Chapter 126: Light Wings Unfold!
"Just what I wanted. Yao Bai, let's begin."
Jia Xingtian also wasn't fond of unnecessary formalities. Seeing Hulei's attitude of wanting a swift fight so he could go eat breakfast, Jia Xingtian didn't waste words and directly sent Yao Bai into the arena.
Swish!
A pair of yellow Dou Qi wings spread from Yao Bai's back. In front of the noble families and high-ranking officials of the imperial city, he held his black iron spear, leapt from the watchtower, and with a sharp swoosh, he dived down then pulled up, hovering in mid-air above Yuan Bao, who had already donned armor. From above, the spear tip pointed directly at Yuan Bao's head. A sneer curled at the corners of his mouth beneath the silver mask. "Fatty Yuan, why didn't you bring out your turtle shell early today?"
At this moment, the four-leafed feather sheath wings on Yuan Bao's back were folded together, resembling a layer of carapace draped over him from afar.
"Flight is a chasm that separates a Dou Ling from a Dou Wang," Nalan Yanran silently observed the two from a platform halfway up the mountain, shaking her head. She felt that her grandfather bringing her to watch this kind of fight was simply a waste of time.
"That might not necessarily be true!" Unexpectedly, the head of the Mu family nearby showed great interest and whispered mysteriously to Nalan Yanran, "Old man Nalan, want to bet on it?"
Old man Nalan didn't even look back. "No bets. Nothing good ever comes from betting with you."
"Master said gambling is bad," Nalan Yanran also shook her head.
"Of course, I still stand by my opinion. Flight is an insurmountable gap. Even with flight-type Dou Techniques, a Dou Ling's speed and endurance in the air still can't compare to a Dou Wang." Though she refused the bet, Nalan Yanran held firm in her judgment and wouldn't be swayed easily.
Her gaze then shifted toward the city wall in the distance, where Jiang Lin was being held by Hulei. For some reason, that burly man gave her a familiar feeling—not from his face, but simply his massive build made her feel a strong sense of déjà vu.
Clang!
Just as Nalan Yanran was bored and pondering where she might've seen that big guy before, a sharp metallic sound rang out from below.
A crimson streak shot out from the longbow in Yuan Bao's hands, brushing past Yao Bai's Dou Qi armor and creating sparks, interrupting his arrogant attitude.
"What's with all the yapping? Your Grandpa Leopard is right here—come at me if you've got the guts!" As Yuan Bao spoke, he continuously drew his bow, shooting solid arrows toward the airborne Yao Bai. As a weapon refiner, it was natural for him to carry a few ranged weapons.
"Thinking to defeat a Dou Wang across realms using arrows is unrealistic." From afar, Nalan Yanran calmly commented.
Just as she said, the arrows didn't do much damage to Yao Bai. However, while the damage was minimal, the humiliation was significant.
"You want to die! So you're throwing away your dignity yourself!"
Yao Bai dodged agilely mid-air as arrows rained down on him. Yuan Bao alternated between Dou Qi arrows and physical ones. Yao Bai wasn't worried about the Dou Qi ones—he could block them with his armor—but physical arrows were another story. He knew that the Weapon Refiners' Guild had specialized arrows that could break through Dou Qi armor. While Yuan Bao might not be able to kill him, he could certainly wound him—and that was insulting.
Realizing that dodging made him look worse, Yao Bai directly gathered his Dou Qi, forming a yellow, illusory spear in his other hand. First, he swept away the arrows with his black iron spear, then hurled the yellow spear downward at Yuan Bao!
Low-Rank Xuan-Class Dou Technique: Mountain Spear!
Clang!
Yuan Bao didn't dodge. A massive crimson-scaled Xuan Shield appeared before him with a heavy thud, smashing into the stone tiles of the platform and breaking many of them. The Mountain Spear crashed onto the Crimson-Scaled Xuan Shield, releasing a massive explosion of energy. After the boom, Yuan Bao held the shield with one hand, unshaken, while cracks spread across the ground—but the shield itself didn't budge!
As the smoke cleared, Yuan Bao dragged the shield to block Yao Bai's follow-up thrust from the black iron spear!
Clang!
Two Xuan weapons clashed violently. Sparks flew as Yuan Bao launched an Iron Mountain Shoulder into the shield, slamming Yao Bai's arm through it with such force that the spikes on the shield shattered his Dou Qi armor and left a bleeding gash!
Low-Rank Xuan-Class Dou Technique: Iron Mountain Shock!
Boom!
In pure physical combat, Yuan Bao—over two meters tall, wearing double-layered armor—smashed the airborne, lean, 1.8-meter-tall Yao Bai backward with sheer brute force!
Yao Bai stumbled in the air, flapping his Dou Qi wings before soaring upward again. Looking at the wound on his arm, he suddenly felt a deep wariness toward Yuan Bao's massive shield.
"He's cheating!"
From the viewing platform above, Yao Yue couldn't help but shout when she saw Yuan Bao pull out a shield that not only had terrifying defense but could also counter Dou Qi armor in close combat.
Jia Xingtian gently pushed down on Yao Yue's head and chuckled. "It's just a temporary loss. That shield of Yuan Fatty's is a six-tier Xuan shield, but not many know its specific properties. Now it looks like it has a Qi-breaking attribute. If his opponent isn't careful, they might suffer."
"But don't worry. That shield is way too heavy. Yuan Fatty can't handle it well. Once Yao Bai catches on, he won't be at a disadvantage anymore."
"This old man Hulei, though—typical weapon refiner. Stingy to outsiders, but extremely generous to his own people."
Jia Xingtian's sentiment was spot-on. Just by looking at the two Xuan weapons Hulei gave his disciple, it was obvious—when a weapon refiner had good gear, he really would give it away. And when he did, the disciple's combat strength would shoot up.
"Yanran, what do you think?" Old man Nalan asked his granddaughter, who had just said the fight wasn't worth watching.
"Just a momentary advantage." Nalan Yanran stuck to her opinion.
Boom!
Down below, now fully alert, Yao Bai launched another attack. This time, he abandoned ineffective ranged combat and went straight for a speed assault, diving down from above with his spear!
If unarmed, Yao Bai would've been at a disadvantage. But he had a Xuan weapon and used its reach to his advantage, pursuing Yuan Bao aggressively. Sparks flew as his black iron spear clashed repeatedly with the Crimson-Scaled Xuan Shield. Yuan Bao couldn't hold on for long and had to abandon the heavy shield, using both hands to block a sweeping strike before rolling to the side—his heavy armor falling off during the motion.
Seeing that Yuan Bao finally ditched his turtle shell, Yao Bai didn't hesitate. With a flap of his wings, he lunged at the now disarmed and exposed Yuan Bao. Dou Qi gathered in his hand, and with a sharp swish, he accelerated toward Yuan Bao on the ground!
Mid-Rank Xuan-Class Dou Technique: Soaring Cloud Wings!
"It's over," Nalan Yanran said calmly.
Smack!
Just then, four dazzling, thin light wings spread from Yuan Bao's back as he flipped off the ground with both hands, soaring up in a nimble backflip—just narrowly avoiding the spear that had stabbed down at him. In midair, he twisted and slapped Yao Bai across the face with a fierce smack, dealing a terrifying 1 point of damage.
(END CHAPTER)
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