Chapter 117  : Titanium Body

Lin Yao ignored the groaning loser. Now that he knew the moves and abilities of the top ten players, he looked directly at the person who ranked fourth in the class. That person was also the strongest among the intermediate martial artists.

Without waiting for the instructor to invite them into the arena, a tall man jumped into the arena right after Lin Yao finished his sentence.

“Flashes of light and thunderous sounds are good. However, your moves won’t work on me.”

He was a tall man, as tall as Zhou Yang, who was in Lin Yao’s original class. The difference was that Zhou Yang had not developed his abilities. As for him… he was not fully grown yet, but he had already shown his prowess.

Lin Yao became more cautious after seeing him. He could sense a threat coming from him. However, he was not frightened by this. Instead, he could not help but feel excited.

“Finally, I have met an evenly-matched opponent. Shi Qiang, is that right? I hope you will make this match enjoyable!”

“Evenly-matched? Are you underestimating me? You are one level lower than me, scoundrel!”

Shi Qiang had just finished his sentence when his huge body charged toward Lin Yao like a mammoth.

As he ran, his muscles suddenly swelled and his body was the color of steel. A terrifying force pressed against Lin Yao.

Phew!

Lin Yao had no intention of retreating. As he faced Shi Qiang, who was like a mammoth, he merely took a deep breath before he returned the sword to its sheath and gestured as though he was drawing his sword.

“It’s the Sword-Drawing Technique again. However, I’m not afraid at all!”

Boom!

Shi Qiang, who was charging forward, smashed his Great Tablet Smashing Hand, slashing through the air. Lin Yao’s hair fluttered, and there was a buzzing sound in the atmosphere.

Lin Yao had the feeling that steel might even shatter if it was attacked by his palm move.

However, he did not intend to dodge. When the iron palm struck, Lin Yao’s eyes flashed, and he once again entered a state of accelerated thinking.

Electric currents ran through his brain, and everything in the world seemed to slow down in Lin Yao’s eyes. He could clearly feel the power of that giant palm, and he could also feel the strong physical strength that Shi Qiang possessed.

‘I can’t resist it with my physical strength alone. Unlock the shackles!’

Lin Yao narrowed his eyes, and a continuous crackling sound was heard in his body. It was the sound of the electric current stimulating the muscles, enabling the physical body to break through the safety restrictions.

In an instant, Lin Yao broke the shackles of his body and reached 200%. He immediately integrated the strength of his body.

Lin Yao seemed to be thinking about many things, but due to the accelerated thinking, everything just happened in the blink of an eye. As his eyes closed and opened again, Lin Yao integrated the strength of his body. Then, there was a loud thunder blast.

Lin Yao pulled out a bolt of lightning and slashed forward at an extreme speed.

Crack!

Shi Qiang might be strong, but Lin Yao was faster after being stimulated by thunder and lightning. In the end, Lin Yao relied on extreme speed, and his ironwood sword, which was sizzling with lightning, dodged the Great Tablet Smashing Hand and landed a slash on Shi Qiang.

‘I won! A martial artist must not only be big and strong but also fast enough!’

As Lin Yao swung the sword downward, he waited for Shi Qiang to be smashed and sent flying upside down just like his previous enemies.

However, Lin Yao was left dumbfounded by what happened next. Unlike with his previous opponents, when he swung the sword toward Shi Qiang, Lin Yao felt as if he was hitting an iron mountain. The ironwood sword, which was full of lightning, rubbed against Shi Qiang and a dazzling spark was created by the friction. It was as if two steel bars had collided.

Crack!

When the sparks dissipated, there was only a superficial cut on Shi Qiang’s body. He had not sustained any real injuries.

‘He is really tough. How is that possible?’

A horrified expression appeared on Lin Yao’s face. However, now was not the time to talk about this. Shi Qiang seemed to be as unshakable as a mountain.

Lin Yao, who had not managed to defeat the enemy after slashing his sword, now had to face Shi Qiang’s powerful, heavy palm move.

Although Lin Yao’s physique had not become stronger after being stimulated by thunder and lightning, his speed and strength had increased. After failing to defeat his opponent with his Sword-Drawing Technique, he immediately put his left hand on the ironwood sword. He held the hilt with both hands and smashed it hard toward Shi Qiang’s palm as if he was slashing a mountain.

