I Came From The Mortal World-Chapter 13 - Achilles’ Heel
Chapter Thirteen – Achilles’ Heel
Xu Yi had already entered the peak state of a forged body, with ox’s skin and iron-bones. Theoretically, even the sharp sword could not pierce into his skin. However, Shirong’s fist still managed to bring immense pain to Xu Yi’s body.
He couldn’t imagine just what would’ve happened to him, if he had failed to escape Shirong’s fist. His body would probably have exploded within a second.
Out of sheer horror, Xu Yi swiftly crawled under the belly of the white horse. He curled himself up, as he felt shivers going down his spine and cracking sounds in the air around him.
The massive strength of Shirong’s fist overwhelmed Xu Yi so immensely, that he could feel his heart was bouncing like a ball inside his chest, ready to jump out. Now, he admitted that the previous plan to kill Shirong, was naïve and overconfident.
Nevertheless, Shirong was also shocked by Xu Yi’s nimble escape from his fist. He could instantly tell Xu Yi’s cultivation progress. From his experience, within the Peak Tower, not even those half a step away from an ocean of qi could evade this fist of his. Xu Yi had already distinguished himself from those who were in the same level as him.
Xu Yi didn’t pay much attention to the pondering look on Shirong’s face, as a brilliant self-protective strategy had appeared in his mind. During these years, Xu Yi’s survival skills had improved a lot. He was always resourceful whenever he was on the edge of death. Xu Yi pinched hard in the belly of the white horse, making it screech and prance. Then, the white horse suddenly rushed away, dragging Xu Yi along.
By grabbing onto the dangling halter, Xu Yi managed to jump on the horse’s back and immediately kicked the horse. Seconds later, Xu Yi turned around and found that Shirong was only tens of meters away from him.
It was almost dusk and the wind was blowing strongly throughout the mountains. Xu Yi unceasingly whipped the horse, making it run faster and faster. Despite the fact that Xu Yi was not specialized in riding, he managed to control the speed of the horse. As he was in the peak state, he could integrate his own strength with the horse and make it go even faster.
The white horse itself was also a rare species that had extraordinary speed - probably twice as much as a normal horse.
As Xu Yi enjoyed the speed of the horse, when he suddenly felt a gush of air coming from behind. Shock filled Xu Yi’s eyes, as he looked behind him.
Shirong flew in the air by stepping from one tree top to the next. It was not a big deal to chase Xu Yi over such a short distance. Immediately, he stretched his palms and there emerged a stream of dense qi, spiraling in the air.
Soon, swirling wind was hovering around Xu Yi, ready to suck him in.
Never in his wildest dreams had Xu Yi seen such magic power, he nearly even blacked out. Trying every means possible to survive, Xu Yi pedaled so hard on the horse-saddles that it eventually broke into many pieces. The great strength of the wind made the horse slant over to one side. Thus, Xu Yi was forced to crouch on the horse’s back to avoid being thrown off.
The horse was a perfect shield for Xu Yi, crouching on it, he no longer felt the furious wind around him as much. Hardly had Xu Yi recovered from the shock, when he began wondering about the power of Shirong’s fist. As far as he understood, in order to release the strength of any fist, one must directly hit an object, rather than hit in the open air. However, just now, the swirling wind caused by Shirong’s fist was powerful enough to end his life. This, for Xu Yi, was a cognition breakthrough in terms of Wu Dao.
The strength in the air was originated, not from the speed of the fist; but rather, it was from the pure strength in the palm of Shirong. For such a lethal fist, it was hard to imagine, even for those in the peak state of a forged body, what would happen to them.
Xu Yi predicted, with confidence, that Shirong must’ve already entered the realm of an ocean of qi – the same level as his Sifu – Liao Chen.
Suddenly, Shirong leaped onto the running horse. Now, two people were on the horse’s back, which meant that the weight was also doubled, however, the speed of the horse was not affected in the slightest. It ran like a thunderbolt, leaving the mountain’s beautiful scenery as a vanishing blurry image.
From a distance, Shirong could be mistaken for a celestial being having descended to this mortal world. However, deep inside, Shirong was fraught with restless indignation.
“No more fighting, I suggest you leave as quickly as possible. You can’t compare with me, as you’re still lingering in the peak state of a forged body. But, to be honest, I’m quite surprised by your ability to dodge. So I will allow you the honor of taking your own life, rather than being killed by my fist.” Shirong ordered Xu Yi, as he slightly raised his dashing eyebrows.
“What a braggadocio!” Xu Yi whispered to himself, before he replied in a calm tone. “Thanks for your mercy. Since I have killed both your cousin and uncle, oh, and burned their mansion as well, you don’t want to kill me yourself? Ah, I almost forgot that your ancestors were all servants of my family, no wonder that you are so kind to me. By the way, I also stole two golden discs.”
In terms of articulation, Xu Yi was much more proficient than Shirong. Even though there were no dirty words involved, Shirong was deeply insulted.
“Go to hell!” Shirong cursed at Xu Yi.
As Xu Yi was excited over his eloquence, Shirong furiously struck his fist towards Xu Yi. Out of horror, Xu Yi got goose bumps all over his body and jumped off the horse. This horse was an especially big one, which gave Xu Yi the opportunity to not fall off, but rather once again curl up like a ball of thread underneath its belly.
The fist of Shirong was so intense that it left a deep hole on the ground. Fortunately, Xu Yi had successfully dodged this attack by hiding underneath the horse.
“You bastard! I will send you to hell, and let the evil ghosts gnaw on you in death!” Shirong yelled, while his blood pressure was quickly surging, as you could tell from the fluctuating pumps on his temple.
Shirong considered Xu Yi not worthy to talk to, so he kept silent in the beginning. In spite of the fact that it was Xu Yi, who brought such a disaster to Junior Zhou’s family, Shirong didn’t acknowledge his ability. To Shirong, Xu Yi was merely an ant, he just needed to stomp his feet and the ant would turn into powder.
However, he never thought that it would take so long to end Xu Yi’s life. Because the latter had already spotted his Achilles’ heel – the white horse, which was why Xu Yi stuck to the horse throughout the entire fight.
If not for hiding beneath the belly of this horse, Xu Yi would’ve long met his end by Shirong’s ferocious fist. The crackling sounds, that accompanied his fist, were to showcase the immense power behind this attack.
Actually, Shirong changed the direction of his fist at the last moment, to avoid accidental injury to his horse. When compared to killing Xu Yi, the white horse’s well being was much more valuable to him. He would rather waste his strength and hit the air, than injure or possibly even kill his white horse.
Taking advantage of Shirong’s Achilles’ heel, Xu Yi barely managed to hold onto his life.
