The duel ended the sa way it had begun, only the tables had been turned. It was a slow, but infuriating process.
Step by step, strike after strike, Han Xuhan's montum grew while Yang Kai's aura diminished. By the end of it, Yang Kai was beaten black and blue, appearing so wretched that most people found it pitiful.
Han Xuhan had also gotten hit pretty heavily several tis during the duel. But because neither side used any vital energy to enhance their strikes, he could still shake it off and walk away from the duel in a domineering fashion.
In contrast, Yang Kai had been hit way too many tis to leave by himself. He couldn't even voice his grievances about the inexplicable details of their duel.
A group of kindhearted friends had to carry him over to the infirmary.
On the way, their lively conversations did little to improve his sour mood.
"Brother Kai, you shouldn't have proposed a duel of Mystic Arts. Brother Xuhan ate up your attacks like you were a child."
"This duel would've been over in a minute if they used vital energy to hit each other. Yang Kai might have stood a chance since he's been cultivating both martial and mystic arts."
"Brother Xuhan really hid himself too well. His body is so sturdy! The rumors about his degenerated ridians might not be true at all!"
"You're mistaken. This duel makes it clear that the rumor might be true. Did you see Brother Xuhan use a single mystic art?"
"He did summon that bird skeleton, right? That counts as using his Mystic Art."
"He definitely didn't summon it during the battle, you fool. Didn't you notice that the minion was wrapped in a black shroud?
He must have summoned it before the duel began and ordered it to hide nearby, so that it could sneakily drop that smoke bomb on Yang Kai if the duel went in an unfavorable direction..."
"Was that really a smoke bomb? Why did it look like Yang Kai lost half of his strength and speed after the explosion?"
"I've got to know what was in that smoke. It should be of great use in demon beast hunting missions!"
Listening to the intense discussion, Yang Kai wanted to dig a hole in a distant mountain and scream at it until his throat burned.
Han Xuhan, that wretched villain, had cheated so blatantly! But instead of questioning his character, why was everyone analyzing how effective the cheating tool was?!
Heavens, where is fairness? Where is the law when you need it?
In the infirmary, Senior Brother Chen Yan ca to visit, followed by a sympathetic looking Jiang Chen.
"Little Kai, did I underestimate Junior Brother Xuhan? Or did I overestimate your capabilities? Answer honestly, will you?"
Facing Chen Yan's gloomy and disappointed deanor, Yang Kai wished he could hide his face under the bedsheet.
"Back then, Jiang Chen reported that Han Xuhan's martial cultivation had barely reached the second phase.
Just a week later, Little i ca back to inform us that he might be standing at the peak of the second phase, at least.
Not even another week has passed since then. Are you going to tell now that he has already broken through to the third phase of his martial cultivation?"
"...Our duel wasn't based on martial cultivation. So it's difficult for to gauge his true strength. But judging by how comfortably he shook off my successful blows..."
Chen Yan's face grew a shade darker, while Jiang Chen's face turned green. But their displeasure wasn't going to stop Yang Kai from defending himself.
"Han Xuhan really might have reached the third phase. By physical attributes, we were evenly matched, that much I can guarantee."
"Then why the hell did you lose so miserably?" Chen Yan threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
"Who cos out of an evenly matched duel looking like a discarded practice dummy?"
Yang Kai had been pondering the sa question for the last four hours. His conclusion was ready.
"Everything started to go wrong since his minion dropped that smoke bomb on . He cheated for sure!"
Chen Yan squinted. "What was in that smoke bomb? So kind of poison? Was he not affected by it as well?"
"Maybe he took an antidote beforehand," Yang Kai suggested.
"How would he know that he would need to take an antidote before you even proposed the duel?"
"...." That, Yang Kai couldn't answer.
After a bit of silent, internal struggle, he said, "When I managed to kick him out of the smoke, I noticed that he was trying to hide sothing inside his robe. Maybe that was when he took the antidote?"
Right at that mont, Jiang Chen's gaze suddenly grew bright, as sharp as a sword. "Wait a second, could you guess what that object was, at least? Do you think it looked like a mask?"
Yang Kai wasn't quite sure, because the smoke had blurred his vision back then. But that didn't discourage Jiang Chen. He began to theorize aloud.
"When I was fighting Han Xuhan, he put on a mask in the middle of the duel. And from that mont, all of my advantages over him seed to vanish! While I was trying to find out what was wrong, I was defeated."
"What are you trying to say?" Chen Yan's gaze grew narrower.
"Originally, I hadn't given that detail much thought, because he told that he was using that mask to avoid injuring his face.
But later, I heard from Sister i that he was wearing the sa mask during their duel as well! And both tis, he only put it on after sensing the advantage we held over him!
So I did a little investigation, curious about the attributes of that mask. As it turned out, his mask is a magical apparatus issued by the Frost Pill Mountain!
It has the ability to filter out the poisonous elents of the fog tides sweeping across our mountains every day!"
Chen Yan jumped to his feet, as if he had already realized where Jiang Chen's theory was headed. But Yang Kai was a beat slower.
"Brother Chen, are you trying to say that every ti we fought Han Xuhan, an undetected fog tide appeared from nowhere to weaken us to the point where we could be defeated by a weaker opponent?
Isn't that too much of a coincidence? It's not like the fog tides follow Han Xuhan's whims..."
Chen Yan glared at him, reducing the rebuttal to indiscernible whispers.
"Looks like I did overestimate you, Little Kai. Use that head of yours and try to imagine the possibilities!
If Han Xuhan has one of those masks, it ans he has taken up the duty to warn the disciples of his mountain about oncoming fog tides. So he definitely has the fog tide detection map as well!
So how difficult could it be for a rich brat like him to buy a magic apparatus that can collect certain types of fog from the nearby mountains and release it all over his opponents wherever he has to face them in a duel?"
The room fell silent, as three pairs of eyes, filled with amazent, resentnt, and excitent, exchanged slow looks back and forth.
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