Chapter 218 - Specter vs. Roots
Lang had fallen to the ground unconscious while Huli Xieren showed no signs of movement and continued to lie on the floor.
Whoosh!
In that instant, Feng Chen stepped out of the designated combat station along with another person - the medical martial artist hired by him for himself and Huli Xieren. There was a worried expression on his face as his eyes didn’t take their gaze away from the still body of Huli Xieren.
Under the tournament rules, it was forbidden to cause interference during the fight, including the intervention of support martial artists if one of the fighters was injured. Therefore, only when Song Yazhu declared the winner would it be possible to proceed with the treatment. Fortunately, however, the fight was interrupted by Song Yazhu himself, who considered the situation dangerous. Therefore, Feng Chen's actions didn’t constitute a violation of the rules.
“Mia, Lilian, come with me. You others stay here." Hei said to his companions, who had worried expressions on their faces. Considering the intensity of the confrontation between the two young women, they were afraid that Lang might have been seriously injured. So, Hei quickly called Mia and Lilian, who were martial artist medics, and personally escorted them to the fighting stage.
There, the two young women lay motionless and unconscious. Song Yazhu got down on the fighting stage, but his face was impassive, clearly not worried about the two fighters' conditions. He had monitored the fight from the beginning, and it was impossible that with his perception of Spirit King, he could be wrong in reading the course of the fight.
“Lang and Huli Xieren are injured but not life-threatening. At the moment, they are just unconscious." Song Yazhu said, seeing two groups of people approaching. He knew they must be worried, so he immediately told them the two young women's conditions.
Hearing Song Yazhu's words, both groups breathed a sigh of relief. Song Yazhu was a renowned Spirit King who had a good chance of becoming Spirit Emperor. If he said Lang and Huli Xieren were fine, they obviously wouldn't doubt it. In any case, Mia, Lilian, and the other martial artist medic began to examine the two fighters' bodies and treat them.
"Teacher Song Yazhu, in this situation, how are the winner and the loser evaluated?" Hei asked Song Yazhu. Lang had fought hard to win, so he wanted to know if the young beast tamer's efforts had paid off.
Song Yazhu turned his head to look at Hei before replying, “Lang and Huli Xieren had reached a deadlock. The problem is that their level of resistance is quite similar, so it was unlikely for either of them to give up before entering a critical state. If I had let the fight go on, there would have been a winner, but both would have been seriously injured if not fatal."
At that point, Song Yazhu cleared his throat and raised his tone of voice, using his spirit power to reach all the stadium spectators. “The fighters Lang and Huli Xieren fought valiantly. However, according to my powers as a tournament referee conferred by Principal Long Jing, I declared it dangerous to continue. Therefore the fight ends in a draw, and consequently, both are considered defeated and are eliminated from the tournament."
Song Yazhu's decision left many people amazed, but thinking about it was the most logical thing to do. The fight had been tight from the start, and proclaiming one winner would have been a disservice to the other. Of course, both could have been declared winners, but doing so would have done a disservice to those who had lost in the other fights. Therefore, double defeat was the only solution.
"It seems to be an acceptable result," said Feng Chen, who had resumed his composed expression. Although he felt sorry for Huli Xieren, he couldn't deny Lang's prowess during the fight. The double defeat was the only result that left all parties involved without too much bitterness.
"I agree," Hei said in turn. He, too, shared Feng Chen's opinion.
With the double defeat of Lang and Huli Xieren, Group B's penultimate match of the second round ended. It was now the turn for the last match that saw Hide, the remnant of Long Tian's Imperial Guard, and Lian.
"Come, let's leave the stage free for Lian," Hei said to his companions.
Fenrir, who had approached to see Lang's condition, nodded his head, carried his mistress on him, and followed Hei. Mia and Lilian followed from behind; they would continue Lang's treatment in the fighters' area. Feng Chen also took Huli Xieren in his arms and returned with his martial artist medic.
At that point, Song Yazhu announced the remaining two fighters, “There are now only two fighters left for this last match of Group B, which will conclude the second day of the tournament. So now, taking the field are Hide, the remaining Imperial Guard of Imperial Prince Long Tian, and Lian, the second young promise from the Forgotten Ocean."
