Chapter 200 - Bifang vs. Panther

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As he walked down the open corridor that separated him from the fighting stage, He Fen's footsteps resounded loud as if something hard was being slammed against the floor. His heart was racing, but the nervousness of before had dissolved to make room for his fighting spirit and his desire for victory.

Meanwhile, Bao Jong-Su, the young man from the Bao Family, was already standing on the stage with a concentrated but not worried face. He, as for Sean Fisher, was part of the group of new students. However, his status was higher than the former's. Bao Jong-Su was part of the Bao Family, owner of the Black Panther Bloodline, specialized in the Lightning Law. His attacks contained both incredible speed and impressive destructive power. He certainly wouldn't be an easy opponent for He Fen.

"Begin!" Song Yazhu started the fight as soon as He Fen got on stage and took up his fighting stance.

As soon as that order was issued, He Fen immediately pulled out his Wind and Fire Wheels, holding them with both hands. His circular weapons had a non-cutting part that allowed the user to grasp the two wheels for close combat, as well as the possibility of throwing them. Bao Jong-Su instead didn't draw any weapons; he stood there, motionless, in the center of the stage. However, his eyes and position alluded that he had no intention of remaining passive.

Whoosh!

Bao Jong-Su sprinted forward using his speed technique. His body had begun to release his spirit power, which took on a flickering dark blue tinge.

"Panther Palm!" Bao Jong-Su shouted as he threw a vigorous palm against He Fen.

"Wheel of Wind! Vortex Shield!"

He Fen let go of his Wind Wheel. The circular weapon stopped in mid-air and immediately afterward began to rotate clockwise as it created strong wind streams in front of He Fen like a shield of sharp drafts.

Slash! Zap!

Bao Jong-Su's palm stopped a few inches from He Fen's Wind Wheel. From that palm, a strong electric discharge was poured out, which crashed against the wind shield. The lightning bolts created by the technique were being cut into small pieces in front of the public's eyes.

'As I imagined, it wasn't an attack that needed to touch the body.' He Fen thought as he kept spinning his Wheel of Wind.

In this regard, He Fen could have simply used his circular weapons to meet his opponent's palm. After all, in the event of contact, it would have been He Fen to get the better of the confrontation. But, in the same way, he was aware of it, Bao Jong-Su should have been too. There was no way the latter would attack so lightly unless he was a user of the Metal Law, and He Fen knew he wasn't.

"Wheel of Fire, Jet of Fire!"

He Fen stopped his wind shield technique and started to rotate his second weapon, the Wheel of Fire. The metal circle turned red, and the next instant fired a jet of fire at Bao Jong-Su. The latter had lost the momentum gained from his run-up, and even the lightning on his palm had vanished. Therefore, he was now in great vulnerability.

"Flying Claw, Black Panther Palm!"

Crash!

Suddenly, something dark moved from Bao Jong-Su's back and crashed into He Fen's jet of fire. The flames of the jet were therefore divided into smaller streams and, since their trajectories were deflected, they missed their target.

"Hmm!?" He Fen made a surprised cry when he realized that the thing responsible for deflecting his jet of fire was a kind of metallic animal claw. This claw was connected by a metal rope, twisted along Bao Jong-Su's arm, and continued over the shoulder to his back. Initially, both the claw and the rope were hidden by the young man's clothes but were now fully visible.

"Do you like my Flying Claw? Then you will undoubtedly adore the other!" Bao Jong-Su said with a wild smile as his robes began to move again.

Slash!

A second metal claw flew from Bao Jong-Su's sleeve to head at full speed against He Fen's neck. The latter didn't expect Bao Jong-Su to possess such a weapon or that he had two of them. Without hesitation, he emitted a jet of fire from his Wheel of Fire to push his body away from the trajectory of the claw.

"It's not over here!" Bao Jong-Su shouted as he waved his hands. The two ropes twisted on his body began to loosen up as they increased the range of action of the two claws and, therefore, the range in which he could attack while standing still.

'Shit, I can't dodge. If so …' He Fen thought before saying aloud, "Intent of the Wheels of Wind and Fire! Wind Rotating Discs!"

He Fen's circular weapons rotated even more intensely than before, generating strong gusts of wind as they met Bao Jong-Su's lightning-covered metal claws.

Whoosh! Rumble!

The two pairs of weapons crashed loudly against each other. The flying claws, driven by the previously gained momentum, were trying to make their way between the gusts of wind generated by the Wheels of Wind and Fire. However, the power behind used by He Fen was higher and was currently gaining the upper hand.

