IWYTBW - Chapter 42

 Chapter 42

When a Madman Says You're Good, You Should Raise Your Shield and Be on Guard.

The next day, Yi Zhen slung his Griffin Bow over his shoulder and followed Rong Hongxue down to his exclusive training room.

The alloy floor, like a mirror coated in mercury, reflected the figures standing on it with crystal clarity. They walked in silence, not a single soul in sight.

“Since this training room was built, only you and I have been here,” Rong Hongxue said, as if guessing his thoughts. “Register your fingerprints. You can come and go freely from now on.”

Yi Zhen had his own training room, and someone as solitary as him wouldn’t appreciate others—especially not him—invading his private space. Rong Hongxue was well aware of this, so he simply repurposed this long-unused space.

Yi Zhen didn’t speak, pressing his thumbs and ring fingers onto the scanner in turn.

Both of them deliberately avoided their points of contention. Rong Hongxue didn’t provoke him, and he didn’t insult Rong Hongxue. Without their usual arguments and confrontations, they had nothing else to say to each other, and the atmosphere between them was considerably more formal than before.

“This is the training room I used when I returned from my travels,” Rong Hongxue stood in the center of the floor, bathed in the blue light that made his pale skin look as cold and ruthless as a robot’s. “I spent four months here before I went to the tournament.”

“And you got second place in the finals?” Yi Zhen asked.

Rong Hongxue smiled. “So you know.”

Yi Zhen casually observed his surroundings, asking, “Actually, I’ve always been curious.”

“Curious why I got second place?”

Yi Zhen hesitated, not answering.

It was always easier and less effort to talk to someone so perceptive.

“It’s simple. Because it was boring,” Rong Hongxue said lightly.

“That’s really an explanation that invites resentment.”

Rong Hongxue said, “A month before returning to the Central Star, I signed up for the tournament. I originally planned to go alone, with nothing, no preparation, just to see what level I was at. But Rong Qing had a few more years of experience than me. He quickly found out about it. When I returned, he had already built this training room for me.”

Yi Zhen glanced at him coolly. “A familiar style.”

“Like father, like son,” Rong Hongxue said with a gentle smile. “I was young and impulsive then. When he led me down here, he had his back to me—in this exact position. I almost plunged a knife into his throat. One twist, one wrong move, and he wouldn’t even be able to call for help. The blood wouldn’t spurt too much, and he’d be dead in no time.”

Yi Zhen said, “You said ‘almost’.”

“That’s right,” Rong Hongxue turned to look at him. “Just as I was about to strike, he turned around and said his second sentence to me.”

“That sentence quelled your anger?”

“Quite the opposite,” Rong Hongxue laughed even more heartily. “He said to me, ‘Hongxue, I know you were born in a lower place, so you don’t have a birthday. Now that you’re grown and accomplished, this training room is my birthday gift to you. From now on, this day is your birthday.’”

Yi Zhen listened silently. It wasn’t appropriate to say anything at this moment. If he and Rong Hongxue were friends, he could pat him on the shoulder and say, “What’s past is past. Let’s drink to that, brother, and never mention that old bastard again.” If they were bed partners, he could pat him on the shoulder and say, “The night is short. Do you want to fuck me or keep talking about that old bastard?” If they were enemies... well, he couldn’t pat his shoulder, but he could still laugh and say, “That old bastard is your karma! Congratulations!”

But they were neither friends nor bed partners. As for enemies... that was applicable until recently, but not quite fitting now.

So he just listened quietly, not saying a word.

“When you’re extremely angry, you can’t make that angry expression,” Rong Hongxue’s smile revealed his white teeth. “I just wanted to laugh. I really wanted to laugh. When I laugh, my mind becomes calm, and I can think more clearly. I said, ‘Okay, thank you. Today is a good day. It is indeed very suitable to be my birthday.’”

It’s also very suitable to be someone’s death day, Yi Zhen thought.

Rong Hongxue looked at him appreciatively, as if he had once again guessed his thoughts.

“I trained here for four months. After entering the tournament, I fought from the preliminaries to the semi-finals, and then from the semi-finals to the finals. I won every single match, without a single defeat. I won until I was bored.”

Of course, you’re the male lead, the most overpowered of the overpowered. How could the plot allow you to lose?

