Chapter 230 - Hei vs. Long Tian - 1

"A Water and Wood Law combined technique?!"
"How is it possible that a spirit soldier can already combine two laws in one technique?!"

Sounds of heated discussions came from all over the stadium. The spirit soldier rank was the second rank of the seven ranks into which martial artists were divided. Therefore, despite the talent of the fighters, they were considered weak within the entire martial artist scene, which also included the Spirit Emperors. Yet, Lian, a spirit soldier, had performed a technique that was unthinkable for someone of that rank.

“A combined technique, or the combination of two Elemental Laws into one. At the spirit soldier rank, using two different Law techniques, one after the other is already the maximum limit. Of course, those with exceptional talent can use two different Law techniques simultaneously for a limited period of time. But this is the first time I've heard of a spirit soldier capable of using a combined technique. Not even Feng Chen or the others are capable of such a thing." Hu Jie said with incredulous eyes.

Hu Jie had challenged and fought with Feng Chen and the other members of the Best Generation. Although he hadn't seen them for over a year and therefore didn't know their current strength level, they should be as powerful as he or Feng Chen. Yet. not even in his dreams, he believed that they could perform a technique combined while they were in the spirit soldier rank.

“Combining two different Elemental Laws requires absolute control in balancing the spirit power and the two Laws. It's not so much about how much knowledge you have about those certain laws but rather about how you manage to make them interact with each other. It isn’t even necessarily said that a Spirit Emperor could succeed. It's just that the higher your rank, the greater your chances of doing it, at least theoretically." commented Feng Chen, who had awakened from his fainting state.

Being a Fire and Ice Laws user, Feng Chen had already tried to combine fire and ice in a single technique. But even he had hit the wall dictated by his young age and the rank in which he was. With his talent, he was confident that he would unite the two Laws in the future, but he never expected anyone at the spirit soldier rank to be capable of it.

'What kind of monstrous talent do they have?' Feng Chen said in his heart.

Hei had overpowered him by using those strange techniques despite the advantage he had over the Elemental Laws. Now Lian had used a combined technique, something he, despite his talent and resources, hadn't been able to do.

'Lian's talent is superior to mine when it comes to controlling spirit power and using the Elemental Laws. Previously, her talent was limited by not having an attack technique strong enough to break through the enemy's defense. Her only alternative was her ribbons, but that always left her dependent on them. Now, however, with the combined technique, she has a final technique independent from the ribbons. The question is how much damage Lian has managed to inflict on Long Tian.' Hei thought to himself as he watched the fight move towards its final moments.

"Repulsive Barrier!"

A cry rose from inside the wooden prison. Soon after, a roar echoed, and the wooden prison was swept away in lots of wood splinters. Lian herself was sent flying by the strength of Long Tian's technique.

Pant! Pant! Pant!

Long Tian's breathing was heavy and labored. His body was bleeding from multiple places, and his clothes were torn. His face was pale white, a sign of the loss of blood he had suffered. Yet despite his injuries, he was still standing, with a glint of determination in his eyes.

But he wasn't the only one. Even Lian, who had been blown away, still wanted to fight. She quickly got up from the ground despite her condition and began to advance towards her opponent. However, after taking three steps, the young woman fell to the ground with a thud. The damage of the Yellow Dragon Fist was too great to be taken by gritting her teeth.

"The winner is Long Tian!" Song Yazhu announced. He, too, like the others, was still visibly amazed by what Lian had managed to accomplish. However, as the competition judge, it was his duty to announce the end of the fight and the winner.

“Ye, Xing. Go get her." Hei said to her little sisters.

Ye and Xing nodded their heads and increased in size, quickly making their way to the fighting stage to retrieve Lian. The audience then saw Hei's two spirit beasts come up onto the stage and carry the young woman's body into the fighters' section.

"Heo." Long Tian said, whispering as he watched Lian being carried away.

