Red Heart Patrols the Sky
Chapter 53 - 53 49 The Leather Drum of the Earth_1

53: Chapter 49 The Leather Drum of the Earth_1 53: Chapter 49 The Leather Drum of the Earth_1 “The victor, Zhao Tiehe from Sanshan City!”

As the referee’s announcement finally settled, almost simultaneously, Zhao Tiehe’s figure, who had been valiantly swinging his fists, thunderously collapsed to the ground.

His injuries were, in fact, much more severe than Lin Zhengli’s, and he had already reached his physical limits.

In the end, he was punching solely through sheer willpower.

At this point, he slumped down, lying on his back.

Lin Zhengli, who had almost been punched into a pit by him, had long since lost consciousness.

The arena was a sight of devastation with scattered rocks, broken vines, large pits, splashes of water, and traces of blood…

And the applause from the audience started only now.

At first, it was scattered, as neither of the combatants was from their hometown, but soon it exploded thunderously.

The battle had been too thrilling, and it made everyone recognize the tenacity of the cultivators from Sanshan City.

Admiring Zhao Tiehe, and thereby changing their views of the city behind him.

Perhaps, this was exactly what they wanted to prove with their lethal struggle.

They were born in barren lands, amidst fierce beasts that roamed the mountains, but they were no savages.

They had their own loves and hates, their own pursuits, their own…

honor.

“That was not easy at all.” Ling He’s clapping left his hands red; he might have been the only person among them all who had never derogatorily called the cultivators from Sanshan City ‘barbarians’.

Because he understood the feeling of being scorned, he never scorned others.

Zhao Rucheng, however, was focused on another issue, “These two have beaten each other into such a state, third brother will win without fighting now!”

Huang Azhan had already started calculating, “Ten daoxun for a victory, these two fights won without needing to, means victory.

The biennial reward for coming first in the Three City Tournament is double daoxun honor points.

Adding it all up…

fifty daoxun points.

Half a Channel-opening Pill!

We must celebrate!”

If it weren’t for Jiang Anan’s presence, they would probably have already named the Fragrant Lounging Floor for the celebration.

“What is daoxun?

Is it valuable?” Jiang Anan asked curiously.

“Yes,” Zhao Rucheng, who knew about Jiang Anan’s story of earning money “to pay off debts,” teased her: “A single daoxun is worth more than that whole chest of treasures you earned!”

Jiang Anan carefully counted on her fingers, then spread her hands wide, drawing a big circle, “Really that much, wow!”

…

After the end of the first bout of the round-robin match, there was only a very short recovery time.

For Zhao Tiehe, who had just endured a grueling battle, it wasn’t quite fair, but those were the rules.

After multiple inquiries from the referee, Zhao Tiehe still managed to stand up, shakily steadying himself.

He would continue to fight.

Jiang Wang stood opposite him, hand on his sword, his gaze intense and focused.

“Come down,” said Sun Xiaoman.

She looked like a little girl, her voice also that of a little girl, but her words couldn’t be ignored by Zhao Tiehe.

He turned his head and said to Sun Xiaoman, “I still have a life to stake.”

His tone was not fierce but rather calm, because he was stating a fact.

Jiang Wang was no weakling, having defeated Yang Xingyong in a head-on clash, and he was in top form at this moment.

At this instant, he truly had nothing left to stake, except for his life.

“Your life is very important, and Sanshan City needs you,” Sun Xiaoman said earnestly: “We allowed you to risk your life before because there was a chance.

Now, we won’t allow it, because there is no chance left.

You have amassed many resources; your life cannot be wasted in vain.”

It was unclear which words convinced him.

Zhao Tiehe turned around and limped off the field.

Whether it was an illusion or not, at the moment he turned, Jiang Wang seemed to see a fleeting tear in his eyes.

Such a man would actually shed tears?

Jiang Wang couldn’t understand the almost obsessive concern these cultivators from Sanshan City had for victory and defeat.

He had done his best, so why grieve for not being able to die in battle?

With such questions on his mind, Jiang Wang faced the third bout of the round-robin match—by this time Lin Zhengli hadn’t even regained consciousness yet, and Lin Zhengren conceded on his behalf once more.

This was how Jiang Wang became the champion of this year’s Three City Tournament.

It didn’t seem very convincing considering his opponents disabled each other, but…

“Who cares!

The true daoxun points are in hand,” Zhao Rucheng said.

By now, Jiang Wang had already moved off the field, joining Ling He and others as spectators.

The common folk of Fenglin City were quite forgiving towards the cultivator who had earned their town glory, and they even made space for Jiang Wang to rest off-field.