Hearing the name of the last two fighters, the audience became euphoric again. But it wasn't so much because of Hide, one of Long Tian's Imperial Guards. After all, the strength of the Imperial Guards was known. No, what attracted the most attention was none other than Lian.
This young beauty with an expressionless expression like a statue had left a considerable impression on the spectators, especially the VIP ones. Also, she came from the Forgotten Ocean along with Hei. Considering Hei's performance in his previous fights, they wanted to see how far this beauty's strength went.
In the center of the stage, the two challengers exchanged a silent glance. Hide, in particular, was nervous inside despite not showing it to the outside.
'Lian, Hei's companion. The boss said her talent is comparable to that of Hei, who in turn is capable of posing a threat even to geniuses like Hu Jie, Feng Chen, and the boss himself. If I had another Elemental Law, the only outcome would probably be defeat. But the Specter Law offers me a real possibility. If I play my cards right, I can do it.'
It was true. Although she wasn’t as eye-catching as Hei since he served as the leader of his group, Lian had participated in all the fights that had involved Hei. She had always been by his side and had shown a strength that didn’t lose against his. Therefore, it wasn't even wrong to consider Lian as one of the strongest contenders competing for the tournament winner's title.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Let the fight begin." Song Yazhu proclaimed, starting the fight.
Hide pulled out his Morning Star as two silk ribbons appeared from Lian's sleeves. The two ribbons were like the roots of a flower waving in the air, simulating the swaying of water.
Whoosh!
One of the ribbons shot forward at high speed in Hide's direction. Lian said nothing or made a move; her thought alone was enough to move her ribbons.
Boom!
The ribbon landed on the spot where Hide was, but the young man was already ready. With a side jerk forward, he dodged the approaching ribbon.
'The range of the ribbons gives Lian an overwhelming advantage in ranged combat. However, my Specter Law allows me to nullify that advantage. So, I just have to worry about getting close and attacking.' Hide thought, formulating the battle plan he had devised to counter Lian's range advantage.
Seeing him approaching, Lian stood there with an impassive face. She made the second ribbon move with another thought of her mind as she recalled the first one back.
Boom! Boom!
The ribbons crashed into Hide, who dodged again using his footwork. So far, he hadn't needed to activate the Specter Law yet, but he knew it wouldn't continue for long.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two ribbons began to move faster as Lian finally began to move her arms and dance in place. Her every step was graceful as if she had no weight and a gust of wind would be enough to carry her away. Her arms followed every movement of the body, directing the ribbons in an elegant but lethal dance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Blows after blows followed, and Hide was now at the limit of what he could dodge using only his movement techniques. "Specter Law, Intangible Body!"
When one of the ribbons was about to hit Hide, Hide made his body intangible. The ribbon then passed through Hide's body, who was able to advance undisturbed towards Lian.
"Intent of the Morning Star, Star Crush!"
Hide's spiked mace filled with his spirit power as the impact power soared. But even then, Lian made no sign of being worried. Instead, without moving from where she was standing, she just raised her arms slightly, dropping the sleeves of her robe.
There, the ends that connected the two silk ribbons to Lian's body were tied. Usually, Lian would hold them on her so that she could move the ribbons according to her body's movements. But this time, she untied the knot on her arms, and these ends of the two silk ribbons joined together to form a sort of shield in front of Lian.
Peng!
The Morning Star fell violently on Lian's silk 'shield.' This, despite the soft material, resisted without problem as if it were made of pure metal.
"Water Law, Flowing Vibrating Fist."
It was then that Lian went on the counterattack. So far, she had only used her ribbons to attack, but she was using herself this time. Her fist contained her spirit power and the Water Law's ability to resonate the spirit power and transmit it within the target as a wave.
Whoosh!
There was the hiss of something whipping the air instead of the thud that the punch should have made. Hide had, in fact, dematerialized his body, making it intangible. Thus Lian's fist and Lian herself passed through the body of the Imperial Guard.
"Intent of the Morning Star, Specter Spin!"
As soon as his body completely surpassed Lian's, Hide rematerialized his body. Then, creating propulsion with his spirit power, he pivoted on his left ankle to quickly rotate in place. His spiked club took such speed of rotation and transformed it into impact power.
