Chapter 289: This Shangshan Che Is Covered In Openings, So Why Can’t I Even Scratch His Clothes?!
On the vast arena.
Under the gaze of thousands of audience members, Yan Liu, with a relaxed expression on his face, stood facing Shangshan Che, who wore the Red Hannya Mask that couldn’t help but evoke a subtle sense of disgust.
“I’m just speaking the truth. People without talent and ability have no meaning in their efforts, no matter how hard they cultivate.”
Yan Liu did not raise his voice.
But his voice, amplified by both the Qi Barrier and the microphone outside the arena, was heard clearly by everyone in the venue and watching the live stream.
In the audience seats, Chisa, who had been silently clenching her fists to cheer for Shangshan Che, bit her lip, her small fists clenched even tighter.
Shangshan Che thought for a moment but did not reply.
He had originally wanted to say that Yan Liu’s logic was laughably clueless.
—If there are people in this world who became strong through effort, then according to his reasoning, wouldn’t they all have so-called “talent” and “aptitude”?
But in the end, Shangshan Che did not voice these thoughts.
Because he felt that compared to standing there trading barbs with Yan Liu, speaking with his fists would be simpler, more direct, and more straightforward.
A guy who got a little arrogant after some achievements needed to be sobered up by the unyielding reality.
“I just feel like there’s a dog barking somewhere, it’s really annoying.”
Shangshan Che tilted his head, his gaze passing over the referee’s just-raised arm, and asked calmly,
“Don’t you think so, Yan Liu?”
Yan Liu narrowed his eyes but observed no traces of “Qi” flowing on Shangshan Che’s body surface.
“Shangshan Jun, this is the only time you’re good for running your mouth.”
He chuckled lightly, took a deep breath, and compressed all his Qi Barrier into his body, transforming it into a source of violent power: “Don’t end up like that kid who only plays Pokémon, getting kicked flying by me in one go.”
Just now, Shangshan Che had reacted very quickly when conceding, proving he was definitely proficient in speed.
Since that’s the case.
Yan Liu slightly crouched his body, locking his pupils on Shangshan Che and casting aside all other matters.
—Then I’ll crush you in the field you’re good at, until you’re completely battered!
“Match begins.”
The instant the referee’s palm dropped, Yan Liu vanished from his spot, leaving a series of dōgi afterimages across the arena.
A distance of over a hundred meters was crossed in less than half a blink of an eye.
But from Yan Liu’s perspective, Shangshan Che remained completely still.
Still?
Why wasn’t he moving at all?
A doubt rose in Yan Liu’s heart, but it did not affect his instant arrival behind Shangshan Che.
Landing, twisting hips, extending leg!
A high roundhouse kick identical to the one that had knocked out Higashiyama Ke earlier was about to land on Shangshan Che’s chin!
But the moment the whip leg was about to come within thirty centimeters of Shangshan Che’s body surface, Yan Liu suddenly felt an ominous premonition of death, like falling into an ice cellar.
His intuition told him—if he kicked out like this, he would definitely die.
Boom boom boom!
Amid the fine sonic booms, Yan Liu retreated to the edge of the arena in the blink of an eye of an ordinary audience member, staring intently at the still completely motionless Shangshan Che.
Cold sweat like paste was already slowly dripping from his chin.
“What’s wrong, not coming at me?”
Shangshan Che raised his eyes and asked flatly.
With a turn of his thoughts, he released the complex Qi Circulation fused together by Spirit Control Technique, the Flame Armor, and the high-pressure lightning storm compressed within it, beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
If Yan Liu had kicked from behind just now, he would have been violently blasted against the arena edge.
Yan Liu did not reply, just panting heavily, his heart pounding as he stared at Shangshan Che, who had made no moves throughout.
What was going on… Clearly this guy was full of openings all over his body, so why did he feel that kicking from behind would definitely kill him?
After the boos from the audience in the venue and a brief observation, Yan Liu finally noticed that there was no Qi Barrier fluctuation on Shangshan Che’s body surface.
Right, where was his Qi Circulation?
Where had it gone?
Yan Liu scanned and examined several times but found nothing.
Could it be that this Shangshan Che was an Onmyoji?
