Chapter 378: One Simple Punch
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Lie Jian wanted to give w.a.n.g Ben more pressure, since he was concerned that the latter would eventually be able to overcome the fire poison. As the belligerent punch almost reached w.a.n.g Ben, Lie Jian folded the energy like folding a piece of cloth, and completely changed its property.
"Palm of the Fire Cloud!"
Lie Jian was well versed in many techniques in addition to the tactics of the Blaze Thanks to his solid foundation that he built using the Tactics of the Blaze, Lie Jian was able to master any tactics that he later practiced.
w.a.n.g Ben took a deep breath and shouted as he punched back at his opponent. It was common knowledge that the softer energy inside the Fire Cloud Fist was the bane for overbearing forces such as that of Fist of the Racing Tiger.
Although Fist of the Racing tiger was a powerful tactics, w.a.n.g Ben had yet to know how to use it to counter soft energies.
After a few rounds of attacks, Lie Jian seemed to have gained the upper hand just like everyone expected. A few moments later, w.a.n.g Ben was. .h.i.t squarely in the chest.
w.a.n.g Ben stumbled back as blood spilled out of his mouth; he swallowed the rest of it down, along with the pain.
Finally, w.a.n.g Ben had tasted the power of the Magnificent Five.
Standing in front of him, Lie Jian looked haughty as ever; his power was undisputed.
Meanwhile on the Earth…
w.a.n.g Ben"s mother was worried about the safety of her child. Although she knew that as a soldier"s mother, she should have expected this, she found it difficult to watch her son being beaten up in front of her. What made her angrier was that her husband was not even watching their son"s fight with her. His excuse: too busy.
Looking at the conceit on Lie Jian"s face, w.a.n.g Ben smiled as he freed all the GN forced that he had used to keep the fire poison in check. As the GN power surged inside his system, so did the fire poison. Pain shot through w.a.n.g Ben"s body. However, he contorted his face and managed to bear the pain inside with his iron will.
Lie Jian was impressed by w.a.n.g Ben"s perseverance; he didn"t attack right away. Instead, he waited patiently for his opponent to drop to the ground as the fire poison slowly went out of control.
w.a.n.g Ben had overlooked the power of the fire poison. In a few moments, the poison had reached w.a.n.g Ben"s sea of consciousness, and was wreaking havoc inside.
The pain aside, w.a.n.g Ben felt his body starting to spasm; he was gradually losing control of his muscles.
Students from the Ayrlarng were unnerved by the development. Although w.a.n.g Ben had betrayed them once, they had been friends after-all.
"What the h.e.l.l are you doing? Don"t get defeated by that Lie-Lame-Jian! F*ck him! I have been playing fire ever since I was a kid!"
A loud voice rang among the quiet students from Ayrlarng; it was Karl. No one knew when he had sneaked into the arena, but his unsavory comments had drawn many dirty looks from the Martian audiences.
"F*ck it! Finish this douchebag! I forgive you!"
Karl shouted at the top of his lungs while waving his fists in the air. Lie Jian threw a sidelong glance towards the noise, but didn"t bother to find out who the heckler was.
"Do you know him, this low-life garbage?" Lie Jian asked.
"What kind of garbage are you?" w.a.n.g Ben said as he struggled to pick himself up off the ground.
"Ah-ha, you can still talk? How impressive! Are you going to surrender or you want me to make it easier for you?"
"We are not done yet!"
By then, w.a.n.g Ben had gained full control of his body, and the spasm had disappeared; even the fire poison seemed to have faded away.
"Fire Poison? What a joke! It"s just a trick." w.a.n.g Ben announced, his strong voice suggesting that the fire poison had been cured.
Hu Yangxuan and w.a.n.g Tong exchanged a knowing glance. They had never heard anyone that could break the fire poison so easily.
"Based on the information I have gathered, the fire poison was a type of soul poison. It was not lethal, but it was meant to inflict unbearable pain for a period."
It was the first time that Lie Jian"s fire poison had ever failed. Lie Jian was aware that any tactics could fail. For example, if the fire poison were used against Einherjar Wannabe, Lie Jian was certain that not only was it useless, but Einherjar Wannabe would also be able to take advantage of the free energy inside the fire poison. That being said, Einherjar Wannabe was a much powerful fighter than w.a.n.g Ben, and therefore, Lie Jian was perplexed by the development. Moreover, w.a.n.g Ben"s courage to break the fire poison with his will alone—a feat even Lie Jian himself wouldn"t dare attempt—had deeply impressed the Martian Warrior.
"You are a true warrior. Fine, as a token of respect, I shall show you my coup de grace! " Lie Jian announced. He had decided to completely overwhelm w.a.n.g Ben in order to wane his confidence. All the while, Lie Jian marveled at the huge improvement w.a.n.g Ben had made in just under one year.
"Kom!"
The GN force inside Lie Jian suddenly boiled over as his soul energy reached the top of level five. his eyes turned into two pools of molten iron.
w.a.n.g Ben knew that Lie Jian was about to unleash his coup de grace, so he dug in his heels and took a deep breath to get ready.
The success of overcoming the fire poison had lent w.a.n.g Ben confidence, and he knew that the reason Lie Jian decided to release his coup de grace was that he was afraid. On that note, w.a.n.g Ben had already gained the upper hand.
However confident and determined w.a.n.g Ben was, he could not ignore the immense power of his opponent. By then, Lie Jian"s soul energy had reached four hundred and ninety, while w.a.n.g Ben"s remained at four hundred and fifty. w.a.n.g Tong knew the actual power of the two fighters could differ greatly from their sol readings.
Lie Jian"s soul energy was finally fully charged, and suddenly, he shouted, "Double Winged Fire Drake!"
As Lie Jian"s GN force erupted out of him, the stage turned into a sea of fire. From the flames, a fiery beast charged out and galloped towards w.a.n.g Ben.
w.a.n.g Ben didn"t even flinch; he didn"t choose to use any advanced moves to counter the attack. Instead, he punched directly at the beast, the same punch he had been practicing ever since he was a child.
This was a direct punch, the most straightforward attack. But, w.a.n.g Ben had practiced it countless times, a million times or a hundred million times—he couldn"t remember.
"Kom!"
The fist punched through the beast like a piece of paper, and Lie Jian could already feel a deadly force coming at him.
Lie Jian immediately followed with two more attacks, as two more beasts charged at w.a.n.g Ben.
w.a.n.g Ben"s fist cut through the two beasts like cutting through b.u.t.ter, and landed a solid blow on Lie Jian. Lie Jian was sent flying; his limbs dangled from his body in the air like that of a rag doll.
A reverential silent fell inside of the arena.
w.a.n.g Ben had done it!
w.a.n.g Tong nodded in approval; the fist-technique was extremely powerful. Although it was plain and couldn"t be simpler, it was able to overcome Lie Jian"s coup de grace.
The Martians couldn"t believe what they had just seen. Their prince"s coup de grace was countered!
Zhang Mi, the journalist, made a mark on w.a.n.g Ben"s profile. She found it hard to believe that it was purely a coincident that w.a.n.g Ben had studied at Ayrlarng and had been a member of the S-Club. She couldn"t help but wonder what Samantha had done to the school to bring it back from its slump.
w.a.n.g Ben saw Karl give him a thumbs up, and smiled, it was the first time he smiled ever since he left Ayrlarng.
Inside a military officer"s room, a group of military officers cheered for w.a.n.g Ben"s success.
"Only one year! Atta boy!"
"Yeah, his rate of improvement is crazy!"