Chapter 204: Damn! Is it that easy to win?
“Huǒ liè, it’s your turn in the fourth round!” the third prince said.
A tall and powerful man was startled, “Your Highness, so soon? According to the original plan, I was supposed to be the last to go!”
This person was the strongest in the Great Yan side, practicing the extremely strong and yang cultivation method. Once he activated it, it was like hot oil on fire, with flames all over his body, so he called himself Huo Lie (Flaming Falme).
“We can’t wait till the end. If we lose in the fourth round, then we lose the martial arts contest. So you have to go early!” the third prince said.
“Alright, Your Highness!” Huo Lie nodded and walked confidently towards the martial arts arena.
On the Great Wu side, the second-ranked sixth-grade martial artist was sent out.
His name was Sun Shaorong and he came from the Forbidden Army.
Although he had just stepped into the Innate realm, he was quite young, only 25 years old. Being young meant having great potential, and he had the opportunity to cultivate to the fourth-grade strong realm in the future.
However, Huo Lie frowned as he looked at his opponent in front of him, “Your strength is too weak. Let someone stronger replace you!”
He was a dignified fourth-grade strong, while the opponent was just a small sixth-grade, the two had a difference of two levels, and the gap in strength was huge, making it difficult for him to be interested.
Sun Shaorong took out his knife, with a condensed blade energy on it, and said, “Defeat me first before you say that!”
He knew that he was weak and had been abandoned by Great Wu.
However, he also wanted to seize this rare opportunity to show his ability, so that he could be noticed by the court and be trusted by the Empress.
Huo Lie was very dissatisfied, but according to the rules of martial arts, he couldn’t say anything.
With the referee’s command, the two began to fight.
Actually, it was mainly Sun Shaorong attacking while Huo Lie defended.
Huo Lie had no interest in fighting at all and easily defeated Sun Shaorong with just a few moves.
Finally, with a fierce fire palm, he knocked his opponent out of the arena and won this round.
Sun Shaorong came back injured and said with remorse, “I’m sorry everyone, I lost!”
Lin Beifan encouraged him, “Shaorong, it’s normal for you to lose to him, don’t take it to heart! Take good care of your injuries and work hard. In the next Martial Battle, you will have a chance to participate! It’s your turn to take the spotlight in the next one!”
“Yes, Mr. Principal!” Sun Shaorong clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
Lin Beifan turned his head and looked at another person, smiling, “It’s up to you in the next round, Tian Miao! Follow the teachings of Jing Tai and your chances of winning will be over 90%!”
Tian Miao, the last representative of Great Wu, had a cultivation of the fifth-grade.
Tian Miao nodded, “Mr. Principal, don’t worry, I know what to do!”
“I believe in you!” Lin Beifan patted his shoulder and his gaze shifted to the third prince of Great Yan.
Your Highness, are you prepared for another failure?
Great Yan side.
“Your Highness, fortunately I brought back the victory!” Huo Lie returned and bowed.
The third prince nodded and smiled, “Very good, thank you for your hard work!”
Huo Lie shook his head, “It wasn’t hard at all. The opponent’s strength was too weak! I thought I could encounter a worthy opponent in Great Wu, but I was greatly disappointed! Sigh!”
“Yes!” The third prince nodded with a smile on his face, but he disagreed with Huo Lie’s thoughts.
For the royal family, the weaker the opponent, the better.
No matter how bad I am, as long as you’re worse than me, that’s good!
Typical politician’s thinking!
Common prosperity?
Common development?
Nonexistent!
“Now we have won two rounds, and there is only one round left. We must win the last one!” The third prince clenched his fist.
They had already lost in the literary competition, and no matter what, they had to win the martial arts competition!
Otherwise, how could he explain to his father and the people?
“Luo Shan, it’s up to you next. You must win, you cannot lose!” The third prince said to the remaining player.
His name was Luo Shan, with a mid-level fifth-grade strength, ranked last among the representatives of Great Yan.
Luo Shan never expected that as the weakest person in the team, someone who was supposed to be just a bystander, he would bear the heaviest responsibility at the end, feeling immense pressure.
In a deep voice, he said, “Your Highness, rest assured, everyone, I will do my best!”
The third prince said, “I don’t want you to do your best, I want you to win!”
Luo Shan smiled bitterly in his heart.
Just like the two teammates who were stronger than him before, they were supposed to win, but ended up losing to the opponent.
As the weakest, he really lacked confidence.
Luo Shan reassured once again, “Your Highness, I promise to return in triumph!”
However, the third prince was still not at ease.
After all, Luo Shan did not have the absolute strength to crush his opponent, making it easy for him to turn defeat into victory.
The previous two losses were a lesson.
His gaze couldn’t help but drift towards Lin Beifan of the Great Wu side, regret filling his heart..
If he had known earlier, he should have paid him off yesterday.
Although the other party was greedy, things could have been done smoothly. The previous literary competition was done very well, without any flaws. It was just unfortunate that they had bad luck and lost the literary competition.
Now they didn’t even have a chance to bribe him, sigh!
