Martial King’s Retired Life

Book 11.5: Chapter 72

If one were to look up close, they’d see Hua Qing’s finger pointing at Miguo subtly trembling. To begin with, Hua Qing had to psych himself up to confront Miguo, so adding on the pressure of mocking Miguo in front of so many famous people almost broke him. After all, the uncertainty of when Miguo would strike was stressful.

Suffice to say, Miguo could see the shaking from where he stood. He sneered it off, then hopped over to Wugou. “A rapist thinks he’s qualified to be my sect’s patriarch?”

On the ropes, Hua Qing fell back on to his street tactics. “You could do it, too.”

“Wh-what nonsense are you spouting?”

“Once a new sect is established, the old pecking order goes out the window. Why can’t you be the new patriarch? Are you telling us that everything you previously said was just to entertain us? If that’s the case, it isn’t a new sect at all. Isn’t it just a mish mash of random sects?”

Miguo couldn’t do anything but let his rage sear through his face. Because of his strict and textbook demands, neither he nor his subordinates were trained to adjust quickly.

“Well said!”

The first person to look over to where the praise came from whispered, “Hua Feihua is Zhuxing Wuchang’s sworn brother…”

Another person: “He’s colluding with Demon Sect?”

“I’m convinced. Otherwise, how does he get off being so arrogant? Plus, there has to be a reason not even Liu Shan Men starts with him.”

Miguo disputed, “It sounds like you insist on leading. That is fine; however, respect is earned. If you do not show us what you are capable of, there will be people who object.”

Hua Qing heard his heart beats in his ears. His only mission was to force Miguo to agree into settling the dispute through combat, thereby forcing Miguo into a one-on-one bout agreement, without scrapping because that was a one-way ticket to the afterlife. Still, he stayed cool. “In other words, you want to scrap?”

The people below started mouthing off before Miguo could respond.

Hua Qing: When did these people…

“Fight! Fight! Fight! You going to take that?!”

Hua Qing: Oi, shut up!

Miguo confidently hiked up a corner of his lips. “A leader must demonstrate he is capable of leading. If you can defeat this one, the seat is yours.”

“Long-story short, you want to fight me, correct?” Hua Qing crossed his arms and grinned, except he could feel his mouth stiffening up unlike Miguo. “In other words, the fate of the cult’s leadership is predicated solely on who the superior fighter is between us, correct?”

“All this ramblings has led you to think poorly of this one. This one is a monk. He is here to take care of his friends, not to fight. Kanhu, spar with Young Master Hua.” Miguo wasn’t a magician, but there wasn’t any other way to explain Hua Qing’s sudden spike in abilities, especially when Zhuo Fengru clearly looked exhausted.

Zhuo Fengru, Zhuo Fengru, you would trust a kid to help you? Looks like it’s the end of your hero legacy. He might’ve caught me by surprise, but you’re underestimating me if you think I’m so stupid.

Miguo didn’t feign ignorance and send out a follower because he was scared. It was because the monk named Kanhu was his senior disciple who had been taught Vajra Realm and enhanced with his internal energy.

Kanhu had only put a foot forward when one of the lackeys watching Wugou jeered, “You don’t need to trouble yourself, Senior Brother.” The lackey leapt past Kanhu to Miguo. “Shizun, leave him to me.”

Langzhen, Miguo’s second senior disciple, didn’t like the fact that Kanhu suddenly increased the gap between them in recent years, so he wanted the opportunity to demonstrate he wasn’t inferior to his senior.

Miguo stole a gander Zhuo Fengru’s way. “Young Master Hua has recently grown exponentially. Don’t get overconfident.”

“Understood!” Langzhen glanced in his indifferent brother’s way, then turned back to Hua Qing. “Rapist, you shall pay with your life for your wishful thinking!”

Hua Qing had yet to enjoy a moment of relief when a fist was already on its way to his face. Howbeit, because he was amidst feeling the relief of avoiding a match against Miguo, he ended up forgetting to move out of the way. “Argh!” Hua Qing squatted down, hands over his bloody nose.

The punch was a part of a basic combo taught to Miguo Branch followers. The first punch was intended to act as a feint, forcing the opponent into a position that exposed them to a lethal three-punch combo. Therefore, Langzhen was stupefied when the first punched landed flush. Obviously, the audience didn’t take too kindly to their performances.

“The cue to start was never even given.” Hua Qing rubbed his nose as he stood up. Although a blood nose was a common complication for fighters, it was Hua Qing’s first time fighting a martial artist, so it impacted his state of mind to a degree.

From behind Hua Qing, Zhuo Fengru said, “Hahaha, stop playing, Qing. Nobody tells you his intent in a fight. Stay alert at all times, or you’ll lose your life and your beautiful wife.”