Lin Yao, whose speed had increased due to thunder and lightning, was able to smash his long sword toward Shi Qiang before he managed to attack him.

However, something shocking happened yet again. Although Lin Yao had used all his strength when he’d slashed with the sword, he still failed to subdue Shi Qiang.

With a loud bang, the sword and the palm intersected. However, the ironwood sword that had been with Lin Yao for a long time ended up breaking into pieces.

‘What a strong force.’

Lin Yao directed all his strength into it, yet the sword shattered into pieces, which made Lin Yao realize how powerful Shi Qiang was.

He might not have mastered any gorgeous martial arts or have any special talents, but he posed a serious threat just by relying on his strength and his iron body.

After smashing Lin Yao’s ironwood sword with a loud bang, Shi Qiang’s powerful palm strike also landed on Lin Yao’s chest.

Lin Yao was flung five meters away with a loud boom.

Thankfully, although the ironwood sword burst into pieces, it managed to make some of the force that was directed from Shi Qiang’s palm strike dissipate.

This palm strike had not hurt Lin Yao’s muscles and bones. Of course, more importantly, Lin Yao had the Body of Light ability and hence had a fairly strong defense.

Lin Yao, who had been sent flying, swayed slightly and touched the tips of his toes on the ground before he quickly moved aside with the help of thunder and lightning, avoiding Shi Qiang’s subsequent sequential attacks. He also deactivated his state of accelerated thinking.

Phew…

Lin Yao took a deep breath and cast a glance at Shi Qiang’s body. He felt troubled.

‘I am in trouble. It is too difficult to injure him.’

Lin Yao was having a headache, while Shi Qiang was stunned upon seeing the cut on his chest and his crooked palm.

“You actually managed to injure me, and my palm became crooked because of you. You are pretty good.”

Seeing that Lin Yao looked dissatisfied, he went on to explain.

“Do you know that I am practicing the Titanium Body and the Dragon Elephant Praj?ā Palm? The former allows me to fuse metal to enhance my defense, and the latter allows me to have the power and strength of a dragon and an elephant. Thanks to these two abilities, even if the opponent is an advanced martial artist, if they have not mastered the profound meaning, they are no match for me. You are only a beginner martial artist, yet you injured me. It seems that the principal was right about you.”

As he said this, there was a hideous grin on his face.

“However, although you are a genius, so am I. Don’t think of using me as a stepping stone!”

Boom!

He had just finished his sentence when he rushed forward again like a mammoth. Large tendons bulged on his palm, which had a metallic luster to it, as it slammed toward Lin Yao.

Lin Yao could sense a terrifying aura coming from Shi Qiang. He had a bad headache as he lamented the abundant resources and martial arts that were available to all.

‘This is merely an ordinary city, and this is the city’s No. 4 High School. However, the geniuses in this school are already so scary. In that case, how scary will the geniuses in Shanghai and the capital be? My current talent is not considered top-notch.’

While Lin Yao was lamenting to himself, Shi Qiang had already reached him and landed a hard blow on Lin Yao with overwhelming momentum.

However, the moment his palm touched Lin Yao’s body, Lin Yao darted to Shi Qiang’s side.

After a round of sparring with him, Lin Yao had discovered Shi Qiang’s strengths and weaknesses.

His defense was indeed indestructible, and his attack was overwhelming. On one hand, the characteristics of the Titanium Body and steel fusion gave him unmatched defense, but on the other hand, they made him very heavy and slow.

Even if Lin Yao did not activate his accelerated thinking, he was capable of darting nimbly by relying on the 90% increase in his body strength that was caused by the Body of Light. There was no way Shi Qiang could catch him.

“Scoundrel! Men should fight head-on instead of running away!”

Lin Yao turned a deaf ear to his yelling.

Shi Qiang was all the more furious when Lin Yao ignored him. He yelled angrily, waving his pair of fleshy palms continuously and forming a series of airtight attacks. However, he simply could not catch hold of Lin Yao.

Actually, Lin Yao was helpless as well. Shi Qiang’s defense was too strong.

