Chapter 38: Dianxue v. Cathartic Attacks

Chapter 38: Dianxue v. Cathartic Attacks

“Come on, Sect Leader Sunan, you show her a thing or two!”

“Yeah, that’s right Sect Leader, there’s no way she can stand up to the Rebuke of the Dragon!”

Sunan rolled up his sleeves as he stepped out into the the middle of the room, which had been cleared of tables. He tried to put on a brave face, but the truth was that his heart was pounding in his chest.

The last time he had fought Bao, he’d had the upper hand at first, only to fall victim to her witchcraft, or whatever it was. The last thing he wanted to do was be humiliated in front of his entire Sect. However, backing down wasn’t an option either. She’d openly challenged him, and to refuse would have been a clear act of cowardice.

In the traditional culture of Qi Xien, it would be unheard of for a man to fight a woman. But Qi was the great equalizer. During Golden Dragon training sessions, Sunan had seen some female disciples defeat male disciples who were twice their weight.

“Chieftess Bao, you can’t show this guy any mercy!”

“Cut him down like that Ogre you crushed!”

As Bao stepped into the makeshift fighting arena, she looked Sunan in the eye and smiled confidently.

“Sect Leader,” she said, “this is an exhibition match only. No fatal blows. Agreed?”

He nodded in return. “No weapons, either. Agreed?”

“No weapons.” With a dramatic flourish, she produced two knives from within her sleeves, which she sent flying with blinding speed back to her table.

-Twang-

Both knives pierced deep into the wood of the table and stood there vibrating slightly.

I should take her out as quickly as possible. I can’t give her a chance to use that magic of hers. And if her eyes start to turn white….

Sunan’s fingers began to curl into dragons’ claws. “Chieftess Bao, please, go ahead and make the first move.”

“Sect Leader, I’ve killed Ogres and Fei Beasts. I don’t need your permission to go first or second. Try to hit me, if you dare.”

She’s intentionally baiting me, isn’t she. Sunan gritted his teeth.

“Fine, I won’t be polite. Rebuke of the Dragon!”

Two blasts of Qi that resembled fierce dragons flew through the air toward Bao. Shockingly, she dashed directly toward them and then spun between them. The two dragons completely missed Bao and smashed into a table off to the side, reducing it to splinters.

Bao’s dash had brought her within arm’s length of Sunan, but he wasn’t about to give her the initiative.

He immediately unleashed a new technique that he had been working on in the previous weeks. His fingers straightened out as he thrust his palm directly toward the pit of her stomach. Wanting to end the fight as quickly as possible, he drew deeply upon his Qi, pouring extra power into his palm. If it connected, she would be sent flying through the air with significant wounds to her torso.

However, even as his palm sailed through the air, Bao shouted, “Infinite Counter of the Phoenix!”

Before Sunan knew what was happening, Bao’s hand latched onto his forearm, and then tapped him viciously on the wrist, forearm and elbow. Instantly, Sunan felt power sweeping into his body, immobilizing him as it went. In the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint, his entire right arm was complete dead weight.

Dammit, what is this?

He quickly sent his own Qi flowing toward his arm to try to combat the effect of the immobilization, simultaneously wrenching it out of Bao’s grasp and falling back a few paces.

As he did, the numbing sensation ceased to spread, and even began to recede. Unfortunately, his entire right arm was now completely useless, and he could tell that it would take at least a minute or so for feeling to return.

I need to buy time!

Just as Bao was bending her legs to spring into motion again, Sunan said, “Wait!”

Bao frowned. “What is it?”

“Why is that move called Infinite Counting Phoenix? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Infinite Counter of the Phoenix! I countered your move!”

“Ohhh. Counter not counting. Well, in any case, I thought the Pure Pheonix Sect didn’t name their moves. Didn’t you say that was childish?”

Bao snorted. “When in the country do as the country bumpkins do! Are you just trying to buy time, Sect Leader? How devious! Fury of the Phoenix!”

With that, she swept her arms through the air, unleashing a wide beam of blinding, white light that sped directly toward Sunan.

Sunan’s eyes went wide, and yet he reacted immediately, leaping to the side and cradling his immobilized right arm.

Despite the speed of his reaction, part of the blast of Qi still hit him in the waist, sending him spinning through the air until he slammed into one of the supporting beams that held up the ceiling.

-Boom-

The rest of the Qi hit some tables off to the side, crushing them into pieces.

As for Sunan, after hitting the beam, he dropped down to the ground with a loud thump, blood oozing out of his nose and mouth.

Dammit, that hurts! Struggling to his feet, he wiped the blood off of his face with the back of his hand.

Chuckling, Bao began to walk toward him. “Just say the words, Sect Leader, and the fight will be over. I really don’t want to hurt you. I won’t hold back with my next move, and your arm won’t recover in time for you to use your Rebuke of the Dragon again.”

