A Failure's hopeful Journey

Chapter 155: Unconventional.

The audience was shocked to hear that You Xi Wang took out five people so quickly. Mu Qingling spoke with vicissitudes in her voice, "Limao was always fretting over her boy's strength. If she were to see that Bunny has become such a fierce tiger, then what would she do in happiness."

Kelly Stone spoke, "She would have told him not to be complacent and never to let the strength to get to his head. But in secret, she would have donated tens of millions of credit to accumulate good karma for him."

Mu Qingling nodded with a smile, "That was her way of doing things."

Celestia was listening to the two ladies and watching the battle unfold at the same time. She spoke, "Granny, big brother Xi Wang has always been so strong. Why do you all say he has changed?"

Mu Qingling shook her head and spoke, "Do you all know there are some plants that are grown inside the greenhouse?"

The three children nodded without taking their gaze off the field where You Xi Wang was running towards the spear wielders. Mu Qingling spoke, "When You Xi Wang was born, his meridians were narrower than average people. It was diagnosed that he would not have higher achievements in the martial arts. So the boy was showered with more love than any other child in both families. The other people also accepted it because he was the youngest in the generation. He focused on his education and cleared a whole section in the codex hall in 4 years. He gained prestige for the family and proved that he would still make a name for himself. Yet what he did not know was that his mental temperament was very weak. He used to cry when someone even joked at him. You know, in his school nobody wanted him to be on the team. It was Fenny who took him in her team and they together won over Neo, Yuki, and Allan. They used their brains to conquer the team. Once Yuki ventured off in an assessment and found herself in a dangerous situation. Despite being weaker, You Xi Wang saved her life. He was badly injured. He was so hurt that he cried in pain. Unlike last time when his whole body was about to burst like an over-inflated balloon."

Lily asked, "Granny, what changed Xixi?"

Mu Qingling replied, "The death of his parents. I remember when Qianbei called me telling me to rush to Silica city. I was worried about how the two children would deal with this. When we reached your house, You Xi Wang was already in the hospital. Zhichi told me that as soon as he heard the news he froze from shock, then he fainted after crying. Now that I see him here fighting like a tiger. You tell me did he change or not?"

Jojo spoke, "Correct analysis granny. Mum told me uncle Wang was not strong from the start. He strengthened himself for the family and for aunty chichi."

Mu Qingling nodded in response. She did not say, but she was proud that the younger generation of the You family looks up to her grandson. 

...

While they were all talking, You Xi Wang rushed up to the spearmen. The three spearmen did not shy away, they all stabbed at You Xi Wang from three directions, blocking off his path. You Xi Wang did something unconventional again. He took advantage of the snowflakes on the surface. He dropped on his hips and the inertia carried him forward in a slide while the snowflakes reduced the friction. Before the three spearmen could even respond to this sudden change, You Xi Wang used his foot to and kicked the left knee of the spearman called Sterling. 

Sterling lost his balance, You Xi Wang pushed his palm and in a quick motion he stood up. His space ring flashed, and a dagger appeared in his hands. Sterling was not given any chance to counter and just as he regained his balance, he felt a cold blade pressed against his nape. Chen Qianbei spoke, "Sterling, out."

You Xi Wang did not rest he was about to move towards Gomez who stabbed at him from the left when he abruptly jumped high in the air. 

BANG

A bullet landed a few meters from where he stood, but the trajectory of the bullet was intercepting where his head would have been if he had continued moving. Allan saw this, he stopped countering Luna who was attacking him and aimed at You Xi Wang who was in the air. 

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG...

Allan fired a whole clip of incendiary rounds on You Xi Wang. He neglected his own opponent to take out You Xi Wang. Chen Qianbei spoke, "Lena, Allan. Out."

The rest of the team members yelled in surprise, "WHAT?"

Chen Qianbei explained, "When Allan fired off, Fenny took out Lena, and she also shot down Allan. There is a sticky bullet over their hearts."

The others looked and saw that there was actually a slimy bullet stuck to Allan's battle suit. The bullet was right over his heart position. They all turned their gazes to where You Xi Wang should have fallen. Their eyes were about to fall out when they saw that instead of You Xi Wang there was a log of wood. 

You Xi Wang materialized behind one gunman Illahi, "You let your guard down." he whispered and knocked out Illahi. The rest of the battle was lame. The wolf cubs dealt with the remaining contenders. You Xi Wang won effortlessly. Chen Qianbei was about to announce the result when You Xi Wang spoke, "Auntie, I will take it from here."

