Chapter 134: Conceding Defeat
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: celllll
Although Ling Tian’s internal energy was abnormally abundant, it was still inferior to the fortune teller’s. However, this was not the depressing part. Ling Tian’s internal energy was suspiciously pure and free of impurities despite being so abundant and the purity of Ling Tian’s energy could even be said to have surpassed the fortune teller’s. This made him unable to comprehend the situation; for someone as young as Ling Tian, how could he have managed to do both at the same time?
The green-robed fortune teller was naturally unaware that Ling Tian was not lacking in resources to cultivate his internal energy. First was using the unlimited XianTian energy in his mother’s womb to cultivate, second was the cultivation method that he used being a top-grade manual. It would be strange then, if he could not achieve such abundant internal energy! However, if Ling Tian’s advantages stopped here, the fortune teller would be surprised, but he would not feel that it was particularly heaven-defying.
The actual factor that floored the fortune teller was the fact that during the competition of internal energy, the methods Ling Tian used to manipulate his internal energy were one of a kind!
Under Ling Tian’s manipulation, the internal energy was first hot then cold, sometimes fast then slow; full of unpredictable changes as well as eccentric in its characteristics. This almost caused him to suffer an injury at the beginning! Such a unique style of employing energy, it was a first for the fortune teller! Ling Tian’s internal energy also appeared to be fickle, constantly fluctuating, one moment rushing forth like a river, another moment rock solid like a mountain facing off against a tsunami. Just when you had begun to acclimatized to his movements, yet another change would ensue. Gentle like a spring wind, frosty like a blizzard in winter, sneakily overcoming all defences and invading from all four points and eight directions! Slowly but surely, it would wear down an opponent’s strength!
During the first few waves of attack, the fortune teller had suffered quite a bit, relying on the experience he had accumulated for a good half of his life as well as giving it his all, in order to maintain his stance. In that few moments, he felt as though he had toed the line between life and death quite a few times!
This was not to say that the fortune teller was merely substandard, unable to compare with Ling Tian. On the contrary, his strength could actually be considered above Ling Tian. Thus, he was only reduced to a stalemate; if it were any other random person possessing similar internal strength as Ling Tian against him, that person would have long ago suffered from internal injuries, maybe even dying on the spot. After all, amongst all the martial competitions, a competition of internal strength is the most dangerous! In the end, he had to rely on the pure energy cultivated in the past decade, in order to endure Ling Tian’s crazed assault!
Just as the fortune teller thought that he had completely read the flow of Ling Tian’s internal energy route, and tightly guarded himself to await the attack of Ling Tian, the latter’s internal energy underwent a change again! It turned into a dense uninterrupted chain, not blindly charging in, but instead looking for weak links! To think it actually imitated the fortune teller to take on an attitude of tightly guarding itself!
He received a huge shock from Ling Tian’s sudden change, feeling as though he just threw his heaviest punch but having it landing on a sack of cotton. This sort of hollowness, which was unable to produce a sufficient force against his attack, almost made him suffer from an internal deviation. Luckily, the capabilities of the fortune teller did not just end there like any normal person and managed to pull through forcibly.
No matter how he increased or decreased his strength, the fortune teller was always mysteriously at a disadvantage; even though his internal strength obviously surpassed Ling Tian’s by a fair amount.
Ling Tian’s Divine Shocking Dragon Formula lay in the emphasis of the two words, shocking dragon. This was no coincidence, a dragon from the Nine Heavens was by nature whimsical, now violent and aggressive, the next gentle. One moment it could be summoning storms, the next vanishing into thin air! It was definitely the most well-known figure in the millennium-long history of the Chinese! With so many unique characteristics, so long as one could cultivate to the seventh layer and above, the property of their energy could be changed based on their will, causing opponents to be unable to seek any advantages.
It was a pity that Ling Tian had yet to properly step into that particular stage in cultivation, thus making him engage in prolonged attacks without a measure of success. Changing his tactic at the last moment and gambling for success was the last resort. But, it was a pity that Ling Tian was in the end unable to overcome the fortune teller. Although he appeared at a disadvantage, this was only because Ling Tian’s manipulation was unique and strange, allowing him the upper hand. As the saying went, ‘The first time is the strongest, second time weaker, and the third completely ineffective’, Ling Tian thought of using his peculiar method of controlling his internal energy to break through his defenses in the first try. Turning into a tightly guarded state was the state of his ‘second time’. So long as the fortune teller continued to hold his ground, forcing Ling Tian into the state of ‘third time ineffective’, then he could seize victory from him. As such, for this competition of internal strength, Ling Tian could have said to have lost if they were being judged.
Ling Tian’s expression was slightly pale, his thoughts spinning continuously as he contemplated on using his hidden weapons to obtain the victory. However, because the hidden weapons were too poisonous, it would undoubtedly end up in the death of the fortune teller. Ling Tian had no irreconcilable hatred with him, thus saw no point in employing such methods. In his depressed state, he did not notice that the fortune teller in front of him was already slightly sweating, his body trembling from time to time! Though the fortune teller was aware that victory was in his grasp, he did not dare to let down his guard as any mistake would result in his utter loss. He was deeply in awe of Ling Tian’s exquisite control over his internal energy. However, because of this same skill, it narrowed the gap between the both of them to an almost negligible point. Thus, he was not confident that he was able to avoid harming Ling Tian in the process of obtaining victory.
