Red Heart Patrols the Sky
Chapter 50 - 50 46 Close Combat_1

50: Chapter 46 Close Combat_1 50: Chapter 46 Close Combat_1 On the tenth of October, under the watchful eyes of the public, either bright or hidden, this year’s tri-city tournament formally commenced.

The first, third, and fifth-year students had their separate competitions.

For instance, the two first-year students from Fenglin City had to individually confront their counterparts from the three other cities, including Wangjiang City.

After a round of battle, the remaining three victors would adopt a round-robin format.

That is, A fights B, B fights C, and C fights A.

A victory earns three points, a draw one point, and a loss no points.

The one with the highest score would be crowned the chief of the first-year students in the tri-city tournament.

In this way, one had to consider not only individual strength but also the overall strength of the Daoist academy.

After all, if two participants from the same academy faced each other in the final round-robin matches, they could easily conserve their strength and target the third competitor.

The debate for first-year students began first, with six cultivators from the three cities starting three battles simultaneously.

The competition venue was set up in the square in front of the City Lord’s mansion, a place commonly used for the City Guard Army’s oath ceremonies before deployment, hence it was also called the Martial Arts Field by the locals.

The Daoist academy cultivators of the first-year students, who had just established their foundations, mainly used Dao Techniques in combat, complemented by Martial Arts.

It was the type of competition the general populace could comprehend the most, thus it also enjoyed the highest popularity among them.

Early in the morning, the place was already packed tight, with the people of Fenglin City bringing their families along, converging around the Martial Arts Field as if attending a fair.

The City Guard Army was just able to maintain order.

On this day, Jiang Anan’s school also suspended classes, so naturally, Ling He took her to watch the competition.

Because there were so many people, Jiang Anan was perched on Ling He’s shoulders, and at this moment, she was clapping her little hands, loudly cheering her brother on.

Zhao Rucheng and Huang Azhan, of course, also chose to watch Jiang Wang’s match first.

However, Zhao, who was known for his wealth and boldness, would not stoop to shouting loudly himself, as that would be unbecoming.

Instead, the ten or so towering men he had hired were bellowing at the top of their lungs not far away.

“Jiang Wang, must win!

Jiang Wang, must win!”

There were also two large banners fluttering in the wind—

The left read, “With my fists I conquer the three mountains, no rivals dare meet my gaze.”

The right read, “Tread upon Wangjiang, under whom does the hero claim his throne.”

Albeit Jiang Wang would definitely not appreciate it.

For a time, the cheers for Jiang Wang overwhelmed the arena, making the tournament seem like a solo performance event for him.

People whispered and asked one another who this Jiang Wang was.

Upon learning that he was a competitor from Fenglin City, the honest folks of Fenglin also burst into cheers.

Jiang Wang, standing on the competition field, felt…

quite embarrassed.

The three contests were held close together, with all six cultivators in place.

From the glances cast his way, both deliberate and unintended, Jiang Wang realized he had become the common enemy.

If not for the rules, he might already be facing a five-on-one scenario; this included the fellow senior brother from the Fenglin City Daoist academy.

“Show-off!” Lin Zhengli from Wangjiang City, the least pleased, spat in Jiang Wang’s direction, disregarding his own opponent.

The sound wasn’t soft yet wasn’t loud either.

Jiang Wang acted as if he had not heard.

The entire Martial Arts Field was divided into three battle arenas, with a considerable amount of buffer space left between the lines.

The judges from the county academy, serving as the main referees, and two instructors from the Fenglin City Daoist academy acted as the assistant referees.

In matters such as battle, the one who fell was the loser, so there wasn’t much concern over the possibility of biased judging.

In fact, the main duty of the referees was to prevent young cultivators from losing control and causing injuries or fatalities.

Jiang Wang’s opponent hailed from Three Mountains City.

This person was short and stocky but solid, wearing form-fitting martial apparel, with muscles as dense as boulders.

After performing a courtesy Daoist salutation, they took their respective positions.

Once the referee gave the signal, Jiang Wang unsheathed his sword and lunged!

It was as though a dragon had taken flight, his sword piercing through like a shooting star.

Almost at the same moment the Three Mountains City cultivator was halfway through his incantation, Jiang Wang was already closing in with his sword.

