Chapter 159: Metal Qi
Chapter 159
At the seat of the leaders, Elder Ting’s eyes remained calm and composed as he analyzed everything that had been confusing the audience one after another.
His gaze rested on Guan Haoran, who stood firmly in place, taking the full brunt of Liyu’s relentless attacks without the slightest change in his expression. Yet... As astonishing as that was... It wasn’t what truly caught Elder Ting’s interest.
Instead... It was what had happened before that. Guan Haoran had been reduced to a broken mess by Liyu’s endless pummeling. His bones had been shattered. His ribs had been broken. Every one of those injuries had been seen clearly by Elder Ting.
And yet... Now... It was almost as if nothing had ever happened to him. No... He didn’t merely look fine. He truly... Actually... Was fine. That baffled Elder Ting for a brief moment.
Of course, there were numerous ways to achieve something like this. But none of those methods had been used by Guan Haoran. Elder Ting hadn’t sensed the activation of any formation or healing array.
Nor had he sensed any medicinal treasure or external healing method. Nothing. All he saw... Was Guan Haoran healing simply because he wished to.
Actually... His confusion disappeared almost instantly the moment he sensed the subtle change within Guan Haoran’s qi. A qi mutation... A unique one at that.
Elder Ting’s eyes shone with a trace of brilliance as everything finally clicked together. Metal Qi... It was a unique mutation derived from Earth Qi.
Although it wasn’t as terrifying as Gravity Qi in terms of raw amplification... Its utility and overall value surpassed many other qi mutations.
There was a reason it was classified as a Unique Qi, after all. One of its greatest abilities... Was the power to reconstruct the human skeleton. With Metal Qi, broken bones could be reshaped before being strengthened, turning into metallic bones.
Those metallic bones would then reconnect together, sealing every crack and fracture into an incredibly sturdy metallic framework. In essence... The injuries simply disappeared.
The wielder of Metal Qi no longer had to fear broken ribs, shattered arms, fractured legs, or any similar injuries preventing them from continuing the battle. That alone was an incredible advantage.
One of the many reasons why Metal Qi was considered so unique. Another... Was the tremendous boost it granted to the user’s physical abilities.
Elder Ting slowly nodded. A faint smile curled onto the corner of his lips. Coming here to serve as the mediator for this Selection Tournament... Was perhaps one of the greatest decisions he had ever made.
Whether Guan Haoran ultimately won or lost... It was still a victory for Elder Ting. In fact... Being here today might truly be one of the best decisions of his entire life. Those who had lost... Apart from a few like Guan Xiu and the Guan brothers... It wasn’t that they lacked talent.
Far from it. For warriors of the same realm and cultivation stage... They were all exceptionally gifted. If they took the entrance examination... Most of them would become Inner Disciples of the Rising Wave Sect at the very least.
As for the others... Shi Lan. Shi Yuan. Shi Mo. Guan Xueyi. The Anomaly Brothers. Li Feng. Li Yuexin. Every single one of them possessed enough talent to become Core Disciples of the Rising Wave Sect without even needing to take a test.
Each of them was like a walking treasure... A bundle of limitless potential waiting to be unearthed. And now that Elder Ting had found them... There was no way he would allow that immense potential to go to waste.
He would recruit every single loser of this tournament. As for whoever eventually became the champion... Well... He would simply maintain a good relationship with that person.
Another series of explosive... Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ...echoed throughout the arena, snapping Elder Ting out of his thoughts. His gaze returned to the battle stage. Liyu was still striking Guan Haoran over and over again.
Every single punch landed on the exact same spot with overwhelming force. The sheer aftershock generated by Liyu’s attacks alone... Elder Ting was certain... Would instantly knock unconscious any cultivator below the Qi Refining Realm.
As for those within the Qi Refining Realm... Even he doubted they could withstand such punishment for very long. Their heads would spin. Their internal organs would rattle violently.
At the very least... They would suffer severe internal injuries from the terrifying force alone. Such... Was the overwhelming destructive power behind every single one of Liyu’s attacks. Each strike shook the entire battle stage.