From afar, the laughter and voices of the two females traveled over, Ling Chen and Yu BingYan were already returning!
The fortune teller felt his heart skip a beat and he immediately urged forth his internal energy, using his superiority in abundant energy to seal up any holes in his defenses and retracted slightly, maintaining the stalemate between the two once again. Ling Tian, who was scrutinizing every single ebb of his internal energy, found out that the fortune teller's strength had increased, but did not bother to attack, which made him question the fortune teller’s motives. The fortune teller would probably know that a simple assault would probably grant him victory. However, he chose to contract and stabilise his defences instead. Were Ling Tian to grasp another opportunity to counterattack, the fortune teller would not be able to return to his winning throne.
How smart was Ling Tian? He immediately understood that the fortune teller had kind intentions in his heart and was willing to take the risk of being counterattacked in order to put an end to this stalemate. Both of them each glanced at the other, aware that this was actually the best time for them to eliminate the other side. However, Ling Tian imitated the fortune teller by gently retracting a part of his internal energy. The fortune teller retracted another part, followed by Ling Tian. This process continued till both parties had reached the minimum point. With a smile directed at each other, both withdrew their internal strength simultaneously! The battleground which was the teacup suddenly exploded into a pile of powder, disappearing without any evidence! As for the tea, it had long been evaporated by the contest of their internal energies!
Having competed to this stage, both of them had a rough understanding of each other. This was especially so for Ling Tian, he was now even more respectful of the fortune teller for taking the risk to retract his energy out of goodwill. Though he had the ability to break out of his predicament, Ling Tian had predicted that it would not be so easy as to free himself of any entrapment completely and thus had left his life to his opponent to decide. Just for this point of the fortune teller, Ling Tian was already full of respect for him!
"I’ve lost!"
"You’ve won!"
Different words, but with a similar outcome, sounded from both of their mouths. Ling Tian and the fortune teller both stared in shock for a moment, before bursting into laughter.
Because of the fortune teller’s skill in the martial way as well as his cultivation being profound, even higher than his own, just based on pure strength without any tricks whatsoever, the fortune teller would have won without a doubt. Thus, Ling Tian had admitted his loss. Furthermore, the fortune teller was straightforward and honest; even though he was facing a life and death scenario, he still chose to brave the danger to retract his energy. This was something Ling Tian would never do; thus, he could admit his loss with sincerity!
As for the fortune teller, he was impressed with the confidence and certainty in which Ling Tian manipulated his internal energy, his ease of doing so left him prostrating in awe! With so many unpredictable cards in his hands, any person with a hint of martial arts background would understand just how dangerous it was for a person to continuously practice like that! However, Ling Tian could actually attain the large success realm in doing so, just this outstanding talent was already enough to look at the latter with a whole new level of respect. The second point was to give him some form of encouragement; for someone of Ling Tian’s age to have accomplished this much, it was unprecedented and would probably never happen again! When he was at Ling Tian’s age, he probably only cultivated 3/10 of Ling Tian’s current strength, so it went without saying that he would admit his defeat!
The words were different, yet when they were spoken, both party’s impressions of each other changed yet again, their goodwill increasing further! Since the ancient times, it has been said that there was no top place for wisdom, but there’s no place for the second in the martial way. Especially for top exponents such as Ling Tian and the fortune teller, it would be easier to kill them than to get them to say the words "I’ve lost!" This would be even more so for the fortune teller, a senior who had roamed the world unhindered and could be considered a master of a generation. To actually admit his defeat to a junior so freely, Ling Tian could not help but praise his unfettered spirit.
As for the fortune teller, his evaluation of Ling Tian went up by a few more points. Ling Tian was a youth in possession of frightening skills, as well as an undying spirit, in the prime of his youthful hot-bloodedness. However, there was not an inch of arrogance in his attitude, his mental state stable and calm as a rock, not at all inferior to those old masters! The fortune teller could not help but appreciate Ling Tian even more; such level-headed young people were few!
The fact was that he did not know Ling Tian had come from another world. Being the object of bullying and scorn since young, in order to protect his life, he had long learned how to put his unhappiness behind him. After long periods of influence, Ling Tian’s style had thus become as such. To achieve his objective, win or lose, it did not matter.
In Ling Tian’s heart, the intellect, as well as magnanimity, of the fortune teller gave him a pleasant surprise. Even though they had only interacted for a short time, for the fortune teller to be able to read him so well spoke volumes of his superior intellect.
When the two had heard sounds of the ladies coming over, the fortune teller had reacted first and chosen to withdraw his hand! In that stalemate, if Ling Tian took the advantage of him withdrawing his strength to launch a surprise attack, even if he did not die, the fortune teller would be inflicted with huge injuries! The fortune teller could tell that Ling Tian wished to hide his strength from Yu BingYan, and thus knew that Ling Tian would not recklessly kill him in front of her! This was the reason he dared to risk his life.
From outside the room, the respectful voice of Ling Chen sounded out, "Young Noble, Ling Chen has returned with the lady." However, Ling Tian only continued smiling whilst looking at the fortune teller, as though he did not hear anything from her.
Shortly after, he heard Ling Chen whispering, "Miss Yu, it seems like they have not finished their conversation, how about we wait outside?" The light voice of Yu BingYan could be heard, but a hidden bitterness within. This was followed by the sound of footsteps walking away from the door.