Era of Mist

Chapter 157: Chapter 156: Unstoppable Momentum

The man’s face went pale. He grunted in pain, then began to struggle and launch a series of counterattacks.

But with three sharp CLANGS, Shi Tiexin’s chest-covering light layer only gained three small dents; he was otherwise completely unharmed. In contrast, the light layer on the man’s own fists was already starting to crack and shatter.

The man’s expression filled with utter terror. The state of their light layers was a direct reflection of something much deeper.

He looked up at Shi Tiexin. ’Just what is this guy...?’

”Nice shoes,” Shi Tiexin said with a completely serious expression. ”Take them off.”

A second later, with a THUD, a burly figure was tossed out of the mystical realm, landing unconscious on the ground, unable to get back up. A medical team rushed forward, scooped the examinee onto a stretcher, and asked in confusion, ”Where’d his shoes go? Did they get knocked clean off?”

Back in the mystical realm, Shi Tiexin put on the shoes and stomped his feet.

’Hmm, not bad. The size is a good fit, and most importantly, I’m not slipping anymore!’

’It’s nice to be rich,’ he thought. ’Even their shoes are better than mine.’ He took a few squeaky steps while channeling his mental energy to repair his light layer. Shi Tiexin was discovering that this fighting style suited him perfectly. With his attributes in root bone, strength, and qi channels, his light layer was Innately denser and tougher, consumed less energy, and recovered faster. He had no fear of clashing head-on with his enemies.

His foundational fist techniques were still a bit lacking, especially when compared to the fighters who had battled their way into the Gold Ranking Sequence. He had no advantage there at all. ’I should play to my strengths, meet force with force, and crush my enemies!’

He glanced around. The fighters in the sixteen mystical realms were all incredibly fast; in just a few short moments, victory and defeat had been decided in many of them.

”Losers, withdraw! Winners, continue! Merge!”

The sixteen realms merged into eight. Another opponent appeared before Shi Tiexin—this time, it was a girl. She was about 1.7 meters tall, and upon seeing the over-two-meter-tall Shi Tiexin, she immediately decided to strike first. With a push of her feet, she charged.

She closed to within three meters of Shi Tiexin in just a few steps. Then, her footwork shifted, and her attack vector became bewildering. Watching her strange and sinister path of advance, darting forward and back, Shi Tiexin was taken by surprise.

’What a coincidence. This girl uses Snake Form, too!’

He didn’t know if she had watched the short fighter’s match during the provincial qualifiers, but her strategy for dealing with him was identical. She bent low, dropping her center of gravity to stay beneath Shi Tiexin’s optimal striking height. Then, like a coiled serpent, she circled his lower body, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

The girl’s hands were like a two-headed snake, lashing out unexpectedly to strike at Shi Tiexin’s legs.

Standing here himself, Shi Tiexin finally had a visceral understanding of the predicament the big fighter faced against the short one. Back at a dump like the Star Worker School, he was considered a top-tier fighter, but on the battlefield of the Gold Ranking Sequence, things were different.

’My own footwork is average at best,’ he thought. ’I can’t quickly change direction or shift my center of gravity to counter such a sinister assault. If that short fighter were here, I’d probably be in serious trouble. Even if I were mentally prepared and on guard against sudden attacks from below, I’d still lose to him after a bit of maneuvering.’

But this girl was not that short fighter.

She wasn’t nearly as short.

So no matter how low she ducked, she couldn’t completely evade the reach of a taller opponent the way he could.

Besides, this girl’s Snake Form Fist wasn’t as profound or refined as his. Because it wasn’t refined, her movements had flaws, openings, and moments of stiffness.

And most importantly, in the vision of his Light of Natural History... ’Miss, your movements are just too slow.’

”Hah!”

With two sharp CRACKS, Shi Tiexin lifted his knee to block two ”snake bites.” Seizing the moment she was staggered by the recoil, he thrust his leg forward, bumping her just enough to throw her off balance. Startled, she tried to readjust her center of gravity, but a massive hand was already descending from above, grabbing precisely for the nape of her neck.

Strike a snake at its vital point!

CRACK! His five fingers tore through the light layer on her neck. Startled, she counterattacked with a backhand, a ”snake fang” striking straight for Shi Tiexin’s throat, but his other hand was already there to block it. Shi Tiexin didn’t just block; he attacked. He twisted his gripping hand forcefully. With a sickening CRUNCH, the girl’s slender neck bent at a right angle. Her body shuddered and went limp as the light faded from her eyes.

THUMP. The girl fell to the ground and, in doing so, fell out of the mystical realm. The medical team rushed forward.

Shi Tiexin glanced at his palm, once again incredibly grateful for the boon granted by the Saint of Space-Time. If these mystical realms didn’t exist, he would never have used such a heavy hand on someone with whom he had no quarrel.

Now, he could quickly compose himself and restore his surface light layer.

This time, his light layer hadn’t escaped unscathed. Cracks had appeared on his knee. They weren’t deep, but they proved his defense wasn’t invincible. The cracking was even more severe on the palm of his left hand, which had blocked the ”snake fang.”

He expended some mental energy, and the cracks on his light layer quickly sealed over. At the same time, the mental energy he had just spent began to regenerate. In an endurance competition like this, the qi channel attribute was truly vital.

He looked up at the other mystical realms. Three matches had already ended; the rest were still ongoing.

Shi Tiexin focused on the three victors. He Chong was one of them, and he was currently staring in this direction with a grim expression. Another victor, in a different realm, was giving He Chong the middle finger. That was probably the Gong Tengfei he had heard about.

The last of the quick finishers was a frail-looking young man who seemed completely harmless. Even after defeating his opponent, he still exuded an air of extreme caution.

Shi Tiexin frowned. ’That young man... why does he look so familiar?’

’Have I seen him somewhere before?’

”Losers, withdraw! Winners, continue! Merge!”

The eight realms became four. Perhaps by coincidence, the four fighters who had finished their opponents early weren’t matched against each other in this round; they were each assigned to one of the four remaining mystical realms.

Shi Tiexin’s next opponent had a tattered light layer and was panting heavily. His legs were bleeding, and he looked like he had just been through a brutal fight.

When the man saw Shi Tiexin’s perfectly intact light layer, a look of despair crossed his face.

But why would Shi Tiexin give his opponent a chance to recover?

BOOM!

This time, Shi Tiexin took the initiative. He stomped his foot, shattering the wooden floor beneath it with a CRACK, and WHOOSHED forward in a violent charge. His opponent’s legs were injured, making it difficult for him to move, but he seemed to be skilled in a flexible and varied finger-based technique.

Mustering his remaining strength, the man shouted as his ten fingers rained down a flurry of strikes. Shi Tiexin paid them no mind, simply lowering his body for a powerful, wide-open charging tackle.

’If you have a weakness, I’m going to exploit it. I’m coming for those legs!’

PITTER-PATTER. The strikes landed on his head and shoulders, but to Shi Tiexin, they felt like nothing more than raindrops on a banana leaf. With a heavy THUD, his broad shoulder slammed squarely into the man’s stomach, making his eyes bulge and his tongue loll out.

WHOOSH! Like a heavy truck, Shi Tiexin sent the man flying five meters. With his iron arms clamped around the man’s waist, Shi Tiexin followed through after five meters with a powerful, heavy takedown—BOOM! CRACK! The light layer on the man’s back exploded, and a great spray of blood erupted from his mouth.