Sunan’s mouth twisted into a snarl. “Not all techniques in Wu-Sunan use hands, Chieftess! For instance… Slash of the Dragon’s Tail!”

Sunan jumped up and kicked out with all his might, yet again overdrawing on his Qi, destabilizing himself further. Bao lifted her left arm up to defend herself, and a moment later, Sunan’s foot slammed into it, accompanied by a blast of wind and a primeval roar.

Bao let out a grunt as the massive force of the blow sent her staggering backward. She managed to take three steps before she lost her balance and fell to the ground. She even tumbled head over heels a few times before lurching to a halt in a crouching position.

Can’t let her take back the initiative!

By this point, Sunan could tell that his arm was on the verge of recovering. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t use Rebuke of the Dragon, so he let loose another Slash of the Dragon’s Tail, sending Bao crashing backward into a table. Considering how badly injured she already was, he held back some of the power of the attack to ensure that he didn’t inflict anything other than bruises.

She can’t take much more of this. She must be on the verge of collapsing!

As Bao extricated herself from the wreckage of the table, she wiped the blood off of her lips with her sleeve.

“Chieftess Bao, it’s time to concede,” Sunan said. “If I hit you with Rebuke of the Dragon, I could seriously injure you.” After flexing his right hand experimentally, he confirmed that he had full range of motion back, and slowly curled his fingers into dragon claws as he walked closer to Bao.

Bao slowly looked up and into his eyes, and his heart trembled from the ferocity which seemed to stab into his soul.

“I don’t know how you manage to unleash so much power with your strikes,” she said, “but one thing I can tell clearly is that you Golden Dragon people don’t know anything about Dianxue! Phoenix Torment!”

Lurching forward with blinding speed, her left hand formed a vicious-looking hook that stabbed toward Sunan’s temple. Even as his right hand shot up to block her strike, he realized that the move with her left hand was a feint, and that the true attack was coming from her right hand. Before he could even consider defending with his left hand, her right index finger pushed down into the base of his neck by his collarbone.

Intense pain exploded out from the point of impact. It felt like white-hot lava was coursing through his blood vessels and Qi meridians, burning him from the inside out. In order to prevent himself from screaming, he clenched his jaw as he staggered back. Veins bulged out on his neck and face, and he began to shake violently. Even his vision began to grow dim, as if he were teetering on the verge of lapsing into unconsciousness.

After a moment, the sensation passed, and he stood there, panting. He reached up to feel the spot where she had struck him with her finger, half expecting to find a gaping wound gushing with blood. Surprisingly, there was no wound at all.

What did she do? What is this Dianxue?

Even more surprising was that, instead of following up with another attack, she simply stood across from him in a ready stance.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “That was impressive, Chieftess Bao.”

“You strike with great power yourself, Sect Leader.”

The two of them stood there looking at each other, and both of them seemed to be thinking the same thing.

She was also holding back. If we push things any farther, one of us is going to be seriously hurt.

“Chieftess Bao, I think the two of us could both learn a thing or two from each other. I’m curious to learn more about this Dianxue of yours.”

She nodded. “And I’d very much like to know how you released so much energy. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“Why don’t we continue our discussion with more food and drink?”

“Very well. There’s a new type of alcohol in the north, something called sorghum wine. Do you happen to have any on hand?”

“Sorghum wine? That stuff burns like fire!”

Bao chuckled. “That’s exactly why I like it!”

**

New tables were hauled in, and soon the dinner had resumed. Bao explained the Dianxue that her Pure Phoenix Sect had begun to explore recently. It was a discipline focused on attacking and manipulating pressure points throughout the body. By striking certain points and flooding them with Qi, it was possible to immobilize and injure an opponent, but at the same time, could be used for beneficial purposes. In turn, Sunan explained how to cathartically draw upon higher levels of power, and how it came with the risk of injuring oneself in the process.

Sorghum wine flowed until certain disciples from both Sects began to look around blearily and even lay their heads down onto the table.

Sunan never noticed how Bao always seemed to have two cups of alcohol, one of which rested near her knee, beneath the table.

Eventually, it got so late that Sun Mai had to remind Sunan that the local ward curfew time was approaching. If they didn’t leave now, they would be forced to spend the night at the Heavenly Meat Palace.

“Chieftess Bao, where is your Pure Phoenix Sect staying?”

“An inn near the Thunder Gate,” she replied. “Across from the fabric emporium.”

“I know the place,” he said. “It’s definitely not appropriate for heroes like you. Tie Gangwen, has anyone taken up residence in the former mansion of the Golden Immortal?”

“No, Sect Leader.”

“Very well. First thing in the morning, take Chieftess Bao and her people there. That will be her new home in Daolu.”

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Get behind the scenes info and material for your Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate session at the Bedrock Blog. The article to go along with this chapter is entitled TORMENT OF THE PHOENIX. Not only can you get full stats for Torment of the Phoenix, you can also see how the events of this chapter were passed down through history.