Chapter 223 - Bifang vs. Phoenix

"How is he?" Leon asked Mia and Lillian. Beside him were also He Fen, Lang, and Fenrir.

“His conditions are stable, and he has no internal bleeding. However, there is a lot of work to be done in resealing the spine." Lillian hastily replied.

"I see," Leon answered with a serious face.

'Hei fought Hu Jie, but he had to push this far to win. This means that if I want to beat Long Tian, ​​someone comparable to Hu Jie, then I have to put the same will as Hei.'

It wasn't just Leon who thought so. He Fen was also thinking the same thing.

"The next two fighters to take the field are Feng Chen of the Feng Family and He Fen of the He Family." Song Yazhu called the next two martial artists to the combat stage.

Hearing his name being called, He Fen took a breath before walking to the stage.

'Hei fought hard, but in the end, he succeeded. The Eight Big Families aren’t invincible. If I'm willing to use every bit of my strength without sparing anything, then I have a chance.'

"It seems you have found your resolve." A voice came from behind. It was Feng Chen. “Very well, I'm happy about it. I honestly never considered anyone other than the Best Generation to be my rivals before coming here. But then I met Hei, and I changed my mind. Especially now after he beat Hu Jie in his field, the hand-to-hand combat.

However, I must confess that I have begun to be curious about you. In a short space of time, you made amazing progress, winning against opponents who looked stronger on paper. I know this is partly related to Hei, but I also know that if it weren't for your determination, you wouldn't have made it this far."

"Why are you telling me all these things?" He Fen asked, somewhat taken aback. He didn’t expect to receive such compliments from Feng Chen.

"It is for the reason that you are fighting. As the son of the family head, I am familiar with the privileges that I have. At the same time, I am also familiar with the duties that this legacy brings. I know very well how vicious and overwhelming the rules imposed by the Bloodline Families can be. In other words, I'm saying that I cheer for you. If you show them that you can stand up to me or even outdo me, you could make those old people in your family change their minds."

"You know about it?!" He Fen was amazed. He hadn't told anyone but his closest companions about why he wanted to become stronger: to free his sister from the fate of unhappiness that awaited her. But thinking about it, it was normal for Feng Chen to be informed. After all, he was part of one of the Eight Big Families, who, along with the Imperial Family, monitored every movement within the Sun Empire.

Feng Chen didn’t reply but motioned for him to keep advancing. Together they went up the battle stage and faced each other. The chatter was over; now it was time to fight.

"Let the fight begin!"

At the start of Song Yazhu, both Feng Chen and He Fen drew their weapons. Feng Chen drew his sword while He Fen his wheels of wind and fire.

Peng!

Feng Chen's sword blade made contact with the circular blades of the wheels of wind and fire, creating a metallic noise.

Blaze!

Both the sword and the wheels of wind and fire became covered with flames. Sizzles of flames flew around the two fighters creating a picturesque image as if the viewers were standing in front of a painting.

Peng!

Seeing that Fen He had resisted the first hit, Feng Chen withdrew his sword to attack another part of He Fen’s body. The latter, however, had his senses to the fullest and promptly followed the movement of the sword. He parried using one of his two circular weapons while attacking with the other.

Slash!

The flaming circular blade was avoided with ease. Feng Chen wasn’t caught off guard and just moved his body. At the same time, he took advantage of such forced displacement to withdraw his sword and direct it elsewhere.

An intense exchange of blades and flames was created. Small residues of fire colored the surrounding environment red and orange whenever the sword and the wheels of wind and fire met. Furthermore, these residues made the air blurry, giving the impression that the fight was taking place inside a fire.

Bam!

Suddenly, in the middle of the confrontation between blades, Feng Chen performed a horizontal kick, hitting He Fen's left leg at the calf from the side. While this didn’t do real harm given the presence of the defensive layer of spirit power, it was enough to destabilize He Fen momentarily.

"Shit!" He Fen swore; he had made the mistake of paying attention only to the sword. After all, in his previous matches, Feng Chen had achieved his victories thanks to his sword. So it was clear that the core of his abilities was concentrated there.

WHAM!

After performing the sweep, Feng Chen spun around quickly and then made a kick into his opponent's stomach. He Fen was pushed back as he felt his spirit power shrink slightly to the height of his stomach.

