Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest-Chapter 485 - 81: One-on-One Duel to Decide the Winner
Chapter 485: Chapter 81: One-on-One Duel to Decide the Winner
Indeed, ever since the entire Zhenhai Team gathered, there hasn’t been much suspense in this match.
Although no one had been lost up to now, Zhou Hongyu’s True Yuan was already running low. Qin Meng, too, had expended a great amount of True Yuan in covering everyone’s move to join Zhang Huaide.
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Looking at the opposing Zhenhai Team, the one with the least True Yuan was actually Yan Yu, the Sword Immortal…
“No, we can’t retreat like this,” Zhou Hongyu suddenly said.
“What do you suggest, Captain Zhou?” Meng Qingxi asked.
“If we pull back to join Huaide, can we win?” Zhou Hongyu asked seriously.
...
Everyone was speechless.
The Heart Demon delights in feeding on the seven emotions and six desires of people, so it tends to attack those who easily leak their emotions. Among the two teams from Zhenhai, Zhou Hongyu, who couldn’t control her own temper, was surely the primary target the Heart Demon would choose.
Zhang Huaide had Zhou lead people to chase after Captain Yan just to separate her from the Heart Demon. Otherwise, letting her stay by the Heart Demon’s side, allowing it to consume more and more emotions and grow stronger, would no longer just be a matter of competition outcome; it would become an issue of whether this mysterious realm could be conquered at all.
Even in a simulated confrontation in a mysterious realm, the premise must be that the realm has to be conquered; one absolutely cannot put the cart before the horse.
Though the Cultivator Athletic League is nominally about “athletics,” everyone was clear about their identities and could not really take the competition outcome as everything.
“Yan Yu!” Zhou Hongyu suddenly turned her head and called out, “Let’s settle this match with a duel between us two, do you dare?”
“Bring it on.” Before the girls could speak, Yan Yu had already agreed, “Just don’t back out if you lose.”
“Whoever backs out is a dog,” Zhou Hongyu said coldly.
“This is too childish!” Lin Ning couldn’t help but complain, “Ling Yun, try to persuade the captain!”
“But I support her though,” Chen Lingyun said with a smile.
While they had been chasing the Huofeng Team, she had already communicated with Yan Yu and roughly understood the situation.
With Chen Lingyun’s intelligence, she naturally realized that Zhou Hongyu was completely unsuitable to approach the goalkeeper at that moment, so Zhang Huaide and Hou Qing couldn’t be spared either.
The current situation was six against four, and on this side, both Zhou Hongyu and Qin Meng were low on True Yuan. Thus, whether it was a group attack or a duel, the Huofeng Team was almost certainly going to lose.
Since their side was already winning, it was better to give the Pingxi Army a break. Considering that the impact of losing a duel versus a total team wipeout on live broadcast to the public was completely different, letting Zhou Hongyu lose the duel would also save face for the Pingxi Army.
So everyone stepped back, leaving only Yan Yu and Zhou Hongyu in the middle of the corridor, ready to duel to determine the victor.
In the live broadcast room, the two commentators looked at each other. Zhou Erhe was the first to ask:
“This…after all, it’s a competition, and it’s under the public eye. Isn’t deciding the outcome by a duel a bit unorthodox?”
Xu Dongming, who was a bit more tactful, simply smiled and said:
“Whether it’s unorthodox or not, I believe the Cultivator Athletic League will provide a reasonable explanation after the match. Let’s watch the match for now… Zhou Hongyu takes the first move! Flame Spear!”
Now that Zhou Hongyu didn’t have much True Yuan left inside her, she also didn’t plan to engage in a war of attrition with Yan Yu. Instead, she directly threw three Flame Spears in quick succession.
One soared upward, landing behind him to block his retreat; one shot low, aiming in front of him to prevent close-range attacks; and one went directly toward his position—to utilize the narrow layout of the Underground Palace corridors to form a wide-ranging bombardment with three Flame Spears, leaving Yan Yu with no place to hide!
But Yan Yu was faster than her. Before Zhou Hongyu even started shaping the flames into the form of long spears, he had already used the Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step to rapidly charge forward.
By the time the three Flame Spears hit the ground, he had already left them behind!
Yan Yu had closed the distance in front, while Zhou Hongyu, instead of retreating, advanced a step forward, abruptly swinging her head, pulling the flames into a huge fan shape, striking straight toward Yan Yu’s chest.
Phoenix Sword!
Before the Phoenix Sword could blaze forth, Yan Yu had already shifted from charging to swiftly retreating. But the cunning step Zhou Hongyu took as she cast the spell matched his retreat well, almost entirely offsetting his movement.
Just as the Phoenix Sword was about to strike Yan Yu, another cold light flared up. It was the Huang Tingjian positioned in front of Yan Yu, with the tip hanging down pointing to the ground, the broad and flat blade of the sword forming a shield, much like the “Sword Shield Tactic” Xie Ruoxi had learned from the Mirror Lake Divine Palace in the past, designed to block the flames of the Phoenix Sword for Yan Yu.