Jiang Anan and that brash little girl were now sitting right at the front, while Jiang Wang and the others sat behind, occasionally chatting.

The only thing that surprised Jiang Wang was that the cloud mat laid on the ground for seating didn’t come from Zhao Rucheng, but from the old man who had come along with little Qingzhi to protect her.

This cloud blanket was extremely lightweight and soft to the touch, a luxury out of reach for ordinary families.

Yet Qingzhi’s family had taken out such a large piece to lay on the ground.

Jiang Wang could only sigh.

The world of the wealthy was truly one where there was always a higher mountain.

From a young age, he had a home with land and a shop, which meant no worries about food and drink.

But ever since he met Zhao Rucheng, he often felt like a beggar.

The hunchbacked old man looked Jiang Wang over a few times, then suddenly said, “I didn’t expect you to return that treasure chest.

Young friend Jiang has taught your sister very well.”

The old man’s voice was very kind, but paired with his sleazy appearance, it wasn’t very convincing.

After all, Jiang Wang was not one to judge by appearance, and his reply showed no disrespect, “It’s only right.

It was just child’s play, how could I take it seriously?”

“The Master said, ‘Wealth and rank attained through immoral means are to me as fleeting clouds.’ Young friend Jiang’s words bear a great resemblance to the spirit of the Confucianist.”

Discussing Confucianist spirit with a disciple of the Taoist Sect in Zhuang Country, the hunchbacked elder must have rattled his brain with all his book-dropping.

Jiang Wang gave a casual chuckle and then said, “The competition has started.”

…

The Three Cities Dao Debate had categories for one-year, three-year, and five-year students, but the competition rules were generally the same.

Li Jianqiu and Wang Changxiang both appeared at the same time, with three matches going on simultaneously.

Jiang Wang watched intently, observing the whole scene.

Li Jianqiu’s opponent was from Sanshan City and the duel was still very exciting.

Both sides demonstrated extremely skillful Dao Technique manipulation, attacking and defending in prolonged combat, but in the end, Li Jianqiu defeated his opponent with fire-based Dao Technique.

Wang Changxiang’s battle against a cultivator from Wangjiang City was much simpler.

At the start of the fight, he first used a Dao Technique to summon fog, obscuring his opponent’s vision.

Then, with ease, he formed a hand seal, and a gust of breath whirlwind swept his opponent into the sky.

With a high-grade Dao Technique like Breath Whirlwind, there was virtually no solution at this level of combat.

Jiang Wang remembered back in Xiaolin Town, one Breath Whirlwind was enough to drain Wang Changxiang dry, and he wondered if he had given up the later fights.

But after the battle ended, Wang Changxiang immediately took out a Prime Stone to absorb…

It was clear that the Wang family had invested heavily this time, determined to take the top spot for three-year participants.

But what the citizens of Fenglin City were most interested in was the match involving the mysterious black-clothed person from Sanshan City.

When the black cloak was undone, revealing an exceptionally funny-looking chubby boy, the onlooking citizens of Fenglin City let out a collective sigh of disappointment.

In their minds, underneath the black cloak should have been a fierce-looking big devil with a face full of scars, or at the very least, someone with a brutal appearance.

It definitely shouldn’t have been a soft, plump, and seemingly easy-to-bully chubby boy.

But what didn’t disappoint them in the end was that this chubby boy was strong!

The duel began, and perhaps because his previous teammates had lost in succession, the three-year cultivator from Wangjiang City went all out.

He started with five water spears, cunningly hiding wind blades between them.

Then came the earth spikes, and finally he prepared for his hand seal, the raging waves.

The mixed usage of wind, water, and earth Dao Techniques in a series was dazzling to the eye.

And throughout it all, the chubby boy from Sanshan City did only one thing—charge.

He charged forward mindlessly, almost as if braving the overwhelming Dao Techniques head-on.

Charging up to his opponent.

Then, he raised his fist and brought it down with a boom.

The battle ended.

The chubby boy’s clothes were tattered with holes everywhere, but the exposed chubbiness was still a healthy rosy white.

And his opponent had already fallen.

Astounded, the onlookers fell silent.

“His physical defense is too strong!” Ling He exclaimed in amazement.

“Is he a pure martial artist?”

“No, that last punch was a Covered Rock Fist.

He used a Dao Technique.”

“Without any sign of Stone Skin Art or anything like that, how could his defense be so strong?”

These youngsters were after all young, and with limited experience, they debated for a long time but came up with no answer.

“It’s the Kun Skin Drum, a permanently solidified Dao Technique,” the hunchbacked elder beside them said out of the blue, after listening for a while.

But he refused to say more about the specifics of this Dao Technique.

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