Chapter 222 - Hei vs. Hu Jie - 3

Hei and Hu Jie faced each other. Both were visibly injured, and their spirit power had dropped a lot and was running out. Therefore, the fight between the two was about to enter the final stage.

"Sumo Style, Tiger Charge."

Hu Jie spread his legs and lowered his back. Then, concentrating his spirit power in his legs, he charged forward against Hei.

"Spider Run, Two-Legged Mode."

Hei chose not to receive Hu Jie's charge head-on but opted to dodge altogether instead. He tasted on his body what Hu Jie's full power could do. Receiving another blow like that could make him lose the match.

Stomp! Stomp!

Hu Jie's feet thundered like drums every time they hit the floor, demonstrating the explosiveness behind this running technique. Indeed Hei had done well to dodge, but Hu Jie's technique was not as trivial as a simple run.

Crack!

Hu Jie's ankles rotated following Hei's movement. The diamond layer on that area began to shatter due to the pressure, but in that way, Hu Jie could change direction without losing the momentum gained.

'The situation is dangerous.'

Hei quickly realized that Hu Jie's movement technique was gaining speed, even surpassing Spider Run. Although he was using the Two-Legged Mode, it was still the technique his mother had taught him. However, it was the first time he had met someone who could really surpass it.

'If I can't face it openly, then I'll just have to slip through.'

Hei whirled around and then ran to meet Hu Jie. The latter was surprised but didn’t hesitate. He had reached a high enough momentum not to be afraid of anything.

Stomp! Stomp!

"Snake Coiling, Snake Flicker!"

Slip!

Hei had now come within collision distance with Hu Jie, but the vicious crash didn’t occur. Instead, unexpectedly, Hei had twisted his body to such an insane level that he practically wrapped himself around Hu Jie's body.

"Fuck!" Hu Jie cursed, but it was too late now. Hei had slid his body, using Hu Jie's, to position himself behind the latter, thus dodging the deadly Tiger Charge.

"Snake Binding + Snake Coiling, Choking Snake Hold."

Hei's right arm tightened around Hu Jie's throat while his left arm went behind Hu Jie's head to keep him from freeing himself from the submission hold. At the same time, Hei wrapped his legs around Hu Jie's hips as his hair released its grip on the spear and went to lock the young man's diamond arms.

It was a perfect execution and so fast that only a handful of seconds passed since Hei and Hu Jie made contact. The audience was literally speechless at such body control. Never before have they seen such movements. Even VIP viewers found it hard to believe that such a technique could exist.

"His flexibility technique has reached an amazing level."

"While it's not that influential on its own in the course of combat, when combined with all the other techniques shown so far, it's certainly a lethal weapon."

"That boy's flexibility technique may have even surpassed that of the She Family."

"Are you joking? How could someone who comes from an unknown place possess techniques that can overcome the Eight Big Families?"

“Yet it is the reality before our eyes. An unknown martial artist with no background, coming from a place far below the Continent in all aspects, is winning over the best of the best that the Sun Empire has to offer. "

While the spectators were in raptures, Hei was choking Hu Jie with all his strength. The diamond layer provided nearly perfect protection against any kind of physical or elemental damage, limited only by knowledge of the Metal Law and the user's spirit power. However, even the most powerful technique had its flaws.

Aside from the damage caused by the Illusion Law that attacked the mind and senses, the diamond layer had a weakness against impact damage as it couldn’t completely block the vibrations resulting from contact. And although Hei's wasn’t an impact damage technique, it was still true that it created pressure around Hu Jie's throat, approaching the diamond layer's maximum tolerance threshold.

“You are really fucking strong. Forcing me to use it ... you're the first one I use it against." Hu Jie said in a low voice because of the strangulation he was receiving, "Metal Law, Mercury Body."

Suddenly, the diamond layer covering Hu Jie's body vanished under everyone’s eyes. However, soon after, Hu Jie began to dissolve in a silver-colored liquid substance, freeing himself from Hei's hold.

What?!

It was the reaction shared by everyone watching, except for one person - Hu Luoyang, Hu Jie's father. Even Feng Chen and Long Tian looked completely surprised.

“So he managed to do it? I didn't think it was possible, yet he really did it." Long Tian commented.

“Yeah, that madman did it for real. That's very typical of him." Feng Chen answered with a slight smile on his lips.

"What's going on with Hu Jie?" Leon and He Fen asked together. Feng Chen and Long Tian were familiar with Hu Jie's techniques, but even they were impressed. But they still had to know something from their words.

