Chapter 57: Speed Versus Freeze
Xia Fei answered with a nonchalant affirmation and jumped into the ring, standing right across Chen Dong with over 30 meters gap between them.
Chen Dong was still dressed in tight-fitted short pants, only this time it was ocean blue in color, and the well-defined muscles on his body were visible for all to see. The scars all over his body were all very clearly visible as well. Many scars that connected or were stacked on each other, making them uncountable!
With the advancement of civilization and technology, there were at least a few dozen methods that could be used to remove scars. Yet, this man did none of that, almost as if he wore these scars as a badge of honor for the battles he had fought.
He wore two old-fashioned black combat jackboots that were well worn on his feet, and its soles were almost about to wear out. If this sort of combat jackboots, made with special material, could also show such a degree of wear and tear, it simply meant that they had gone through extreme levels of abuse, which in turn was a testament to just how actively Chen Dong used them.
With a figure that boasted a height of 1.9 meters and weighing over 150kg, Chen Dong had a face that exuded perseverance, giving off a look of wild might to anyone who first caught a glance of him.
*Zing*
After sensing that both parties were ready for battle, the energy shield automatically activated, just like a transparent glass that encased both Xia Fei and Chen Dong within the ring.
On the display screens all around them, Xiao Haili was still enthusiastically explaining the rules. It was a great honor to be the chief umpire for the Crisis grade assessment, and while he was enjoying his glory and honor, Xia Fei and Chen Dong had actually turned a deaf ear to his passionate yet official words. The two men locked their eyes on each other, as the energy within their bodies quickly accumulated in them.
Xia Fei could clearly feel the temperature of his surroundings rapidly drop as the air turned piercingly cold in a matter of seconds, which meant Chen Dong had already adjusted to a state when he could attack at any time.
His breath turned into white mist, as the water molecules in the air were rapidly being frozen into clear ice that was hard to see with the naked eye, slowly falling down on the ground.
“Are you ready?” Chen Dong asked with his deep rumbling voice. His two arms were placed in front of his chest, adopting a posture like he was ready to fight.
Xia Fei had a grim complexion as he lightly nodded. His eyes were staring right on Chen Dong as he moved his feet slowly, his steps light and nimble.
“Then let us begin!”
*Ching!*
The water molecules in the air instantly condensed and quickly gathered all over Chen Dong’s torso, creating a layer of transparent ice that enveloped his entire body.
Simultaneously, his two arms turned into two icy blades that were approximately 2 meters in length and radiating a chilling glow!
Chen Dong yelled out a loud warcry and charged right toward Xia Fei! His two icy blade arms were intersecting before his chest like a pair of scissors.
Chen Dong already had a huge frame, coupled with that layer of thick ice armor, the triple-titanium alloy platform they were standing on shuddered as he ran, causing dull banging sounds with every step he took.
Xia Fei did not evade it but instead chose to meet Chen Dong’s charge straight on at a measured speed. When the two were just 5 meters apart, Chen Dong’s icy blades suddenly extended out, and in a cold gleaming flash, went straight for Xia Fei’s waist.
As the icy blades reached out, Xia Fei’s figure suddenly ducked as his body went springing forward with full force. The icy blades flew past with Xia Fei’s back just a few centimeters away from the sharp edge, nearly slicing a big portion in his back!
The overly vigorous lunge that Xia Fei had done caused him to lose his balance. It looked like he was about to ram right into Chen Dong’s chest with his head forward and legs behind, but Chen Dong’s torso was protected by his ice armor, crashing right into it would most likely cause his skull to crack!
That was when Xia Fei’s figure suddenly changed!
His right leg had abruptly stretched out as he used all his strength to kick up toward the air.
*Whoosh*
A low whistle of air could be heard as Xia Fei’s body used the strength from that one kick to quickly move to the left, tunneling out from under Chen Dong’s arm!
At the same time, Chasing Light made a beautiful arc that went straight past Chen Dong’s ribs!
*Ping! Ping! Ping!*
Three consecutive strikes!
Xia Fei had stabbed him three times with his blade in just a mere second with each and every stab landing perfectly under Chen Dong’s left rib cage!
These three strikes were not only fatal to the enemy, but Xia Fei also had very cleverly used the reaction force from these three stabs to rebalance himself to put himself in the best position.
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei did an inexplicable roll in the air as he landed somewhere 50 meters away from Chen Dong. It was as if the three consecutive stabs he had done were applied on solid steel, leaving Xia Fei’s right arm numb from the shock!
Xia Fei flexed his arm as a dour expression appeared on his face.
Chen Dong was sent staggering backward a little abruptly. Since he couldn’t find his footing, his entire body ended up crashing right onto the transparent energy shield.
*Bang!*
The energy shield absorbed the force from that crash, its shape instantly twisting for just a moment as ripples undulated, like the surface of a serene lake disrupted by a large stone getting dunked into it.
After the impact of the crash had been dispersed by the energy shield, Chen Dong turned his head around and looked at Xia Fei, laughing uproariously, “Not bad! That’s not bad at all! It’s been said that Speed Ability Users possessed the fastest reaction across the universe, and their moves are the sharpest. Truly, their praises are well deserved.”
Xia Fei held a stern look, not at all happy in the least. Though those three consecutive stabs had landed perfectly on Chen Dong’s body, all they did was leave behind three small scratches on his ice armor. Forget about piercing through Chen Dong’s physical body, even his ice armor couldn’t be fragmented by his attack.
Xia Fei had already used all his strength in those three stabs. Besides, his Chasing Light was a Legendary rank weapon; his failure to break through Chen Dong’s defenses even with that in his hand only showed just how abnormally strong that ice armor was. How was he supposed to fight like this?