Yan Liu thought to himself.
Possible, because his stance didn’t resemble any fist technique school, and he wasn’t holding any weapons.
But if so, where was his Shikigami?
He hadn’t seen it.
Yan Liu’s knowledge of Onmyoji was next to nothing.
He not only didn’t understand the differences between Four Paths and Five Elements and Heretical Paths, but even thought all Onmyoji should have Shikigami, just like Higashiyama Ke.
……
Crunch crunch.
“Shangshan Jun is indeed amazing, heh heh… This Yan Liu is just a local emperor in his little patch of land, thinking the whole world is at the level he’s seen.”
Kyuuketsuin Kin munched on potato chips, pointing at Yan Liu’s shocked and suspicious expression on the big screen with his red fingers covered in seasoning, shouting,
“Shangshan Jun, beat him up for me, beat him hard!”
“Never tasted defeat since birth, everything going smoothly, getting whatever he wants, doing whatever he pleases— isn’t it normal for someone with that life experience to look down on everyone?”
Gen Shinsui’s expression remained unchanged, merely glancing sideways at the half-eaten bag of potato chips in Kyuuketsuin Kin’s hand.
She said indifferently: “He won both of his previous challenges, so he should look down on Shangshan Che.”
“That’s human nature.”
“Sister Shinsui, what are you talking about?”
Kyuuketsuin Kin took out a palm-sized potato chip from the bag and handed it over, blinking in confusion: “Sister Shinsui, you’ve never lost either, and you’re humble now, aren’t you?”
Gen Shinsui, using Qi Barrier to catch the potato chip, stared at the boy prettier than most women, and suddenly burst out laughing as if she’d heard the biggest joke,
“Me, humble?”
After finishing the potato chip in small bites, Gen Shinsui asked,
“Little Kin, why do you think I’m related to humility?”
Kyuuketsuin Kin raised a finger seriously: “Because when Sister Shinsui first came to my room, you asked me how to turn on the air conditioner, right?”
“Does that count as humility?” Gen Shinsui countered, “It’s just asking an expert in an unknown field. Isn’t that only natural?”
“Of course it counts!”
Kyuuketsuin Kin sucked on his finger, hands on his smooth white belly: “Someone not humble would keep the request to themselves, maybe even break my air conditioner!”
“Like the old folks in our family and yours…”
“I want this one.”
Gen Shinsui pointed at the bag of potato chips in Kyuuketsuin Kin’s lap, interrupting him.
Kyuuketsuin Kin subconsciously wanted to hand it over, but after glancing around with his peripheral vision, he realized it was the last bag of barbecue flavor.
So he coughed twice,
“Sister Shinsui, I’ll get you a new bag.”
“No, I want this one.”
Before Kyuuketsuin Kin could react, the remaining half bag of potato chips fell into Gen Shinsui’s hand and was completely eaten by her in one tilt of the head.
After crumpling the packaging bag into a ball and tossing it into the trash can, Gen Shinsui commented to Kyuuketsuin Kin,
“This flavor is pretty good, we can buy more in the future.”
Moments later, she asked again: “Little Kin, am I still humble?”
Kyuuketsuin Kin fell silent.
“Little Kin, remember this.”
Gen Shinsui said: “No matter how gentle, humble, or helpful the strong appear on the surface… the essence of the strong can never be humble.”
Kyuuketsuin Kin retorted: “I am…”
Gen Shinsui stared at him quietly, the meaning in her gaze self-evident.
You, considered strong?
“Forget it, not arguing with you, Sister Shinsui.”
Kyuuketsuin Kin stood up, grabbed two bags of potato chips, and started munching crunch crunch.
After a while, he mumbled,
“Sister Shinsui, who do you think will take first place, Shangshan Jun or your sister?”
……
On the arena, Shangshan Che, who hadn’t moved a step, spread his hands,
“Seeing how scared you are, I won’t make things hard for you.”
Under the watchful eyes of countless people, Shangshan Che said clearly: “As long as you can make me bleed, I’ll concede immediately.”
Yan Liu instantly looked up, his gaze turning icy: “Shangshan Jun, are you looking down on me?”
