Chapter 327: Chapter 282: Spider Web
Quan Jingfeng scanned his surroundings, searching for traces of his opponent. He had watched the arena matches over the past few days, and judging from the strength demonstrated so far, if Li Ang still intended to combat directly using Mind instead of martial prowess, Quan was eighty percent confident he could defeat his opponent within ten breaths. The situation at hand also proved his estimation—Li Ang lacked the confidence for direct confrontation, so he had switched tactics and, for the first time, used means other than Telekinesis.
WHOOSH—
The Horse-slaying Saber rhythmically fanned, dispersing the fog ahead.
RUSTLE. RUSTLE.
Sounds crept from within the fog. Without hesitation, Quan Jingfeng raised his Hand Crossbow and pulled the trigger in the direction of the noises. The fine steel crossbow arrows spiraled into the fog, disappearing from sight. A few breaths later, the scurrying noises, like rats moving, resonated again, now behind Quan Jingfeng.
WHOOSH—
Another Crossbow Arrow shot out, its tail feathers swirling up the dense fog, revealing a concave outline. The noise paused briefly, then started again, circling around Quan Jingfeng.
The sound grew louder and more rhythmic, like some large quadrupedal beast galloping forward.
Playing tricks. Quan Jingfeng sneered internally. Jing Country’s Southern Border was adjacent to the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains, a place rife with bizarre and eerie incidents. For example, soldiers in a camp might hear a woman crying at night, only for the entire camp to mysteriously disappear days later, with no trace of them, dead or alive. An old woman washing clothes by the river might see a lump of flesh floating downstream, and upon cutting it open, find the unseeing, severed head of her son who had left home many years before. Or a group of children in flower-patterned clothes might parade through the streets, flinging gold and silver coins at passersby; anyone who picked up the coins would die violently that night. Wise old folks said their lives had been bought by something in the Desolate Mountains. Having heard countless such absurd stories, this "beastly footsteps in the thick fog" seemed like just another attempt to mystify.
"Found you."
Quan Jingfeng stepped forward. His Horse-slaying Saber traced a semicircular arc in the air, its Red Maple Qi Blood razor-sharp, slicing through a large swath of fog and exposing the source of the noise.
It was... wind chimes?
The sound originated from an apparatus composed of talismans and Mind Threads. Four Vibration Talismans, connected by Mind Threads, emitted preset noises consecutively. The Mind Threads were pulled across the ground, creating the effect of beastly footsteps. The apparatus could move because it was connected to an even larger, web-like system of Mind Threads.
He created the thick fog to cover the setup of his Mind Threads...
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a sharp whizzing sound came from behind. Quan Jingfeng swiftly turned, his hand snatching an incoming hidden arrow out of thin air. The Fire Intense Talisman wrapped around the arrow ignited instantly, spewing intense fire and scorching his palm.
CRACK.
He pressed down hard. The fine steel crossbow arrow bent instantly, and the Yellow Paper Fire Talisman wrapped around it was crushed.
"Utilizing your advantage as a Telekinesis Master, releasing talismans from a distance using crossbow arrows as a medium? Quite traditional," Quan Jingfeng said indifferently. He carelessly swung his arm forward; the seemingly cumbersome Horse-slaying Saber, emitting Red Maple Qi Blood, effortlessly slashed towards a second incoming Crossbow Arrow. The Frozen Cold Talisman wrapped around the arrow had no chance to activate before it, along with the arrow, was severed in half by the Qi Blood-enveloped Horse-slaying Saber.
"It’s useless. My reaction speed is faster than the Crossbow Arrows..." Quan Jingfeng spoke calmly, persuasively. However, Crossbow Arrows still shot towards him from different directions, some carrying talismans and others bare.
