Free Web NovelChapter 230: Chapter 201: Wearing Down Qi and Blood, Tragic Self-Destruction
Step 1: Contextual Analysis
Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese cultivation/martial arts web novel (xianxia/wuxia genre). It focuses on martial arts, cultivation techniques, and supernatural combat abilities.
Language style: The style is action-oriented with detailed combat descriptions. It has a mixture of tense action sequences, strategic thinking, and dialogue. The language includes genre-specific terminology related to martial cultivation.
Tone: The tone is serious during combat sequences but includes some sarcastic internal monologue. The protagonist is portrayed as pragmatic, cautious, and somewhat ruthless.
Plot keywords: Combat, martial arts, cultivation, ambush, battle strategy, self-destruction, victory, military campaign
Characters:
- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, a tactical fighter who carefully wears down his opponent rather than rushing in. Has recently broken through with a new cultivation technique.
- Situ Hao (司徒浩): Male antagonist, a Grandmaster Realm martial artist with a significant weakness - his Qi and Blood deplete quickly, causing his power to diminish rapidly.
- Pang Hao (庞豪): Male, appears to be an ally of Wu Liangchen, waiting anxiously for news of the battle.
Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing
Let me begin the translation paragraph by paragraph:
The scene begins at the bottom of a cliff with pine trees. Situ Hao has fallen there and appears severely injured, but Wu Liangchen is cautious and doesn’t approach him. Instead, he throws stones to force Situ Hao to move, confirming his suspicion that Situ Hao is faking his injuries.
Wu realizes that Situ Hao has some kind of defect in his cultivation that causes his power to deplete rapidly. He pursues a strategy of wearing Situ Hao down gradually, like "wearing out a hawk to catch a rabbit."
Situ Hao eventually becomes desperate, tries a final attack, then self-destructs in a gruesome manner after vowing revenge on Wu Liangchen. Wu is disappointed he couldn’t loot Situ Hao’s body but is unworried by the threat.
The scene shifts to Dinghai City where Pang Hao and others are anxiously waiting for news. Wu Liangchen returns and announces that Situ Hao is dead, shocking everyone. He then rallies them to continue their mission to "drive out the bandits."
Now I’ll provide the full translation with careful attention to all the guidelines:
At the bottom of the cliff lay a lush pine forest. Years of fallen pine needles had accumulated into a thick carpet-like layer on the ground, soft and springy underfoot.
Situ Hao had landed on this cushioned surface. He lay there motionless, blood slowly streaming out from beneath him, appearing to be gravely injured.
But whether he was truly injured or merely pretending, Wu Liangchen had absolutely no intention of approaching him.
The arrows were spent, but there were plenty of stones available.
Wu Liangchen grabbed a handful of pebbles and hurled them down at Situ Hao below the cliff.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH.
The stones cut sharply through the air, flying straight toward the cliff bottom.
Situ Hao, who had been feigning collapse both to regulate his Qi and Blood and to lure Wu Liangchen closer, could no longer maintain his act.
Normally, he wouldn’t even need to dodge such stones—they couldn’t penetrate his defenses.
But now with his Qi and Blood depleted, his strength was reduced to less than a tenth of its peak. Under these circumstances, being hit by these stones would only worsen his situation.
He had no choice but to leap up and flee once more.
This time his speed was considerably slower than before. Wu Liangchen didn’t bother pursuing aggressively, instead following at a leisurely pace.
He was now certain that something was wrong with this Situ Hao.
Though he’d never met other Martial Arts Grandmasters, Wu Liangchen knew from various legends that Grandmaster Realm martial artists should be far more capable than this.
Otherwise they wouldn’t deserve the title of "Earthbound Immortals."
Of course, this wasn’t to say Situ Hao was deliberately faking—this wasn’t something one could simply pretend.
His cultivation realm must have some defect that made him poor at maintaining his Qi and Blood, resulting in dramatic power fluctuations.
Simply put, when his Qi and Blood were at their peak, his power was indeed formidable. But once depleted, he would immediately plummet to rock bottom, becoming weaker than even a Minor Fourth Realm martial artist.
Convinced of this fact, Wu Liangchen adopted this strategy of pursuit—like wearing out a hawk to catch a rabbit—gradually depleting what little Qi and Blood Situ Hao had left.
It was the safest approach, but also the most infuriating for his opponent.
After running a bit further, Situ Hao finally broke down completely.
