Chapter 303: Mountain

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Chen Guo does not run or use any sort of movement technique to get closer to Huang Shing. The disciple of the Infinite Mountain Sect merely punches the air in Huang Shing’s direction without launching any sort of projectile.

It is like being hit by a mountain.

Stars explode in Huang Shing’s vision. His body carves a mile-long trench through the forest in the blink of an eye, breaking through countless trees. If not for Huang Shing managing to twist in the air and dig his legs into the ground, he’d have probably kept going. Never in his life has he been struck with so much weight. Compared to Chen Guo, even Brother Hong’s best hits can only be called playful.

That could not have been a casual attack, Huang Shing tells himself. He flares his Qi as his regeneration starts working to mend his body. It might have been more than five years since he last saw him, but Chen Guo could not have possibly grown this much. If he has, everyone has been severely underestimating the Crimson Cloud Tournament.

No, that had to have been a technique of some kind…or something worse.

As Huang Shing contemplates the worst scenario, Chen Guo bursts into view with his fist drawn back. Huang Shing immediately dashes out of the way, his every instinct screaming at him that he cannot be in front of Chen Guo. The instant Chen Guo’s arm finishes its motion, the area in front of him is blown away completely. Huang Shing accelerates his body with Qi and attacks Chen Guo from the side.

[Fourth Dragon Slaying Palm – Blooming Lotus]

His Qi blooms pink like the petals of a lotus as his fist connects directly, unleashing the full force of his attack on Chen Guo.

Someone screams in pain.

It is Huang Shing.

He staggers back, looking at his hand in disbelief.

It is broken.

“Not possible,” he says, instinctively backing away when Chen Guo turns to face him.

This is not an issue of toughness. It is not that Chen Guo’s body had been too durable for him to hurt. It just…

It just felt like he was punching an entire mountain.

Huang Shing sucks in air through his teeth. The slow way in which his hand is healing only confirms his worst suspicions. It isn’t just a technique. Chen Guo can tap into his Dao. At least, Huang Shing hopes he can only tap into it. Otherwise, this fight will be very painful for him.

Still, he smiles.

“I am flattered,” he says, his aura rising around him like green fire. “To think I’d be so young when presented with the chance to topple a whole mountain!”

Chen Guo’s thick eyebrows furrow in his brow.

“There is no need for bravado here,” he says. “No one will think less of you if you’re honest.”

Bravado?

Bravado!

Huang Shing throws his head back and laughs. So stupid. To think he once thought this man was anything like Feng Zhi!

“You really aren’t like him,” Huang Shing says, grinning widely. “If you were, that’d have been meant as a taunt, but you actually mean it, don’t you? You are actually concerned for my pride! That’s so nice I feel guilty for what I did! No wonder I survived last time.”

Mentioning the past makes Chen Guo’s frown grow by a few millimeters. It might not seem like much, but the man is a little like Sister Fan in that the barest shows of emotion imply much.

He must be very angry with him.

“Don’t tell him I said this, but I am a little thankful to that bastard Feng Zhi,” Huang Shing says, lightly bouncing on his feet as he prepares to continue the fight. “I wasn’t doing much in Soaring Cloud City, and I was fine with that. However, he gave me a reason to leave, a motive, a purpose. I encountered pirates, so I fought them. A bear crossed my path, so I killed it. I fought shadows in Night Forest Nation, monsters in the Dead Plains, and a war in the Storm Dragon Empire. No matter what obstacles crossed my path, I overcame them! This is no different!”

“Enough,” Chen Guo says, “I have no time for this.”

He comes at him, and as Huang Shing backs away, he notices that it is not that Chen Guo is moving fast. Rather, the number of steps he has to take to cross the distance between the two is smaller than it should be.

It means that when Chen Guo is directly in front of him and punching, Huang Shing is still fast enough to get out of the way in time. Once again, he is facing Chen Guo’s flank. Once again, his Qi blooms with force. Once again, he strikes.

[Fourth Dragon Slaying Palm – Blooming Lotus]

Three inches.

That is how far Huang Shing’s attack pushes Chen Guo.

It is three inches more than last time.

Chen Guo looks at him, not hurt, but the slight widening of his eyes speaks volumes. He looks down at Huang Shing’s unbroken fist, then at his grinning face, before quickly launching an uppercut that would have taken Huang Shing’s head off had it connected.

“Careful,” Huang Shing says, having jumped back and landed in the branches of the tree. “Those fists of yours are too dangerous.”

“How?”

A simple question, yet there is no mistaking its meaning. Huang Shing’s grin grows.

“You should have let me finish, Young Master,” he says. “I was trying to tell you. Everything that crosses my path, I have overcome. You’re a mountain. No matter how impressive a mountain might be, it’s only an obstacle made to be conquered by man!”

Huang Shing takes a deep breath and tests out his right fist. It is not fully healed, but it will have to do. With both his fists held up, he faces Chen Guo.

“This is no bravado! It is simply my unshakable way of life!”

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Chen Guo looks at him in silence for a full second.

“Interesting.”

His Qi rises.

~~~

“Is this it?”

Yi Jiao squints as she kneels down to better look at the object while a vein throbs in Feng Zhi’s forehead. After more than two days, their search for a relic has finally borne fruit.

It is a dagger.

No, calling it dagger makes it sound far more impressive than it actually is. Even calling it a knife is too much.

It is a paper knife.

A paper knife!

The thing is small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. It has a black handle and a dull silver blade only fit to cut paper. Even then, it might have trouble with anything thicker than an eyelash. The “weapon” is not resting on an altar or deep inside some temple. It is just lying on the ground, looking so completely unremarkable that anyone passing by would probably miss it.

In fact, that is what happened to them. They repeatedly walked past this place without noticing the paper knife. Only after several hours of walking in circles–something they only discovered because Feng Zhi burned down a few trees in frustration–did they finally spot the damned thing.

“It does not look that impressive,” Yi Jiao says, poking the handle.

Feng Zhi growls and snatches it, making Yi Jiao cry in surprise.

“This!” Feng Zhi shouts as he raises the paper knife to the skies. “This is supposed to be a relic of the Crimson Cloud?! This is why you made us walk in circles for so long?!”

It is foolish to judge things based solely on their appearance. That is a lesson Feng Zhi received a long time ago, and it is not one he has forgotten about. However, Feng Zhi has seen the other relics obtained by the Eternal Flame Clan. Every single one of them inspires such awe that it is impossible to mistake them for anything resembling ordinary.