A Demon's Path Chapter 53

Ling Xiao and Li Yuanchong intuitively knew that drawing lots held no meaning, so they picked one out without suspension. Sure enough, Yue Mingming from the Sunken Wind Valley drew the empty ballot while Ling Xiao's opponent was Yang Chao. Last but not least, Li Yuanchong's opponent was Zheng Hao.

Oh, how unoriginal. Ling Xiao sighed. I presume Zheng Hao will forfeit before the match even starts, right?

But against his expectations, Zheng Hao had no intention of stepping back. A strange luster shone in his eyes. He actually seemed excited by the prospect of fighting Li Yuanchong.

Li Yuanchong was also surprised by this turn of events. He asked, "Zheng Hao, you're not forfeiting?"

Zheng Hao firmly shook his head. "No. Yuanchong, I also want to prove something. You're not the only talent amongst the new generation of the Sunken Wind Valley. It may be the case that I'm not your match, but as long as I can withstand 50 of your attacks, that's a victory to me."

"Since that's the case, you may do as you please," Li Yuanchong nonchalantly replied.

Naturally, Ling Xiao didn't have high hopes for Zheng Hao. But Yang Chao's expression changed. "Lil' Hao, you-"

Zheng Hao put his finger to his lips, hinting for Yang Chao to keep quiet. What else could Yang Chao do if not stay silent?

If Ling Xiao knew of his nickname, he wouldn't be so surprised that Zheng Hao dared to fight Li Yuanchong. Zheng Hao was one of the strongest of his generation in the Sunken Wind Valley only lagging behind Li Yuanchong, and his fighting style was vicious. Subsequently, he was coined the Crazy Rat.

Zheng Hao admired Li Yuanchong, but that didn't mean he would go down without a fight. In fact, it was the very opposite. He'd been looking for an opportunity to swap pointers with Li Yuanchong. The newcomers tournament was the perfect opportunity to do so.

The other contestants were afraid Li Yuanchong would kill them, but not Zheng Hao. The two of them grew up and practiced techniques together, so there was a strong rapport between both youngsters.

Ling Xiao was rather pleased with his miscalculation. Even if they had a fake battle, it was still better than Li Yuanchong watching him fight from the comfort of the grandstand.

Shen Mingfang shot an approving glance at the four youngsters. "Mm, you guys are undoubtedly disciples of outstanding talent. Go all out and fight. I guarantee absolute safety for all four of you."

Ling Xiao raised his eyebrows when he heard this. It seemed as though it was impossible to realise his wish of killing Li Yuanchong under the watchful gaze of the audience.

Under Shen Mingfang's directions, the four of them split into two groups and walked toward their own battleground. Their fighting zones were much larger than in the earlier rounds. Where hundreds of disciples were fighting before, it was now split into two parts so that they could freely display their techniques without reservation. Ling Xiao felt it was really a waste, but quickly turned his attention to his opponent. He didn't think Yang Chao would be any weaker than Zheng Hao.

Yang Chao took out his weapon, a pair of golden twin whips and looked Ling Xiao straight in the eyes. "Reveal your weapon!"

Ling Xiao smiled and took out his black broom.

Many people in the arena ridiculed Ling Xiao the first time he took out his broom, but the joke was on them. He stood in the semifinals with his broom in hand, while they could only spectate from the grandstand.

Yang Chao clearly knew Ling Xiao's broom wasn't ordinary. Its purpose wasn't to humiliate the enemy.

There were clearly more people watching Ling Xiao's match because they felt the discrepancy in strength was much smaller in this match up. There was nothing worth watching from the other match as they figured Li Yuanchong should make short work of his opponent. Besides, even if the spectators believed Ling Xiao would win, it should still be comparably more interesting to watch.

After waiting for his opponent to take out his weapon, Yang Chao shouted, "Take this!" Yang Chao, his voice, and his whip all moved at the same time. He dashed toward Ling Xiao's side in the blink of an eye!

Ling Xiao closed one of his eyes as he struck Yang Chao with a mental attack.

Yang Chao's body only swayed a little before he gathered his bearings and smashed his whip at Ling Xiao.

It's just as I thought. He has a magic weapon that can protect him against mental attacks! Ling Xiao made an accurate deduction. Either way, he hadn't put all hopes on this mental attack. Its purpose was simply to test his conjecture.

Clank! Ling Xiao raised his broom and blocked Yang Chao's dual whip. Sparks flew about in all directions when the two weapons collided.

The both of them retreated a few steps back from the impact. But they quickly came to a standstill when they firmly stomped their feet in the ground.

He's actually quite strong too! Ling Xiao used his second attack to gauge Yang Chao's strength.

In their opening moves, both parties were feeling each other out.

