Chapter 217 - Ice vs. Fire

“Let's move on to the next fight now. To take the field are Lang of the Beast Family of the Ice Wolf and Huli Xieren of the Huli Family."

Since the previous fight ended in an immediate surrender, Song Yazhu went straight to the next fight. After all, the spectators had come purposely to witness the clashes between the younger generation's geniuses.

The two young women, hearing their names being called, began making their way to the fighting stage. Their determined gaze hinted that this time there would be no instant surrender but a heated confrontation.

Huli Xieren and Lang positioned themselves in the center of the fighting stage. Behind Lang, but off the stage, was Fenrir, looking proudly at her mistress. Unexpectedly, it seemed she had no intention of going up and fighting.

“Lang, as a beast tamer, you are allowed to use your spirit beast in this fight. If your wolf doesn’t take the stage, I will consider it as your waiver of that right. Should your spirit beast take the stage during the fight, you will be instantly disqualified. Are you okay with this?" Song Yazhu asked, reminding the tournament rules.

"I'm fine with it. A beast tamer doesn’t have to rely solely on their spirit beast. They must also be able to fight alone so as not to be a burden for the latter." Lang answered firmly.

As a member of one of the Beast Families, Lang honored and eagerly followed the beast tamers' path. Therefore, she didn't mind giving up such an advantage in such an important tournament if it meant defending and showing her pride as a beast tamer.

"Alright. Then you give up your right. You can continue now. Let the fight begin! " Song Yazhu proclaimed with a smile. As a martial artist who had earned her fame on the battlefield, Song Yazhu really liked people who spared no effort to improve themselves and their fighting skills.

Clink! Clink!

The two young fighters simultaneously drew their swords and pointed them at each other. Huli Xieren hadn't commented on Lang's decision or taken it badly. After all, Lang was already a strong opponent per se, so facing both Lang and Fenrir would be very difficult. Simultaneously, she knew that Lang's decision wasn’t based on a contempt or superiority complex towards her but her honor as a beast tamer.

"Fire Law, Fire Sword." Huli Xieren said as she waved her sword. Soon, red flames ignited on the sword, covering the blade.

"Ice Law, Ice Sword," Lang responded with a similar but at the same time opposite technique. In fact, she covered her sword not with flames but with a thick layer of ice.

Peng!

The two young fighters moved in unison and made the blades of their swords collide. Thus, flames and ice flickers were created when the two swords came into contact.

Peng! Peng! Peng!

One sword stroke followed another. Both Huli Xieren and Lang displayed incredible fencing skills, not giving in to the pressure generated by their opponent in the least and counterattacking at the same time. However, after several exchanges, a change in Huli Xieren's pace could be noted.

'In terms of physical strength, she is undoubtedly superior to me. If so, I must aim for a battle approach based on the Elemental Laws. Lang doesn’t have a bloodline; in that case, if I activate my bloodline, I'll be the one with the advantage.' Huli Xieren analyzed as she took a series of quick steps backward to gain distance.

'Regarding raw strength, I am superior to her. And we are even about our knowledge of the Elemental Laws. But she has a bloodline; once she activates it, I will no longer be on par with her. In that case, I must aim everything for a close-range match.' Lang pondered as she pursued her opponent. Knowing she had the advantage in close combat, she certainly wouldn't give up on that so easily.

"Fire Law, Wisp!" Hui Xieren exclaimed as she summoned three palm-sized fireballs. This was the same technique she used in the previous fight that had earned her the victory.

"Go!"

With a hand movement, the three balls of fire shot in the direction indicated by Huli Xieren. Their target was none other than Lang, who was approaching at full speed.

'Those spheres are dangerous. I must avoid touching them with both my body and my sword.' Lang thought as she remembered well the previous fight of Huli Xieren and the danger of this technique.

Lang stopped her footsteps and rolled sideways with a decisive movement, just in time to avoid the three fireballs. Even though she had to interrupt her charge, she kept the flames from sticking to her.

"Ahh!" exclaimed Huli Xieren as she moved the hand that wasn’t holding the sword. The fingers of that hand closed on the palm except for the index and middle fingers. After that, Huli Xieren bent her wrist in Lang's direction. Incredibly, the three fireballs arched through the air and changed their trajectory, heading to where Lang was.

