"Young master Han, your next opponent shall be me. I won't be like the two you faced and won't hold back at all. Please be ready."
Lu Xie walked before Han Yunfeng with a leisurely gait, bearing a twisted smile.
Glaring at him lightly, Han Yunfeng said, "I know. These days have shown me that you are the foulest person of all Demon Scheming Sect, ha-ha-ha…"
"You're asking for it!" Lu Xie's face fell, a bone-chilling bloodthirst flashing in his eyes. Then his body shook, and a huge green spider appeared in front. The green gas it released spread along the ground like a poisonous net.
Han Yunfeng's brow shook and turned serious. He'd seen Lu Xie use this move before, with Mystical Heaven Sect, to cut the enemy off from all directions.
In other words, Lu Xie planned on surrounding him instead of attacking him head-on; to finish in one move.
In this way, he became passive, making his plan to save energy fail here. He was sure this would become a stalling battle to wear him out instead.
If it were just a single fight, this wouldn't matter. But in a round-robin, he could not let this happen.
Qi Changlong couldn't help but sigh, "Why is Lu Xie doing this? For young master Han to fight all six of us is incredibly brave. Even if we are not exactly honorable, there's no reason to take it so far."
"You know as well his character. It's obvious one strike can win this. It's easy to win or give him a pass, but he would rather toy with him." Bai Lian scoffed, "He plans on dragging this own, something Han Yunfeng could never accept."
Qi Changlong sighed and shook his head…
Meanwhile, Han Yunfeng looked around the spreading poison, and with a roar, the Ascending Howling Lion flapped its wings. The fierce gale slammed into the ground, turning the area around him into sparkling blue ice crystals.
It was then that the spreading poison stopped. The moment the green gas touched the crystals, it would stop in its tracks.
Han Yunfeng shouted, and Ascending Howling Lion shot for the green spider, going all out once more.
[Humph, useless. I'm not going to take you head on.]
Lu Xie snickered and made a sign. The green spider scattered like before into thick mist. The thousands upon thousands of tiny spiders raced for Han Yunfeng under the cover of the mist.
Whoosh~
Ascending Howling Lion's strike hit nothing, but it turned back and went straight for Lu Xie. Ignoring the incoming flood of spiders, he actually opted to go down with his enemy!
"Han Yunfeng is truly ruthless. Meeting someone like Lu Xie, who wants to exhaust him, he instead stakes his life, going all out!" Wu Qingqiu sighed.
Yan Mo nodded, "The kid's obsessed, and I like it. I hope to see him in the Double Dragon Manor."
"For a person from middle three sects and just a 2nd layer of Ethereal Stage as well, it will be hard to enter Double Dragon Manor."
"It's all up to the Exalted…" Yan Mo and Wu Qingqiu turned to the highest seats in the audience, where the exalted sat.
Lu Xie looked at the lion with a smug grin, "Ha-ha-ha, the more anxious you are to end this, the more you'll tire."
Lu Xie made another sign, and lines of green flashed all over the lion. Just like a net, those lines connected and trapped it.
At the same time, the green pattern on the ground released green smoke, connecting to the net.
Roar!
With a mighty roar, the lion found it could not advance at all, stuck in place.
Grinning, Lu Xie gave Han Yunfeng a cocky look, "Young master Han, it's your bad luck to have met me. Do you know how a spider feeds? It traps its prey in a web, letting it struggle and beg for death, then slowly eats it alive. This is quite a lengthy process too. You were rash for a quick battle, but then you got me, hi-hi-hi…"
"Humph, that remains to be seen if your net is that tough." Han Yunfeng made a sign as his brow sweated harder. The lion roared as it struggled, and it trembled.
Uncaring about the lion's actions, Lu Xie grinned, "Poison Explosion!"
Boom~
The lion's body kept popping with great bangs sounding through the air. Han Yunfeng shook with every blow and even coughed up crimson blood.
"Brother!" Third young master Han and second young master Han cried out in panic.
The flying lion was Han Yunfeng's soul. Its wounds meant Han Yunfeng's soul wounds. It was such a heavy and sharp pain few could endure.
The two gnashed their teeth and looked at Lu Xie in hatred.
But Lu Xie only laughed, "Young master Han, you're Demon Soul Sect's eldest young master, so I can't take your life, but you should know when to give. It's time for you to admit your defeat to me. This is as far as you go!"
Han Yunfeng was Demon Soul Sect's young sect leader, and defeating him would give him great merit back at the sect. Lu Xie was blinded by greed, so he did not follow in Qi Changlong and Bai Lian's footsteps in fighting head-on.
Victory and merit were worth more than anything. He would be willing to do anything as long as it would help his ascent.
Han Yunfeng's face twitched in pain, but he actually mocked Lu Xie, "Kid, you're not worthy!"
"We'll just see about that!"
Lu Xie's face fell, and his sign changed. The thousands of tiny spiders charged for Han Yunfeng, but they froze in place when they touched the blue curtain of light.
Just then, Lu Xie shouted, and the tiny spiders exploded, breaking through the blue curtain and allowing the spiders behind them to advance.
Han Yunfeng was now at his most dangerous. With a string of constant explosions, the barrier of light shrank more and more until it was gone. Lu Xie trapped his flying lion, and explosions also assaulted it.
He was stuck, unable to neither attack nor defend.
Han Yunfeng's face was heavy, feeling the sharp pain stinging his soul. He paled, and Lu Xie grinned as he changed his signs.
The spiders drew nearer with every step, every second, and with them, Lu Xie's web closed around him.
Everyone, including the audience, was at the edge of their seats for Han Yunfeng's fate.
Third young master Han shouted, "Brother, just give up! You defeated two experts and are weary. It's no loss even if you concede!"
"This isn't about reputation, but whether I can walk further on the path of cultivation." Han Yunfeng's eyelids shook, looking in Zhuo Fan's direction. His eyes flashed and roared as his aura exploded once more.
"Brother!" His brothers cried out in worry.
"What's he up to?" Wu Qingqiu was startled, having a bad feeling.
"Soul Burst!"
Han Yunfeng made a sign.
The trapped flying lion wailed in pain and then exploded. Streams of blue light shot in all directions like a tidal wave.
Everywhere and everything froze under a layer of blue crystals. Those spiders were about to explode again, but they froze immediately before shattering to dust.
Pff!
Lu Xie spat blood, looking at the light show slowly diminishing. Followed by a roar, a lion without wings burst out and came for him.
The sudden impact caught Lu Xie off guard knocking him flying, trailing blood behind him.
This was not as light as before, with just his soul a little bit shaken up. This time his entire innards were crushed, and there was a high chance his body was ruined.
However, the people did not care about him, not even Demon Scheming Sect's members. In their eyes, there was a lion that had lost its wings, and despite its thinned state, it held its pride as it lay on the ground…