Chapter 30 - Concerted Effort (2/2)

The target was quick enough to detect Ye Chen’s movement. He turned as soon as he felt a whoosh behind him, with a counterattack readied in his hand. Yet, his speed was woefully unmatched to Ye Chen’s and just like that, his face was hit squarely by the latter’s attack. He flew backward in an instant, already dead while still sailing on air.

One down!

Ye Chen’s eyes turned to the remaining three enemies. His stare was as dangerous as daggers.

Just like any other self-respecting member of the Ye clan, the unquenchable animus between his family and the House of Yun tacitly informed Ye Chen’s actions. Holding nothing back, Ye Chen leaped and unleashed another attack. This time, he knocked another one of the Sixth Stage fighters away.

“You little twerp of the Ye clan! Get your *ss out of this fog and fight like a real man!” Yun Laoliu bellowed in fury. His vision may have been obscured, but he was still sensitive enough to hear two of his clansmen’s cries before they had fallen. Enraged, he pounded on the earth.

There was a loud crash as his strength shook the earth, sending debris flying upward for about a feet away from where Ye Chen was.

Yun Laoliu could estimate where the young man was through echolocation, but his vision was still too blinded by the fog to help him confirm his hunch.

‘Oh, I’m just a “twerp” and not a hero. So what if I hide?” Ye Chen thought indignantly, pursing his lips. Ye Chen knew that the boss of this team was someone who had already acquired the power of Chi Construction. Hence, if he were to subdue an Eighth Stage pugilist, he would need a very different tack than plain old fisticuffs. At that thought, his right hand brandished an Explosive Seed. Now that they were out of Lianyun Mountains, there should be no problem using one of these.

Yu Laoliu made his advances in the fog very carefully, and after a while, he heard a very soft sound close to him. He was just about to swing his hand into an attack when he heard a familiar voice cried, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me!” Yun Laoliu immediately replied as he recognized his own clansman.

The two immediately huddled close together as they listened intently.

“I don’t know how this twerp did it, but he managed to tame some mystical beast as his pet, and now this bloody fog is that beast’s doing! We need to be careful and use our ears, my brother,” Yun Laoliu said grimly.

The world was filled with all kinds of mystical beasts, each of them equipped with all kinds of phantasmal techniques. However, he had never heard of a human being taming a mystical beast enough to aid him in battle. Moreover, a mystical beast that could spit out a fog this expansive and disruptive must have been a pretty high-level monster in its own right!

Just as the two were talking, Ye Chen cast out his Explosive Seed at them.

Yun Laoliu suddenly felt something hurtling in his direction, but it was a black blur. He assumed it was most likely a black rock or something. He couldn’t help but sneer, “Ha! Leave it to a kiddie to resort to throwing rocks in a real man’s fight!!”

He swung his palm forward and his strength elicited a gale, striking neatly at the black object.

First, there was a loud crash of explosion. Then, tongues of flames roared and engulfed every space in its proximity. Yun Laoliu instinctively activated his Chi Construct ability and encased his body with a Chi armor against the bursting shockwave. Yet, it was too late. With a loud bang, every part of his body sustained a heavy blow.

He felt a sharp gust of air forced into his throat before his feet were swept away from the ground.

The man beside him — a Seventh Stage fighter did not make it at all. Just as Yun Laoliu was, he was standing in the path of the Explosive Seed’s explosion, but unfortunately, he had not learned how to protect himself with Chi Construction at all.

He was inflicted with fatal blows that were a result of the explosion and flew two feet away before he landed onto the earth with a smack. He was never to rise again.

Yun Laoliu stumbled as he climbed up from his sprawling position; his hand clutching on his chest in pain. He now knew that Ye Chen had not tossed a rock. Instead, it was a very powerful, concealed weapon with a force that rivaled a Ninth Stage master’s attack. He was only saved by the distance between the point of the weapon’s detonation and himself. Had he been hit by it point-blank, he would have died without leaving as much as a complete corpse!

He fought the unbearable stinging pain in his chest. His injuries were so severe that he could no longer create another Chi Construct. Seeing his new state, Yun Laoliu mustered any Celestial Chi left in his body and started to flee.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Ye Chen cried as he chased after him. Since he had used one of the two Explosive Seeds, Ye Chen decided to conserve the other one. Besides, he was sure that Yun Laoliu had sustained enough damage that the playing field had been leveled.

Primordial Thunder Body!

With this technique available and activated, Ye Chen dispatched a Rumble Thunder Burst straight at Yun Laoliu’s back.

Ye Chen could not allow Yun Laoliu to get away! If he ever fled, Ye Chen’s actual powers would be made known to the House of Yun, or worst, they would also know about the Explosive Seed!

Yun Laoliu managed to stumble for a dozen steps before his vision was increasingly marred by clumps of black spots. His heart sank in a state of hopelessness as he thought, ‘Is this how it will end for me? A master pugilist whom few could match, ultimately dying in the hands of a bloody child?!’

He could hear the howl of an incoming attack coming from behind. In his last-ditch effort to deny the embarrassment of his bitter end being brought about by a boy who had not even passed adolescence, Yun Laoliu summoned all of his Celestial Chi and turned around.

Chi Construct Heavenly Strike!

Bang! A loud roar was heard as Ye Chen’s palm met exactly with Yun Laoliu’s.

The young man stumbled backward as blood trashed within his veins, threatening to burst out of his mouth. In fact, he could feel a few of his internal organs damaged by Yun Laoliu’s force while the meridian channels in his right hand were almost severed. Ye Chen was shocked at the display of power by an Eighth Stage pugilist with advanced Chi Construct Level. Even when Yun Laoliu was obviously on the verge of death, he had managed to unleash such a devastating attack! With a reeling realization, Ye Chen finally understood that he had been tempting his fate the moment he had decided to take on Yun Laoliu.

To be fair, he had never dueled with an Eighth Stage fighter with Chi Construct before, so he had no inkling of how strong they could be.

At least he could honestly say he knew better now.