Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The scorched ground and charred trees looked like the aftermath of a wildfire. The Dragon King stood tall and mighty in the center, drawing attention with a gravitational pull. Beside him, Lü Yan, Long Zhen, and Guo Jie paled in comparison.
At Lou Cheng’s coming, he merely nodded. No words or movements. On the other hand, Optimus Prime, Long Zhen, twisted his neck enthusiastically. Guo Jie exuded eagerness through her aura. Lü Yan and Empress Luo were rather blasé. To them, it was merely another internal sparring.
“Alright, now that everyone’s here, let’s draw lots,” said Ning Zitong, curving her lips into an alluring smile.
She produced 6 paper balls from her pockets as she spoke. With a flick of her palm, she tossed them into the air.
Long Zhen immediately grabbed forward, heating up the surrounding air. The contrast in temperature gave rise to a violent gale that pulled all six paper balls towards him.
At that moment, it was as though he was using a telekinesis ability!
Pa, pa, pa! Lü Yan, Ning Zitong, and Guo Jie reached out too, grabbing at the paper balls with their own abilities. There was a tug-of-war between their powers in the air, at times lowering and raising the the paper balls, but not once let them touch the ground.
It wasn’t hard for a Fire Sect Physical Invulnerability Mighty One to manipulate the environment through connecting with the Heaven and Earth. The difficult part was to do so without destroying the paper balls.
When using Fire Sect kungfu, a slight mistake would cause the paper ball to burn to a crisp. Even intense friction could ignite them.
So the sparring begins at lot drawing? Lou Cheng, it being his first time, watched interestedly. He was tempted but hesitant.
Is it considered cheating If I join in using Ice Sect’s Blizzard?
I wouldn’t have to worry about destroying the paper balls!
As he was contemplating, the Dragon King made a move. He merely barred his clenched fist forward, but it added a dense quality to the surroundings. The heat waves were disrupted, and the paper balls flew to him like moths to fire.
He was surrounded in unceasing waves of scarlet sparks, but nothing was ignited. The paper balls were dry and crispy, seemingly on the verge of combustion. It seemed like any more external force would cause it to catch fire.
That was the Dragon King’s personality—he liked to take things to the extreme and not spare his opponents any chances.
Seeing that, Ning Zitong and the others could only yield. They resumed their snatching once the Dragon King took one ball and tossed out the others. However, compelled by the fragility of the paper balls, they had to control their strength, so the tussle became a lot more civil. They swiftly drew their lots and left the last one for Lou Cheng.
Lou Cheng, more or less familiar with the routine now, summoned a shrilling frigid gale that brought the paper ball to his hand without moving a muscle.
“How about we do this normally in the future...” said Ning Zitong half-jokingly after taking a glance.
The Dragon King unfurled his paper ball.
“Three,” he said impassively.
“Two,” said Lü Yan indifferently after looking at the paper in his palm.
“One! Who’s one?” said Long Zhen, loosening up his shoulders while looking at Guo Jie and the others with a smile. His scalp was shiny to the point where it could substitute a mirror.
Lou Cheng looked down. At the center of the unfurled paper slip, he saw a “One” written clearly in dark-blue ink.
“I got Three,” said Ning Zitong, flourishing her paper slip.
“Two,” said Guo Jie curtly. She was a little disappointed.
She had wanted a taste of his martial art that combined Ice and Fire.
“Looks like we are going first?” said Long Zhen. His lips curved as he looked towards Lou Cheng.
He had moved to the center of the abandoned place as he asked the rhetorical question. His eyes were smiling. Every detail of his movements bespoke his fighting spirit.
Chen Qitao and the others stepped back. Lou Cheng walked forward and stopped thirty meters away from his opponent.
From his view, Long Zhen was indeed very tall. Even without bulging his muscles and elongating his joints, he was at least 2.1 meters—a modern giant.
Long Zhen had tanned bronze skin. His muscles weren’t conspicuous under his baggy martial arts suit, but you can tell his weight in a glance. It makes one question whether his ankle joints could support such terrifying weight.
The answer was yes. Long Zhen’s feet could not only support his body but were also very agile. They were tough as though they were forged from alloy.
He was a Fire Sect Physical Invulnerability Mighty One renowned for his strength—a senior first Pin!
Someone who first makes the great leap would be at Third Pin. After a year, as long as they meet the victory quota against either other Third Pin or Second Pin Physical Invulnerability Experts, they will rank up to the second Pin. The evaluation for First Pin was the same. Beyond that were the titled Mighty Ones that crushed the competition.
Out of the two Physical Invulnerability enemies Lou Cheng had killed—the Mummy and Dark Night Bat, the former was only at Third Pin in his prime. The latter had just advanced, but was possibly close to Second Pin with his numerous amazing abilities. There was a clear distinction between them and an experienced First Pin that was an eligible contender for a title.
