Chapter 10: Taking Shortcuts (Seeking Collections and Recommendations)

  Facing Ling Jing's vigorous strike, Tian Boguang remained unmoved, his arm slightly rotating, the short knife in his hand breaking through the air and striking out, accompanied by a "humming" vibration, one knife blocking Ling Jing's attack.

  And with one slash, Tian Boguang immediately turned defense into offense, instantly making Ling Jing feel the pressure increase exponentially.

  Ling Jing's heart slowly sank, as the two of them made more and more moves. Tian Boguang's sword strikes were getting faster and faster, at first he could still barely hold on with his "Fast Sword Thirteen Styles", but his inner strength was far inferior to his opponent's. This superior sword technique could only be used to its 70% power, gradually, he finally couldn't hold on anymore.

  The two men exchanged four or five moves, but only one of them was a strong attack by Ling Jing. The other few moves were actually defensive in nature, and at this moment, Tian Boguang seized an opportunity to strike, suddenly slashing his left rib with a knife.

  Ling Jing's body trembled slightly, the intense pain causing him to inhale a mouthful of cold air in his heart. Moreover, the ribcage was a vital part of the human body, and this knife wound was clearly a show of mercy by Tian Boguang; otherwise, he would have been seriously injured.

  But even so, he was shocked to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat. This was only six moves and he had already been stabbed for the second time. If this continued, he feared that he would become the second Linghu Chong.

  In an instant, he was beset by distracting thoughts, and the sword moves in his hand also became disordered. After three moves, he was struck again by Tian Boguang's knife.

  Ling Jing let out a low hum, inwardly crying out in dismay, knowing that his mental state was now in disarray. If things continued like this, he feared that he would be defeated by Tian Boguang within ten moves.

  But the system's voice was like a devilish whisper that kept echoing in his ears, and the phrase "kill the host" made his back feel cold.

  He took a deep breath and forced himself to cast aside his distracting thoughts. If he really lost to Tian Boguang this time, his little life would be over. At that time, even if Tian Boguang was unwilling to take his life, the system would directly erase him.

  Breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat, with his back to the water, he fought a solitary battle. In this situation, he actually slowly adjusted his mental state to the realm of "forgetting oneself and the world". The long sword in his hand stabbed rapidly several times, each move having a clear logic, its power surprisingly surpassing that of before by several degrees.

  Tian Boguang drew his sword, but in his heart he was secretly amazed. At first, when he saw that Ling brothers were injured, their mental state became chaotic and their sword moves became disorganized. He had a slight contempt for them, thinking that they were young and inexperienced, and this small setback would make them lose heart and become impatient.

  But unexpectedly, in just a few breaths, the young man had already recovered and was even more courageous and vigorous. His face no longer showed any signs of panic, and his swordsmanship had increased in power by several degrees.

  "What a genius!"

  Tian Boguang couldn't help but praise in his heart, however the knife in his hand didn't stop and its speed was even two parts faster than before.

  Tian Boguang gradually became serious, but Ling Jing couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart. When he wasn't being serious, he himself wasn't a match for him; now that Tian's swordsmanship was becoming increasingly fierce, what could be done about it?

  In the blink of an eye, they exchanged over a dozen moves. Although Ling Jing's state of mind had improved greatly and his swordsmanship was more powerful than before, he still felt somewhat overwhelmed when facing Tian Boguang, a top-notch three-star master. In just this short period, several new wounds appeared on his body.

  Linghu Chong and Yilin watched anxiously from the side, Linghu Chong did not expect that Tian Boguang would still have so much strength left while fighting him. If he were to replace Lin Pingzhi with himself at this moment, he feared he would be defeated within thirty moves.

  But as they watched, Ling Jing's body was covered in more and more knife wounds. Although Tian Bo Guang had intentionally avoided his vital points, the severity of his injuries was undeniable. Ling Jing's entire body was drenched in blood, swaying unsteadily, his face gradually turning pale. The number of wounds on his body had already exceeded ten, and at this rate, he would likely bleed to death.

  Linghu Chong and Yilin were worried and anxious, wishing they could rush up to rescue Ling Jing immediately. However, just as the two of them made a move, Ling Jing gave them a cold glance, his eyes devoid of any emotion, which suddenly made them dare not make another move.

