Chapter 834: hitting the Wrong Target Doesn't Seem to Be a Loss Either

xshuquge

Meng Jingzhou froze at the words, his mind racing to analyze the situation. Lu Yang had transformed into his likeness, severely restricting his own repertoire of moves and causing his combat prowess to plummet. Yet, when that rascal Lu Yang changed into him, he had also borrowed a portion of his strength. If they truly came to blows, the outcome would be anyone's guess!

Since that was the case, the answer was glaringly obvious.

The true Meng Jingzhou struck first, kicking the fake Meng Jingzhou down from the tree.

Witnessing this, Zhong Yi was the first to make a judgment, shouting, "To resort to a sneak attack and do something so utterly wicked, that has to be Lu Yang!"

Meng Jingzhou stood in stunned silence.

Had he been doing too many good deeds lately, leading them to believe his moral character was actually that high?

He immediately leapt down from the tree, standing side by side with his double, leaving the crowd once again unable to tell who was who.

"What do we do?"

"Beat them both up, we won't lose out even if we hit the wrong one!" Luo Wushuang bellowed.

The crowd thought about it and realized it made perfect sense. In fact, it was the perfect excuse to take a few swings at Meng Jingzhou.

Their fight against Lu Yang or their submission to him as their elder brother was mandated by their elders; beating up Meng Jingzhou was their own heartfelt desire.

"Old Lu, you bastard, you dragged me into this mess too!"

"We are both about to get thrashed, and you are still putting on an act?"

"What do you mean acting? I am clearing my name!"

The two Meng Jingzhous argued endlessly, but it no longer mattered. The crowd did not care anymore who was real and who was fake.

Actually, that was not entirely true. It would still be best if they could distinguish the real Meng Jingzhou, so they could put a bit more muscle into their strikes.

Meng Jingzhou also realized this. Lu Yang transforming into him was an outright, blatant trap. Even if they discovered the truth, the crowd would collectively turn a blind eye and pretend not to see a thing!

How utterly venomous!

"Brothers, charge! Defeat Meng Jingzhou... no, wait, defeat Lu Yang and rescue Young Master Meng!"

"Kill!"

The sight of two Meng Jingzhous filled the crowd with renewed vigor, and their techniques became fiercer than before.

"No, wait, Old Meng, you are far too hated. After I turned into you, their attacks scaled up an entire level," one of the Meng Jingzhous suddenly remarked. The crowd instantly caught on; this was the fake Meng Jingzhou.

They could ignore the fake one for now and focus their fury on the true Meng Jingzhou!

Every technique originally meant for the speaker was instantly redirected toward the other Meng Jingzhou.

"Old Meng, have you no shame? Trying to impersonate me!" the other Meng Jingzhou cursed loudly, acting exactly as if he were the real Lu Yang.

The crowd hesitated once more, uncertain of the truth.

"Fellow Daoists, since we cannot tell them apart, let us stick to the original plan and beat them both!"

On the other side, An Nan'er quietly slipped out of the fray, leaping onto the tree canopy to sit beside Meng Jingyu.

"Sister Jingyu, which one do you think is your brother?"

Meng Jingyu was looking down, munching on a piece of fruit. Hearing An Nan'er's question, she raised her head and looked at her with an innocent smile.

"Both of them are my brother."

"Arhat Fist!"

"Arhat Fist!"

The two Meng Jingzhous seemed like carbon copies, their movements in executing the Arhat Fist identical in every way.

This was only natural, for it was Meng Jingzhou who had originally taught Lu Yang the Arhat Fist.

"Whose hair fell out?"

The beaten young masters hastily checked their own heads, only to find their hair perfectly intact, not a single strand missing.

One of the Meng Jingzhous suddenly came to a realization and pointed at the other. "I've got it! You rascal used the Arhat Fist and the Longevity Art at the same time!"

"Nonsense! It was clearly you who used the Arhat Fist and the Longevity Art, and now you're pinning it on this young master!"

Both Meng Jingzhous were desperate to prove they were Lu Yang.

Lu Yang had considered reverting to his original form, but once he did, the crowd would lose their excuse to target Meng Jingzhou, and the misfortune would fall entirely back onto himself.

