Chapter 214 - My Spirit Beasts Are The Best Of All!
Hei was currently stuck in midair. The blinding technique of the Luciferase Tree had taken him in full, blinding his sight.
'I didn't expect the ability to generate light to reach this intensity.' Hei thought to himself.
Although he may have been taught by Bao Bei since his childhood and continued to study today, there were too many varieties of spirit beasts, both animal and plant types, to know every detail of them. In addition to that, there was the fact that Tree Luciferase was a rare type of spirit tree beast; consequently, it was normal that there wasn’t much information about it. Fortunately, even with his eyesight out, it wasn't as if Hei didn't have the means to keep fighting.
'My Spirit Sense is unable to reveal them. Did he cancel his spirit power to activate it at the last moment and take me by surprise? Indeed, with the advantage brought by his Condor, it is undoubtedly an effective tactic. Unfortunately for him, it's not as effective against me.'
The Spirit Sense of a martial artist was a technique that consisted of sending waves of spirit power around him. These waves were harmless but could detect any presence of spirit power within the area they covered. Pablo Cortés had canceled his spirit power and that of his Condor to not be detected by Hei's Spirit Sense. Having blinded Hei’s sight and spirit Sense, Pablo Cortés was certain that Hei wouldn’t be able to dodge his move.
However, Hei hadn’t been only taught to fight with his sight or Spirit Sense. Bao Bei, a divine beast with incredible power and an incredible amount of experience, had taught Hei other techniques to use in these situations.
'Spider Hair.'
As Hei stood still in his place, the hairs on his body began to flail as if they had a life of their own. Quickly, his body was able to pick up any movement of air around his position. No, more than the air movements, it was the vibrations of sound that it picked up. Suddenly, the position of Pablo Cortés and his Condor became visible.
'Found them.' Hei thought as he remained impassive. He certainly wouldn't reveal any clue that might make Pablo Cortés desist from attacking.
'Pasa. Now!' shouted Pablo Cortés to his flying spirit beast. He used the mind link that united the tamer and the spirit beast, formed at the Spirit Pact creation. With all the effort he had made to gain such a favorable situation, he wouldn’t blow it all up just because he had gotten into the heat and revealed his position by speaking aloud.
Chirp!
Pasa also mentally screamed through their mind link and prepared to activate its spirit power. Being a flying spirit beast, it didn’t need spirit power to fly; it only used it to avoid getting too tired and last longer. But there was no need for that at the moment - it would finish the enemy in that instant at any cost.
Stab!
The condor's spirit power exploded and gathered instantly in its beak - its target was the human standing in mid-air. However, when its beak reached Hei's position, something amazing happened. Hei, in fact, dodged the attack, although his vision and his Spirit Sense should have been blocked.
'What?!' Pablo Cortés was baffled. Even his condor was. 'I can't waste a good chance like this, damn it!'
Even though he didn't know how Hei dodged his condor's attack, it didn't matter. Hei had dodged them, period. Therefore, he leaped from the head of his spirit beast to reach Hei's position. Since it was only his condor who had activated his spirit power, Pablo Cortés thought he would release his own spirit power at the last minute to take Hei by surprise.
Seeing Pablo Cortés approaching his position, Hei responded just as quickly. 'I cannot feel your spirit power, so you must still be deactivated it. If so… Snake Fist! '
Hei, this time didn’t just dodge at the last moment but went to counterattack. Before Pablo Cortés reached his position and attacked him, Hei sprinted forward towards the latter. His goal was to injure him before his opponent's defensive layer of spirit power could fully form.
Slash!
"Argh!" Pablo Cortés yelled as his left shoulder suffered a deep wound, and his blood began to flow.
Snake First was a technique that focused on execution speed; it didn’t have a powerful piercing power like that of Spider Lance. However, in that situation, it was able to easily break through the enemy's weak layer of spirit power as the enemy hadn’t had time to activate it fully.
Unfortunately for Hei, however, Pasa, Pablo Cortés' condor, had left on its tamer one last protection - some of its feathers. As Hei dashed forward, these feathers activated at Pasa's will and pushed Pablo Cortés aside, allowing him to dodge Hei's lightning-fast Snake Fist partially.
Chirp !!!
The condor was furious. Its master had been injured even though he had its feathers on him. This was inadmissible and tainted its honor as a spirit beast. It really wanted to tear Hei apart, but its duty was to assist its master first and then worry about the enemy. As a result, it summoned more feathers and sent them against Hei. It wasn’t an attack designed to hurt the enemy but rather to buy time - time to recover Pablo Cortés, who was falling to the ground and reunite with its other teammates.
As Pablo Cortés' main spirit beast, Pasa was allowed to act on its own initiative and direct the other spirit beasts if Pablo Cortés could not. Quickly, it decided it was best to get its master safely into the roots of the Luciferase Tree. From there, Pablo Cortés could safely direct their movements and attack from afar.
