Chapter 1035: Tears of Heaven and Earth
"Big Guy."
Qiao Jiajin's shout interrupted Zhang Shan's train of thought. "You hate your own body, so you're still holding back your strength, right?"
"Huh...?"
"Because you accidentally killed someone with your bare hands, ever since then, every punch you throw is weighed down by pressure," Qiao Jiajin said. "That kind of reasoning won't fly. I don't want you lying on the ground, making excuses like 'I wasn't going all out just now.' That way, if I win, it won't feel good, and if you lose, you won't be satisfied."
Zhang Shan slowly stood up. "You're a strange person. What if I really go all out and you can't handle it?"
"I can handle it," Qiao Jiajin said.
"I can use brute force to break your 'Triangle Lock.' You can still handle that?"
"I can handle it," Qiao Jiajin repeated.
"Fine."
Zhang Shan moved around the open space, working the soreness out of his limbs. He looked down at his forearm where Qiao Jiajin had scraped it earlier. Because he was sweating continuously, the blood never clotted. Now his entire hand was smeared with sticky red liquid.
Qiao Jiajin also pushed himself up from his knees. His first reaction was to turn around, presenting his back to Zhang Shan, and ask, "Big Guy, quick, check for me—did the words on my back get rubbed off?"
Zhang Shan looked closely. Qiao Jiajin's back was covered in large areas of abrasions. Although the tattooed characters were still there, many places had started bleeding.
Lines of blood, like sharp blades, cut through the words: "Heaven and earth are vast, but the narrow-minded confine themselves."
"The words are still there," Zhang Shan replied.
"That's great." Qiao Jiajin smiled. "As long as this line of words is still here, I can go see the vast heaven and earth."
Zhang Shan paused for a few seconds before saying in a low voice, "But you're bleeding a lot. It's starting to cover the words. Can you really still see that heaven and earth?"
"Maybe it's not my blood," Qiao Jiajin said with his back still turned. "Maybe it's heaven and earth shedding tears."
Zhang Shan looked at Qiao Jiajin's back. Sure enough, as he said, each character on his back was streaming with blood-red tear flowers. Paired with the dragon-and-phoenix tattoo, it looked like heaven and earth were raining down blood.
Zhang Shan sighed after hearing that. "Yeah... No matter how vast heaven and earth are, we're trapped in this blood-red world."
"We won't be trapped forever." Qiao Jiajin turned around, staring intently at Zhang Shan. "The words are still there. Someone will wipe away the blood and tears and take us to see that vast heaven and earth."
"But between the two of us... maybe only one will get to see that vast heaven and earth," Zhang Shan said.
"We'll both see it." Qiao Jiajin said with firm conviction. "Everyone will see the vast heaven and earth again, because someone promised me that. By then, the space between heaven and earth won't be this blood-red."
Zhang Shan was silent after hearing this, as if showing great hesitation about whether or not to "get out."
"Ruffian... have you ever been to prison?" Zhang Shan asked again. "How can someone who's been to prison dare to look out at the vast heaven and earth?"
"I've been to prison. That doesn't stop me," Qiao Jiajin replied. "Why, have you been to prison too?"
Zhang Shan didn't speak, as if silently admitting it.
"Well, that's strange," Qiao Jiajin laughed. "You've been to prison, and I've been to prison. How come I never saw you there? Otherwise, seeing you so pessimistic, I would have patted your shoulder."
"Ha..." Zhang Shan frowned and shook his head. "I wish I had half your optimism."
Both of them stretched their limbs, preparing for the next round of life-or-death combat.
In just a few minutes of exchanging blows, both had lost a lot of stamina and sustained injuries. But no one could hand them a sip of water, and no medical staff came to care for their wounds. The only ones they could rely on had always been themselves.
Next, they had to decide the winner before their stamina was completely exhausted.
"Ruffian, in that case, I'm going all out," Zhang Shan said. "If you can't take it, you can surrender."
"What a coincidence," Qiao Jiajin replied. "I also still have a trump card. You can surrender too."
Zhang Shan took off his shirt, revealing an upper body like stone.
Normally, someone of Zhang Shan's height would need to consume a huge amount of energy daily, eating a lot and inevitably raising their body fat percentage. It would be very hard to maintain a tall stature while also having clearly defined muscles.
But Zhang Shan's body looked like it had been carved with a knife—every inch of muscle was sharply defined.
To achieve that level, you'd either need to train extensively every day, or...
Qiao Jiajin guessed Zhang Shan might be the latter, because he said he "hated this body," so he probably didn't work hard to strengthen it every day.
So this powerful body was natural.
Zhang Shan didn't even need to make any effort—no hard training, no dieting—the muscles on his body would grow in the most perfect shape by themselves.
But for him, was this body a blessing or a curse?
"What the hell..." Qiao Jiajin muttered with a hint of envy. "Just by eating, you can reach this level?"
Zhang Shan moved his body calmly, as if awakening the sleeping muscles.
Meanwhile, Qiao Jiajin raised both hands in front of his face and slowly lifted one knee, assuming a Muay Thai stance.
Using strength to counter strength.
From now on, deciding the outcome might only take a short time. Saying goodbye to this world also seemed to take only a short time.
Azure Dragon rested his cheek on his hand in midair, watching the fight below. In just a few minutes, it seemed to have entered the decisive battle.
Exciting, but not cruel enough.
"Earth Dragon," Azure Dragon called out again. "If these two really became 'Heaven'... no, even if they only became 'Earth,' would anyone still be able to deal with them?"
"Are you afraid you can't beat them?" Earth Dragon asked with a smile.
"Hard to say," Azure Dragon also smiled. "These two rely too much on mortal fighting styles, focusing on center of gravity and technique... An ordinary 'Gale' would be enough to kill them."
"Then why not say that you rely too much on 'Immortal Art'?" Earth Dragon said. "Their physical bodies belong to them, but does your 'Immortal Art' belong to you?"
Azure Dragon was silent after hearing that, his expression naturally not too pleasant.
"'Immortal Art' is something that only exists in this space..." Earth Dragon said. "Once you leave here, you can't do anything... Not only will 'Immortal Art' disappear, even 'Divine Power' will cease to exist... That's probably why you've always wanted to govern this land well."
"That's true..." Azure Dragon narrowed his eyes. "But I always feel that Celestial Dragon doesn't care..."
"Hmm?"
Azure Dragon paused, thinking, then said, "He doesn't seem to care about losing these things... Could it be that he found a way to 'keep' them?"