“The Metal Law allows its users to tune with one or more elements according to their inclination. Usually, these are metals or other rather hard solid substances. Naturally, the better the material, the more difficult it is to understand the Law, but at the same time, the resulting technique will be stronger. Hu Jie, after great efforts, managed to tune with the Imperial Diamond, the hardest material that can be found in nature. But despite this, even the Imperial Diamond has its limits." Long Tian explained and then left the word to Feng Chen, who continued the explanation.

“Hu Jie saw the problem and tried to find a solution. First, he researched the entire Sun Empire, using the resources of his family as well. Unfortunately, however, there was no other material superior to the Imperial Diamond in terms of hardness. At that point, he decided to opt for another path: rather than looking for something that surpassed the Imperial Diamond, he would choose something that could make up for its shortcomings. Eventually, he came to select a specific material: the Mercury Hydrargyrum, a liquid-type metal.

Only, no one had ever managed to tune with that material. Not even his father, the head of the Hu Family, or any of his ancestors. Even in the entire history of the Sun Empire, this is the first time this has happened. From now on, regardless of what Hu Jie does in the future, his name will forever be remembered as the first person to have absorbed Mercury Hydrargyrum as material for the Metal Law."

Hearing this, everyone nearby opened their eyes wide. The creation of a legend was happening before their eyes at this very moment. And the protagonist of that legend wasn’t Hei, but his opponent.

Slip!

The silver liquid moved and slid along the floor, coming up behind Hei, who was also surprised like everyone else. At that point, the silver liquid resumed a human form before solidifying and showing Hu Jie's body again.

"Tiger Back Breaker!"

Hu Jie's left arm aimed at Hei's throat while his right arm aimed at his thighs. The cubital fossa, the part that joined the arm and forearm, of the left arm was positioned over Hei’s Adam's apple and pushed down. Simultaneously, Hu Jie lowered himself by moving his head forward so that Hei's falling body was positioned above his back. Finally, the right arm pushed down to the area just above the knee.

Crack!

Hu Jie's movements were fluid and rapid. In an instant, he had immobilized Hei, and by pushing with both arms, he was creating painful pressure on the latter's spine. If this situation continued, it was only a matter of time before Hei's back gave way and snapped. The only consolation the Hei had was that he had managed to get his hands around his neck before it was too late. Otherwise, he would have had to worry about both the strangulation and the pressure in his back.

Crack!

Hei tried to resist by pushing his hands forward and lifting the arm, holding his upper body locked. However, given the peculiar position his arms were in, the strength he could exert was limited. He also tried to use his abs' strength, but even that was little against the strength contained in Hu Jie's muscular arms.

“Hei, give up. You cannot break free. Don't make me break your back for real.”

Hu Jie's voice contained a slight plea. He liked Hei as a person and considered him a rival. This fight was the proof: Hei had pushed Hu Jie to the limit, even making him use his most secret card. Yet, even if he were to lose, Hei still showed his strength and talent.

Hei didn’t respond with words but used his actions: he concentrated his spirit power in his claws of his hands and closed his fingers on the exposed flesh of Hu Jie. Simultaneously, he used the spirit imprint on his spear to maneuver it with his mind.

"And so be it. But you wanted it, remember it." Hu Jie replied, recreating the diamond layer on his body. Even though he was tired after activating the Mercury Body, he could still activate his Diamond Body one last time.

Peng!

Both Hei's fingernails and his spear failed. Hu Jie was betting everything in this move: he wanted to end the fight right now. So he concentrated all his remaining spirit power on his body and prepared to resist any attack from Hei.

Nails, spear, hair, and even teeth. Hei tried hard to free himself, but Hu Jie's defense was too strong. And finally, what Hu Jie warned happened.

Crack!

There was a sharp crack, and Hei's body took an unnatural arch as he fell to the floor. It was difficult to understand Hei’s precise conditions from the stands, but one thing was sure: Hei had lost, and the winner was Hu Jie.

"VICTORY!"

Hu Jie screamed at the top of his voice, raising his right fist high. His diamond body had been deactivated, revealing his battered appearance. He was covered with various wounds blocked by the last glimmers of spirit power left in him and which he had kept aside not to lose blood.

Clap! Clap!

The public in the stands stood up, applauding and cheering Hu Jie's victory. The fight had been exciting from the start, full of twists and turns. Finally, however, the young man from the Forgotten Ocean had fallen in front of the wall of the Sun Empire.

However, although the audience was applauding, the VIP gallery spectators were still seated in their seats and were looking with sharp eyes at the battle stage. And this didn’t go unnoticed, also attracting the attention of Hu Jie.

"What happens? Why does my father have such a serious look on his face?" Hu Jie was perplexed. He had broken Hei's back, and Hei lay motionless on the ground. No doubt he was the winner, and yet something was missing. “Song Yazhu teacher! He didn’t declare the end of the fight ... "

Clench!