More importantly, the main reasons he won that fight was due to the Mummy being gravely injured, the Dark Night Bat being significantly injured, him having a Heavenly Daughter of China as his ally, and them taking down the Mummy right off the bat with a sneak attack... In short, his ability wasn’t the leading factor of his victory.
This was the first time for Lou Cheng to take on a First Pin Mighty One who was in peak form and mentally prepared.
Certainly, he had become a lot more powerful since the days in Nile, after grasping the basics of the Physical Invulnerability Chapters of the Ice and Fire Sect.
This was the perfect opportunity for him to perfect his moves and determine where he was at!
Pop, pop, pop! A popcorn-like sound erupted from Long Zhen’s body. The air around him answered to the sound, producing a crackling sound like burning wood.
Dozens of meters around him, the temperature rose sharply. Scarlet flames spurted from the ground. Lou Cheng’s short hair, subjected to the shapeless heat, began to bend and even give off a charred smell.
The aura fight between Physical Invulnerability Experts goes from purely mentally to a mixture between reality and illusions.
His pores, under the influence of heat, made it harder for Lou Cheng to breath. Without hesitation, he formed the link between heaven and earth and displayed his own specialty.
Against a First Pin Mighty One, why would he fight handicap and limit himself to only the Fire Sect kungfu?
The environment darkened around them with some spots becoming brighter and standing out like stars.
Long Zhen narrowed his eyes and snorted, exerting his aura to the maximum. It was as though he had turned into a blazing fireball, dense and scorching, disrupting the stars by setting them off track or crushing them.
Seeing that the starry sky was on the verge of destruction, Lou Cheng realized that he wasn’t at his opponent’s level yet. Since he couldn’t maximize the potential of it, he decided to visualize something else. The universe in his mind expanded and zoomed into the star system.
Stars returned and gathered one after the other, forming a blazing Sun that was 70% real and 30% real before him. It had a dense quality and emitted light. His aura met Long Zhen’s mid-air, tangling and removing any matter between them, like two neighboring stars competing for territory with their own gravitational forces.
Whoosh!
The air, torn apart, rushed in two directions, giving rise to gales. Flames on the ground went at their targets from their respective ‘factions’.
This was what was happening in the center. Long Zhen held a certain advantage, but Lou Cheng stood his ground and didn’t lose out. Around them, at the edge of the place they fought, patches of red flames were dying. A slight contrast in temperature formed, getting colder towards the outside, where a thin layer of frost covered the ground.
“Well done!” roared Long Zhen. He suddenly marched out into the wind and flames, appearing suddenly before Lou Cheng. He drew his muscular arm back, then threw out a punch.
At that moment, Lou Cheng seemed to see a gigantic castle cannon shrinking back and charging up before delivering a mighty shot.
The strong recoil passed from Long Zhen’s back to his knees and ankles, “pounding” the ground and shaking it visibly.
What power! What might!
This was a move derived from the 4th Style of the Fire Sect, Flying Flame Meteorite!
In an intense fight between Physical Invulnerability Experts, fully executing a Physical Invulnerability Move at the wrong timing would come back and bite you. Therefore, they preferred to extract parts of the move that went well with their own strengths.
His swarthy fist, almost the size of a child’s head, had a layer of pale-gold flame clinging to it. A layer so thin it resembled the tip of an iceberg.
The punch felt undodgeable; as though it enveloped Heaven and Earth and covered the entire area.
Lou Cheng knew the reason behind it—the Latent Internal Fire Force could veer the punch consecutively at any time, making it tricky to dodge. As the user had established a link with the external environment, the power of the move was amplified, so the punch seemed overbearing.
If he chose not to dodge, he could take on the blow with a combination of Force Concentration and Fighting Formula, which would match the opponent’s strength. The problem was, he couldn’t use Emperor Yan Force while using that combination, while his opponent’s latent Fire Force was capable of a two-stage attack. The explosion would not be neutralized, and he will take the impact.
Thoughts racing, Lou Cheng drew a breath and activated his Dan Force. He pushed his palm out gently, meeting hard with soft.
Right as he contacted Long Zhen’s mighty punch, a layer of ice crystals spurted from his palm, covering the golden flames in a thick shell of frost. It delayed the explosion from the Fire Force.
Bam!
In terms of pure strength, Lou Cheng was slightly weaker, but he didn’t take much damage since he met the punch with his palm. He took a step back and turned with his feet as the pivot.
A blizzard came forth around them, with snowflakes the size of a goose’s feather. It hid his tracks quickly and made his whereabouts unknown.
A movement technique derived from the second style of the Ice Sect, Mesmerizing Snow Step!