Infinite Fighting

Chapter 54: Chapter 49: Can a Carp Become a Dragon?

It was Gu Shuangshuang who had been avoiding him.

She had always worried she would slow Li Long’s progress, so she had suppressed her own feelings.

Li Long had always thought there was still time. After all, he was still young, a Grandmaster. He had hoped that Gu Shuangshuang would also reach the Grandmaster realm before they considered matters of the heart.

But now, it seemed there had never been much time at all.

Gu Shuangshuang smiled, then placed Li Long’s fingers against her own forehead.

"Crane... Peck..."

It was an attack technique from the Crane Form Fist, one she had struggled to learn for a long time. In the end, Li Long had to guide her hand-in-hand before she finally mastered it.

Now, she wanted Li Long to use this very move to end her suffering.

Li Long’s hand didn’t move. ’How could I do something like that?’

However, Gu Shuangshuang, beneath his hand, could bear it no longer. She trembled, gritting her teeth until her mouth filled with blood. Her own frozen fingers pierced her skin, driving deep into her abdomen and organs. Fresh blood spilled out once more.

SHINK! SPURT!

A smile appeared on Gu Shuangshuang’s face, and her body stopped shaking.

Li Long closed her open eyes and covered her with the blanket. He then shut his own eyes, remaining still for a long time before suddenly rising to his feet.

...

As a handful of earth covered the urn, the members of the Five Elements Sect came forward one by one to offer three sticks of incense.

Zhang Ji had never imagined something like this would happen at a time like this.

He could sense that Li Long was like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

From the very beginning, Li Long had never been the type to keep his feelings bottled up. He preferred to be direct, to unleash his anger whenever it arose.

His composure as a Grandmaster, his maturity—they were all just compromises made to fit in with the world.

Now, his ability to compromise was about to reach its limit.

Yan Ruifeng seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant, his white hair now much more disheveled.

Tears streamed endlessly from Shen Han’s eyes.

In the bloom of youthful infatuation, he too had once harbored feelings for this gentle, beautiful woman who had looked after him like an older sister.

After the brief funeral, Yan Ruifeng explained the plan moving forward.

The elders would lead the disciples, splitting them up to scatter in different directions. They would take smuggling boats from various locations to travel to other countries.

They would all eventually regroup in a city called Lanz in the Roman Country.

It was said to be the world’s fighting capital, home to many fighters and a rich variety of competitions. Many Martial Artists from the Eastern Extreme Country were already there, making it an ideal place for them to develop.

Zhang Ji was also arranged to leave with Yan Ruifeng, Li Long, and Zheng Chengze.

...

「December 18th.」

Most of the people from the Five Elements Sect had left, one after another.

Zhang Ji and his group were scheduled to leave on December 20th, two days from now.

Outside Li Long’s courtyard, Zhang Ji knocked on the door but got no response. He pushed it open to find the room empty.

He immediately went to find Yan Ruifeng.

Yan Ruifeng was sitting cross-legged by the artificial koi pond on Golden Hook Mountain, staring blankly at the fish. He had been sitting there for two days without eating or drinking.

"Sect Leader, Master is gone!" Zhang Ji said.

"He’s been gone for two days. I know," Yan Ruifeng replied, then said to Zhang Ji, "Come, sit."

Zhang Ji frowned slightly but sat down anyway.

"Did Master go to get revenge?" Zhang Ji asked. "Why didn’t he ask us to go with him?"

"The enemy isn’t just a few people, but an entire era. Who do you think you can take revenge on?" Yan Ruifeng smiled and patted Zhang Ji’s head. "Do you think a carp can transform into a dragon?"

Zhang Ji turned his head and looked at the ornamental koi in the pond. They swam about, serene and content under the glow of the landscape lights, their golden scales reflecting the light beautifully.

’Can they transform into dragons?’

’Or rather... can we?’

Zhang Ji looked at Yan Ruifeng and said earnestly, "I can."