The arena continuously trembled beneath the barrage. And yet... Despite bearing such an overwhelming burden... The stage itself remained perfectly sturdy.
It was obvious the referee hadn’t been exaggerating when he claimed he would construct the strongest battle stage possible. One that wouldn’t break... Even if two monsters fought upon it.
Still... The one who deserved the greatest admiration... Was the person receiving those mind-numbing attacks. Every one of them... Was directed toward the same individual.
Guan Haoran. Strike after strike... Punch after punch... They landed consecutively upon his body. Yet... He still hadn’t broken. Not yet. Elder Ting slowly shook his head.
He had no idea what technique Guan Haoran was using alongside Iron Skin and his Metal Qi. It had to be an incredibly powerful Earth Grade technique.
One capable of allowing him to remain standing for this long. With how astonishingly effective it was... It was probably an Obsidian Rank technique... Perhaps even one at the very peak of the Obsidian Rank.
But... None of that truly mattered. No matter how perfectly it kept him rooted to the ground... At the end of the day... He would still suffer damage.
No matter how much his metallic body neutralized the impacts... Some of that force would inevitably seep through. Sooner or later... It would accumulate. And when that happened... The large young man would finally begin to waver. The moment he wavered... He would lose.
Elder Ting looked once more at Guan Haoran’s calm and composed expression. He was certain... The kid understood that fact as well.
Yet... Seeing how calm he remained... Who knew... Perhaps the kid still had another trump card hidden up his sleeve. Who could tell?
Not far from Elder Ting’s seat, Shi Gubing looked at the scene with an unreadable expression. Of course... There were two reasons for that. Two completely different emotions were stirring within him.
The first... Was excitement. The second... Was wariness. For a very long time now, Shi Gubing had believed that his son was the greatest anomaly he had ever come across. He cultivated unbelievably fast.
He learned combat arts, manuals, and every kind of cultivation sutra at an astonishing speed. He matured mentally far quicker than his peers. In many situations... He was even smarter than Shi Gubing himself. In every sense of the word... The kid was abnormal.
A genius beyond geniuses. Shi Gubing had once doubted there could ever be another person like his son anywhere on this continent. And yet...
Before his son had even crossed the Night Region... His rival clans had already produced two youngsters who seemed frighteningly close to reaching his son’s monstrous level. One of them... Was Guan Haoran.
For someone’s defense to be this terrifying while still remaining within the Qi Refining Realm... Shi Gubing could only imagine what would happen once that kid stepped into the Bronze Core Realm like himself.
Just as much as he dreaded the day his own son reached the same cultivation realm as him... He also dreaded the day these remaining two freaks reached that same level. No one needed to tell him one thing.
He already knew it with absolute certainty. If he ever fought either of them... He wouldn’t survive. They would crush him like a bug. Shi Gubing frowned at that unpleasant thought. He truly didn’t want to think about it.
Yet perhaps because he dreaded it so much... His mind kept wandering back to that exact scenario over and over again. He slowly shook his head.
As for the second feeling... That one hardly needed mentioning. The bastard responsible for it... Was the one currently fighting Guan Haoran on the battle stage. Shi Gubing was excited.
Or perhaps... It couldn’t truly be called happiness. It was more like a twisted sense of anticipation. He simply couldn’t wait to watch Liyu get crushed.
As much as it currently looked like Liyu was the one dominating... That would only remain true if Guan Haoran eventually lost his footing. But if he managed to endure... If he managed to hold on just a little longer... Then the situation would completely reverse.
After all... There was no way Liyu could continue moving at such an insane speed forever. The movement technique he was using... Even if it consumed very little qi... Would still consume qi.
And using it repeatedly like this meant his reserves had to be approaching their limit. Soon... He would run out of qi. And when that happened... That would be the perfect moment for Guan Haoran to crush him.
*Crush that Li brat... Then my son will crush you like a bug afterward.* Shi Gubing thought, his eyes glinting with barely concealed wickedness and malicious delight.
Meanwhile... Li San wasn’t thinking about whether Liyu would run out of qi or not. Instead... His entire mind had become captivated by Liyu’s astonishing speed.
