Chapter One Hundred Twelve: The Most Beautiful Fighter, Toshio

“Jingchu, Zhang Yang has been set up again.”

“For heaven’s sake.” Hearing Xia Dan, Jingchu suppressed the anger rising in her heart, pulled a cigarette from her pocket, and lit it. “Leave him alone. That fellow is lucky. He won’t die so easily.”

“But he only just managed to come back!”

Jingchu took a drag from the cigarette she had just lit and calmed her agitated emotions. If Zhang Yang had been standing in front of her, she would have already slapped him across the face. “The next time I see that brat, I’ll make sure he remembers this lesson. Hmph!”

“Whoa! Big Sis, the end of your cigarette burned me!”

“What are you yelling for? Keep it up and I’ll set you on fire!”

“……”

……

“So, who’s next?” After sending Zhang Yang away, Lord Ba once again pulled the die from inside his robe. Looking at Bai Ying, who was watching from below the platform, he revealed a mysterious smile. “I have a feeling it’ll land on Bai Ying. If you can defeat this old man, perhaps I’ll tell you the secret of the white smoke inside that little box. Heh heh.”

As he spoke, Lord Ba tossed the die in his hand. It rolled across the ground several times before coming to a stop. However, it seemed not to have landed on Bai Ying as he had predicted. The upper face of the die displayed the words “Masked Man.” It appeared that Grandmaster Jinghai would have to fight another consecutive battle.

“Jinghai again? Is she going to keep fighting?”

“Yeah, that woman just got back and she’s already been thrown into consecutive matches!”

“That’s true!”

……

“Well? Are you coming?” Looking down at Grandmaster Jinghai, Lord Ba asked her with his hands clasped behind his back. “The previous battle must have been exhausting. You look utterly worn out.”

“……”

Grandmaster Jinghai stared at Lord Ba on the arena for a while, her expression gradually darkening. “You should stop speaking in that unpleasant old-man’s voice. Wearing a disguise and trying to numb your opponent with the appearance of an elderly man? It seems you’ve picked the wrong person.”

Lord Ba was startled by her words. He had not expected to be exposed so quickly. Grandmaster Jinghai truly deserved her reputation as a veteran spirit-powered fighter. Apart from the master who had taught him his makeup technique, she was the first person to see through it.

Since he had already been discovered, there was no point in continuing the charade.

“As they say, the older, the wiser. I never imagined you would see through me at a glance, Grandmaster Jinghai. Impressive, impressive! But disguising myself is merely a hobby of mine, so I hope you won’t misunderstand, heh heh. I even altered the wavelength of the demonic aura within my body, yet you still saw through me. Since that’s the case, there’s no need for me to keep hiding.”

As he spoke, Lord Ba placed a hand against his cheek and slowly peeled away the carefully applied human-skin mask.

“The reason I disguised myself as an old man is that the elderly are the creatures I hate most. By making myself look like the thing I despise most, I can stir up my desire to fight. Old age—even ugliness, even sin!”

With that, he tore off the final strip of false skin clinging to his face, revealing a ridiculous, comical visage resembling that of a circus clown.

“I want to die before I grow old. That way, I can preserve my most beautiful appearance forever!”

“How ridiculous!”

“No, no, no, Grandmaster Jinghai. You’re mistaken. It isn’t ridiculous—it’s a legend.”

As he spoke, the man tore away his clothes as well, revealing a clown costume beneath.

“Before I die, I will create the most beautiful, most charming, and most invincible legend that belongs to me alone. Every person here will become a witness to that legend and pass it down from generation to generation……”

“What an unbearable man!” Hearing the clown spouting grandiose nonsense on the arena, Feiyan’s face filled with disgust. This fellow was even more revolting than Qin Xiaochuan’s lackey. He felt like going up there and killing him on the spot……

“And I am Junfu, the most beautiful and strongest martial artist in the world, the creator of this beautiful legend and the possessor of a thousand secret techniques.”

As he spoke, the man called Junfu raised a finger before his eyes and declared with utter solemnity, “Whenever you speak of me to others, do not forget to place the word ‘beautiful’ before my name!”

“How astonishing!” Miss Xingmeng, standing on the arena, was beginning to find the scene unbearable. Since she had started hosting combat competitions, she had never encountered such a shameless contestant. What kind of trauma had this man suffered?

Still, her professional training compelled her to patiently explain the situation to the surrounding audience.

“The contestant Lord Ba has changed into a circus-clown costume in the blink of an eye! That was incredibly fast. What should have been a solemn duel has transformed into such a vivid spectacle. It is truly impossible to predict what will happen next. Lord Ba has brought us an ultimate match filled with suspense!”

“Despite being so obsessed with beauty, you don’t dare show your true face.”

