Zhan Long
chapter-371

The bleak autumn wind blew as the falling leaves rolled across the basketball courts. Under the dim lights, a few groups of guys were playing basketball on courts 3, 4 and 5. “Papapa.” The dribbling sounds of basketballs echoed endlessly. The scene was just right to have my duel with Tang Qi.

……

When I arrived at the last court on the field, the 7th one, I saw that Tang Qi was already there. He wore an informal black shirt with flat shoes and was casually leaning against the fence.

“Li Xiao Yao, you’re late”

I looked at my watch, “Not really, I’m actually right on time!”

On the side, Wan Er was wearing a dress and slightly shivering from the frigid night air. She held both her arms and said, “It’s…… kinda cold……”

Dong Cheng grabbed Wan Er’s shoulders and laughed, “Come come. Let’s make some body heat……”

Wan Er laughed, “Stop playing around. Watch them carefully! This… Li Xiao Yao, Tang Qi, don’t actually fight for real. If one of you hurts the other, I won’t forgive you!”

I nodded, “Alright. I’ll be careful.”

Tang Qi smiled, “Got it. I don’t want to make Miss Wan Er worry……”

……

Standing there, I cupped my hands and said, “Then…… I’ll be using Q-Sword’s “Imitation Fist” if that’s alright with you.”

Tang Qi nodded, “Yeah. Do whatever you want to try and beat me. Just know that I won’t tell you what style I’ll be using. You’d better be prepared Li Xiao Yao. Show me the strength that you use to protect both Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue. If it’s all bark and no bite, then you can scram. I’ll personally be the one to protect them both instead.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Be careful of what wish for, you wouldn’t want to bite off more than you can chew!”

……

Tang Qi’s left foot slipped back half a step, his body lowered and his right hand clenched into a fist. Streams of invisible energy gathered around his fist, determination flashed in his eyes. I could tell that he only wanted to defeat me, not actually hurt me in any way.

Taking a step forward, I stood up straight and pointed my fists towards the ground. My arms started to tremble as particles of dust fell from my shoulders. This was the effect of the Northern Star Clan’s “Imitation Fist.” The last time when I sparred with Q-Sword, I had actually seen through half of the moves. Not to mention, I was already well trained in the style so I was pretty confident when using it.

Tang Qi looked at me and couldn’t help but compliment, “Not bad…”

When he finished talking, he rushed at me and thrusted his palm forward, like lightning: it was the Wen Shou Style!

“Bang!”

My fist met with his palm and shook a bit. Both of us were using quite a lot of energy, creating a loud ruckus upon contact. My body trembled from the force. I quickly regained my composure and used all my strength to kick outwards!

Tang Qi quickly blocked with both arms. “Bang.” And flew backwards about a meter into the air. While mid-air, he took a deep breath to quickly regain his senses. As he was falling, gravity seemed to strengthen around him. He fell fast, using the downward acceleration to aim a barrage of rapid palm strikes right at my shoulder.

I hastily looked up and used my arms to block his palm strikes. I didn’t think that Tang Qi would be able to send out such a series of attack. Both of his hands moved very quickly as he sent five more palm strikes towards me. For his last strike, he clenched his hand into a fist filled with Qi energy and fiercely punched out.

“Bang!”

As expected, his level of Royal Air had far surpassed Q-Sword’s in power. He attacked with full force, and I was sent flying backwards, colliding with the pole of the basketball hoop. The impact created a large dent in the pole since it couldn’t handle the impact from my body…

“Li Xiao Yao!” Wan Er quickly ran over and asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

Dong Cheng came over as well and pulled me up, “That punch was packed with quite a bit of power. Even I could feel it.” She turned to Tang Qi and continued,“ Tang Qi, are you stupid? Why did you go all out?”

Tang Qi stood there with defiant eyes and said, “Yeah. So what if I went all out?. If you, Li Xiao Yao, only have this much skill then I suggest that you scram right now. Such outstanding people like Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue cannot afford to shelter wimps like you. Having a trash around will only bring them harm!”

Wan Er gritted her teeth and angrily said, “Shut Up, Tang Qi. Who do you think you are? On what basis do you have the right to talk to him like that?”

Dong Cheng was angry as well, “Tang Qi, leave right now! I don’t need an arrogant scum like you beside me!”

I slowly straightened up my body, grabbed Wan Er and Dong Cheng and smiled, “Calm down girls……”

“Huh?” The two girls looked at me at the same time.

I took my hands off them, clapped and smiled. “This was only a small test for him. If someone of Tang Qi’s strength could harm me, then I definitely wouldn’t dare to be Wan Er’s bodyguard. With that said…… Tang Qi, let’s go again. I’ll show you my full strength. Do you dare?”

Tang Qi’s eyes were filled with arrogance, “Hehe. Come on. I hate people who are all talk. Come come come. Let me see what Li Xiao Yao’s real ability is like!”