'I let myself be fooled. He's unexpectedly good with kicks.’ thought He Fen.

Slash!

As He Fen backed away, Feng Chen didn’t stand still. Instead, he followed up as he rested his leg on the ground while his sword was ready to strike. Fortunately, He Fen had noticed Feng Chen's pursuit and dodged the approaching sword.

At that point, the two returned to collide their weapons covered with flames. However, this time, a change could be seen: first, He Fen's attacks were faster and more decisive; now, however, they were more contained for fear of counterattack by his opponent's legs.

'He's going to do it again.'

He Fen noticed that Feng Chen had started to lift his right foot again. With the experience of a while ago, he had purposely limited the intensity of his attacks so as not to be caught off guard. But unfortunately, Feng Chen proved more cunning.

Wham!

Feng Chen pretended to raise his leg and use the same attack as before. But, instead, he thrust his right arm forward in the form of a closed fist, "Fire Law, Fire Fist."

When the arm reached out and touched He Fen on the chest, there was a burst of flames that pushed the latter backward once again. And as before, Feng Chen ran in pursuit again.

Slash!

The flame-covered sword rose high and then fell back. He Fen didn't have the time to dodge this time and could only place his wind and fire wheels in opposition to avoid being cut.

Peng!

The descent of the sword was stopped, but He Fen wasn’t in a good position. He knew he had to fight back, or he would end up falling into Feng Chen's battle pace.

"Fire Law, Flame Torrent!"

Two streams of flames were released from the two wheels of wind and fire, hitting Feng Chen in full. The latter promptly backed away to avoid unnecessary damage. But, aside from a reduction in his spirit power, he was virtually unharmed.

“Bifang Bird Bloodline, activate! Intent of the Wheels of Wind and Fire, Remote Control Mode! Fire Law of Fire, Fire Fist!"

As soon as he had a breather, He Fen decided to go all out. He activated his bloodline, and his fists were covered in fire. Simultaneously, its wheels of wind and fire were placed at his sides as they were mentally commanded.

'Hei said my only way to win is to turn the battle into a contest between flames. Then so be it.'

Remote Control Mode. He Fen created this technique by taking inspiration from Hei. The latter rarely held his weapon with his own hands, letting instead his hair hold the spear. Of course, Hei was still the one to handle everything, which required an absurd capacity for attention and control. But there was no denying that the combined effect of spear and hand-to-hand techniques was truly deadly.

'I'm not as good at hand-to-hand combat as Hei; however, it isn’t even necessary. My main assets are my flames. My body is just a means to spread them and make them reach the target.' He Fen braced himself for the counterattack, determined to use his full power.

'So he resolved himself. Well, then it's my turn, I guess.' thought Feng Chen before getting really serious, "Phoenix Bloodline, activate!"

A fire wing appeared from his back and spread out into the air, causing the temperature to rise. Seeing this, He Fen smiled bitterly at the overwhelming sensation he was feeling when facing his opponent.

“It is truly incredible. I can feel my whole body tremble before the authority of his flames. But even so, I'm not going to give up. Wheels of Fire and Wind, attack!"

The two circular weapons moved forward, aiming at Feng Chen. The latter was already ready and was waiting for the right moment to dodge. However, he found that he had miscalculated his calculations: instead of trying to cut him, the wheels of wind and fire moved to his sides and then poured red-green flames on him.

Whoosh!

Feng Chen dodged the two blazes using his incredible reflexes and speed. Nonetheless, the attack left him in the open.

Bam! Blaze!

He Fen's punch came as Feng Chen dodged the two blazes. However, as soon as he made contact with his target's body, He Fen's fist generated more flames that assaulted Feng Chen.

"Intent of the Wheels of Wind and Fire, Flamming Bombardment!"

The wind and fire wheels began firing fireballs at Feng Chen, who was forced to use his footwork technique to keep up with the bombing. But He Fen wasn't going to limit himself to just that.

"Wheels of Wind and Fire, come!"

He Fen recalled his wheels of wind and fire into his hands. But, unfortunately, his weapons contained only a part of his spirit power which was quickly exhausted to carry out the blaze and bombing. If he wanted to continue with his tactic, he had to reinsert more spirit power.