Peng!
Lian's ribbons bent back, obstructing the movement of the spiked club. This time though, the ribbons didn't hold up as they did before but buckled shortly after the impact as if they couldn't hold the force behind the move. They resisted just the time to give Lian time to get away. However, instead of being blown away, the ribbons wound around the weapon more and more, taking advantage of the spinning effect.
Boom!
Hide's rotation was stopped when Lian, who had advanced, took the two ends of her ribbons, previously used to attack. Then, pulling with her strength, she had slowed Hide's spinning motion and tied his weapon simultaneously.
"Such a thing cannot stop a user of the Specter Law!" Hide said aloud as he made his weapon intangible to free it from the grip of the ribbons. Inside, however, his mind was in the midst of a turmoil of thoughts.
'What are you aiming for? I cannot understand. If she continues with such tactics, she will never be able to touch me. Are you aiming for a fight of attrition? No, it must be under something else. I'm sure.'
Hide was nervous and hesitant. Lian was someone capable of standing side by side with Hei. There was no way such a person would resort to tactics so simple. In any case, regardless of his thoughts, he had to attack. The Specter Law was all about close combat; there were no long-range attacks.
'It doesn't matter what plan you have in mind. As long as I'm in my specter form, you can't touch me.'
Hide charged forward. His Morning Star was ready to swoop down on its target again. Lian watched Hide approach as she waved her ribbons to obstruct his charge. As before, however, she was unable to prevent the Imperial Guard from reaching her. However, Lian was already aware of this and had prepared accordingly.
“Your weakness is that you are unable to return to your specter form immediately after rematerializing. Instead, you need a few moments between one activation and the next." Lian said as she let go of the ends of the ribbons attached to her arms.
Hide was surprised to hear her speak because Lian wasn't the type to say a word during the fight except to use her techniques. However, he instantly pulled himself together and smiled, “So what? What if you know it. I won this exchange."
'While it is true that I need time between activations of the specter form, the partial specter form follows a different path. I can activate it right away even if I have just used the full specter form.' Hide analyzed while being full of confidence.
Peng!
It all happened within seconds. Instead of forming a shield, Lian's ribbons went straight to the source of the problem - Hide. In fact, Lian aimed to thwart the attack and immobilize her opponent. Hide responded by using the Partial Specter technique instead. In doing so, he made his weapon intangible just long enough to break through Lian's defenses. After that, he rematerialized his Morning Star, which landed into Lian's face, or rather, it should have landed.
Suddenly, the weapon was tied by pink-brown roots that halted the advance of the spiked club. These roots not only covered the Morning Star but went so far as to cover the entire arm that supported the weapon. Beyond that, the roots possessed thorns embedded deep in Hide's defensive layer of spirit power.
Soon after, another light was generated under Hide's feet and formed another set of roots that went to bind his legs. Unfortunately, these roots also contained thorns that dug deep into the defensive layer of spirit power.
Seeing this, Hei smiled and proclaimed to his other companions, "Lian has won."
Hearing this, the others were perplexed. After all, Hide could easily break free using his Specter Law. Moreover, Lian's technique would only immobilize him for a short time.
"You will soon understand," Hei replied, not revealing what Lian had in mind.
Meanwhile, in the fighting stage, Hide was immobilized by these thorns that appeared in thin air. Although they hadn’t reached the flesh, his situation was not good at all.
'How did they appear so out of nowhere and penetrate so deeply. I never took my eyes off Lian, yet I didn’t notice movements in her spirit power that indicated the use of a technique except for her ribbons' movements. However... '
"Specter Law, Intangible Body!"
No matter how Lian did it, as long as he had the Specter Law, he could easily break free from such a technique. With a smile on his face, Hide used his technique again. However, to his amazement, his body didn’t become intangible. He was still in the clutches of those thorny roots.
"What is happening?!" Hide exclaimed, completely stunned. ‘I don’t understand. Why can’t I become intangible? Yet I made no mistakes in activating the technique.'
Hide was speechless but soon realized the reason his technique had failed. At this sight, he was even more shocked. "You! You're pouring spirit power into my spirit power flow! "