Xue Wei continued to hide behind the expert from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect. Many experts both outside and inside of the ring were looking at him with disdain in their eyes and felt that the only reason he was capable of surviving up until now was because this esteemed expert from the great sects had decided to protect him for some reason.
The attacks rained down on the sect disciple. Although he was exceptionally skilled when compared to other third layered Sky Warriors, he was still not fully able to deal with every single attack from the group of four experts that were going all out against him.
He was using all his skills one after another. And slowly, the four experts were being worn out as they received more and more serious injuries. Although the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect’s disciple held the upper hand, he was also sustaining injuries, but unlike the others, it seemed as if these injuries mattered not to him and he kept fighting with the same ferocity as from the start, burning his Qi rapidly.
The first to succ.u.mb was a woman. She had been hit by a Yang Blast – a very potent martial art technique that the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's disciples learned early on.
It was an attack designed fully for attack power, and he had used it for the sake of knocking back two of the advancing four experts, but it had struck one of them, more specifically the woman, completely off-guard and severely injured her. She called out her surrender just in time
She was gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth in anger when she did this, but she understood that her life was the most important thing. Only when one was alive could one advance. When one died, everything ended.
The next one to surrender lasted the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn down after the first forfeited. This person was not one of the three remaining experts that had attacked Xue Wei and the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's member, but he was one of the three who had rushed to the middle and engaged in a frenzied battle.
He seemed to be around thirty-five years old, but he had a depressed look on his face as he was transported away from the battlefield.
He had received a grave injury which had cleaved into his arm right down and severed half of it so that one could see the entire bone.
At the same time, he also had multiple cuts and bruises all over his body. It was clear that he had taken quite a beating, and he had gained nothing from it!
This was indeed a great reason to be very unhappy and depressed.
The next one to fall lasted for as long as it takes to brew a pot of tea. This time it was once more one of the three remaining people who were ganging up on the expert from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect.
It was a man this time. He seemed to be older than the allowed age, but since they had tested the age of every partic.i.p.ant, it was clear that this person was within the threshold. He just seemed much older than he was.
This person was not incredibly strong, and his defense was nothing spectacular either, but he had a movement technique that let him avoid the majority of the attacks.
Unfortunately for him, the Ring of Fire that the disciple from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect had released was constantly churning and moving around like snakes on the ground.
They moved in erratic patterns and came in many shapes, so he got caught by one of these snakes and was swiftly dispatched by a Yang Energy Blast.
This Yang Blast contained all the energy that the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's disciple could pour into one attack. When it came into contact with the expert's chest, it exploded outwards, causing ma.s.sive ripples to appear and ripping open a gaping wound in his chest that almost exposed his ribcage.
So far, two out of five had already been rendered incapable of continuing the fight from that same ability, the Yang Energy Blast, and the result was even more horrifying the second time than it had been the first.
The remaining two experts looked at the disciple from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect with wariness in their eyes.
They understood that if they wanted to win, their biggest obstacle was this cultivator from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect in front of them. None of them took Xue Wei seriously at all.
Even the experts from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect were losing all respect for Xue Wei. Allowing an enemy to protect you is simply so embarra.s.sing that it cannot be described with words, but that was what Xue Wei was doing right now.
What they believed was the reason could not be farther from the truth, however. The members of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect were all certain that this disciple was doing it for the sake of allowing their senior brother to deal with Xue Wei personally.
Xue Wei, on the other hand, knew the truth. This expert wanted nothing more than to rip Xue Wei apart, but he did not have the strength to do it. He could not even withstand Xue Wei’s soul skill.
Xue Wei was rather amused by the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect’s reaction. He had already come up with multiple reasons for what they might expect was happening, anything from bribery to friends.h.i.+p had been considered by him, but he had constantly wondered about what he should do to hide his usage of a soul skill from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect members.
Now it seemed that they had found a reason on their own. And from the gloating expressions on their faces, alongside the disdain in their eyes, Xue Wei could roughly guess what this conclusion was.
The leader of the Cerulean Starlight Sect was rather confused as to what was happening. He did not know the incident between Xue Wei, Hei Gou, and the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect.
But he did feel a threatening air from Xue Wei. Had the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect noticed something and was now trying to reel him in? He did not know, but if this was the case, then he was truly disappointed in Xue Wei. To give in so easily to temptation like this was unsightly.
The Argent Moon's Xiong Bing was also shocked and feeling uneasy. She recognized Xue Wei’s presence right away, and she had too felt that he was a talented youth, yet now he was doing nothing and was just letting the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's youth defeat the others for him.
"This is no good," Xue Wei said to himself as he observed what was happening. He wanted as many as possible to die so that he could loot them.
He also knew that if the member of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect managed to survive, then he would not be able to use the Mind Infestation on them again.