'Can she change their trajectory so quickly? If so, I have no way of getting rid of them if I just dodge. I have to destroy them.' Lang analyzed before using another technique.

"Ice Law, Frost Slash!"

Crystalline flakes of ice were generated from Lang's sword. These flakes crashed into the three fireballs, destroying them and generating a light curtain of vapor.

Slash!

Suddenly a sword strike came at Lang. Huli Xieren, who had opted for a ranged approach based on elemental attacks, came running as soon as Lang left an opening when she used her ice attack to destroy the fireballs. In an instant, she had changed her battle approach again.

The flame-covered blade descended menacingly from above. Without delay, Lang stepped aside to dodge. However, Huli Xieren had already foreseen a similar reaction and quickly rotated her arms to keep her sword from losing momentum.

Slash!

Lang once again found herself under attack. Unable to get out of that difficult position, she chose to avert the threat momentarily by stooping. So she bent her knees as fast as she could, and the flame-covered sword passed over her head.

Seeing Lang dodge once again, Huli Xieren didn’t demoralize but continued to attack relentlessly. So she let go of the sword, opening her palms. Soon after, the sword spun in midair, redirecting the pointed end at Lang. At that point, Huli Xieren moved her arms downward.

Stab!

Huli Xieren's sword stuck to the ground, missing Lang. Lang, noticing the danger, had in turn driven her sword to the ground. Then, pivoting with her left hand on the pommel of her sword, she somersaulted in mid-air and sent a kick with her right leg in response against Huli Xieren.

Woosh!

The kick moved quickly against Huli Xieren's face. The latter, however, responded by lowering her back and bending obliquely forward. Her eyes contained no hint of fear but were locked on Lang. At the same time, her arms were ready to rise for another sword attack.

Wham!

Before Huli Xieren could bring her arms back up, once again pivoting her left hand on her sword's pommel, Lang made a 180° rotation and landed a kick with her left leg on the head of Huli Xieren. The latter received the full impact, but instead of resisting, she accompanied the kick's movement with a series of somersaults on the ground. After all, in that situation, rather than resisting the impact and ending up on the defensive, it was better to use the blow's momentum to gain distance and avoid being cornered.

'Do you want to take back the distance? I won't let you do that.' Lang thought quickly as she followed Huli Xieren as soon as the latter began to roll to the ground to get away.

'You don’t want to let me go?! Then ... ', "Fire Law, Adherent Flame, reveal yourself!"

Seeing Lang rushing towards her, Huli Xieren was forced to reveal in advance the trap she had hidden on her opponent.

Blaze!

The right foot that had missed Huli Xieren's head in the first exchange caught fire as Huli Xieren activated her technique.

"Freezing Fist!"

When the flame appeared on her foot, Lang halted her run. After that, a layer of ice formed on her right hand as it descended violently on her right foot, which was in flames. The instant the fist made contact with the flame, it lost its heat and froze, eventually breaking into the air.

At that point, Lang raised her head to look at Huli Xieren, who was back on her feet. Both had their chests going up and down due to breathing heavily, a sign of the exchange's intensity between the two.

"As I thought. I can't beat you unless you activate my bloodline." Huli Xieren said in a quiet voice before activating her bloodline, "Nine-Tailed Fox Bloodline, activate!"

Blaze!

Huli Xieren's sword's flames grew larger as a tail of flames settled behind the young woman's back. At the same time, the color of the flame took on a purplish sheen.

Seeing Huli Xieren activate her bloodline, Lang didn’t demoralize. She knew from the beginning of her disadvantage and had already prepared herself to respond to this situation.

"Beast Tattoo - Wolf Mode!"

At the same time that Huli Xieren activated her bloodline, Lang also activated her final card. On the skin of the young beast tamer, several symbols lit up that went to form the figure of a wolf. At the same time, Lang's forearm and calf muscles thickened. Rather than increasing their size, it was as if the muscles were condensing inside, being hardened to an amazing level.

"Secret Technique of the Ice Wolf Beast Family, Wolf Charge!"

"Fire Law, Wisp!"

Lang charged forward once more as Huli Xieren spawned her fireballs again. The fireballs were even faster than the previous ones, and the control Huli Xieren had over them was also better.

Woosh!

