39 Chapter 38: Qi Burst Pill (1/2)

I landed some distance away, watching the growing sinkhole. Even though the reinforced concrete was supposed to be designed to withstand the martial arts techniques from combatants, it was destroyed every time a mere middle school student (or two middle school students, for that matter) fought in it.

Thankfully the academy had restoration techniques, or it would be incredibly expensive to constantly repair and rebuild the destroyed arena whenever we had a duel.

”…”

Narrowing my eyes, I peered through the cloud of dust. Despite using the full force of my Seismic Step, I knew that Qi Fu Ren was still alive. The bastard was incredibly sturdy, especially since his element was metal (same as lightning). I could barely make out his silhouette as he crawled to his feet, his head bleeding large rivers of blood.

”Bastard…I'll kill you…I'll fucking kill you!”

Hidden amidst all the dust, Qi Fu Ren thought he was well-concealed from prying eyes. So he retrieved the thing that his master, Elder Hu from the White Tiger Sect, passed to him in the preparation room from before the duel.

My eyes widened when I recognized the object.

”Qi Burst Pill?!”

To my horror, Qi Fu Ren popped the red, fiery pill into his mouth and crushed it. The powder floated around his tongue for a few seconds, bearing a spicy taste, but he swallowed it whole. Within moments, his qi ignited and surged exponentially, increasing several folds.

”That's…!”

”Wow! I see…no wonder Qi Fu Ren was losing earlier. He was holding back so much power!”

”Is this Qi Fu Ren's true strength?”

Many of the student spectators were unaware that Qi Fu Ren was doping and relying on cheats to artificially enhance his strength. Truthfully, I was pretty sure that such a move was illegal, and he could have invalidated the duel with this dick move of his, but Teacher Cai Pan didn't say anything, so I thought it would seem petty if I spoke up.

However, this was bad. This was really bad. Even though it was illegal, even though it was only temporary and such a move would have terrible side effects, the fact of the matter was that Qi Fu Ren right now was several times stronger than earlier.

I was in trouble.

A few students recognized that this was cheating, and they murmured amongst themselves, wondering what was going on.

”Why isn't Teacher Cai stopping the duel?”

”He used a drug! That's illegal, isn't it?”

”That descipable bastard! Resorting to cheating during an official match!”

Despite the outrage, Teacher Cai remained unmoved, for reasons known only to him.

*

”Yes, Teacher Cai. I am aware. But trust me, you don't have to move. Just allow the match to proceed.” Xiao Zhang paused for a moment as he listened to Teacher Cai saying something on the other side of the phone. ”Yes, I know. I'm watching the match. I saw Qi Fu Ren cheating with a Qi Burst Pill. But even so, I want you to allow the match to continue.”

He chuckled, a grin spreading across his wrinkled face.

”Trust me. Wait for the outcome, and you'll see.”

He then hung up his cellphone and turned to the other teachers.

”Is that wise?” Teacher Shu Xue asked, frowning.

”Wise? No. but I have faith in Fei Cai. And I suspect you do as well, right? Jiao Shi.”

Teacher Jiao Shi said nothing, but his lack of protest was sufficient as a reply. Beside him, still lounging around, Teacher Yi Liao chuckled throatily.

”This will be very interesting,” she agreed. Then she smiled at Teacher Shu. ”Don't worry…as long as neither party is dead, I'll be able to fix them up. I did reattach Shi Bai Zhe's arm in a surgery earlier, didn't I?”

”I don't doubt that,” Xiao Zhang said drily, but he rose to his feet. Teacher Yi blinked as she gazed in his direction.

”Where are you going?”

”I'm thinking a change of venue is in order,” Xiao Zhang replied with a disarming smile. ”I think, for the next part of this duel, I want to watch it firsthand.”

*

Laughing manically, Qi Fu Ren launched himself at me. Still half-confused by Teacher Cai's lack of intervention, and half-intimidated by Qi Fu Ren's sudden, exponential increase in qi, I almost didn't react in time.

Tui!

I retreated with the footwork technique, but thanks to the Qi Burst Pill, Qi Fu Ren's speed had multiplied several times. He actually overtook me with his Jin and punched me. Unable to duck, I crossed both arms to block his punch.

”UGH!”

Gigantic currents of electricity fried and electrocuted me. There was a huge thunderclap and I was sent hurtling across the arena, my body scorched and smoking.

”Hah! Know your place, trash!”

Qi Fu Ren descended upon my position, punching and kicking me. Helpless, unable to evade, I could only curl into a ball and weather the first few blows. Red-hot agony stabbed into me, superheated lightning lanced into me and my body was slowly torn apart by the devastating electricity. In one final move, Qi Fu Ren kicked me like a soccer ball, sending me soaring across the arena and slamming into the wall.

Bam!

The impact was so great that I actually made a dent in the reinforced concrete. Grunting in pain, I slid down the wall, the breath knocked out of me.

”It's not over yet!”

