"Perhaps, he is well rounded like you said, but that would mean that his skills are too spread out. And, you don't need me to remind you of the importance of having a focus in cultivation, do you?"
"Buzz off. That fanboy knows nothing about Boss." Karl grunted.
Meanwhile, Li Ruoer and Ma Xiaoru were having entirely different feelings about this fight. Ma Xiaoru's only wish was to have Wang Tong win the game so that they could finally be together officially, while Li Ruoer's feelings were much more complicated. On one hand, she wished her brother would win, since she was also a member of the House Li. On the other hand, she wanted Wang Tong to win, since she was also hopelessly in love with her former rival.
To any ordinary fighter, it would be an honor to stand on the semi-final stage. However, Li Ruoer knew that Wang Tong wouldn't care about the honor or fake glory; he was on the stage for entirely different reasons.
"Kom... KOM!"
On the stage, Wang Tong had landed a blow on Li Shiming, but he had also received a kick in the side.
Wang Tong felt that his Layered Fist of Tong had fallen short against Li Shiming's formidable double GN force defense. Plus, Li Shiming also possessed incredible control over the flow of his GN force, which made Wang Tong's attack even more impossible to land.
Much like Wang Tong, Li Shiming was also taken aback by the power of Wang Tong. He had used the powerful "Swirl Kick" that should blow any level six fighter a few feet away. But, Wang Tong still held his ground even after being dealt a direct blow.
After a few rounds of punches and kicks, Li Shiming was surprised to find out that Wang Tong had used the real version of the Tactics of the Blade.
"Your Tactics! Is it the Blade? " Li Shiming's eyes were lit up with astonishment. There were only a handful of people who knew about this version of the Tactics of the Blade.
Wang Tong flexed his body and then announced. "Yes, the authentic version!"
Li Shiming could feel that the tactics pulled and pushed the energy smoothly inside Wang Tong's system. The thought that Wang Tong had gained his family secret had infuriated the heir of House Li. It was hard for Li Shiming to wrap his mind around the fact that the precious heirloom, of which he had been denied inheritance, would have fallen into the hands of such a low life scum.
Spurred by jealousy and anger, Li Shiming lunged forward with such force that he seemed to have bent the space itself. He then pounded his fist on Wang Tong.
Wang Tong blocked the punch instinctively; the impact made him feel like he was hit by a semi-truck. Despite his effort of anchoring himself by digging his heels into the ground, Wang Tong flew a few dozen feet back, leaving two deep tracks on the ground.
Wang Ben pulled a taut face as soon as he saw Li Shiming's attack. It was the Air Breaking Fist. He was surprised to see how easily Li Shiming had pulled off such an advanced fist technique, even though he had focused his training mostly on swordplay.
Also, Wang Ben was further taken back by the fact that the powerful attack had only forced Wang Tong a few dozen feet back, without doing any real damage.
Wang Tong quickly gathered himself and shook his arms as a stream of energy flew through them. Suddenly, he disappeared and then re-emerged only a few feet away from his opponent, then charged.
Wang Tong raised his hand, which by then had already turned into a blade. Li Shiming stood still and didn't evade the attack. When the GN force infused hand-blade was only a few inches away from him, he suddenly thudded his boots heavily on the ground, sending out a shockwave that immediately blew out the shimmering GN Blade Aura on Wang Tong's hand.
So powerful was Li Shiming that any common techniques would be useless against him. His ability to snuff the blade aura was the testament of his incredible talent in martial arts.
However, just when Li Shiming thought that he had countered Wang Tong's attack, the floor exploded underneath his feet, blowing him into the air. Wang Tong didn't hesitate as he lunged up and delivered an uppercut to his falling opponent.
"Kom!"
Wang Tong's strike had hit home, and Li Shiming was blown a few dozen feet away; it was Wang Tong's tit-for-tat response to the blow he had received earlier.
Zhang Jin shook her head and lamented, "Li Shiming shouldn't have underestimated Wang Tong. Although he never received any formal training, he was still mighty powerful. What do you think Patroclus?"
