Chapter 89 - Merging Attacks

The final battle of the Cloudsoar Academy Tournament had come so quickly that Luo Xiao was taken by surprise. This was the final battle for the Sky Ranked cultivators, and he had managed to get to this battle relying solely on his own strength.

A bit of pride spread in his heart at this thought as he glanced at Jiang Yao when he thought about it, only to see that the demon prince in question was looking at him with tenderness and pride in his eyes, causing Luo Xiao to blush embarrassed.

As he made sure that his spiritual energy was in perfect condition and he felt prepared, Luo Xiao took a long breath before determination filled his eyes. He didn't want to disappoint his beloved, who was currently watching him.

Originally he had not thought that he would be capable of getting to the final, he had even considered forfeiting some of the matches when he had proved his strength, but now the championship was within his reach and something changed within him.

It was easy to give up, it was easy to make way for others, but if there was something he wanted, he had to do his utmost to fight for it.

Right now he was not satisfied with just doing well, he wanted to stun the world, show everyone that he was amongst the geniuses of the world. That Jiang Yao had not been mistaken when he took him in!

Thinking like this, some of the naivety and gentleness in his eyes was replaced with an unyielding spirit, and his back was straight as he took a deep breath. He was not willing to give up. Now that it mattered, he wanted to actually fight.

He wanted to move step by step towards Jiang Yao's side, he wanted to prove his worth!

Luo Xiao slowly started moving towards the stage. When he saw his opponent he was not surprised.

This man was a few years older than Luo Xiao, and he resembled a weasel. He had been glaring at him during the entire tournament, and hatred had been seeping out of his body.

As to why this man had such hatred for him, Luo Xiao was completely unaware, but he did not care about it either. This guy was nothing more than an opponent. An obstacle that was in the way before he was able to take the trophy and the first step towards Jiang Yao.

The opponent had a malicious expression on his face, a smirk was adorning his lips, but he was so ugly that it was impossible to see it as anything else than a sinister sight.

The two of them were standing on the stage, there was a big distance between them, but the distance did not much, as the opponent was a Qi cultivator while Luo Xiao, although a soul cultivator, so far had been undefeated in close quarters combat.

When the gesture for the battle to begin, Luo Xiao did not rush to summon the Stalwart Shield Defense, neither did he use his spiritual energy to create the Black Pagoda Art, instead he stood casually, his hands caressing his chin and his eyes slightly narrowed as he observed the opponent.

The opponent was livid when he saw how Luo Xiao was not caring about him at all, his eyes were bursting into flames as a long spear appeared in his hands.

The spear was long and heavy, but when Luo Xiao looked at it he could see that although it looked domineering the opponent was new to using it.

The arms were slightly awkward when holding the weapon, but after a short moment he thrust the spear towards Luo Xiao, who looked at him alertly as he sidestepped, avoiding the weapon.

None of them had used any techniques yet, and the fourth prince's guy continued to thrust out the spear, followed by a sweeping movement, trying to catch Luo Xiao.

However, Luo Xiao was not so easy to catch. Luo Xiao had been training his physique, not just his spiritual energy, and he had managed to use some herbs to strengthen his body.

These herbs were a present from his teacher, Overseer Zhu, and he could clearly feel the difference it brought to his body.

"Fire Dragon Breaks the Ranks!" he yelled out and a fire erupted on the edge of the spear's blade, bringing with it a soaring flame towards Luo Xiao.

When Jiang Yao saw this, his eyes narrowed slightly. Fire, huh? This guy was truly playing with fire. They all knew that the Fourth Demon Prince, Jiang Luo, was specializing in playing with flames, so the fact that this guy who held immense hatred towards Luo Xiao also did so, was it truly a coincidence?

While Jiang Yao was trying to see if he could connect this boy to Jiang Luo, Luo Xiao was solemn down on the stage.

The flames were erupting from the spear, shooting everywhere, and Luo Xiao needed to use a defense.

Knowing that it was an attack that worked over a rather large area, he knew that the strength of each flame could not be too overwhelming, and thus he decided to use the most cost efficient defensive attack he had, the Black Pagoda Art.

While a massive black pagoda shrouded Luo Xiao, the young man was not willing to continue being chased without fighting back.

Moon Goddess Hand!

Soul Reaping Palm!

Two attacks entwined with one another. The Moon Goddess Hand was not very strong on it's own, but when the two attacks merged together, they managed to cause some ripples in the surrounding air, and when they landed on the spear, a resounding boom caused by a massive explosion reverberated outwards.

Everyone observing the fight were rather shocked when they saw how Luo Xiao was capable of entwining two martial art techniques into one another. The control over one's spiritual energy that was needed was not something that everyone could do.

