Chapter 377: Hand To Hand
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Both fighters had arrived on the stage with the unswerving conviction that they would be the victor. Neither of them was known for modesty; it was all in or all out.
w.a.n.g Ben initiated his tactics and charged up his soul energy to four hundred and twenty. This was an incredible amount for someone who lacked many advantages that Lie Jian had, and was the result of hundreds upon hundreds of hours of hard work.
w.a.n.g Ben had only been mind opened for less than a year, yet he had already reached the top of the level five; such an achievement was unprecedented, so much so that even his opponent Lie Jian was caught off guard by his rate of improvement. Surprise aside, Lie Jian was not a bit worried about his victory; a stronger opponent would only make the fight more entertaining for him.
Lie Jian started his tactics of the Blaze as his eyes slowly turned into pools of molten iron.
"Kom!"
"Tiger"s Roar!"
"URHHH!"
The ground under both fighters trembled, and the two contestants disappeared into thin air simultaneously.
The Racing Tiger versus the Fist of Fire.
w.a.n.g Ben"s supporters held onto their seats as they become worried. Not only was the Fist of Blaze powerful, but it was also infused with the vicious fire poison. If w.a.n.g Ben come to contact with the fire poison, he might as well have lost the fight.
"Kom!"
After the impact, Lie Jian stood where he had appeared while w.a.n.g Ben stumbled a few steps back.
A smug crept onto Lie Jian"s face as he said, "Fist of the Tiger? Haha! more like the Fist of p.u.s.s.y-cat!" Lie Jian was well known for his conceit, and many fighters had become the victim of his poisonous tongue.
w.a.n.g Ben was unruffled by the taunt; he checked his system and found out that the fire poison did not break through his defense. The Fist of the Racing Tiger was the most righteous force in the world, and therefore, its cultivator was practically immune to any devious tactics, such as the fire poison.
As w.a.n.g Ben charged up his soul energy again, his body trembled slightly, and then he shouted out the name of his technique.
"The Eighteen Tigers—Mountain Tiger!"
Lie Jian didn"t flinch as he closed in onto w.a.n.g Ben, and was going to face the attack head-on.
"Kom!"
The impact sent a wave of explosions throughout the arena, followed by a swelling of cheers. The audiences loved watching the intense hand to hand combat more than those that heavily relied on soul energy.
"Kom!"
Lie Jian"s fiery fist blocked the attack with ease while the Martian invaded w.a.n.g Ben"s defense with waves of fire poison.
However deadly the fire poison was, w.a.n.g Ben simply didn"t care as he retaliated with abandon. Although Lie Jian"s defense had prevented him from releasing the full power of Fist of the Racing tiger, w.a.n.g Ben was not deterred by the setback. Instead, it spurred him to attack with even more vigor.
The stronger the opponent, the more powerful was the Fist of the Racing Tiger.
w.a.n.g Ben"s fists were gaining frequency and vigor by each strike, and his soul energy was also steadily increasing. Every single blow was meant to kill. However, w.a.n.g Ben"s increasing power didn"t alert Lie Jian. w.a.n.g Ben was still too weak to be a worthy opponent for him; he could be a practice target at best.
w.a.n.g Ben could sense the contempt in his opponent, but he remained confident that he was no less powerful than Lie Jian.
By the tenth blow, w.a.n.g Ben finally started to slowly gain the upper hand in the battle, as his soul energy was about to surpa.s.s that of Lie Jian. Lie Jian was forced into a corner; it was too late for him to crank up his soul energy, since a sudden increase in soul energy would guarantee an opening in his defense.
Before the discovery of GN force, physical strength was the dominating factor on the battlefield. However, to use the physical strength, one would first need to practice the inner breathing and increase the strength slowly. At the same time, the soul energy also needed to be increased slowly using tactics. Lie Jian had planned to focus on aggression and finish the fight as soon as possible. Therefore, his soul energy had been increasing at a much slower rate than his opponent.
