Chapter 507: Section 294: Fighting Zong Ge
Bang.
The fist held by Dragon Claw struck Zong Ge’s raised forearm.
At this moment, inside the Triangular Love Ship’s Training Cabin, the Dragon-man youth was dueling with Zong Ge.
Zong Ge was a weapon master, capable of wielding nearly all types of arms, all of which posed a substantial threat. However, his unarmed combat prowess was undoubtedly a notch below his weapon skills.
Even so, Zong Ge’s combat skills were very solid, steady and efficient, well-suited for cooperation, carrying a distinct military style.
Golden silk chain armor and a Big Arena Badge adorned Zong Ge.
Zong Ge primarily defended, while the Dragon-man youth took the offensive.
Every attack from the Dragon-man youth carried Penetration.
After a while, the Dragon-man youth voluntarily paused his attacks.
Zong Ge hesitated and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The Dragon-man youth pointed at his nose and said, “You’re bleeding from your nose.”
Zong Ge nonchalantly wiped it off, his tone bold: “A minor scratch, no big deal. Continue!”
The Dragon-man youth shook his head, “Internal injuries are hard to judge just by appearances, let’s rest for a bit.”
Zong Ge didn’t insist further.
He stood his ground, took out a potion to drink, and applied another potion to his body.
The potions were effective.
Zong Ge had been feeling chest tightness and shortness of breath before, but after medicating, these symptoms were quickly dissipating.
The visible wounds on his body were also healing at an observable speed.
Zi Di had just refined these potions this morning, specifically to counteract Penetration.
Before sparring with the Dragon-man youth, Zong Ge had already ingested some potions to protect his internal organs.
After taking the potions, Zong Ge remarked, “I had taken at least three doses of potions. Penetration is indeed powerful, making the golden silk chain armor almost seem like nothing. No wonder so many people are eager to master this Combat Skill, spending enormous efforts and time in pursuit.”
In terms of Combat Skill techniques, Zong Ge knew very few.
The primary reason was his age.
He was still very young.
Already a weapon master, an outstanding commander, his Life Level nearing the Golden Level, with his Silver Fighting Spirit already shimmering with a golden glow, he was practically on the threshold of the Golden Level.
Such achievements were already quite significant.
Of course, Zong Ge’s bloodline played an important role in this.
In this world, most people, even if they exert much more effort and time, can’t achieve his status.
Bloodline talent determines life.
Many things are unachievable no matter the effort; they are determined at birth, and not just through sheer effort.
In such a world context, exposure of things like the Blood Core or the Bloodline Purification Array would bring about immense trouble.
Zong Ge himself was also a very diligent person.
He certainly knew the benefits of Fighting energy skills. But to train effectively, it drained too much time and effort.
Zong Ge chose to invest his energies and time into areas that yielded more output.
His choice was very wise.
Generally, those who pursue these Fighting energy skills usually reach the limits of their personal strength, their potential completely tapped out, with no possibility of progress.
Under such circumstances, they pursue Combat Skill techniques to potentially enhance their strength further.
Zong Ge wasn’t at the stage to pursue Combat Skill techniques yet.
Of course, when he learned that the Dragon-man youth had rapidly mastered Penetration using the Big Arena Badge, his interest was piqued too.
Because the learning cost borne by fighters in this was incredibly low!
If one could master Penetration at such a low cost, then why not?
After resting, the two resumed their sparring.
“You should have gathered enough experience by now, you can use it now,” the Dragon-man youth soon voluntarily stopped again.
Following his guidance, Zong Ge sat cross-legged on the floor, beginning to use the Big Arena Badge.
Moments later, he opened his eyes.
A flash of brilliance flickered in his eyes.
“Interesting, so this is what it feels like to use the Big Arena Badge…”
It was Zong Ge’s first time using the Big Arena Badge, and the experience felt novel.
“How is it?” the Dragon-man youth inquired.
Zong Ge furrowed his brows, “There’s quite a bit of experience, mainly Penetration, but I haven’t grasped it successfully.”
The Dragon-man youth smiled, unconcerned, “If once doesn’t work, then try a few more times.”
However, the subsequent attempts all ended in failure.
“It’s strange, why could I succeed on my first try?” the Dragon-man youth felt puzzled.
“It doesn’t matter, how many times have we failed? Not even ten times yet. As long as we try enough times, there will be one that succeeds,” Zong Ge was very eager for the Penetration force.
Then…
“Let’s try again!” Zong Ge fiercely wiped the blood from his nose.
Zong Ge began to bleed from all his orifices.
“Again… cough cough.” Zong Ge started spitting up blood.
After many attempts, he still couldn’t control the Penetration force.
He had indeed absorbed the experiences related to Penetration force, but for some reason, he hadn’t succeeded.
“With so many attempts, it shouldn’t be like this,” the Dragon-man youth furrowed his brows.
He then speculated, “Could it be that I’m not using my full strength?”