He suddenly stopped, turned around, and screamed hysterically, "I’ll fight you to the death!"
As he spoke, he attacked with near-manic intensity.
But Wu Liangchen refused to engage directly, fighting defensively while retreating, gradually wearing down his opponent’s stamina.
This reckless burst of energy, burning through his remaining lifeforce, lasted only moments before Situ Hao began panting heavily, his movements slowing.
Seeing this, Wu Liangchen’s eyes lit up, yet he still refused to rush in, continuing to circle and harass his opponent.
After all, despite his defects, Situ Hao was still a Fourth Realm Grandmaster.
Who could guarantee he didn’t have some final trump card saved for his dying moments?
If he did, rushing forward now would mean falling right into his trap.
This kind of scenario had appeared countless times in novels and films, and Wu Liangchen refused to play the fool.
So even as Situ Hao revealed more and more weaknesses, Wu Liangchen remained unmoved, patiently grinding him down bit by bit.
Faced with such cautious tactics, Situ Hao let out a desperate howl of frustration.
He couldn’t understand how things had gone so wrong.
He’d clearly had the upper hand at the beginning, but then his opponent had broken through some Cultivation Technique at the critical moment, completely reversing the situation, leaving him thoroughly dominated.
Especially now with these cowardly tactics, Situ Hao felt desperate enough to vomit blood.
He couldn’t escape, couldn’t win—was he truly going to die here today?
As Situ Hao wallowed in regret and hatred, blood began streaming from his mouth and nose.
It was his internal organs’ final protest against his relentless abuse.
In this condition, a resolute light suddenly flashed in Situ Hao’s eyes, and he charged toward Wu Liangchen with lightning speed.
But Wu Liangchen had been prepared for this and immediately retreated.
At the same time, something horrifying occurred.
Situ Hao’s body began to swell continuously, the muscles on his face writhing uncontrollably as if countless maggots were crawling beneath his skin—utterly grotesque.
Then, in a voice hoarse as a demon’s, he shouted, "Wu Liangchen, I won’t let you go even in death. Just you wait!"
With those words, Situ Hao’s body suddenly exploded.
Yes, as if a bomb had been planted inside him, he burst into fragments.
Bloody mist and bone shards riddled the surrounding trees with countless holes, demonstrating the explosion’s power.
But Wu Liangchen, who had retreated behind several large boulders, remained completely unharmed.
He didn’t rush forward immediately but waited until all the dust had settled before slowly approaching.
The ground was covered in sticky blood mixed with organ fragments.
As for Situ Hao... he had completely vanished.
Even with all his experience, Wu Liangchen couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath at the sight.
The final self-destruction had been truly bizarre.
’Are all Martial Arts Grandmasters this temperamental?’
’Self-destructing over a minor disagreement?’
As for Situ Hao’s final threat, Wu Liangchen didn’t take it seriously.
Ridiculous.
He couldn’t defeat me while alive, let alone after death.
The only pity was that he couldn’t search the corpse.
Wu Liangchen had hoped to find something useful on Situ Hao.
After all, ordinary martial artists didn’t carry valuable items because they lacked confidence in their abilities.
But at Situ Hao’s level, such concerns shouldn’t exist.
So Wu Liangchen had been full of expectation.
Now with his plans ruined, he could only briefly search the area before departing.
Meanwhile, in Dinghai City, Pang Hao and the others waited anxiously.
Many had witnessed Situ Hao suddenly leaving the military camp and heading toward South City earlier.
Without doubt, he had gone after Master Wu.
Although Wu Liangchen had previously mentioned fighting Situ Hao once outside the city, given the difference in their cultivation realms, everyone still felt deeply uneasy.
If Wu Liangchen were defeated, their favorable situation would instantly be reversed.
This was the last thing Pang Hao and the others wanted to see.
While they were fretting anxiously, a figure suddenly dropped down in front of the theater hall and walked in.
"It’s Master Wu!"
"Master Wu has returned!"
Amid these excited calls, Wu Liangchen nodded slightly, then said calmly:
"Situ Hao is dead."
These words shocked everyone present.
Even Pang Hao, who had the most faith in Wu Liangchen, stared in astonishment with his mouth agape.
He hadn’t expected Wu Liangchen to actually kill Situ Hao.
At that moment, Wu Liangchen scanned the crowd and said solemnly: "Now that our greatest obstacle has been removed, follow me and... drive out the bandits."
Everyone straightened up and shouted in unison: "Yes, sir!"