Although some of their disciples were rather stupid, their leader was not. He would know exactly what had happened and would come up with a way to counter it.
Xue Wei was a little disappointed in the other members of the group. The three that had engaged in battle with each another was of no use to him, and the five who had engaged in battle with the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect disciple were all incredibly weak.
Xue Wei sighed. If only he had been more proficient with the Mind Infestation ability, then he would make the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect’s disciple he was controlling trash talk and insult the others in their arena so much that they would all gather together to go against him, but this was not possible.
So instead he could only turn down the ferociousness with which his puppet fought. The command that Xue Wei gave was to fight back, but only enough to injure the opposing party, not enough to injure them badly enough to forfeit.
The expert was completely mind controlled. Even if it cost him his life, he would do what he had been told to do, and he stopped fighting back ferociously and instead it looked like a friendly spar.
Xue Wei looked troubled, but many were of the impression that he was troubled because the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's member no longer seemed to hold the overwhelming upper hand.
"What is he doing?" The leader of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's group asked with a very chilling voice.
"He is tarnis.h.i.+ng our Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect’s face! This is simply unacceptable. He is helping the enemy. Before, it could be accepted because he was dominating the others, but right now it seems as if he is about to be swallowed up whole by the other three experts."
"This is simply a disgrace!" The leader was anything but happy. During the battle, he had heard the more minute details about the episode they had encountered before, and he was livid.
He knew who was at fault, and he also knew that their Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect loathed those who used their strength to bully the weak, yet this was exactly what their members had done.
Xue Wei looked around, and then he canceled Mind Infestation on the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's member and targeted another expert, one of the two who were in the middle of a fight.
He did not make any fancy orders when his mind-control target changed, but he instantly shattered the man’s soul, and switched Mind Infestation back to take control of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's member again.
Everything had happened so fast that no one knew what exactly had happened.
It seemed as if the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's member's face suddenly turned extremely ugly - the first sign of emotion his face had shown since entering the stage - and then it had turned tranquil again.
At the same time, someone had collapsed on the stage. This person was without a doubt dead, but no one was more surprised than the expert that was fighting him.
This expert knew that although he had injured his enemy quite a few times, none of these wounds were lethal, yet he had dropped dead just like that. It was simply impossible to understand.
However, he was still an expert of the third layer of the Sky Warrior rank with plenty of combat experience, so he instantly turned to the other enemies that were present in the arena.
His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Xue Wei standing casually behind the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's disciple, his arms crossed over his chest, and his gaze pondering.
The Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect disciple’s battle was much more intense. He was giving his all, and although he did not hold the upper hand, he was not losing either, the two sides slowly grinding each other down.
Seeing this, a cold chill ran down the spine of the expert. The only one who could have done something against the opponent he was just fighting earlier was this casually standing Xue Wei.
"The biggest issue here is not the member of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect, but the one who can make such a person work for him!" was the conclusion the expert reached.
After reaching this conclusion, an eagerness to do battle appeared in his eyes. He rushed at Xue Wei, who casually lifted his head and smirked when he saw the person coming at him.
Then a figure suddenly appeared and blocked his path, slas.h.i.+ng out with a sword followed by a fist.
Two martial arts were being used simultaneously, and the expert was blocked in his path. In front of him was the expert from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect.
He was doing everything in his power to get past him, but one attack after another rained down on his body.
It was clear that the expert from the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect was taking heavy damage from the other experts that did not hesitate to fight him when his attention was elsewhere, but he moved as if he felt no pain and as if he was a machine.
Blood flowed from his back and sides, dying the golden embroideries and the fabric of his robes a deep shade of red.
But no matter how many injuries he gained, he continued to fight back with relentless fierceness. This was what one would expect from a life-and-death battle, and this was exactly what Xue Wei had waited for.
The four experts were now engaged in a battle of attrition that seemed to have no end.
The battle became more and more b.l.o.o.d.y. The amount of injuries kept growing, and eventually two more gave up, leaving two experts battling with their all.
"I will bet my all on this strike!" the last opponent yelled out and rushed at the disciple of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect with his sword at the ready above his head. His eyes were blazing red.
He was using an arcane ability to raise his strength forcefully. Seeing this, Xue Wei's eyes lit up, and a small smile played on his lips. This was the ideal way to get rid of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's member without killing him himself.
Moments after, the two collided, but the Yang Energy Blast that the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's member had used was all flashy and no substance.
His Qi was shattered and quickly swallowed up by the wave of energy that came cras.h.i.+ng in from the opponent, wrecking the entire body of the Crimson Suns.h.i.+ne Sect's expert.
Xue Wei snickered as he shattered the soul of the expert. He did not want to risk him barely surviving.
Qi had shrouded everyone's vision, so no one saw the expression on Xue Wei's face. And it was only when the dust and leftover Qi started to dissipate that one could see the lifeless and bloodied body on the ground.