Yang Chao was filled with confidence after slightly testing Ling Xiao's strength. "Ling Xiao, you're all bark and no bite!" He raised his whip again and attacked. The dual whips laced with thick orange soulforce danced in his hands, forming a rotating circle as he whirled them about. The outer rims of the circle incessantly smashed at Ling Xiao, colliding with his broom. A series of hurried clanks rang out upon impact.

The people watching from the grandstand thought these clanks combined with the orange soulforce painted an elegant picture of sound and colour.

Ling Xiao didn't take half a step back when faced with Yang Chao's violent assault. It didn't matter how Yang Chao attacked him, he firmly kept his ground. He swatted all of Yang Chao's attacks away with his broom at lightning speed.

Swinging upwards, sweeping downwards, and hitting from the middle. Frankly speaking, Ling Xiao only had these three styles of working with his broom. They were the postures Ling Xiao assumed when he swept the cobwebs, worms, and fallen leaves away on his normal sweeping rounds. Anyone who held a broom before would know these moves. However, these three styles transformed into countless exquisite styles in Ling Xiao's hands to dispel his opponent's attacks.

Sweep everyday and you'll sweep the world away. These words repeatedly rang through Ling Xiao's mind. His thoughts seemed to fuse with the broom as he lost track of where he was and what he was doing.

"Senior Brother Ling Xiao really is a god. Only he can brandish a broom like that!" Big Zhu and Little Zhu's admiration toward Ling Xiao grew with every move he made.

The disciples of the Northern Jade Sect felt utterly rueful. They finally understood why Ling Xiao was sweeping as though his life depended on it back home. He wasn't playing around, but rather he was assiduously practicing his broom skills.

Cheng Qiantai was touched the most by Ling Xiao's current level of cultivation. This boy, he did it all by himself! Back then, he had even reprimanded Ling Xiao for choosing a broom. As Cheng Qiantai thought back on it, he had to admit the boy's eye for things really was unique. Instead of being tempted by an object's luster, he saw it for its true value.

"I just don't know whether Ling Xiao will stay in the Northern Jade Sect after the tournament is over." Cheng Qiantai had a complex look on his face, a mixture of joy and sadness fighting over dominance with none being the victor.

In contrast, a look that resembled bitter resentment flashed in Cheng Shi's eyes as she watched Ling Xiao's outstanding performance.

"Senior Brother, do you think Ling Xiao can make it to the finals?" Cheng Yu asked Li Yuanhuan with her eyes glued on Ling Xiao.

Li Yuanhuan nodded. "Definitely. Didn't you hear? Junior Brother Ling single handedly defeated six people!"

"Maybe, maybe he can even beat Li Yuanchong!" Cheng Yu suddenly felt a surge of confidence in Ling Xiao rise up, possibly due to Li Yuanhuan's influence. The look in her eyes changed a little as she looked at her Junior Brother.

Li Yuanhuan silently stared at Cheng Yu from the side. He never noticed this look in her eyes when she looked at him.

In the arena, Ling Xiao and Yang Chao's match had gone on for a full five minutes. Yet both of them didn't show any signs of exhaustion. An emotional sigh ran through the grandstand. Awesome! As expected, the top five disciples don't strike a common chord.

However, neither Ling Xiao nor Yang Chao intended to continue fighting like this. After Ling Xiao slapped Yang Chao's attack with a sudden greater force, they parted a few meters.

Yang Chao tightly gripped the dual whips in his hands with the desire to fight burning in his eyes. "Ling Xiao, you are one of the disciples I admire the most aside from Li Yuanchong out of all the newcomers I encountered to date. I'm about to use my trump card. I hope you can go all out too."

Idiot! Ling Xiao thought to himself. Who would ever reveal their cards to the enemy in a real battle? Do you really think people will just stand there and let you beat them up because you warned them of what is to come? Or do you think they'll actually fight you head on?

Even if Ling Xiao held this behaviour of Yang Chao in contempt, he still feigned a stern look. "Fine. Don't hesitate. Let me see your true strength!"

Dust flew in the air as Ling Xiao heavily slapped his broom on the ground to feign his commitment to the situation. "Come!"

Yang Chao was fired up. He felt even grander and loftier when Ling Xiao enticed him so. "Then you better take a good look!" He crossed his whips together and concentrated all of his strength in them. Wisps of orange soulforce emitting a dense murderous aura trailed out from his dual whips.

"Cold Wind Attack!" Yang Chao violently stepped on the ground and a long shadow rapidly trailed behind his body as he dashed straight at Ling Xiao. In the next moment, he leaped up more than 10 meters in the air. He took advantage of the downward momentum and used all his energy to brandish the dual whips in his hands.

Yang Chao was on Ling Xiao within two seconds, which was more than enough time for Ling Xiao to counter with his own ultimate technique. But that wasn't what he did. The spectators on the grandstand nearly caught themselves vomiting rivers of blood when they saw Ling Xiao's reaction to Yang Chao's ferocious attack. He actually chose to run away!

Chapter end