Chapter 104: The Duel (Part 2)

Chapter 104: The Contest (Part 2)

With a whoosh, Lin Xing charged straight forward.

His right fist, gathered with eighty percent of his power, smashed fiercely towards Kerry's chest! Like a bolt of lightning, it tore through the intervening space, appearing right before Kerry's chest.

Unable to dodge in time, Kerry could only bring his sword up to guard his chest, attempting to block Lin Xing's punch.

"Bang!" Lin Xing's fist slammed squarely into the flat of Kerry's sword. The sword only managed to slow Lin Xing's fist for just a moment. But in an instant, Lin Xing broke through this barrier, smashing the sword and his fist together into Kerry's chest, directly sending Kerry flying.

As Kerry was sent flying, Lin Xing followed like a shadow, closing in relentlessly. Another fierce punch landed squarely on Kerry's face. With a "Bang!", Kerry crashed into the ground, plowing a deep crater into it!

After taking two hits in quick succession, Kerry could no longer hold back, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Then, everything went black, and he fell unconscious.

Seeing Kerry knocked out by his own blows, Lin Xing clapped his hands together. Done.

Seeing their Third Stronghold Master practically get thrashed by Lin Xing, the surrounding onlookers fell silent. Witnessing Kerry being beaten unconscious by Lin Xing, those people stood there, jaws agape. They couldn't believe that the Third Stronghold Master, whom they usually saw as incredibly powerful, had been beaten unconscious so effortlessly by this person. It was simply unbelievable.

"A few of you, get over here and carry your Stronghold Master away," Lin Xing pointed at the unconscious Kerry and shouted to the people around him.

Kerry's defeat was actually pretty unfair. It wasn't that Kerry wasn't powerful; it was that his strengths were Lin Xing's strengths. Compare speed or technique with Lin Xing? If Kerry were compared to others, he might have a significant advantage, given that speed and skill were his forte.

But compared to Lin Xing, these were Lin Xing's bread and butter. Technique—people from Lin Xing's world placed the utmost importance on technique. And Lin Xing's speed far surpassed Kerry's. Thus, Kerry's loss could be considered quite unfair.

However, the next match would be the real battle. Defeating Kerry could be considered Lin Xing catching a lucky break. Claire was a true master.

"Let's begin, Stronghold Master Claire," Lin Xing stood in the arena, speaking loudly towards Claire.

"Don't you need to recover a bit?" Claire frowned slightly; he didn't want to take advantage of Lin Xing.

"No need, I didn't use much energy just now," Lin Xing said.

Claire thought about it and agreed. Lin Xing had won so easily; he probably hadn't used much strength. "Then I won't hold back," he said, stepping into the arena.

"Let's begin!" Claire drew his weapon—a standard greatsword, built for slashing. "Brother Lone Star, I will go all out. Be careful," he said, as silvery-white Battle Qi burst from his entire body.

The silvery-white Battle Qi of a Saint Level expert! The surrounding crowd couldn't help but cheer loudly upon seeing this.

Lin Xing looked at his opponent with a grave expression, simultaneously secretly gathering his energy, fully circulating the Zhen Qi within his body. "Well then, here I come," Claire said without pretense, lunging forward and charging at Lin Xing.

Seeing Claire charge, Lin Xing forcefully pushed off the ground with his feet, propelling his entire body towards Claire like an arrow. At the same time, he brought both hands down in a slash!

"Boom!" The two collided fiercely together. The impact sent both of them flying backward. Claire's hands gripping the sword instantly went numb from the tremendous force, and he was secretly shocked. Lone Star's strength was formidable too.

Shaking his numbed hands, Lin Xing flipped over and lunged forward again. "Take this!" Lin Xing shouted, slashing a blade towards Claire's head.

"Bring it on!" Claire also shouted excitedly, raising his sword and leaping straight up. "Boom!" The two collided fiercely once more, the great force again sending them both flying apart. Immediately, both lunged forward again! Just like that, the two started trading blow for blow!

Sent flying once more, Lin Xing rubbed his hands, which were already numb from the immense shocks. In this contest of brute force, they were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand!

Catching his breath, Claire stared at Lin Xing. The more they fought, the more astonished Claire became. That Lone Star's strength seemed inexhaustible, while his own Zhen Qi had already been somewhat depleted. It seemed he had no choice but to go all out.

Glancing at Claire, Lin Xing also secretly admired him. This man's endurance was also good, actually able to trade blows with him for so long. He himself had the Nine Yang Divine Art—how monstrous its recovery power was!

But Claire didn't seem to be at a significant disadvantage either!

"Lone Star, I'm going to use my full power," Claire said, looking at Lin Xing.

Lin Xing nodded. This Claire was quite honorable, even reminding him before going all out. "Stronghold Master Claire, you should be careful too. I'm also going all out!"

"Good! Then let's decide the victor!" The two men charged forward again! Hard clashes! No fancy tricks! This was the fighting style of true, spirited men!

"Boom! Rumble!" The point of their collision produced an even louder noise than before. At the sound, both men were sent flying apart once more! "Take my blade!" Without waiting to land, Lin Xing twisted his waist fiercely, performing a bizarre mid-air spin, and lunged forward again, charging towards the retreating Claire.

Claire, still flying backward, had a stern expression. A large amount of Battle Qi swiftly gathered on his greatsword. With a loud roar, he slashed out towards Lin Xing.

"Boom!" Lin Xing was sent flying into the air once more, while poor Claire was smashed directly into the ground! With a "Boom!", dust flew up, and the hard ground was forcibly smashed into a human-shaped crater!

"Here I come!" It was Lin Xing lunging forward again. Claire slapped the ground fiercely with both hands, causing his entire body to shoot sideways, avoiding Lin Xing's blade.

Unable to retract his blade in time, Lin Xing slammed it fiercely into the ground, causing the large crater to expand further! Simultaneously, the powerful force caused the surrounding ground to crack and fissure!

Seeing this, Claire felt a tremor in his heart—not fear, but excitement! Watching Lin Xing charge at him again, Claire quickly shouted loudly, "Stop! I concede."

Although excited, Claire also understood that if he and Lin Xing were truly fighting to the death, perhaps it would be hard to determine a winner. But under these current circumstances, he couldn't defeat him. After all, he didn't want to use lethal force, and some of his techniques weren't suitable to be used here, given that there was no deep-seated hatred between them, making a life-and-death struggle unwarranted.

Moreover, he and his two brothers had poured so much effort into the Black Wind Stronghold. To simply hand it over to Lin Xing... although he was unwilling, Lin Xing's strength was not weak either, sufficient to protect the Black Wind Stronghold from being swallowed by other forces. Their hard work wouldn't go to waste.

And continuing to fight like this held no real meaning. So, Claire directly conceded.

Hearing Claire concede outright, Lin Xing was momentarily stunned, but not having to fight further was for the best.

However, the surrounding crowd erupted in an uproar, clamoring that he couldn't just lose like this.

Hearing these noisy voices, Claire frowned, his eyes sweeping coldly over them.

After all, he was the Stronghold Master, with immense authority. Under the accumulated awe from past days, all the bandits in the arena fell silent.