C13 Win out

The true essence within Zhou Jie's body flowed rapidly. Coupled with his outstanding athletic talent, he had already displayed the full extent of his Seven Stars Steps. At this moment, no one could see his figure clearly, all they could see was a gray shadow moving around Shi Xiaoling's body.

Shi Xiaoling also couldn't see Zhou Jie's movement technique. As early as three years ago, Shi Xiaoling had experienced Zhou Jie's outstanding talent in sports. In addition to that, he knew that his true essence cultivation was slightly lower than Zhou Jie's; even if he wanted to follow Zhou Jie's footwork, it would be impossible.

However, Shi Xiaoling was not flustered at all. Although Zhou Jie's figure was spinning faster and faster, he still clearly knew what kind of move Zhou Jie would use to attack him. The reason was simple, it was because Shi Xiaoling had collected this "Star Plucking Hand" many years ago and had spent a large amount of time researching it.

However, although Shi Xiaoling spent a lot of time on this Martial Skill, he did not practice it himself. Because according to his analysis of the gathered data, although this "Star Plucking Hand" was quite powerful, it was not a profound technique in the entire ancient martial arts system. It was only a ruthless killing move.

True ancient martial arts focused more on the use of true essence. External killing moves like the "Star Plucking Hand" did not require a high level of true essence for a cultivator, but they consumed a great deal of it. Within one move, the user's true essence would be almost completely depleted.

In other words, once this move failed, the user would be in for it.

From the information he got from the 'Star Plucking Hand', Shi Xiaoling knew that with his usual athletic talent, he would not be able to fully display the full might of the Seven Stars Steps and thus just barely practice it was a waste of time. Instead, he spent a great deal of time researching how to break this "Star Plucking Hand" technique. His focus was still on the true essence cultivation that he had researched the most.

The target of the "Star Seizer Hand" was usually the throat or chest of the human body. Compared to that, attacking the throat was much more difficult, and most people would still choose to attack the major acupoints on the chest of their opponent.

This move focused on a desperate gamble. First, he used a fast agility technique to confuse the opponent's mind, and then he seized the opportunity to instantly stimulate all of the true essence in his body to a single point, destroying the opponent's defense in one fell swoop.

Because the Seven Stars Steps consumed a great deal of physical strength and the "Star Plucking Hand" consumed a great deal of true essence, once this attack missed, it would be difficult to restore the user's body within a short period of time. The fact that Zhou Jie was able to use such a killing move in the eighth round showed how impatient he was and how unbalanced he was.

After fighting Zhou Jie head on for seven rounds, Shi Xiaoling was already exhausted. After all, his true essence cultivation was still too young. If he continued to fight, he wasn't sure that he would be able to withstand the final three rounds. Zhou Jie's "Star Seizer Hand" was a desperate move that hit Shi Xiaoling's heart. He knew that as long as he could successfully endure this move, he would not even need to fight a full ten rounds to win.

Of course, this move, the "Star Plucking Hand", was extremely powerful, and even if they were to fight evenly, it was already very difficult for Shi Xiaoling to gain the upper hand, not to mention facing such a powerful killer skill. If he made a mistake, he would immediately be struck to the ground, and might even lose his life on the spot.

Shi Xiaoling didn't hesitate at all. As he wholeheartedly wanted to enter the top ten, he made the decision in his heart almost immediately.

At the same time, Zhou Jie made his move.

At the same time that Zhou Jie stepped on the Seven Stars Steps, he had been observing Shi Xiaoling's defense. Although Shi Xiaoling was constantly moving to and fro as a precaution, but as Zhou Jie's movement speed became faster and faster, Shi Xiaoling's movement speed gradually became chaotic. Suddenly, a gap in Shi Xiaoling's chest was revealed. At this moment, Zhou Jie had recovered to Shi Xiaoling's front.

Zhou Jie was overjoyed. Without any hesitation, he stepped forward and his sharp palm shot out a "Star Seizer Hand" that gathered true essence from his entire body and appeared in a grey shadow. It went straight for Shi Xiaoling's Middle Altar in his chest.

Shi Xiaoling's figure suddenly froze, as if he did not expect Zhou Jie's "Star Seizer Hand" to come so fast. He only had enough time to retreat backwards, but Zhou Jie's "Star Seizer Hand" had already struck his shanzhong acupoint. Shi Xiaoling's body immediately flew backwards.

Amidst the exclamations of the spectators, Shi Xiaoling's body fell heavily onto the stage, producing a loud thud.

Zhou Jie's attack had hit. Although it consumed a lot of energy, he could not help but wave his robust arms fiercely. He glared with his eyes wide open as he shouted, "I win! "I won!"

When the referee was on duty, he quickly rushed to Shi Xiaoling's side. He took a look at the state of Shi Xiaoling on the ground, and began to read the seconds in a clear voice, "Ten, nine, eight, seven …"

The entire audience was silent. Everyone was staring intently at the collapsed Shi Xiaoling, worrying about his safety. Zhou Jie's lightning strike had been extremely powerful. Anyone could see that Zhou Jie had used his full strength in this strike.

Seeing Shi Xiaoling heavily fall to the ground after he was sent flying, everyone was no longer worried about whether he could continue competing, but worried about whether he would have any life on his body.

"Four, three, two …" Just as the referee was about to count out the last "one", Shi Xiaoling let out a deep breath as he fell to the ground. His hands pushed on the ground and he actually stood up once again.