By then, w.a.n.g Ben had overwhelmed Lie Jian with his attacks, The energy inside him bound with his will, so his execution of moves was flawless and deadly.
w.a.n.g Ben"s overwhelming power also came from the solid foundation he had built ever since he was a child. General Hu Ben was known for being a strict mentor, and w.a.n.g Ben had followed his father"s orders faithfully< never thinking of slacking off.
Although the foundation he had built didn"t show its effect immediately after his mind open operation, over time, it had lent w.a.n.g Ben significant strength during the most difficult times.
"Kom!"
w.a.n.g Ben"s punch hit square, and Lie Jian was blown a few feet out.
Suddenly, silence fell into the arena.
Lie Jian gathered himself and cracked a smile; he was pleased by his opponent"s power.
Lie Jian reckoned that w.a.n.g Ben not only had the perfect physical defense, but he was also resistant to the poison.
"Oh, s.h.i.+t! When did he become so powerful?" Hu Yangxuan was astonished by w.a.n.g Ben"s strength. He noticed that w.a.n.g Ben didn"t use any tricks or element of surprise. He was trying to subdue his opponent by only force.
"Lie Jian was holding back his strength. We will see. " w.a.n.g Tong cracked a smile. Nevertheless, he was impressed by w.a.n.g Ben"s improvement, and he figured that it must have something to do with the fact that w.a.n.g Ben had opened his mind in his second operation.
"Kom!"
Suddenly, Lie Jian"s fists were engulfed in flames. Unlike soul Mastery, these flames were infused with Li Jian"s own soul energy.
w.a.n.g Ben remained calm as he clenched his fists, getting ready for whatever would come next. All the while, both fighters" soul energy were burning and toiling inside their sea of consciousness.
"Come on!" Lie Jian shouted and attacked first.
w.a.n.g Ben followed and charged at the attacker head on.
"Kom...Kom-Kom!"
In a blink, the two had exchanged a dozen blows. Both fighters attacked directly, trying to subdue their opponent.
"Gosh, is he stupid or something? Why can"t he use some tricks like a feint or a dodge?"
"Hehe, you said it as if he has a choice. He can only defeat Lie Jian with a direct attack. " Turbolix said.
"w.a.n.g Ben"s improvement is very impressive. When he first came to Capth, he was even weaker than me!" One of the combatant from Capth lamented.
"Well, have you noticed that w.a.n.g Ben had spent practically every single minute of his life on training? Practice makes one perfect! Plus, he is also very talented." Turbolix said.
"What about his cultivation? He has already reached level five in such a short time." Another student said.
"He didn"t have a life, that"s why. No girlfriend and no hobbies equal no distraction. " Turbolix answered. He knew that these students were simply jealous of w.a.n.g Ben"s achievement, but had failed to see the hard work behind it.
Turbolix had been watching w.a.n.g Ben ever since he entered Capth. Although at the time, w.a.n.g Ben was much weaker than most students, Turbolix had concluded that he would catch up very quickly, because he had the most important quality for a powerful cultivator: perseverance. The real advancement wouldn"t come overnight. Instead, it was built upon thousands and thousands of mundane repet.i.tions.
Nevertheless, Turbolix was also impressed by w.a.n.g Ben"s improvement, and he believed that no one in the confederation had ever made such a great leap in their cultivation.
"Kom!"
GN force splattered out form the impact of two fists as both fighters took a few steps back. Lie Jian had received a solid blow on the chest, while w.a.n.g Ben had gotten three. Each blow w.a.n.g Ben had received was infused with fire poison. By then, Lie Jian was convinced that his fire poison had already worked its way into w.a.n.g Ben"s system.
w.a.n.g Ben would feel the poison slithering in his blood vein as he tried to contain it with soul energy. The pain would be unbearable to any ordinary human. However, w.a.n.g Ben acted as if nothing had happened.
w.a.n.g Ben"s mettle and determination had impressed even Lie Jian.