Su Li bashfully muttered under her breath, “Young Master Hua, he is focused on showing off and prone to losing his cool. As long as you stay calm, paths will open for you.”

Hua Qing hyped himself up, wiped off his blood, then calmed himself to start analysing. Only then did it dawn on him that the only combat experience he had was running the other way. Regardless of how calm he was or how hard he thought, no game plan was going to come to mind. At best, he could only imitate what he had previously seen. The one person who came to mind was a non-conformist and definitely didn’t fight honest fights; however, he was incomprehensibly proficient at fighting.

The corners of Hua Qing’s lips moved up on their own. “… Hey, pussy boy, you think you’re a hot shot just because you caught me unprepared? I guess baldness must be a symptom of shamelessness, hey? If I were you, I’d bang my head on a wall and be done with life.”

Langzhen clapped back, “I’m going to make sure you’re unrecognisable by the time you hit the ground.”

Commencing round two, Langzhen bound forward, then uncorked punches, claws and finger spears, while Hua Qing blocked and blocked… and blocked. Hua Qing may have had power, but the only technical training he received was Zhuo Fengru’s swordplay, making it a challenge to keep up. Yet, every attack from Langzhen seemingly drove tension out of Hua Qing’s body. The more exchanges they had, the clearer Hua Qing could see. In all fairness, his superior internal energy empowered him to perceive the same thing as his opponent in slower motions

What first appeared to be a fixed match turned interesting. Langzhen started to feel frustrated as he didn’t hurt Hua Qing despite tagging the latter several times. As a consequence, Langzhen started to get careless with his execution and could no longer clip Hua Qing at all in spite of the latter’s lack of finesse.

To those who weren’t blindly watching for entertainment, it was clear Langzhen was gradually losing his standing in the match. He was tiring himself out, while his opponent mechanically defused his attacks as though he didn’t need to engage his brain.

In reality, Hua Qing was constantly replaying Ming Feizhen’s movements in his mind. Until today, most of Ming Feizhen’s ugly movements didn’t make any sense to Hua Qing. They were still ugly, but they forced Langzhen to deal with them. Most importantly for Hua Qing, the movements didn’t tire him out.

Kanhu advised, “Brother, go for the kill!”

The only thing Kanhu’s advice did was frustrate Langzhen even more since it bruised his ego.

“None of your business!”

Kanhu suddenly felt a wind coming at him, prompting him to jump back. By the time he went to move, though, Hua Qing’s attack had boxed him in. At best, he’d get away but not unscathed. Hence, he thrust his palms out, refusing to believe he’d lose to Hua Qing in a strength contest.

At the moment of impact, Langzhen experienced how cannonballs fired from the Western Region’s cannons felt. There was no way he could stop himself from slamming into anything when he was hurling gasping blood.

Kanhu deftly caught Langzhen without letting his junior suffer any further damage, while Miguo remained unmoved. Kanhu could see his brother’s inevitable defeat from tiring himself out from watching how tired the two were. He sighed and transferred over internal energy to protect Langzhen’s meridians for the meantime. Kanhu knew that Miguo wasn’t going to heal his disciples or subordinates.

Kanhu set Langzhen down, then ambled over to Hua Qing. “Please go easy on me.”

Hua Qing’s thrill kept his motivation high and fear at bay, but Zhuo Fengru said, “Use that technique.”

Hua Qing pivoted around. “Are you sure?”

Zhuo Fengru smiled. “Nobody is going to know who you are unless you use it now.”

“Uh…” Hua Qing swept his gaze around. “I think I’m quite famous already…”

“Just do as you’re told!”

Kanhu heard the conversation loud and clear. Miguo liked Kanhu because the latter was a serious individual who didn’t like playing games or being careless. Since his opponent was coming out with an ace, Kanhu protected himself using Vajra Realm right away. As the qi formed around his body, clanging sounds were audible – an indication of his progress being enough to affect the environment. It took a while for Hua Qing to take down Kanhu, so it was reasonable to assume it’d take even longer for Kanhu and Hua Qing to settle their match.

Hua Qing seemed to be looking at Kanhu, yet it didn’t seem as though the latter was focused. Therefore, Kanhu cautiously stepped forward.

Hua Qing was actually still replaying Ming Feizhen’s movements. The details from the moment Ming Feizhen raised his hands to when he decided to attack that once eluded him gradually showed.

This is the moment Brother Ming struck.

Hua Qing bridged the gap, then recited right in front of Kanhu, “Soul Banishing Order.”

Kanhu suddenly felt his body collapse involuntarily, dropping to the ground as if his bones were pulled out.

