Book 1 - What Is A Genius - Chapter 18 - First Kill

He Yiming’s speed was extremely quick. Although he was not moving in a straight line, the genuine reason he charged forward despite the danger was a kind of awareness.
It was a special feeling, an indescribable sixth sense, telling him that if he were to advance at this moment, he would not face too much danger.
After he made two up and downs, towards his lateral side, by a big tree not too far away, he saw a man in black skin-tight clothes out of the corner of his eyes. The man had a small crossbow in his hand and was currently loading it with an arrow.
He Yiming glanced at his hands and immediately discerned that such a crossbow was a bit different than the standardized ones provided in the army. Be it in terms of might or size, this crossbow was a lot smaller than the latter. If he had not made a mistake, this crossbow must have been forged by an influential family in secret. This man being able to get his hands onto it was pretty surprising.
He Yiming slightly bent his body and swept his hand on the ground, before he picked up a big stone and threw it towards his opponent.
Although He Yiming had not learned any hidden weapon techniques, infusing the stone with his Internal Energy nevertheless produced the same air-piercing sound as it flew towards his opponent like an arrow.
His opponent’s speed was quick as he reacted swiftly. He instantly discarded the arrow he was loading and dodged the stone with a lazy roll. As soon as he stood, he applied strength through his feet, causing a huge mixture of tiny rocks and mud, like torrents of rain covering the whole sky, to emerge in the way He Yiming was charging.
He Yiming was gloomy in his heart. He didn’t anticipate that he would have to face such a thing when he wished to exchange blows with his opponent. He Yiming’s figure remained in mid-air for a brief instant, but he couldn’t avoid some of the mud splashing on his body.
His both legs touched the ground before he eventually saw his the opponent’s face.
His opponent was a middle-aged man with a sharp-pointed mouth and monkey cheeks. In particular, his eyes had a trace of sinister, red color seeming like blood.
He Yiming’s heart tensed. He immediately recognized the opponent and also understood why would the latter mount a sneak attack without exchanging a word.
‘Hubin?’ He subconsciously tightened his fists and tensely said inwardly.
He felt an indescribable chill in his heart. He was at the seventh layer of the Internal Energy, but his opponent had killed an enormous amount of people. If he were to say that he didn’t feel the slightest fear, that would just be lying to himself.
Hubin coldly watched He Yiming, the corner of his mouth slightly curling into a sneer.
“You children of big families, your guts are truly getting more and more. Even such a small guy has dared to come and throw his life away.”
He Yiming sucked in a deep breath and circulated his Internal Energy, attaining the peak of the Primordial Energy’s sixth layer within an instant.
He casually extended his hands and said in a clear voice:
“Hubin, who has come to throw away his life, we will only know after the fight. You…” His face suddenly tensed and both fists simultaneously stretched forward. Because Hubin, who was in front of his eyes, had already pounced on him before he could finish speaking.
Previously, in the manor, during the duels with his siblings, both sides would first properly prepare themselves before displaying their moves. Hubin’s sudden attack halfway during his words was completely out of his expectations.
Hubin’s figure, seeming as smooth as a swimming fish, covered the distance in a single leap. His palm, seeming like a light feather and devoid of strength, effortlessly slapped towards He Yiming’s side.
He Yiming was naturally not willing to be outdone. He fully employed his gold-type cultivation technique, Primordial Energy, in correspondence with Rolling Boulder Fist, and struck towards his opponent without the slightest hesitation.
As soon as the two fists collided, Hubin’s complexion immediately changed. Exerting his feet, he hurriedly retreated like a ghost. His body circled around in mid-air, before he stepped on two big trees in succession and finally neutralized the strong thrust from He Yiming’s fist.
After the formal exchange between the two sides, He Yiming’s heart immediately calmed down.
Although Hubin had a murderous aura around his body which he feared, former’s Internal Energy was indeed only at the fifth layer. Even if he used battle skills corresponding to the Internal Energy’s sixth layer, he could easily beat his opponent. As soon as he thought up to here, he quickly strode forward with a light shout.
Hubin’s feet touched the ground, and he suddenly shouted:
“Wait.”
He Yiming’s footsteps stopped. His figure, like a statue, stood completely still as he suspiciously stared his opponent.
Hubin’s both hands were on his back and face seemed a bit frightened as he said:
“Sixth layer Internal Energy and sixth layer battle skill? Which family’s child are you?”
He Yiming, with his head high and chest out, loftily said:
“Tai Cang’s He family.”
“Good. What a surprise, He family actually has such a young expert.” Hubin nodded, but his eyes were filled with killing intent. He stretched out his hands and rubbed them once, before saying:
“My qi and blood have completely settled down. We can continue.”
