Chapter 736: The Great Set-Up

To most of the audience, that tiny delay was unnoticeable. However, in the eyes of a Physical Invulnerability expert, it was glaring.

Liang Yifan immediately responded with a half-step forward, forming a fist with his right hand. He punched at Lou Cheng’s left shoulder before he could raise his arm to defend himself. The simple move exposed his foe’s raw, bare weakness and sent chills down the watchers’ backs.

It seemed impossible for Lou Cheng to dodge, or even come up with a response. However, around his shoulders, Emperor Yan Force and Ice Spirit Force actively clashed, as did the white-hot stars and freezing darkness in his mind.

Simplified Physical Invulnerability move, self-created secret art, Mutated Version of Severe Warning!

This was on a completely new level in the current Lou Cheng’s hands. His goal was to block Liang Yifan’s punch head-on, accepting another injury in his left shoulder for a chance to take down his foe.

How could he have gone in without a plan, knowing that his foe would target his left shoulder?

The dodging, running, and defending earlier were all for the sake of lowering his foe’s guard.

Ice and fire intertwined as Yin and Yang reversed. Lou Cheng’s left shoulder suddenly darkened, like an endless vortex or an evil beast lurking in the dark waiting for its prey. Once his opponent’s attack connected, his shoulder would suck the strength from it and spit it back at him.

That was when Liang Yifan’s knuckles moved and his fist snapped open, revealing a deep blue ball.

Pom! The deep-blue ball landed on Lou Cheng’s shoulder, vanishing instantly as though it had been absorbed.

His left shoulder immediately caved in and released a black-blue stream from its origin.

Liang Yifan had already used the recoil from the blue to forcibly turn at his waist and dodge to the side.

Bam!

He raised his arms and sliced his right palm down, hitting Lou Cheng’s shoulders right after the black-blue was fired.

Lake and Mirror-Like Wisdom!

He had studied many highlights of Lou Cheng’s matches and knew that his opponent was good at winging it. Even if there wasn’t a trap, he knew he couldn’t assume that his opponent was out of solutions. He played along and pretended not to notice, when in reality, he had already planned out his next steps.

You might have a good scheme, but I have just the right counter for it,

I’ll play along and use your own scheme against you!

Bam! Liang Yifan curved the fingers on his right hand and grasped Lou Cheng’s shoulder. He tore, trying to paralyze his foe’s upper-left body.

At the crucial moment, Lou Cheng’s body suddenly expanded as his muscles bulged and his fascia turned to dragons. With Liang Yifan’s fingers still on his shoulders, he shot upwards, nearly shaking him off.

In that split second, Lou Cheng had used a Simplified Fighting Formula without thinking,

Bam! Failing his Qinna, Liang Yifan drew back his left arm and punched at his foe’s waist, hoping to distract him so that he could complete his grab.

Snap! His left fist cracked the Ice Armor, but was soon enveloped by a fist enwreathed in frost.

Before he realized it, Lou Cheng had extended his right hand.

Bam! With a spring of his fingers, he grabbed Liang Yifan’s left fist.

After all those arena matches, mortal combats, and self-reflection, Lou Cheng never underestimated his opponents, especially not a super-class Mighty One.

Therefore, the first stage of his scheme was to numb Liang Yifan’s senses, tricking him into believing that he was truly in a pinch,

I’ll use your scheme to use my scheme against me against you!

Seeing that Lou Cheng was about to grab him with his Qinna techniques, Liang Yifan remained passive. His left shoulder suddenly softened and his arm lost its tension, like a snake with its bones removed, drooping down and bringing his fist back.

Water can curve when it’s soft and pierce rocks when it’s hard.

However, a surprise appeared in Liang Yifan’s eyes when he realized that Lou Cheng’s right hand Qinna was merely a decoy. His real counterattack was in his left shoulder.

At his shoulder, specks of faint purple flame had already gathered and condensed, so dense that Liang Yifan couldn’t retract his hand that was stuck to it.

Using a feature of Emperor Force, Lou Cheng managed to prolong the duration of their contact.

His Ice Spirit Force went out fiercely and recklessly, flowing into Liang Yifan’s body through his right hand.

In that split second, Lou Cheng didn’t have any time to use secret arts, so he deployed the most primitive method.

Since his opponent used Water Force, he could effectively use his Emperor Yan Force and mitigate the damage. He created an icy flow to freeze the flowing waters.