“And with that, today's matches are over. The two finalists of the tournament are Hei and Long Tian, who will compete to decide the champion. I remind you that tomorrow and the day after, the various guests will be able to take the young people they brought with them to the field. Likewise, academy students who were unable to participate in the tournament and those who were eliminated can perform and compete against each other. After these two days, we will have the final, and the winner will be decided." Song Yazhu then announced the end of the day and the program for the next few days.

The final would take place in three days. Although they were a little disappointed as they would have to wait a little longer to find out who would be the winner, the audience was happy with it. By doing so, the two finalists could rest and reach their peak condition. In addition to that, these two days allowed those who hadn’t had the opportunity to show off and reveal their skills.

*

Academy Infirmary

The Academy Infirmary was located on one of the upper floors of the castle. There, the students who got hurt and needed treatment were housed. However, at the moment, it had only one bed occupied as the Academy's activities had ended and the only injured were those participating in the tournament.

On the occupied bed lay Lian with her eyes closed. Beside her were Hei, Ye, and Xing, waiting for her to awaken. As far as Long Tian was concerned, he was still in the tournament and couldn’t enjoy the care of the Academy medics; the same was true of Hei. Feng Chen, on the other hand, was receiving his treatment in his personal room.

"You woke up," Hei said, noticing Lian moving slowly.

"Yes," Lian answered, then she lowered her gaze to avoid Hei's. “Hei, I wanted to tell you-”

“Don't say anything. You did your best and fought great. You have nothing to blame yourself for. Long Tian is strong, so you don't have to be ashamed if you lost. The important thing is that you haven't hurt yourself permanently." Hei hastened to say, sensing what Lian meant.

Lian cracked a smile, relieved by Hei's words. 'I was afraid I let you down, but apparently, I was wrong. Even so, it doesn't change the fact that I lost.'

Lian clenched her fists tightly. Inside her, there was anger and bitterness over her defeat. Yet, at the same time, there was a strong desire for redemption and not to experience that feeling of bitterness anymore.

'I have to get stronger. If I want to stay by Hei's side, I have to be able to take on anyone.'

'Lian!' Ye and Xing exclaimed, waking up from their nap. Soon after, they jumped on Lian's bed and started hopping here and there, glad that Lian was awakened.

Hei and Lian burst out laughing at that scene and began to tickle the two little divine beasts.

*

The two days following the semifinals were full of fighting. Each prominent guest had brought young people from their families with them to watch the tournament fights. Thus, these young people and the academy students began to challenge each other to show everyone what they could do.

There were countless talented young martial artists on both sides, but the ones that caught the most attention were the eliminated fighters from previous rounds. In particular, Hu Jie wiped out every opponent he met without much difficulty. Feng Chen also participated, albeit only on the second day, and like Hu Jie, he easily defeated anyone who faced him. This highlighted, even more, the strength of these two and above all that of Hei, who had defeated both.

He Fen, Leon, Lang, Fenrir also participated in the fights, whether they were single or team, and were able to gain more experience and get noticed more. The same was true of the four Long Tian Imperial Guards who attended to honor their master.

In doing so, the two days, although long and full of events, passed quickly. Now, on the seventh day of the tournament, only the final remained.

*

“Welcome everyone to the final of the tournament organized by the Southern Royal War Academy. As it is the last day, I thank you again on behalf of the Academy for the participation of all present.

Now, before the final, there would normally be the fight to decide third and fourth places. However, both fighters asked if it was possible to give up as they both wish to witness the final. So, considering their wish, Principal Long Jing decided to comply with their request, and both will be considered in third place.

As a matter of fairness, however, they won’t both receive the rewards for third place. But the rewards of fourth and third place will be split in half."

Song Yazhu's explanation left many disappointed; after all, many people wanted to see the match between Feng Chen and Lian, two of the strongest fighters. Both had shown extraordinary strength, and their fight would certainly have been spectacular. However, it was also true that most likely, in the event of a fight, both would be seriously injured, preventing them from being able to witness the final.

Also, having them fight after the final would have had less impact as the tournament winner would have already been decided. Since both participants had expressed the same wish, the Academy's arrangements were more than fair.

