Qi Shaoming was startled, but the Heartbreak Saber was swinging at him. Aghast, Qi Shaoming hastily turned, just barely avoiding the saber.
But as he dodged, Tang Jie rushed up, raised his left hand, and fired a needle at Qi Shaoming’s arm.
Energy Needle!
And he was using only the Silver Cloud Needle, as he felt that this wasn’t some battle wherein lives were on the line.
If he used the golden needle, Qi Shaoming probably wouldn’t have an arm right now.
Still, Qi Shaoming felt a throb of pain, and he roared in anger and used another Starfall Strike.
“Useless!” Tang Jie roared, once more unleashing a Windcleaver, which obliterated Qi Shaoming’s attack with an unstoppable momentum.
While he didn’t have as many spell arts as Qi Shaoming, nor could he use them as quickly and as flexibly, his Windcleaver Saber could utilize the entirety of his strength, each swing carrying with it his majestic power.
With his absurd strength backing the Windcleaver Saber, he truly could cut down any attack that came at him. It was probably only Qi Shaoming’s Passing Shadow/Phantom Clone combination attack that he couldn’t deal with.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the two of them fought, Qi Shaoming realized to his horror that all of the attacks he used did nothing to Tang Jie while that berserk saber intent surged through the heavens. The frost created by the Iceberg Palm was incapable of slowing Tang Jie even half a step.
With every step, it was possible to hear the sound of ice cracking.
Tang Jie was like a tiger coming down the mountain, his saber swinging out again and again, Windcleaver Sabers going left and right. It was such a simple and straightforward move, yet Qi Shaoming just couldn’t stop it.
The freezing ice didn’t seem to exist, nor did the falling stars. No matter how fast the Windwalk Form was, there was no escaping the limited confines of the sparring room. While the Passing Shadow was dazzling to behold, Tang Jie hacked at the illusions like they were the real deal, holding nothing back.
His strength seemed endless, his will to fight overflowing. The winds stirred up by Tang Jie’s saber tore through the room. It was just one saber, but it weighed down on him like a mountain, causing Qi Shaoming to struggle to breathe.
Alarmed and dismayed, he finally used his combination attack, the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone Slash.
The sword deluge finally managed to stop Tang Jie’s momentum and knock him into the air.
But when he landed, Tang Jie simply threw up some blood, chuckled, and stood back up.
He looked at Qi Shaoming and asked, “How many more times can you use that? Two times? Three times?”
Qi Shaoming trembled and shook his head. “No! How is this possible?”
He rarely used this combination move because it was far too powerful. Using it against a student was liable to cause a death.
But to his surprise, Tang Jie was still standing after two of them.
This made him almost go crazy.
He no longer cared about the consequences, once more using the Passing Shadow Phantom Clone Slash, striking Tang Jie with a thunderous blow.
Twice in a row!
These were his last two attacks. He had now used everything, and any other student would have died on the spot.
But Qi Shaoming didn’t care.
He didn’t hate Tang Jie. He just couldn’t accept a loss.
He only thought about winning!
Though he was a genius, he was also a very proud young man.
He wasn’t convinced!
The outcome would be decided with this blow, and all he cared about was beating this guy!
I want to win!
Qi Shaoming mentally roared as he moved his sword and utilized his spiritual energy to their limits. His figure could be seen in every part of the sparring room, the sword deluge unleashing a frenzied rain of sword beams that even carried a tinge of the Mortal Shedding Realm’s power.
In this terrifying flood of attacks, even Tang Jie was knocked into the air and violently threw up blood.
The Aquagel Shroud was generated and destroyed over and over, and even the Formless Golden Body reached its breaking point, crazily drinking spiritual energy from his body to maintain itself.
Once all those afterimages finally dissipated and the sword deluge had ebbed, Tang Jie’s body crashed to the ground.
His entire body was covered in sword wounds, not a single inch of his flesh left intact.
Even Qi Shaoming was shaken. Only now did he realize that he was capable of killing someone.
But a moment later, that frightening thought disappeared.
Tang Jie jumped to his feet and charged at Qi Shaoming like a frenzied bull.
He charged so quickly that he was slamming into Qi Shaoming before he had even come to his senses.
A savage punch blasted through the Silver Shroud and Windwalk Form that Qi Shaoming no longer had the power to sustain, making direct contact with his nose. Blood flowed out as his body went flying.
“Noooo!” Qi Shaoming angrily howled, like a man despairing as he was about to die.
Tang Jie’s punch had totally shattered his hopes of victory, shattered that last shred of dignity he had.
Tang Jie rushed up, grabbed him, and punched him again. “Bastard thing, using your best move twice! Don’t you realize you could have killed me? Or did you not care what happened so long as you could win?”
Bang!
He punched Qi Shaoming flying again, but he was already holding back, knowing that Qi Shaoming couldn’t take the full force of his blows.
