Although Ye Paopao had been struck with the Curse of Sluggishness, he was still confident in his battle strategy. As soon as his ice shields exploded under his command, he had already unleashed another Freezing Skill once again, causing the icy mist around Qing Qian to consolidate around her.
The audience could clearly see a huge block of ice forming around her in midair, and right in the middle of the ice was a mass of black light.
*BANG* A loud crash resounded as the ice fell onto the ground. With a quick step forward, Ye Paopao appeared in front of the block of ice, placing his hands onto it, pushing his Heavenly Energy to his maximum capacity as he manipulated the Freezing Skill, strengthening the ice and lowering its temperature. His Heavenly Energy was draining at an insane rate, like a dam of a river had been destroyed and its water surging out, and he did not hold back anything at all.
At the other side, Lang Xie was staring at the fighting stage with his brow furrowed. “What is he doing?! With his cultivation level, is he trying to win with such a Freezing Skill? What wishful thinking… the most he can do is to drain Qing Qian’s Heavenly Energy.
Little did Lang Xie know that indeed Zhou Weiqing had given Ye Paopao that exact mission – to drain Qing Qian’s Heavenly Energy to the best of his ability!
As the time passed, the fight was locked in a stalemate. However, everyone could see clearly that the black light within the ice was growing stronger, while Ye Paopao’s ice was starting to show small cracks. It was obvious that his ice would not be able to hold her for much longer.
All of a sudden, Ye Paopao laughed heartily out loud, the Consolidated Equipment on his body vanishing. With a pale ashen face, he took a few steps back, saying weakly: “I am out of Heavenly Energy. I surrender.” After saying that, he did not even wait for the ice to shatter, jumping quickly off the stage and heading back to the Rest House.
*Bang* the thick black light spread out swiftly across the entire stage as the huge block of ice shattered, sending shards of ice flying in all direction. Qing Qian’s body appeared in the midst of the black light, as the light corroded the remaining ice, causing them to disappear. Her eyes were bloodshot, almost emitting an uncanny red light.
“Fei Li Empire, are you all cowards?” Although she had won the first fight, she couldn’t feel any sense of elation at the way she had won at all.
When Ye Paopao had jumped off the stage, she had felt as if she had been tricked somehow. It might seem like she had won so easily, but in truth, she had not even used any techniques or strategy, none of her formidable combat prowess. Ye Paopao had struck first and with his strategy forced a stalemate and situation where they were both wasting huge amounts of Heavenly Energy. At that time, she had no choice but to use a lot of her Heavenly Energy to release the Darkness Attribute in order to block the ice, otherwise it might have injured her and caused an even worse result.
It could be said that, from the beginning, Ye Paopao had not planned to win, but to drain her of as much Heavenly Energy as possible, and he had been successful.
Accompanying Qing Qian’s angry shout, admonishing cries could also be heard from the surrounding. The audience had been expecting and looking forward to exciting fights, but this first one had definitely been disappointing. This was even more so for those who had bet on them!
Zhou Weiqing stuck his thumb out at Ye Paopao. “Senior, well done. Your control over your skills has truly improved. I believe that even if you really fought, you could give her a run for her money.”
Ye Paopao heard the admonishing cries, and said with a bitter smile: “I only hope that when I return to home, I don’t get scolded to death by my father. Such a humiliating act, please don’t look for me to do this again please. In the future fights, I need to regain my face.
Zhou Weiqing nodded, a gleam in his eyes. He then said solemnly: “For the second round… Crow, it’s your fight.”
“Alright!” Crow jumped up from her seat excitedly. The chair which was barely holding her six hundred jin weight broke from the abrupt movement.
Zhou Weiqing said seriously: “Crow, this is an extremely critical fight for us for my plan to work. No matter what, you have to win. Do you understand?”
Crow grinned, looking at Zhou Weiqing as she said: “Do not worry. I will definitely not lose.”