“So in the final match, when I fought against Saint Quadrivirtue, I could tell that he couldn’t beat me. Even if he self-destructed, he could only tie with me at best. For a moment, I suddenly felt that it was all so tedious, so boring. So I held back and said, ‘I concede.’”

Yi Zhen said, “That’s still an explanation that invites resentment.”

Rong Hongxue said, “Rong Qing was very dissatisfied with my actions, but he couldn’t show it—or rather, he didn’t dare to show it. He always thought I would stop at the top 100, but he didn’t expect me to grow to this extent. The strength I displayed in the tournament made him start to be cautious of me... but it was useless.”

He said contentedly, “Two years later, on the same day, he died without a corpse, and I took over the Rong family—we both have bright futures.”

Yi Zhen: “...”

That’s not how that phrase is used, buddy.

“Now,” he said to Yi Zhen, “I’m giving you this training room. If you want to be the champion, go ahead and take it.”

Yi Zhen: “You make it sound so easy...!”

His breath hitched, a fist whistling through the air, stopping just short of his nose!

The punch was powerful and ruthless. Yi Zhen held nothing back, his body reacting faster than his brain could command. The Illusory Body of Mo Luo activated, his head suddenly dispersing into distorted black mist in the air. Rong Hongxue let out a soft “Oh?” and changed his move in a flash, kicking Yi Zhen flying.

Yi Zhen crashed heavily into the wall, his spine making a cracking sound. His nose burned, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“You motherf...” Yi Zhen glared at him, his eyes bloodshot.

A madman’s actions could never be predicted with common sense. Even if he was just reminiscing about the misfortunes of his original family and smilingly telling you that you could definitely win the championship, it didn’t prevent him from suddenly attacking you and making you cough up blood.

He gritted his teeth and swiftly dodged the next punch. This punch was again aimed at his head. If it had connected, Yi Zhen’s skull would have been nothing but a broken bowl filled with red and white matter. But it missed, leaving only a deep dent in the wall.

“Your opponents won’t notify you before they attack,” Rong Hongxue’s voice drifted in the wind. “Get used to it, or you’ll be a punching bag for ten days.”

“How many levels do you want me to jump to beat you?!” Yi Zhen roared without turning his head, his figure already a formless gale.

A metallic clang echoed in the wind.

Yi Zhen’s ears twitched. Like the chopsticks yesterday, this wasn’t a conventional hidden weapon either. For a supreme expert like Rong Hongxue, who truly achieved the realm where even a flower or a leaf could kill, anything he casually threw, even a piece of fluff, had the power of a blade.

He didn’t dare to be careless. He thrust out with his Laurel Twelve Fingers, his hands darting out like snakes. Two crisp, almost simultaneous clangs, like the sound of gold and jade colliding, rang out as he caught two objects.

They were a pair of heavy, dull black wristbands.

Yi Zhen’s speed was dragged down by their weight. He made a swift decision, immediately flinging them backward.

The wristbands crashed to the ground with a loud bang. Rong Hongxue laughed from behind him, “Level suppression shackles. I put on three pairs, finally suppressing myself to A-rank. Now, I won’t use Mental Power, and I’m only four levels above you. If you can escape unscathed within thirty moves, you win for today. How about it?”

Escaping unscathed sounded easy, but the reality was chillingly difficult.

Yi Zhen naturally knew about level suppression equipment.

It was a restraint made from alchemical concoctions and ultra-dense, heavy ore, used to capture major criminals or subdue ferocious beasts and aberrations. When activated, it automatically injected a weakening agent into the muscles, enough to temporarily turn a high-level pilot into an ordinary person.

Rong Hongxue actually used three pairs to lower himself to A-rank…

“Fine!” he said fiercely. “Then come!”

He turned and clashed with Rong Hongxue.

As the saying goes, where there are people, there is a martial world, and where there are people, there are many schools of martial arts.

After fighting in the bloody rivers and lakes for a long time, anyone can gather a group and, with their meager skills, shout out some imposing names.

But no matter how many schools and clans there are, all the world’s techniques ultimately return to their origins. One part fast, another part slow; one part righteous, another part wicked.

Yi Zhen himself used a fast-paced style. He never imagined that Rong Hongxue’s skills could be so fast and wicked!

Rong Hongxue’s attacks were incredibly tricky and carried a fierce killing intent. He didn’t target vital areas—throat, heart, arteries, lower abdomen—places that could kill with one hit and that martial artists instinctively protected.

