One Hour Later.
Fwoosh! The rattling chain alerted Bubai of the scythe that was snaking up for another attack.
Once more, his skedaddling pace picked up a notch, springing away to open just enough room for evasive maneuvers against the bloody razor-sharp killer net that flew his way.
Though the attack pattern was much more tight-knitted than before, Bubai still slipped right past the net with zero problemo.
He even had the leisure to activate the fireball talisman in hand to evaporate a good part of the leftover blood stain!
By now, both sides were quite familiar with each other’s pattern of attacks and movements.
Then it all came down to trying to outsmart and one-up each other.
When it came to combat experience, Bubai can’t say he can measure up to the long-lived blood sucker below.
But once it came down to comparing sheer physical and cognitive capabilities, Bubai felt he’ll never lose out!
There’s no need to mention his overpowered physique again. Simply talk about the mind and spirit side.
Even without the mental power surge brought by his green dew’s buff, his cognitive level legit belongs in the foundation realm!
Not only that, his Dream Dao was a cognitive-focused foundation! Can the improvement be any less than other cultivation arts that mainly focus on blessing other aspects?
Then add on his spirit and brain that has been repeatedly nourished by his mysterious green dew…
Unless the other party also have cheats, how can anybody one-realm-apart gain an upper hand over him in this aspect?
Once all of this got combined with his opponent’s in-depth profile established in his memory palace, it’s hard for the other to catch him off guard more than once or twice!
Like a sage once said: it’s the unknown that’s terrifying. What’s known is just weaknesses to exploit.
That’s why Batbai is so terrifying.
Not only was he escaping, he was even counterattacking!
To clueless onlookers, burning stacks of fireball talismans on mere blood might seem like a meaningless waste, but...
This was actually one of the main strategies to deal with these blood suckers!
These blood freaks can reabsorb blood? Then just burn all the blood like a glorified janitor and don’t even give them a chance to recover!
And the effect was amazing.
Bubai looked down to see the staggering Jin Tiemo who just reeled backed in his scythe like it weighed the world.
Bloodshot eyes met his and the man looked so out-of-breath that he can’t even roar insults anymore.
He really did look like somebody on his last leg and this was the ultimate temptation for most greedy fellas with a fluke mentality.
But… Bubai only sneered inwardly. Bloody Merlin, save your breath! There’s no way he’s falling for that!
Did this Jin Tiemo really think everyone will overlook all the recovery pills and blood bags he guzzled down like cheap wine?
Bubai certainly won’t because the total amount could almost stock a pharmacy! Unlike his own special situation, what the other did can’t be all for show!
Even if most of this bloody sicko’s refined blood got evaporated, Bubai still didn’t believe that’s enough to weaken the other to this pitiful state!
A fellow actor easily recognizes this type of low-level actor whenever he meets one!
Want to feign weakness to lure him in for a cheap kill? Keep dreaming!
He ain’t going down there even if time runs out!
Though that would result in a double elimination from this clan competition, that was fine.
Bubai might be greedy for more pay, but he’s not so foolish to risk it all against a powerful mainstay of a noble clan, especially since…
The chances of a clean kill was almost nil unless he leaks more of his trump cards.
Besides, simply lasting the full two hours will net him 750 spirit stones—enough to cover the cost of all the pills, talisman, and poison he’d been burning for this play!
Heck, he’ll even walk away with lots of jingling profit leftover!
The sweetest irony?
Most of the external aids he’d been using were the stockpile sponsored by others during this Inner Sect Exchange.
In other words, everything gained was technically pure profit!
Since a big win was already in his pocket, there was no need to take risky gambles, especially since it’s clear the other has no way to deal with him as long as he stayed up here.
Gotta admit though: in this case, the tricks of this Jin Tiemo even lost out to that water boy, Wu Dawei.
At least, those controllable water tentacles were much more useful at swatting him down.
Though the attack power can’t be directly compared, those water spells certainly did cover a large area and felt much more versatile than slashes of pure speed.
There was even a wet and slippery wall debuff to make it a tinge harder for his Cloud Ascending Steps to grip the wall.
That made evasion all the more harder.
Of course, the difficulty back then might also be because he wore chains on his own strength and didn’t go full power from the start.
Now since the shackles were off…
Even if he clashed head-on against the average mid-stage foundation builder, he wasn’t afraid of losing out in raw might!
Still, against these Blood Art folks, it was better to avoid physical combat that might easily draw blood, if possible.
