As he sunk to the ground, a rusty taste came at the back of his throat. Involuntarily, his throat
contracted and a mouthful of blood came out. He wiped it away and pushed against the ground to get
himself up.
The herbal pot's energy started to diminish. It seemed to have used up all of it destroying all of Austin's
sword intent and pushing him away.
With a wave of his hand, Steward Meng recalled the herbal pot.
Once again, he infused energy into it.
"Again!" he commanded.
Instantly, the herbal pot once again came flying towards Austin with a furious force.
Realizing that his sword skills were useless, Austin desperately thought about the best alternative.
Austin felt as if he were pushed against the wall with no idea of how he would escape. Finally, he
decided to go with using Twin Shadow Blades this time around.
"Clang!"
With a crisp metal crash, the Twin Shadow Blades flew back and almost hit Austin himself.
Luckily, Austin managed to redirect the Twin Shadow Blades with his mind and turn the blunt edges of
the blades to his side so the blades would not hurt him.
Still, the impact gave him an internal injury. Another mouthful of blood came out of him.
"Haha! One more!" laughed Steward Meng.
Although it took Steward Meng a lot of vital energy to launch the herbal pot, he was determined to
prevent a breathing spell for Austin. He was winning and he wanted to keep it that way.
Without the Twin Shadow Blades to protect him, the herbal pot slammed against Austin once again.
Austin gnashed his teeth in frustration as he looked at the fast approaching herbal pot.
"Howl!"
he roared as he stretched his arms. His fists clenched as he concentrated on collecting 1000 pounds of
strength in each of them to try to fight the herbal pot.
"Boom!"
A loud sound marked the pot's solid impact. With another massive and forceful blow, Austin came flying
backward like a stringless kite. Then, he fell to the ground creating a huge crater on the earth.
He shuffled to his feet. Covered in scars, he looked very worn-out.
Austin did not expect the herbal pot to be this powerful. He was caught off-guard with its capabilities
with no clue on how to defeat it.
Steward Meng, on the other hand, despite having the upper hand, was astonished by the power that
Austin had displayed.
He trained for decades to be able to master the herbal pot and hundreds of strong martial artists at
Mysterious Realm before him had died because of its power. Austin, however, remained standing even
after being knocked down again and again. Moreover, he did not seem so badly hurt. This was not
something a typical practitioner could do.
Gauging his opponent's capabilities, he turned serious.
'It seems that I need to exert more efforts to kill this guy, '
Steward Meng thought to himself.
He sneered, "I must give it to you, Austin. You are a good fighter. You are powerful and you have
excellent sword skills. I am very much impressed with your level 2 sword intent. Not to mention, you
move swiftly--quick and agile.
In spite of all of those, though. I'm afraid I will still kill you."
He was dead serious. In his eyes, Austin was a dead meat.
Austin looked at Steward Meng's face that was with maniacal, murderous intention. He knew that the
fight would not get any easier. Escape was also quite impossible.
If it were any other martial artist, his exceptional speed could possibly save his life. This was something
that he could take advantage of.
With Steward Meng, however, it did not seem to be an option because of his wings. It would take more
than just speed. No matter how quickly he managed to run, it would be no match for when Steward
Meng took flight.
It was hopeless to try to get away. Austin was left with no other option but to fight until the end.
"Blargh," he vomited a mouthful of blood once again. Then, gathering all of his strength, he folded his
two palms together.
Wisps of golden vital energy billowed out of his slender fingers like golden snakes.
Austin moved his fingers rapidly changing the snakes' formations into a whir of mesmerizing golden
spirals. It was a dazzling sight to behold. Then, the vital energy force condensed and collected in his
palms.
During Austin's practice of the Golden Sun Scripture, he managed to find time to practice the Grand
Pagoda Summoning Skill as well. In his training, he practiced increasing the speed of summoning the
Grand Pagoda because he was well aware that in a fight, time was of the essence. No enemy would
wait for him if he were not fast enough. In fact, that could even lead to his demise.
It was no wonder that in using the Grand Pagoda Summoning Skill, a martial artist's true power was
measured based on how quickly he managed to summon it.
With his diligence, he was now able to summon the Grand Pagoda at a fairly acceptable speed.
This was something that Steward Meng could have noticed if he were not consumed by his
overconfidence. He noticed that Austin was coming up with something again but he failed to realize
exactly what it was.
With a grim smile, he said, "Wow. I am surprised that you're not yet giving up. You're more stupid than I
thought. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, son, but it's useless to resist."
Angry, Steward Meng took the herbal pot and threw it forward. Immediately, the vital energy force
gushed out as he attacked.
As for Austin, his hand churned like butterflies dancing beautifully among flowers. Countless strings of
vital energy shone brightly, wrapping around his arms almost covering it completely. The vital energy
force was overwhelmingly powerful.
Then, the vital energy force from Austin's hands formed into a three-layered golden pagoda. It was
covered completely in gold.
Inexhaustible energy came rolling in from the three-layered pagoda. Then, he said, "I won't celebrate
too early if I were you."
Holding the grand pagoda in his hands, Austin's eyes turned gold as he was filled with its power. The
energy around him changed. He was no longer the underdog. Now, he was the dominator. This was the
effect of the Grand Pagoda Summoning Skill: it bestowed the handler with overbearing confidence and
equipped him with a force that no other force in the earth or heavens could compare.
Austin stood still. There was no wind but his clothes were rustled with great energy.
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