Both of them chose the word "Stay" and got teleported into the arena afterwards. They already knew that they want to confront each other to settle their debts.
When their eyes met each other inside the arena, they immediately adjusted their stance and waited for who's gonna strike first.
"Ling, as a mere Qi Saturation Stage brat, standing toe-to-toe to a peak Qi Perfection Stage expert like me was unheard of. You're one of the geniuses in this era!" Wen Jian exclaimed.
"Unfortunately, your journey ends here. Despite possessing a High-Rank Qi Foundation cultivation technique, it won't be enough to defeat me. Because I also possessed a cultivation technique with the same rank as yours!"
Ling finally realized what Wen Jian meant before.
(Was he referring to my Three-Dagger Killing Formation? It means that this technique was a High-Rank Qi Foundation cultivation technique?)
Ling smirked upon knowing the true rank of the cultivation technique he possessed after all these years.
(No wonder I could deal them despite having a disparity in cultivation levels...!)
Ling activated the Three-Dagger Killing Formation. Since he accumulated enough purple qi from the previous battles, he managed to create the third qi dagger.
"This will be fun!"
Both of them walked slowly, drawing closer to each other. They cautiously analyzed each of their movements, waiting for a perfect opportunity to charge.
When they noticed that both of them are within the range of their attacks, Wen Jian grabbed this opportunity and swiftly charged towards Ling. He unsheathes his sword on his scabbard and swung it high in the air. Using his sword, Wen Jian unleashed a ferocious attack that contains an overwhelming force.
"Sky-Splitting Sword Cleave!"
Ling quickly took action and tried to parry the attack with his floating three qi daggers. However, the force was too heavy to block by just the qi daggers alone. In order to overcome that problem, Ling weaved several amounts of qi threads and wrapped around his right arm as a temporary arm guard.
As Wen Jian's sword made its impact, Ling managed to block it using his right arm with several layers of qi threads that acts like an arm guard. Despite having a thick layer of protection, the blade still managed to graze over his skin.
"Ghhhk!"
Ling pushed Wen Jian's sword away and jumped back to gain some distance. Wen Jian stepped back while grinning.
"Hah! It seems like my cultivation technique was far more superior than yours!"
Ling checked his right arm and saw that it was bleeding. He absorbed all the qi threads back to his dantian.
(Tch! His sword attack contain such explosive power! And it seems like the bone in my arm got damaged after blocking it! Was he hiding his strength all along?)
On the other side, Wen Jian was panting while his eyes was focused only on Ling.
(Huff... Hahh... That attack drained one-fourths of my qi reserves. It seems like it isn't enough to deal that brat..!)
Wen Jian noticed a fast-moving object accelerating towards him. He parried it with ease using his sword, and the object deflected to his right side.
Jian saw that it was a purple qi dagger when it halted on mid-air.
"Hmph. What can mere daggers made out of qis could do against a sword? In an open area like this, they're at disadvantage!"
Ling took the qi dagger that Jian parried before back to his position. As it returned back to its owner, it flew around Ling's body, along with the second qi dagger.
(He's right... The Three-Dagger Killing Formation works best only on sneak attacks, not with direct confrontation. It wouldn't be enough to deal with that bastard, because his vision isn't limited at all...!)
Ling took all the qi daggers and breathed deeper. He concentrated all his force towards his arms.
(If it won't work that way, then I have to make my attacks faster!)
Ling immediately threw the daggers towards the patriarch. However, the patriarch could see them easily. He effortlessly moved his head to the right and his left shoulder to avoid the lightning-speed daggers.
"Too slow."
The daggers flew towards the barrier and bounced back. Ling noticed it and immediately retrieved the daggers in quick succession.
"Damn it...!"
"Ling! Your resistance is futile against me. Surrender and die for my sake, will you?"
"Ptoo!" Ling exclaimed and spat some blood on the floor.
(I need to weaken him first before dealing a massive blow... But how should I do it?)
Ling looked around and remembered that the barrier had a properties similar to a rubber, repelling his qi daggers back inside the arena. Suddenly, an idea came on his mind.
Without saying a word, Ling threw one of the daggers towards Jian. Similar on what happened earlier, Wen Jian parried it easily.
"What now, brat? You've ran out of options already?"
Without his knowledge, the dagger bounced on the barrier and went back to him. Thanks to the barrier's elasticity, the dagger gained momentum and hurled faster than before. Wen Jian noticed it and immediately parried the incoming dagger.
"What the...?!"
"Got you, geezer."
Ling threw his other two daggers towards Jian, in which he parried again. However, the blades bounced back and began to rush towards him.
"Fuck! I can't shrug them off...! Ghk!"
Ling calculates the trajectory of each daggers by shifting their direction slighty in order to bounce them from the barrier. Everytime Jian attempts to pin those daggers to the ground, Ling will control that dagger to prevent him from disabling his weapon. His daggers were hurling towards Jian without letting him catch a breath.
"Ghk!"
One of the daggers managed to graze his wrist. Jian quickly noticed that something was seeping his qi and vitality through the wounds he received from Ling's qi daggers.
"This again...!"
Over the course of a minute, Wen Jian received multiple shallow wounds from Ling's qi daggers. As the wounds began to appear, his strength was also deteriorating.
(I need to dodge them...!)
Wen Jian tries to jump away, but his struggle came to a halt when something got tangled on his legs.
"What...?!"
Jian was tripped and slammed on the ground. He groaned in pain and attempts to move his legs. However, he saw qi threads wrapped around his leg.
(Since when did he...?!")
"Geez... What took you so long to jump?"
"You...! How did you—"
"Pft! Do you think I would randomly throw daggers around without a plan in my mind?"
Two daggers flew towards him and pinned both of his wrists to the ground. They began to sap his vitality and qi, causing the blades to glow brighter.
"Gahhh! You vermin!" Jian shouted in rage.
"HAHAHA! Yeah, yeah~ I'm the vermin, alright..."
Suddenly, Ling stomped his neck, causing the patriarch to gag as a reflex.
"Ghakk!!"
"If I'm the vermin, then what are you?"
Ling's face leaned towards Wen Jian's struggling face. His menacing gaze carved deep onto the patriarch's memory. His helplessness triggered his fear and began to tremble.
"You..."
(With wits and cunningness that overpowers me, a cultivator that had superior strength and level, he's a genius! No... an evil genius!)
"F-Fuck you, Ling...! If I managed to escape here, I will gouge your eyes out and make you swallow it!"