229: Chapter 229 Battle with Xu Ying

Everyone thought Lin Tian was going to lose.

The Disciples of Zixia Peak looked grave, while the Moxia Peak side was already cheering in advance. Qiao Yiyi kept her head down, unwilling to watch, and Shen Haoran crossed his arms, waiting to see Lin Tian make a fool of himself.

Even the neutral Disciples from other peaks had already judged the outcome of this battle in their hearts.

Lin Tian was fast, but Xu Ying was faster. This was a fact accepted by everyone.

However, Lin Tian's expression remained unchanged. He stood on the ring, his expression as calm as stagnant water, as if the surrounding discussion had nothing to do with him.

These people did not know his true strength. They had only seen the scraps he displayed during the elimination rounds and assumed that was all he had.

They did not know how many Treasure Fish he had consumed over those past days and nights, or how many martial arts he had forced to the Perfection Realm.

His true strength was far beyond these people's imagination.

On the ring, Xu Ying stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on Lin Tian with a hint of a smile on his lips.

"You defeated my younger brother, your movement technique is not bad." His tone was calm, carrying a sense of condescending appreciation. "I have long wanted to compete with you. I just wonder if you can keep up with my speed?"

Lin Tian smiled as well.

"Why don't you try and see?"

As soon as the words fell, Lin Tian's figure flickered, and he unexpectedly took the initiative.

With a step, his entire person transformed into a blurry shadow, instantly rushing towards Xu Ying, striking out with a palm. The wind from the palm was sharp, heading straight for Xu Ying's chest.

This palm was shockingly fast; the crowd below only saw an afterimage flash by, and Lin Tian was already in front of Xu Ying.

However, the palm wind landed only on an afterimage that was slowly dissipating—Xu Ying was no longer in his original spot.

At the same time, a gust of wind came from behind Lin Tian. Xu Ying's true body appeared silently behind him, his pitch-black palm wrapped in the cold power of shadow, striking toward Lin Tian's back.

But this palm also missed.

Lin Tian's figure slowly dissipated beneath his palm; it was also just an afterimage.

The two had each shattered an afterimage, and they exchanged a glance across the ring. A flash of surprise appeared in Xu Ying's eyes, but the smile on Lin Tian's lips deepened.

In the next instant, both moved simultaneously.

A dazzling scene suddenly appeared on the ring. Two figures shuttled back and forth at high speed, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, colliding in the center of the ring, then crossing paths at the edge.

Each collision left only a muffled sound, and in the next instant, the two had already flashed away, leaving only two dissipating afterimages in their place.

Ten afterimages.

Twenty afterimages.

Thirty afterimages.

The ring was filled with the blurry shadows left by the two; some were striking, some were dodging, and some still maintained a sprinting posture.

The Disciples below were dizzy from watching; they couldn't distinguish which was the true body and which was an afterimage.

"So fast!"

Someone couldn't help but exclaim.

"Lin Tian's speed is even faster than before! It's more than twice as fast as when he fought Xu Fei!"

"So he wasn't using his full strength when he fought Xu Fei! Is this his true speed? This is unbelievable!"

Exclamations rose one after another; everyone was stunned by the speed Lin Tian displayed. Especially those who had previously thought Lin Tian's "movement technique was just not bad," all had their mouths wide open now.

Xu Fei stood in the Moxia Peak team, watching the ghostly fast figure on the ring, completely stunned.

His face was filled with disbelief, his lips trembling slightly, and it took a long while before he squeezed out a sentence: "He... he didn't use his full strength when he fought me before?"

A complex emotion surged in his heart. Previously, he felt he had been wronged by the loss, thinking it was his own carelessness. But now it seemed he hadn't been wronged at all.

If the opponent had gone all out at that time, he probably wouldn't have survived even a single palm strike.

On the ring, Xu Ying's expression changed from initial calmness to surprise, and then from surprise to gravity.

Too fast.

He had thought his speed was unrivaled among his peers—no, not thought, he was certain.

His Shadow Movement Technique had already reached the Major Achievement Realm. For a fifth-grade Martial Artist to cultivate a movement technique to Major Achievement was an extremely rare thing in itself.

It required day after day of hard training, a deep understanding of the power of shadows, and polishing the details of every step during countless limit-breaking sprints.

He had done it. Among the younger generation of the entire Qixia Sect, in terms of pure movement speed, no one was his match. Cao Yun couldn't do it, and Senior Brother Wang Yidao couldn't either.

Those two were strong in their cultivation and killing moves, not movement technique.

But now, this Lin Tian before him was actually able to match him blow for blow.

Could it be that the opponent had also cultivated his movement technique to the Major Achievement Realm?

Xu Ying gritted his teeth, both palms striking out simultaneously, the power of shadows surging in his palms, attacking Lin Tian fiercely.

Lin Tian's figure flickered, lightly dodging his attack while striking back with a palm. Xu Ying dodged sideways, and the two crossed paths again.

Dozens more moves passed, and the afterimages on the ring accumulated more and more, yet the two remained evenly matched.

