The battle lasted less than three minutes and ended with man and woman on a ground strewn with puddles of blood. Panting heavily, Li Hao knelt on one knee and watched the two warily as he adjusted his breathing.
He seemed to come back to his senses upon confirming that they couldnât move. The young man paled as he looked at the bloody floor, then at the people walking out of a corner. Fear struck him only now and he regarded the team with alarm and panic.
âThat was terrifying, these two are so strong and savage! That woman almost ran a dagger through my brain!â
ââ¦â¦â Liu Long stared silently at the young man.
âDo you mean that, Little Hao?â Liu Yan smiled stiffly. Are you putting on a show?
Li Hao looked blankly at herâof course he meant what he said! That fight was too awful! Real combat was so dangerous. He wouldâve been stabbed to death if heâd been a little more careless or reckless!
Just look at himâ¦
The rest of the team found the sight incomprehensible. Li Hao seemed to be serious, but, dude, do you see what youâve done?
Your two opponents are bleeding messes on the floor. Who knows how many ribs Zhou He has fractured? His foot is crushed, his kidneys are pulped, and the scratches on his arms run straight to the bone!
The woman is beyond describing. Her neck may be broken, her hand is crippled, and she has too many broken bones to be counted. But youâre the one who says youâre afraid?? Are you even human?
Liu Long said nothing and didnât mind the possibility that Li Hao might be putting on an act.
âIs this your first time in actual combat?â he growled.
âYep!â Li Hao bobbed his head rapidly. âActual combat is so scary. I learned the New Book of the Five Styles because Iâm a martial arts fan. But I use it for exercise and didnât expect it to be so vicious in battle!â
A martial arts fanâs first battle!
âIf this is your first battle, how come your movements were without hesitation?â Liu Long looked oddly at the young man. Li Haoâs blows were so decisive that it didnât seem like his first fight! Heâd been too resolute!
It was a characteristic that only veteran martial masters possessed, and from those who had experienced life and death. Only those martial masters could make snap decisions without dithering and take down the enemy first!
âHesitation?â Li Hao shook his head after some thought. He really hadnât felt any uncertainty. âI donât sympathize with them because I know theyâre the enemy. My teacher taught me that if I start fighting, I need to take out the enemy before thinking of anything else! The stronger the opponent, the more ruthless I must be or Iâll be the one struck with misfortune!â
Alright then! Liu Long hadnât thought that Li Hao would listen to his teacher so fully. Yuan Shuo said that because his opponents were all powerhouses and they shared blood feuds. But Li Haoâ¦
Well, perhaps this was a good thing in the end. The little guy that he thought of as a rookie gave a better than expected showing in his first battle! Heâd caught a Slayer of Tens and someone close to being a Slayer off guard. When battle ended in three minutes, the two were so heavily injured that they were on the verge of death whereas⦠only the skin had broken on Li Haoâs knuckles!
Indeed, heâd punched with so much forceâand one of his blows connected with Zhou Heâs exposed boneâthat his knuckles were bleeding from where heâd scraped them.
Other than that, there was nothing else on Li Hao!
These were the results of battle from a rookie newly ascended into Slayer of Tens!
Liu Long could say with certainty that almost none of the martial masters he knew could achieve this feat. Even he hadnât been able to do so when he first broke through to Slayer. His first opponent had been another Slayer and he was the one to almost die! The other had almost beaten him to death!
âBro, youâre really something!â Chen Jian stuck his thumb up. Heartfelt respect!
This young fellow was frail, soft-spoken, and sometimes blushed furiously when Liu Yan teased him. Their shy little brother had beaten two martial masters into quivering puddles during his first real battle!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âThank goodness you werenât this vicious when you sparred with us before!â The skinny Wu Chao looked around with fright. The kid ripped off chunks of flesh whenever he grabbed someone!
Chen Jian was fine since his defense was so strong, but Wu Chao was hardly on the same level. If Li Hao hit him with the same blows, his paltry kilograms of flesh would be long gone!
âTheyâre bad guys and weâre justice!â Li Hao explained bashfully. âWhen I attack villains, Iâm upholding justice! How would I ever attack one of us?â
âJustice!â Liu Long and the others blinked, turning toward the young man. Liu Yan tittered so gleefully that she bent forward, breaking into gales of laughter. A massive, shining expanse loomed into Li Haoâs line of sight.
âSis Liu, your top isnât buttoned!â he couldnât help but raise.
The premises immediately quieted down.
Liu Yan immediately straightened up and looked at the young man with shock. âAre you a man??â She jabbed an accusatory finger. âYou choose to remind me that my top isnât buttoned at a time like this??â
Li Hao looked around innocently. What? Couldnât he do that?
