The Legend of Min Hong

Chapter 57: Intense Sparring with Min Qing (2)

Sensing the force coming from Min Hong's palm, Min Qing knew that if the attack touched her, it would be the end of the sparresulting in her loss. So, she improvised on the spot.

"Unnh!" She moaned into the ears of the close-up Min Hong, causing the latter to slightly falter.

She then followed up by releasing an extremely alluring and bewitching aura which dazed Min Hong on the spot, causing him to lose focus for a single breath. Then his palm slightly hesitated, as Min Qing used that opportunity to escape.

Because of his altered concentration, Min Hong couldn't stop himselfso he directed his attack towards a fat tree nearbythe moment his palms hit the tree, it blew up from within and exploded outwards into tiny shreds and shards.

"Should we count it as a draw?" Min Hong turned around and asked Min Qing as he dusted the remnant shards from the exploded tree from his clothes.

Min Qing approached Min Hong as she leaned towards him, stood on her toes and dusted some shards away from Min Hong's beautiful black hair with golden hair lines.

Then she suggested, "How about we use our full powers and settle it in three moves?"

"Then the person with the least hit loses Great Idea, let's do just that" Min Hong accepted her suggestion calmly. Since they would be using everything in their reserves, it would be best if they reduced the moves to just three.

As they have decided on a solution, they both took a different approach this time around. They both meant business and wanted to settle this duel once and for all.

Sshhuuu!

The environment gradually turned dim as clouds covered the training area atop the mountain beside the Min Family castle.

Then a bone-chilling wind kicked up as Min Qing unleashed her Law of the Yin element. Then came the mists, indicating the Law of the Water element. Though, she had only comprehended its intent, she could still summon enormous amounts of water droplets.

When the mist mixed with Yin element, it turned into a bone chilling mist as frost suddenly started to build up in the surrounding area, the frost gradually crept outwards till it covered the entire training area.

Min Hong sensed this abrupt change and quickly activated his 'Eagle's Eye' and then everything was laid bare and clear before him. He saw Min Qing and all the changes that was happening within her body. He could even see the total area the effects of these changes spanned.

He saw extremely shocked at what he was looking at; He saw a deep black Qi with a tinge of blue erupt from Min Qing's Dantian as they flowed through what seemed to be about one hundred and fifty meridian channels, before splitting into two forms.

The first form was gaseous which passed through her skin into the environment, which was clearly the cause of the current environmental conditions. Then, the second was in liquid form which completely enveloped her palms alone.

"Woah! What a beautiful controlI didn't even know she could now control the Yin Qi within her to this extent" Min Hong remarked in praise when he saw how Min Qing could actually control her two different natured Qi's simultaneously with such ease.

Sensing how fluid Min Qing could control the current environmental conditions, Min Hong knew he was already at a massive disadvantage.

This was because Min Qing could control the mists surrounding them to boost her own techniques, like the Shadow part of the [Chaotic Shadow Steps].

Thus, if he tried to use the same technique, it would have little to no effect on her since she could just devoid him of the mists. Then, there's her bewitching aura which would be greatly enhanced now that she had fully unleashed her 'intent' of the Yin Law.

So, in order to avoid being affected by these two hallucinatory techniques, he decided to close his eyes. Then his potent and strong mental energy blasted outwards covering the entire mountain top.

He his full Body and Qi cultivation base once again surged, then it was followed by several consecutive hand seals [See Naruto Shippuden for examples], as his aura took a unique from. This was the 'First Seal' of the Art of Myriad Seals technique.

".!" The moment he finished his hand seals, Min Qing phased out of existence. This was not any space related technique of any kind; it was just what happens when one reaches a certain level of speed.

The moment Min Qing crossed the 100-metre barrier of Min Hong's mental sense, an imaginary figure appeared within his mind instantly. The figure blinked thrice and was a few metres away from him.

"Closing your eyes and relying on your mental power won't help you here" Min Qing's voice actually rang within Min Hong's mind, causing him to falter a bit, then she released her bewitching aura which actually masked her from Min Hong's mental senses.

"What!" Seeing how powerless he had become and sensing the incoming threat, the usually calm Min Hong became really flustered.

"Min Hong, what are you flustering about?" Min Qing's jingling voice sounded once more, destroying the last shred of focus left in Min Hong's mind.

However, her attack landed before her voice faded. Her palm slammed into Min Hong's chest, blasting him away as he struggled to remain standing causing his feet to draw a three-inch deep and fifteen-meter-long gully on the rock-solid training ground.

His face went pale white, as he touched his chest only to find out that it had already caved in. In addition, there was the Yin Qi which had now begun to run rampant within his body.

He threw up a mouthful of black blood as the Yin Qi from Min Qing's strike invaded his body.

He fell on one knee, then the dragon tattoos rushed towards his chest to heal his caved in ribcage, while the Moon Rabbit tattoo absorbed the excess Yin Qi within his body.

After throwing up a second mouthful of normal blood, his face became ruddy once more. He then stood up before he spoke. "Big Sis Min Qing, your abilities are truly terrifying. In fact, an expert in the 4 Star Dan Formation stage would have been bedridden by that palm strike, if he or she managed to live that is."

There was a brief silence from Min Qing. She was somehow depressed by Min Hong addressing her as a sister.

A part of her wanted more but what could she do? If Min Rou and Min Tian haven't deemed it necessary to tell Min Hong, then who was she to do so.