What Xu Ying didn't know was that Lin Tian's movement technique was not at Major Achievement.

Cloud Shadow Step, Perfection Realm.

Between Perfection and Major Achievement, it seemed like only one step apart, but in reality, it was a chasm. Perfection meant engraving every variation of this movement technique into one's bones; every step didn't need to pass through the brain, the body naturally reacted.

This wasn't trained; it had become an instinct after thousands of trials.

And Lin Tian, even now, still reserved a portion of his strength. He wasn't fully driving the Cloud Shadow Step, just using a speed similar to Xu Ying to circle him. He wanted to see just how far this Moxia Peak Genius, who claimed to have the number one movement technique, could go.

The people on the Zixia Peak side were already dumbfounded.

A white-haired Elder widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the blurry figure on the ring, and muttered: "Is that... is that the Cloud Shadow Step? He cultivated it to the Perfection Realm?"

Another Elder shook his head, then nodded, the expression on his face indistinguishable between shock and ecstasy: "To be able to cultivate a movement technique to Perfection at such a young age, this kid is simply a monster! No wonder... no wonder the Peak Master values him so much! We were all wrong about him before!"

Qiao Yiyi stood in the crowd, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, her lips slightly parted, unable to close them for a long time. She had always thought Lin Tian's movement technique was just a bit fast, but the speed Lin Tian was displaying now was already beyond her reach.

She asked herself, if she were standing on the ring facing Xu Ying, she probably wouldn't even be able to capture the opponent's figure. But Lin Tian could not only keep up, but also trade blows back and forth.

Shen Haoran was also stunned.

His hands, which had been crossed, had dropped at some point, and his hands were tightly clenched into fists.

He watched the ghostly fast figure on the ring, his face turning from blue to white. Previously, he had confidently said "If he loses, there is still me," saying that Lin Tian's movement technique was useless in front of a true expert. But now, Lin Tian's speed was so fast that it made his scalp tingle.

He imagined the scene of himself standing on the ring facing this kind of speed, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

He felt a huge amount of pressure.

On the ring, the two had already fought for over a hundred moves.

Afterimages filled the entire ring; from afar, it seemed as if dozens of people were fighting at once. But neither side could do anything to the other; their speeds were matched, their movement techniques each had their own merits, and after a hundred moves, it was still hard to determine a winner.

Xu Ying knew he couldn't keep dragging this out.

Although his Shadow Movement Technique was fast, it consumed a huge amount of physical energy. If he dragged it out like this, his speed would eventually slow down. At that time, the outcome would be hard to say.

He had to end it quickly.

He suddenly pulled back, landing on the edge of the ring, took a deep breath, and overlapped his palms in front of him. A strange power of shadows erupted from his body, and his entire aura became cold and sharp.

"Shadow Peerless!"

Amidst the cold shout, Xu Ying's figure suddenly split, and a dozen afterimages appeared on the ring simultaneously. Every afterimage struck with both palms, and pitch-black palm shadows surged out like a tidal wave, enveloping Lin Tian from all directions.

From afar, it looked as if a dozen Xu Yings were surrounding and attacking.

Previously, Xuan Fei had been defeated by this move. Qiao Yiyi as well. No one could retreat unscathed under this density of attacks.

A burst of exclamations rose from below the ring.

"It's Shadow Peerless!"

"The outcome is about to be decided!"

"Can Lin Tian block it? If he can't, he's going to lose!"

On the Zixia Peak side, everyone's heart was in their throat. Several young Disciples stood up nervously, and the Elders' faces tightened instantly.

Shen Haoran clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force. He stared fixedly at the overwhelming black palm shadows on the ring, his voice low and firm: "He can't block it."

The tone was as if he were passing judgment on someone else, or perhaps trying to convince himself.

However, in the next instant, his pupils contracted sharply.

On the ring, Lin Tian's movement technique suddenly transformed again.

Although his speed was fast before, it was still within the range of the naked eye to capture. But at this moment, his figure suddenly became blurry under everyone's gaze, and then disappeared into thin air.

It wasn't fast.

It was a complete disappearance.

A dozen afterimages, the overwhelming black palm shadows, all struck empty space in that instant. Xu Ying's palms penetrated the position where Lin Tian had just been standing, but only shattered a piece of the dissipating afterimage.

And Lin Tian's true body had disappeared without a trace.

Xu Ying's pupils shrank violently, and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Where is he?

The whole scene was dead silent. Everyone widened their eyes, frantically searching for Lin Tian's figure on the ring. But on the ring, apart from Xu Ying and his afterimages, there was no one.

"How is that possible?"

Someone screamed in shock.

"His movement technique can still improve? This is impossible!"

"That speed just now was already Major Achievement, what... what is above that?"

On the Zixia Peak viewing platform, Su Haiyan stood up abruptly.

Her eyes were wide open, staring fixedly at the empty area on the ring, her lips trembling slightly, and it took a long time before she spat out four words.

"Perfection Realm movement technique."