In the martial arts system of the Empire, speed-type techniques are considered the most difficult to cultivate and master. However, speed is also one of the most powerful weapons in combat. This was one of the reasons why Capono was so confident in himself. Although he had just reached the elite level of eighth tier, anyone familiar with martial arts would know that a speed-type expert at the early stage of eighth tier could still hold their ground against a power-type warrior at the peak of eighth tier!
Therefore, from the very beginning of the battle, the bald Capono had already decided to suppress his opponent with his most proficient speed! And his tactics indeed seemed to achieve the desired effect he expected.
After their first direct clash, Capono had been circling around his opponent. Due to Capono’s extreme speed and the astonishing attack rate of the twin hand axes in his hands, under Capono’s speed assault, the Hermit seemed unable to keep up, barely managing to parry and dodge in a flustered manner.
Listening to the crisp explosive sounds of crystal-energy weapons and colliding battle energies echoing from the arena, the audience in the hall had already felt their hearts rise to their throats. From any perspective, Zhang Wen seemed too passive. It appeared as though merely locating Capono’s position and defending against his attacks had already consumed all of Zhang Wen’s energy.
“Come on, Brother Hermit!” The bounty fighters in the red rest area also clenched their fists tightly, biting their teeth while silently cheering for Zhang Wen.
“Hmph! That guy Capono… indeed lives up to the reputation of speed-type martial arts being the strongest in attack. With an advantage in level, no matter who the opponent is, he will never leave any chance for a comeback,” Douglas finally turned back with a satisfied smile, pointing out the situation on the arena to Linoah from the blue rest area.
“Mm.” Linoah nodded lightly, her eyes never leaving Zhang Wen. What exactly was that guy planning? She couldn’t help but wonder deep in her heart. After witnessing how Zhang Wen instantly defeated Dick, Linoah simply couldn’t believe he couldn’t keep up with Capono’s speed.
Sharing the same thoughts as Linoah were Ironmask and his group standing at the farthest end of the red rest area. There was no sign of tension on their faces. From the beginning, they could tell that Zhang Wen wasn’t on the defensive because he couldn’t keep up with Capono’s movements, but because he had deliberately hidden his strength.
Ironmask’s group had not misjudged. Zhang Wen had been holding back all along. If he truly wanted to compete in speed, even if Zhang Wen’s absolute speed couldn’t match Capono’s, the special body techniques recorded in the Spring Water Manual, which he had cultivated, would be enough to ensure he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in battle. However, Zhang Wen also clearly understood that once he used the Spring Water Manual’s body techniques, he would inevitably face a bitter struggle against Capono. Even if he could defeat Capono, an eighth-tier speed-type warrior, his own battle energy would likely be drained to the point of no return.
On the other hand, from the moment Capono had spoken and the tactics he had chosen, Zhang Wen had almost been able to confirm that this bald man indeed still did not take him seriously. Therefore, in that instant, Zhang Wen had already decided to take advantage of that. Thus, Zhang Wen chose another more risky tactic—he would endure first, let Capono attack freely, and wait for the moment when he would reveal a weakness.
Zhang Wen allowed Capono to attack at will, and the latter didn’t hesitate at all.
“Haha! My speed, Capono’s speed, is so fast even tenth-tier experts can’t keep up! Just乖乖 go to your death! No! I won’t let you die. I’ll make you wish you were dead, ha ha!” Capono kept swinging his twin axes while laughing loudly at Zhang Wen. He quickly maximized the advantage of his speed-type techniques.
On the spacious arena, Capono seemed to have transformed into a streak of light circling around Zhang Wen. Each time he swung his curved-handled axes, a shrill, mournful sound was emitted.
Minutes passed, and Zhang Wen was still patiently enduring Capono’s relentless attacks from all directions. During these few minutes, Zhang Wen, who was completely on the defensive, consumed a large amount of battle energy. However, the continuous aggressive attacks also drained a significant amount of Capono’s battle energy. Both were using their full strength in the attack and defense. If not for the arena’s use of extremely durable sea-urchin stones with battle energy effects, the arena would likely have been shattered into pieces by the shockwaves of their colliding energies.
Zhang Wen could feel that Capono’s speed had clearly decreased by a level. Several times during Capono’s attacks, Zhang Wen felt as if he could almost pinpoint his position in that instant. However, Zhang Wen still showed great patience, waiting for the perfect moment.