Yes. He wasn’t sure about others, but he could.

He definitely could!

Even if his enemy were an entire era, he would still bring it to its knees!

Yan Ruifeng looked at Zhang Ji’s earnest eyes and smiled.

"Yes, you can!" Yan Ruifeng said. "Go back and get some rest."

"What about you? And Master?" Zhang Ji asked.

"I’ll sit here a while longer. I’ll wait for him to come back," Yan Ruifeng said.

...

...

「That night, Li Long returned.」

He was missing several fingers, and his body was riddled with holes. They were forcibly sealed shut by his vital energy and muscles, so they weren’t bleeding.

Li Long had infiltrated the home of the councilor with the surname Xiao, but unfortunately, his assassination attempt had failed. In the end, he had been just a little short.

By the koi pond, Yan Ruifeng, Li Long, and Zhang Ji were all present.

Zhang Ji had come after being notified by Yan Ruifeng.

He could feel that Li Long’s flame was about to be extinguished.

Not just the fire of his anger, but the fire of his life.

Zhang Ji hadn’t prepared in advance, and the Moonlight Cup held not a single drop of moon essence. He wanted to help, but he was powerless.

If he tried to gather some now, Li Long probably wouldn’t last long enough for the cup to collect enough moon essence to heal him. His life force was fading so quickly that Zhang Ji doubted he would even last ten minutes.

Besides, this wasn’t a game where you could just refill a health bar. The moon essence didn’t have the power to directly regenerate flesh and blood.

The number of holes piercing his heart and lungs was shocking to behold. Zhang Ji had no idea how he had even managed to make it back. His willpower was simply terrifying...

"Zhang Ji," Li Long said.

"I am here," Zhang Ji replied.

"I will speak. You will listen and remember. Do not forget," Li Long said.

Zhang Ji nodded to show he understood.

"The snake is the sinews, the Tiger is the bones, the leopard is the skin, the Crane is the spirit, and the dragon is the soul... With the soul as the core, drive the Qi into the meridians..."

After brushing with death, Li Long had finally grasped the unity of the five forms and understood their true meaning. But it was too late.

No one could save him now.

Besides, even with his current level of power, unleashing the unified five forms couldn’t turn the tide.

He hadn’t even mastered all five Fist Skills.

He had only mastered one; the rest were still lacking.

’If I had mastered them all, maybe I could have killed that man this time...’

’And then what?’

’What would I have done then?’

His consciousness wavering slightly, Li Long asked, "Did you remember it all?"

"I’ve remembered it!" Zhang Ji said with a nod.

Li Long nodded in satisfaction, then leaned against Yan Ruifeng and let his head fall.

Yan Ruifeng closed his eyes slightly. His breathing also slowed, then stopped.

Seeing this, Zhang Ji crouched down, then knelt on the ground and bowed respectfully.

Then he stood up and, that very night, notified an elder to have them buried. Li Long was interred beside Gu Shuangshuang, with Yan Ruifeng laid to rest at their head.

Given the urgency of the situation, a full funeral couldn’t be held. It was a simple affair with just three sticks of incense.

Shen Han had already left, and Zhang Ji didn’t tell him what had happened, wanting to avoid affecting him too much.

’No sense in having him come back just to throw his own life away, right?’

"The escape routes from Golden Hook Mountain have been blocked by the military," Zheng Chengze said to Zhang Ji.

"Can we fight our way out?" Zhang Ji asked.

"For the disciples who aren’t Grandmasters, a single large-caliber bullet would be enough to take their lives," Zheng Chengze said.

"They aren’t the primary targets of the retaliation, we are. There’s no need for them to throw their lives away too," Zhang Ji said. "At midnight, we’ll leave together."

Zheng Chengze gave Zhang Ji a deep look and said, "Alright."

If two Grandmasters were determined to flee, and with the enemy unable to use large-scale weapons of mass destruction in a residential area, their chances of escape were still high.

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