Luo Xiao did not know that it was rare to use two attacks at once and seamlessly blending them together. He had tried it a few times and found it somewhat simple. It was a good way to strengthen one's attacks, by boosting a strong attack with a weaker one.

He had also tried merging the Devouring Starry Sky with the Soul Reaping Palm, but that was an attack that required all his energy, and even then, it was often ending in failure.

The merged attack was so fast that the opponent had a hard time grasping what was happening. By the time his mind was cleared, the spear in his hand had already turned into scrap metal.

The explosion from the Soul Reaping Palm merged with the Moon Goddess Hand was enough to create such destruction that everyone who watched took in a deep breath of air.

This was simply too dangerous.

Seeing the destruction caused by the attack, Luo Xiao was pleased, but he was not arrogant or cocky as he once again sent a merged attack towards the opponent.

"Holy Flame Palm!" The guy was pale and fearful as he threw out one of his most superior attacks. However, this attack made all faces of the princes' change.

The Holy Flame Palm was an immensely rare martial arts technique. It was known to be one of the martial art techniques with flames that had the highest potential.

It was also one of the attacks that the Fourth Demon Prince was famed for having completely grasped.

Seeing this child using the Holy Flame Palm, and the previous killing intent that he had shown, everyone was capable of adding two and two together. This child was clearly working under the orders of Jiang Luo.

Jiang Yao's eyes narrowed as he saw how the two on the arena were exchanging attack after attack. He saw small cuts were appearing all over Luo Xiao's clothes, revealing his snow-white skin underneath.

He saw how his lover was slowly accumulating many small injuries, blood was flowing, painting the clothes red, and the temperature around him was plummeting, but he did not step forward to stop the fight.

It was not that he did not wish to do so; neither was it because his heart was not aching for him; it did hurt very much for him! But when he looked at Luo Xiao, he saw the stubbornness in his lover's eyes, and he trusted in him.

He would not be blocked by a mere pawn; he would use this pawn of the Fourth Prince as his stepping stone to be acknowledged.

Even so, Jiang Yao was not willing to just swallow down the insult, nor accept Luo Xiao being injured for no reason. He was going to find a later time to get some payback from Jang Luo, and he would make sure that it was with interest!

Luo Xiao was not the only one who was hurt under the constant clashes between the two, the QI cultivator was also feeling the severe pain searing all over his body, his soul was also turning sluggish and he had a severe headache, unable to fully focus on Luo Xiao at this point in time.

Both of them were injured, but Luo Xiao was not willing to give up. He had around thirty percent of his spiritual energy left, and suddenly his face turned dignified.

If the battle continued like this, he would not lose, but he would not win either.

As such, he had already said that he would do anything in his power to defeat the opponent in front of him, and thus he made a decision that was both maddening and insane, but he wanted to do his best to defeat the man in front of him.

Luo Xiao retreated to the corner of the stage, and took a deep breath. A cruel and ruthless light shone across his eyes, a light that had never before appeared in his eyes, but he understood that this man wished to kill him, and thus he would not be polite.

Devouring Starry Sky!

Soul Reaping Palm!

The thousands of small spheres of spiritual energy all gathered within the back of the soul reaping palm, which had grown to a size so shockingly big, that everyone who looked were stunned and frightened.

This attack was by far strong enough to even fend off a Star Ranked expert, but now it was unleashed in the hands of a Sky Ranked cultivator!

Seeing this everyone gasped and gaped in shock. Even Jiang Yao was shocked. This attack was frightening for their level of strength, and Luo Xiao's face was pale as he looked at the opponent.

Without giving him the time to fight back, he unleashed the palm attack and it shot forward like a shooting star, landing squarely on the chest of the opponent, sending him flying backwards like a kite that had been released from its string.

Looking at the man, they saw that Luo Xiao had been fairly merciful. The man was spitting out teeth and blood, his entire body was one bloody mess and all bones in his body were broken, but he was still alive.

Luo Xiao glanced at the guy and took a deep breath. He had succeeded. He had made Jiang Yao proud.

When he thought about this, he looked at the princes and his eyes found Jiang Yao, after which the sweetest smile blossomed on his lips and happiness sprung up in his eyes.

Even the usually cold face of Jiang Yao was having a smile on his lips and nodded his head to show his approval.

Seated further down the row, this scene felt into the eyes of Jiang Bai, who frowned. Why was this scene so displeasing to him?

He had been immensely worried for Luo Xiao, but now that he won and saw the affection between Jiang Yao and Luo Xiao, it was impossible for him to be pleased with what he had seen.