“He he, what’s wrong? Can’t handle it anymore? Why don’t you come at me! Come on! Come on!” As Capono kept attacking, he and Zhang Wen had now almost moved to the far left corner of the arena closest to the hall. Seeing himself gradually pushing Zhang Wen into a corner, an excited Capono shouted, raising his twin axes that faintly shimmered with red light, and spun like a windmill, continuously chopping down at Zhang Wen.
Capono was using a powerful martial arts technique called “Eagle Strike.” For Capono, who was attacking fiercely, using “Eagle Strike” to knock his opponent off the arena or corner them wasn’t a bad idea. But unfortunately, his opponent wasn’t anyone else—it was Zhang Wen!
As soon as Capono raised his axes over his head, Zhang Wen saw through his next move. Moreover, in order to fully unleash the power of Eagle Strike, Capono deliberately slowed down his movement speed. In that brief moment, Zhang Wen had already grasped Capono in his palm.
Zhang Wen, who had been holding back until now, counterattacked without hesitation. The crystal-energy sword in his hand once again erupted with a blinding white glow, just like the first time he faced Dick—this was a sign that Zhang Wen had pushed the Spring Water Manual to its limits.
Capono was somewhat prepared for Zhang Wen’s sudden move. The moment the crystal-energy sword lit up, Capono “wisely” closed his eyes. At the same time, his hands did not stop moving, and the two small axes continued to swing down on instinct.
However, after Capono swung his axes, he was shocked to find that he had neither hit his opponent’s body nor encountered any resistance—his fully charged Eagle Strike had landed on empty air!
Barely suppressing the urge to vomit blood from the missed strike, Capono hurriedly opened his eyes. But this only made him even more astonished. Right in front of him, there was nothing! His opponent had vanished like a ghost without any warning!
What was going on? Before Capono could figure out what had happened, he suddenly heard the astonished cries coming from the audience and the two rest areas.
In that brief moment, Zhang Wen had seemingly teleported, suddenly disappearing from in front of Capono and reappearing behind him without any warning!
The audience’s cries made Capono suddenly realize something was wrong. However, he was still a seasoned bounty fighter, and in that critical moment, he gritted his teeth and roared, yanking his axes back that had originally swung downward, and with the simplest slashing motion, he spun his body to strike behind him.
However, the moment Capono swung his axes, Zhang Wen once again moved like a ghost, instantly reappearing behind Capono. When Capono turned around, he still couldn’t see where Zhang Wen was, and he was already on the verge of breaking down.
Although he could still hear the audience’s astonished cries in his ears, not seeing his opponent anywhere around him made Capono feel an inexplicable fear from the bottom of his heart.
“Ahh!” Capono roared again, channeling all his battle energy, and spinning wildly with his axes held horizontally. But no matter how he spun, he couldn’t see Zhang Wen, who had pushed the art of movement to its peak.
Finally, after exhausting all his battle energy, Capono stopped spinning, panting heavily. Instinctively, he bent over, wanting to catch his breath with his hands on his knees. Then, an incident occurred that the people of Casares who came to the Kermel Arena that day would talk about for the rest of their lives, always bursting into laughter whenever they recalled it.
“I’m coming,” the Hermit, standing behind Capono, slowly lifted his foot, saying, and kicked Capono right in the butt.
Capono was facing the corner where Zhang Wen had stood earlier. As a result, he was kicked and flew forward in a very undignified manner, tumbling off the arena and landing face-first in a very embarrassing position.
Just like when Zhang Wen achieved his first victory, after this match ended, the hall on the fourth floor was quiet for a moment, and then erupted in noise. However, this time, the crowd was not cheering—they were bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
In the midst of the loud laughter from the entire hall, Capono, who had fallen off the arena, stood up with a dirty face, gave Zhang Wen, who was walking down from the arena, a resentful look, and reluctantly returned to the group from the Themis Academy. However, what awaited Capono there was Douglas’s furious expression.
At the moment Capono was kicked off the arena by Zhang Wen, Linoah also couldn’t help but let out a light laugh. This made Douglas’s already grim expression turn even colder.
“Fool!” Douglas softly muttered two words.
In fact, Douglas did not really care about Capono losing to Zhang Wen. Capono was not a teacher at the Themis Academy, and Douglas had never looked up to Capono, a bounty fighter from the arena.
What truly made Douglas angry and embarrassed was that he had just boasted in front of Linoah that the Hermit would have no chance of an upset against Capono. But in the blink of an eye, Capono had lost the match in such a laughable and humiliating way! At that moment, Douglas felt as if someone had slapped him hard in the face! If looks could kill, Capono would have been torn to pieces by Douglas’s gaze by now.