"Are you sure? Even though Feng Chen is strong, you have what it takes to defeat him." Hei asked Lian.

"No, that's okay." Lian replied, shaking her head, "I want to be conscious as you fight and be ready to welcome you when the fight is over."

Seeing Lian's firm response, Hei didn’t continue to ask further. “If that's what you've decided, that's fine with me. Then, I’ll go."

Hei nodded towards Lian, Ye, Xing, and his other companions. After that, he began to head for the fighting stage.

“So finally, the day has come. We have fought together before, but this is the first time we fight each other. You have defeated Hu Jie and Feng Chen. I'm curious to see if you'll be able to defeat me too." Long Tian said, drawing his hooked swords.

“I will do my best to defeat you. Therefore, you'd better get ready." Hei answered as he pulled out his spear.

'I don't know why, but my heart is beating faster than ever. I get chills at the thought of facing Long Tian. They aren't shivers of fear, but excitement and joy.' So Hei thought as he held his spear tightly.

“I'm happy to hear that from you. Come on then!" Long Tian answered with a smile.

"Let the fight begin!" Song Yazhu gave the go-ahead for the final, which would decree the winner.

As soon as the fight officially began, Hei dashed off towards his opponent with the spear held in his left hand.

'Snake Hair is unusable for the moment. Fortunately, the liquid that Mother used to strengthen my hair was absorbed into my scalp. So it's only a matter of time before my hair grows and can be used again. However, at a minimum, it will take several months for them to grow to a length sufficient to be used in combat. So, to give strength to my spear, I can only use my limbs.'

Peng!

Hei's spear fell from above on Long Tian, who parried smoothly, overlapping his hooked swords. After that, the Imperial Prince raised his arms high to raise Hei’s spear and counterattack but was hindered by Hei.

Bam!

Seeing Long Tian raise his arms high, Hei blocked him with a kick to the stomach. But Long Tian quickly dodged to the side, not getting fooled. Unfortunately for him, Hei had only just begun.

Whoosh!

As Long Tian dodged to the side, Hei placed his right hand on the spear's shaft and, with both hands, pushed the spear horizontally to where Long Tian was. The latter backed away quickly only to find the tip of the spear still in front of him.

Peng!

The hooked swords collided with the spear head, producing sparks. Hei, therefore, took advantage of that stall to lift his body, doing a somersault in mid-air forward. His feet aimed towards Long Tian's head as his legs stretched beyond their usual length due to the flexibility of his bones.

Scratch!

Long Tian dodged to the side just in time, avoiding being scratched by Hei's sharp toenails. Then he got ready for a counterattack, taking advantage of Hei's exposed position. Unfortunately, though, Hei still had an attack in store for him.

"Spider Lance, Palm Mode + Intent of the Spear, Spear Thrower."

"Intent of the Double Swords, Imperial Slash!"

Stab!

Slash!

Hei used the palm of his hand to hit the spear's flat part to hurl it at Long Tian. The Imperial Prince quickly realized his mistake and put his spirit power into his hooked blades to receive the spear attack once again.

Peng!

With the power imbued with Spider Lance's Palm Mode, Hei's spear was able to withstand Long Tian's Imperial Slash long enough to allow its master to put his feet back on the ground and reposition himself. Then, Hei ran forward just in time to grab his spear with both hands before it was blown away.

Boom!

Long Tian's Imperial Slash dissolved, creating a gust of air that separated the two fighters after this intense succession of exchanges.

“Since you usually use your hair, it's easy to miss it. But you are incredibly adept at using your spear with your arms. In particular, when you use it in combination with your lower limbs. " congratulated Long Tian, who, despite being on the defensive, had dodged or parried every attack without taking damage.

"Thank you. But this is only the beginning. " Hei answered before placing the spear over his shoulders. The right hand was placed on the flat end of the spear with the palm facing inward; the left hand was instead positioned just above the center of the shaft, with the palm facing outwards.