“You can look down on others, but no one else can do the same to you?”
Shangshan Che shrugged: “Anyway, my words stand.”
“Then—get off the stage!”
Boom!
Yan Liu lifted his leg, stamping a half-inch deep footprint into the specially made arena.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Accompanying the collisions between his body and the arena, deafening booms erupted, growing denser and faster.
The first step was still visible to ordinary people, but in a flash, Yan Liu turned into a black-red stream of light charging toward Shangshan Che.
A subtle vibration reached under the seats of the front row audience.
“Hellfire, Mountain Collapse Fist!”
In Yan Liu’s angry shout, the fist containing the massive energy of dozens of full-force steps thrust out like a supersonic cannonball.
Crimson Qi Barrier flames splashed like flowing water, the terrifying momentum making it feel like it could truly shatter mountains.
Then, it was like crashing into an immovable rigid body.
Abruptly halting.
Buzz buzz buzz…
Buzzing and whistling filled Yan Liu’s skull.
In the instant the faint smoke dissipated, Yan Liu realized it was the faint mournful sound from his own body.
And in front of him, Shangshan Che, wearing the Red Hannya Mask, stood unmoving, his eyes mocking.
Yan Liu had no time to think, clutching his numb right arm as he retreated in a flash, his thoughts in turmoil.
He had been blocked by something!?
There was clearly nothing between him and Shangshan Che!
—But in the eyes of true experts, the space in front of Shangshan Che was a riot of colors, vibrant and multicolored.
Various colors were irrationally compressed together, converging over the original Qi Circulation.
Takizawa Kai, who could only see Spiritual Power and Flame Armor, frowned in thought, realizing he couldn’t achieve such a feat no matter what.
Saito Ryuichi had already sighed helplessly in his heart, calculating how to secure third and fourth place.
The two from Kamo and Tsuchimikado both looked grave, exchanging glances and simultaneously seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes.
Because to control Spiritual Power and Qi Barrier to this degree, aside from Ghost Gods proficient in it, there was only…
“A pieced-together shield can’t block my sword.”
Minamoto Shizuka stroked Hotarumaru’s blade, soothing the bloodthirsty Demonic Sword: “It won’t be long before I can face that person.”
“—That punch consumed about 15% of my Qi and Spiritual Energy reserves.”
Shangshan Che sensed the sudden drop in his Qi and thought that Yan Liu’s fist was pretty powerful.
Barely passable.
But under the coordination of master-level Spirit Control Technique, it was just so-so.
Far from the limit of this “shield.”
This bit of consumption was negligible.
At this moment, on the TOP6 seats, Two-Foot Adult, with her hat brim pulled low and petite figure, sat cross-legged, quietly watching Shangshan Che.
A mere 15% consumption could be fully recovered in a few breaths.
Not to mention he still had Qi Spiritual Energy in his acupoints and Sea of Qi unused.
“What’s wrong?”
Shangshan Che pointed at the young man whose upper dōgi was already torn and who was shaking his arm, chuckling,
“Yan Liu, is that the power of your pissed-off punch?”
“Very good… Shangshan Che.”
Yan Liu stomped, shattering his trouser leg completely and revealing rings of black bands tied around his legs.
“These special steel rings were originally put on because I was too bored, to limit my strength.”
Amid the audience’s gasps, he reached out and removed all the black rings, tossing them onto the arena with loud thuds.
Yan Liu rolled his shoulders, hopping in place at several times his previous speed: “You barely deserve me using my full strength!”
Before his words finished, Yan Liu flipped and kicked full force toward Shangshan Che.
The supersonic kick tore through the air, forming a vacuum blade wrapped in black-crimson Qi Barrier.
Hellstorm Kick!
An ordinary person wouldn’t react in time and would be bisected.
Even Raikō, suspected of having cultivated the Palace of Flesh, would inevitably get a cut on his body surface when blocking.
“Oh.”
Shangshan Che flexed his finger and flicked.
Deep purple Lightning, driven by Spirit Control Technique, turned into an eye-hard-to-discern thin line, casually slicing the so-called vacuum blade into pieces.
Then realigning, it leisurely exploited the crude Qi Circulation’s opening, grazing past Yan Liu’s cheek.