After saying that, Crow turned and strode towards the stage, ascending it swiftly.
Even though Lang Xie felt there was something amiss about their first victory, he couldn’t help but have a smile on his face. This was not some marathon fight after all, and they only needed to win three out of the five fights. Winning the first one would already give them a large advantage, and he decided to continue with his original plan and send out the second member of his team.
As both sides ascended the stage, the member from the Bai Da Battle Team was a short but stout fellow. He was only 1.6 metres tall or so, but his shoulders were almost as broad as his body’s length! His arms were thick and muscled, and with a flick of his wrist, four Icy Jade Physical Jewels appeared in a thick mist, before two large heavy hammers appeared in his grasp swiftly – his Consolidated Weapons.
His two heavy hammers were not as huge as Zhou Weiqing’s, but they were still over one chi in diameter! Together with his well built frame, it painted quite a sight.
Crow, seeing that this stout man had two Physical Jewels Consolidated into a pair of hammers, had a gleam in her eyes. Grinning, she brought out both her legendary hammers, crying out: “Shorty, you want to compete in physical strength with me?”
“Compete we shall. Your Father, I, have never been afraid of anyone in terms of physical strength. You big chick, do not think I might be small, but in terms of ‘that’, I am extremely powerful. Haven’t you heard of the term, short but powerful? Heh heh.” As he said that, he gave a lustful leer. 1
Crow struck her axes in front of her, giving forth a loud clash as she exclaimed as well, not backing down: “Shorty, this ‘old mother’ 2 will sandwich you 3 to death! Come on!”
Hearing the two exchange words, the judge immediately broke out in cold sweat; he was almost suspecting what this two were here for. Quickly, he shouted out: “Both sides, mind your words, if not I’ll suspend both of you. Do not forget that you are representing your empires. Introduce yourselves.”
Hearing the judge’s warning, both Crow and the stout fellow from the Bai Da Battle Team reined it in.
“Fei Li Battle Team, Crow.”
“Bai Da Battle Team, Xu Chuan.”
The judge did not bother reminding them of anything else, quickly saying: “Begin.” He then leapt back, not wanting to be caught between the two.
As soon as the judge shouted, Xu Chuan stomped his feet on the ground. *TONNGG* His short body shot forth like a cannonball, his hammers striking down from the sky towards Crow’s head.
In a strange coincidence, that Xu Chuan’s Elemental Jewels were also fire! His seemingly simple attack was actually not as simple as it seemed. At the four-Jeweled level, he was one of the lower cultivation levels in the entire Bai Da Battle Team, but just like he said, he was similar to Crow, his forte being physical strength.
As he jumped up into the air, a round shaped pauldrons appeared around both his shoulders. Naturally, those were his other two Consolidated Equipment. More importantly, all four of his Consolidated Equipment had sockets, and they were clearly all at least Grandmaster Consolidating Equipment or higher. At this point, all four of them lit up in a brilliant red light, as his shoulders were enveloped in a fiery red light, and as his entire body flew in mid air, he seemed like a huge round fireball.
The light in Crow’s eyes brightened, and she moved her legs apart in a ready stance, the axes in her hands sweeping upwards as she shouted: “OPEN!”
With a loud explosion that reverberated in the ears of the entire crowd, it almost shook the Plaza. The Battle Team members in their respective Resting Houses were the closest to the stage, and in that moment, many of their ears were ringing, and they had to swiftly circulate Heavenly Energy to protect their hearing.
As the axes and hammers clashed, Xu Chuan bounced back upwards, while Crow’s feet both sank deep into the stage. In the next moment, Xu Chuan struck down again, and the axes and hammers clashed continuously, a fierce fiery light sparking constantly, accompanying the loud explosive crashes as a clash of might happened on stage.
Xiao Yan, seated beside Zhou Weiqing, exclaimed suddenly, his face changing. “That’s a Secret Arts Fire Warrior! Someone has actually cultivated in that route?!”