Chapter 35: Pull You Into My Rhythm

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Pull You Into My Rhythm

As long as there was life, there was hope.

Li Ye’s actions were all underhanded tricks. Murong Kaixin believed that the other three Grandmasters, like him, would certainly not stoop to doing such sensationalist, crowd-pleasing things.

No one’s Skill Level could increase so quickly. Li Ye’s sudden outburst must have been the result of some Evil Technique.

Evil Techniques, by nature, could not last long and had numerous drawbacks.

As long as he could escape from here and ally with even one Grandmaster, they would definitely be able to capture Li Ye smoothly upon turning back, and then force the method of Spiritual Power cultivation out of him.

The path of Spiritual Power was too miraculous. Murong Kaixin knew from the very beginning that he couldn’t swallow it all by himself.

Before he knew it, in the split second Murong Kaixin was thinking, his crotch suffered another heavy blow. The area was already numb; taking one or two hits didn’t make much difference anymore.

However, this also reminded him of the shifting tide—if he didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t be able to escape at all. Mustering his strength, he kicked Li Ye away. He flashed backward, and when he reappeared, he was already at the entrance of Sirius Valley.

***

Trying to run away after showing off—could he escape? He was playing a match perfectly fine when Murong Kaixin jumped out without a word to act tough. The man nearly ruined his carefully laid-out match along with his future. Now that he finally had the ability to fight him, how could Li Ye let him run away?

Li Ye scoffed inwardly. He kicked hard, sending the football straight for Murong Kaixin’s back. Immediately after, like a shadow trailing behind the football, he executed a flying slide tackle toward Murong Kaixin’s calves.

Combining Lightweight Skill with a slide tackle made his speed even faster than running on flat ground. He was truly as swift as a meteor and as fast as lightning.

As the strong wind assaulted him, Murong Kaixin leapt upwards, narrowly escaping the fate of having his legs broken. But Li Ye’s speed was too fast. He dodged the tackle to his legs, but didn’t spare the soles of his feet.

A piercing pain came from below. He didn’t need to look to know that a layer of flesh had been scraped off the soles of his feet. This guy’s speed had increased again!

Murong Kaixin was terrified. Gritting his teeth with ruthlessness, he stomped his other intact foot down fiercely, aiming for the vital points of Li Ye’s lower abdomen.

He channeled all his Inner Strength, wrapping his entire foot in it, as if it were emitting a white light. With this stomp, he vowed to kick a hole right through Li Ye’s stomach.

Li Ye was also a ruthless man. When it was time to risk his life, he absolutely would not back down. Without dodging or evading, like a rabbit kicking an eagle, he kicked back upwards. BANG! THUD! Two screams of agony rang out.

Li Ye felt a sharp cramp in his abdomen, feeling as though his intestines were about to snap.

Murong Kaixin fared worse. To his vitals, it was adding insult to injury; his eyeballs bulged, turning blood-red in an instant. Enduring the pain, he kicked the nearby football away and dodged, preparing to escape again.

Li Ye bounced up. Like an Instant Teleportation, he scrambled onto Murong Kaixin’s back from behind, wrapping his legs around the man’s lower back and smoothly clamping one arm around his neck.

This was a common celebration move between teammates after scoring a goal, but Li Ye used it as an offensive attack. Equipped with the badge, any movement on the football field received a buff. Moreover, it was even swifter and faster than the moves from the Dragon Emperor Spell. Even a knee-slide on the grass, taking off his shirt, sticking out his tongue... he could do them fast and perfectly, and these actions didn’t require a football.

If Li Ye hadn’t been able to control his own behavior, he might have even planted a fierce kiss on the back of Murong Kaixin’s head. Instead, he swung his fist and hammered it heavily into Murong Kaixin’s temple.

With his neck clamped, Murong Kaixin couldn’t dodge even if he wanted to. Taking Li Ye’s punch head-on, he yanked at the arm clamping his neck and applied force from his waist, trying to throw him off.

But Li Ye had finally managed to entangle him; how could he let go? Enduring the sharp pain in his arm, he smashed punch after punch into Murong Kaixin’s head. The punches were mixed with Inner Strength and Demon Qi, each strike hitting with the force of a thunderbolt.

Murong Kaixin was battered until he was dizzy. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gongsun Jie and the others limping in pursuit. Groaning inwardly, he abandoned the idea of throwing Li Ye off his back. Enduring the severe pain, he executed a few flashes, disappearing from everyone’s sight with Li Ye still clinging to him.

He calculated very clearly: dealing with a ball-less Li Ye was always much easier than facing a whole group of people.

***

"Master, what do we do now?" Watching Murong Kaixin disappear with Li Ye on his back, Zhong Wenhao was dumbfounded. "Does this count as Murong Kaixin capturing Lord Li?"