He Yiming blankly stared for a brief instant, before suddenly realizing that his previous strike had already sent his opponent’s qi and blood into chaos. If he’d followed up with another attack, he would have certainly gained a huge advantage. However, because of this exchange of words, latter had already recovered himself.
His face was slightly red. This time’s lesson could be regarded as extremely profound for him. Henceforth, he would firmly keep it in mind at all times.
A trace of anger flickered in He Yiming’s eyes. His two fists alternately struck towards Hubin in an endless succession. With sixth layer Internal Energy operating in his body, his every fist was followed by a wind current. The even more frightening thing was that before the wind current of one fist dissipated, next one would have already been issued. These wind currents surrounded his body and formed a defensive shield. Furthermore, his own body seemed like a giant circular boulder which was incessantly rolling in a certain range. Due to the wind currents, even the gargantuan trees, which were in range, were faintly swaying. Not to mention, some shrubs and grasses, that only left behind profound traces as if they had been steamrolled by a huge boulder.
At the same time, his vehemence continuously increased alongside the wind currents. After several tens of fists, the apprehension in his heart finally dissipated. His every fist felt refreshed, and he gradually gained an absolute supremacy.
He was feeling completely unrestrained. It was vastly different from what he usually felt while dueling with his siblings.
This was a real battle, a true battle…
As for his enemy, He Yiming rather admired him. The Internal Energy and the battle skill he’d employed was clearly a gold type technique. However, his body didn’t have the firmness and sharpness of a metal type battle skill, but had the hard-and-soft nature of a water type battle skill. Capable of using a metal type battle skill up to such an extent, He Yiming was absolutely unable to see the head or tail of his opponent’s battle experience.
An ordinary cultivator with metal type Internal Energy’s fifth layer would have found it extremely difficult to hold against such a rentless assualt from He Yiming. Hubin’s skill was indeed extraordinary. His figure was shuttling about like a swimming fish in that seemingly giant boulder of wind currents.
Going by his fifth layer metal type Internal Energy, if he could avoid a direct strike from He Yiming’s fists, the encompassing winds were although ferocious, they had no chance of injuring him. Though, to dodge these seemingly everywhere fists, he couldn’t attack at all.
After fifteen minutes, Hubin was quite anxious. He was continuously cursing inwardly.
‘Where the hell did this freak pop up from?’
‘After employing metal-type Internal Energy for so long, how are wind currents still intensifying.’
During the previous confrontation, he found out that He Yiming’s battle skill was the metal type Rolling Boulder Fist. This was a pretty good fist technique; one of the strongest in all the techniques of the same rank. However, such a fist technique had a huge disadvantage. It consumed huge amounts of Internal Energy in order to maintain a continuous aggression.
He could tell at a glance that the youngster in front of his eyes had not exceeded the age of fifteen. Capable of attaining the sixth layer at this age was an extraordinary feat. Even in the entire Tianluo country, people who’d attained the sixth layer before the age of fifteen were extremely rare.
Therefore, he decided that he would try his greatest against He Yiming. As long as he waited until the opponent had exhausted his Internal Energy, he could commence his counter-attack.
However, to this moment, He Yiming was becoming increasingly fierce with the fight’s progression. He could also feel a kind of continuously intensifying oppression from the wind currents. By the looks of it, his opponent’s Internal Energy might continue to operate endlessly.
‘Don’t tell me this guy’s Internal Energy has already attained the sixth layer’s peak? If not, how could he put on such a frightening display?’
Hubin was extremely regretful. If he’d known that the things would turn out as such, he would have thought about a plan to flee at the very beginning. However, being surrounded by the wind currents, escaping was much harder for him at this moment. Furthermore, continuously evading He Yiming’s wind was in itself a very dangerous approach. He faintly felt that he might not be able to stand his ground.
At the same time, there were strong soldiers chasing behind his back. In such conditions, if he continued to tangle with this youngster, even if he could successfully dodge latter’s assault, as long as his pursuers caught up to him, he would not be able to escape even if he had wings.
A trace of hesitation flickered in his eyes. He gnashed his teeth, dodged He Yiming’s next strike, before his feet landed on the ground and entered the soil like a rock stump.
He raised both of his hands high and roared. His both palms, seeming a little swelled, struck towards He Yiming with the pressure of Mt. Tai weighing down.
He Yiming was overjoyed. Although he had the upper hand all along, his opponent was extremely experienced and had not confronted him directly. This made him gloomy as if he’d been striking cotton with all of his strength. Therefore, when Hubin stood steadily and counterattacked, he felt his dearest wish coming true.
The instant fists and palms resolutely struck against each other, He Yiming’s complexion immediately transformed and his powerful Internal Energy surged backward. The opponent’s two palms, as if a gigantic axe cutting a mountain, thoroughly split apart the formidable might accumulated off his Rolling Boulder Fist and counterattacked.