"Intent of the Flying Claws, Black Panther Bloodline, Black Panther Claws!"

As soon as Bao Jong-Su said this, the spirit power he was sharply emanating increased and went back to his flying claws. The sparks emitted by the metal claws became more intense and were accompanied by rumbling noises as if he were creating a miniature storm within his particular pair of weapons.

"Bifang Bird Bloodline, Activation! Law of Fire, Bifang Flames! "

When his opponent resorted to his bloodline, He Fen did the same. Within an instant, the wind generated by his wheels ceased to be replaced by chaotic greenish-red flames accompanied by a bird cry.

Lightning Law vs. Fire Law! Flying Claws vs. Wheels of Wind and Fire! Black Panther Bloodline vs. Bifang Bird Bloodline!

As the clash gained became heated, a man, dressed in red and green clothes, was sitting in the VIP seats and was carefully watching the match. He was one of the elders of the He Family and was the only emissary sent to observe He Fen's results. His name was He Lim, and at the time, he was looking incredulously at the young representative of his own family to whom no one had given importance.

'Is he really He Fen? Initially, everyone, including myself, thought it was an error the invitation we received. He Fen had qualified for the main phase of the tournament? No way. But after verifying its authenticity, we simply thought he had been lucky. Yet now, the reality before my eyes is very different. He Fen is fighting on par with the Bao Family representative. Did he manage to improve so much in less than a year? What if he was given more time? Would he be able to succeed in the challenge assigned to him?'

The Elder He Lim was baffled, which was also quite reasonable. He Fen's talent was okay and possessed a pure bloodline. However, it wasn't enough to match the top members of the younger generation of the He Family, not to mention the other bloodline families or the Eight Big Families. It was already quite incredible that He Fen had managed to enroll in one of the Four Royal War Academies. Still, other young martial artists from the He Family had managed to do it, so there was nothing special about it in the end.

"I have to congratulate you, He Lim. I didn't know that the He Family had produced a talented young man of the same age as Jong-Su. I thought your last children were all unsuitable for such accomplishment." complimented one of the elders of the Bao Family, who was just as surprised at He Fen's power.

It should be known that the bloodline-owner Families knew the top members of the younger generation of the other families. Unless they had a background of zero or minimal influence, it was unusual for a talented young man not to be known among the families residing in the same area. Therefore, He Fen's performance came like a bird swooping towards the unaware predator who thought he was safe because of its strength.

"Thanks so much. Young Jong-Su is also talented." He Lim replied briefly to avoid giving any hints that he was equally surprised.

'If He Fen had possessed this strength from the beginning, we certainly wouldn't have relegated him to a marginal role among the younger generation, nor would we have kept him in the dark. Yet without the help of the family, he managed to become so strong. As much as the War Academy is a great place to improve, such a change is unthinkable. Really, what did you do to get so strong, Fen?'

While He Lim continued to formulate new questions, the clash between Bao Jong-Su and He Fen was continuing. The flying claws full of lightning were facing the bright red-green flames. Dark blue glows mingled with the red-green flames, creating colorful splashes around the two fighters.

The two had abandoned all sorts of tactics or strategies, changing the course of the clash in a specific tug of war fight in reverse. Both Bao Jong-Su and He Fen were trying to send their elemental technique to the other side, destroying the opponent's elemental technique. Therefore, they were using only the Lightning Law and the Fire Law, which were their primary Elemental Laws, as well as the Elemental Laws of their bloodlines.

"You are strong, but there can only be one winner, and it will be me." Bao Jong-Su declared when he realized that the reverse tug of war game wasn't going to end as quickly as he thought.

'I didn't think I had to use my family's secret technique against you. Honestly, I didn't even think I would have to struggle so much.' Bao Jong-Su thought to himself as he called back his flying claws and dodged the red-green blazes that pushed forward when he withdrew his weapons.

"Bao Family Secret Technique, Panther Outburst!"

The metal ropes that tied the flying claws to Bao Jong-Su began to extend to three meters in length. Now, Bao Jong-Su held the ends of the two strings in his hands. At the same time, he started swinging his pair of weapons as if they were a pair of whips.

Slash! Slash!

He Fen was forced to retreat as the flying claws continued to hit him. Although they were medium-distance weapons, the feature of being able to lengthen or shorten the length of the rope made it challenging to predict their movements.

"Bifang Flapping!"

