."
"If he's trash…what are we?"
"Oh no…what if he challenges me, to get back at me for insulting him in the past!? I'm screwed! I'll need to kowtow and apologize to him now…"
"Someone give me some medicated oil, I need it for the burn on my face…I feel like I've been slapped."
The peanut gallery once again was in form. I had to roll my eyes at their cheesy dialogue. Not paying them any attention, I focused on the sprawled Mu Rong Feng, who refused to give up despite the battering he just took.
"This isn't over yet, trash!" He snarled. I buried my face in my palm. He was still calling me trash despite getting his ass handed over to him? Talk about delusional.
"If I'm trash, what are you? Shit?"
"Shut up! I haven't lost yet!"
"Yeah, yeah. I know what you want to do." I nodded and gestured for him to hurry up. "Eat your steroid or whatever. Go ahead and dope. I know you have some weird pill that boosts your cultivation temporarily, but has some sort of side effect. Not that you care, because your pride is more important than your health."
"How do you know that?!" Mu Rong Feng demanded, turning pale. His trembling hand slipped out of a pocket, revealing a crimson pill. "How did you know about the Blood Fury Pill that my father gave me?! It was originally supposed to be for me to use against Shan or Lin in the final, but you're forcing me to use it now!"
I so did not ask for that information, but the guy decided to give it away himself.
"How many cultivation stories do you think I've read?" I retorted snidely. "They use the same old clichés and nonsense every single time. I'll be more surprised if you don't conveniently have a doping pill on you. At least one antagonist character in tournaments would pull this stunt."
"Hmph! It doesn't matter! I'll kill you now! Or at least cripple you!"
"Wait, what?!" Mu Rong Lao was hopping onto his feet, outraged. "Don't you dare, Xiao Feng!? You know that consuming spirit pills in the middle of battle is against the rules! The Blood Fury Pill is illegal! Cease this nonsense immediately! Surrender the pill!"
"Too late!"
Ignoring his grandfather, Mu Rong Feng popped the Blood Fury Pill into his mouth. Then he roared as the steroid immediately took effect, his spiky hair beginning to stand on end and turn…blond. A thick, bloodthirsty aura expanded around him, entombing him in a blood-red sphere.
The guy was literally going Super Saiyan mode right in front of me.
"Ha ha ha ha! DIE!"
Mu Rong Feng launched himself at me, wind currents exploding beneath his feet and propelling him forward like a rocket. He gathered a whirlwind with the force of a hurricane and shaped it into a gigantic sword that he swung down on me.
"With the Blood Fury Pill, my cultivation realm has been raised by several levels! I'm at least mid-master now! Even your summoned spirit is no match for me…UGH!?"
He hadn't even finished delivering his cheesy dialogue when my war spirit's spear cleaved through his hurricane blade and smacked right into his face, sending him spiraling uncontrollably into the ground. He vanished in an immense explosion of dust and concrete, his neck bent at an unnatural angle. Blood spilled from his mouth and wounds, and his eyes stared up unblinkingly at the heavens.
"N…no!" Mu Rong Feng's father was howling, but at a glance from Mu Rong Lao, he stayed where he was. The medics were hurrying onto the stage to carry his son off, but he wasn't very pleased. On the other hand, Mu Rong Lao was more furious, for he was glaring at both father and son.
"How dare you give your son a Blood Fury Pill?! Do you think that the Mu Rong family rules do not apply to you? That you are exempt from them?!"
"No, dad. I just…"
"Just what? Thought you could get away with flaunting the rules? Now Xiao Feng will be bedridden for at least half a year after taking that pill! And for what?! Because you're desperate for him to win this tournament."
"That's…"
Mu Rong Feng's father hung his head in shame. Mu Rong Lao gave him one last glare before he turned to face the stunned spectators.
"Clearly, the winner of this match is Zhao Huan Shi. But even if that didn't happen, Xiao Feng would have been disqualified for illegally taking the Blood Fury Pill during a match!"
No one protested. They were far too shocked at the result of the match. A few of them were rubbing their swollen cheeks for some reason. I wondered how they hurt their faces. It looked as if someone had slapped them.
Well, not my problem.
Descending the stage, I exchanged a high five with my wife.
"Good job," Mu Rong Shu told me, then she gave me a hug. "Defeating Mu Rong Feng, one of the three geniuses of the younger generation of the Mu Rong family…now no one will be able to call you trash!"
"Oh, you'll be surprised." I wondered if I should tell her about the depths of delusion that some people sunk to. "How about you? Are you ready for your next match?"
"I guess." Mu Rong Shu took a deep breath and nodded. "It'll be hard for me to match what you did, but I'll do my best."
"You don't have to. As long as you do your best, the results will naturally be there for everyone to see." I turned back to watch the tournament in anticipation of the next match.
Funnily enough, no one was bold enough to challenge me again.