The Ice Spirit Force gushed fiercely and a layer of frost quickly formed at Liang Yifan’s fingertips. It froze him to the spot, prolonging their contact a bit longer.

His expression was grave, his eyes blue and flowing. He shook his muscles, fascia, and Force at the same time, then proceeded to move them.

Lou Cheng immediately lost the feeling of his Ice Spirit Force working, as though it wouldn’t affect Liang Yifan no matter how much he injected.

The 1st Style of the Water Sect, Pebble in the Ocean!

A defensive secret art!

Snap! Liang Yifan broke free from the stickiness and leapt backwards.

Not disheartened in the least, Lou Cheng raised his left hand and pushed out with his right, fire gathering before him as countless faint purple flames surged out from his body and formed an energy ball.

When a large amount of Ice Spirit flowed out of him, the law of equilibrium caused the Emperor Yan force to gather naturally.

This trap had many layers to it but wasn’t especially delicate, relying mostly on his own abilities.

The more delicate the set-up, the easier it was to break and lose effectiveness.

The flames flared in Liang Yifan’s eyes. He turned at his waist, shifted his center of balance, and dodged to the side. He was convinced that he would complete his dodge by the time his foe’s fireball released, and he would only take damage from the shockwaves.

However, Lou Cheng didn’t shoot out the fireball. While they were still close to each other, less than five meters apart, he detonated the energy ball made from Emperor Yan Force.

“Is he out of his mind?” blurted He Xiaowei.

An attack like that would also damage Lou Cheng himself!

Boom!

The whiteness flared, engulfing Lou Cheng and Liang Yifan. Flames and smoke rose along with a huge boom that tumbled upwards in the shape of a mushroom.

As the ground trembled violently, two figures flew out. Liang Yifan’s hair was unkempt, his face was charred, and his body was covered in wounds. It was a hideous sight. However, as he recovered, his breathing grew steady, and his battle power didn’t seem to have decreased.

Flames trickled down Lou Cheng’s body, but his skin was unharmed, besides some tears and dents. Compared to his opponent, he was doing a lot better.

When caught in an explosion, a Mighty One pyro expert who sustained similar damage often would obviously be at an advantage. When Lou Cheng was overcompressing Emperor Yan force, it destabilized Ice Spirit Force and gave his body a natural defense.

These two advantages were the reason why he was willing to trade injury for injury.

Trading a serious injury for a mild one!

For Liang Yifan, a serious injury could, worst-case scenario, aggravate the old wounds left by Empress Luo and make it impossible to suppress the weakness that stemmed from his DNA.

That was Lou Cheng’s actual goal!

If he had not gone this far, he would have had a slim chance of winning despite his schemes.

Bam! Amidst the gales, Lou Cheng leapt at Liang Yifan, punching and kicking, using Brutal Blizzard and Fire-Like Invasion to pressure his foe.

During that time, he wasn’t the least bit impatient, despite the deteriorating wound in his left shoulder. Rather, he gave up some risky opportunities and chose to fight patiently, whittling down his opponent and waiting for exhaustion to kick in.

To a Water Sect Physical Invulnerability expert, such cases were rare, but everything was made possible by the lingering Dark Force and his serious injuries. Plus, Lou Cheng was known for his absurd mental power and stamina and had Wholeness Formula to reset his fatigue.

Bam, bam, bam! Bang, bang, bang!

The Ice Heart in Lou Cheng reflected his surroundings. Relying on his terrifying control over his body, he turned his left arm into a weapon of defense, and his right fist and feet into spearheads that attacked.

The snowstorm howled, the flames flared, and the deep blue flowed. They fought fiercely, almost glued to each other.

“Lou Cheng wants to make this into a battle of attrition,” said He Xiaowei, nodding.

The host pondered.

“That’s what he excels at. Along with Liang Yifan’s lingering injury and current state, what you suggested is very possible,” he agreed.

Bam!

As they were discussing, Lou Cheng had reached his opponent’s back and thrown a punch at his foe’s neck.

Under the illumination of the faint purple flames, Liang Yifan raised his left arm to block while throwing out a right punch to counter-attack.

Based on Lou Cheng’s intent and earlier fighting style, he would definitely try to avoid direct confrontation and dodge, rather than dive into a brutal fist-fight that would exhaust them both.

