67. A Duel Between Brothers
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"Hao! Then let's duel!"
Luoyin's words brought an instant calm to the sandy, rocky clearing, as everyone stared at him in utter shock.
"Is he crazy?!" One disciple wondered aloud, and the silence was broken.
"How can he challenge 1st Disciple Zhang of all people?!"
"We now know Zhang Cheng is something that should be spat out, but his strength can't be denied either!"
"And he has been trying to harm Zhang Luoyin since... Won't this be the end of him?!"
In a rare show of concern, Xu Wen turned to him. "Zhang Shixiong, I don't think a duel is a good idea."
"Hmph." Luoyin ignored them and stepped forward, but Weiyan stepped in front of him, firmly shaking her head.
"No." She protested, but he suddenly vanished, appearing a short distance away with Zhang Cheng, and with a wave of his hand, an icy crystal-like barrier formed between them.
"Yanyan," His calm voice reached her ears. "Let things be."
The familiar term sat a flood of colour to her cheeks, but they promptly turned white again when she recalled her worry.
"A-Yin!" She swivelled to run toward the barrier, but Xu Min placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
"Little Sister, you shouldn't stop him. Don't you know why?"
She knew exactly why...
At first glance, almost anyone would assume Weiyan had gotten angry because she had been insulted.
She had indeed gotten angry, but what made her livid to the point of nearly killing Zhang Cheng, was how his insult reflected on Luoyin.
An outsider insulting one's wife was already a slap on the face, but this particular insult was far worse and carried implied meanings.
Any man would be provoked, and in a world where men died for honour, such duels were commonplace.
But she was not willing to let Luoyin get hurt!
"Sister Weiyan, don't bother." It was Xu Lian who spoke, her hand against the frosty barrier. "This shield is even stronger than mine and A-Wen's put together!"
Xu Min gently squeezed her shoulder. "Little sister, Zhang Yin is far stronger than he seems. Just look at this barrier! Even if he lies that it's a talisman later, have you ever seen anything like it before?"
Xu Min sounded absolutely certain of his words, which somewhat calmed Weiyan, making her recall the many instances Luoyin had surprised her, most notably the incident with the eye-eater.
From outside the barrier, she could only peer in, watching Luoyin wave a hand.
This loosened the spirit-binding ropes around Zhang Cheng, and the two faced each other, a small distance between them.
She wasn't sure why she did it, but she gritted her teeth and she shook Xu Min's hand off. Then she fisted her hands, stood tall and proud before the barrier, and then directed all her thoughts to Luoyin.
'Don't you dare come back hurt! Beat him so much so that Zhang Furen needs a full minute to recognize him!'
Luoyin, who had been walking cooly towards Zhang Cheng, suddenly stumbled, as Weiyan's thoughts entered his head.
~"Y- Yanyan! How can such a pretty mouth let out such words?!"~ He turned to her, responding without thinking, and Weiyan staggered in shock.
'Not good!' Luoyin hastily turned away, as her eyes narrowed at him.
'Telepathy?!'
Had Zhang Luoyin just used telepathy to speak to her?!
But her thoughts were soon interrupted when she heard,
"Zhang Luoyin! After running like a coward, you delivered yourself to me like this?!" Zhang Cheng was saying, but Luoyin simply cleaned out his ears.
"Elder brother, must you speak so loudly? This is why I tried selling you off as a loud dog!"
Zhang Cheng's anger growl was drowned out by laughter, but Luoyin had to swiftly duck as a wave of angry purple aura suddenly shot at him.
"I'm going to destroy you!" Zhang Cheng was now sending wave after wave at Luoyin, but Luoyin easily danced through all his attacks, managing to block the waves he couldn't evade with a rusty looking sword.
This amazed most of the disciples who, before now, had assumed Zhang Luoyin was mostly a waste with the advantage of being intelligent, and they watched in awe as both brothers clashed.
Most could recall Zhang Cheng's fight with Xu Weiyan, and they could all agree that Zhang Cheng seemed more powerful now.
Yet Zhang Luoyin was matching his speed!
"Is this really Zhang Luoyin?!"
"Can anyone have the face to call him 'trash' again?!"
But as they watched, there was a sudden burst of qi from Zhang Cheng which was almost three times his usual power.
'How is he suddenly so strong?!' Weiyan wondered as Zhang Cheng's sword whistled through the air, coated in his dark purple qi.
But though Luoyin met it with his, the blow rattled his arms and the force pushed him back.
'He's stronger.' Luoyin noted, before leaping away with qinggong.
"Are you trying to run?!" Cheng swiftly followed and they clashed a few more times - blade meeting blade, sparks flying, and Cheng's aura shaking the ground, as he ruthless attacked Luoyin, forcing him to block or evade.
"Heh! Zhang Luoyin has certainly surprised me, but he's done for now!" One of Cheng's teammates remarked
'Hmm?!' His words severely annoyed Weiyan, and as her irises darted towards him, it was accompanied by a discreet wave of qi, which sent him flying a good distance!
But she narrowed her eyes back at the two figures fighting.
Zhang Cheng was indeed pushing Luoyin back with an unbelievable burst of speed and power, and Weiyan's eyes widened as Luoyin ducked low, sliding under a deadly sweep of Cheng's sword, only to be kicked hard in the chest.
And everyone gasped as Luoyin was flung back and crashed hard into a rock.
A torrent of blood burst from his lips, staining his chin and chest, and he slid to the ground, barely managing to land on his feet.
