With the ten monsters now gone, defeating the enemy became much easier for the forces of the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect and soon, less than a few hundred enemies were left standing. Being merely cowardly mercenaries, the lucky survivors either escaped or surrendered immediately, now that their hope for victory had been sealed away, they had no chance of winning.
Soon, the battlefield began to grow silent as the fighting ceased. The few casualties of the Sect's forces were those unlucky enough to be killed by the surprise attacks by the Ten Monsters which amounted to a little more than a few hundred, once they had left the battlefield, no more than a few careless or unlucky cultivators had died.
That was not because the enemy was weak, but it was because the Golden Tiger Faction was just too strong! The weakest being at the high or peak level Superior stage and most being in the low level Sung stage, they were all powerhouses that could take on dozens of enemies all at once. The reason? Because they had been trained to look out for attacks from all directions, to judge the best way to attack the enemy and decide wether to dodge, parry or block attacks.
All this had been drilled into their heads by Cheng Hao during his training regiments. At first, even though the people from the Golden Tiger faction were powerful, they did not dare to carelessly wonder about in the battlefield, but as time went on, they found out that few people were actually a threat to them.
Due to this, they began to charge past the enemy's front lines and attack the enemy from behind in a pincher attack, resulting in less casualties on their part! The fight had ended with the Sect having lost less than five hundred members out of their original few thousands or so, while the mercenaries, numbering in the tens of thousands at first now only had a few hundred survivors left...
It had been a one sided battle the moment the Shadow Legion had left the battlefield.
Up in the air, Bi Liang and Chu Sai clashed once again, the Core Elder slammed his big Aura Bow towards the opponent's head and Chu Sai barely blocked the blow with his eighteen weapons. The sound of an explosion rang out and both cultivators were sent flying back a few hundred meters.
Bi Liang somersaulted once, straightening himself, and then nocked another arrow on the bow. He pulled back the string as far as he could and then let go: the arrow was sent flying at high speeds towards the wounded Chu Sai.
The time it took the arrow to reach the falling black robed cultivator was only a little bit more than what it takes for a spark to fly off a piece of flint. Chu Sai noticed the attack only when the huge arrow was only a few meters away from his body.
He gritted his teeth and rocked his head to the side as well as swinging one of his swords to parry the blow. The arrow flew by like a ballista's projectile and, even though it had been blocked slightly and its trajectory had been deviated, it still shredded the man's mask and left a long scratch on the man's cheek.
Bi Liang landed and smirked 'What's wrong, your movements got slow! Getting tired?" He summoned another arrow and prepared to attack once again. A few hundred meters away, Chu Sai clenched his fist and also summoned another one of his katanas from the air.
He was not getting slower, he had been in his top condition ever since he had started his fight, he had not gotten so tired that it would interfere with his reflexes. He knew, better than anybody, that it was not him who got slower, it was Bi Liang who was getting faster! If this went on...
'I will lose in less than half an hour...'
Chu Sai's eyes narrowed and he sent one of his blades flying towards Bi Liang. It intercepted the arrow speeding towards its master and exploded with a loud "BOOM"
Another blade materialised beside Chu Sai's side. This time, the red glow was a slight bit fainter than it was before 'I am also running out of Sword Qi... If I keep dragging this out...'
Chu Sai's eyes grew resolute and a plan formed into his mind. He smiled wickedly as he kicked off the ground and sped toward Bi Liang. The Core Elder's eyes widened and then he grinned "Good! Come! I have been waiting for this moment!" His voice was devoid of rationality and it was full of rage and thirst for vengeance.
Chu Sai smiled in his mind: this lack of rationality was going to be Bi Liang's downfall! He picked one of the flying blades and sent it flying towards Bi Liang. The Core Elder laughed and destroyed it with one of his own arrows, generating a loud explosion. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as the smoke from the blast blocked his view: a second sword, a third and then all the way to seventeen swords were now flying towards him!
Bi Liang gritted his teeth and took out a piece of crystal from his pocket. He threw it towards the oncoming blades and nocked seventeen arrows on his bow: the crystal suddenly shattered in mid air and a mirror glowing with a mysterious blue light appeared. Unfortunately, it could only intercept one of the blades, stopping it from advancing.
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Still, it did not simply block it, the blade seemed to be swallowed by the floating magical object as it got absorbed into the glowing mirror. As soon as the sword's hilt completely went through the mirror, the object suddenly began to glow red from its previous blue hue as the blade reappeared, this time flying in the direction it came from.
It looked as if it had been reflected, and that was exactly what had happened!
That's right, the katana's position had been reversed and it had been shot backwards! The mirror then let out a blue light as it reset to its previous stage, its glow turning from red to blue again
Bi Liang smiled as he shot seventeen arrows at the remaining sixteen katanas. The explosion this time was only a few meters away from him so he was slightly blinded from the blast. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a blurry figure was dashing around him, covered by the smoke of the explosion and wishing to attack him from behind.