Within the dense fog, a Martial Artist’s perception wasn’t as acute as a Telekinesis Master’s. Unable to see if the arrows were wrapped with talismans, he had to activate his Qi Blood, using the Horse-slaying Saber to slash down every incoming arrow and using his Qi Blood to suppress the talismans’ autonomous activation. This was a disadvantageous situation. The ratio of talisman-laden arrows to regular arrows rapidly changed from one-to-two to one-to-five, and his Red Maple Qi was constantly being consumed.
But Quan Jingfeng was not anxious. He silently counted in his mind. Eight, nine... The Mechanical Crossbow used by Li Ang was a favored assassination weapon of West Jing Assassins; each magazine held a maximum of twenty arrows. After twenty shots, a new magazine had to be installed. This meant there would be an opening. Twenty!
After the twentieth arrow was shot, a brief gap indeed arrived. Quan Jingfeng drove his Qi Blood to its fullest, shook off the Crossbow Arrows, and charged into the dense fog like an armored carriage, his Horse-slaying Saber swinging horizontally.
But he swung at empty air.
Before him was not Li Ang, holding a Hand Crossbow and sliding on Mind Silk as he had imagined. There was only a web-like layer of Mind Threads and several carefully placed Crossbow Arrows. These Mind Threads, under the control of Telekinesis, would pick up the Crossbow Arrows from the ground, using the threads themselves as bowstrings to fire them.
It’s a trap.
Quan Jingfeng realized this too late. His body, honed by a thousand hammers and hundred refines, sensed the approaching danger before his consciousness did, instinctively swinging his Horse-slaying Saber to the left.
CLANG!
The sound of gold and iron clashing reverberated in the arena. Li Ang emerged silently from the thick fog, his Triangular Spear, aimed at Quan Jingfeng’s neck, intercepted by the Horse-slaying Saber.
Quan Jingfeng’s instincts, honed from years of hunting demons, had saved him from defeat. He took a deep breath, having no time to consider Li Ang’s cunning or how close he had come to losing to an opponent two realms lower. His Horse-slaying Saber burst forth with even fiercer Red Maple Qi Blood.
The disparity in their Dao Paths and physiques allowed the awkwardly angled Horse-slaying Saber to still parry the Triangular Spear. Quan Jingfeng shifted half a step to the left, his left arm slamming out heavily.
It’s over.
At this distance, a punch thrown by a Postnatal Perfect Warrior was too sudden and fast. Even if the opponent used Telekinesis in time, he couldn’t possibly dodge it.
Faced with a punch he couldn’t avoid, Li Ang showed no fear. He released the Triangular Spear and even relaxed all his muscles.
Mind Silk, activate.
The strands of Mind Silk wrapped around his limbs and torso received the command, some contracting, others stretching. They controlled Li Ang’s body, contorting him into an extremely bizarre posture that a normal human could never achieve, allowing him to narrowly dodge the punch.
Quan Jingfeng’s eyes widened. Although he already knew Li Ang’s Telekinesis control was far superior to that of other Cultivators at the same level, the scene before him still greatly exceeded his expectations.
In his haste, Quan Jingfeng barely managed to change his move, attempting to hit his opponent with a hook. However, the web-like Mind Silk on the ground stretched faster than muscles. Li Ang’s palm, quicker than Quan Jingfeng’s fist, landed on the latter’s helmet.
A talisman, like paper money tossed into a donation box, floated through the eye slits of Quan Jingfeng’s helmet.
Vibration Talisman, activate.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The tremendous noise vibrated intensely within the metal helmet. The sound pressure assaulted the lymph fluid in Quan Jingfeng’s ears and his vestibular nerves, causing him to instantly lose his balance and sense of direction. His tall body involuntarily dropped to one knee.
Li Ang looked at his opponent. He pulled the short knife, a gift from Duke Yan, from his waist. Gripping the handle with his left hand, he stabbed it into the gap in Quan Jingfeng’s helmet, then slammed the pommel with his right.
BUZZ!
The Arena Restriction lit up with the red light signaling the end of the match.