A menacing figure swooped in from behind Hu Jie: this was none other than Hei. As before, Hei blocked Hu Jie's throat in a strangling move.

"You!" Hu Jie exclaimed in amazement as he felt Hei's arms tighten around his neck.

"Shit. I have no more spirit power left to use Diamond Body, let alone Mercury Body. So is that how this fight is going to end? Am I going to lose? NO? ! Not yet. Not as long as I have strength left."

Hu Jie placed his fingers on the arm that was choking him, "Tiger Grip!"

Rip!

Hu Jie's fingers sank into Hei's flesh and tore it apart. Splashes of blood wet Hu Jie's hands, but Hei didn’t let go even after this.

'He reduced his spirit power to condense it on the bones, thus leaving the skin unprotected? All to make sure not to let go? ' Hu Jie thought before saying to Hei, "You are so funny..."

Hu Jie lost consciousness shortly after saying this and fell to the ground. Accompanying him on the ground was Hei, who let go of his neck, freeing Hu Jie.

"The winner is Hei!" Song Yazhu declared, putting an end to the fight.

The audience was stunned by this scene. Until a few moments before, they had been celebrating Hu Jie's victory, and yet now the winner was Hei. So how come Song Yazhu had declared the end of the fight now and not before when Hu Jie broke Hei's back?

Seeing the doubtful looks from the audience, Song Yazhu explained, “In the previous exchange, Hu Jie didn't break Hei's back. Rather, it was Hei who broke his. He used a hard-to-notice technique with which he loosened the cohesion of his spine. In doing so, he made Hu Jie believe that his back had been broken and he had been defeated."

Hei broke his back of his own free will? Dissolving the cohesion between the bones? Was such a thing possible?

The low-rank or less talented martial artists who made up most of the audience hadn't noticed anything strange and therefore had a hard time accepting Song Yazhu's explanation. But all the VIP grandstand guests had noticed it: Hei had really done what Song Yazhu said.

“And thus, Hu Jie lost. I'm shocked," said Feng Qing; he didn’t expect such a result.

"Son ..." Hu Luoyang muttered in front of his son's defeat.

Hu Luoyang knew of Hu Jie's talent: the highest talent ever produced by the Hu Family. Although he didn’t agree with some of his choices, such as focusing solely on hand-to-hand combat instead of using a weapon, he had always supported him. He had provided him with the best resources and techniques, even exploiting the family's resources to find rare materials. Yet, despite all these efforts, Hu Jie had lost.

"Are you okay, Luoyang?" asked Feng Qing with a worried expression. As the head of the family, he could understand more or less what Hu Luoyang was going through.

"Hahaha! So my son lost?! Well, very well. Headmaster Jing, it seems I have to compliment you. The Academy has produced a martial artist capable of beating the best genius of the Hu Family.“

Unlike what one might have expected from someone in his position, Hu Luoyang wasn’t angry or humiliated by his son's defeat at the hands of an unknown martial artist with no background.

"Hu Jie fought to the fullest of his power, using all his cards at his disposal. If even so, he failed to beat him. The result can only be blamed on Hei's superiority. My son still has a lot to learn. I hope you can continue to follow and train him." Hu Luoyang bowed his head towards Principal Long Jing, sincerely expressing his request.

"There is no need for you to bow Luoyang. Your son is part of this Academy, so it is more than granted that he will be raised to the fullest." Long Jing replied diplomatically.

Meanwhile, the two fighters had been transported off the battlefield to be treated. Both had serious injuries that needed to be treated as soon as possible.

"Mareo, power us up. Haruno, start preparing something warm and easy to eat to restore Hei's spirit power. Mia, you hold his spine still while I examine giving." Lillian immediately gave a series of orders to her fellow support martial artists.

Mareo began to sing, empowering Mia and Lillian as Haruno began cooking something in the corner. Hei's injuries were pretty serious, not so much to be life-threatening, but due to the difficulty of treatment and the long recovery period. His backbones were currently barely attached by spirit power, and a long operation was required to reattach them.

"Sorry for the trouble." Hei apologized weakly, struggling to keep his clarity.

"Hei!"

‘Big Brother!’

'Big Brother!'

Lian, Xing, and Ye came to him worried. Although Hei wasn’t life-threatening and was being treated, they couldn’t help but feel pain when they saw him on the ground, unable to get up.

"It's all right. I'll recover soon. Rather now, there is something more important: He Fen’s match. Lian, Ye, Xing help me look while others heal me, okay?" Hei asked, hinting a smile to reassure them.

"Stupid ... focus on getting well. I'll record the fight for you." Lian scolded him, but she had a better complexion after hearing Hei's request.

Hei smiled back and did as Lian said. Then, he closed his eyes and let Mia and Lillian do their work as he fell into a deep sleep.