He then charged up and kicked Qi Shaoming in the waist. “Qi Shaoming, it’s true that you’re a genius, but you’re too proud, so proud that you think you’re the world! First place in all Seven Celestial Halls? What do you think other people are? Do you think people will look down on you just because you didn’t get first place? But who in this academy is really looking down on you? While you might not have first place in any of them, you’re in the top ten of all the Celestial Halls. Is there anyone other than you capable of that? Everyone knows of your genius, and no one has ever dared to underestimate you, but you continue to look down on yourself. If you can’t reach the goal you set for yourself, you won’t be satisfied, and failing to reach the next cultivation tier faster than me has made you feel even more uncomfortable. You’re not striving to get ahead! You’re just insufferably arrogant, believing everyone else to be mud dirtying the soles of your shoes, refusing to let others surpass you.”
Qi Shaoming furiously replied, “What do you understand? You don’t know that the title of ‘genius’ is itself an enormous burden. Do you know how many people are watching me? How many people are waiting for me? The moment I mess up, they’ll be on me like locusts, insulting and calling me some dogshit genius. You’ve never heard those voices, the mockery. You would never understand!”
“How could I have not heard it? Do you think I haven’t received my fair share of ridicule over the last several days?” Tang Jie countered. He grabbed Qi Shaoming and punched him in the belly. “What’s the point in taking to heart the jeers of the ignorant? There are plenty of idiots under the sun, and there’s no time to settle things with every one of them! If you’re acting like this after a few insults, that doesn’t mean that you have some unyielding character. It just means you’re a sore loser!”
“‘A sore loser’?” Qi Shaoming asked in shock.
Tang Jie didn’t answer, punching Qi Shaoming instead and causing him to bend over in such pain that he couldn’t even talk. Tang Jie grabbed him and pinned him to the wall.
Qi Shaoming squeezed out, “I’m not a sore loser. I just don’t want to let down my clan’s hopes…”
“Wanting to advance is a good thing, and wanting to live up to the title of genius and your clan’s expectations is also a good thing! But any good thing taken to the extreme will become a bad thing! You’re too extreme, so extreme that you won’t tolerate the slightest flaw. This is your problem!”
Qi Shaoming trembled at these words.
Tang Jie finally stopped punching him and let him down.
He said, “If you don’t want to let down your clan, you have to work harder, not get angry when other people insult you… That just makes you unhappy and makes your enemies rejoice. You’re a genius with a nine-cycle Jade Gate. This talent is best suited for rapidly increasing your cultivation level, not fighting. You’re putting the cart before the horse by focusing all your energy into spell arts. Even if you’re a genius, if you go down the wrong path, you’ll still end up as trash.”
“Even a genius will end up as trash if they go down the wrong path?” Qi Shaoming repeated, his mind dazed.
Tang Jie looked at Qi Shaoming and sighed. “Just focus on cultivating and stop seeking out these momentary advantages. At your current level of strength, you don’t need to cultivate any more spell arts and would still be able to dominate the other students for a while. Once your cultivation level is higher and your spiritual power more plentiful, your Passing Shadow Phantom Clone Slash alone would be enough to set Spirit Lake students running. If you were at Spirit Lake and able to unleash one more of those slashes, I might not even be standing right now.”
He was naturally just trying to comfort Qi Shaoming.
At Qi Shaoming’s current level of strength, he would need to use the Phantom Clone Slash five times in a row to slice Tang Jie up enough that he couldn’t stand. But Tang Jie wouldn’t say this. People needed hope to drive them forward.
He didn’t have any grudge against Qi Shaoming. He just thought that he was too proud and refused to acknowledge others.
Since they had met, fought, and talked about so much, he didn’t mind becoming Qi Shaoming’s friend.
After all, Qi Shaoming still had a nine-cycle Jade Gate. He had just unwittingly gone in the wrong direction. If he were returned to the proper course, he would quickly shine once more.
After spending a long time in an organization, Tang Jie had realized some time ago that if a person wanted to stand out, hard work alone wasn’t enough. They also needed to grab onto someone else’s leg.
He had first grabbed Xu Muyang’s leg, and then he had grabbed the Wei Clan’s leg, and after that, he had grabbed the academy’s leg.
He couldn’t rely on these anymore, so he could only grab onto Qi Shaoming’s leg.
Though his leg was thinner than the others, at least it wouldn’t leave any side effects. At least this could be considered making friends with the son of the local tycoon.
Of course, Qi Shaoming’s reckless attack had still infuriated Tang Jie somewhat, so he had beaten him up first to teach him a lesson.
Qi Shaoming’s mind was much clearer now, so Tang Jie patted him on the shoulder and said, “It’s only been a year, so you still have time if you work hard. With your talent, I’m sure you’ll get to Spirit Lake soon, and once you’re brimming with energy and able to make ten of those Passing Shadow Phantom Clone Slashes in a row and have me begging at your feet, wouldn’t that be a pleasant sensation?”
Tang Jie began to walk out of the room.
As he was about to leave, Qi Shaoming shouted, “Tang Jie!”
“What’s up?” Tang Jie turned his head to look at him.
Qi Shaoming struggled to his feet.
He stared at Tang Jie, and after a while, he finally said, “Thank you.”
Tang Jie knew that he had accepted his suggestion and had seen the truth, so he smiled and walked out.
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