The entire audience was silent. All of the spectators were staring at Shi Xiaoling with their mouths agape. No one made a single sound.

"The big acupoint on my chest received such a heavy and fatal blow, and my body was sent flying so far away, yet I actually stood up on my own like that?!" "What exactly is going on with this guy?" This was a question that surrounded the hearts of everyone present.

The referee gestured nervously in front of Shi Xiaoling, asking, "What is this?"

"Five."

"What's this?"

"Eight."

"How are you feeling?"

"Not bad." Shi Xiaoling calmly replied.

The referee hesitated for more than half a minute before carefully sizing up Shi Xiaoling again. He could not find anything out of the ordinary, so he announced, "Let the match continue."

Zhou Jie could not believe his eyes, "What is this Shi Xiaoling's body made of? Anyone who took a fatal blow from his Shanzhong Point in the chest would at least be severely injured and recuperate for a year if they didn't die. However … But this guy had crawled up by himself, and he still wanted to … Continue to compete? "

Zhou Jie was at a loss as he looked at Shi Xiaoling who was walking towards him. How is that possible? "

Shi Xiaoling walked in front of Zhou Jie with relaxed steps, once again displaying the Six Paths of the Heart, slashing at Zhou Jie's left shoulder with his palm.

Only now did Zhou Jie wake up from his stupor and quickly took a step back to dodge. His previous "Star Seizer Hand" had nearly exhausted all of his true essence. He knew that he was unable to face Shi Xiaoling head on at the moment, so he wanted to use the Seven Stars Steps to once again dodge his opponent's attack.

Zhou Jie's idea was not bad, but at this moment, not only was his True Essence almost exhausted, but the previous Seven Stars Steps had also consumed a large amount of his physical strength, and the current Zhou Jie was much weaker than the most ordinary student. Although he had barely dodged Shi Xiaoling's palm, but before he could execute the Seven Stars Steps, Shi Xiaoling had already appeared in front of him like a shadow.

Shi Xiaoling raised his hand blade and slashed at Zhou Jie's right neck.

Zhou Jie wanted to be fast but was unable to do so. Seeing that it was too late to dodge, he could only extend his hand to block. However, he was unable to circulate his true essence and was completely unable to block a heavy blow from Shi Xiaoling's hand blade.

Shi Xiaoling's hand cut through Zhou Jie's defenses with a single chop, and then with a casual wave of his hand, it landed right on Zhou Jie's right neck.

Zhou Jie's body went limp and he fell to the ground.

The referee quickly walked up to Zhou Jie, looked at his eyes, and began to count down the seconds. "Ten, nine, eight..." "Three, two, one …"

Just then, a guard captain rushed into the competition room with a few people behind him. As soon as he entered, he shouted, "Stop the competition! "With Chief Instructor Cai's order, the competition will immediately stop …" Soon after, a team of medical personnel rushed in.

The referee stood up and shrugged at the guard captain who was rushing over and said, "The match is over, Shi Xiaoling wins."

Amidst the cheers and applause from the students on the sidelines, several emergency personnel rushed into the arena and carried Zhou Jie, who was unconscious on the ground, onto a stretcher.

Fortunately, Shi Xiaoling showed mercy on his last strike and only temporarily knocked Zhou Jie out. After a round of first aid, Zhou Jie quickly regained consciousness. Listening to the cheers of the students and instructors, he felt extremely depressed. He wished that he could find a hole in the ground to hide in. He simply lay on the stretcher with his eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious.

Cai Haohua, who was nervously watching the monitor in his office, heaved a long sigh of relief. He didn't think that this match would turn out like this.

"How did this Shi Xiaoling manage to do it? How did he get hit by Zhou Jie's' Star Seizer Hand 'and come out unscathed?" Could it be that his strength was far above Zhou Jie's? Could it be that his previous performance was fake? "

As the Chief Instructor, although Cai Haohua was experienced and knowledgeable, he still couldn't figure out what was going on.

At this time, many of the students and instructors in the competition room had gathered around and started to ask Shi Xiaoling about what had happened just now.

Shi Xiaoling rubbed his chest and smiled, "I have studied this' Star Plucking Hand 'technique by Instructor Zhou Jie many years ago. Although this technique has great lethality, it consumes a great deal of true essence and physical strength. "I think that as long as I can take this killing blow, I will have a chance to win. Thus, I decided to go all out …

"A fight?" Everyone was puzzled when they heard this.

Someone asked, "Since this killing move is so powerful, how did you manage to block it?"

Shi Xiaoling said, "The [Starseizing Hand] is either an attack on the throat or the chest. Generally speaking, the chances of success are higher when you attack the chest. I bet that Instructor Zhou will attack my chest. "I bet you're right. I also withstood this attack, and Instructor Zhou had clearly exhausted too much of his energy in order to use this move. He was no longer able to fight, so I won just like that …"

"Eh?"

Everyone was suspicious and talked for a long time about how Shi Xiaoling had withstood this killing move. However, none of them said it.

Everyone was about to continue asking, but Shi Xiaoling smiled and said, "I'm sorry everyone, but my chest still hurts a little. I want to go back to my room and rest. Let's talk later …"

After Shi Xiaoling said this, he smiled and nodded to everyone. Then, he pushed through the crowd and went back to his room to rest. The group continued to discuss the strange scene in the martial arts room.