Chapter Fourteen: The Initial Appearance of Lofty Peaks

  After attending the entrance ceremony, Zhang Rui returned to his dormitory. Since he had agreed to fight against Bei Dou, he needed to prepare some tricks for himself. With Zhang Rui's current skills, it shouldn't be difficult to win against Guo Tu. The problem was how to win without using his divine power. Currently, he only had a mechanical man, a sleeve arrow, and a hand crossbow, but the latter was clearly useless. Zhang Rui fell into deep thought.

  Xie Zhi and Guo Jia stood by, wanting to help but fearing they would disturb Zhang Rui's train of thought.

  "Kid, is this little thing really getting you into such a predicament? I'm truly regretful, why did I choose to follow such an idiot in the first place? When faced with difficulties, you don't seek me out, what are you blindly thinking about? Isn't that just the son of Zhongheng? Have you forgotten what Mo School is best at?"

  Right, how could I have forgotten that? The Mohist school is naturally the most skilled at defense. If one always thinks about how to attack and win, isn't that using one's own weakness to attack the other's strength? As long as one defends first and waits for an opportunity to counterattack, there will be a chance. Moreover, even if one doesn't have the opportunity to counterattack, as long as one can defend oneself, one has already secured a position of invincibility.

  In the Mohist school's machinery, there seems to be a shield known as the strongest defense. Calculating the time, it should have arrived urgently. With a sense of urgency, Zhang Rui pulled along Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia, bringing tools and heading up the rear mountain.

  ..

  The next morning, the hill behind was packed with students, most of whom came to watch Zhang Rui and Guo Tu compete. Some people also came for Zhang Rui's mechanical skills. After all, in this era, Mo Men rarely appeared, adding a touch of mystery to Mo Men.

  Kuo T'u is truly refreshed today, and soon he will be able to wipe out his past shame. Unexpectedly, Zhang Rui turned out to be a fool, insisting on using an ordinary person's body to challenge the heir of the Zongheng family. He really doesn't know how to live or die. When the time comes, I must thoroughly humiliate him and show off in front of all the students, and see who dares to touch my head again afterwards.

  Before noon, Guo Tu had already arrived at the location of the duel in the back mountain. His popularity was indeed not covered up, many students called out "Guo Shixiong" along the way, which made him extremely pleased. Furthermore, the more than ten lackeys following him were extremely flattering all the way, letting his vanity be greatly satisfied, as if he had already won the duel.

  "Brother Guo, it's almost noon now, and Zhang Rui hasn't arrived yet. I think he's probably afraid of you, Brother Guo, and doesn't dare to come." "Yes, yes, most likely he's afraid of Brother Guo and doesn't dare to come." The crowd flattered in unison.

  "It's not noon yet, just wait a little longer. If Zhang Rui really doesn't dare to come, I'll take it as giving him a lesson. As his senior brother, would I really make things difficult for my junior brother?" Guo Tu said with a sense of justice amidst the many students present.

  "Hmph, Guo Gongze, your abacus is indeed loud and clear, but unfortunately my brother Zhibo has already arrived." It turned out that Guo Jia had taken quick steps to climb the mountain first to observe the situation, and as soon as he reached the location, he heard Gu Tu pretending to be a good person and sarcastically remarked.

  As expected, everyone saw Zhang Rui walking leisurely and calmly, not too fast or slow. The confident-looking Xi Zhi was also full of confidence, wondering if Zhang Rui really had an ace up his sleeve? Originally thinking he had the upper hand, Guo Tu suddenly felt a hint of panic.

  "Let's go, the outcome of this match is already decided, there's no point in watching further." Xun Shuang said to the people around him. "This Guo Gong has already lost without a fight, his breathing is disordered. Although I don't know what trump card Zhang Rui has, just with this calm and composed demeanor, Guo Tu has already lost. It seems that Wen Ruo's friend is quite good, I like him very much. Unfortunately, he can't awaken to the divine way, otherwise, our Confucian school would have another great sage." However, it was Xun Yu's father, Xun Xiang, who spoke up, and the people around also nodded in agreement. In just an instant, everyone had disappeared.