The spheres quickly swooped into Lang. However, the latter was now much faster than before. Effortlessly, she avoided the spheres and moved away from them, heading for her true target - Huli Xieren.

Beast Tattoos, unlike bloodlines or elemental essences, which provided a boost to the Elemental Laws, provided a certain physical increase depending on the blood of which spirit beast the Beast Tattoo derived.

In Lang's case, her Beast Tattoo was derived from none other than Fenrir. Since Fenrir was a wolf, the boosts increased speed and grip strength while maintaining a light and flexible figure.

"Ice Law, Ice Claw."

Seeing that she wasn’t far from the target, Lang created a layer of ice on her hands, like a kind of ice glove that ended in pointed points, thus recalling the claws of a wolf.

"Fire Law, Wisp!" shouted Huli Xieren, caught off guard by Lang's sudden speed increase.

Two more fireballs were thrown from Huli Xieren's sword and went to obstruct Lang's advance. However, with swift readiness, Lang cut the two fireballs with her sword. Once this was done, she let go of her weapon to avoid the effect of Adherent Flame.

Slash! Slash!

Without her sword, Lang sent her ice-covered hands forward. Using the pointed tips on her fingers, she made a series of cuts against Huli Xieren. The latter, however, responded with a dodge, pivoting to the ground with her tail. In a moment, she moved to the side and continued to hit the ground with her tail to regain distance.

"As if I let you do it!" Lang shouted in a roaring voice.

Lang's Beast Tattoo wasn’t a normal Beast Tattoo. It was a variant created by the Beast Families only. Users of such Beast Tattoos would get a greater boost than normal ones but with the side effect that their behavior would be affected by the blood of the spirit beast used as the core of the tattoo.

Therefore, under this state, the usual cold and rational Lang was replaced instead with a more ferocious and irascible Lang. Fortunately, however, Lang was inherently calm. Therefore, the side effect wasn’t so problematic when it manifested itself.

Thump!

Lang crashed her whole body into Huli Xieren. In the struggle, the young woman from the Huli Family lost her grip on her sword. However, even now, Huli Xieren wasn’t showing signs of giving up.

"Fire Law, Fox Hold!"

The tail of flames behind Huli Xieren's back dissipated and then reformed on Lang's body. However, the young beast tamer wasn't worried at all. Instead, she moved her hands to Huli Xieren's neck and closed her grip violently.

'You want to finish me off by taking advantage of your physical advantage?! I won't let you do it!'

Huli Xieren increased the intensity of her flames to the maximum. As Lang was above her, they both ended up covered in flames. As the user of the technique and possessing the Fire Law, Huli Xieren suffered little from the effects of the flames produced by her own spirit power, but it wasn’t as if she were immune. Nonetheless, the main problem was Lang's ferocious hold on her.

The young beast tamer didn't even blink at the Huli Xieren technique. All she could think of was to condense her spirit power to the maximum and put as much pressure on Huli Xieren's neck as possible.

'If I can destroy her defensive layer of spirit power, the victory is mine. Therefore, I must ignore the flames until Huli Xieren reaches the limit. '

'She is betting everything on this attack while ignoring the defense. As long as my flames can break through her defensive layer of spirit power, then the victory will be mine. '

Each of the fighters had no intention of giving up. Lang knew very well that if she let go, she could very well say goodbye to victory. Huli Xieren was superior to her regarding elemental law techniques, not to mention her prowess in battle. Certainly, she wasn't going to get caught off guard a second time.

Huli Xieren instead knew that Lang wouldn’t give up for any reason due to the Nine-Tailed Fox bloodline's influential advantage. Without the possibility of freeing herself, she, therefore, decided to concentrate all her spirit power to cover her neck and generate her flames. If her opponent had given up everything to focus on attacking, then she would take advantage of it to land as much damage as possible.

The two remained like this for some time, and the spectators in the stands began to worry about the two fighters' conditions. Even Hei, Feng Chen, and the other fighters watching the fight began to feel concerned.

Flash!

Suddenly a flash of white light appeared, and the flames covering the two young women died instantly, vanishing into thin air. Simultaneously, Lang's grip on Huli Xieren's neck loosened, and the young beast tamer fell backward against the floor of the fighting stage. Huli Xieren, on the ground, likewise showed no signs of getting up.