Even if Xia Fei’s speed and Crafty technique were enough to evade Chen Dong’s attack, there was no way he could break through his ice armor. The huge gap between their ranks made Chen Dong invincible from the beginning!
Ye Xiaohan suddenly felt her heart rate increase when she saw Chen Dong charge toward Xia Fei, very much sweating for the young man. However, when Xia Fei had dodged Chen Dong’s attack and had even managed to pull off a counterattack with three consecutive thrusts of his own, she nearly could not help herself and wanted to cheer.
She felt that she was being very strange today due to this sort of roller-coaster mood swings, clueless as to where it came from. ‘Why would I be worried over someone unrelated to me?’
In a place far, far away from Earth, Avril was using her sleeve to wipe away the sweat on her forehead and heaved a long sigh. “That was close.”
She had already torn an ear off that long-eared stuffed rabbit in her hands, making it a rabbit with just one ear left. Avril threw that long floppy ear down on the floor and began to work on the rabbit’s two hind legs.
“Miss, if you’re not going to your art class, sir and madam will be very unhappy,” The old butler was still camped outside Avril’s room, constantly nagging her to attend her lessons.
Avril was annoyed hearing him go on and on, so she covered both her ears and shook her head incessantly, “I’m not going! I’m not going! I won’t be going anywhere until I finish watching Xia Fei’s fight!”
In a moment of inspiration, Avril took a set of headphones from the table and put it over her head. These headphones were great for the noise canceling, so she couldn’t hear anything else aside from the television’s sound. Her world was finally quiet as she giggled mischievously before continuing to tear and work on the rabbit in her hands.
In a blink of an eye, Chen Dong and Xia Fei had already exchanged blows for four rounds in ring no. 21, and each time Chen Dong attacked, Xia Fei would use his speed and Crafty technique to evade and counterattack.
Chen Dong had already taken 9 stabs from Xia Fei on his body so far, yet Xia Fei remained completely uninjured.
Xia Fei was feeling more and more anxious as this continued. Even though he appeared to be holding the advantage after the four clashes, only Xia Fei himself knew how alarmingly dangerous each instance had been.
He had only managed to dodge Chen Dong’s attacks by centimeters each time. It was like he was dancing on a knife’s edge, his life hanging by a thread. He could end up with broken bones and rend flesh if he were to make even the tiniest mistakes!
There were endless variations to the Crafty approach, but it also required a huge amount of energy from the user. At the end of the day, it was an instantaneous change that would require extremely explosive force to support the body when executing these extremely difficult moves. Xia Fei might have the physical strength now, but the moment he could not maintain this level of strength and make a mistake, he would find himself injured from Chen Dong’s keen icy blades.
Xia Fei had yet to cause any harm to Chen Dong despite stabbing him 9 times, and if Xia Fei were to make a single mistake, it would be fatal!
“Your control over your body is great, far more agile than many high ranked Speed Ability Users I’ve met, and the diversity in your moves is incredible as well. Our exchanges thus far had merely been a warm-up. Now, I’m going to show you my true strength!” The tip of Chen Dong’s blade pointed right toward Xia Fei as he boldly proclaimed.
With that said, the surrounding air’s temperature dropped even further, reaching such coldness that it made everyone’s heart shudder!
The surface they were standing on quickly froze up, and in just a few seconds, the entire triple-titanium alloy platform had a layer of ice formed over it!
The layer of ice was flat as a mirror, smooth like nothing else. Anyone could slip if they were not careful. Continuing to use the highly difficult Crafty approach on this slippery ice surface would be much more demanding than before!
“Anywhere inside this energy shield is my world! In this domain of ice, you’ll have to play by my rules if you wish to challenge me!” Chen Dong bellowed.
Nature Ability Users indeed had such capabilities that allowed them to change the battle environment to suit themselves. This was the strength of being able to control nature!
Fairness? It was basically impossible to seek for fairness when talking about a Nature Ability User!
Xia Fei looked down at his feet as he silently pressed the button on the two sides of his combat boots.
*Zing*
A row of dense and packed ice cleats extended out from underneath the combat boots. The boots were part of the Windshade Mark IV combat suit, and it had capabilities of Legendary rank.
These inconspicuous ice cleats were arranged in the most effective and scientifically proven manner, largely solving a major problem that Speed Ability Users face when on icy surfaces. Furthermore, the length and materials used for each of the spikes were precisely calculated; too long and it would affect the user’s speed, and too short spikes meant their ability to grip the ground would be compromised. When activated, the ice cleats would even adjust their length and distribution according to the activity’s intensity in which the user was involved.
It was undeniable that the Windshade Mark IV combat suit was very expensive. However, there was a reason for its exorbitant price tag; this combat suit could be said to have considered everything a Speed Ability User would need in every possible scenario, and was thus able to do anything and everything.
Chen Dong furrowed his brow, “So you’ve also come prepared. But even if you have great equipment, it’ll still be hindered by the environment I’ve created. I have no need to lower your speed or movement too much. All I need is a 10% decrease, and that would be enough!”
Indeed, Xia Fei had only barely managed to avoid Chen Dong’s attacks thus far. A 10% reduction would well make it possible for him to hit Xia Fei!
“Moreover, I still have this!” Chen Dong’s two eyes gleamed as he shouted out loudly.
As those words left his throat, Chen Dong’s two icy bladed arms suddenly transformed!
Xia Fei’s eyes immediately widened as his heart seized!
At this moment, the fight had been going on for 5 minutes and 17 seconds.
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