n

n

nTranslator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

nThe scorching heat around Lou Cheng thickened as his opponent’s Flying Moth came in unceasing waves. Even with his Ice Mirror, the boiling environment meddled with his senses. The heat that distorted the air made it hard to see clearly. Had it been anyone else, they would have been flustered and let the haziness cloud their judgment, but not Lou Cheng. As though the heat did not affect him at all, he blocked with his arm forward using measured precision.

nAgainst Tu Zheng’s hook, he expanded the muscles in his back and stretched his spine like a dragon or a bowstring, directing his body to slant to one side and avoid the blow perfectly. At the same time, he tensed his unmoved leg and kicked out with a snap the instant he found his balance, swinging it like a steel whip.

nThe decision was made based on what he gathered from the fight against Yu Wangyuan the previous week; against the shifting trajectory of Jet Spray, it wouldn’t do if he simply dodged or evaded. He had to find the chance to go from defensive to offensive. Else, it would only be a matter of time before his defense breaks!

nHowever, though he was expecting it, Tu Zheng did not retract his fists, which were mid-air, but swung them downwards instead, propelling his body forward. His left foot went out accordingly, bringing his knee upwards and colliding into the side of Lou Cheng’s Whip Leg. Without any flashiness, he neutralized his opponent’s counterattack.

nAs someone who was approaching Physical Invulnerability, he too was the stage of “Encountering Gods In The Void, Self Reflection”!

nHis right arm shot out, and at its end there was a fist in constant motion. Halfway through the movement, he changed the direction of his punch once more, forcing Lou Cheng to retreat in defense.

nBam, bam, bam!

nThe brief sound of combat persisted. Tu Zheng launched a bout of attacks using Jet Spray, reducing the distance between him and Lou Cheng. Once he was in close range, it wouldn’t be that easy to dodge the trajectory shift brought by the second stage of Jet Spray!

nIn the process, his precise, robot-like movements went perfectly with his attacks, not giving his opponent any time or space to catch his breath.

nLou Cheng had to retreat in an orderly fashion. Every place he passed, sand and gravels were sent flying by the cold wind.

n“Your Jet Spray pales in comparison to Leader Tu’s,” said Jia Lu, tilting her head with a strange, smile-like expression. Her comment was directed at Yu Wangyuan, the person who specialized in that secret art.

nAnger flitted across Yu Wangyuan’s eyes. Then, as if mocking himself, he said, “Of course, I’m weaker than him. We are people of different stages. If I make the breakthrough to Encountering Gods in the Void, then I doubt mine will lose to Leader Tu.”

n“Sigh. Sadly, the Fire Sect doesn’t have Ice Mirror, only weakened versions of it that don’t work well. It’s impossible for anyone to achieve the stage of All-Seeing God without enough capability,” sighed Lu Shaofei beside them.

nAll-Seeing God was another name for Encountering God in the Void.

nOf course, God referred to oneself!

nAs the three Inhumans were conversing, their eyes never left the center of the arena, unwilling to miss any details.

nBang, bang, bang!

nLou Cheng left prints with every step, retreating as he fought. Gradually, he was pushed back to the edge. Right behind him was the transparent glass that separated the arena room from the training ground.

nBam!

nTu Zheng’s left fist, like a venomous snake, suddenly raised itself and slid up Lou Cheng’s blocking arm that was hammering downwards, then shot towards his throat like a bolt of lightning.

nLou Cheng bent his waist and leaned backward, making his opponent’s punch hit the air.

nIn that awkward pose, he did a backhand swing with his right arm and lashed towards Tu Zheng’s lower abdomen like a whip.

nComposed, Tu Zheng shrunk his shoulders, swinging his arm slightly, hitting Lou Cheng’s ‘whip’ with a glancing blow.

nAt that moment, he suddenly heard a loud explosion from the sky, dull and unclear.

nBut no, it did not come from the sky! It came from Lou Cheng’s waist and fist!