I stepped forward and turned towards the two girls, “You girls move back a bit. I’ve gotten kind of angry……”

“Ah?”

Wan Er shuddered and quickly pulled Dong Cheng away.

……

I walked in front of Tang Qi and fiercely lifted my right arm and smiled, “Beating you? Actually I don’t need to use any skills. I only need One Punch!”

“One Punch??!?!?!?”

Tang Qi couldn’t help but laugh, “Li Xiao Yao, you’ve really disappointed me. All you can do is talk. Hahaha……”

I quietly smiled. The forces around my body began to gather around my right arm. It was as if the air around me started to whirl and condense around my arms. One could see streams of white colored air swirl around my fists as it created a wind-like “Xiu Xiu” sound.

The arrogance in Tang Qi’s eyes slowly faded away as it was replaced with horror. “This… This is Qi Rotation?! My God! This bastard can actually…… can actually use Qi Rotation!!”

“Come on!”

I punched so quickly that Tang Qi had no opportunity to block. All of the Qi energy around us had been gathered by me. Practitioners like us heavily relied on the energy of the heavens and the earth and now that I’ve absorbed all energy around us, even a Royal Air Practitioner like Tang Qi cannot do anything except rely on his own body and his strength to defend against such an attack!

“Bang!”

The impact from the Qi and the fists created a loud sound. Tang Qi weakly cried out as his body was sent flying like a cannonball towards the basketball hoop. The entire backboard broke apart as glass shattered onto the floor and Tang Qi flew through the frame, landing onto the grass field in the back without a cry.

……

“This……” Wan Er opened her mouth in shock and said, “Well…… Well…… I don’t really like Tang Qi, but this…… Isn’t this a little too much? You killed him…”

I quietly stood there and said, “Don’t worry Wan Er, he’s someone of the Royal Air level. How could he be killed so easily like this?”

Sure enough, a soft cry came from the grass field. Tang Qi sat up as he looked at both of his arms and moved them around. They were probably numb from that last attack.

“Damn. That hurt. Li Xiao Yao… No, Brother Xiao Yao, you’re really fierce.”

Bringing along the two girls, I walked towards him and smiled, “Now do you think I’m worthy of my position?”

Tang Qi could only nod and smile, “What else can I say. The Royal Air level has three stages. I’m only at the first stage but you’re already at the peak stage, plus you can even use Qi Rotation. You’re only one step away from reaching the Internal Flame Awakening Stage. There’s nothing else I can say. You’re the boss…”

I laughed and extended a hand out to help him up, “You aren’t injured right? Your Royal Air level physique should be very strong.”

“Not really!” I pulled him up as he grabbed onto my hand and smiled, “It seems like the old fart was right. Behind every able man there will always be other more able men. I didn’t pay much attention to it, but now I guess he’s right. I’ve been too naive…… That being the case, I’ll return to Sichuan and continue training…… This place, there’s no reason for me to be here anymore!”

“There’s no need!”

I shook my head, “You don’t need to go. Stay here. Sometimes, I need someone like you to be beside Wan Er and Dong Cheng to protect them as I can’t guarantee that I’ll always be here to do so… If I run into some problems and need to leave for awhile, I’ll need you here to protect them.”

Tang Qi was surprised, “You…… So this means……”

“Stay here. Be the backup. What don’t you get?” Dong Cheng interrupted.

Tang Qi was speechless, “Okay! Whatever the Miss says. This backup job…… it’s mine! Whoever wants it will have to go through me first!”

Laughing, I slapped his back and said, “Go back and put some medicine on your wounds!”

“Okay!”

“This place……” I looked at the destroyed court and the guys playing a few courts down…… “What should we do about this place? We destroyed the basketball court……”

Wan Er smiled on the side, “Don’t worry, I gave the principal a call and told him about it. The repair fees will be billed to my dad. You two don’t have to worry about anything.”

“That’s good…”

……

That night, we had our first meal as friends. Around 11, I met up with the two girls and Tang Qi to go get some barbeque.

Blowing the smoke, I said, “Head Chef, add some more spicy powder……”

Dong Cheng looked over at Tang Qi and smiled, “I’m afraid that someone might not be able to handle the spiciness……”

I shook my head and smiled, “Dong Cheng, did you forget that this guy’s from Sichuan?”

Tang Qi laughed as well, “It’s not fun if it’s not spicy. I’ll treat you guys tonight. Let’s go and get some Sichuan Cuisine tomorrow. Li Xiao Yao will pay for it!”

“Get out of here. I’ll treat us tonight. You can treat us tomorrow!”

“Hey, you’re being too stingy!”

……

While eating, my phone rang as I received a message from Song Han: “Brother Xiao Yao, the game has updated. They’ve added a city battle system into the game. It seems like Jiu Li City wants to attack Ba Huang City……”

I took a glance at it and hesitated for a second. I couldn’t understand what was going on.