“The next match, I’ll fight personally.” After glaring at Capono until he shrank into a ball, Douglas finally turned his gaze away and coldly threw out those words.
Just as Douglas spoke those chilling words, Zhang Wen had already returned to the red rest area. With their spiritual leader having consecutively won two morale-boosting victories, the Casares bounty fighters were naturally overjoyed. From the moment Zhang Wen appeared in the rest area, the bounty fighters kept cheering excitedly. A few who were more familiar with the Hermit even patted his shoulders a few times.
Zhang Wen nodded in acknowledgment while quickly walking back to the locker room connected to the rest area. After closing the locker room door, Zhang Wen heavily sat down on the bench inside. He took off his mask, threw it aside, and gasped for breath.
Unlike the first match, which was won without any bloodshed, the battle with Capono had cost Zhang Wen a significant amount of battle energy and physical strength, even though his risky strategy had succeeded. He could clearly feel the fatigue after the fight, but he had absolutely no thoughts of giving up.
From the moment he stepped onto the arena, Zhang Wen had made up his mind—he would leave all five of them behind on this floor. Not for any other reason, but because over the past half a year, mingling with many passionate fighters and gladiator fans at the arena, Zhang Wen had come to accept one thing—he was also a Casares person!
“Great job!” As Zhang Wen was trying to adjust his breathing, the locker room door was pushed open, and Ironmask’s voice came in. In the Kermel Arena, Ironmask, Asura, and the old drunkard were naturally privileged individuals. Only the three of them were allowed to enter the locker room during the match breaks.
“Hehe, there are still three left,” Zhang Wen smiled as he lifted his head.
“You want to stop all of them at this level?” Asura did not hide his surprise.
“Exactly,” Zhang Wen nodded.
“But…” the old drunkard frowned, hesitating.
“To be honest, I also know that with my current strength, it’s quite difficult to stop all of them at this level. But… look at the outside,” Zhang Wen pointed around.
“Brother Hermit…” Even with the locker room door closed, they could still hear the bounty fighters excitedly calling the Hermit’s name. Beyond the red rest area, in the much larger fourth-floor hall, the audience had all stood up.
“Hermit!”
“Hermit!”
“Hermit!”
… They rhythmically chanted the Hermit’s name, including the now hoarse voices of the elderly nobles. Meanwhile, the giant screen on the ceiling of the fourth-floor hall timely displayed scenes from other parts of the arena.
Sixth floor, fifth floor, third floor, second floor, first floor… throughout the entire massive arena building, all the Casares people were focusing their gaze on the central arena on the fourth floor. Even the bounty fighters on the arena had temporarily stopped their battles, looking up at the giant screen hanging above their heads.
With the sensing abilities of the three—Ironmask, Asura, and the old drunkard—they could distinctly feel that in the third-floor hall right beneath their feet, the audience had also all stood up, looking at the screen above them and loudly chanting the Hermit’s name.
“If I have this opportunity, and I don’t even try, I won’t forgive myself either. I am also a Casares person!” Zhang Wen smiled calmly, standing up from the bench.
“The next match, they will send the one who injured Xiao Lang. Be careful,” Asura said, his face always hidden in the shadow of his collar, but his voice full of concern for his comrade.
“Mm.” Zhang Wen nodded lightly, putting his mask back on. Then, he took a deep breath and pushed open the locker room door.
When Zhang Wen reappeared next to the arena, the fourth-floor hall erupted once again in thunderous cheers. Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming battle, the Casares people had already recognized this warrior’s courage for stepping onto the arena for the third time after two major battles.
After the host announced the participants of the next match, Zhang Wen and Douglas walked onto the arena together.
“I admire your courage,” Douglas suddenly said as they reached the center of the arena.
“Is that so?” Zhang Wen also stopped, slowly adjusting his breathing.
“When you fought Capono earlier, you dared to completely hide your speed and strike at the last moment. Your courage is indeed admirable,” Douglas nodded at Zhang Wen, then his face gradually showed a sneer of arrogance, “However, I will soon make you understand just how great the gap is between a warrior who has crossed the elite level and one who hasn’t!”
“Heh! Capono said the same thing just now.” Zhang Wen said lightly, but his heart became more vigilant. In last year’s Themis Academy delegation, Douglas was a figure specially noted by Linoah. He was definitely not a conceited fool.