"Six Styles of Heaven Shaking!" one Meng Jingzhou shouted fiercely. His aura surged to another level, and the earth beneath his feet trembled and rolled.

Though Lu Yang did not know the Six Styles of Heaven Shaking, it did not matter. None of the others had ever seen the real technique either.

The Six Styles of Heaven Shaking was the supreme mastery of the Third Elder. The younger generation had no chance of seeing it; only the older generation had witnessed it while receiving a beating.

Lu Yang used his fist as a sword, his aura likewise surging as his martial style grew sharper. "Six Styles of Heaven Shaking!"

Despite dragging Meng Jingzhou in as a scapegoat, Lu Yang's situation remained far from optimistic. There were simply too many people. If he had not frequently spared with the Invincible Nascent Soul, he would have succumbed to the concentrated focus of their attacks long ago.

"Humph, you forced this young master's hand!" Meng Jingzhou grew furious, summoning his dual Nascent Souls. The twin souls merged, transforming into a divine figure with three heads and six arms.

The Three Heads and Six Arms form was Meng Jingzhou's trump card, rarely deployed. For safety reasons, Daoist Buyu never detailed Lu Yang or Meng Jingzhou's specific techniques in his daily storytelling. Thus, the crowd had no idea that only Meng Jingzhou could utilize this form.

"Six Styles of Heaven Shaking!" Executed under the Three Heads and Six Arms state, the power of the technique multiplied several times over. No peer among his contemporaries could possibly withstand such a blow.

Zhong Yi swiftly made his judgment. "So strong? Then he must be Lu Yang! Concentrate our strength on the other one!"

The pressure on the true Meng Jingzhou plummeted, but he did not know whether to be happy or miserable.

What did they mean by 'the strong one must be Lu Yang'?

Seeing things take a turn for the worse, Lu Yang hastily drew his Qingfeng Sword to face the enemy.

Though Lu Yang rarely wielded a blade, his identity as a sword cultivator was well-known to the world. The moment the crowd saw the Qingfeng Sword drawn and a displays of superb swordsmanship, they knew this was absolutely not something Meng Jingzhou could mimic. They instantly turned their attention back to the real Meng Jingzhou.

Of course, they could not make their targeting of the true Meng Jingzhou too obvious, so a third of the force remained to besiege Lu Yang. Someone even shouted, "Who knew Young Master Meng's swordsmanship was also so profound! I am truly impressed!"

The real Meng Jingzhou cursed inside. When the hell did I ever learn swordsmanship?

Beset by concentrated attacks and with a portion of his strength still borrowed by Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou quickly ran out of stamina and collapsed under the gang-beating.

Seeing his scapegoat fall, Lu Yang reverted to his original appearance, returning the borrowed power to Old Meng.

When the crowd realized the one who had collapsed was the real Meng Jingzhou, their expressions shifted dramatically. They scrambled in a panic to help him up.

"Oh, Young Master Meng, you should have said earlier that you were the real one! We wouldn't have struck so heavily otherwise."

The others chimed in one after another. "Yes, exactly! We all thought you were Lu Yang, which is why we showed no mercy."

Meng Jingzhou fell silent.

He had only been away from the Imperial City for a little over five years, so how had every single one of them become so utterly shameless?

The second round of the First Inaugural Lu Yang Championship was still underway. Lu Yang, acting as the prize, was still putting up a bitter resistance, refusing to admit defeat.

Without Meng Jingzhou to act as his lightning rod, the pressure on his side returned to its original crushing intensity.

Within his mental space, the Immortal Fairy sat regally upon her imperial throne. Stretching her words, she asked at a leisurely pace, "Little Yang, do you need this Fairy's help?"

Lu Yang thought to himself that if the Fairy wanted to fight, she should just say so; her face was practically glowing with an eagerness she hadn't bothered to hide.

Lu Yang bowed deeply. "I request the Sovereign to lend her hand."

In reality, at the very center of the crowd, Lu Yang opened his eyes. His gaze was ancient and weathered, as if it had traversed ten thousand ages of time.

He swept his gaze across the crowd, then spoke in a measured, deliberate tone, "You mere mortals are nothing but straw dogs. Having the distinct honor of standing in my presence, why do you not bow?"