Chapter 255: Qi Long Enters the Stage!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"Staff, send him to the treatment centre immediately!" Tang Yu shouted. Two uniformed staff members brought a stretcher onto the stage, quickly whisking Li Yingjie away to the treatment centre.
Seeing this, Ling Lan turned to instruct Qi Long, "Notify Xie Yi quickly. Tell him to go with them and keep us updated."
Qi Long quickly contacted Xie Yi, telling him to follow Li Yingjie to the treatment centre, and to give them timely reports on Li Yingjie's condition.
This combat method of Li Yingjie's which fully displayed his unwillingness to lose even if it would result in an internecine outcome 1 had moved Qi Long, Wu Jiong, and the others. It had also let the members of the New Cadet Regiment see a whole new side of the arrogant-to-the-point-of-annoying Li Yingjie.
It turned out that that detestable 2nd generation ancestor, who would every so often push them around with his abilities and family background, was as willing as them to put his all into fighting for his companions' freedom and their futures. At this time, even those New Cadet Regiment members who bore some dislike for Li Yingjie found themselves silently laying down their grudges ...
Since you treat me with sincerity, then I will also treat you sincerely. We are comrades willing to brave life and death together, advancing hand-in-hand without ever giving up!
Li Yingjie was very quickly carted away, leaving a still relatively conscious Song Lianlu on the field. Tang Yu announced expressionlessly, "The second match, 4th year Song Lianlu of the Leiting Mecha Clan wins! Overall, the score is now at 1-1."
Tang Yu had just announced the results when Song Lianlu on the other side could not hold on any longer either, collapsing to the ground in a dead faint. Tang Yu could only send someone to cart Song Lianlu to the treatment centre as well. It had only been two matches, but all four fighters involved had had to be admitted into the treatment centre — it was clear to see how intense the fights were this time.
A cold gleam flashed through Ling Lan's eyes, and the surrounding temperature dropped by several degrees. Qi Long and Wu Jiong could not help but shiver — without having to ask, they knew that Boss Lan was currently very angry, otherwise the temperature would not drop so significantly. Still, they were very happy to see Boss Lan react this way. This meant that Boss Lan was about to go berserk, and the fate of the Leiting contingent could only be even worse than Luo Lang and Li Yingjie's.
Qi Long and Wu Jiong's anticipatory schadenfreude was, at the heart of it, because Leiting had been too brutal. Their fighters had had no intention of stopping the moment victory was determined 2 . Otherwise, Luo Lang and Li Yingjie would not have been injured so badly, and Ling Lan would not have become so angry.
Following Tang Yu's announcement, the waiting Lin Zhidong finally let out a sigh of relief. They had finally won this match. He had not expected the opponent to be this strong, able to fight so fiercely against Leiting's representative ... Lin Zhidong was somewhat regretful — perhaps he should have found out more about the opponents before making arrangements. However, he only wavered for an instant, and then Lin Zhidong's eyes became steady again.
With the overall score at 1-1, the two sides were again at the starting line. Of the subsequent three matches, he only needed to win two, and Leiting would win this wagered fight. Compared to the other side who had already played all their trump cards, he still had two of the strongest jokers 3 in his hand — this fight, it was impossible for him to lose.
Lin Zhidong looked towards the two seniors seated beside him watching the fights, and a trace of respect shone in his eyes. With a bowed posture, he softly asked one of them, "Senior Feng-ming, the next match, I may have to trouble you to fight, to clinch another victory for Leiting." These two powerhouses were not people he could order around casually; he needed to ask whether they were willing.
One of them, the man Lin Zhidong had called Senior Feng-ming, laughed brightly at the question, "Seeing them fight so well, my hands have indeed begun to itch. The next round, I'll fight."
His smile as wide as ever, he turned his head to look in the direction of the New Cadet Regiment area. His gaze was tinged with admiration and approval; it looked like he had a very good impression of the New Cadet Regiment. In the end, he did not forget to advise, "Zhidong, if Leiting really wins, inform Qiao Ting that we cannot bully them. We need to cultivate them well. They will definitely become the future supporting pillars of our Leiting."
Freshly admitted into the military academy, and they were already able to fight on equal terms with older cadets like themselves — he believed that the futures of these youths would perhaps be even better than theirs.
Lin Zhidong smiled and nodded. "That goes without saying. Otherwise, I would not have arranged this wagered fight." The connotation was that he had set his sights on the other side, which was why he wanted to take them in wholesale.
Senior Feng-ming nodded and said nothing more. Meanwhile, the other strong and good-looking youth beside him said levelly, "The freshmen this year are indeed very strong!"
"Boss Huo?" Senior Feng-ming turned in bewilderment to stare at his team leader, unsure why the other would say this.
"Two Qi-Jin stage masters have already come out. What level is the remaining three at?" The good-looking youth said with a half-smile and a quirked brow.
Senior Feng-ming began to muse in silence at those words, while Lin Zhidong had also been startled into realisation. Slackjawed, he asked, "Boss Huo, you mean ... no, they can't all be at Qi-Jin stage!" Lin Zhidong shook his head repeatedly in denial, "That's definitely impossible. How could there be so many Qi-Jin stage masters among the freshmen? Two or three would already be stretching the limits ... they must be using the principle of Tianji's horse racing. The next one must definitely be their strongest fighter."