Qi Fu Ren surged forward to deliver another barrage of attacks. However, he had made a mistake by kicking me to a good distance away, and this time I was able to prepare myself and evade his attacks.

Duo!

Disappearing from his view, I appeared behind him. Spinning around, I threw a roundhouse kick that snapped Qi Fu Ren's head to the side and almost caused him to topple over.

Almost.

Qi Fu Ren's feet crunched firmly into the ground, leaving tiny craters as he lodged himself to maintain his balance. Not only was most of the force behind my kick dissipated by the lightning barrier that wreathed his body, I actually took damage from the fierce electric currents running around his head. Qi Fu Ren himself turned around with a smirk, and despite blood trickling from the new wound I dealt to his temple, he seemed otherwise unaffected.

My eyes widened.

Can he not feel pain?

Of course. The Qi Burst Pill dampened or shut off one's sense of pain. I could deal as many devastating injuries to Qi Fu Ren as I like, but he wouldn't feel anything…at least not until the effects of the Qi Burst Pill wore off.

On the other hand, he would suffer a lot once the Qi Burst Pill expired. Fortunately, Teacher Yi's healing techniques would counteract most of that damage, but the side effects of the pill extended beyond physical damage.

Fortunately, Qi Fu Ren's condition was none of my business. To be honest, I couldn't afford to be concerned with his wellbeing. Not when I had to worry about myself trying to survive his berserk onslaught of crazed attacks first.

Qi Fu Ren punched at me again, but I evaded. Just barely. Thanks to the Qi Burst Pill, he was ignoring the damage and injuries that he sustained from earlier, which had slowed his mobility from the pain. But with his sense of pain being numbed, and his limiters off, his movements had increased to several times faster than his original speed. I was just barely able to keep one step ahead of him, and even that was overtaxing myself.

How do I beat him?

”Whoa!”

Never mind defeat him, I had to survive Qi Fu Ren's barrage of punches and kicks first. Then only would I worry about trying to secure any form of victory. In fact, it was unlikely that I might be able to win this, unless I turned this into a battle of attrition and waited for the effects of the Qi Burst Pill to wear off.

That's not practical. The effects of the Qi Burst Pill can last for hours.

So that was not an option. Then what was?

”Guh?!”

Another lightning strike from Qi Fu Ren sent me sprawling onto the ground, and I was forced to roll way before he stomped me to oblivion. As it was, his foot literally broke the concrete floor, carving a deep crater into it.

Pressing my palms into the ground, I sprang back to my feet with a single surge of energy while avoiding yet another punch from Qi Fu Ren. Panting, I widened the distance between us, but Qi Fu Ren used his accelerated Jin to lunge at me again.

This time, I met him head-on. Before Qi Fu Ren's fist could reach and crush my face, I lashed out with a kick. My foot slammed into the crook of his arm, deflecting his fist away. Qi Fu Ren continued to advanced, undeterred, and threw a hook with his other fist. But I dodged it by a hair's breadth before jumping off the ground and ramming my knee into his ribs.

Crack!

I had most definitely broken Qi Fu Ren's ribs with that powerful Lunar Rabbit knee. However, Qi Fu Ren was unfazed by my attack. As I mentioned earlier, he was completely immune to pain right now, with the Qi Burst Pill shutting off his senses.

Instead, Qi Fu Ren grabbed hold of me with a roar. But I ducked under his grasp, only to parry his retaliation. Lightning clad his knee as he rammed it into me, and I grunted as electricity surged through my body while I was sent hurtling backward.

Screech!

I skidded back across the ground, unable to halt my momentum even as I left twin trails of broken concrete in my wake. Qi Fu Ren relentlessly charged at me, not even bothering to wait for me to regain my balance.

That was fine. I didn't need to balance myself just yet. Infusing my feet with qi, I kicked off before I fell and disappeared the moment Qi Fu Ren reached my position, his Lightning Fist tearing through thin air and scorching the atmosphere.

Having used Duo to evade Qi Fu Ren, I appeared behind him again. But Qi Fu Ren was smart enough to anticipate my movements, having seen me use it against him once. Damn, I didn't think he would adapt as quickly as the artificial intelligence in the test dummy!

Wham!

I managed to parry his backhand, and was sent skidding back. Cursing under my breath, I lowered my trembling arms, which were tingling with electricity. However, Qi Fu Ren continued his merciless barrage, spinning around to throw another Lightning Punch.

Or at least I thought it would be a Lightning Punch.

Foolishly, I blocked it – then again, I wouldn't be able to dodge it in time, so I had no other option – and Qi Fu Ren maliciously relished my mistake by executing his most powerful attack.

”Lightning Flash!”

”GUAAAAAH!”

The entire place blew up instantly, my body engulfed in a devastating golden pillar of lightning. Fried and electrocuted by the massive attack and millions of voltage, I was almost incinerated into nothing. My body fuming, I staggered out of the highly destructive blast, only for Qi Fu Ren to punch me in the gut and send me flying.