Liu Long and the others burst into laughter when they looked at each other. True mirth poured from the rest of the team.
âVice Captain Liu, it looks like not everyone likes the show you put on!â Even Yun Yao joined in the fun.
âPfft, itâs not like you have any!â Although Liu Yan was wary of Yun Yao, she couldnât help a retort. I do whatever I want! Do you have what I have?
Yun Yao instantly fell silent and looked at Liu Yan with an odd look. It seemed to promise that she would find an opportunity to beat Liu Yanâs head in!
Li Hao couldnât be bothered with them. He glanced at the two still vomiting blood and asked, âShould we take them in for questioning? Letâs see what we can learn from them. Sis Yun Yao, can you take a look at them since youâre a doctor? We wonât be able to question them if they die!â
âYouâre coldhearted alright!â Liu Yan chortled. This was what the little guy was focused on? Not bad, not bad!
Li Hao laughed drily and heaved a sigh as he stood up. âReal battle is very different, itâs so exciting! Itâs more nerves that got to me than anythingâI was so nervous just now! I was really afraid that theyâd come at me at the same time from front and back. Chief, how do you normally handle those types of situations?â
Liu Long looked wordlessly at him. What do you think? Didnât you handle it just fine just now? Cripple one with your full strength, then take care of the other! How else are you supposed to handle it?
The kid seemed to be asking for it with his questions!
âChief,â Li Hao continued sincerely. âSomething else that my teacher didnât teach meâmy claw attacks arenât that strong and my movements are affected if blood touches my hand. Gore is messy and blood is sticky. My holds kept slipping as the fight continued. What should I do then?
âI donât have time to wipe my hands off,â he asked with the air of a student consoling a teacher. âThank goodness I wasnât using a weapon or Iâd probably lose my grip on it. How do you usually do it, chief?â
ââ¦â¦â
Everyone was quiet. This was a⦠special question. So out of the ordinary that Liu Long was momentarily lost in thought. Li Hao disdained his claw attacks not because of the pain or injuries they inflicted on the enemy, but because they dirtied his hand. Weapons and grips were hard to maintain when his hand was slippery.
Was this a question about battle?
It⦠counted, right?
But no one had ever asked this so matter-of-factly as Li Hao. The young man asked with unfettered confidence of wanting to resolve the issue.
âLi Hao, are you⦠not feeling guilty at all?â Yun Yao couldnât help but ask. âNot guiltiness from having done something wrong, but itâs normal to feel a certain degree of guilt and self-reproach after your first battleâespecially one like this.â
Was something mentally wrong with Li Hao? Or was he by nature cruel and uncaring?
âIâm not burdened by anything because I know theyâre villains,â Li Hao answered after some thought. âTheyâre bad people who want me dead! As for feeling guilty⦠I do feel a bit guilty, but this has nothing to do with my question, right?â
Yeah I am feeling a bit guilty, but Iâm more bummed that you guys are looking at me with those eyes! Youâre all old hands, is there a need for this?
Liu Long and the others didnât say anything because they didnât find anything untoward. They were more considering that Li Hao was a natural battle machine and possibly a bit cold-blooded.
âYour claw technique causes your hand to be covered in blood,â Liu Long addressed seriously, setting everything else out of his mind. âUnder these circumstances, you can⦠One, find a chance to wipe your hand off on the enemy. Two, find a chance to rub it against the floor, especially against some dirt! Three, avoid grabbing arteriesâthose will spray you with blood. Four, run the enemy through and wipe yourself clean when you yank your hand back. Five, be so fast that no blood sprays before youâre done!â
The other looked strangely at Liu Long. Well well, one guy is bold enough to ask a nutty question and the other is crazy enough to answer! And give him five solutions to boot!
Li Hao listened intently. Heâd always felt that he was too fresh behind the ears and needed to learn from martial seniors. The fifth point that Liu Long mentioned was fantasticâbe as fast as possible!
Be so fast that when he retracted his claw, the enemyâs blood wouldnât have time to spray forth. That was all he needed to do! Blood wouldnât be a worry if he was fast enough!
Li Hao looked at the captain with veneration. No wonder the rest of the team werenât Sunderers! Just look at how they regarded him instead of answering his question. It made absolute sense that the captain was the strongest.
Liu Long didnât know whether to laugh or cry. Li Hao was a promising talent. In the olden days, an elderly martial master accepted disciples like him as a way to ward off old age. As martial masters aged, they were less able to fight. Ruthless students like Li Hao were necessary to fend off the enemies that would come knocking. He was brutal, vicious, merciless, and thought there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.
A final disciple!