Chapter 128: And You, Why Are You Barking Like a Dog?
Boom!
High in the sky, the two clashed once more and quickly broke apart again, but the four-winged red-armored figure, completely unbothered by Dou Qi consumption, chased right after Yao Bai, reengaging in a fierce dogfight.
Below, on the viewing platform in the imperial city, everyone looked up at the two battling figures. It was clear to all that Yao Bai's flying speed and agility were no match for Yuan Bao. Yuan Bao's crimson four wings allowed him to execute impossible aerial maneuvers, launching attacks from completely unorthodox, unpredictable angles that shattered conventional understanding and left no room for counterattacks.
To anyone else, it might seem like Yuan Bao was just spinning and twisting endlessly in the sky. But if it weren't for the fact that he was a Tier 4 Weapon Refiner, with a soul realm at the Intermediate Mortal Stage, such dizzying aerial movements would have had him blacking out long ago.
"A mere Dou Wang?! His grasp of flight is like a child babbling his first words!" Yuan Bao continued pressing the attack, exploiting Yao Bai's thick defense, high cultivation, and slow speed—wait, wasn't he describing his old self just now? Regardless, he relentlessly dragged Yao Bai higher and higher, expanding their battlefield across the skies of the entire imperial capital. Under the stunned gazes of the city's people, a Dou Ling was absolutely dominating a Dou Wang in aerial combat!
At the same time, Yuan Bao constantly hurled trash talk at Yao Bai mid-fight, delivering both physical and mental blows. He understood Jiang Lin's plan—so from the very start, he aimed to deliver a performance that would dazzle the entire Jia Ma Empire and establish the Weapon Refiners' Guild as an unshakable force in the empire's future.
"Want to know what real flight is? What true aerial combat means?!"
This time, Yuan Bao directly forced Yao Bai down from the sky toward the ground, allowing the imperial citizens to better witness their clash.
"When I fly inverted, the sky becomes my earth!"
Yuan Bao flipped upside-down again, defying logic and hammering on Yao Bai's cognitive limits. Imagine someone walking upside down toward you, casually waving a blade—how do you respond? All your years of muscle memory were trained to face upright opponents. Now, suddenly, you're facing someone living in an inverted world. All your battle instincts falter in that moment of confusion.
Every strike you throw feels wrong—your spear techniques, all designed for upright enemies, fall apart. The creators of such techniques never imagined an enemy fighting upside-down. To make matters worse, your opponent is attacking your feet in bizarre, abstract ways, and you don't even know how to block it.
Yuan Bao was faster too—especially in close-range flight maneuvers. Yao Bai couldn't predict his attack angles or flight paths. More often than not, it wasn't that Yuan Bao was targeting his legs—it was that he chose to attack his legs, or his kidneys, or… his little head!
Yao Bai even began to feel like it wasn't Yuan Bao who was upside down—it was himself.
"Finally realized, huh?! I'm not the one who's upside down—you are!"
Above the capital, Yuan Bao shouted in fury, slashing at Yao Bai. Dodging the spear's interception, he brought his blade down hard—landing a hit right on Yao Bai's butt. Dazed by the spinning, Yao Bai was sent crashing down from the sky, rolling across a rooftop and smashing countless tiles, drawing gasps from below.
"You've lost your sense of orientation. What you thought was flawless defense is full of holes in my eyes!" Yuan Bao taunted from above. Yao Bai only rolled across the roof a few times before shooting back into the sky. The hit wasn't serious—but his mind was still reeling from Yuan Bao's surreal attack patterns.
"I don't believe your Dou Qi can sustain that kind of high-intensity flight much longer!"
Unwilling to back down, Yao Bai raised his spear and charged again. The two resumed their fight above the residential rooftops.
"Those trash-talking lines from Yuan Bao—did he get those from you?"
Back atop the imperial wall, Hulei looked toward the ongoing aerial battle and turned to Jiang Lin, asking with a strange expression. At this point, all the leaders of the major noble families had climbed onto the wall, not wanting to miss this epic sky duel.
"Uh… that's just Senior Brother being naturally gifted," Jiang Lin replied with a harmless smile, scratching his head.
On the highest viewing platform, Jia Xingtian and the others remained seated. From their high vantage point, they could clearly watch the entire battle outside the city walls.
"Why does Elder Yao Bai insist on aerial combat... If he just stayed on the ground and defended, that fat guy's flight advantage would disappear," said Princess Yao Yue blankly as she watched Yao Bai, clearly outmatched in the air, still charging up to fight the "deadly fat man."
"Ah, Yue'er, for a Dou Wang to be so pressured by a Dou Ling that he's afraid to fly… That's a tremendous humiliation—far worse than losing a fight," Princess Yao Ye shook her head. Though Yao Yue's tactic was correct, the pride of a Dou Wang lies in their ability to fly. Being grounded by a Dou Ling was a disgrace worse than being beaten by a Dou Huang.
Jia Xingtian nodded in agreement, acknowledging Yao Ye's analysis. However, he also pointed out the issue: "Yuan Bao's Dou Qi is starting to run low. Yao Bai is waiting for that moment."
"I just don't know what the broader implication is. The empire doesn't have many Dou Lings… But still, if we had higher-grade flying Dou Devices, we wouldn't suffer so much when dealing with the Falling Goose side."
Below, the recently winded Old Man Nalan, having finally climbed the city wall, continued lecturing his stubborn granddaughter: "You little brat, always so hardheaded. Just look now!"
Nalan Yanran glanced toward the battle outside the wall, pouting unhappily. "He's a spent force. Once his Dou Qi runs out, the tide will turn."
As soon as she finished speaking, Mu Yun, who had just come up the wall with the Mu Family Head, looked at her strangely. The same strange look flashed in the Mu Family Head's eyes as well. The two even exchanged glances, both recognizing the shared emotion in the other's gaze—a mix of amusement and disbelief.
The Mu Family duo couldn't help wondering… Was Nalan Yanran's mouth cursed? Everything she said just kept happening.
Sure enough, right after she spoke, Yuan Bao—still flying at high speed—suddenly lost control of his flight. Yao Bai seized the opportunity, slammed him down with a sweeping strike, then followed with a downward thrust!
"Damn it, got too cocky and forgot to regulate my energy."
Yuan Bao, having been slammed into a rooftop, tumbled down and used a body technique to sprint away, stomping through roof tiles and leaving holes in people's houses as he fled.
"Put it on Hulei's tab!"
As he damaged more buildings, Yuan Bao shouted at the top of his lungs. At the same time, he pulled a Tier 4 Magic Core from his storage ring and, with a swish, darted into a narrow alley, narrowly avoiding Yao Bai's furious strike from above.
"What are you doing?! You've already lost with your Dou Qi depleted! Keep resisting, and you'll just cause more destruction to the city—you're only digging yourself deeper!"
From the sky, Yao Bai shouted angrily at Yuan Bao's apparent refusal to accept defeat.
But then Yuan Bao shot out from another alley. Amid the gasps of the crowd, his crimson wings spread once more, and he soared straight up. Hovering before Yao Bai, he snorted coldly.
"I was changing my magic core."
"And you—why are you barking like a dog?"
(END CHAPTER)
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