Chapter 398: The Battle Between the Favored Fighters of the Age
Translator: Transn Editor: Lucas
The Forwarding echoed in the air and Lou Cheng quickly calmed himself from the thrill and horror. The illusory heavenly devil disappeared from his head, but the small whirlwind remained in his vision.
Protected by the strong wind surrounding her, Ren Li no longer needed to worry about being hit directly by the Burning Ice and Flame or influenced by the Army Formula. Seemingly, Lou Cheng had no other option but to dodge and wait for an opening.
The compet.i.tion of momentum continued. If he was forced to duck about from the beginning of the fight, he would feel mentally inferior, which would leave negative influences on the following bouts of the fight and might be the key to the result of this fight when it came down to the final face-off.
An idea flashed in Lou Cheng’s head. Instead of backing off or ducking about, he took half a step forward and swung his right arm to throw a punch at the howling whirlwind.
Bam!
The punch hit the void and the air expanded, flame blazing and rolling against the whirlwind.
A basic use of the supernatural power of blaze, the Bursting Punch!
The sound of the wind abruptly raised to a higher pitch and waves of flame and the whirlwind scattered, flowing in all directions. A human figure jumped out of the disintegrated wind eddy and drew a small arc to the side of Lou Cheng.
Lou Cheng saw this coming and tightened his thighs to launch a left kick with a crispy sound.
Ren Li felt it before getting too close. She further lowered her body and opened her right fist into a palm blade, slas.h.i.+ng down at the bone right above Lou Cheng’s ankle, launching an attack as a means of defense!
Bang!
Lou Cheng felt a sudden ache in his calf as if something was broken. He swung his leg backward and pulled it back subconsciously.
Ren Li lifted her palm blade to face her left palm with a tiny gap of the thickness of a piece of A4 paper in between.
Bam! Her back twisted, tendons and bones sounded, and force boiled. Her two palms rubbed briefly and created a wind blade thin like the wing of a cicada spinning outward.
Following a whiz from the Absolute Reaction, Lou Cheng felt his scalp numbing and lowered his head without thinking.
A sudden gale blew by and a tiny thread of his short hair fell down sharply.
The 18th move of the Ice Sect, Stern Gale!
Lou Cheng’s head was lowered and his body didn’t stop acting. He swung his left arm forward and shook and hooked his wrist to fire out a cold beam of light along the ground, launching an attack as a means of defense to interrupt Ren Li’s combo. He also turned his body sideways and dashed out following the icy flame like a nonstop Brutal Blizzard.
They were close enough to have a melee. After her Stern Gale, Ren Li planned to throw herself at Lou Cheng, but his Ice Burning came first. Understanding she couldn’t dodge this attack, she lifted her thigh, turned her ankle, exerted strength, tightened her instep, and created a strong gust of wind.
Poom!
The two were separated by the blast and the cold flames within.
Bam! Lou Cheng smashed through the white and cold blast towards his rival.
All of a sudden, Ren Li became light like a feather and floated backward riding the strong wind created by the exploded Ice Burning and the b.u.mp along the hill. Lou Cheng’s strike missed.
She landed on her left foot and immediately shrank and released her qi and blood. The green tile was broken under her feet as she rushed out and b.u.mped sideways.
Between the cracks, Lou Cheng had no time to adjust his b.u.mp. He concentrated his force, stretched his body, bloated his muscles, and met force with force.
Bang!
The sound of the wind lowered and the two of them moved backward at the same time. They straightened their spines simultaneously to charge forward and threw a punch at each other as if they had practiced this hundreds of thousands of times.
Lou Cheng was certain that Ren Li had mastered some martial arts style that could sense the enemy’s movements, which might not be as mysterious and profound as his Ice Mirror.
Bam! Their fists shot out from their waists and crashed into each other, one suffering a flow of scorching air and the other experiencing waves that hurt the tendons and vessels and tore the skin apart.
The Zhu Rong Force versus the Postwind Force!
Woo… The heavenly gale killed the flowing fire at the cost of its own force.
The gale didn’t settle. It raged on and on.
The most distinct feature of the Postwind Force was its continuance that was longer than any other force.