“The match—begins!” Soon, the fourth-floor hall echoed with the host’s passionate shout. As soon as his voice fell, a long knife shaped like a shark suddenly appeared in Douglas’s hand.
The moment Douglas gripped the long knife, it seemed to resonate with the crystal-energy sword in Zhang Wen’s hand, both lighting up simultaneously. However, unlike the brief flash of white light on Zhang Wen’s crystal-energy sword, the white glow on the shark-shaped long knife was dominant, lasting for several seconds before suddenly retracting.
“Sea urchin stone weapon! It’s actually a sea urchin stone weapon!” Many knowledgeable spectators in the fourth-floor hall couldn’t help but be astonished and start discussing.
“What’s going on? Isn’t the crystal-energy weapon supposed to glow only when it’s charged with battle energy? How did that guy’s weapon just now do that?” The bounty fighters in the red rest area were also surprised, opening their eyes wide and asking others.
“There’s nothing to be surprised about. That’s sea urchin stone.” The old drunkard, who had returned to the rest area from the locker room, said calmly, raising his wine bottle and taking a big swig of red wine.
“Sea urchin stone? You mean the stone used as the base for the arena?” Although the old drunkard had considerable authority in the arena, his words still made many bounty fighters look doubtful.
“The old drunkard is right. That is sea urchin stone. However, the sea urchin stone used in the arena and the sea urchin stone weapon he holds are not the same thing.” Asura calmly took over the questions from everyone, helping the old drunkard explain, “You should all know that sea urchin stone has the effect of absorbing battle energy. But in fact, the sea urchin stone we usually refer to, the kind used as the base for the arena, is actually a mineral formed by combining one ten-thousandth of sea urchin stone with several other types of rock. The sea urchin stone content in sea urchin stone weapons is much higher. However, sea urchin stone is a mineral with an extremely high melting point and great hardness, so the difficulty of making sea urchin stone weapons is unimaginable for ordinary people.”
“Oh? How hard can it be?”
“To put it this way, a few years ago at the top auction of the arena, a sword called ‘Dragon Tooth Cutter’ was sold for 50 million imperial shields. The sea urchin stone content in it was about one-thirtieth. Of course, the Dragon Tooth Cutter can already be considered a top-tier divine weapon. The weapon in the guy’s hand on the arena now has a sea urchin stone content that’s slightly more than half of the Dragon Tooth Cutter’s!”
“What? So the thing in his hand must be worth at least millions?” As soon as Asura finished speaking, the nearby bounty fighters were almost popping their eyes out, “What’s the use of sea urchin stone weapons? Why are they so expensive?”
“Sea urchin stone can absorb a large amount of battle energy,” Asura explained again. “Generally speaking, when two warriors fight, the amount of battle energy that can be charged into a weapon at one time is quite limited. You should all know that the crystal-energy weapons we usually use can be charged with about one-fifteenth to one-twentieth of their own battle energy. That means the strongest martial arts technique they can use is only about one-fifteenth to one-twentieth of their battle energy. But sea urchin stone weapons can greatly increase this ratio. For example, the Dragon Tooth Cutter I mentioned earlier can hold nearly a quarter of the battle energy. That means the power is increased by four to five times!”
“But, what’s the point? Even if you use this kind of weapon to increase the power, won’t your battle energy be quickly exhausted?” A bounty fighter interrupted again, not understanding.
“Fool!” The old drunkard, who had just swallowed a mouthful of fine wine, couldn’t help but strike the questioner on the head with his wine bottle. “If the power of martial arts techniques increases four to five times, do you think the battle would turn into a war of attrition? Take the simplest example: if Asura uses an ordinary crystal-energy weapon to unleash a move called ‘Ming,’ the final power would be around 6,000 cards. I might just manage to handle it with some effort. But if Asura uses the Dragon Tooth Cutter to release ‘Ming,’ two or three ten-thousand-card bursts of battle energy would be more than enough to crush me into pulp in one strike! There wouldn’t even be a need for a follow-up move!”
“Oh!” After hearing the old drunkard’s explanation, the bounty fighters nodded in understanding. However, they couldn’t help but look at the arena with more concern in their eyes.
“Damn! Now the kid Hermit is really in danger. When he dealt with Xiao Lang earlier, why didn’t he bring out this thing? Don’t die, kid…” The old drunkard also stared intently at the situation on the arena, muttering quietly.
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