Unfortunately, however, this decision meant the defeat of Pablo Cortés and his team of spirit beasts.
“YE! XING! SPIDERWEB TRAP! " Hei shouted with all his voice. His shout echoed throughout the stadium.
'Yes, big brother!' the two divine beasts answered together.
Taking advantage of the confusion generated by the wounding of Pablo Cortés and alerted by the cry of Hei, Ye, with all her strength, wrapped her tail around the Giant Pangolin and sank her teeth on the Sea Lamprey. She didn't care that these two were hitting her violently or that the Luciferase Tree roots were imprisoning her. The only goal she had in mind now was to block these two spirit beasts without letting go, all to allow Xing to perform her technique.
The divine beast spider had indeed jumped up. Initially, she seemed to want to interfere with the condor's plan, and consequently, Pasa prepared for a head-on collision. However, Xing surpassed the condor carrying its tamer and continued her ascent. Only after passing the condor Xing stopped.
'Mother. While it isn’t as impressive how you used it and I don’t yet have complete control, I want to show you the results of my training. SPIDERWEB TRAP! '
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Still in midair, Xing concentrated all her spirit power in her spinneret, mimicking the technique her mother used long ago to create a giant spider's web dome. Of course, Xing hadn't reached that level, yet the result she achieved was still extraordinary.
Quickly, an incredible amount of spiderweb flowed from her spinneret. Since she was midair, this spiderweb descended downward at high speed, covering the entire combat stage and trapping every fighter inside - Pablo Cortés, his spirit beasts, and Ye.
Chirp! Stomp! Hiss! Boom!
The four spirit beasts of Pablo Cortés instantly realized the danger they were in. However, even if they knew about it, they couldn’t do anything. Ye was blocking the Giant Pangolin and the Sea Lamprey while the Luciferase Tree wasn’t a mobile creature per se, not to mention that it had its roots embedded deeply in the ground. The only one with a chance to escape was the Condor. But because it was focused on its descent, it could not change direction in time and dodge the spiderweb generated by the spider.
“Excellent, Xing. Good job." Hei said as he positioned himself under Xing to support her.
Spiderweb Trap was a technique that still placed too much effort on the young divine beast. In fact, Xing had exhausted her spirit power and had no strength left to move her body. As a result, Hei rushed to her so that he could safely carry her on the ground.
'It went well. Definitely better than expected. I was afraid of failing as we are in a real fight rather than training.' Xing said in an exhausted voice as she let herself be carried by her big brother.
"Insane. Can a second-level spider spirit beast spawn that much spiderweb at one time? "
“Not to mention that snake. It has repeatedly suffered the blows of three spirit beasts all at once and has never let go of the Pangolin or the Lamprey. What kind of resistance do its scales possess?"
From all the stands came comments of surprise and interest towards Hei’s two talented spirit beasts. Hearing this, Hei remained unmoved as he descended on the ground with Xing.
'As we move forward on our path, it will be impossible to keep the talent of Ye and Xing hidden. Or rather, it would be a waste to do so. If they don't fight difficult challenges or even life and death battles, they will never grow. I have yet to think of a way to make sure they can use their Elemental Laws without any problems, but for now, both of them can be said to have done a great job. Now it's my turn to end this fight.' Hei reflected as his feet touched the spiderweb that covered the stage.
Plop!
Hei gently placed Xing's body on the spiderweb and then set his gaze on the situation unfolding before him.
'Ye still keeps the Pangolin, and the Lamprey locked, so they aren’t to be taken into account. Xing's web has blocked the branches of the Luciferase Tree. Considering its low mobility and its main means of attack has been thwarted, it isn’t considered a threat except for that blinding light technique. Therefore, only Pablo Cortés and his Condor remain.' thinking that far, Hei shifted his gaze to a specific spot - the spot where his opponent was.
Upon impact with the web, Pablo Cortés had been enveloped by the wings of his Condor, avoiding coming into direct contact with the spiderweb. However, because his Condor had been hit in full, he was also stuck between his own spirit beast’s wings.
"Poison Law, Spider Run, Four Legged Mode + Spider Hair, Spiderweb Walk."
Getting on all fours, Hei began to move towards the position of Pablo Cortés. Incredibly he was able to walk on the sticky spiderweb effortlessly as if he were a real spider.
Seeing this, many onlookers were left speechless, especially those who in the past had fought with spider-type spirit beasts or likewise species capable of generating sticky silk. All of them knew the only way to escape was to destroy the web itself; it wasn’t possible to walk on it. Yet Hei was doing just that.
'Spiders can generate various types of silk with different strengths of adhesive capacity, ranging from non-sticky to super-sticky. Xing's has a high viscous capacity so that not even I could normally walk on it, and neither could Ye. But by modifying Spider Hair and merging it with the Poison Law, I am capable of it. ' Hei smiled to himself as he walked forward.