He struck places ordinary people wouldn’t even think of. Before being injured, Yi Zhen didn’t even know these parts of his body could be injured!

After seven moves, Yi Zhen’s inner upper arms, outer ribs, and the backs of his thighs and calves were all bruised... Rong Hongxue seemed to be selecting his soft spots and unexpectedly slashing them. This was even more terrifying and harder to guard against than direct attacks to vital points because Rong Hongxue had no discernible pattern, he was merely targeting Yi Zhen’s weaknesses.

How many vital points does a human body have?

Not many, very few in fact. After protecting the most important ones, as long as you’re not killed on the spot, you can be saved.

How many weak points does a human body have?

Many, countless. The human body is not made of steel, and Yi Zhen didn’t train in external martial arts. Rong Hongxue could withstand his palm strike, but he couldn’t withstand Rong Hongxue’s.

He grew more agitated, his internal energy depleting rapidly. Suddenly, he heard Tai’a say, [Player, calm down.]

The voice startled him. Yi Zhen’s tightly pursed lips involuntarily relaxed, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.

...That’s right, he should be calm. No matter who he was fighting, whether it was the male lead or a supporting character, to face such a peerless expert, he first needed to be calm, absolutely calm, to make room to think of other things.

He took a deep breath and began to change his footwork.

When Yi Zhen fought, he often harbored a hidden resentment. He wouldn’t initiate trouble, but if a fight started, he would retaliate in kind, returning the favor ten or a hundredfold. It was like this at the Starfall banquet, with Eugene, and with the Ringing Scorpion, Ji Qing.

Therefore, as soon as he engaged with Rong Hongxue, this resentment subtly took control of his mind. The more Rong Hongxue struck and wounded his weak points, the more furious he became, his killing intent throbbing in his temples, determined to make the other party suffer the same pain.

But he couldn’t do anything to Rong Hongxue... The gap in their strength was too great. An ant might be able to defeat a stronger ant, but could it defeat a venomous snake?

—Since this path was blocked, why not take another?

He would use Rong Hongxue to hone his skills!

Rong Hongxue’s brow furrowed slightly.

With his control over the situation, he could feel the change in the air.

To be honest, he was already surprised that Yi Zhen had lasted this long. Any part of Yi Zhen’s body could turn into mist, completely nullifying his attacks, and the parts that couldn’t turn into mist were as cool and tough as jade, emitting a clear sound when struck.

This bizarre and unbelievable ability had already made him excited, like a half-starved beast smelling blood in a desolate forest.

—Xiao Zhen, you really are an extraordinary treasure.

He smiled fiercely, swallowing the words in a sharp intake of breath. At this moment, Rong Hongxue wanted to both see Yi Zhen covered in wounds, lying in a pool of blood, and to swallow him whole, to savor his uniqueness.

At the same time, Yi Zhen’s aura changed.

He became calmer, more agile... That detachment and indifference suddenly cooled Rong Hongxue’s hot blood, calming his anger.

He was like someone dancing gracefully.

His eyes were also slightly closed.

Rong Hongxue knew that sometimes, the eyes could deceive, but intuition wouldn’t. Eyes relied on sight to observe the external world, while intuition relied on the whole body.

With eyes, people usually relied on vision. When the eyes were abandoned, the remaining senses—hearing, smell, taste, touch—became much more sensitive.

It seemed Yi Zhen wanted to do the same.

Yi Zhen’s movements became unpredictable. Rong Hongxue’s every move was like striking into a fog.

He turned his fist into a palm, fingers spread, trying to grab Yi Zhen’s arm from the inside, but he only grasped cold air. His other hand also missed. Yi Zhen’s waist twisted flexibly. At this moment, his movements could be described as enchanting.

He was like flowing water, a spring breeze, an unattainable dream. Rong Hongxue targeted Yi Zhen’s exposed weaknesses, but he suddenly found that there were no weaknesses to target because Yi Zhen had abandoned the all-around attack and defense style. Now, his whole body was full of weaknesses and openings!

But in his mind, Rong Hongxue called them Schrödinger’s weaknesses and openings.

You saw his chest wide open, so you struck out. By the time your hand reached him, he had already calmly evaded. You swept your palm across, and he was like a floating leaf, swaying with your palm wind. You chopped down, and he suddenly rose three feet in the air, his waist like a crescent moon, just escaping your attack.