nBam!

nLou Cheng’s back swinging arm sprang up, his fist, seemingly spitting out a fiery tail, shot upwards like a rocket blasting off. It went past Tu Zheng’s block and headed for the area between his throat and chest!

nThe 15th Style of the Fire Sect—Jet Spray!

nIn the past week, other than studying Devour, he had his full attention on mastering Jet Spray!

nWith his supreme control over his body, making a two-stage burst wasn’t difficult!

nHowever, having a more savage nature than Fire Force, Emperor Yan Force caused greater damage to one’s body. Lou Cheng would not have been able to execute it a few times in a row had it not been for his precise control. Still, he couldn’t do it as effortlessly as Tu Zheng, who could repeat the move continuously.

nEveryone has their own talents!

nThe fist quickly grew bigger in his eyes. Tu Zheng had a slight change in expression. The muscles on his chest sunk neatly and even produced the sound of shrinking bones.

nIn a moment, a massive dent formed in the area above Tu Zheng’s chest. He then floated backward, making Lou Cheng’s attack miss its mark.

nVery well! Seeing that his opponent had mastered Jet Spray, a shade of red-gold flashed past Tu Zheng’s eyes. He was getting more excited.

nWhat he thought in private didn’t matter; once he was in a battle, the stronger his opponent was, the more zealous he got!

nAs Lou Cheng straightened himself with the spring-like motion of his waist, Tu Zheng lowered his center of gravity and hugged his Qi and blood together, then punched forward with a burst of Dan Force.

nInch by inch, his martial arts suit bulged outwards, as though Jiaolongs (water dragons) were slithering towards his fist, where a red-gold glow condensed and sunk inwards.

nThe 36th Style of the Fire Sect, Devour!

nLou Cheng, noticing that, used Force Concentration at the time he straightened his hips, guiding the flow of his Jiaolongs with Dan Equilibrium. He then punched out.

nThe scarlet red returned to white. The flames formed a ball and instantly contracted inwards. The same Devour was being powered by a different Force!

nA searing white fireball appeared, heavy and dense, immediately tugging at Tu Zheng’s red-gold glow.

nBoom!

nLight erupted, limning the entire arena. The fully formed shockwaves were mostly directed towards Tu Zheng. Flame, accompanied by the wind, splattered at him like unceasing rain!

nJust as Jet Spray was more compatible with Fire Force, Devour was a perfect match with Emperor Yan Force. It was not just better than Fire Force, but also a counter to it!

nLou Cheng’s guiding of force with Dan Equilibrium also greatly reduced the gap between Tu Zheng and his stages, experiences, and masteries!

nUsing Devour before Emperor Yan, now’s my chance! With a burst of strength from his muscles, Lou Cheng pushed himself forward, sweeping up frigid winds and accelerating the flow of flames.

nTu Zheng raised his left hand quickly and blocked it before his head. His muscles expanded like a balloon, pushing outwards, negating the shockwave and deflecting the arrows of flame.

nBam, bam, bam!

nThe scarlet light ripped his clothes apart, leaving trails of burn marks on his skin.

nWhile his opponent was in a passive, defensive position, Lou Cheng purposely slowed down his pace to visualize Emperor Yan with his high crown and ceremonial robe. At his heart was the heavy, dense Great Sun.

nThe Great Sun, donning a cape of flame, rammed into the unending, bitter cold.

nMutated Version of Severe Warning!

nLou Cheng took a half-step forward and threw a punch from his waist. Wherever the punch passed, color seemed to fade.

nTu Zheng’s eyelid twitched. A tint of glowing red leaped into his eyes, which was immediately overlapped by a layer of purple.

nPuff!

nHe lifted both palms and pushed them outwards. A faint, purple stream of fire gushed from it, weaving into one with the flame he was breathing from his mouth. A mystical, unearthly whirlpool formed and blocked Lou Cheng’s punch in the nick of time.

