Intentional Self-Harm Ruse
Undefeated Mu Chenghong’s appearance was comparable to the appearance of a superstar and bringer of hope. What was more tragic than counting the money one was sold for after being sold? What was more satisfying than waiting for that impending slap across the face? While Formation Sect cheered, Talisman Sect sneered.
The higher the height you fall from, the more it hurts. After years of feeding Mu Chenghong wins to elevate Formation Sect’s hopes for him, it was time to knock him off the pedestal, along with their faith in him.
“Mo Ziming, you take this match. Mu Chenghong will throw the match,” said Chang Tiancheng.
“Yes, Patriarch.” Mo Ziming took the ring and hubristically greeted, “How you doing, Mu Chenghong?”
Mo Ziming genuinely couldn’t wait to urinate on Mu Chenghong for he deemed himself superior to a disciple of formation arts even though they were allies.
“How many times have you lost to me already?”
Mo Ziming threw seven matches to Mu Chenghong thus far. They had never gone all out against each other, but it still stung Mo Ziming’s pride.
“It doesn’t matter since you’re going this year, no?”
“Yes. Please don’t be too harsh.”
With an evil glint in his eyes, Mo Ziming responded, “I won’t pull any punches. Patriarch said, the worse your defeat, the bigger the blow to Formation Sect. Once you, they’re hope and faith, is crushed, they’re finished. So, don’t blame me for hitting hard. I’m just carrying out orders.”
With eight purple talismans revolving around him, Mo Ziming questioned, “What formation technique do you want to use this year, your silly illusion formations you’re so proud of?”
Mu Chenghong turned his head side to side. “As you are looking to put on an impactful performance, I shall use Song Qingyu’s Seven Stars Heavenly Lightning. You know the formation’s flaw, don’t you?”
“Fine by me. Don’t blame me for hurting you, kekeke.”
After performing a series of hand seals, Mo Ziming released spiritual energy from his purple talismans with a finger action and collected it into a purple eight trigrams formation. Next, he entered the formation.
“I won’t.” Mu Chenghong summoned seven Greater Heaven Stage formation foundations. Using hand seals, he activated the blue energy in them and formed a Big Dipper Star as Song Qingyu did.
“Why is he using Seven Stars Heavenly Lightning instead of his illusion formations?” asked Greater Heaven Caster Chi Shui.
With his first bolt, Mu Chenghong forced Mo Ziming out. Mo Ziming manifested Purple Spirit Palm to catch the lightning bolt. “You can have it back.”
Mo Ziming hurled the lightning bolt back. Mu Chenghong fired a second lightning bolt, but both disappeared mid-flight. A white light rose from the arena, forcing the audience to shut the eyes. By the time they opened their eyes again, the two contestants were already moving in and out as they traded in the sky.
Frowning, Chang Tiancheng questioned, “Junior Brother Zhou, did you inform Mu Chenghong? Why is he fighting evenly with Mo Ziming. It seems to me that he’s trying to win.”
Zhou Jinglin bowed his head. “Rest assured, Patriarch. Mu Chenghong will not dare to oppose us. I told him he must lose.”
“Good.” Hearing Formation Sect cheer, Chang Tiancheng’s smile returned.
Crash!
“How did Mo Ziming defeat Senior Brother Mu?”
“This is preposterous! Brother Mu had the upper hand!”
“Patriarch, Mu Chenghong is in trouble!” Greater Heaven Caster Chi Shui exclaimed.
“Hmph, I can’t break the rules and interfere.”
“Here’s your lightning bolt.” Mo Ziming pitched the third lightning bolt at Mu Chenghong, knocking the latter to the edge of the ring and then kicked him back in as Jiang Xiangdi did. “You still have four bolts to eat!”
A Formation Sect disciple cried, “Senior Brother Mu, move!”
Mu Chenghong’s left side of his body was already burnt. Tension grew in his face and limbs, his mind replaying the last attack.
Mo Ziming splattered Mu Chenghong’s right arm and drove him back with the impact.
Seeing the bones and flesh flung across the ring, Zhuge Xiaosheng was confounded. Inflicting pain on oneself as a ruse to gain trust certainly was a viable tactic. That being said, destroying an arm just to win their trust was overkill. He wasn’t worried for Mu Chenghong as a teacher worried for his disciple; he was worried it’d be impossible to activate Formation Palace without Mu Chenghong. Thus, Zhuge Xiaosheng slammed his table and yelled, “This has gone too far!”
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