Even many Foundation Establishment cultivators might not be capable of moving at such a blinding speed. Yet... Liyu was doing exactly that. Without any difficulty. *It has to be a Sky Grade technique.
And it certainly can’t be of a low rank. Probably Gold Rank...* Li San silently speculated. Someone capable of creating such an extraordinary technique... And then casually teaching it to someone they had barely known for more than a month...
Just how powerful must Liyu’s mysterious master truly be? Li San wondered. Without the slightest doubt... He was convinced that person had to be a Master Architect.
Someone capable of creating techniques of unimaginable quality. As for that person’s cultivation... They were either already within the Golden Core Realm... Or perhaps they had even stepped into the Soul Stage entirely.
A Soul Stage expert personally guiding Liyu... Li San smiled. In his mind... Everything had finally fallen into place. *No wonder that kid is so ridiculously powerful. No wonder he’s so unique.
So that’s the reason... I will definitely ask him about his mysterious master after this tournament is over.* With that thought... Li San relaxed back into his seat and quietly continued watching the battle.
Meanwhile, back on the stage, Guan Haoran was starting to feel a slight ache from the attacks that kept hitting him from all directions. Well... It wasn’t surprising. Every one of Liyu’s attacks contained an enormous amount of force.
Being struck thousands upon thousands of times without respite was bound to make even the sturdiest and strongest barrier eventually crack. The fact that Guan Haoran had only suffered a mere aching sensation was already something beyond crazy.
Part of that resilience came from Iron Skin and his naturally metallic body. But most of it... Came from Behemoth Stand. After all, Behemoth Stand was only the first form of a combat art whose grade surpassed even Iron Skin. It was a Sky Grade Obsidian Rank technique.
That fact alone was enough to tell just how terrifying it truly was. The technique not only allowed Guan Haoran to root himself firmly to the ground...
It also enabled him to redirect more than ninety percent of every impact he suffered into his feet before dispersing it harmlessly into the earth beneath him.
Only the remaining ten percent... Would actually be borne by his body. And that ten percent... Was what he had been enduring this entire time.
Yet... Multiplying that seemingly insignificant amount of damage by thousands upon thousands of consecutive blows... One could easily understand why his body had begun to ache.
Soon... The aching sensation intensified. His muscles started to sting. His bones gradually became sore. And throughout all of this... Liyu showed absolutely no sign of stopping. *Could I have made a mistake?*
Guan Haoran wondered as his brows slowly furrowed. He had firmly believed that Liyu should have run out of qi by now. No matter how little qi that movement technique consumed... It still had to consume some.
By every calculation... Even if Liyu possessed inhumanly vast qi reserves... They should have long since been exhausted. And yet... That hadn’t happened. Liyu was still moving at exactly the same unbelievable speed. He had maintained it for close to an hour now.
Guan Haoran silently sighed within his heart. This might hurt Liyu... Perhaps... Extremely. But... There was nothing else he could do. Liyu had already proven himself to be far more troublesome than Guan Haoran had ever imagined.
If he continued allowing Liyu to attack freely like this... There was a very real chance... He would lose. And he... No... He couldn’t afford to lose. He simply couldn’t. Guan Haoran’s eyes sharpened as his resolve solidified.
If using that was what it took to secure victory... Then so be it. With that thought... He slowly withdrew his right leg. Then... He stomped his left foot heavily onto the ground in the exact direction Liyu was charging from.
A massive ripple of force spread across the arena floor. Liyu’s rapid advance came to an abrupt halt. His expression changed drastically. At the same moment... He saw Guan Haoran slowly swing one arm forward... As though casually throwing a simple punch.
The punch hadn’t even been fully thrown yet... And yet... A cold grip of fear suddenly clenched tightly around Liyu’s heart. *I’m in danger.* The thought flashed through his mind instantly.
"Second Form..."
Guan Haoran called out calmly.
"Behemoth Punch."
Then... He punched. The next instant... A thunderous explosion erupted. A clap of thunder so terrifying... So real... That it shook the entire Ray Arena.