nThe 11th Style of the Fire Sect—Simplified Physical Invulnerability Move, Purple Sun!

nPoof! Lou Cheng’s left fist, enveloped in darkness, dispersed the purple whirlpool completely at the instant of contact, like a fire extinguisher. There were no continuations of Jet Spray counterattacks.

nBoom!

nThe darkness exploded as purple sparks splashed everywhere. With a sway and dash, Tu Zheng had backed off more than ten meters. It seemed as he needed to catch a breath.

nLou Cheng reversed his Qi and blood to stimulate his body. Using the Attainment Formula, he caught up instantly and raised his right fist, where clear crystals began to gather. In a matter of seconds, the tides of the battle had turned!

nWatching the process made Lu Shaofei and the others slightly flabbergasted. They seemed to have gained a greater understanding of Lou Cheng’s savagery.

nTu Zheng watched as Lou Cheng closed up to him, the tint of red-gold painting a complex scenery in his eyes.

nThe air around them increased in temperature once more. Lou Cheng felt as though he had been thrown into a furnace blast; his body was melting, his Ice Mirror was filled with countless cracks and being reduced to water.

nThat was the power of the combination between secret arts of the mind and environment-altering aura!

nThat was the secret art of the Fire Sect—135th Style, Infernal Hell!

nLou Cheng made a quick decision and visualized the Forwarding Formula. His Ice Mirror rapidly stabilized, but he could not prevent the delay in his movements.

nThe delay was what Tu Zheng needed. Without raising his leg or lifting his foot, he leapt ahead, entirely relying on the strength generated by his hips. Then, he drew his arm backwards and smashed his fist at his opponent’s head.

nJust as Lou Cheng raised his arm to form a stance, Tu Zheng ignited his Fire Force, causing his fist to slant to one side and hit his opponent from the side.

nAnother Jet Spray!

nLou Cheng lowered his shoulders and waist, leaning back slightly to dodge the attack while swinging his other hand in an attempt to counterattack. The attack was dense and heavy.

nAt that moment, from the inside of Tu Zheng’s fist came another dull sound. He swung his fist to the side, using what seemed like another push momentum, stopping precisely at the side of Lou Cheng’s neck. An undodgeable attack!

nThree-stage push momentum!

nTu Zheng actually made a second shift in trajectory!

nThat was the highest stage attainable in Jet Spray!

nHe only managed to master it after gaining precise control over his body with the stages of nearing Physical Invulnerability and Encountering Gods In The Void. He had done it by splitting his Fire Force into two parts— exteral and internal, independent of each other. He first exploded his external force, then detonated his internal force. This was the first time he used it!

nLou Cheng wasn’t the only one to be stunned; even Sun Jianlin—the referee—and the others were taken aback for a moment.

n“Impressive!” Lou Cheng praised from the bottom of his heart as he recovered from his stance.

nNothing less of a Mighty One approaching Physical Invulnerability!

n“You ain’t so bad yourself,” said Tu Zheng, sticking his thumb up. Winning the competition had put him in a great mood.

nYu Wangyuan and the others gathered around them.

n“Leader Tu, you were hiding this from us earlier? For the King of Pro League? How cunning!” said Yu Wangyuan with a slightly complicated expression.

n“Only recently. I only mastered it recently,” said Tu Zheng modestly. “Alright, let’s exchange some opinions on the battle.”

nThe sparring ended after Sun Jianlin took down Jia Lu. The Technical Support Team was busy rushing to produce the footage.

nAt that time, in the Longhu work chat group, someone had sent a message out of curiosity. “How did today’s Reserve Team sparring session go? Who did Lou Cheng fight against?”

n“With Leader Tu,” Sun Tingting replied curtly after thinking for a few seconds.

n“How did it end?” asked the gossipy girl from the External Affairs Team.

n“Need I say it?” replied Sun Tingting, along with a smiley face.

n“It’s to be expected…” chimed in the others.

n