My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 158

After a while of recovering from the brutal landing, Guan Haoran slowly opened his eyes.

The very first person he saw was none other than Liyu, who was standing above him with a cool, calm expression as he looked down at him. Then Liyu spoke.

"You have lost."

Haoran listened without the slightest change in his expression.

After a while, he slowly opened his mouth and spoke. But the content of his words wasn’t something Liyu expected... Nor was it something he would have ever thought to expect. Haoran’s mouth slowly opened with visible difficulty as he spoke.

"If this is all you are capable of, my friend..."

"I hate to say this..."

"But you will still lose."

Guan Haoran said calmly. Liyu, who was standing beside him, couldn’t help the twitch in his eyes when he heard that. *Damn bastard...* Liyu cursed inwardly, his eyes twitching.

The guy’s tone was calm and composed. No one would have believed that the man who looked half-dead was the same person speaking so casually. Or perhaps... The beating Liyu had given him wasn’t enough to set the guy’s head straight.

Liyu had almost believed that maybe the guy couldn’t feel pain... Or perhaps his body had somehow managed to nullify the attacks. But that was impossible. A complete no. After all... The guy had already been beaten out of his metallic form.

Right now, the body lying beside Liyu’s feet was none other than Guan Haoran’s real human body. It was completely bloodied. Some of his ribs had caved inward. Even his arms were twisted into unnatural angles. Of course... All of that was because of Liyu’s punches.

He had held absolutely nothing back. He wasn’t the type to carefully choose where he struck either. The big guy was lucky Liyu hadn’t accidentally landed a hit between his legs.

Because if that had happened... The big guy might very well have lost all hope of ever having children again. Liyu quickly shook that lingering thought away before focusing back on Guan Haoran’s face.

The dude was calm. Way too calm. Even after all of that, he was still staring directly into Liyu’s eyes. His gaze remained cool and composed, as though none of his injuries mattered.

Liyu shook his head. "I don’t know what you’re playing at... But there is no way you are still fighting. Not with those legs." He said, pointing toward Guan Haoran’s legs that had been bent into impossible angles.

Then he pointed at the man’s arms, twisted so badly that it looked as though they had stolen something from the gods and had been punished accordingly for their crime.

Finally... He pointed toward the rest of Guan Haoran’s battered body, which told only one story. Guan Haoran was finished.

"Stop trying to act cool and give up now... Or else I might really have to crush every single bone in your body into smithereens." Liyu said with a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Guan Haoran looked at him for a long while before slowly shaking his head. "No. You are wrong. I am far from done."

The moment those words left his mouth... Something happened the very next second that completely caught Liyu off guard.

Guan Haoran’s legs, which had been bent sideways into unnatural angles, suddenly cracked.

Then... With another sharp crack... They snapped back into place. Liyu’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at the unbelievable sight before him.

Before he could even process what had just happened... The now-restored leg whipped toward his face with full primal force. Because of his momentary shock... Liyu failed to react in time. BAM! The kick struck him squarely across the face with terrifying force.

Another strange thing Liyu could see... Or rather... Feel... Was that the attack seemed to carry far more force than before, as he was hurled backward like a cannonball.

Using Momentum, he forcefully stopped himself and landed calmly on the ground. His gaze slowly traveled toward where Haoran had been lying... And his eyes trembled.

A loud crack rang out as the second leg also snapped right back into place. It was almost as if Guan Haoran wasn’t a human at all, but some kind of humanoid machine casually reattaching its limbs after they had been torn apart.

That was honestly what it felt like to Liyu. The scene didn’t stop there. Nor did it change. Like some kind of horrifying zombie refusing to stay down, Haoran slowly rose from the ground and stood to his full height. His gaze remained locked onto Liyu, carrying that same calm and sincere smile on his face.

"Sincerely..."

"You could have probably won already if your opponent wasn’t me."

"But unfortunately for you..."

"Your opponent is someone who possesses Metal Qi."

Liyu raised an eyebrow. *Metal Qi...? What is that?* He wondered. Then realization suddenly struck him. *Wait... It must be his qi mutation.

Meaning... Whatever this Metal Qi was... It had to be the thing allowing him to recover at such an abnormally terrifying speed.*

Haoran kept his gaze on Liyu as he continued speaking in that same calm and composed voice. "Sincerely... You are the only person who has forced me to use this in what feels like forever.

After all... I’ve always considered it unfair. But since your technique is unfair as well... I’ve decided to use it too. That way... The playing field becomes even."

As he spoke, the cracking and snapping sounds continued to echo over and over again. Liyu didn’t need anyone to explain what was happening anymore. The guy was healing. Continuously. Right before his eyes.

Liyu’s expression changed as he watched. Haoran’s arms snapped back into place. His ribs, which had caved inward moments ago, slowly shifted before snapping back to their original positions.

Bone after bone... Joint after joint... Everything returned to normal. Soon... He looked completely fine. As though he had never been crushed and broken apart by Liyu’s relentless beating in the first place.

Suddenly... Haoran bent forward and coughed out a large mouthful of blood.

Mixed within it were tiny fragments of torn flesh and pieces of his damaged internal organs. The horrifying pool splattered onto the white arena floor for several long seconds before finally stopping.

Guan Haoran wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth before looking back toward Liyu. The blood scattered across the stage was casually cleaned away by nothing more than a wave of the referee’s hand.

Looking at Liyu once more, Guan Haoran continued speaking. "Also... From this point onward... I won’t be holding anything back. So if you’re still hiding something... You’d better start using it now. Because I’m telling you the truth. If this is all you’ve got... Then you’re still going to lose."

His tone became noticeably sharper this time. After saying those words, he slowly closed his eyes before muttering beneath his breath. "Iron Skin... ...Second Form."

