Chapter 264: Rematch With a Dark Horse

Xing Juren, a powerful body cultivator who was a member of the Physique Hall and was seeded to become a Inheritor. He practiced the Daystar Fist Manual. A set of techniques created by the Master of Ten Fists, a mighty body cultivator whose skills were inspired during his tempering. He climbed one of the highest mountains and bathed in the sun for ten years. The sunlight both nourished and tougthened his body. Under its presence, he learned of its movements and strength, eventually forming the Daystar Fist, which had become one of the ten fists he was known for.

As for Xing Juren himself, he cultivated the Dao of Fire and as he progressed in Body Cultivation, he tempered himself through the fieriness of flames and the heat of the sun. With this in hand, the Daystar Fist Manual was extremely suited for him as he was not only talented but dedicated. As far as his upbringing, people say he came from a tribe of warriors in the northwest. Though how he ended up in Heaven's Gate was a mystery.*

Due to his constant training and ventures into the outside world, he did not make much of a name for himself to the entire institution but his reputation was well-known within the Physique Hall. It was only when news of him possibly becoming a Inheritor came to light that others started paying attention. But he did not care, he only cared about his training. Though, some say that he goes to the Beast Hall to wrestle with the denizens there and had created quite a bond with some of them. There have been rumors of his liking towards animals.

This was all that Ming Yue knew of her opponent. After their first encounter in the group battles, she knew that he was incredibly strong. Her former group had begun talking about him after their victory and that was where she learned of his history. But when it came to his cultivation and martial skills, she could only go off of what she had experienced.

On the arena, Xing Juren and Ming Yue faced off, him with his bare fists and her with Driftng Sky.

"Now that it is just the two of us, we can finally have a good fight."

He spoke proudly, cupping his fists and rousing his heart energy. Those tattooed arms of his glowed faintly, radiating a faint warm glow. His sleeveless uniform of orange and white seemed to compliment this change of his. The expression on his face slightly different, his fierce brows was paired with eyes of anticipation for the coming fight. With one fist before the other, he took his stance.

Ming Yue followed, unsheathing her sword and wielding it with both hands. The Quintessence Energy flowed as both the Dao of Wind and Lightning imbued themselves into the blade. The two cores by her guard gave off a dim light as it felt the presence of these two energies.

"Indeed", she responded, "I hope that it does not end quickly."

The judge glanced at the two before beginning the fight.

"The rules apply as before, a fatal injury will mark your loss. Begin!"

"Fist of the Raging Sun!"

Xing Juren made his move, punching forward and releasing a fiery fist of flame.

Ming Yue sprinted forward before sidestepping the attack. With her speed, she closed the distance in a matter of seconds. She leaped up, bring down the blade onto her opponent. Xing Juren was prepared, he crossed his fists and defended himself, pushing Ming Yue off.

"Embrace of the Demonic Sun!"

Rather than one fist, he punched with both before pulling back with all his strength. The space before him seeemed to have warped just a bit. The emptiness within it seemed to cave in, pulling everything towards it.

"Fist of the Raging Sun!"

He did not wait for her to be pulled in and instead walked forward. His right fist was flaming red as he punched forward.

Having seen this before, Ming Yue prepared herself.

"Blasting Gale, Threefold Lance."

Before she was pulled in any closer, three Blasting Gales quickly formed. They were by no means her strongest but it was enough. They flew forward, coming faster than Xing Juren but then they would not touch him. Rather, Embrace of the Demonic Sun would grab ahold of them.

"What could she be planning?" he thought.

Of course, Blasting Gale was no ordinary wind lance. Hollow at the point, they would detonate on impact and that was exactly what she was aiming for.

The three Blasting Gales sped up, pulled by Xing Juren's technique. They met at the core of warped space and exploded with enough force to push Xing Juren back and surprise him. The oppurtunity was made and Ming Yue capitalized on it.

"Wrath of the Winds!"

Wind swirled about, growing in strength and size until it encapsulated Xing Juren. Ming Yue controlled it, keeping its size small but condensing the power. With the help of the Eternal Heart Ring, she kept the tornado alive and strong, forcing Xing Juren away from her. Like that, she trapped him within this tornado, suffering cuts from what seemed like a countless number of knives.

A direct clash might have been what he wanted but she wasn't going to play into his hands so easily.

"So this is what she planned, I need to break out of this."

Inside, Xing Juren could feel the pain coming from this technique. With his body cultivation, it felt nothing more than a pinch but that sensation slowly grew in intensity. In seconds, his body began to exhibit a few scratches before growing into larger cuts. The longer he stayed the worse his injuries would become.

"Palm of the Shattered Star!"

He brought his palm forward as a wave of Heart Energy moved out. It trembled before shattering into small fragments, unable to contain the power. Like that, a hole was torn through the side of Ming Yue's technique where Xing Juren attacked.

"I won't let you out so easily!"

Ming Yue brought out more of her Quintessence Energy, burning more than the Eternal Heart Ring could generate. That hole began to close up but Xing Juren thrusted his hands outward, tryng to keep the it from fully repairing. His hands were bloody as the skin were ripped apart. Try as he might, he could not open up the hole. However, he still had a few cards left to play.

"Origin of the Fiery Sun!"

As he shouted, the Heart Energy within him exploded forth covering hs body in a flaming red aura. The initial outburt was anough to shake Ming Yue's technque but it still held on, though, not for long.

He pushed his hands through the tornado and promptly walked through as if it was nothing.

"What will you do now?" he asked her.

Ming Yue stopped maintaining the tornado, allowing it to fade away. She could not cut through his aura nor could she pierce it. She thought quickly but there wasn't enough time before Xing Juren made his next move.

"March of the Red Giant."

Rather than a single step, he merely walked forward but each step he took shook the arena. Then he began to run towards her and every step he took produced an even stronger tremor. Ming Yue then vanished from her spot and reappeared elsewhere.

Wind needles appeared form her hands and condensed them, making it sturdy and sharp. With these needles, she shot them all at once and watched as they pierced the Xing Juren's aura but disintegrated soon after.

"That won't work", she thought.

Though she had already knew from the beginning that it would not have worked. In fact, she knew that none of her techniques would work on that fiery aura. It was dense and powerful. This left her with only two options.

She could try to outlast him as using a technique as strong as that would be taxing on his body. However, it was not certain and chances were, she might be the one left exhausted. The second option was to send him out of the arena, uprooting him from the floor and launching him out.

That was what happened in their previous fight, with a move from her and the Inheritor Wenqin Yan, they sent him flying out of the arena, knocked unconscious and leaving them victorious. Unfortunately, achieving this required her to produce an attack strong enough to match the combined might of her and Wenqin Yan.

These were the only two options she had and neither of them seemed good.