Decisive and swift.

The swordsmanship technique “Purple Qi Eastward” held an overwhelmingly advantageous position in battles before reaching the Transcendent stage.

In the selection within the Fenglin City Daoist academy, he had defeated Fang Helling with such a move and now it seemed that history was about to repeat itself.

But to Jiang Wang’s surprise, as well as to the audience, the Three Mountains City cultivator did not dodge!

He remained still, his eyes fixed on Jiang Wang’s approaching sword, his hands so steady, his Dao Technique took form under such intense scrutiny.

In this situation, he could either choose to dodge decisively or admit defeat straightaway.

However, given the speed shown by Jiang Wang, if he dodged, there would be no chance to counter with the next Dao Technique.

But he made a choice completely different from Fang Helling!

The Earth Row Vitality gathered frantically, and Jiang Wang felt a force surging up from the earth beneath him; he certainly knew what that was.

He was confident enough to trust that he could pierce his opponent’s heart with his longsword before the ground spikes reached him, but his feet would inevitably be pierced by the spikes that followed.

To exchange injury for the enemy’s death, he would still win.

But he did not want to win like that.

Jiang Wang turned his longsword, his blade grazing the spikes erupting from beneath him, and with that momentum, he flipped backward, returning to his original position.

By then, the sharp, dense spikes had already covered the area around the Cultivator from Three Mountains City.

The cultivator from Three Mountains City, scornfully known as a “mountain barbarian,” had just won a chance with his life on the line.

He immediately kicked out several times, breaking the spikes before him and sending them flying.

The spikes flew like javelins, whistling in succession towards Jiang Wang.

The cultivator from Three Mountains City followed close behind the howling spikes, charging at Jiang Wang.

Under Jiang Anan’s anxious gaze, Jiang Wang spun like the wind, gracefully moving among the incoming spikes without a scratch.

And the Cultivator from Three Mountains City was near.

His small but sturdy figure leaped high, and his fist gradually turned to stone, swelling into a huge boulder-like fist.

Covering Stone Fist!

The roles of offense and defense reversed!

He couldn’t take it head-on.

Jiang Wang held his sword horizontally in front of him, intending to use the flat of the blade to meet the stone fist and leverage himself away to find another chance to attack.

After all, a Foundation Cultivator’s Path Origin Vitality is limited and can’t cast too many Dao Techniques.

As long as he dragged out the fight, with his swordsmanship, victory was assured.

But the stone fist suddenly flipped around, grabbed hold of the sword in Jiang Wang’s hand, and crushed it!

The Covering Stone Fist was only an upper-grade Dao Technique of the ding level, which Jiang Wang hadn’t mastered, but he was familiar with it.

He had never thought that this technique could be so agile and versatile!

In urgent response, Jiang Wang let go of the sword hilt and wrapped his hands around the stone fist that crushed his longsword, forcefully twisting it.

The tremendous strength from his Four Spirits Body Refinement Technique flowed unreservedly, and with the twisting force, shattered stones flew in all directions.

Jiang Wang tapped the ground with the tip of his foot and retreated rapidly in a leaning back position, also avoiding the explosion of the stone fist.

As Jiang Wang shattered the stone fist, the Cultivator from Three Mountains City decided to detonate it on the spot, using it as another form of attack.

But he didn’t expect Jiang Wang’s reaction to be so sharp, avoiding it at the first instance.

Though the explosion of the stone fist didn’t leave him unaffected, despite his careful control, his entire right arm was still covered with wounds, blood streaming down.

But he seemed to feel no pain, remaining silent as he directly pursued Jiang Wang.

He didn’t cast any other Dao Techniques, nor did he have the time to use one.

Perhaps he realized that with the Dao Techniques he currently had, he couldn’t defeat his opponent.

Then, let’s try the physical strength developed from scaling mountains and traversing ridges, try the fists and legs honed from fighting lions and tigers.

Elbow strikes, knee bashes, headbutts!

Jiang Wang couldn’t create any distance anymore; without his sword, he couldn’t utilize his swordsmanship.

Punching, kicking, shoulder thrusts!

The two engaged in close combat!

In that tiny space, it was the most intense, direct, and wildest!

Audience members who knew a few martial arts moves were boiling with excitement!