But she still replied anyways. "Eeh! Are you admitting defeat after one move? That would tarnish your image as the strongest amongst the Min Family younger generation, no?" her voice still jingling within Min Hong's mind.

"I agree with what you've said I really do" Min Hong stood up and started to walk calmly towards his position earlier, his steps echoing throughout the misty area.

"Since I really have a reputation to uphold come savor your defeat then" The moment he finished his sentence, his eyes snapped open.

Boom!

A massive shockwave spread out with Min Hong at the center. Min Qing stopped blinking around and stared in shock. Something within her was cowering at the feeling of that shockwave.

Then she felt a pressure descend upon her, this pressure was so strong it affected her battle prowess, reducing her cultivation by one stage. Then there were two golden-green eyes staring at her through the mist.

The current Min Hong's eyes were glowing gold and his pupils tuned green as its glow increased in intensity till it became blinding. Then he released his aura which was unique to body cultivators in the King stage.

"Hmph!" Min Qing snorted as she phased out once more, she headed for the two brilliant golden glow which was Min Hong as she added, "You can talk big after you have defended this move" Once again, the voice sounded within Min Hong's mind.

But this time around, the ancient door behind the altar protected by an energy barrier inside Min Hong's Sea of Consciousness trembled (See chapter 50), and the second seal on it broke.

The broken seal then transformed into a form of mental energy that charged into Min Hong's mind and nullified the hypnotic effect of Min Qing's voice, making it clearer whilst increasing his thinking speed.

Min Hong grew extremely calm, the moment this happened.

He looked towards Min Qing and saw her as clear as day, then he saw a seal on her forehead. This seal was within her and couldn't be seen by ordinary eyes, or at least anyone under the Saint Stage.

Perhaps, even Min Hong was only able to see it due to the new development that just occurred within his Sea of Consciousness.

The seal was black in color and it was gradually absorbing the Qi in the surrounding through Min Qing's body and then sending Yin Qi towards her dantian to replenish it.

It was more of a transaction than cultivation.

Like the seal was using Min Qing's body to absorb natural energy, but was instead giving her Yin Qi in return.

Perhaps this was the reason why Min Qing's cultivation kept climbing without actually cultivating. Probably Min Qing herself was oblivious to its existence.

"Even if my battle prowess drops any lower than this, there's no way you can escape the domain of this hypnotic effect of mine." Min Qing's voice jingled once more.

Domains are generally the spherical area of influence where any kind of Law or ability an expert is skilled in could affect.

For instance, Min Qing's Hypnotic domain was about 10 meters in radius. This means anything within that area would be under the effect of her Hypnosis and any type of extra abilities it might grant her.

"So that's how it works unh" the moment Min Qing spoke, he saw the seal tremble and release a unique type of dark Qi throughout her body.

It was then clear to him that the bewitching and hypnotic abilities of Min Qing was definitely granted by that black seal.

Min Qing appeared behind Min Hong this time around, and was about to serve him another Yin-filled palm strike, when Min Hong abruptly turned around and faced her.

This really caught her off-guard, but she also recovered in the blink of an eye.

She tried to release another wave of her bewitching and hypnotic aura to daze Min Hong once again.

But this time, Min Hong calmly spoke, "Fool me once, shame on youFool me twice and I can't get fooled again"

Snick!

Min Hong held his middle finger with his thumb, before aggressively flicking Min Qing's forehead on the exact spot where he saw the seal earlier.

Immediately the attack landed, the dark Qi released by the black seal on Min Qing's forehead was interrupted as the bewitching aura she was about to release, dispersed and she was blasted backwards.

This time she was sent hurtling for over twenty meters away from the point of impact.

But unlike Min Hong, she controlled the mist around her to fuse together until they formed something similar to a ball of cloud which cushioned her as she landed gently and gracefully.

For a brief moment, the black seal actually bulged under Min Qings forehead as if in response to the mysterious force within Min Hong's attack.

This caused Min Qing a very brief migraine and her forehead was slightly injured with a tiny amount of blood trickling down her pretty face.

"That's new Min Hong, what did you hit me with?" it was unnatural for cultivators to have headaches.

Moreover, she felt a strange energy within that attack. It was like a restraining kind of aura, like her abilities were momentarily restrained.

"Eeh! What do you mean, what did I hit you with?" Min Hong was stumped by Min Qing's question that he had to respond with one of his. After all, all he did was flick his finger at the black seal with the aim of dispersing its Qi flow.

"That strike of yours stung me pretty hard Moreover, there was something strange about it are you sure it was only a finger strike?" Min Qing's pained voice drifted over from the other side of the mist.

"I... I... I was merely lucky! if it really hurt as much as you claim, then perhaps I struck one of the pressure points on your face I don't know" Min Hong replied.

He didn't want Min Qing to know everything that happened behind the scenes that led him to execute such a simple, precise and somehow unconventional attack.

Furthermore, how was he going to explain the fact that he saw a black seal within Min Qing that was using her body to absorb natural Qi, and then transformed it back to Yin Qisomething that probably no one in the entire East Wind Empire could see.

So, since he couldn't give any of the two explanations, at least for now, he had no choice but to lie to her that he was only lucky to hit her in a sensitive spot on her face.

Min Qing clearly didn't believe his answer, but she couldn't come up with any other viable explanation herself.

"Alright back to business Min Qing this is the last move, show me all you're made up of" Min Hong yelled.

"Back at you, Min Hong" Min Qing responded with a serious tone.