He Fen quickly shrugged his shoulders, and it was then that two small flame-shaped wings formed behind his back that pushed him backward at high speed. He then shrugged his shoulders forward to stop his movement. Performing that simple movement according to the direction where he wanted to go, his speed underwent a sudden acceleration, which allowed him to dodge the consecutive attacks of the flying claws.

"Panther Acceleration!"

Bao Jong-Su responded by introducing more spirit power into his legs while at the same time summoning the Lightning Law to reduce the response time of his legs to his commands. In this way, his speed increased even more than before. Yet despite this, his claws failed to land their attacks.

'Why? How do you dodge them? It's as if he knows in advance where I'm going to hit, but that's not possible. I am taking care to change my attack patterns continually, yet as the seconds are passing, they become more and more familiar to him. '

Bao Jong-Su couldn't understand. He should have closed this matter once his secret technique was activated, but that hadn't happened. He had activated his best speed technique and was using the full power of his weapons, and had even activated his bloodline. Although the other side came as him from a family with a bloodline, the Bao Family had a better position than the He Family, not to mention that He Fen was certainly not among the top members of the younger generation of the He Family. Yet, why was all this happening?

'Yes, I can read it. I can do it. Just like Lian had said.'

He Fen thought back to the various simulations of fights carried out with his companions. Of all of them, the person he had the most difficulties against was none other than Lian. The young blue-haired woman used two long silk ribbons as weapons, capable of effortlessly destroying He Fen's range advantage and his two Wheels of Wind and Fire. In particular, what he had difficulty with was understanding how the ribbons would move since they seemed to have a life of their own and could lengthen and shorten in an instant.

'No matter how much your attack patterns change, there will always be a rhythm at the core. That rhythm cannot be changed, unless the person themselves change. The movements of the flying claws are similar to those of Lian's ribbons. No, on the contrary, they are less insidious since they are shorter. Also, think back to what Hei told me about how to deal with these types of enemies.'

It didn't matter if you were in a passive state; there would always be a time to fight back. All that one had to do was wait and seize that moment when it happened. And if you were unable to resist until that moment was generated naturally, then you had to create it.

Whoosh! Clutch!

During one of his moves, He Fen was a slower step, and one of the flying claws caught up with him. The metal weapon sank the pointed ends of the claws onto his right calf, clinging to it as if he wanted to tear the young man's entire leg. Fortunately, the defensive layer temporarily stopped the claws from sinking into the flesh, but they failed to prevent He Fen from being pulled by the flying claw.

Peng!

He Fen was crashed into the hard fighting stage and then abruptly pulled up, this time in the direction of Bao Jong-Su. The latter had an expression of ecstasy since he was beginning to lose his temper by seeing his attacks fail one after the other.

"This is the end. Panther King Claw! "Bao Jong-Su shouted as his second flying claw backed up to rest on his free hand. Like a kind of metal prosthesis, it covered the young martial artist's hand as the dark blue glow became more and more intense.

"Fire Law, Bifang Burning Torrent!" shouted He Fen, pointing one of his Wheels of Wind and Fire against the approaching Panther King Claw.

Peng!

The two techniques collided, and a stalemate formed as before. This time, however, they weren't in a situation of alleged parity, but He Fen was utterly disadvantaged. He didn't have a foothold where he could gain strength and maintain his position, not to mention that the flying claw on his calf was still trying to make his way into his flesh. If it wasn't that he was resisting the pull of attraction thanks to his flying ability, he might have already lost.

"There's no point in struggling. Once my claws grab the enemy, it's the end for them." mockingly said Bao Jong-Su, who now thought he was one step away from victory.

"You talk too much, you know? Hei once told me that speaking during a fight can be more dangerous than revealing your secret techniques." He Fen replied as he reached out his right hand. Surprisingly, this was free and didn't hold any weapons.

"Bifang Burning Torrent!"

Suddenly, the second of the two Wheels of Wind and Fire appeared behind Bao Jong-Su's shoulders. While being slammed to the ground and dragged, He Fen had released the grip on his weapon and manipulated it with his mind, using the imprint engraved in the circular weapon, to direct it exactly where he wanted.

Blaze!

The two flames of fire, similar to torrents of flames, poured in unison on Bao Jong-Su, who noticed too late the trap prepared by his opponent. With his claws occupied and his spirit power concentrated in his technique, he had no way to avoid being hit. He could only hope that his defensive layer of spirit power would be enough to absorb the damage enough to leave him still conscious and thus be able to continue the fight.