That’s why from the very start, Bubai scurried up the wall instead of rushing up to sock the man’s face in.
The tactic turned out to be super effective and Bubai ain’t changing this tune that played so sweetly anytime soon.
He’ll honestly continue doing boring laps around the arena until the very end… as long as there’s no accidents.
Well, there won’t be... right?
Please author-san, directly skip to the end of the fight! Don’t add more soysauce to his fight!
Bubai wasn’t sure if his prayers reached beyond the fourth wall or not…
But seeing that the blood stains got evaporated for the most part, he chewed a spirit bean to refresh himself, got rid of any distracting thoughts, and dashed back in the other direction.
A smart escapee never runs in a single direction, lest the other predicts where he’ll go and set ups for the kill.
So every lap, he randomized his route choices. Left, right, even up and down.
That’s probably one of the reasons why he managed to drag out this torment for more than an hour.
As for whether he could do the full two hours…
Bubai hoped he could, but Jin Tiemo below had a different idea!
After an hour, his injuries have stabilized for the most part and impatience was boiling in his stomach!
At first, he thought that cockroach will tumble down that wall on his own sooner or later and decided to play along, but now…
Jin Tiemo’s worldview regarding mortal Qi Refiners got completely overturned!
This level of stamina… that seemingly endless Qi supply… it was all just absolutely absurd!
Even the most gifted Qi Refiners should’ve drained themselves dry by now, and even some foundation builders won’t do much better!
It was common sense that eating pills like candy can’t help that much because digestion, absorption, and circulation can only happen so fast!
How is it possible for this Qi Refinement realm cockroach to last this long?!
It’s simply impossible unless... he’s cheating!
Yes, he must be! But Jin Tiemo... just can’t see how!
Was it some heavenly treasure? Some secret forbidden technique? A mysterious organ transplant?
Jin Tiemo didn’t know, but he certainly wasn’t going to let this round drag on any longer!
Losing to anybody else was one thing, but if he was forced into a draw against a lowly greenhorn who’d barely set foot on the road of cultivation, he’ll probably have no face to meet others!
Even worse? If they still fail their crusade this year after paying such a heavy price and that man decides to make an example of him…
Jin Tiemo’s blood turned ice cold at the thought and firmed his will to end this. No matter the cost!
And he saved just the trick to do so.
Catching his scythe that hit nothing but air again, a turn blocked it from sight and a sleight of hand slapped a few explosive tags on one end.
Before the cockroach upstairs could notice anything, the weapon got hurled up again, this time even with an added spin!
It wasn’t the first time this spinning wheel of death attack pattern appeared.
Since Bubai’s dynamic vision didn’t catch anything unusual, he opened up another gap like usual.
But just when the reaper’s weapon reached its peak, the talismans lit up and turned the spinning dull metal disc into a glowing wheel of death. Then—BOOM!
The explosive blast, concentrated on one side of the weapon, actually acted like propulsion and sent the flaming disc rocketing over towards Bubai!
Naniiii?! Bubai finally realized something was wrong and broke out in a full-speed sprint, but...
It was too late!
The scythe that closed the gap immediately chained the combo with a bloody barrage of slashes that arrived so fast that it left him almost no time to react!
His Bubai tingle shrieked so bad that he felt his world slow down to a crawl...
Every angle of of those slashes were captured by his vision… then his body reacted quicker than his mind.
The next instant, his flexible body twisted like a pretzel and barely slipped right between the cracks of the cage of overlaying crescents!
But… the bloody slashes has yet to even fully fly by when the scythe arrived!
Deeeennng! Sparks spat as a knife flipped out to parry the scythe!
The force behind the spinning scythe wasn’t that strong, but…
That scythe’s blade was much sharper than expected and chipped deep into his knife!
That single little offset due to the difference in equipment quality made Bubai feel a sting below. He looked down to see that he got nicked by the curved scythe’s tip!
“Not good!” Bubai’s face changed, but before he could react, a yank on the chain jerked the scythe back down towards its owner’s waiting hand.
Hisss~ Bubai landed back on the wall, but he didn’t have time to care about the hissing scene behind.
He solemnly stared down at the man licking his fresh blood off the scythe’s tip like a beast savoring its first taste of a kill.
Jin Tiemo’s bloodshot eyes met his and a bloody wicked grin appeared on his face.
“Zehahaha! Dead cockroach... are you ready to be sacrificed to the Blood Sage?”