The very next moment... The same scene that had happened several minutes ago repeated itself. Haoran’s skin gradually turned metallic once more, taking on that familiar dark gray color.

Within moments... The metallic warrior had returned. But this time... Something was different. Very different. Only those with exceptional insight could truly see it. Although... Everyone present could feel it.

The pressure surrounding Haoran’s body had increased tremendously, as though something that had long been sealed away had finally been released. His gaze remained calm and composed as he looked toward Liyu.

Meanwhile, Liyu’s frown only grew deeper with every passing second as he carefully observed Guan Haoran, trying to understand why he was getting such a strange feeling from him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Yet... The metallic warrior standing before him now... And the one from earlier... Felt like two completely different people. Despite clearly being the very same person.

What Liyu didn’t know... And what he was about to find out... Was that earlier, Haoran had only been using a small portion of his mutated qi... his Metal Qi... to activate Iron Skin.

But now... He wasn’t doing that anymore. He had fully activated his Metal Qi. It was circulating throughout every inch of his body, continuously strengthening and amplifying the effects of Iron Skin.

Before... If Guan Haoran’s Iron Skin could be said to have operated at around forty percent of its true defensive capability... Then now... With the full support of his Metal Qi... Its defensive power had skyrocketed. Perhaps... It had even surpassed one hundred percent.

This... Was the real Guan Haoran. The true Iron Behemoth. The owner of an almost unbreakable defense.

Guan Haoran’s gaze sharpened. He planted his right foot firmly onto the ground. BANG! A faint ripple of energy spread outward from beneath him.

Then... Haoran slowly pointed a finger toward Liyu. Curling it inward, he beckoned him forward.

"Come on..."

"Come at me..."

"And test my real..."

"My true defense."

Liyu was already annoyed beforehand due to the fact that his Primal Qi was running low. Although his qi reserves were vast and it would take a long while for them to be completely depleted, he knew for certain that he would need every bit of it when he eventually faced Shi Tian.

No matter how freakish Guan Haoran was or might be... Liyu’s senses only heightened the most whenever he looked at Shi Tian. Every hair on his body told him the same thing.

He would be in real danger if he fought that guy. So yeah... He needed as much qi as he could possibly preserve for that battle. Wasting more than necessary on Guan Haoran pissed him off. Big time. He was furious.

"As you wish." Liyu said.

Then... Whoosh! Bam! Bang! The three sounds seemed to overlap one another despite happening at different moments. A loud, terrifying explosion echoed throughout the arena as Liyu’s punch collided with Guan Haoran’s raised guard.

This time, the impact sounded even louder than a small thunderclap, a testament to the terrifying force packed behind that single punch. Yet... Liyu’s eyes twitched. Guan Haoran was still standing exactly where he had been.

One leg remained planted slightly in front of the other. His hands were raised in a defensive posture. His face... Still calm. Still composed. Liyu had struck with a full-powered punch further amplified by the tremendous boost from Momentum.

Yet the scene before him felt eerily familiar. It reminded him of the very beginning of the match. Back then... He had also struck with everything he had. And all he had received in return... Was a bored look.

This almost felt exactly the same. The guy hadn’t been blasted backward like Liyu expected. He hadn’t groaned in pain like Liyu expected. Even the bones in his arms hadn’t cracked or broken like Liyu expected.

Liyu’s expression slowly changed.

He threw another punch. The result... Was exactly the same. *What the hell is this?* Shock became clearly visible on Liyu’s face. But he didn’t stop. Instead... He attacked even faster. His figure became nothing more than a flashing blur.

His speed had reached an almost insane level as he tore across the arena, landing one punch after another onto Guan Haoran’s body without giving him the chance to see or properly react. Yet... The more Liyu punched... The more he realized something was terribly... Extremely... Wrong.

It was almost as though the guy’s defense had tripled. No... It had increased by even more than that. And there was something else. Something Guan Haoran was using that Liyu couldn’t quite figure out.

But whatever it was... It was making him seriously doubt whether he could even hurt him anymore.

Bang! Bang! Bang! That... Was the one hundred and twentieth hit. Yet Guan Haoran’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. He still looked as calm and composed as ever.

Liyu’s mind rapidly churned. *What is that bastard doing now? What exactly is helping him resist my attacks?* His brows furrowed deeply. Then he quickly checked the remaining duration of Momentum.

His expression changed. Twenty minutes... There were only twenty minutes left. Within those twenty minutes... He had to defeat Guan Haoran. Because if Momentum’s duration expired before he won...

Then Liyu would find himself in a very rocky... And extremely unwanted... Situation. *I need to keep attacking. Over and over again. There is no way he can keep resisting forever. There is no way his defense is truly unbreakable. No way.

There is no such thing as an unbreakable defense.* And Liyu intended to prove exactly that. With that thought... He continued attacking relentlessly, striking again and again with every ounce of lethality he possessed.

Meanwhile... At the seat of the leaders... Guan Ju’s grip on his robe slowly loosened as a ray of hope finally shone within his heart. In his anger and hatred... He had almost forgotten something.

Guan Haoran was far from out of this battle. After all... He still had cards left to play. And now... He was finally playing them. Guan Ju looked at Guan Haoran’s body, which emitted a metallic radiance that continuously shimmered across his skin.

Then he looked at the stance Haoran had taken. A slight smile slowly curled onto Guan Ju’s lips. *Fully utilizing his Metal Qi alongside the Iron Skin Technique... An Earth Grade Obsidian Rank defensive technique... And combining it with Behemoth Stand...

Another Sky Grade Obsidian Rank technique that perfectly complements the other two... Now... Now Haoran’s true title can finally reveal itself. His true power can finally shine. Only now... Could he truly be called... The Iron Behemoth.

The owner of a defense that was utterly... Completely... Unbreakable.*