Our hero was experiencing something he had been told about several times, but had never felt first-hand. He had always written it off as crazy-talk of an adrenaline junky. Maybe it was the fact that every time our hero blocked a strike, Long Dong would look more frustrated, or that Hu was saving much more energy than his opponent, but Fang Hu had found that the hundreds of fighting anime were right. Fighting to the death was fun.

As the fight dragged on, Long Dong seemed more and more tired. He had spent more qi in his first salvo of attacks than Fang Hu had during the entire fight. It was a testament towards his talent that he was able to continue his onslaught by this point. Chieftain Wo-Kong had begun to expect little Dong's loss at this point, but he, and the rest of the crowd, were surprised when Fang Hu disengaged and put a large amount of distance between themselves.

"Hahh... haaa... what's wrong, huh? Surely, you can't be scared now right? Get... hah hah... back here and fight."

For once, Fang Hu ignored Long Dong's rather desperate sounding taunt. The polite young man dropped his serene smile for the first time since he entered Oasis Basin. A wicked grin donned on Hu's face, his slim frame stopped making him look frail and started to give him a sinister air. Gone was the noble scholar with a thirst for knowledge, in his place was the embodiment of a serpent. The Long Dong was starting to regret his recent life choices when Fang Hu started to perform a movement technique he had apparently been keeping in reserve.

Chieftain Wo-Kong, as well as most of the other elites of his tribe, had noticed what was happening immediately. Fang Hu, unable to bear the mental strain of fighting under pressure, had given into his dao. This impressed the Pheasant's tail elite, as it takes a significant amount of effort to take one's dao far enough to influence one's own thoughts. All Wo-Kong thought however, was that he would probably have to step in the fight before the final blow. The elders, had already left, having seen enough of the battle to predict this matter. They had no time to spare, for they needed to report the purpose of the core formation elder in the area. They truly were fortuitous in this endeavor. None of the clans had to fear destruction, compared to that, the fate of a single cultivator seemed minor.

///

'Damn, this kid is insane! I can't follow him at all! If not for my wind buffer spell I'd be dead 20 times over.'

Long Dong stood in the center of Fang Hu's circling afterimages. Even in his addled mind, Fang Hu made good use of his knowledge, every strike targeted a vital area, triggering Long Dong's wind buffer spell. If Long Dong's spell faltered even once, he would likely die.

"Yo...u ... can't keep... keep this up forever!"

Indeed, Fang Hu was burning through his qi much faster than before, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. It shouldn't have bothered him, because Long Dong was *still* burning through his qi faster. That, however, wasn't the reason Hu didn't care. All Hu seemed to care about was continuing to attack Dong. He attacked Dong relentlessly, like he hadn't sex in ages. He did this all while moving to a foreign tune he was humming.

It all... spooked Long Dong. He was regretting being so aggressive earlier. With the power of hindsight, Hu's insult against him didn't seem so bad. He knew he didn't stand a chance against Wo-Kong, was it so wrong to laugh at his claim?

There was a strike next to his head.

Near his groin.

Eye.

Heel.

Kidney.

Small of his back.

"ENOUGH!"

Long Dong sent a series of wind blades in all directions, hoping to hit Fang Hu, who was too fast for his staff. The next thing Long Dong felt was a presence behind his back, freezing him in place. When he felt the presence retract, he managed to turn around. Looking beyond Fang Hu, who was still frozen in place, Long Dong spotted his chieftain reeling his qi in.

"Long Dong has lost! The mighty Dong can stand no more! Fang Hu has expelled too much qi to continue! He will pull out of the tourney with 9 opponents beaten!"

The crowd lost it.