Chapter 944
Complex Emotions
My heart was pounding, my breathing was rapid, and my back was soaked with cold sweat.
"That was close..."
He was panting heavily, his mind racing.
The three consecutive slashes left him almost no way to escape. If he hadn't had a flash of inspiration at the last moment and slipped through the gap, he would be lying dead on the ground now.
However, in the dangerous gap, he also saw something.
Although Tiger Vanguard's scimitar is powerful and fierce, its attack pattern has a distinct characteristic—after each large-scale slash, its scimitar will pause for a very short time.
That pause lasted less than half a breath; it was the power break that occurred when the scimitar switched from one slashing trajectory to the next.
Ordinary people would not be able to detect this level of flaw.
But Chu Yang noticed it.
It wasn't because he had good eyesight, but because in the life-or-death gap between those three cuts, he was forced to push all his senses to their limits.
When facing life and death, a person's senses become exceptionally sharp.
"Half a breath..." he calculated silently in his mind, "Is half a breath enough for me to launch a counterattack?"
enough.
The premise is that his counterattack is fast and accurate enough.
Tiger Vanguard didn't give him much time to think.
The tiger demon let out a low growl and slashed down with its curved blade once more.
This time, Chu Yang did not dodge.
He charged forward, facing Tiger Vanguard's scimitar.
Everyone was stunned.
Pigsy nearly threw his rake away: "He's gone mad!"
Sun Wukong's eyes narrowed suddenly, and he twirled the golden cudgel halfway in his hand, but did not make a move.
He saw Chu Yang's footwork.
Instead of facing the blade head-on, Chu Yang dodged to the side and into Tiger Vanguard's blind spot—below its right rib—the instant the blade came down.
The scimitar grazed two inches from the outside of his left shoulder, tearing his clothes but not touching his flesh.
Just as the scimitar was about to retract after exhausting its power, Chu Yang thrust out his short sword.
The sword tip pierced precisely into the seam of Tiger Vanguard's right rib armor.
That was the weakest point of the animal hide armor—the seam between the two pieces of hide, held together only by a few leather ropes.
The short sword pierced the leather rope and penetrated about half an inch into the tiger vanguard's ribs.
"roar!"
Tiger Vanguard let out a deafening roar of pain, his body instinctively twisting to the left, throwing Chu Yang and his sword away.
Chu Yang somersaulted in the air and crashed heavily to the ground five or six steps away, kicking up dust.
His right hand was still gripping the sword hilt, the tip of which was stained with dark red blood.
Tiger Vanguard looked down at the bleeding wound under his ribs, his expression shifting from pain to disbelief, and then from disbelief to rage.
"You...you little bastard!"
Its tiger eyes were bloodshot, and the "king" character on its forehead seemed to be burning.
"You actually hurt me twice! I'm going to tear you to pieces!"
With a sweep of its curved blade, its demonic aura surged, and the golden tiger stripes on its fur emitted a faint glow.
This is it activating its demonic power.
Chu Yang got up from the ground, feeling every muscle in his body protesting. His left shoulder and back had hit the rocks during the fall, and they were throbbing with pain; he estimated they were badly bruised.
His spiritual energy was also depleted. The spiritual energy reserves of the Taiyi Nourishing Qi Technique were not as good as those of the major sects' cultivation methods to begin with, and after the several full-force bursts just now, the spiritual energy in his dantian was less than 30% left.
"We can't delay any longer." He quickly assessed the situation in his mind.
After Tiger Vanguard unleashes his demonic power, his strength will increase by at least another 20%. In his current state, let alone counterattack, he might not even be able to dodge.
But he doesn't want to retire so soon.
Those two attacks—one that grazed his calf and the other that pierced his ribs—gave him immense confidence.
His judgment was correct. Although Tiger Vanguard's attack was fierce, it was not invincible.
The problem is that he lacks inspiration.
If he had a little more spiritual energy, he could at least find another chance to fight back.
Tiger Vanguard gave him no more time to think.
After unleashing its demonic power, Tiger Vanguard became even faster than before. Its figure transformed into a golden afterimage, shooting straight towards the enemy like an arrow released from a bow.
The scimitar whistled as it cleaved down from the front.
Chu Yang's body had already made a dodging motion, but his speed was ultimately not fast enough.
The back of the scimitar slammed heavily onto his right shoulder.
A sharp pain exploded from his shoulder, spreading throughout his body. Chu Yang groaned, his entire body flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing into the mountainside beside the passage.
