Chapter 216 - Long Tians Power (1/2)
With Feng Chen and He Fen's victories, the challenges of the second round of group A ended. Now it would be the turn of group B, and the first to take the field was none other than the Imperial Prince Long Tian.
”Let's start now with the challenges of Group B. The first ones to take the field are the Imperial Prince Long Tian and Mario Rossi of the Rossi family.” Song Yazhu announced.
Upon hearing the Imperial Prince's name, the eyes of the spectators, especially those in the VIP gallery, rested on the young Long Tian. Those who frequented the Sun Empire's high society knew of the internal situation of the Imperial Family.
The Yellow Dragon Faction was the weakest of the Five Factions of the Imperial Family. Long Tian should also have been the weakest of the Five Imperial Princes next in line to the Empire Throne. Yet, in the previous confrontation, Long Tian had brought out extraordinary strength, questioning the knowledge these ill.u.s.trious guests had about the Sun Emperor Candidates.
”It is an honor to meet you and to be able to fight against you, Your Highness Long Tian.” Mario Rossi greeted him respectfully. Even though he came from the Imperial Family's weakest faction, the other side still had an authority incomparable with that of the Rossi Family.
”Same to you.” Long Tian said with a nod. His calm demeanor made him seem like he wasn't worried about the challenger in front of him.
This annoyed Mario Rossi slightly, but he knew it was an understandable reaction. After all, he was a support martial artist, while the other side was one of the Five Hereditary Imperial Princes. On paper, there should be a colossal difference.
However, Mario Rossi wasn't willing to give up without a fight. ”I came this far to demonstrate the capabilities of us support martial artists. Prince Long Tian, prepare for the worst!”
”Let the fight begin!” Song Yazhu started the fight.
Therefore, Mario Rossi quickly ate two pieces of pizza, Pizza Margherita and Pizza Capricciosa, and pulled out his war hammer. Then he activated his mandolin, ”Sonata del Mandolino - Crescendo!”
His musical instrument began to swing its strings by itself, producing a musical melody. It was as if someone was playing it, although it was fixed on Mario Rossi's waist, and the latter was holding his war hammer, without therefore being able to play the musical instrument.
”An automatic boost melody? You combined music and cooking to empower yourself and be able to fight alone? By doing this, you are certainly superior in a 1 vs. 1 compared to other supporting martial artists. But from a military point of view, your value is lower than theirs. ” Long Tian revealed.
”What do you mean by that?” Mario Rossi asked. Even though he had activated his buffs, he hadn't yet launched an attack. 'He should have seen my previous fight, and yet he did nothing to stop me. Is he so confident he can defeat me that he lets me empower me?'
”You said that the reason you fight is to show the skills of supporting martial masters. Many attacking martial artists and of other types indeed deride support martial artists for their inferior fighting ability. But those with good eyes and a functioning mind are well aware of the vital importance of supporting martial artists, thus recognizing their value.”
”So what? Get to the point!” Mario Rossi urged with increasing nervousness. Just watching Long Tian stand up without worry as if he didn't exist made him restless.
”You are not fighting to honor the category of supporting martial artists. You are fighting instead for yourself even if you don't seem to notice or maybe you don't want to. Something must have happened in your life, or maybe they are a collection of smaller events. Anyway, at some point, you chose to change: instead of empowering others, you had to empower yourself.”
Long Tian's words were like boulders on Mario Rossi's heart. What the Imperial Prince said was true. During his life, although he was considered one of the geniuses of his city as regards the speed of cultivation, he wasn't considered in high regard in the panorama of the younger generation.
He was talented, yes, but in the end, he was just a support martial artist, and his fighting power was low. Sure, it could empower other people, and as a result, he was considered useful but never indispensable. He would never be considered a leader or a prominent figure everyone else aspired to be. He wouldn't receive honors and glory and won the affection of beautiful girls and males' envy. He would always remain in the shadows, and his contribution would only create the legends of others.
Growing up in a family specialized in producing supporting martial artists, he was aware of this from the very beginning. And he didn't really care at first. He didn't have a great predisposition to combat and, in any case, preferred to devote his time to the study of music, his great passion.
Yet, as he grew older, his desires for glory and to become a protagonist before the eyes of others made themselves felt more and more. Unfortunately, however ardently he dreamed of it, he failed.
The impassable wall against which other supporting martial artists crashed ended up stopping him as well. Instead of resigning, however, Mario Rossi became obsessed with changing his destiny. He puzzled over a possible solution for days and days until he came up with an answer: Why empower others when I can empower myself?
In doing so, he was able to bridge the gap dictated by his low fighting ability. He focused all his studies on ways to empower himself, devising his fighting style from scratch. At the same time, he swore that he would no longer be the shadow of someone else but would become the protagonist of his story.
”What could you possibly know… you who are one of the main characters since birth. What can you know about what an extra like me feels?!” Mario Rossi shouted.
His eyes were slightly red. Long Tian's words reopened an old wound, reawakening his anger and frustration. Since he had devised his fighting style, no one had dared to look down on him. Even now, in a major tournament like this, where the best students of his academic year were gathered, hadn't he stood out from the rest? Hadn't he made it to the stage and was performing as one of the main actors?
Yet, in front of Long Tian, someone who was destined to be one of the great characters in the Sun Empire's history, Mario Rossi couldn't help but recall the feelings of inferiority he thought he had forgotten.
”Take this! Intent of the Mandolin, Fortissimo! ”
At Mario Rossi's cry, the mandolin emitted a melody with a powerful sound that made the eardrums crack. The veins of the young man's body became visible as his breathing became labored.
Fortissimo. It was a term used in music to indicate a very, very loud sound, hence the mandolin's loud noise. However, in this situation, it represented Mario Rossi's secret technique, his supreme power-up technique.
The power-ups that Fortissimo brought were superior to any of his other techniques. The problem, however, was the large load it carried on the user's body. In particular, it was the organs that suffered the most, especially the heart. It was no coincidence that it was a generally prohibited move and would only be used in extreme cases.
”Spirit King Song Yazhu, stop the fight!” shouted the head of the Rossi family. Mario Rossi was one of his family's most promising geniuses; therefore, he knew his techniques well. Never would he have thought Mario Rossi would use the Fortissimo during the tournament. If he continued like this, Mario Rossi risked serious internal damage.
”Teacher Song Yazhu, leave it to me!” Long Tian said to Song Yazhu. Without waiting for an answer, he exclaimed, ”Yellow Dragon Bloodline, Activate! Concept of Authority, Earth Law, Authority of the Earth - Fist of the Yellow Dragon!”
It happened in an instant. As Mario Rossi ferociously advanced against Long Tian, the latter responded using one of his secret cards. The Fist of the Yellow Dragon condensed Long Tian's spirit power into his fist, to which the ability of Attraction and Repulsion was added. Doing so would generate an insane power punch that would first attract the enemy, destabilize them, then repel them, generating even more power than would normally be produced.
Boom! Crack!
Mario Rossi was thrown for meters and meters. A single punch from Long Tian had destroyed his defensive layer of spirit power and landed on his body. Surprisingly, instead of shattering the bones and reaching the organs, the power of the fist was dispersed throughout Mario Rossi's body, stopping the arrival of musical vibrations and stopping the Fortissimo technique.
Cough!