Intense heatwaves surged from both sides of the sword, swiftly passing in front and behind Yan Yu—his physique was far from the delicate build of Xie Ruoxi, and with Huang Tingjian and Heavenly Origin Sword similar in size, they originally couldn’t block the flames entirely for him. However, with just a simple turn to the side, reducing his cross-sectional area, he managed to perfectly dodge them.
Zhou Hongyu saw him use the sword to block the fire, and just as her Phoenix Sword technique had ended, she hurriedly shot out another Flame Spear in pursuit. The flames had not yet been released from her nostrils when suddenly the Huang Tingjian expanded!
Unexpectedly, it was Yan Yu who had been hiding behind the sword; the instant the Phoenix Sword technique ended, he activated the Curved Curse and stepped forward to throw a punch!
This punch landed on the Huang Tingjian, immediately propelling it with high speed like a cannonball, its spine fiercely striking Zhou Hongyu’s face, not only dispersing all the Fire-Attribute True Essence gathered in her throat but also breaking her nasal bone.
Zhou Hongyu instantly fell backward, and when she tried to force herself up, blood was already streaming from her nostrils.
Although she looked completely disheveled, it did not diminish her stunning beauty. Unfortunately, the beauty in her eyes was raging fire, her silver teeth clenched, and she harbored no more goodwill towards Yan Yu, muttering resentfully,
“Shameless!”
If Yan Yu had chosen to attack with Sword Control, with Huang Tingjian transitioning from a defensive to an offensive stance, she would definitely have reacted in time… But who would have guessed Yan Yu would use his Flying Sword as a cannonball?
“What’s shameless?” Yan Yu burst into laughter, “This is tactics! Your own mind is obviously incapable of grasping the cunning of tactics; you need little Zhang to explain it to you. Oh, Zhang isn’t here, no wonder you can’t understand it.”
Zhou Hongyu knew she was at a logical deficit, and with Tang Xiaolian’s help, she reluctantly stood up, not speaking, but just enduring the agonizing pain as she glared fixedly at Yan Yu.
“Willing to admit defeat?” Yan Yu asked.
“Admitted, admitted!” Tang Xiaolian hastily exclaimed, worried that Zhou Hongyu would say ‘I can still fight,’ “Hurry up and treat our Captain Zhou!”
“I’ll do it,” Su Yunjin spoke up, “It’s not a very serious injury.”
If it had been before, Zhou Hongyu would likely have rejected the offer. After all, she and Su Yunjin weren’t acquainted, and there was still the Pingxi Army’s medical team outside the arena.
But to Yan Yu’s surprise, this girl didn’t continue to act tough; instead, she just clenched her teeth while letting Yun Jin reset her nasal bone and stop the bleeding from her nose.
“…How do you usually tolerate such a person?” Su Yunjin was treating her wounds when suddenly she heard her whisper questioningly.
“Well, the captain is actually a good person,” she gently replied, “One shouldn’t judge a person’s character based on whether they speak nicely or not.”
Zhou Hongyu fell silent, remembering the previous incident when he had helped her expel a residing Heart Demon; she was momentarily at a loss for words.
“All done,” Su Yunjin stood up.
“Thank you,” Zhou Hongyu nodded.
“Something’s wrong with you!” Yan Yu exclaimed in shock, “You’re actually saying ‘thank you’? You look just like little Zhou, but your temper is completely different. Who exactly are you?”
Zhou Hongyu didn’t answer, just glared fiercely at him.
“Captain, could you speak less!” Lin Ning pulled on his arm beside him, “You’ve already won, be a little gracious, will you! Don’t stir up unnecessary enmity!”
Faced with Yan Yu’s gloat, the member expressions of the Huofeng Team remained unchanged as usual.
Meng Qingxi was used to losing, Qin Meng was more concerned about how severe Zhou Hongyu’s injuries were, while Tang Xiaolian… under normal circumstances, this girl would be the most distraught in the team when they faced any setback. However, now she was moving in front of Yan Yu, not hiding her complaints,
“Exactly, couldn’t you leave us some dignity? We’re acquaintances after all!”
“It’s precisely because I gave you face that I agreed to settle the match with a duel,” Yan Yu said nonchalantly, “Otherwise, you would have been the one knocked to the ground along with little Zhou!”
“Captain Yan, you’re threatening me!” Tang Xiaolian huffed, “You’re done for! When my bugs grow up, I’m going to have them bite you!”
Seeing this girl flirt openly with Yan Yu, the girls from Zhenhai Team grew extremely wary in their hearts.
These two had only teamed up for one mission in the Mysterious Realm; how had they grown so intimate? Earlier, the captain was merely chatting with her online, and it wasn’t noticeable, but now, seeing Tang Xiaolian’s tone and demeanor, it was clear she was extremely interested in the captain!
Others just thought about it silently, but Zhao Yuanzhen, who couldn’t hide her feelings, immediately glared and said,
“You…”
“Alright!” Yan Yu waved his hand, interrupting the Demonic Sect Enchantress’s outburst, “We’ve won the match, let’s go deal with the goalkeeper!”
