Chapter 9: A Bitter Battle

Weiyang was currently engaged in battle of endurance with Weimei. The hairs on Weimei's mane had extended, acting similar to hundreds of thin tentacles trying to grab a hold of Weiyang. Weiyang dodged the threads of hair easily, however there were no openings she could take advantage of to counterattack. With the current direction of the battle, unless one of the them made a mistake the deciding factor would be their own ability to control the expenditure of their spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, Weizhe and Weifan were at a stand still. After the first exchange ended neither had moved from current location, instead they seemed to be waiting. Weifan, having one of his legs put out of commission, was beginning to take Weizhe seriously. Weizhe felt this shift in attitude and he had a feeling that the fight wouldn't be any easier.

A breeze blew through the stadium, carrying with it the fallen autumn leaves. One leaf gently floated down, eventually landing between the two.

Whoosh! Weizhe, having grown impatient, was the first to move. Weifan, instead of trying to meet Weizhe's charge, focused his spiritual energy towards his front and braced himself. They collided, though neither of them were sent flying by the collision. A standoff had begun. They were pressed against each other, making attempts to push the other back. Their heads were pressed against the side of the other's body. Occasionally, they would swerve their head to try to bite the other, however with a small side bash neither of them successfully managed to do so thus far.

The standoff didn't last long as Weizhe gradually began to push Weifan back. Weifan, because he lacked the power of a leg, was only barely struggling to hold him back with his spiritual energy. This also didn't take into account that Weizhe was a body practitioner. Body cultivation normally took far longer than spiritual cultivation, and the suffering one had to endure was much more because they were essentially refining their body like one would a tool, but the results of body cultivation always exceeded spiritual cultivation at the same level. It was only because Weizhe's intelligence was lacking that his strength could only be considered equal to Weifan.

Seeing the dire situation, Weifan began to rapidly circulate his spiritual energy through his meridians before unleashing it in one large burst. This burst of spiritual energy gave him the strength necessary to push Weizhe back and gave him the opportunity to pull back. They had once again return to the positions they had started with after the first exchange.

Weiyang let out a frustrated sigh. While Weifan and Weizhe were engaged in an exciting confrontation, Weiyang's match seemed more like a strange game of tag where she avoided her opponent's hair and her opponent tried to entangle her in it. Weiyang, while not a battle maniac, felt that the current fight was far too boring. No longer willing to continue the conflict, instead of waiting for her opponent to make a mistake she would try to force her opponent to show some opening. Having a plan in mind, she got to work. She began dodge in a strange manner, sometime pushing her lower half up off the ground at times, sometimes breaking into a small gallop and jumping. This strange scene caught the attention of many in the crowd, and some snickered at the sight. Solemness, however, entered the eyes of the experience individuals in the crowd, having realized something the ordinary members of the audience didn't.

Moving her body ever so slightly to the side, Weiyang dodged another thread of hair before actually running straight towards Weimei. Seeing her actions, Weimei let out a mocking smile, thinking Weiyang had gotten tired and decided to stake the fight on a reckless rush. She used her spiritual energy to command a strange of her hair to try to block Weiyang, however she was shocked when she realized that the hair she had commanded to move only made it half way to Weiyang. The thread had pulled along other hairs in the way, and the once loose hair was now tangled up. Panicking, Weimei tried to forcefully untangle her hair and send it towards Weiyang, but she was too slow.

Weiyang unleashed a large amount of spiritual energy, causing her to be covered in a blinding teal glow, and rammed right into Weimei, sending her flying off the stadium. Cheers echoed, many having seen the incredible strategy Weiyang had used to defeat Weimei. The battle awareness and wit it took to know how to subtly tangle her opponent's hair in a way they wouldn't realize and use it to find an opportunity to attack was astonishing, and for this feat to be accomplished by someone as young as Weiyang surprised many. Weiyang, however, didn't have the luxury of enjoying the cheers as she anxiously watched Weizhe's fight.

The two were once again exchanging hits. The fight this time was far more brutal than the small encounters from before. Bite marks marred their necks, and hoof marks were scatted on their chest from when one of them would stand on their hind legs and use their front legs to trample the other. The fight was reaching its climax.

Weifan couldn't accept the fact that the one he had called trash just a month ago had increased in strength so quickly. Eventually, a low, angry roar was emitted from his throat. Preserving his strength for further matches would only help if he could win his current one. Realizing this, the red-eyed Weifan abandoned his inhibitions. With reckless abandon his spiritual energy gushed out of every pore from his body, drowning his body in a ocean blue light. Disregarding the injury to his leg, he bolted towards Weizhe.

"You damn brat! I refuse to believe you can accept the full strength of my Bashing Wave Technique!" An illusion of a large wave appeared behind him, drawing gasps from the audience. Spiritual energy forming an illusion was a sign that one had achieved great accomplishment in a technique. A feeling of impending crisis fell on Weizhe. The climax had arrived, if Weizhe could take Weifan's Bashing Wave he would very likely win this match. Weizhe, for a moment, felt a little fear looking at the incoming wave. Then scenes depicting a young, frail horse being constantly pushed down and beat by another flashed before his eyes. Every scene that came by chipped away at his fear, replacing it with a dark, cold feeling. He wanted vengeance.

A small ring like that of bell was emitted from inside his body in the moment he felt this trace of emotion, and parts of his body changed colors, becoming a metallic gray. Following the flecks of gray that appeared on his coat, his muscles bulged, and with a small battle cry of his own he rushed forward to face Weifan head on. A low boom sounded out as these two met at the center of the ring, and the dirt all around was kicked up, hiding them away from the eyes of the audience. Following the collision, a silence settled in the stadium, and everyone held their breath as they waited to see what the results of the bitter fight were.