Everything was so light and just right. He was like the moon in the water, the flower in the mirror, detached from the world. You saw him, knew he was there, but you couldn’t catch him. You could only see his serene and beautiful face, like an illusion in a dream.

—But the more this happened, the more it aroused Rong Hongxue’s killing intent, the more he wanted to break and tear him apart, to crush him in his arms!

In a flash, Yi Zhen, using the last of his internal energy, slipped his hand through the flying clothes, the overlapping shadows of fists and feet, the wind, and the vortex, and slapped Rong Hongxue hard across the face, the sound echoing loudly, making his head turn.

“Thirty moves have come and gone,” Yi Zhen said, his voice strained, his throat full of the taste of iron, sustained only by a thread of internal energy. “You lunatic.”

Rong Hongxue’s body froze, his chest heaving. Yi Zhen retreated, instantly putting seven or eight meters between them. The room was filled with the sound of their heavy breathing.

His back, arms... his whole body was still covered in goosebumps, his skin chilled by the killing intent radiating from Rong Hongxue, like alternating ice and fire.

Just now, he really wanted to kill him, and he wanted to kill him in a particularly brutal way! Yi Zhen tried his best to control his trembling, staring at Rong Hongxue, waiting for him to regain his sanity... or for another deadly battle.

He had already concealed a thread of conceptual scorpion venom between his fingers.

Rong Hongxue covered his face and suddenly burst into laughter.

“Not bad... not bad!” He looked up at Yi Zhen, his voice hoarse. “Thirty moves are over, and you’re still standing, Xiao Zhen.”

He seemed to see something, his gaze moving from Yi Zhen’s fingers. He said lightly, “Don’t be afraid. Do you think I’m someone who easily breaks his promises? I said I would teach you, and I will do my best.”

Yi Zhen slowly straightened up, regulating his breathing. Only after he deactivated the Illusory Body of Mo Luo and calmed down from the storm of attacks did he realize how exhausted his body was.

He was covered in injuries. Rong Hongxue didn’t try to kill him, but he didn’t hold back either. Now, when he relaxed his arms, he felt like he couldn’t lift them, and his legs trembled in pain.

“Are you trying to cripple me so I miss the preliminaries?” he asked slowly.

“You won’t be crippled,” Rong Hongxue curled his lips. “Besides, it’s better for me to do it than to let someone else hurt you.”

Yi Zhen didn’t bother to respond.

He looked at Rong Hongxue. Only now did he notice that the man’s neck and wrists were all shackled with black restraints, no exaggeration.

“So, I won?” Yi Zhen asked.

“You won for today,” Rong Hongxue said, not removing the shackles, just rotating his wrists. “As a reward... I’ll give you an extra theory lesson.”

If it were anyone else, they would probably jump up and curse, “What kind of reward is that?” But for Yi Zhen, it was a perfect reward.

Rong Hongxue pressed a spatial button, releasing a large mecha.

This was the first time Yi Zhen had seen this renowned super-S-class weapon, the legendary Great Dark Sky, up close.

In Tantric Buddhism, Mahakala was the god of wealth. In Brahmanism, Mahakala was a form of Shiva, an invincible god of war. Tantric Buddhism believed that Mahakala had two-armed, four-armed, and six-armed forms. They called the six-armed Mahakala the Six-Armed Protector, who drank the blood of the five aggregates, afflictions, death, and the demon Mara, wore the ornaments of the six paramitas, severed the bone ornaments of self-grasping, blazed with flames, and had wrathful eyes even greater than Vajra.

Now he saw the real thing. It was truly majestic, like a king’s presence. qq: Oh, so that’s why some people called him that… welp ;a; Mahakala may be RHX’s mecha’s ACTUAL name… but do you blame me for preferring Great Dark Sky? Let me know…. This humanoid mecha really did look like a black deity, covered in dark gold inscriptions, with a black and gold rotating life wheel on its head. Just standing there, it was as grand and ferocious as an ancient god-king.

Rong Hongxue said from behind him, “This is my mecha, Great Dark Sky.”

“...I know,” Yi Zhen said. “I’ve heard of it many times.”

“Seeing is believing, right?” Rong Hongxue took a breath and sat down a bit away from Yi Zhen. “It’s a long-range and close-combat type. It’s rare to have this kind of dual-purpose model among large mechas. It requires a very high level of skill from the pilot.”

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