Lou Cheng had learned about it before. After his Zhu Rong Force extinguished, the cold wave within his body driven by the balance between ice and fire flooded out and completely killed the invading gale.
One suffering a sharp pain in his muscles and tendons and the other bearing the burning sensation in her veins, they both slowed down. Lou Cheng’s force was strengthened by his supernatural ability and had caused more damage in his rival. He recovered faster and bent his right leg to launch a knee kick at her lower stomach.
Ren Li clenched her teeth, turned her body slightly, and bent her knee to confront the kick with a kick.
Bang!
The same look of pain was shared by Lou Cheng and Ren Li at the very same time. Joints, including knees, were usually considered the weak spots of the human body. Neither of them dared withdraw the force as they both could foresee a comminuted fracture in their legs.
Despite the acute pain, Lou Cheng popped out his calf to throw a sidekick. Ren Li remained calm and tilted her waist to duck the kick.
At once they each took a step back and tried to focus their force and spirit again.
Bang! The Dan force was gus.h.i.+ng. Ren Li turned her waist and threw a whip kick with her left leg so fast that there was almost a shadow following behind. Lou Cheng bloated his muscles and confronted the whip kick with a whip kick, exerting strength from the tip of the sheath.
Bang!
A dull sound. Their insteps were frozen in the air for a brief moment with white airwaves rolling around.
Pam! Pam! Ren Li rapidly withdrew her leg, turned her body and threw seven kicks in a row in the manner of a combo of a series of explosions. Her entire body rose into the air.
The 27th move of the Ice Sect, Whirlwind!
Bam! Bam! Lou Cheng confronted the series of explosions with the Mega Avalanche. He couldn’t absorb much strength from his rival, but he managed to catch up with her Whirlwind, keeping his body impregnable.
Neither of them moved. Within the ring, there were shallow pits, crevices, powerful gales, and broken rocks; it was as if it had been hit by a missile.
The Whirlwind seemed faster and faster, repeating itself in endless cycles. Lou Cheng couldn’t confront it with the 24 Blizzard Strikes much longer. After the eighth explosion, he abruptly visualized thunder clouds shaking and shuddering, tightened his insteps, calves, and thighs, and threw a Thunder Zen.
His performance of the Thunder Roar Zen had improved dramatically in the past several months.
Poom!
Their legs met in the air and a violent vibration traveled up along Ren Li’s leg, shaking her qi and blood and muscles.
The vibration interrupted her Force Concentration. She couldn’t complete the Nonuple Explosion, but her whirlwind still forced Lou Cheng to shake and move backward.
Once his foot touched the ground, Lou Cheng lifted up both hands, formed a seal, and stately called out,
“Army!”
Many bouts into the fight, Lou Cheng finally got an opportunity to use the Army Formula.
The wind sound became intense as a brutal stream of air flew out. Ren Li felt as if she was on the battlefield in front of hundreds of hors.e.m.e.n armed with metal helmets and chain mail who suddenly dropped their masks, lifted their spears, and bent their bodies.
Next, they pressed their legs and charged forth with their spears pointing forward, ever triumphant and victorious!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The ground was shaking and the chill was invading. Any inexperienced fighter would feel terrified, including Ren Li. However, her determination and spirit were formless, like a puff of wind. Under pressure or irritation, they would disperse and then gather together. The expression in her eyes recovered quickly.
Lou Cheng had no idea how long his mediocre Army Formula could affect Ren Li, a direct disciple of a great sect master. He had performed it to take the initiative.
As his voice echoed in the air, he exerted strength from his back left foot and threw his entire body out, visualizing a heavy and scorching red Great Sun.
Lou Cheng had learned from his fight with Ann Chaoyang and decided to perform the Internal Explosion of the simplified physical invulnerability of the Fire Sect!
Once the red Great Sun appeared, hot currents in Lou Cheng’s body shrank at once as if pulled by gravity and then gathered and became one.
The scene in Lou Cheng’s head changed and the half-man half-beast Zhu Rong emerged on a red dragon, keeping the fire buff calmer and under control.
Lou Cheng strode forth and swung his arm, launching a right punch at his rival.