That was what Liang Yifan thought.

Compared to earlier, his fatigue was starting to show.

Bam! At the places where his right fist landed, air gushed out, but Lou Cheng merely slanted his body and did not move his feet. His punch, which was about to be blocked by Liang Yifan’s barred left arm, suddenly veered with a dull boom and shot up at Liang Yifan’s face.

Liang Yifan was surprised but did not panic. He bent his back violently, causing his left arm to move up.

A first veer would obviously lead to a second veer, and this was something Liang Yifan had been guarding against. Therefore, as he blocked with his arm, he gathered his force internally to squat and use Force Concentration, which would allow him to dodge Lou Cheng’s punch and set up a counterattack.

That was when Lou Cheng suddenly retracted his fist without using a second or third veer. Instead, he used Force Concentration before his opponent.

In that condensed universe, stars moved to form the word “Fighting.”

Lou Cheng never intended to fight a battle of attrition. Earlier, he was only putting up a performance to lead Liang Yifan into thinking he was trying to do so, fooling him once again.

True enough, Liang Yifan was getting weaker, and a battle of attrition seemed to be Lou Cheng’s best course, with his overwhelming stamina, mental power, Wholeness Formula.

However, Liang Yifan wouldn’t be a sitting duck and would come up with ways to counter this. At that time, the situation was still subject to change, and it was hard to say who would come out on top.

More importantly, if Xinghai’s Queen of Thought knows the Nine Words Formula, god knows if Liang Yifan knew it as well. If he also had the Wholeness Formula, then things would become troublesome.

Therefore, Lou Cheng only had one goal from the start. He would numb his opponent, find chances to attack madly, and punish his opponent’s latent fatigue.

Under those circumstances, his foe might be overtaken by a moment of fatigue at any time.

Bam! Lou Cheng’s body enlarged to at least two meters, and faint purple and crystals appeared faintly on his body like carved patterns.

Bam!

He stepped forward, raised his arm, and smashed his hammer-like fist at his opponent viciously.

After being stunned, Liang Yifan couldn’t get away in time, and could only erupt his Dan Force, push his feet, and go from squatting to leaping as he used both arms to block.

Bam! He tottered under the immense pressure, legs wobbly. Not even Pebble in the Ocean could completely mitigate the impact.

Bam! With a contract and release, Lou Cheng used the Fighting Formula once more.

Bam, bam! After two continuous strikes, Liang Yifan relinquished his balance and flew back. Lou Cheng chased after him with light blue flames spouting from his back.

Bam, bam, bam! Bing, bang, boom! He launched an endless flurry of attacks, forcing his opponent to stagger and retreat.

However, Water Sect Physical Invulnerability experts were full of tenacity, and he managed to pull himself back from the brink of defeat several times.

Bam!

Lou Cheng’s punch was blocked again. His spirits had slid from their peak, and his body was starting to lag and weaken.

Shit, I couldn’t take down the opponent in one fell swoop, and my own body isn’t at its peak either… As these thoughts passed, Lou Cheng decided to go into defense.

However, his foe didn’t answer his wait with a counter-attack.

Why would Liang Yifan give up on a chance like this?

Only because his fatigue was at its peak.

As the thought flitted across his mind, Lou Cheng’s Qi and blood surged to stimulate his body as he used a simplified Wholeness Formula.

He hurried so that Liang Yifan wouldn’t have the chance to use a similar secret art.

Spirits rising, Lou Cheng launched another flurry of attacks while his foe was taking a breath.

Bam, bam, bam! Bang, bang, bang! As he rained down kicks and punches, he nearly didn’t evade at all, merely making sure that his vitals were protected. He had to seize the fleeting opportunity.

Bam!

At last, he broke Liang Yifan’s stance with a Burst Punch. Dropping his shoulders, he rammed forward and sent his foe into the air.

Then, grabbing his foe, he slammed him to the ground.

Bam!

As the dust settled, a crater could be seen, in which Liang Yifan sprawled weakly with Lou Cheng mounted on top of him, fist against his temples.

The referee quickly went closer for a look.

Raising his hand, he shouted,

“Lou Cheng wins!”

Hearing that, Lou Cheng heaved a sigh of relief. As he tried to stand, his legs gave way and nearly made him fall. His body was covered in injuries, and his Qi was at its weakest.