Lin Yao, who darted to Shi Qiang’s side and had lost his ironwood sword, tried to use military boxing to continuously hammer Shi Qiang’s body. However, after a round of hammering, he realized that he was only causing his own palms to hurt. Shi Qiang was not affected in any way.

‘What is the Titanium Body? Is it a king-level technique? It’s too hard to beat.’

As he faced this iron slag, Lin Yao was truly helpless.

‘Fortunately, he can’t hurt me either… Wait a minute, this is…’

Just as Lin Yao thought that there was no way he could defeat Shi Qiang and vice versa, something happened that made Lin Yao widen his eyes in surprise.

Seeing that the serial attacks were ineffective, Shi Qiang took a deep breath. Lin Yao found this scene familiar and sensed that something was very wrong.

“Lion’s Roar!!!”

Roar!

Boom!

A terrifying explosion of thunder echoed in the arena. One of them roared like a lion, and the other blew up like Heavenly Thunder.

Two terrifying sounds reverberated in the room, and all the geniuses who were watching the match covered their ears, feeling a buzz in their minds.

Of course, they did not bear the full brunt of the attacks. It was the two people in the arena who were hurt by the booming sounds.

Lin Yao and Shi Qiang both rolled their eyes, looking dumbfounded.

Both of them felt dizzy.

The students who were watching the game could not help laughing until they twitched when they saw the two of them stare blankly at each other.

“Puff, this is so funny. Shi Qiang has finally met his match. In the past, he would use the Lion’s Roar to stun people when he couldn’t catch them. This time, he encountered someone who roared louder than him.”

“The battle turned out to be a roaring match. It is so hilarious.”

“Hey, who do you think will react first?”

“Definitely Shi Qiang. His body is stronger, and he is more resistant to abnormalities.”

“If Shi Qiang recovers first, Lin Yao will be in danger. Shi Qiang will be invincible after getting so close to Lin Yao.”

“He deserves it. Serves him right for being so arrogant.”

“Arrogant? I don’t think so. He was able to defeat Xu Qingyang and stand strong against Shi Qiang. Even if he is defeated this time, he is still a powerhouse. After all, Shi Qiang is the number one intermediate martial artist in our class.”

…

While the people below the stage were discussing who would be the winner, Shi Qiang, who was on the stage, had already recovered.

“That was a good counterattack. However, my body recovered first!

“I am the winner this time.”

Shi Qiang, who had been the first to recover, did not hesitate. He gave Lin Yao’s chest a hard smash, thinking that he could win the match while Lin Yao was still in shock.

The heavy, powerful palm strike, which was Shi Qiang’s hope, went through Lin Yao’s chest…

It went through? This was bad. This might be a trap…

Shi Qiang’s expression changed when he did not send Lin Yao flying with his palm strike and saw it go through his chest.

Now, he finally realized that he had been fooled.

Unfortunately, there was no time for him to regret it.

As soon as he tried to attack Lin Yao with his palm strike, a fist that shone with thunder and lightning attacked from the side, landing a hard punch on his shoulder.

There was a loud bang. Shi Qiang, who was caught unaware, was blown away by the punch. There was a slight dent in his shoulders and a cracking sound was heard.

However, when everything settled down, the audience was surprised to see that Lin Yao had broken his arm. Although Shi Qiang had been knocked away out of surprise, he’d merely flown five meters away and managed to stand still.

“He is so tough.”

“It’s a pity. Student Lin Yao must have used the Clear Mirror Body Technique just now. Although I have no idea what he did in order to recover at the same time as Shi Qiang, it was very smart of him to hide the fact that he recovered. He then deceived Shi Qiang with the Clear Mirror Body Technique and launched an attack when Shi Qiang was caught unaware. It’s a pity that Shi Qiang’s body is so hard.”

“Indeed, that guy is an iron slag.”

…

Everyone was discussing the match. Shi Qiang, who had been sent flying, was very furious. However, just as he stood up and was prepared to launch another attack, Instructor Tu Hong spoke up.

“Alright, stop it. You have already lost.”

Shi Qiang was mad that the instructor had stopped him, and what the instructor said thereafter bewildered him.

“Hey, instructor, don’t stop the match. I’m going to defeat him… Wait, I’ve lost? What do you mean?”

“What else could I mean? Think about it yourself!”