Chapter 319 - 307: Contention (Part 1)
Chapter 319: Chapter 307: Contention (Part 1)
"Are you both ready?"
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the arbitrating elder asked Zhao Lin and Wei Shi.
"Ready."
"This disciple is also ready."
The two responded and walked to their respective positions, bowing to each other from a distance.
"Begin!"
At the elder’s command, neither Zhao Lin nor Wei Shi hesitated, and both moved at the same time.
They were both incredibly fast. The disciples watching from the sidelines could only see two tall figures streaking toward each other like meteors.
The difference was that as Zhao Lin charged forward, he formed a hand seal for a Spell, rapidly gathering Ice Spiritual Qi.
From the previous duels, it was clear that a Magic at the Minor Achievement Level couldn’t inflict substantial damage on a Body Cultivator at the Fourth Layer of Body Tempering.
But that didn’t mean Body Cultivators were immune to Magic.
The same Magic would cause different amounts of damage depending on which part of the body it struck.
Zhao Lin came from a martial arts background and knew the body’s weak points intimately.
Halfway through his charge, the Magic was ready. With a quick flick of his hand, Zhao Lin shot out a shimmering silver ice blade straight at Wei Shi’s left flank.
The "soft ribs" refer to the eleventh and twelfth ribs. The first ten ribs connect to the sternum or the rib above, but these last two are floating ribs, making them extremely vulnerable.
While the throat and temples were also vulnerable, they were small targets and easy to dodge. It would be difficult for Zhao Lin to guarantee his accuracy while running, so he chose to attack the ribs.
Even if Wei Shi’s body was forged from bronze and iron, he definitely wouldn’t be able to take a direct hit to his floating ribs.
Wei Shi saw the ice blade’s target at a glance. Slightly surprised, he immediately dropped his shoulder, clenched his fist, and punched straight at the incoming blade.
BAM!
The ice blade shattered against his fist, sending shards of ice flying before dissipating into a cloud of white mist.
The force of the punch also caused Wei Shi’s advance to falter for a moment.
This was exactly what Zhao Lin wanted.
In a head-on clash of fists, power was key, but speed could not be ignored either.
If one person threw a punch with momentum while the other stood still, the former would have the upper hand even if their strength was equal. This was the advantage of speed.
Zhao Lin hadn’t expected the Ice Blade Skill to actually hit Wei Shi; his goal was to slow him down.
A few breaths later, they were less than ten feet apart.
Zhao Lin condensed his Ice Attribute True Qi and threw a Celestial Frost Fist. His fist gradually solidified into ice, swelling into a giant white fist the size of a mixing bowl.
His Celestial Frost Fist had now reached the Great Achievement stage. It no longer just emitted a frosty aura; it directly converted Ice Spiritual Qi into a layer of ice crystals covering his fist.
Wei Shi also threw a punch. His fist glowed with a cyan light, layered and dense, looking as if it were covered in scales.
Cyan Scale Fist!
From the beginning of Body Tempering, Body Cultivators used Spiritual Qi to refine their physical bodies. The excess was stored in their meridians, similar to a warrior’s True Qi, and from this, they developed Cultivation Techniques akin to martial arts.
The Cyan Scale Fist involved stacking the Spiritual Qi from one’s flesh and blood onto the fist, allowing it to directly block Magic and magic treasures. It was an exceptionally ferocious technique!
BOOM!
The two fists collided. Propelled by his forward momentum, Zhao Lin’s body only swayed slightly.
However, the force from his opponent’s fist was too astonishing. His Qi and Blood roiled within him, preventing him from immediately following up with a second move. Moreover, the chilling yin energy of his Celestial Frost Fist was instantly neutralized.
Because Wei Shi had been distracted by the Ice Blade Skill, his speed had been slightly reduced. Though he blocked Zhao Lin’s punch, he was forced to take a step back.
’What incredible strength!’
Wei Shi was greatly shocked. He had been cultivating for three years and had fought countless opponents, including Martial Cultivators. But regardless of whether he won or lost, he had never been at a disadvantage in terms of pure strength.
’Why is this Qi Refining Second Layer Martial Cultivator so strong?’