Hearing this, the good-looking youth only swept a dispassionate gaze at the somewhat panicking Lin Zhidong, mentally shaking his head. Although Lin Zhidong performed pretty well on all fronts, he was still not from the military strategy specialization after all, unable to truly hold steady during times of crisis ... However, this was already Qiao Ting's problem. Since he had already let go, he needed to believe that Qiao Ting could support the whole of Leiting.
On the other side, Lin Zhidong had just submitted the name list when Little Four alerted Ling Lan, saying, "Boss, the other side has sent out Nie Feng-ming!"
"The second strongest, is it?" Currently, Ling Lan could only send out either Qi Long or Wu Jiong. Comparatively, the public regiment commander Wu Jiong could less afford to lose. Ling Lan's gaze landed decisively on Qi Long. Although Qi Long's physical skills level was higher than Wu Jiong's by two levels, he was still no match for the opponent. Still, Ling Lan believed that Qi Long would be able to learn much from this fight ...
"Qi Long, prepare to fight!" Ling Lan ordered.
At her words, Wu Jiong's spirits sank as Qi Long shouted excitedly, "Got it, Boss!"
Both of them had had their fighting spirits stoked by the previous two matches and wanted to be the third to fight. Unfortunately, Ling Lan had chosen Qi Long in the end. Thus, one dejected, one gleeful — two distinctly different expressions appeared just like that before Ling Lan.
Facing the endlessly mournful and piteous signals Wu Jiong was emitting, Ling Lan rubbed her brow and said helplessly, "Wu Jiong, you'll get your turn. Don't rush."
Ling Lan's words made Wu Jiong's eyes light up, and he instantly tucked away his previously mournful expression as he threw a smug look in Qi Long's direction. You can bloody enjoy yourself in this match first; next round is my turn.
Right then, Wu Jiong did not know that Qi Long was actually a pitiful cannon fodder Ling Lan had sent off to die — obtaining the final victory would depend on him and Ling Lan.
Tang Yu received the name lists sent by both sides and the moment time was up, he announced, "Leiting Mecha Clan vs New Cadet Regiment, 3rd round, 5th year Nie Feng-ming against 1st year Qi Long."
This announcement caused a commotion to break out below the stage. In particular, those older cadets sported faces full of shock. They had never expected that, for this match, Leiting would actually dig out their previous vice regiment commander. Since he had appeared, then would the previous Leiting regiment commander appear as well? That person was the number one within the military academy for physical combat!
After both representatives had stepped onto the stage, having obtained confirmation from both sides that they were ready, Colonel Tang Yu coolly declared, "Match start!"
Following this cry, Nie Feng-ming made the same decision as Song Lianlu earlier. He wanted to observe the opponent's strength before making a decision, so he did not launch an attack. Instead, he immediately moved into a defensive position, his eyes closely watching the opponent's stance and movements.
Nie Feng-ming thought that his opponent would do the same, but Qi Long surprised him. After jumping back and forth several times to stretch and loosen his muscles, Qi Long suddenly accelerated and charged forwards, coming up to Nie Feng-ming in the blink of an eye, lifting a hand to send a fist hurtling straight at the other's face.
Qi Long's fighting style was not like the typical balanced, simultaneously offensive and defensive, combat of the Chinese Federation. His style was closer to that of the neighbouring Caesar Empire — full-force attacks, substituting offence as defence. It could almost be said that defence did not exist for Qi Long.
Although Ling Lan had always wanted Qi Long to learn some defence, after multiple sessions of intense torment, Qi Long had walked onto a different path of training. Since he could not defend well, then he might as well not defend at all and focus all of his strength into increasing his body's resistance and ability to take hits 4 . Within Ling Lan's learning space, this type of training method was named Body Refining. It was one of the hardest paths to walk, but once it came to fruition, according to Ling Lan, he would have an indestructible body, able to withstand up to 100,000 catties 5 of force.
Thus, Nie Feng-ming was destined to have no chance of observing his opponent — a wild barrage of attacks had begun bearing down on him.
Nie Feng-ming weaved left and right, finally dodging this sudden wild attack of Qi Long's. He was almost drenched in cold sweat by fear. It was fortunate that he had plenty of battle experience — if someone weaker were in his place, they would certainly have been pummelled silly, falling in bafflement beneath these flurry of wild punches before they could even show what they could do.
Nie Feng-ming gradually got used to this unreasonable and brutish method of attacking — he began to inject some counterattacks in between his initial dodging. The two fighters went back and forth exchanging blows, throwing punches and kicks. The fighting was intense; it was difficult to determine who would win anytime soon.
Watching this, Tang Yu's eyebrows quirked and a slight smile emerged on his face. At the beginning, Qi Long's disorganised attack made him think that this youth was the weakest representative of the New Cadet Regiment, perhaps only included to make up the numbers. But now from the looks of it, he had misjudged.
His seemingly reckless actions were actually very systematic — every attack was directed at a tricky spot which would harass the opponent. Even more astounding was the fact that the trajectory of his every attack also shielded all the fatal weaknesses and openings of his own body very well. If the opponent wanted to strike those spots, he would have to choose to battle it out with Qi Long with brute force, otherwise his efforts would be futile.
Colonel Tang Yu was filled with silent admiration. Who'd have thought that there would be so many highly talented youths among this year's freshmen? This youth especially, had progressed even further than his previous two teammates in the realm of physical skills. It could even be said that, while others were still at the stage of learning through mimicry, he had already begun to seek out and develop a combat style exclusive to himself.
Tang Yu's gaze was involuntarily drawn to peer at the area below the stage. There were still two more youths ... would they be just as outstanding?