After thinking for a moment, the third prince whispered, “Do any of you have any short-term techniques or pills to boost our strength?”
The warriors present were shocked, “Your Highness, why are you asking this?”
The third prince blushed a little and said, “We have already lost in the literary competition. We cannot afford to lose in the martial arts competition, otherwise it’ll be difficult to explain when we return! So, you understand!”
“But, Your Highness, doing this seems to be against the rules. Once discovered…”
“That’s why we have to do it sneakily!” The third prince glanced at the referee and officials, and said in a low voice, “As long as it’s not discovered, then there’s no problem, right? You don’t want to return in a complete defeat, do you?”
Everyone fell into contemplation, their faces filled with inner conflict.
The fourth-grade warrior Huo Lie spoke softly, “I do know a method of stimulating acupuncture points with silver needles. As long as we stimulate certain meridians in the body with silver needles, it can create the circulation of true qi, thus temporarily boosting our strength!”
The third prince was overjoyed, “This method is good!”
“But there is one downside to this method. It stimulates the hidden potential within the body, and once activated, it can increase strength by three times. The more you stimulate, the shorter the duration! And after the effect wears off, the body will enter a state of fatigue, the level of which depends on the situation, and the strength will greatly decrease!”
The third prince waved his hand and smiled, “This downside is nothing at all. We’re not fighting for our lives right now. As long as we win this duel, we can rest afterwards!”
Everyone agreed with this.
Luo Shan said in a deep voice, “Your Highness, Huo Lie, let’s do it!”
Huo Lie secretly took out the silver needles and began to puncture Luo Shan’s body.
In about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Huo Lie’s strength increased by about 50%, reaching the level of high-ranking fifth-grade.
“To prevent being discovered, I only increased his strength by 50%, which should last for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense! With that much time, we should be able to win!” Huo Lie said.
The third prince smiled, “50% is enough. We have already won this round!”
“Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations, Your Highness!” The others whispered with a smile.
At this moment, Lin Beifan, who was drinking tea, twitched his ears and glanced towards the Great Yan side, revealing a mysterious smile.
The fifth round of the martial arts competition started quickly.
This was the match point, and everyone’s attention was focused on it.
“The fifth round of the martial arts competition is now beginning. Both warriors, please enter the stage for the duel!”
Luo Shan from Great Yan and Tian Miao from Great Wu confidently stepped onto the stage.
At this moment, both of them were filled with confidence in their hearts. They stared at each other, their eyes filled with strong fighting spirit.
“This round, Great Yan will surely win!”
“The victory should belong to Great Wu!”
“Then let’s prove it with our actions!”
Both sides exchanged fierce words.
The referee announced, “The fifth round of the martial arts competition begins now!”
Both sides shouted and were about to start.
At this moment, the weather suddenly changed, and a strong wind blew, stirring up flying sand and rocks, filling the stage.
“The weather… how did it change so suddenly?”
“It was a sunny day just a moment ago, and now the wind is blowing. It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain!”
“Yes, the thunder was booming just the day before yesterday. It’s really strange!”
…
The Empress shouted, “Pause the duel. Let’s continue when the wind stops!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Both of them stopped and waited for the wind to stop.
However, strangely enough, the wind continued to blow fiercely, and it didn’t stop.
Unknowingly, a quarter of an incense stick’s time had passed.
The third prince became anxious. Their method of using silver needles to stimulate acupuncture points could only last for the time it takes to burn an incense stick. After that time, their people would be weakened and unable to fight. How could they continue?
So, he politely said to the Empress, “Your Majesty of Great Wu, it’s just a little strong wind, it doesn’t affect the competition between the two. Why don’t we let them continue?”
The Empress nodded, “The third prince’s words make sense! Then…”
At this moment, the raging wind blew towards the Empress and the officials.
Their clothes rustled, making it difficult for them to open their eyes. Some people even had their hats blown away, and sand got into their mouths. They looked extremely disheveled.
The Empress had to hide behind the stage to avoid the wind.
The old eunuch smiled bitterly at the third prince, “Your Highness, let’s just wait. With such strong wind… they can continue the fight, but we won’t be able to watch!”
“Oh… ” The third prince’s face was full of shock, feeling helpless.
So, amidst the third prince’s anticipation, the strong wind continued to blow.
After half the time of an incense stick, it still didn’t stop. The third prince’s heart sank, and he became more and more uneasy.
Finally, the time of an incense stick had passed, and the strong wind finally stopped, almost as if timed.
This should have been a good thing, but the third prince’s heart sank to the bottom.
At this moment, the Empress came out and loudly announced, “The wind has stopped, and the martial arts competition will continue!”
The interrupted duel resumed.
Tian Miao from Great Wu shouted and released a powerful attack with all his strength.
Luo Shan from Great Yan tried to block it, but seemed to lack power. He was knocked away like a rag and fell to the ground, spitting out blood before passing out.
Tian Miao was stunned, “Damn! Was it this easy to win?”
The third prince’s body swayed, and he said absentmindedly, “It’s over! It’s all over!”
