Chapter: The First Exchange, Su Xiao Lost
In the first exchange, Su Xiao was defeated. He hadn't expected Huang Fen to be immune to physical attacks, and it seemed his opponent had some understanding of his combat style—though not a complete one.
When Su Xiao used Dragon Shadow Flash to appear behind Huang Fen, the latter's movements clearly paused. From this, Su Xiao could deduce that Huang Fen was unaware of the Dragon Shadow Flash ability.
Su Xiao's advantages were his speed, his offensive power, and his ability to pierce through space.
Huang Fen's advantages were his immunity to physical attacks and his troublesome flames, which fluctuated unpredictably in temperature.
After the initial clash, Su Xiao noticed something very peculiar: Huang Fen had no mana. The energy within his body was a kind of life force. It felt as though Huang Fen used this internal energy as fuel, but that energy itself couldn't generate flames.
There was no elemental fluctuation, no distinctive sensation of a Demon Fruit, nor was it Nen energy, chakra, or anything similar.
Su Xiao glanced at the ground beside him. The soil was burning fiercely. The nature of Huang Fen's flames reminded Su Xiao of Uchiha Itachi's Amaterasu—anything it touched would ignite. Soil, rock—all were fuel. The only thing it couldn't burn was water, or rather, water was just one example.
Su Xiao retrieved a small can of compressed kerosene from his storage space and poured it onto the nearby flames.
Hiss—
A pungent odor spread. The flames seemed to be extinguished by the kerosene. This wasn't true fire.
Huang Fen witnessed this but didn't intervene. In fact, he stopped using his flame abilities altogether. He was accumulating flames somewhere, and once he finished, the entire Death Swamp would be incinerated into slag.
Su Xiao sensed this too. The pervasive sense of danger around him grew stronger. If that thing erupted, he would likely lose.
Immunity to physical attacks, special flames—this was the intel Su Xiao had gathered. Moreover, he suspected Huang Fen's close-combat skills were formidable. The earlier strike where Su Xiao had pierced his chest with a blade was likely a smokescreen.
After confirming the enemy's basic information, Su Xiao charged forward.
A black shadow streaked past. Su Xiao appeared instantly before Huang Fen, his long blade slashing down like a thunderbolt.
White flames enveloped Huang Fen's arm as he raised it to block.
Clang!
White flames surged. Huang Fen had actually blocked the strike with his bare body—no, it was his flames that had stopped Su Xiao's blade.
A layer of flame armor formed on Huang Fen's arm, and the spot where the blade struck was covered in large cracks.
Su Xiao exerted force with his hand, puzzled. Why was Huang Fen blocking this strike? Could it be...
A thought crossed Su Xiao's mind. He crouched and delivered a side kick aimed at Huang Fen. A wall of flames appeared beside Huang Fen, while green flames surged in his other hand, giving off a sticky sensation.
As Su Xiao's side kick landed, Huang Fen's hand pressed toward Su Xiao's chest.
At that moment, Huang Fen suddenly felt a crisis that made his hair stand on end. He immediately looked at Dragon-Slaying Flash, but the danger wasn't coming from the blade—it was from his side.
Realizing this, Huang Fen mobilized 70% of his Heart Flame, forming an elliptical flame shield beside him. The white flame shield was nearly condensed into a solid—this was the Heart Flame, which Huang Fen could use to create many things.
Su Xiao's kick was incredibly cunning. His initial side kick was just an ordinary one, and the flame wall Huang Fen had summoned could easily block it.
However, halfway through the kick, Su Xiao activated the active effect of Wood Spirit and triggered his Kinetic Boots.
Buzz!
The core engine of the Kinetic Boots overloaded. Su Xiao's kick slammed into the flame shield.
Boom!
A shockwave spread, shattering the ground around them inch by inch.
Crack, crack.
Cracks appeared on the flame shield beside Huang Fen. He sensed how terrifying this kick was, but he couldn't become immune to it. The ability that granted immunity to physical attacks had a cooldown of about one minute, and he had used it earlier to counter Su Xiao's Dragon Shadow Flash.
With a shattering sound, the flame shield broke apart. The flames in Huang Fen's hand formed a sphere and pressed directly toward Su Xiao's chest.
A 400-point energy shield materialized in front of Su Xiao, blocking Huang Fen's hand as it pressed against the barrier.
"Incinerate."
Huang Fen muttered under his breath. The flames in his hand exploded, forming a pillar of fire as thick as an arm, hurtling toward Su Xiao's chest.
At the same time, the flame shield shattered, and Su Xiao's kick landed on Huang Fen's side.
The roar of the explosion mixed with the hiss of flames. A massive cloud of dust rose as a pillar of fire pierced through Su Xiao's chest.
Whoosh!
Huang Fen was sent flying toward the edge of the arena, slamming violently into the energy barrier there. The impact was so strong that he bounced off immediately, leaving a large smear of blood on the barrier, along with three fingers crushed into pulp.
In the audience, Iron Mouse scratched his head, staring at the now-shattered swamp. His thought was: Is this really a fight between third-rank contractors?
Iron Mouse knew Huang Fen was strong—strong enough to rival some fourth-rank contractors. If Huang Fen had advanced normally, he would undoubtedly be stronger. But he remained a third-rank contractor, a sacrifice he made for his team.
Though Huang Fen had sacrificed greatly for the team, he had also gained considerable benefits: a position second only to the leader within the group, and experience in numerous derivative worlds. Without Huang Fen's sacrifice, Blood Gate wouldn't be where it was today. No one could question his position as second-in-command, and no one dared to.
Currently, Huang Fen possessed three main attributes: True Strength, True Stamina, and True Intelligence, all at 90 points. The only drawback was that his skill levels weren't very high, a result of the scarcity of Soul Crystals.