He compared this sparring session to previous valorous duels; the most obvious difference was that Xiong Ju had gone all out during his fight with the Dragon-man youth.
During this sparring session, however, the Dragon-man youth had always held back his power, worried about hurting Zong Ge.
“Perhaps, the effect of the Big Arena Badge depends on the intensity of the battle?” the Dragon-man youth wondered.
“That makes sense,” Zong Ge mused, “The god who created the Big Arena Badge is Nu Tan from the Demon Clan. He has a Divine Office in combat and his sect’s doctrines highly encourage fighting with full force. The intensity of our sparring isn’t high.”
Fundamentally speaking, the Big Arena Badge isn’t a typical Alchemy Treasure, but a Holy Artifact.
Holy Artifacts and Divine Artifacts are similar; both are created by deities (or Divine Officers) using Divine Power.
These also include some alchemy techniques, but the core is Divine Power, Divine Arts.
In most cases, only clergy from the sect, who possess the appropriate Divine Power, can use Holy Artifacts.
The use of Divine Artifacts is even more stringent. Usually, a deity must actively grant the qualification, otherwise, even high-ranking clergy such as the Pope and the Red Archbishop cannot use it arbitrarily.
The survivors are an exception.
They have two Divine Artifacts, Mermaid’s Fairy Tale and the Green Jade Gold Coffin. (The Grade of Blood Core is unknown)
The deities behind these Divine Artifacts are either fallen or on the verge of falling. Their control over the Divine Artifacts has reached its lowest point.
The survivors took advantage of this loophole to use these two Divine Artifacts.
Their ability to use them also depended on the War Merchant.
Without the foundation left by this Legendary Alchemy Grandmaster, it would be extremely difficult for the survivors to utilize Divine Artifacts.
Even so, they had never truly unleashed the real power of the Divine Artifacts.
Shifting back to the Big Arena Badge.
It’s a very special Holy Artifact. Its creator, the demon god Nu Tan, willingly allowed outsiders to use this type of Holy Artifact.
Zong Ge meant that since the Big Arena Badge came from Nu Tan, his personality, doctrines, and mentality should be considered.
Nu Tan encourages fighting with full force and definitely despises deception in battle.
The way the Dragon-man youth and Zong Ge sparred would not win Nu Tan’s approval.
Perhaps this is why the use of the Big Arena Badge was inefficient.
This hypothesis was logical.
“We could have a real battle to test this,” Zong Ge said.
This statement caught the attention of the Dragon-man youth.
As their eyes met, both saw the eagerness in each other.
While on Mysterious Monster Island, they had competed against each other, but they had never truly fought; focusing on survival was the theme, and rashly provoking each other into battle was a severe internal drain, and foolish.
Yet after leaving Mysterious Monster Island, despite continuous battles, both the Dragon-man youth and Zong Ge had never sparred.
Their relationship was complicated.
Both were comrades and rivals.
Both held high positions and considered their groups (although Zong Ge was consistently skeptical of the survivor’s group). They didn’t want to fight recklessly, as no matter who won or lost, it would negatively affect their collective.
The Dragon-man youth took a deep breath, suppressing the fighting spirit in his heart, “Speaking of which, we really haven’t gone all out to spar before.”
The Dragon-man youth’s progress was rapid, but Zong Ge had healed his arm, and his Fighting energy cultivation was slightly higher than the former’s. The latter’s Fighting energy already had a Gold sheen.
The Dragon-man youth didn’t possess as many Combat Skills as Zong Ge.
The Dragon-man youth was exceptional in defense, his current final form allowing for a qualitative change in speed, while the mysterious Short Spears behind Zong Ge were far from ordinary.
Everyone, including the Dragon-man youth, speculated that these Short Spears were Zong Ge’s trump card, likely coming at a great cost. Full of mystery, even in the most critical moments on Mysterious Monster IslandixedReality no one had seen Zong Ge draw them for combat.
“Yes,” Zong Ge looked into the Dragon-man youth’s eyes, not hiding his intentions for battle.
“The unfortunate part is, there isn’t a suitable environment for us to have a real bout,” Zong Ge glanced around the Training Cabin with a helpless expression.
The Training Cabin on the Triangular Love Ship, though made from elaborate materials and in a secluded setting, would certainly be utterly destroyed if the Dragon-man youth and Zong Ge started fighting here.
In fact, the entire Triangular Love Ship would gradually fail to withstand it.
After all, it was just a Black Iron Level demon energy ship.
“There are many dueling fields in Snowbird Port where we could rent one for a private match,” Zong Ge remarked, shaking his head even as he spoke.
Their current situation made this inappropriate.
The Saber Gang, being the local tyrant here, had surely been keeping close tabs on the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, constantly seeking information about the movements of important members.
If the two were to really go all out in a dueling field, the Saber Gang would almost certainly learn about the critical information that the Dragon-man youth had mastered Penetration force.