Chapter 444: A Martial Fanatic's Honor

Hum~

A dreadful wave shot from Li Jingtian's fingers. His face went purple, blood leaked from his mouth and the veins in his arms pulsed, ready to burst.

Yet none of that could wipe the excitement off his face, releasing every ounce of power he had.

"That's the profound ranked martial art, Finger of Death!" Sensing the energy, Qiu Yanhai cried, "Ever since Steward Zhuo has taught it to us, we haven't had much time to practice it. Yet this geezer has already mastered it. He really is the Mad Dipper!"

Xue Qingjian nodded in praise. Only Zhuo Fan sighed.

"Huangpu Fenglei, try this on for size!"

Despite sucking all of his Yuan Qi, the move launched quickly, leaving Li Jingtian's finger at his shout.

Whoosh!

With a series of bangs, something unseen came out of his fingers and went straight for his target.

The roaming dragon was outraged. It grew dozens of times in size and retaliated.

Its power as if coming from heavens themselves pressed on the house lords with such might, fear festered in their hearts.

Huangpu Fenglei, wrapped in his pillar of light, showed shock at Li Jingtian hiding such a killer move.

The power of that soul attack went beyond Radiant Stage and not even with the help of Imperial Tyrant Body Art's 10th stage could he fend it off.

Huangpu Fenglei was sweating, his big eyes taking on a heavy gaze.

Qiu Yanhai and Xue Qingjian were panicking, "Steward Zhuo, that's..."

"Combination art." Zhuo Fan shook his head.

The two were even more nervous now, "But he's just one man? How can he perform combination art?"

"Elder Li may very well be the only one who can."

Zhuo Fan sighed, "Necro Dragon's Screech and Finger of Death are soul profound ranked martial arts and can be combined. But to do that, both have to be executed in tandem, intrinsically at the same time. Even you two will find it hard to achieve it. But with Elder Li knowing both of them, combining them is not the issue here..."

Zhuo Fan's frown deepened, gazing at the aged figure above, "Different martial arts imply that Yuan Qi takes different paths through one's meridians. When you launch an attack, there's always a pause before the next. Elder Li, I'm afraid, pulled out all the stops, unleashing the arts at almost the exact same time. This translates into broken meridians from the clashing flows of Yuan Qi and you'll be crippled. Elder Li may have achieved it, but his body is finished."

"What, Elder Li..."

The couple's faces fell, turning to Li Jingtian. His power was plunging after unleashing the two arts.

"Elder Li, why did you have to go so far? Huangpu Fenglei is strong, but not invincible. There's no hatred between you two so why must you pay the ultimate price?" Zhuo Fan and the power couple were vexed.

[This is no kill or be killed situation.]

Xie Tianshang whipped out his sword, coming before them and smiled at the figure above, "Zhuo Fan, you do not understand a martial fanatic's heart. If you do not surpass an opponent you recognize, it will leave one with regrets. Today is when these two sides will settle their differences once and for all. If we fail, we will die. If we win, we will kill them. With your strength, Huangpu Fenglei will most likely die at your hands, something Elder Li can't stop. It means that this is his last chance to fight his enemy. He must defeat his opponent by any means necessary. This is a martial fanatic's will and glory!"

Spoken like a true martial fanatic.

The people watched Elder Li pant, as blood kept pouring out of him.

But his eyes were full of joy, his smile wide.

"It's so hard to understand the mind of a martial fanatic. The way I see it, winning is everything. But to win at the cost of your own life is highly inadvisable."

Zhuo Fan shook his head, but smiled, "Get ready, it's our turn soon."

The rest had fire burning in their eyes.

The now huge black dragon image above finally clashed with the golden pillar.

Bam!

The resulting explosion was like the aftermath of a bomb. The pillar shook under the point blank impact, slowly getting riddled with cracks.

With a snap, it fell apart and dissolved into flickers of light.

While the black dragon was relentless in its pursuit for Huangpu Fenglei.

Boom!

Huangpu Fenglei felt his brain explode and an excruciating pain riddling his heart.

Spitting blood, he slammed the ground, his soul in critical state.

While his feeble consciousness still held on, he jumped towards Regent Estate. He knew he had lost this fight.

Standing around longer would only mean death.

Huangpu Fenglei recalled his glorious name as Regent Estate's High Venerable and grief struck him. The fact that he had lost it all in a single move made this grandpa's aged heart wrought with sorrow.

[Old Li, I'll get you for this next time!]

Li Jingtian had no time to wait that long. His wretched body had already passed the point of no return.

He had to fulfill his wish, no matter the price.

Blackness exploded from Li Jingtian once again, but so did blood.

He bore through the pain as he jumped at Huangpu Fenglei, "Ha-ha-ha, High Venerable, let's settle our grudges. Wraith Style's 1st move, Soaring Demonic Dragon!"

[We never had any grudges! It's you who is so pig headed to push it this far!]

Huangpu Fenglei saw the black figure chase after him and was stunned and puzzled. He noticed Li Jingtian's odd situation.

[You should lick your wounds first. We have no hatred. So stop forcing yourself to come after me, alright?]

Huangpu Fenglei felt like crying, unable to make sense of it all. He'd never guess that Li Jingtian operated on much simpler motivations, to kill him with his own two hands.

"High Venerable!"

Huangpu Tianyuan shot forth, bringing joy to Huangpu Fenglei's eyes, "Estate Lord!"

Zhuo Fan's eyes flashed golden in the nick of time, cutting Huangpu Tianyuan's timely aid short.

"Zhuo Fan?" Huangpu Tianyuan gnashed his teeth.

Zhuo Fan grinned, "Elder Li is on my side and I will respect any decision he makes. You won't be going anywhere."

"Humph, we'll just see about that!"

Huangpu Tianyuan's right hand was enveloped in a golden dragon image for a second before turning into a scaled claw and attacking.

The sharp talons whistled through the air.

"Transformation, Earth Dragon Claw?"

He knew this move all too well, since he had as well, courtesy of his own dragon soul. So Zhuo Fan responded with the same coin.

Clang!

The clash resulted in screeches grating the ears of others.

The two separated, finding the clash even.

Zhuo Fan beamed, "So you did train in Nine Dragons Diamond Body. But that can't be all that a legendary earth ranked martial art can do, right?"

"Ha-ha-ha, Zhuo Fan, this is all thanks to the Bodhi Root you got for us. But I won't be going easy on you. You are destined to die today!"

"Is that so?" Zhuo Fan chuckled, followed by a shifty smile...