  It turned out that Xun Shuang also knew about the gambling agreement and invited his other seven brothers to come and watch, of course, the eight dragons of the Xun family could not openly watch, but stood secretly in the distance.

  Zhang Rui finally arrived at the Pidi Arena, with the sun shining right in the middle, just at noon.

  "Guo Gongze, I've heard that you're a master of the Xuanhuan School and like to take the initiative. Your moves are swift and continuous. Today, I'll give you ten moves first, so people won't say I'm bullying you. Make your move."

  Zhang Rui's mood was as calm as an ancient well without ripples. First, he released the mechanical person, then with his left hand grasping the mechanical shield and his right hand secretly loading sleeve arrows, he said.

  "How dare you, you little brat! You're asking for death yourself, don't blame me. 'Horizontal and Vertical House Secret Technique: Deceptive Words'!" Guo Tu was already furious, originally just wanting to teach Zhang Rui a lesson, but now he even had the heart to kill him, immediately using the Horizontal and Vertical House's ultimate move.

  The master of the horizontal and vertical indeed has his own unique place, only to see Guo Tu's mouth chattering incessantly, continuously, in an instant, a ball of light had condensed, Guo Tu pointed with one finger, and Zhang Rui flew away.

  Zhang Rui didn't dare to be careless, raised his shield to block, and with a "clang" sound, Zhang Rui retreated three steps back before barely blocking it, leaving a row of horizontal marks on the ground. Zhang Rui quietly made a hand gesture, and the mechanism person beside him quietly began to move sideways.

  Seeing Zhang Rui block his attack, Guo Tu was furious and launched a series of fierce moves at Zhang Rui. The secret technique of the Horizontal and Vertical House, the sword-like tongue, the spear-like mouth, the words that hurt people...

  Zhang Rui repeatedly blocked Guo Tu's attacks, occasionally releasing a cold arrow, of course, without any divine power. Guo Tu was fighting with great enthusiasm and didn't notice at all that Zhang Rui's mechanism man had quietly moved behind him.

  No matter how good a scholar is at divine arts, he is still just a scholar with no physical strength. Just like in video games, no matter how strong a mage's attack power is, once a warrior gets close to him, he can only be killed instantly.

  Guo Tu has consecutively launched nine moves, and Zhang Rui has retreated time and again, but each time he has withstood the attack. The opposing Zhang Rui is panting heavily, and for an ordinary person without any divine power, being able to withstand Guo Tu's attacks for so long is already a miracle. Guo Tu is confident that this final move will be impossible for Zhang Rui to resist, and this match will end here.

  "Horizontal House Secret Art · Red Mouth White Tongue" Guo Tu suddenly spat out a small fire-red dragon from his mouth, with a ferocious face and pounced towards Zhang Rui. Zhang Rui seized the opportunity, his sleeve arrow secretly operated divine power, emitting a dark blue light, and shot towards the fire dragon with a "whoosh". Fortunately, the sleeve arrow was hidden in his sleeve, so no one saw the scene just now.

  Everyone only felt that this arrow was as fast as lightning, and it collided with the fire dragon in an instant. With a loud bang, the small arrow was made of wood after all, and it couldn't withstand the destructive power of the fire dragon, and it had already been completely dissipated. Fortunately, the fire dragon had no power left after being blocked by the small arrow, and Zhang Rui's shield was lightly shattered with just one stroke.

  Kuo Tu was stunned, and Zhang Rui actually blocked the way. What was it that shot out of his sleeve just now? Could it be Zhang Rui's trump card? "Ten moves are over, Kuo Tu, don't you admit defeat yet?" Zhang Rui said with a wave of his right hand. Suddenly, the mechanical man flashed in front of Kuo Tu and grabbed his shoulders, pinning him down.

  Zhang Rui swiftly ran to the back of Guo Tu, squatted down, clasped his hands together, and suddenly extended his index and middle fingers to fiercely poke at Guo Tu's buttocks. "Zhang Rui's Sure-Kill Technique: Thousand-Year Kill."

  Guo Tu felt an unbearable pain in his groin area, as if a small chrysanthemum was violently throbbing, and he collapsed to the ground.

  "You lost." Zhang Rui said with a sleeve arrow in his hand pointing at Guo Tu.