Chapter 134: But it all Happened in an Instant

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Every moment holds a myriad of possibilities.

That does not mean one should try to take all of them into account when making a choice. Possibilities are possibilities, not certainties. Most of the time, there are only three or four truly probable outcomes. Indeed, one who tries to take everything into account might find themselves paralyzed by indecision.

The idea of all the bracelets in the Sparring Hall shutting down simultaneously was never one Liu Jin entertained seriously. It was too blunt. Too obvious. Too risky. The attack on Senior Brother Luo hinted at a far more stealthy operation.

And yet, as everyone in the Sparring Hall looks at their bracelets with confusion, Liu Jin can only conclude he greatly underestimated Bu Jing’s grudge against him.

This cannot be as simple as Bu Jing being angry because he lost the pill-making contest during the feast. Bu Jing’s words when he tried to challenge him in the Medical Pavilion seem to have more truth in them than Liu Jin imagined. Bu Jing really hates Liu Jin for helping depose Elder Cheung. Enough to discard all manner of carefully laid plans and do away with all pretenses of subtlety. A foolish move under most circumstances, yet it is Liu Jin who is now in trouble because of it.

The bracelets are inert, unresponsive to any sort of Qi. As long as that remains true, no rule-breaking will be recorded in this room.

Right now, anything can happen in the Sparring Hall. People can fight to their heart’s content without having to consider the rules. Pan Qiu is not safe here. Nobody is safe here.

No matter what happens, it will be the victors who decide what story to tell.

Liu Jin’s mind processes all this in less than a second, yet it feels much longer than that. It is an implosion that sucks away all sound and color from the room, leaving nothing more than perfect stillness in its wake. The calm before the coming storm.

Bu Jing attacks.

His fist comes hard and fast. Liu Jin barely has any time to raise his arms to block.

Bu Jing is not a physically imposing man. Though older than Liu Jin by a few years, their builds are not dissimilar. He is not like Senior Brother Guo or even Bei Hong. Bu Jing is tall, but also lean and pale, sickly-looking even.

The ring cracks under his strength.

Pain explodes in Liu Jin’s arms. The punch hammers his body into the ring all the way up to his knees. Deep cracks like spider webs spread over the surface of the ring, threatening to shatter it entirely.

The second blow comes.

Bu Jing’s hand slashes down at Liu Jin, the edge of it glowing with Qi laced with menacing intent. Memories of the Eastern Port City Tournament, of Yun Han and his Severing Palm, flash through Liu Jin’s mind.

He reacts in much the same way as he did back then.

[Art of the Roaming Thief]

In one step, Liu Jin has moved into Bu Jing’s blind spot. In three, he’s directly behind him. Bu Jing’s slash cuts deep into the ring, yet the damage does not travel far. The length of the cut created is barely inches longer than Bu Jing’s hand.

Not quite Yun Han’s Severing Palm then.

Bu Jing’s attack is obviously far stronger than Yun Han’s ever was on account of his higher cultivation level. However, it is also not an offensive technique at all.

It is a medical technique.

A scalpel.

Despite its lethality, the basis of the technique is a scalpel. That cannot be hidden from someone as experienced with the medical arts as Liu Jin. Bu Jing, it seems, is a disciple of the Medical Pavilion through and through.

Three needles appear between Liu Jin’s fingers.

Bu Jing pivots on his heel, his hand slicing through the air. Liu Jin snatches his wrist and drives three needles into Bu Jing’s arm with pinpoint accuracy, rendering the limb inert.

[Ground Contraction]

Liu Jin vanishes from Bu Jing’s range before the latter can counter, his Qi already working to heal the damage done by Bu Jing’s first hit. Now that he is in the Fifth Level of the Spirit Realm, his regenerative capabilities have greatly improved. In fact, rather than calling it regeneration, Liu Jin is starting to realize it is more akin to his soul dictating which shape his body should have.

Still, Bu Jing will be his first real test. That first hit had done more damage than all the other sparring matches Liu Jin has had since leaving isolation other than the one against Huang Shing. It isn’t just a matter of brute strength. Back then, Liu Jin had felt Bu Jing’s soul clash against his.

Wrath. Hurt. Loneliness.

An Inner Disciple goes flying over Liu Jin’s head. Another one craters next to him. Out of the corner of his eyes, Liu Jin sees Bei Hong and Bei Duyi fighting one another, their fists and kicks clanging against their golden bodies. A duet of maddened bells.

Maybe Bu Jing had thrown the first punch. Maybe someone else had. It does not matter. The entire room has fallen prey to the chaos.

“Do you think this will work against me?” Bu Jing asks. Qi carries his voice directly to Liu Jin over the noise of all the fights happening around them. “I am not a reprobate like those you have faced before.”

Green Qi surrounds Bu Jing’s injured limb. His veins bulge against his skin, and the needles Liu Jin placed pop out and fall to the floor. The limb, which had been useless moments ago, rises and points at Liu Jin.

“Today, you face a true doctor.”

Bu Jing’s Qi shines around him, his intent as clear as day. At the Third Level of the True Realm, Bu Jing is a Core Disciple for all intents and purposes.

His soul roars like a lion at Liu Jin.

It is so clear to him now that Liu Jin wonders how he could have ever missed it. Bu Jing’s soul is wrapped around his body like armor. His strength is not just physical. Each of his attacks carries the weight of his soul in them.

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“Today, I shall take revenge for Elder Cheung.”

“Brother Bu, your words do not make any sense.”

Liu Jin keeps his eyes on Bu Jing, but his mind does its best to identify every single Qi in the room through the chaos of battle. Pan Qiu, Liu Jin detects with some relief, is still alive and unharmed. Fan Bingbing and the two guards are keeping him safe.

Liu Jin needs to get to them quickly.

“How could a true doctor possibly want to take revenge for someone who tried to harvest people’s dantian?”

Bu Jing does not react in rage. His pale eyes are empty pools, unmarred by a single disturbance.

In the blink of an eye, he vanishes.

Accelerated by a movement technique, Bu Jing reaches Liu Jin in a fraction of a second. His hands glow with Qi as he slashes away at Liu Jin.

[Art of the Roaming Thief – Third Step]

Bu Jing’s hand reaches Liu Jin. A victorious gleam shines in his cold eyes as his limb cuts into the younger disciple’s chest. It fades a moment later, replaced by outrage, when Liu Jin’s body vanishes into wispy nothingness.

The first step of Art of the Roaming Thief reads the opponent’s Qi to step into their blind spot. The second one blends into the environment.

The third one leaves behind a mirage.

It is not merely a trick of speed. Rather, Liu Jin leaves behind an imprint of his Qi while simultaneously blending his Qi with the environment. This confuses his foes into seeing an image that is not there.