Chen Qianbei nodded. She was interested in what her nephew would say. She flew back to her seat among the elders. You Xi Wang said as he faced the team, "You guys have made a significant improvement but what made you lose was not your skills but your way of applying the skills. If a sword is too sturdy, it cannot block any strikes and become brittle. You are all smart people, you know that brittle things break. You need flexibility in your mindset. My sister would have never attacked an opponent's back, but today she did. I am happy that she did because in a real battle when you face your enemies, you cannot expect them to be honorable. The only honor in the world is being alive after a life and death battle. This false pride people uphold is what makes them weak when they face those dark dwellers. Answer me, have you ever seen a Dark Dweller upholding values?"

The entire audience was now attracted by his monologue and they all subconsciously answered, "NO."

You Xi Wang spoke, "That is why they mostly win the battles. I am not saying that we all become like them lest you all misunderstand. What I am trying to say is that the pride and prestige you should uphold is your family's safety. Is your family more valuable or the false pride that prevents you from being flexible? The choice is yours. Also, if anyone is not satisfied with my approach of assault."

He stood in his place and took his spear. He lifted the spear up and stomped the shaft end on the ground. He spoke in a sonorous voice, "I stand here, waiting for your challenge."

His words made people think again. The ways they had been practicing from ancient times, are they flawed? Is it worth it to stick to the old times instead of your family and friends? You Xi Wang's speech gave birth to a lot of questions. One middle-aged man stood up from the crowd he spoke, "You Xi Wang, I am not convinced. Do you accept my challenge?"

The audience turned their attention to the man. A guy spoke, "Hey, isn't that Uncle Ward? When did he come back from the defense forces?"

Another guy spoke, "I was at the guard duty last night when he came. He looked very despondent. Something happened, I guess."

You Xi Wang spoke, "Yes, I accept your challenge."

The man nodded and jumped up from the stands and landed right in front of You Xi Wang. This man's cultivation was the peak of the core formation realm. He spoke, "I will lower down my cultivation base to match yours."

You Xi Wang shook his head, "The dark dwellers do not spare children, who have never cultivated. They do not match their cultivation base with yours. This is a battle, not a spar or a martial arts class between friends. Come at me with all you have, sir." he finished speaking and raised the star-headed spear. The tip faced the middle-aged man.

The man nodded in a detached manner. He took out a bow and arrow and directly pulled the bow to a full moon. The two people stood at a distance of ten feet. If the arrow shot from this distance, it would be very difficult for You Xi Wang to dodge. The audience all held their breath. They also wanted to see how You Xi Wang would deal with this. The man was about to shoot the arrow when You Xi Wang's shoulder flinched to his left. The middle-aged man let the arrow loose but You Xi Wang did not move forward, he actually turned to the left and jumped back to his right. Everyone was surprised that he dodged the arrow in this manner.

You Xi Wang turned right, and the man thought that he would jump back again, but this time he advanced forward while his shoulders faced right. He held the spear in his right hand. He understood that he could not close the distance with this man, so he condensed wind spirit energy at the end of his spear shaft. The ball of air compressed and spun at a high speed. The man noticed this motion and quickly took out three arrows. This Uncle did not want to give You Xi Wang a chance to dodge this time. While he was noticing You Xi Wang, the latter was also observing the man. Ward shot the three arrows at the same time, but the target was all different spots. 

You Xi Wang swung the spear in his hand and the compressed ball of air expanded around him. The turbulent air current changed the direction of the arrows. Everyone in the audience was struck by this. Chen Longxue even stood up and shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT IS THIS OPERATION? HOW CAN HE CONTROL THE ELEMENT SO SUBTLY? OH, LORDS, I LIVED IN VAIN."

You Xi Wang's control over the element shocked the people. Just as You Xi Wang completed his turn, he threw the spear at Ward. In the previous steps, You Xi Wang had closed the distance a little. The previous 10 feet were now 7 feet. At this distance, a seven feet long spear was thrown at him. How could he defend? Just as the tip of the spear flashed in his eyes. He felt it stabbing in his brows. You Xi Wang had released his spear intent. 

Ward thought he was going to die. Not only he the whole audience thought the same. They could even imagine a blue spear lodged in Ward's brows. You Xi Wang was not a bloodthirsty person he reined in his spear intent and held the spear shaft from the end. The spear tip was touching Ward's glabella. Just a few millimeters and he would have died. He finally understood how an unconventional technique could turn the tables.