His body struck a shallow crater in the stone wall, and rubble fell down.
He slid down the rock face and fell to the ground, his right arm completely unable to be lifted.
Tiger Vanguard grinned, revealing a mouthful of gleaming white fangs, and strode towards him.
"You little bastard, that's all you've got." It raised its scimitar as it walked away. "I admit, you little brat do have some skill. Too bad your cultivation is too low, far too weak."
"Go to hell."
The scimitar was raised high, carrying all of Tiger Vanguard's power and rage, and slashed down towards Chu Yang's head.
Chu Yang stared at the ever-growing curved blade, his mind blank.
Then, a scene suddenly appeared in that blank space.
It was a passage of mantra he had seen on a fragment of the Taiyi Nourishing Qi Manual: "Qi gathers in the palm, power is released from the fingers, and a single point can break through ten thousand pounds."
He has never successfully used this technique.
This technique requires gathering all the spiritual energy in the body to the fingertips in an instant, forming an extremely condensed energy bullet that is then fired.
It is extremely difficult and carries enormous risks. Even a slight deviation in controlling spiritual energy can lead to minor damage to the meridians or, in severe cases, demonic possession.
But now he has no other choice.
The moment the curved blade slashed down, Chu Yang mobilized all the remaining spiritual energy in his dantian, rapidly converging it along his meridians to his right index finger.
The spiritual energy condensed at the fingertip into a tiny blue dot the size of a grain of rice.
Although the point of light was tiny, it contained all the power he could unleash at that moment.
He raised his right hand—a tearing pain shot through his shoulder, and he almost ground his teeth to powder—and pointed his index finger at Tiger Vanguard's face.
Snap your fingers.
A thin beam of blue light shot from his fingertip, as fast as lightning, and struck Tiger Vanguard's left eye with perfect accuracy.
"Roar—"
Tiger Vanguard let out a shrill scream, his scimitar flying from his hand. He covered his left eye with both hands, his whole body trembling violently. Blood seeped from between his fingers, staining half of his tiger face red.
Although the bullet didn't blind it—the energy wasn't enough, and the penetration wasn't strong enough—it was enough to cause it severe pain and temporary visual impairment.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chu Yang struggled to get up from the ground and staggered backward.
His spiritual energy was completely exhausted, his right arm hung limply at his side, and every part of his body ached.
“Brother Monkey…” he called out, panting heavily, his voice so hoarse it was almost distorted, “It’s up to you.”
Sun Wukong had been itching to get going for a long time.
As soon as Chu Yang finished speaking, a golden figure swept past his head.
"Make way! Make way! Make way!"
The golden cudgel, carrying immense force, slammed heavily onto Tiger Vanguard's head.
That strike wasn't delivered with full force—Sun Wukong's full-force attack was enough to collapse a mountain—but it was sufficient.
Tiger Vanguard didn't even have time to scream before he was smashed into the ground by the blow, his limbs twisted and motionless.
Sun Wukong poked the creature with his golden cudgel to confirm that it had stopped breathing before putting the cudgel away.
He turned around and looked at Chu Yang's disheveled appearance, his expression extremely complicated.
"You little brat..."
He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to curse or praise someone, but in the end he said nothing and just let out a long breath.
"That's fucking reckless."
Chu Yang slowly slid down against the mountain wall, feeling as if his whole body had fallen apart.
Pigsy rushed over first, squatted down beside him, and frantically turned over his wounds.
"Brother Chu Yang! Are you alright? Let me see—your right shoulder is injured? And there's blood on your face too—Master, come quick! Brother Chu Yang is injured!"
Tang Sanzang also rushed over, squatted down, and used his sleeve to wipe the blood off Chu Yang's face.
"Benefactor Chu, how are you? Are you in pain?"
Chu Yang grinned, trying to laugh, but the movement aggravated the wound on his face, causing him to wince in pain.
"Thankfully... it's just a superficial injury. Your right shoulder might be dislocated, but the bone shouldn't be broken."
Sun Wukong walked over, grabbed his right arm without saying a word, and snapped his dislocated shoulder back into place.
"Ah—" Chu Yang screamed, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
"Endure it," Sun Wukong said expressionlessly. "Who told you to show off?"
Chu Yang gritted his teeth and waited for the excruciating pain to subside before slowly exhaling a breath of stale air.
"value."
"Um?"
"I say it was worth it." Chu Yang moved his right shoulder; although it still hurt terribly, he could move it now. "I learned a lot from this battle."