"Intent of the Sword, Fire Tear!"

Feng Chen took advantage of the end of the bombing to wave his sword. A blade of fire escaped from the weapon and crossed the air vertically in He Fen's direction.

Peng!

Seeing the blade of fire approaching, He Fen placed one of his wind and fire wheels under his feet and kicked it, giving himself the necessary thrust to propel himself diagonally forward and thus dodge the attack. Then he did the same thing again, using the other wheel of wind and fire. This time, the push placed him behind Feng Chen.

"Fire Fist!"

"Phoenix Wing Phoenix!"

Fists and wing collided, creating a burst of flames. The two fighters were pushed back as their respective flames ate each other. From the exchange that just took place, it could be seen that incredibly the flames of He Fen hadn’t lost in power against those of Feng Chen.

"Were the flames of the Bifang Bird Bloodline that powerful?" asked a young man in the VIP gallery. He was one of the many youngsters brought to attend the tournament to broaden their vision of the art of fighting. Even though he was only a spirit apprentice, he had good talent and high potential. Yet, faced with He Fen's show of strength, he couldn't help but be incredulous. The same was true for the other young people in the VIP stand and those in the other stadium sections.

Feng Chen, the representative of the Feng Family and one of the Best Generation, was drawing in a fight of flames against someone from an inferior family like the He Family.

However, more experienced viewers could clearly observe that Feng Chen's flames weren’t yet at their peak. Nonetheless, they had to admit that He Fen's performance was better than what they had thought, so much so that they began to reconsider the He Family's potential.

"Are you aiming for a fight of flames?" Feng Chen asked after stabilizing himself from the outbreak of fire techniques. His eyes had an amused light as if he found He Fen's approach extremely interesting.

“Yes,” He Fen admitted without hiding it, “it's the only way I can beat you. After all, you are superior in me in every other respect."

“I congratulate you on your choice. Not many would be willing to do this against me. Most would attempt to use their secondary Elemental Laws or other types of tactics. Nonetheless, there is something you are wrong about. As strong as the Bifang Bird flames are, the flames of the Phoenix burn more intensely. Now I'll show you."

When Feng Chen said so, suddenly, his wing of fire behind his back began to crumble into little flames. These flames then began to condense on his mouth, being swallowed one by one.

At this sight, the spectators who had personally witnessed the fight of a Feng Family representative couldn’t help but widen their eyes.

“The Phoenix Breath? So young but already able to use it?"
“Is he exaggerating? There is no way that the young man from the He Family can resist it."
"You are right. If he can't control it, there is also the danger that He Fen will die."

When they saw Feng Chen's technique, these battle-experienced spectators declared the end of the fight within themselves. In their memories, it was well printed how powerful the Phoenix Breath was.

“Bifang flames! Give me your strength!" He Fen yelled as he concentrated all he had on producing the most powerful flames he had ever generated.

'You're playing it all out now, He Fen. Hold nothing back but release the strongest flame you have.' He Fen told himself as red-green flames gathered in his hands. Even if the opponent were someone as phenomenal as Feng Chen, he wouldn't back away. He had promised he would no longer hesitate with insecurity. He would keep moving forward, one step at a time.

"Fire Law, Phoenix Breath!"
"Fire Law, Flame Torrent!"

The two flames exploded forward and met halfway with incredible violence. The moment they met, they began to devour each other without giving in an inch. The two young men were continuously emitting more flames to provide more fuel to their flames.

'I can do it! I can beat him! '

He Fen's conviction strengthened with each passing second. Finally, his flames, in which no one but his companions had ever believed, were now getting the respect they deserved. But, unfortunately, the flames of the Phoenix weren’t so easy to take down.

Blaze!

Feng Chen's blaze began to advance, literally devouring He Fen's. It began by advancing a few millimeters and then gaining more speed until it eventually hit He Fen.

Blaze!

He Fen was swept away by the Phoenix Breath. His defensive layer of spirit power held out for a few moments before crumbling to the destructive power of that flame. Fortunately, Feng Chen immediately canceled the technique after winning the battle of force. Despite this, however, he couldn’t avoid causing severe burns in He Fen.

"The winner is Feng Chen."