Grandmaster Jinghai stepped onto the arena and stood opposite Junfu, studying the ridiculous man before her. “Are you really that insecure about your appearance?”

“A legend will be passed down forever, but the least important thing about it is the face.”

Junfu folded his arms and began explaining himself smugly to Grandmaster Jinghai.

“People fear things whose true appearances they do not know. They are either drawn to them or imagine them in whatever form best suits their ideals. Are the God of Creation and the Demon of Destruction not the finest examples? A hundred years from now, people will surely say, ‘That most beautiful, strongest, and most terrifying martial artist, Junfu—he must have looked like this, right? No, no, he must have looked like that!’ Just imagining it fills me with excitement. It’s simply perfect……”

Lost in his own fantasies, Junfu began waving his arms and dancing before Grandmaster Jinghai.

“……”

Grandmaster Jinghai patiently listened to his speech before delivering her final judgment.

“You are the type of person I hate most.”

Hearing this, the hopeless narcissist grew even more excited. He turned toward the entire audience and launched into another nauseating proclamation.

“I hereby announce once again: when I create this legend, every old person will be slaughtered! Anyone who dares oppose me will be butchered as well! I will grant the hope of life only to those who submit to me!”

“What an idiot!”

“Submit to you? That’s hilarious!”

“Who would submit to a clown? Stop dreaming!”

“Have you taken your medicine?”

“What is this guy even talking about?”

“He’s insane, isn’t he?”

“This is too funny!”

“Your mother’s calling you home for dinner!”

“You pathetic clown!”

“He’s completely lost his mind!”

……

Hearing the audience’s defiant jeers, Junfu’s expression darkened. With a casual flick of his hand, a ball of demonic aura, resembling a spirit projectile, shot toward the section of the stands where the loudest voices were coming from. It blasted several of the most unruly monsters into the air.

Although the projectile was not as powerful as Qin Xiaochuan’s spirit bullets, its destructive force was still astonishing. It blew a huge crater into the solid concrete floor and frightened the voices of opposition into silence.

Indeed, speaking with strength was the most satisfying method.

Looking at the audience he had frightened into silence, Junfu said sternly, “I am completely serious.”

“Damn that mad clown!”

“What are we supposed to do now? Who are we even supposed to support? Both sides are awful!”

“Better keep quiet. If that lunatic fires another one of those things over here, we’ll be in serious trouble!”

……

Ignoring the commotion in the stands, Junfu turned toward Grandmaster Jinghai and continued proclaiming the legend of his dreams.

“Grandmaster Jinghai, you should become a part of my legend as well. Whenever someone mentions you, they’ll say, ‘Oh! She was the successor of the Radiant Pulse Fist—the one who was defeated by the most beautiful, most invincible, and most beautiful martial artist, Junfu!’ How does that sound? Heh heh heh!”

Miss Xingmeng could no longer bear listening to the clown’s ignorant boasting. Taking advantage of the moment when he paused for breath, she hurriedly announced the official start of the match. Deep inside, she prayed that Grandmaster Jinghai would hurry up and destroy this ridiculous clown. His voice was torture to the ears.

When the referee announced the beginning of the battle, Junfu’s expression immediately became serious. Raising a finger before him, he said to Grandmaster Jinghai, “I know you can convert demonic aura into your own power. But watch this.”

As he spoke, he released the demonic aura within his body from his fingertip. At the same time, he continuously adjusted its wavelength.

“I can freely adjust the wavelength of the demonic aura inside my body. That means you won’t be able to absorb it immediately, will you? So I advise you to put away that Radiant Mirror technique of yours. It won’t work on me.”

“……”

“What’s wrong? At a loss for what to do? Hahahaha! Now witness the remaining nine hundred and ninety-nine of my secret techniques! Behold—Rainbow Assault Wave!”

With that, Junfu lunged toward Grandmaster Jinghai. He swept out one hand, and seven multicolored blasts of demonic aura thundered toward her.

His attack was remarkably swift. The seven-colored projectiles carved seven beautiful trails through the air before striking Grandmaster Jinghai and blasting her from the arena into the audience stands.

“Was she defeated!?”

Seeing Grandmaster Jinghai struck so easily, the monsters in the stands cried out in alarm. Some spectators farther away even rose to their feet and used telescopes to observe Grandmaster Jinghai, who had crashed into the audience area.

“That was my exquisite finishing move, released by instantly adjusting the wavelength and producing seven different types of demonic aura! It is also the one I love most among my countless secret techniques!”

Junfu began rambling again toward Grandmaster Jinghai, who lay amid the stands.

“Outside the arena! The countdown is beginning!”

Seeing that Grandmaster Jinghai had been knocked out of bounds, Miss Xingmeng ran to the edge of the platform and began counting toward the master lying in a heap of shattered rubble.

“One…… two…… three……”