Chapter 288

Although Zheng Ming was intimidated by Li Miao's murderous aura and showed weakness, as soon as they engaged, Li Miao nodded to himself, and a smile even appeared on his face.

After killing the Emperor, he had already given up hope of "finding an evenly matched opponent."

He had already tested the old monk of Shaolin; he could only say that there was something there, but it wasn't enough, it couldn't threaten his life, and he couldn't really mindlessly engage in a life-and-death struggle with the old monk.

The Heaven-Man of Wudang was too mystical and didn't suit his taste.

The only one who could trade a few moves with him, Ji Tianrui, was like a loach, slippery and hard to hold. Fighting her, whether he had the upper hand or the lower hand, he couldn't put all his focus on the struggle; he had to keep seven-tenths of his attention on guarding against the direction she was planning.

Moreover, she had already left the Central Plains, and her whereabouts were unknown.

Having no opponent was like eating without chili for someone like Li Miao. It wasn't that he couldn't eat, and it was even good for health, but it always felt like it lacked a bit of flavor.

Unexpectedly, after only half a year, a surprise had delivered itself to his door!

Zheng Ming's flute reached under Li Miao's arm, then suddenly raised its head like a poisonous snake, pointing at Li Miao's arm's numbing point, instantly dissolving most of the power of this claw.

"Interesting! This is the first time I've fought an opponent who hits acupoints!"

Li Miao did not dodge or evade; since his hand had no strength, he bent his elbow and struck horizontally! Internal energy exploded, bringing the plane of several yards around him into the range of his move!

In the gap between moves, he kicked Zheng Lingsen, who had touched his side, into a rolling gourd, causing him to roll dozens of times on the ground and shatter several trees before disappearing into the dense forest, with no more movement.

Taking advantage of Li Miao attacking Zheng Lingsen, Zheng Ming pointed his flute again, but this time he turned the flute into a sword!

Attack with attack!

Boom!

Zheng Ming's expression changed abruptly.

Li Miao had no intention of holding back at all; the flute pierced into his skin and flesh, colliding with his arm bone, emitting a clanging sound.

Amidst the splashing blood, the flute was actually "slid" away in Zheng Ming's hand by Li Miao's elbow, his palm sliding to one end of the flute. In his haste, he had no choice but to change his move to a fist, colliding with Li Miao's elbow.

Bang!

"So heavy!"

"I am using moves and techniques perfected by the Yingzhou tradition for a thousand years, yet I am at a disadvantage when trading with him!"

"He is clearly wandering outside; where did he get such fierce and brutal techniques and moves! His foundation is not weaker than mine, and his combat experience is far beyond!"

Zheng Ming borrowed the force to retreat, intending to raise the flute to his mouth, trying to use the flute music to probe Li Miao's reality from a distance. This flute music specialized in attacking meridians and internal organs; the Central Plains martial arts had no such tradition, so it might just make Li Miao suffer!

But before he had retreated a foot, Li Miao had already rushed in front of him! He had no intention of unloading the force at all, taking all the force from the clash with Zheng Ming, his face pale, but his smile grew even wider!

"What a pity."

A fierce and brutal offensive like a tiger pouncing on its prey instantly unfolded in front of Zheng Ming; he had no time to bring the flute to his mouth. Just neutralizing Li Miao's offensive already made him somewhat stretched.

In an instant, the two traded more than a dozen moves.

"Pity what!"

Looking at Li Miao's increasingly wanton smile, Zheng Ming finally couldn't maintain his expression and spoke in shock and anger.

"Pity that you are no different from my last opponent."

Li Miao responded with a loud laugh.

Taking advantage of the gap while Li Miao was speaking, Zheng Ming turned the flute into a sword, and amidst the surging internal energy, he thrust a sword toward Li Miao's chest!

"!?"

Zheng Ming's pupils shrank.

Li Miao, opposite him, had actually dispersed his hard-style training at this moment, stood firm, and looked at the flute thrusting toward his chest with a smile.

"What on earth does he want to do!"

Zheng Ming scanned up and down, but didn't find a single clue on Li Miao. It was as if Li Miao had given up resisting and stood there letting him kill him.

In his haste, it was too late to change the move. Zheng Ming simply pressed the remaining three-tenths of his strength into the move! Thrusting straight at Li Miao's chest!

The flute crossed the distance of several feet and arrived in front of Li Miao in an instant! Within the square inch, Li Miao had no time to dodge, let alone operate his hard-style technique!

It was as if the outcome was about to be decided!

"I said, you are no different from my last opponent."

Blood splashed!

Zheng Ming looked at Li Miao in disbelief.

His flute pierced through Li Miao's arm, emitting a teeth-grinding creaking sound, and helplessly stopped at Li Miao's chest.

Just now, Li Miao had actually raised his arm directly, letting the flute pierce through, and then rotated his arm, using two arm bones to clamp the flute!

"What kind of fighting style is this!"

Zheng Ming's eyes widened.

And Li Miao's fist had already reached his chest.

Bang!

"Pfft—"

With a muffled sound, Zheng Ming flew backward, retreating more than a dozen steps after landing before unloading the force, but another mouthful of blood surged up his throat, flowing down from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up at Li Miao opposite him.

Li Miao raised the arm pierced by the flute, turned it around to look at it as if nothing had happened, then reached out to pull the flute out, shook off the blood, and held it before his eyes to observe.

"You know, weapons often reflect the user's temperament. For example, those who use hidden weapons are rarely upright, and those who use swords are full of hot-headed fools."

Li Miao observed the flute up and down; white smoke steamed from the blood hole on his arm, disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I actually felt a bit disappointed the moment I saw you wearing a long gown and holding a broken flute."

"An opponent like you is the most boring."

Li Miao pinched the flute with his thumb and index finger, pointing it at Zheng Ming from a distance.

"My last opponent was the same."

"If you want to practice martial arts, practice martial arts; if you want to be romantic, be romantic. You insist on mixing them together. It's clearly a matter of broken limbs and flying flesh, yet you insist on bringing a broken musical instrument to act cool."

"You don't know what fighting is from the root."

"I'll help you break that thought."

Li Miao smiled coldly, gripped both ends of the flute with both hands, and exerted force suddenly! The muscles on his arms bulged, almost bursting his clothes!

"You!"

Zheng Ming was shocked and angry; he paused his feet and was about to rush in front of Li Miao to take back his weapon. There were still several feet of distance; he raised his arm, internal energy surged to his fingertips, intending to penetrate his body and point at the major acupoints on Li Miao's arm.

At this instant, a wail of jade shattering came from the front.

Bang!

In Li Miao's hand, countless fragments suddenly exploded.

Jade is hard and brittle, and cannot be bent. Zheng Ming's flute was not of ordinary quality and was extremely rare, yet it couldn't withstand Li Miao's full-force tossing, and it exploded with a bang.

Countless fragments scattered, as if a bundle of fluorescence had bloomed in the dim dense forest.

Zheng Ming stopped his steps and looked at Li Miao in shock and anger.

A cut was made on Li Miao's face by the fragments of the exploding flute; he wiped it with his index finger, leaving a ferocious bloodstain on his face.

Li Miao rubbed his blood and looked at Zheng Ming with a smile.

"Now, your toy for acting cool is gone."

"Next, I'll teach you what fighting is."

(End of chapter)