Sun Wukong squatted down in front of him, arms crossed, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
"Tell me, what did you learn?"
Chu Yang leaned against the mountain wall, closed his eyes, and recalled the battle just now, reviewing it bit by bit.
"First, when fighting an opponent stronger than me, I can't engage in a head-on collision. When the strength difference is too great, blocking will only deplete my stamina and spiritual energy. I need to dodge and move around more, using footwork and movement techniques to wear down my opponent's patience."
Sun Wukong nodded without interrupting.
"Secondly, even the strongest opponent has gaps in their attacks. Tiger Vanguard's scimitar is fast, but after each powerful swing, there's a pause of about half a breath. That half-breath is the window for a counterattack. If I were faster and had more spiritual energy, I could inflict even greater damage within that window."
“Third…” He paused, opening his eyes, “My spiritual energy reserves are too low. Although the Taiyi Qi Cultivation Technique has laid a foundation, it's clearly insufficient. If I want to face stronger opponents in the future, I must find a way to increase my spiritual energy ceiling.”
After hearing this, Sun Wukong's lips curled up slightly.
"Anything else?"
Chu Yang thought for a moment: "There's one last strike. The blow I delivered to Tiger Vanguard's ribs wasn't deep enough. If my spiritual energy were more concentrated, that strike should have pierced its armor and injured its internal organs. In that case, it wouldn't just be screaming in pain; its fighting power would drop by half."
Sun Wukong stood up and dusted off his hands.
"Your analysis is good. However, you missed the most important point."
"What?"
Sun Wukong stretched out a finger and poked Chu Yang's forehead.
"You're too nervous."
Chu Yang was stunned.
Sun Wukong said, "I, Old Sun, have been watching from the sidelines. Your entire body was tense from beginning to end. Your eyes, too, were wide open like saucers. The more tense you were, the stiffer your body became, and the slower your reactions were."
"Your final thrust was brilliant because you were cornered, your mind went blank, and your body relaxed. That was the most beautiful strike you delivered the entire match."
"And that flick—" he said, his tone becoming more serious, "that finger flicking technique, is it from your Taiyi Qi Cultivation Technique?"
Chu Yang nodded.
"I condensed spiritual energy into a single point and flicked it out with my finger. I've never used this before; this is my first time."
Sun Wukong nodded thoughtfully.
"That shot, though lacking in spiritual energy, was remarkably accurate. The fact that you maintained your accuracy under those circumstances shows you have a strong will."
He paused, then added.
"Your training was alright. Keep practicing. We'll let you go again next time you encounter a similar opponent."
Chu Yang was secretly delighted, but he didn't show it on his face and just nodded.
"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Monkey."
Pigsy, who had been listening for a while, finally interjected, "Brother Monkey, aren't you worried about Brother Chu Yang getting into trouble? What if that monster is even more powerful next time..."
Sun Wukong glanced at him: "With me here, what trouble could possibly arise? Do you think I'm blind? If that tiger demon had landed its final blow on Brother Chu Yang's head, do you think I wouldn't have intervened?"
Pigsy paused for a moment, then said, "You mean...?"
"I, Old Sun, was watching the whole time. When the tiger's curved blade was still two feet away from Brother Chu Yang's head, I, Old Sun, had already made my move."
Chu Yang then noticed a very fine bloodstain on Sun Wukong's golden cudgel—it wasn't the blood from Tiger Vanguard's head, but rather the blood that splattered when the scimitar was knocked away.
In other words, Sun Wukong did not attack only after he shouted "It's up to you."
He had already started earlier.
Sun Wukong was too fast, and Chu Yang didn't even notice.
If that bullet hadn't hit Tiger Vanguard's eye, Tiger Vanguard's scimitar wouldn't have been able to strike Chu Yang's head either—because Sun Wukong would have knocked the scimitar away before that.
“Brother Monkey…” Chu Yang looked at Sun Wukong, a complex emotion welling up in his heart.
Sun Wukong didn't look at him, but squatted down and examined Tiger Vanguard's corpse.
"There's nothing valuable on this tiger. This scimitar is passable, though."
He picked up the scimitar, weighed it in his hand, and then tossed it to Chu Yang.
"Take it, it's better than your old, broken sword from the blacksmith's shop."
Chu Yang caught the curved blade with one hand; it felt heavy and substantial. A faint layer of demonic energy emanated from the blade, indicating that it had been imbued with Tiger Vanguard's demonic power, making it a fairly good demonic weapon. (End of Chapter)