It should be known that spiders have various ways of walking on their webs. One is to use non-sticky threads that run through the entire web and use them as roads to get around. Another is to use some oily substance to nullify the viscosity of the spiderweb. And finally, spiders also have small claws under their legs to move along the web.
Hei had therefore devised a technique that would combine the last two of these three methods. Without forcing Xing to leave a hole in her completely sticky spiderweb, Hei had modified Spider Hair to create tiny claws made of spirit power on the fingertips of his hand and feet. More than claws, they were like small, thick hairs just an inch long. By combining the Poison Law to create an acidic substance on such hairs, he could now move on all fours without being trapped in Xing's web.
“Lucy, Luciferase Light! And don't stop for any reason! " ordered Pablo Cortés, who could see what was happening from a gap in the feathers of his Condor.
The Luciferase Tree Lucy did as requested by its master and again unleashed its blinding technique at maximum intensity. But this time, Hei was prepared and closed his eyes. He didn’t need sight as he could perceive sounds coming from Pablo Cortès.
CHIRP!!!
At that point, Pasa, without being ordered, let out a piercing cry that could split the eardrums. The spirit beast had observed how Hei had dodged previous attacks in their Stealth Mode. It had therefore deduced that Hei could possess a technique that allowed him to perceive sounds. Therefore, it started screaming as loud as it could to upset Hei's sensory technique. The other three spirit beasts did the same, thus further confusing Hei. And indeed, they succeeded in their intent.
Spider Hair was very sensitive as a technique, and the noise generated by the spirit beasts covered that of Pablo Cortés. It wouldn't have been a problem if the spiderweb had also tied Pablo Cortés, but he hadn't been hit directly. At the moment, he was only blocked because he was wrapped in the wings of his Condor, but it wasn't like he couldn't fight back from there.
Seeing that Spider Hair had been rendered ineffective, Hei didn’t demoralize and used his second sensory technique - Snake Tongue. With Snake Tongue, Hei was able to pick up smells in the surrounding air. So, as if nothing had happened, he continued undaunted on his journey.
“How the fuck does he do it? How?!" Pablo Cortés swore quietly. He was astonished at the oddities that his opponent was bringing out one after the other.
'Pasa, give me your remaining spirit power. Let's try the Sword Cannon.' ordered Pablo Cortés. The Condor responded promptly, pouring out the remaining spirit power to use the Sword Cannon combined technique.
Sword Cannon was like the Feather Storm technique. Only, this time, it wasn’t Pablo Cortés who sent spirit power to Pasa but the opposite. The two's spirit power would be concentrated on the pommel and the sword's tip, which would then be hurled at full speed against the enemy.
Bang!
There was a loud sound, and from the gap between the condor's feathers came a metal sword hurled at high speed. His spirit beasts' noise obscured the technique's sound, so Pablo Cortés did not doubt that Hei couldn't dodge.
'Pasa told me he probably has a sound-based sensory technique. Since he still manages to know where I am despite my spirit beasts' interference, he must have another sensory technique, probably based on smell. That is why I sent my sword forward. I want to see how you will dodge it.' the young man laughed to himself.
However, Pablo Cortés had made an elementary mistake, dictated by the difficult situation he found himself in. It was true that Hei used two sensory techniques based respectively on hearing and smell. Still, the reason why he used them was not only because of the blinding ability of the Luciferase Tree but also because Pablo Cortés had deactivated his spirit power to make himself invisible to Hei’s Spirit Sense. But now he had activated his spirit power again, and the sword itself contained spirit power.
Woosh!
The sword, thrown at high speed, sank into where Hei was, ripping apart part of the web. But Hei had dodged the attack by sensing it thanks to his Spirit Sense. Spider Run, Four Legged Mode was the fastest movement technique he possessed. So it wasn’t difficult for him to dodge the incoming attack considering it was just a sword without its master.
Plop! Plop! Plop!
Moving at incredible speed, Hei came in front of Pablo Cortés. The latter looked with terror in his eyes at his inexorable end approaching. By now, he had lost the will to fight back.
"Snake Tail Blow!"
Hei folded his hands back and brought them forward. The technique struck powerfully on the poor Condor's wings to finally end up on the body of Pablo Cortés. The latter felt his spirit power being shattered as he spat blood from his mouth. Even the condor let out a groan of pain and fainted without strength.
"The winner is Hei." Song Yazhu proclaimed. Hei had thwarted every attempt of a counterattack by Pablo Cortés and had seriously injured him. There was no longer any reason to continue.
When Hei's victory was proclaimed, he raised his left hand high and let out a powerful hiss. Normally he wasn't the type to brag about his victory, but this was a struggle to prove his little sisters' strength. For them, he would do something he unusually didn’t do.
His hiss, which should have been incomprehensible, was understood by all onlookers - my spirit beasts are the best of all!