Wenren Chuan’s mouth twitched violently, and he glared fiercely at his foolish disciple. "Clean up and help maintain order in Sirius Valley."

He hadn’t expected the situation on the field to change so quickly. Grandmaster Murong Kaixin, who was sure to win, had the tables inexplicably turned on him by Li Ye. He didn’t even understand how Li Ye had turned the situation around. It was completely absurd!

Indeed, although Murong Kaixin carried Li Ye away, making it look like the victor was undecided, in his heart, Li Ye had already won.

A twenty-something-year-old was able to fight a renowned, veteran Grandmaster to a draw, even seemingly holding the upper hand. The Grandmaster looked so pathetic in this battle that he hardly resembled a Grandmaster anymore; he looked more like a street-brawling hooligan.

Such a person was not someone he could afford to offend. Moreover, Lord Li grasped the cultivation of Spiritual Power, which was far more advanced than Inner Strength.

No matter what, Wenren Chuan knew clearly that the structure of the Martial World was probably going to be truly plunged into chaos.

Furthermore, Li Ye’s actions further cemented his resolve not to go to the so-called Galactic Federation. The method of cultivating Spiritual Power was too terrifying. Li Ye had only appeared for a few days, and the Martial World had already fallen into such a chaotic state. The elegance of top experts was completely gone.

Judging by this, just how chaotic must the Galactic Federation, where everyone cultivated Spiritual Power, be? You wouldn’t even know if a person hitting you was trying to help you or harm you!

Whoever wanted to go to that chaotic place could go; anyway, he was not going!

***

Xu Chuan, the Left Protector of the Red Flame Sect, looked in the direction Murong Kaixin had fled, his face a mask of complex emotions.

After a long while, he finally snapped out of it and said to the disciple beside him, "Zhao Li, rush back to the Red Flame Sect at top speed right now. Tell them exactly what happened in Sirius Valley, down to the last detail, and then invite them all over."

"Okay." Zhao Li nodded emphatically.

Previously, he had gloated over Shi Xiang’s misfortune, but now his heart felt even sourer. Shi Xiang already had a Grandmaster as a master. How did he manage to latch onto such a massive pillar of support again? Were the heavens truly so blind?

"Remember, report it completely, don’t miss any details," Xu Chuan instructed. "Especially to First Elder Huaiyi. You must tell him not to act like Murong Kaixin and challenge Lord Li the moment he arrives..."

***

"Idiot! Murong Kaixin is an absolute idiot! How did he become a Grandmaster with a brain like that?" Having witnessed the whole process, Wei Mingze cursed aloud. "I wrote it clearly in the memorial that Lord Li is suspected of having the abilities of a Grandmaster. What is he doing? Going up there yelling about fighting and killing right away. Has he completely lost his mind?"

The people beside him stood in awkward silence. The Advisor sheepishly shrank his neck, intending to remind the Prefect that Murong Kaixin wasn’t dead yet, but he mumbled something and ultimately said nothing. The Prefect might have the guts to curse out a Grandmaster, but he certainly didn’t.

"Idiot, idiot! A perfectly good game of chess, completely ruined by his blind moves." Wei Mingze stood up and paced anxiously a few times before looking at the Inspection Department’s Deputy Commander, Wan Peng, beside him. "Commander Wan, I must ask you to ride back to the Capital City posthaste. Report everything that happened here in full detail to the Holy Emperor. Beg His Majesty to make a timely decision, otherwise, Chu Country will be in grave danger!"

"Yes." Wan Peng also knew the severity of the matter. Daring not to delay, he disregarded everything else and flew out of Sirius Valley, heading straight for the Capital City.

Leaving right on his heels was Mu Chen, the disciple of the Third Elder of the Celestial Dao Alliance.

Murong Kaixin’s defeat, whether in the Martial World or the imperial court, was an earth-shattering event.

***

Unlike the tense figures of the Martial World, the audience present was practically burning with excitement. Even as the staff of Sirius Valley ushered them out, they were reluctant to leave, gazing eagerly in the direction of the Sirius Valley entrance, waiting for Lord Li and Murong Kaixin to return.

They still wanted to know who had won and who had lost.

The commoners didn’t know any Grandmasters, let alone what the final battle meant. They only knew they had spent a penny to watch three matches, each more exciting than the last, adding countless joys and topics of conversation to their lives. The Fun People Club was truly generous.

If there were such matches in the future, they would definitely come to support them again.

Of course, there was no lack of smart people among the commoners. From the players’ rapidly healing injuries on the field and the fragmented snippets of conversation that drifted into the stands, they vaguely guessed that the world was about to change.

But in what direction it would change, they could not tell. Perhaps they would only know how to respond once the Government Office issued a notice.

This was the sorrow of the common folk. Even if they knew a drastic change was imminent, they couldn’t find their footing, let alone adapt to the times and make a fortune from it.