469 Extrapolation (1/2)

Li Shaokang stood at a little above five feet, gaunt and dark skinned with the typical features of a Nanzhengese. However he looked older than his actual age (around twenty two or three), and his dark pupils were mesmerizing and demonic.

His powerful spiritual supernatural ability could hypnotize his opponent, tampering with their emotions and inviting out the negative ones, such as fear and cowardice. It had a similar effect as Army Formula and Roaring Lion Voice. Plus he could activate it without any visualization, making him a dangerous opponent—evident from his status as the eighth seed.

Ann Chaoyang took off his headphones as he watched Peng Leyun head towards the arena. He looked at Lou Cheng with great interest and asked,

”Any thoughts on what his game plan might be?”

”Spiritual supernatural abilities are a pain in the ass, and things tend to go wrong if you drag out the fight. If it were me, I would begin with a move along the lines of ”Thunder from a Clear Sky. Cloudless Thunder Blade” to intimidate and damage the opponent. It comes with paralyzing effects too, heh. Unless Li Shaokang predicted it beforehand, he's not going to effectively avoid it. From there I would aggressively attack and suppress him to prevent him from activating his spiritual supernatural ability. With Peng Leyun's abilities, he might be able to close the fight within ten to twenty seconds,” replied Lou Cheng after some thinking.

”That is the best approach indeed,” nodded Ann Chaoyang. Then, as if reliving a past memory, he shook his head with a bitter smile. ”But that wouldn't make him Peng Leyun... The Peng Leyun I know is more than happy for a chance to fully experience the combination between a strong spiritual supernatural ability and the assassin styled Miluo Martial Arts...”

Hearing that, Lou Cheng remembered the first proper fight he had with Peng Leyun.

”You are right, that is something Peng Leyun would do,” he agreed wholeheartedly.

Glancing towards Ann Chaoyang as he spoke, the two shared a laugh.

Once, they were both victims of the ”The Devil King”!

”I doubt he'll do that...” said Ren Li with a tinge of uncertainty.

Her image of Peng Leyun was someone who would always go all out.

Lou Cheng and Ann Chaoyang exchanged a glance before answering in unison.

”You don't get it.”

Even though he seemed to go all out when he fought weaker opponents, Peng Leyun always went easy on the rhythm and selection of his moves, allowing them the chance to unleash everything they had to satisfy his inner Martial Arts maniac.

By then, Peng Leyun and Li Shaokang had entered the arena and were standing face to face.

The referee waited, then raised his right hand.

”Begin!”

As the words hit the ground, Peng Leyun lowered himself, then swung forward, causing the arena to tremble as he ”drifted” towards his opponent, instantly closing the distance between them.

”Flash attack!”

I knew it... Lou Cheng and Ann Chaoyang exchanged looks, both equally amused and impressed.

As they expected, Peng Leyun did not begin the fight with ”Thunder from a Clear Sky. Cloudless Thunder Blade” or any similar moves!

A person with capabilities is bold enough to take risks!

Compared to when he was in his pre-morph state, the biggest difference in Peng Leyun's abilities then was that all of his moves were imbued with ”Divine Wrath Force”. His punches and kicks were enwreathed with purple lightnings, as if surrounded by dragons, sizzling and crackling along with his movements. Li Shaokang was trying his hardest to defend against it, but the paralyzing effects came crashing into him harder and harder each time, and soon he began to struggle.

In the process, he kept looking for the chances to manipulate his opponent with his spiritual supernatural ability. Each time he created the opportunity he saw hope, but it was always vanquished by a ”timely” counter-attack from Peng Leyun.

As time elapsed, Li Shaokang eventually used up everything in his arsenal, and his spiritual supernatural ability was at its limits. Had the situation be any different, had his opponent been someone else, he felt as though by now his enemy should be kneeling down and begging for mercy. However, the Chinese Martial Artist standing before him handled him with ease. His opponent's true strength remained unknown to him, and no matter how hard he tried, his moves were being countered easily.

Li Shaokang grew more desperate by the minute, and began taking more risks, hoping to force his opponent to his limit.

However, his risky attempts were unsuccessful and his plans went to shambles with the final result being the referee making the announcement: ”Peng Leyun wins!”

”So strong...” Mouko Yamashita heard a female voice commenting beside him.

Looking over his shoulders, he saw Tang Zexun, wearing a solemn expression over her sweet one.

What happened next was: Ren Li taking her opponent down easily, a sweeping victory for Ann Chaoyang, and the second round of double-elimination coming to its end. After the bouts that night, thirteen contestants were disqualified due to accumulating two losses, leaving the remaining twenty three of them to fight over sixteen positions.

Enter top 16, or say goodbye to the prize money.

...

The next morning, Lou Cheng woke up on time, had a chat with Yan Zheke, then eagerly proceeded to begin the day of training. His goal was to comprehend the essence of the ”Emperor Yan Diagram” in the shortest time and bring an enhancement to his ”Zhurong Force.”

Holding the diagram, he let his mind indulge it and began carefully visualizing it, but the immense gravity and erupting flames kept getting in the way of his inner peace. The flashing epiphany was so close yet so far. Compared to the previous days, there had been improvements, but something was still lacking.

He felt his impatience grow, so he retracted his thoughts and visualization, heaved a sigh, and began envisioning the mirror of ice to calm himself down.

After a round of kungfu practice, his body and heart had both calmed down. He stopped, brooded, and formed a new plan- by extrapolating from other visualization experiences.

This time, he stopped looking at the ”Emperor Yan Diagram”, and adjusted his muscles, fascias and organs according to the ”Prairie Fire Diagram”. He felt the flowing flames in him getting under control as he visualized the image of the God of Flames, Zhurong, with his head of a beast and body of a man, standing barefooted on a scarlet dragon.

Since he knew that ”Zhurong Force” can be enhanced to ”Emperor Yan Force”, he could likely find inspiration in this direction that could help his progress.

Based on his own understanding of the ”Emperor Yan Diagram”, Lou Cheng carefully manipulated his ”Zhurong Force”, weaving wisps of it together, moulding them into one solid entity in hopes that it could bring about extreme changes.

After a time, he slowly compressed the two streams of condensed ”Zhurong Force” into one, causing a strong suction force to form at their cores and quickly pulling in the outer layers of flames. Liquid flame was spit out as the strong change occured.