  Ling Jing's body was stained with blood, and beside him was a pool of blood, because he had lost too much blood, his face was as pale as paper.

  He was wailing in his heart, a normal person would be in danger of losing more than thirty percent of their blood, now his whole body was stained with fresh blood, the long shirt was stained with blood and stuck to his skin, breathing became increasingly difficult, even his eyes began to blur.

  Ling Jing knew that his blood loss had reached the critical point of his body, and if he continued to fight like this, he would not wait for Tian Boguang to take his life, but he was afraid that he would lose too much blood and die.

  His thoughts had become somewhat dull, and he knew this was a sign of excessive blood loss. If he waited any longer, he feared he would directly pass out.

  However, the system's voice lingered in his mind. He barely parried Tian Boguang's first slash, but when the latter struck again with a second slash, he was already powerless to resist. In an instant, his shoulder was struck by another slash.

  Fresh blood flowed out like a small stream, consciousness gradually began to blur, he only felt his body becoming heavier and heavier, himself already powerless to support himself, but on the contrary, his thoughts were more and more fleeting, as if they could float to the clouds in an instant.

  "Boom!"

  Ling Jing only felt a dizziness, and then he fell backwards.

  "I've lost......" He despaired in his heart, but the moment his body touched the ground, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. With great effort, he hooked up his right foot and gently pulled it back, after which he had no more strength to move at all.

  Seeing Ling Jing injured and fallen to the ground, Yi Lin suddenly covered her mouth and let out a cry of "ah", then quickly rushed forward, continuously pressing on Ling Jing's body to stop the bleeding, before anxiously asking: "Ling Shidi, how are you?"

  Linghu Chong's heart was also anxious, but his injuries were not much lighter than Ling Jing's. He had just gotten up and sat down, preparing to rush over, but unexpectedly his body was so weak that he immediately fell back down, and his chest began to heave violently. This simple action of getting up had exhausted all his energy.

  Linghu Chong suddenly raised his head and glared at Tian Boguang, saying: "Tian Boguang, my junior brother is still young, why must your move be so vicious?"

  He had always addressed Tan Baiguang as "Tan Brother", but this time he was so angry that he directly called out his name.

  Tian Boguang suddenly burst out laughing and stood up, saying: "Linghu brother, please don't worry, Ling brothers are young talents, quite to Tian's taste, how could I hurt his life? Brother Ling, please rest assured, Tian has a measure of his own when making moves, Ling brothers now only lost too much blood, if the wound is bandaged in time, there should be no danger to his life."

  Listening to him say this, Linghu Cong and Yilin immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Although Tian Boguang had a notorious reputation, he was still a man who kept his word. Since he said so, it should be true.

  At this time, Tian Boguang smiled at Ling Jing who was lying on the ground: "Brother Ling, you are second in sitting and fighting for the world, but I don't know how many times you have crawled to fight."

  Ling Jing looked at Tian Bo Guang standing upright and suddenly burst out laughing, saying: "Brother Tian, you lost."

  Tian Boguang glanced at him and smiled: "Ling brothers, now you are the one who is lying on the ground, how can it be that I lost?"

  Although his face was pale due to excessive blood loss, Ling Jing's face at this moment had an indescribable spirit and vitality. Together with his flawless handsome face, it unexpectedly radiated a strange charm.

  Yi Lin watched him from the side, and her face involuntarily flushed with a hint of redness. She thought to herself, how could there be such a handsome man in this world? And yet, despite being so severely injured, he was still able to chat and laugh as if nothing had happened. Truly, he was a heroic figure.

  Ling Jing didn't notice Yi Lin's subtle change, and immediately burst out laughing, his right foot slightly tapping, saying: "Brother Tian, do you still remember how we agreed previously?"

  Tian Boguang said: "We agreed to sit and fight, whoever leaves the chair under him first... then... then... then..." He repeated the word "then" three times, unable to continue, his left hand pointing at Ling Jing.

  Only to see Ling Jing's right foot still hanging on the chair he was sitting in earlier, while he himself had already left the chair under him due to a moment of pride and stood up laughing.