Someone below: “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to you and gone for a piss! I would’ve missed this magical moment!”

As the technique’s creator, not even Zhuo Fengru imagined it could be so lethal. Whatever mental adjustment Hua Qing made, it wasn’t something that Zhuo Fengru taught.

Miguo saw Hua Qing finger spear the thinnest part of Kanhu’s qi armour – the side of his neck. He couldn’t explain the power of the strike, but the technique itself wasn’t anything flashy. He had no idea Hua Qing’s technique execution was a plague to the eyes.

Kanhu’s specialty was strength. Understandably, he went with his strongest skill whenever he went up against a dangerous opponent. Unfortunately for him in this match, Hua Qing was basically himself on performance enhancing drugs. Therefore, he was destined to lose when he turned it into a strength contest.

Miguo exhaled deliberately through his nose, adjusted his facial expression and announced, “Young Master Hua’s martial prowess is exceptional. You shall be the new patriarch once you defeat this one.” One step from him had people feeling the need to reach for their weapons.

In a muffled voice, Hua Qing uttered, “You’ve fallen for my trap.”

“Hmph, no matter how sharp your tongue is, it can’t defend you from this one’s fists.”

Hua Qing switched to a loud voice. “You’re the one who said this is a martial arts contest. Winner takes all. You aren’t recinding on your promise now, are you?!”

Miguo followed suit, raising his voice. “Indeed. However, this one did say that there will be no further negotiations if you cannot defeat him.”

“Your words, not mine. Winner against you gets to be the new patriarch.”

“Indeed. So, come take…” Miguo finally understood the purpose of Hua Qing’s gag-like performance.

“Glad to finally hear those words.  Ladies and gentlemen, especially from the three unorthodox factionz, Lotus Cult welcomes all contestants to compete for leadership. If anyone wishes to be the new patriarch of Lotus Cult, don’t pass up this opportun-”

Miguo had Hua Qing’s throat in his clutch and body suspended in the air before Hua Qing could finish. Owing to their size discrepancy, it was akin to a bird picking up a worm.

As much as he remained cool on the surface, Miguo’s rage crept into his tone. “Had you behaved and handed over the relic, this one would’ve release you back into the pugilistic world; however, you don’t know what’s good for you. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for your end.”

A measured spurt of qi came onto Miguo’s radar from his side as he began to squeeze harder, but he was in no mood to back down. Clang! The qi dispersed into the atmosphere. Hua Qing used the split second to somehow force his way out of Miguo’s grip.

Miguo held his position for a while, seemingly in deep thought, then looked askance to Zhuo Fengru. “… What do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s a fighting contest, isn’t it? This old one also ones to vie for the seat.”

“You want to overwhelm me with numbers?”

“Hahaha, you speak in jest. This old one isn’t the shameless you. He’ll fight you one on one.”

Zhuo Fengru wasted no time getting down to business, starting off the same way he did in his last outing.

The audience was slow to follow the logic at work, much less wrap their heads around how Hua Qing dropped Kanhu in one shot, but who gave a toss when there was a fight to be rowdy over?

Unlike Hua Qing’s matches, Zhuo Fengru versus Miguo was a truly arresting fight for people who appreciated martial arts contests. In the last fight, Miguo came up short in the technical department, while Zhuo Fengru lost due his ignorance of Vajra Realm’s capabilities. Their physical exchanges didn’t vary noticeably compared to their last contest. In contrast to last time, howbeit, Zhuo Fengru wasn’t as fit. To compensate, he, therefore, went all out much sooner.

Since Miguo managed to fend off Zhuo Fengru’s offence last time, fending off Zhuo Fengru a second time made no difference to him. He took Zhuo Fengru’s thrust with his chest, forcing Zhuo Fengru to disengage.

“Qing!”

Hua Qing was already adjacent to Miguo and reaching for Miguo the same way he stabbed Kanhu. Everything was going to plan when Hua Qing felt a jolt that rocked his insides, head and balance. On his way to the ground, he saw the corner of Miguo’s lips lifted.

Zhuo Fengru immediately realised he had fallen for Miguo’s ploy, but he didn’t know where he went wrong. Problem was, he already used everything in the tank to restrain Miguo for Hua Qing; in the end, trapping Miguo ended up also being a trap for himself.

“Leng Jingliu, kill them!”

Leng Jingliu came down onto the platform, drew his sword and then plunged it through his target’s left chest, except…

Miguo looked over his shoulder and, whilst fighting to keep his armour intact, stammered, “… You? Are… betraying this one? Who… are…”

“I’m Leng Jingliu,” replied Leng Jingliu, as calm as always, “Shen Wuzheng’s disciple, Leng Jingliu.”