"Those are not important things. You will see." Patroclus answered.
Zhang Jin was bewildered by Patroclus's answer. But, she conceded that no one would understand anything between the three of them anyway.
To put it in simple terms, Li Shiming had undergone formal training which he excelled at. Meanwhile, Wang Tong had embarked on an entirely different route that was unique to himself, and could not be repeated. For example, it might take Wang Ben months of repetitive training to commit a move to the muscle memory, but it would only take Wang Tong an afternoon to master it. Wang Tong's unique advantage was his knack for understanding almost anything related to martial arts. This advantage was much more important for those who had reached high soul energy level. A perfect and quick understanding of new techniques was what would set Wang Tong apart from other level six fighters.
On the stage, the two fighters closed in again, and the fight turned into a brawl. However, the audiences could still tell that the two fighter's fighting styles were wildly different.
Although Wang Tong's moves lacked the purpose and fluidity of textbook move sets, it was incredibly efficient and effective.
Both fighters had by then realized that they had met a powerful foe, and therefore, both of them slowed things down and tried to find out each other's weakness before committing to a full-on assault. Such weakness might be found in the opponent's techniques, but it could also be a flaw in the way that different moves were connected.
However, even after a while, none of the fighters had shown any sign of such a weakness. The battle quickly turned into a stalemate.
After a few rounds of fruitless probing, both fighters backed away from each other. Li Shiming expected Wang Tong to use the new Mastery moves he had just learned, But, Wang Tong didn't feel that the time was right to attack with soul energy yet, and he was right. During a fight with such a high-level warrior such as Li Shiming, any significant moves that required concentration and perfect timing would easily open a window for the opponent to take advantage of.
Li Shiming's patience was wearing thin, so he revealed his legendary blade Vayu. He figured that if Wang Tong kept his guard high, it would be almost impossible to find any weakness in him. Therefore, he might as well finish the match with his most potent attacks.
As the silver blade slithered out of the dark-skinned sheath, the glinting tip traced a curve in the air and pointed directly at Wang Tong, like a viper quietly watching his prey before lashing out with its venom. Seeing the blade, Wang Tong pull a taut face; he knew things were about to get serious. However, he still insisted on fighting barehanded.
Since there was still some distance between him and the Blade, Wang Tong decided to test the water using some ranged attacks. He folded his hands, and a fiery drake appeared in front of him, lurching at Li Shiming. No one saw Li Shiming move, but the fire dragon was sliced in half by a flash of a metallic light.
Li Shiming heaved a sigh and then said, "Are you trying to test me with such a pathetic trick?"
Before Li Shiming's voice faded away, he disappeared into thin air as he charged at Wang Tong at lightning speed, the Speed of Vayu!
Wang Tong barely had enough time to evade the attack. He felt an icy wind blow across the nape of his neck; the coldness made his hair stand on their ends. When he finally gathered himself, he saw a few strands of hair were cut, and had fallen to the ground.
Although Wang Tong had evaded the deadly blade, he did not see the second kick coming. Wang Tong was sent flying into the air. However, before he had fallen back to the ground, Li Shiming caught up with him and elbowed him in the side, sending Wang Tong's flying sideways. Using his incredible speed, Li Shiming repeated the attack from below Wang Tong again.
In a blink, Wang Tong had received three consecutive blows, two of which was dealt while he was in the air.
"This...This is the power of the Vayu! The SPEED of VAYU! Haha!" Zhang Zhongren shouted and laughed.
"Li Shiming might have already reached level seven in his cultivation. Such speed will be hard for anyone to catch up." Although Rockefeller was a supporter of Wang Tong, he had to concede that the Speed of Vayu had given Li Shiming a decisive advantage.
Wang Tong slowly picked and gathered himself up. Li Shiming stood still and didn't attack, as he tried to come to terms with the reality. So far, he was very disappointed with Wang Tong's strength, and the weakness in him had added salt to Li Shiming's injury of being denied the right to inherit Li Feng's power.
Deep down, Li Shiming would rather see an overpowered Wang Tong than a weakling.