Ren Li had recovered when he launched the counterattack. Knowing that she couldn’t duck it, she settled her mind and visualized a pale green whirlwind that spanned from heaven to earth, devouring rocks, trees, and water, and sending them into the sky.
Her muscles tightened, organs waggled, waves were created, and the visualized scene was replaced by a G.o.ddess, suppressing all the chaos and disorder.
Facing Lou Cheng’s fierce fist, Ren Li leaned to the side slightly, exerted strength from her shoulder, swelled her arms, and performed the Hai Di Lao Yue (a martial tactic) in the river move with her left palm.
The 10th movement of the Wind Sect’s simplified physical invulnerability, Heavenly Breath.
Poom!
Her fist met his and a violent gale flooded out, blowing a bigger half of the flame away but unable to stop the rest of it from entering Ren Li’s body. The flame exploded abruptly, fire waves rolling out, shaking her organs and shattering her qi and blood.
While Ren Li felt a taste of rusty metal in her throat, Lou Cheng heard the wind bl.u.s.tering up from his feet, attempting to tear his muscles and fascia apart and lift him into the air.
Ren Li clinched her teeth and straightened her back. Her arms bloated suddenly and were raised, lifting Lou Cheng into the sky as if he was light like a feather.
The special feature of the Heavenly Breath was that it could send one’s rival to heaven!
When a martial artist without the supernatural ability to fly was lifted above the ground completely, he would usually be in danger.
A foreign fighter experienced it and gave it a romantic name, the Dragon Lifting Tyrant!
As Lou Cheng was flying in the air, Ren Li quickly concentrated her force and dissolved most of the effects resulted from the Internal Explosion. Facing the falling enemy, she performed the Wind footwork and turned her body into a spiral gale that rose with a shriek.
Blessed by the strong wind, her two hands clenched like two drills.
Combo! Another combo!
While Ren Li was concentrating her force, Lou Cheng had adjusted his weight and prepared himself for her deadly combo. He gathered streams of hot currents, pressed down and hooked up his left palm, and threw out a brutal red fireball.
“Flame Burn!”
Bam!
The fireball hit Ren Li from the front, but a whirlwind scattered it into pieces. As the fireball pieces fell down, Ren Li’s figure leaped out from the gale and rose rapidly to the same height as Lou Cheng.
Lou Cheng felt fortunate that he didn’t compress all his supernatural power of blaze into a bold attempt to completely blow the rival away, or he would have landed in an awful predicament and would’ve wasted everything in vain.
Bam!
His right wrist hooked and shook, firing out a cold beam at Ren Li’s face. In the meantime, his left hand held tight and threw a hook at her lower stomach.
Lou Cheng was still rising and Ren Li’s upthrow motion had just terminated.
Seeing the ice flame approaching, Ren Li’s right fist, which was sitting in front of her neck, opened up in a calm manner and pushed out into the void.
Pam!
A violent blast burst out with a crispy sound, igniting the cold beam.
To confront Lou Cheng’s left hook, she lowered her palm and received it with ease.
Ren Li then took a deep breath, expanding her body and slowing down her falling as if a parachute had been opened on her back or a blow of wind was carrying her.
As one was falling rapidly and the other dropping slowly, there was soon a difference between Lou Cheng and Ren Li’s height.
Pam! Ren Li exhaled a puff of turbid air and resumed her original falling speed. She threw a fierce left kick at Lou Cheng’s head from a higher position.
Lou Cheng lifted his right arm to engage her strike, keeping his heart as an ice mirror to sense all the subtleties.
Bang!
Strengthened by the force from falling, Ren Li kicked Lou Cheng’s arm away and followed up closely with a right kick with the force from bouncing.
“If one kick is not enough to knock you out, I’ll give you another one!”
Lou Cheng lifted his left arm and barely blocked the strike. Taking advantage of Lou Cheng’s loose stance, Ren Li turned and kicked again in hopes of finis.h.i.+ng him off, but the kick missed.
After receiving two kicks, Lou Cheng was dropping at a faster speed and was smas.h.i.+ng into the ground.
Deng!