He waved his gigantic bow and slammed it at the approaching enemy, he felt the beautiful sounds of bones cracking and the flesh rending... Not.
Bi Liang's cheeks seemed to have lost all blood as his face grew pale: he had just noticed that what he had attacked... Was only a black robe!
Behind him, Chu Sai reappeared from the smoke, wearing a victorious smile on his now exposed face: he was a middle aged man, but his features were those of a man in his young thirties. He might have also been pretty handsome, but his handsomeness was ruined by the fierce and fiendish smile on his face "Die, Fool!"
He slashed the katana in his hands down, intending to chop Bi Liang's head off in one stroke. He smirked and laughed in his mind 'You have been fooled! If only you had been more rational, you would have noticed than only seventeen blades had been thrown and would have been more careful! Unfortunately for you, this is my vic-'
Suddenly, Bi Liang's shocked expression disappeared... And he smirked.
'-tory?' Chu Sai noticed the Core Elder's action, but by now it was too late to react.
*pierce*
Chu Sai's thoughts were interrupted when a flash of light pierced through his upper-left chest. Chu Sai's expression froze as he turned just in time to see a glowing red mirror turning blue again... He looked down at his chest and the gaping hole where his heart should have been and then a voice sounded out.
"You are the true fool. I wore you down making you anxious and showed an opening on purpose. I acted as if I had lost my mind due to anger and you fell for that. The one who had really lost his mind was you, who feared defeat by the hands of somebody weaker than you are, in a different stage, even!"
Bi Liang scoffed "You did not even notice that the extra arrow I had shot was heading straight for the space-reversal mirror! Seventeen blades had been thrown and one had been thrown back and neutralised by the mirror... But then, why would I shoot seventeen arrows with only sixteen incoming flying katanas? You were defeated by your own rashness and foolishness! If you hurry down a steep path you are bound to fall! If you act without thinking you will fail!"
Chu Sai's mind reeled when he found out how exactly he got hit. He gritted his teeth and his eyes widened with surprise, anger, regret... And then he saw a single tear forming on one corner of Bi Liang's eye. It slowly streaked down his cheek and fell to the ground "Father... Rest in peace! Be happy and pass on peacefully as I have taken care of matters here!"
Chu Sai's eyes widened once again in shock and then he bitterly smiled 'I see... So it was revenge that brought him this far... It truly is sowing Karma!' He sighed "It is your victory..."
Acknowledging that he had been defeated, not by the opponent's power but by his sharper wits, Chu Sai chuckled. Bi Liang sighed and then his expression brightened "Want me to tell you a secret?" his eyes narrowed he leaned in and whispered into Chu Sai's ear "You see... You did not actually lose to someone that much weaker than you..."
Bi liang touched Chu Sai's forehead and the man trembled as a Reverend stage Will began to exterminate his consciousness. His eyes widened as he understood 'I see... So i have been playing on the palm of your hand all along... He had actually, already broken through, I was truly a fool... A fool...' Chu Sai closed his eyes and his heart stopped beating as his brain was vaporised.
Bi Liang straightened himself and his low level Reverend stage cultivation base replaced the previous fake peak Sung stage cultivation base as it emanated outwards.
He flew towards the Grudge's End and then fell down. He looked around and saw that the battle had already ended. He smiled relieved seeing that most of the people from the Sect were still alive.
*clash*
"Yaaaaaargh!"
"Damn, this guy is so slippery!"
"Ahaha, what is wrong guys? Weren't you going to kill me?"
Suddenly, sounds of metal hitting metal reached his ears and he noticed Cheng Hao fighting against eight of the members of the Shadow Legion. When he approached, Bi Liang was shocked at first when he saw the fierce fight taking place.
His first thought was to interfere and help Cheng Hao, but then he sighed "I cannot help you in your battle... Right now, I barely have enough strength to stand firm, I would be nothing less than a hindrance.."
Suddenly, the two sides broke out and backed away a few dozen meters from the other. Bi Liang noticed Cheng Hao's firm and determined expression as he wielded a massive halberd. Looking at the child's eyes, the Core Elder also discovered that he was deeply concentrating and tense, but also... Having fun?
Bi Liang was shocked for a bit and then smiled "I guess you would not want my help either?" He sighed and sat on the ground. Oddly enough, the place where Cheng Hao was fighting was right on top of Grudge's End Arena and Bi Liang was right on top of its stalls!
It was as if this was going to be a fight decided by the heavens!
Well, knowing him it wouldn't be too strange, would it? After all, it was his, Cheng Hao's fight, and he would not interrupt it even if he could.
"I guess it would not harm to watch one of your fights once again... Good luck, brother. With Lao Jianghu temporarily gone, the fate of my brothers and companions of the Sect rests on your shoulders!"