Cheng grinned. "My dear little brother, where's your clever mouth now?"
Luoyin sighed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Tch. Shamelessly boasting about strength not earned. You're strong, but if I read your qi correctly, this power does not belong to you...
"So tell me, how many of my Qi Heightening Pills did you swallow to attain this level?"
There were mutters around them, as the disciples analyzed his words.
"No wonder 1st Disciple Zhang suddenly became so powerful!" A lady was saying.
But Zhang Cheng's grin did not shift, and he boldly held up a hand. "You guessed it right, but there were no rules against using pills!" He said as seven red pills with yellow streaks appeared above his palm, hovering in place.
"Little Brother, I should thank you! If you indeed refined these pills, I'm willing to admit you have some talent! I swallowed just three during our fight, and yet I feel immensely powerful!!"
Luoyin shook his head. "What an idiot... I won't ask how a 'dog' entered the Pill Pavillion. But I was informed that someone recently bought out the last ten pills, so I'm sure it's one of our dear Zhang Furen's adoring worshippers.
"However, didn't she ever teach you that 'too much of anything isn't good'? Didn't the urn come with an instruction slip? Just one of the pills gives you a safe power boost, but the following day has to be spent resting and balancing your own qi...
"As you've foolishly swallowed three at once, you can completely forget about competing in the final stage."
"You bastard!!" Zhang Cheng raged. "I don't care about the final stage! Didn't I already send my flag into a sealed ring?! I intend to destroy you right here and now! I'll demand payback for all you've done recently!"
Luoyin didn't flinch. "Tch! The former concubine's son is still calling someone else a 'bastard'? Zhang Cheng, shouldn't you be more discreet with your origins?!"
Zhang Cheng roared in anger. Zhang Luoyin, I won't leave you a complete corpse to be buried in!" And with that, he lunged at Luoyin, his sword swift and deadly...
But,
"Hmph." Luoyin straightened, hitting two of his own acupoints. "I was going to spare you any lasting damage for now, but I can't be blamed for defending myself, right?"
Cheng's face already bore a wicked grin as his sword sliced through Luoyin, but in the next instant, 'Luoyin' faded away, revealing it was an after-image, and the real Luoyin was suddenly some distance away.
"You must think I'm still playing." Luoyin said, cracking his knuckles.
Suddenly, his image blurred and Zhang Cheng felt a well-delivered kick to his back, which sent him flying forward.
But Luoyin was suddenly in front of him. "I'll help Zhang Furen educate you today." He said, right before giving Zhang Cheng a hot slap which left a glowing handprint on his face, and sent him flying again.
"Ouch!"
"Ow!"
"Oh my!"
The disciples watched in utter shock as Luoyin moved around the shielded space, faster than most eyes could follow, and each time delivering a resounding slap, or bone-breaking punch or kick to Zhang Cheng, who was being flung around the space like a rag doll,
each hit punctuated by Luoyin's annoyed words...
"How dare you-" *Hit!* "-presume-" *Hit!
* "-that you can-" *Hit!* "-open such a wide smelly mouth-" *Hit!
* "-and insult my wife?!" *Hit!* "Just say so if-" He delivered a particularly brutal hit, with his knee to Zhang Cheng's chest, "-if you're tired of living!"
Then he caught his arm and flung him right into a rock.
Luoyin gently landed. "Living a life that thrives off boastfulness, bullying and putting down the weak, or manipulating the system for selfish gains... You're fortunate I'm the Sect Leader's son-in-law, so I pulled my punches to preserve such a useless life!"
By now, Zhang Cheng was a bruised and broken mass that slid from the rock down to the ground in a cloud of red dust, and he writhed and groaned in pain. "Z.... Zh... Zhang Luoyin...! My- My mother will never let you go!!"
"Hmph." Luoyin simply held out a hand, and Zhang Cheng's ring slipped off his finger and zoomed into Luoyin's hand.
He held a hand over the ring, and Zhang Chang's purple flag appeared, shooting into Luoyin's hand. "Do you actually think such a low-grade seal will stop me? I repeat, 'I'll personally wave your flag when this is over'!"
There was a stunned silence all around...
Then Weiyan let out a relieved sigh, and Xu Min applauded.
"W- Wah! Zh- Zhang Yin! How much surprises will you show us?!" Xu Min's voice was tinged with awe, and cheers erupted from the disciples, even notably from a few in Zhang Cheng's own team.
Zhang Cheng had controlled a number of them with threats and intimidation, so it was as if a reign of terror had been brought to its knees!
Meanwhile, Luoyin hadn't intended to take things so far, so he was a bit at a loss to find himself surrounded by so many cheers.
As Yin Bailong, he had gone through years of Prestige, Praise, and Accomplishments in his tens of thousands of years!
First Pure-blood dragon in the Three Realms for a Millennia, Youngest Immortal to pull off a full-blown transformation, Youngest Immortal to awaken a bloodline technique, Youngest Immortal to reach High Immortal status, Youngest Immortal to become a core deity,
Greatest Medicine Immortal the Three Realms had ever seen...
These titles had followed him around for thousands of years, so he should be used to praise...
But as Bailong stared at the cheering disciples through Zhang Luoyin's somewhat wet eyes, he decided that 'Praise' had never felt so damn good!
And then there was Xu Weiyan who looked at him with unreadable eyes.
But he felt his chest swell when her lips curved.
Just slightly, at first...
And then into a smile which warmed the evening's approaching chill!
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