As soon as Lou Cheng reached the ground, he took steps backward to dissolve the great force from falling. When his body almost resumed stability, Ren Li landed on the stage and created a small whirlwind with her wind steps striding to the left and then turning to the right, blowing a low whistle to the audience’s hearts.
In the mind-thrilling sound, Lou Cheng’s Ice Mirror collapsed and he felt dizzy. But he managed to stay calm and firm, visualizing an ancient character and shouting out in a low voice,
“Forwarding!”
His mind was clear again. The wind sound became sharper and Ren Li shot out from the Whirlwind and reached him in no time. The audience could hardly follow her movements.
Movement 22 of the Wind Sect, Roaring!
As the distance between them was quickly shortened, Ren Li visualized a human body with numerous streams of black air going in and out.
Her feet stopped and the scene in her head was replaced by a blue-faced, red-haired, three-headed, six-armed, and deep-eyed G.o.d coming down from heaven holding a seal, a bell, and a banner in his hands.
Pam!
When the G.o.d in her mind waved the banner and sounded the bell, Ren Li shook her right arm and threw a downward punch out!
The simplified physical invulnerability of the Plague Sect, Illness!
Protected by the Forwarding Formula, Lou Cheng didn’t suffer long from the sound attack of the wind steps. He had pretty much sobered up when Ren Li got close. Understanding that he might be hit even if he attempted to dodge, he decided to meet force with force and answer Ren Li’s strike with the Internal Explosion by visualizing another blood red Great Sun and Zhu Rong the G.o.d of fire.
“Since she’s close to the Inhuman stage, she’s probably able to dissolve the power of the Internal Explosion with the force and waves of the simplified physical invulnerability. Even if I can’t damage you terribly in three bouts, I can cause you severe internal wounds and significantly lower your strength.”
“This is going to be the second bout!”
Pam! Lou Cheng suddenly felt empty of content, short of breath, and weak in the limbs, as if he was going through a severe illness.
Ren Li took one step back, her sparkling eyes bloodshot, abdominal organs rolling, head bloated, and stomach upset.
“I can’t let him concentrate his force to ease the illness!” Ren Li clenched her teeth and shook her arms, aiming at the rival’s head, despite the physical pain and discomfort in her body.
Out of breath and feeling weak, Lou Cheng had difficulties wielding his strength. He struggled to lift his arms to block the attack.
Pang! He was pushed back, staggering. Ren Li, with stars s.h.i.+ning in her vision, swung her back to rush a left kick.
Lou Cheng moved further back, stumbling, feeling weak and light, and just got away from the flying kick.
Ren Li wanted to push forward and take this opportunity to defeat her rival, but she was too dizzy from her rolling blood, qi, and organs to move. She took a deep breath and let her blood and qi, strength, spirit, and effect from the Internal Explosion gather at her Dantian.
Lou Cheng drove his spirit with his willpower and forced his force to concentrate, compressing the illness between his fire and ice.
This was the very first gentle section of this fight.
“Beautiful!” In the broadcasting studio, Chen Sansheng was very tempted to express his feelings with the f-word.
“Fxxking Beautiful!”
Ren Li and Lou Cheng had taken the upper hand in turns since the beginning of this fight. They actively pursued opportunities to attack and tried hard to keep the initiative. The fight had been so intense that no one had a second to spare because loads of things could take place in a split second.
If the fight was cut into sections, we could easily see that they had been fighting with their lives all this time until now. Any other Professional Sixth Pin fighter would have broken down in front of such aggressive strikes, but they were both still hanging there.
“They live up to the t.i.tle the favored fighter of the age!”
“What else can I say?” An interesting emoji appeared in Chen Sansheng’s head.
The audience cheered and screamed and then fell silent. When Lou Cheng and Ren Li separated, they came back to reality as if waking up from a long nap, shouting and yelling like crazy.
“Great!”
“Super!”
The sound waves thundered like the ocean, bringing Yan Zheke back to reality. She loosened her fists and her bite on her bottom lip, recovering from the unbearable intensity and catching her breath.
Her eyes locked on the fight again when Lou Cheng and Ren Li both concentrated their force and dashed forward, taking advantage of the rival’s weak moment.