Sizzle.
In Yan Liu’s senses, he had just kicked out Hellstorm Kick when he felt a slight sting on the left side of his cheek.
The young man subconsciously raised his hand, then felt sticky blood all over it.
Huh?
His Qi Circulation was breached?
Yan Liu was just stunned when the sound of the Hellstorm Kick being shattered reached his ears.
When… was I injured?
Yan Liu looked up in disbelief, hearing Shangshan Che’s indifferent voice drift over—
“I’m a super invincible total waste who only took two whole months to reach beginner in Natural Reason School, and Five Elements Onmyōdō only just now.”
Shangshan Che paused, then flicked again, using Lightning to shear off a lock of Yan Liu’s sideburns, shrugging indifferently,
“But even this waste made you bleed, effortlessly.”
This was indeed the truth.
Without the aid of Soul Incense Ash and visible proficiency progress, Shangshan Che’s initial all-out cultivation sessions would only yield one or two proficiency points.
In the VIP seats, Tamamo had stood up, waving her fists and shouting at the top of her lungs,
“Beat him, beat him for me, humiliate this arrogant bastard hard, Eldest Brother Shangshan!”
Chisa also excitedly clenched her small fists, but unlike her sister who chattered nonstop, she silently cheered for Shangshan Che on the arena in her heart.
Beside them, Hozoin Inrai pondered the two bolts of Lightning that had left marks in his eyes, pleasantly licking his lips,
“This one looks quite delicious.”
Okabe Motonobu sat silently.
—This Shangshan Che guy didn’t remove his mask, didn’t move at all; aside from being “strong,” he showed no resemblance to that Che whatsoever.
If only this guy would wield a sword.
As long as he swung a blade, Okabe Motonobu could gauge him roughly.
Of course, there was an even simpler way.
Okabe Motonobu just needed to look up now to see Two-Foot Adult in the TOP6 seats, whom she had seen before.
Unfortunately, her attention was fully on the arena battle, afraid to miss any detail.
“Ryuji, in your view, is what that Shangshan kid said true?”
Also in the venue, the area around Tokugawa Motoyasu was unusually quiet.
“All lies.”
Tokugawa Ryuji answered instantly: “It was clear from the exchange just now—Shangshan Che is an undiluted, once-in-a-century super genius, not inferior to me at all.”
The next Tokugawa Head of the Clan, also undefeated, evaluated: “If he’d started cultivating from childhood, he might have surpassed me long ago.”
“Is that so…”
Amid the vague murmur, Tokugawa Motoyasu opened his bark-like withered eyelids.
……
“Waste? What a joke…”
Yan Liu clenched his fists, his whole body’s muscles writhing like coiling dragons, his skin beginning to emit bursts of steam like a red-hot iron.
As time briefly passed, the drumming heartbeat from Yan Liu’s chest grew louder, soon overpowering the sounds from the entire audience.
Crimson Qi Barrier substantially flowed, forming one ferocious Rakshasa phantom after another behind Yan Liu.
The Rakshasas’ bodies grew taller, emitting waves of cruel sneers.
This scene, if witnessed at midnight, would undoubtedly be called the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!
At this moment, Yan Liu, carrying the suffocating ferocious might of these hundred Rakshasa ghosts, arrived before the still-standing Shangshan Che in a near-divine-speed step.
His body swollen to small giant size, Yan Liu reared back his fist, roaring with killing intent,
“—Hellfire, Rakshasa Fist!”
The hundred Rakshasas roared, surging forward!
Earth-shaking commotion suddenly erupted throughout the venue, then vanished in an instant.
Soaring smoke and dust rose, blocking all cameras, making countless audience members hold their breath.
Several seconds later, the smoke slowly dissipated.
The audience could then see the terrifying aftershocks of the Rakshasa Fist, which had shaved dozens of centimeters off the arena within a ten-meter radius.
Naturally, they could also see.
The man standing on the undamaged arena surface after the smoke cleared, wearing the Red Hannya Mask, brushing dust off his clothes.
“You, done hitting?”
Under Yan Liu’s dazed gaze, the pristine Red Hannya Mask grinned ferociously at him.
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