He didn’t know that Zhao Lin was just as surprised. However, Zhao Lin quickly recovered. Taking advantage of his opponent’s retreat, he flickered forward, extended his five fingers into a claw, and struck down with a Three Yin Claw.
Wei Shi flipped his hand and met the attack with his palm.
The two of them engaged in close-quarters combat.
Although Zhao Lin practiced cultivation methods daily, he had never neglected his martial arts. He practiced his Fist Skill at least once a day, and the memory of combat was etched into his very bones.
Wei Shi’s physical body was formidable, as if forged from refined steel. His punches and kicks were incredibly fierce.
Their figures intertwined, and the sound of their collisions echoed across the arena like the beating of war drums.
"This isn’t a battle of magic, it’s clearly a martial arts competition."
"Sigh, a perfectly good Dharma Assembly has turned into a martial arts tournament."
"You know, it’s pretty exciting. More entertaining than a magic duel..."
The spectating cultivators had varied expressions. Some shook their heads and sighed, while others clapped their hands in delight.
"Who do you think is stronger?"
"Is that even a question? When it comes to a physical fight, Body Cultivators counter Martial Cultivators. Of course Wei Shi is stronger."
"I’m not so sure. I feel like Zhao Lin has the upper hand."
To avoid being at a disadvantage in close combat, cultivators would practice some martial techniques, but mostly for self-preservation. They didn’t delve deep into them, and there was a huge gap compared to true martial arts.
They watched for a long time but could only appreciate the spectacle. They couldn’t tell who was actually stronger, and a variety of opinions emerged.
Zhao Lin had cultivated from the skin-refining stage of the Power Realm all the way to breaking through to the Innate Realm. His Qi and Blood were incredibly abundant. Combined with having absorbed the Essence Souls of a bear and a Golden Leopard, his physique was far beyond that of any mortal warrior.
He hadn’t encountered such an evenly matched opponent in years and couldn’t help but find it exhilarating.
Although Wei Shi had only cultivated for three years, he had a huge advantage from the start by being in a Spiritual Energy World. His strength and speed were in no way inferior.
But he lacked Zhao Lin’s nearly twenty years of martial arts experience.
After several dozen exchanges, the situation in the arena gradually began to change.
The longer Wei Shi fought, the more difficult it became. It wasn’t a lack of stamina; rather, his techniques were being completely suppressed by Zhao Lin. Every move he made was within Zhao Lin’s calculations.
He knew that if he continued fighting like this, defeat was only a matter of time. His eyes narrowed. He took several quick steps back to dodge Zhao Lin’s attack, then suddenly clasped his palms together and chopped down vertically.
A long tongue of fire erupted from between his palms, rushing toward Zhao Lin, who was over ten feet away.
Body Cultivators didn’t cultivate Spiritual Acupoints, so their Spiritual Qi couldn’t travel far, making them poor at long-range attacks.
To overcome this disadvantage, Body Cultivators would generally start practicing a long-range Cultivation Technique from the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.
Wei Shi’s technique was called the Flaming Spear. It used his Fire Spirit Root to convert Spiritual Qi into the Fire Element, which he then projected outward with his technique.
Body Cultivators didn’t cultivate Spiritual Acupoints, so their Spiritual Qi couldn’t travel far. However, they could freely control it within a range of thirty feet, which was enough to achieve a surprising effect in battle.
Wei Shi had originally been saving this Flaming Spear for Fang Qinglu, but seeing that he was about to lose to Zhao Lin, he had no choice but to use it early.
Zhao Lin was a veteran of a hundred battles and had already seen this coming from his opponent’s movements. As he advanced, he activated his Wind Manipulation Skill and swung his palm in a fierce chop.
The force from his palm whipped up a gale, forming a crescent-shaped blade slash over five feet long that seemed almost solid.
The blade slash flared with a brilliant cyan light—it was the Sky-splitting Slash!
The Flaming Spear met the Sky-splitting Slash, and a fireball tens of feet high instantly erupted between them. The residual force, not yet dissipated, shot toward both men.
BANG! BANG!
Zhao Lin and Wei Shi were both forced back several steps at the same time.