Chapter 46: Chapter 46: You’re Not Affected by the Bad Luck Skill?
Tang Wen entered the arena carrying a bag of stones, a long saber strapped to his back.
The Blood Spear Awakened was sitting on the ground, a metal flask in hand, pouring a medicinal-smelling concoction into his mouth.
His eyes were bloodshot. Clearly, the continuous use of his Superpower had placed a significant mental strain on him.
"The ground’s cold. You shouldn’t be sitting there," Tang Wen said, his face a picture of sincerity.
The onlookers were taken aback.
’Why was he suddenly so concerned about his enemy?’
Then Tang Wen added, "You should kneel instead! Here, face this way."
"You’re courting death!"
"Ha! Bring it on! We start right now. If you’re one second late, you’re a son of a bitch!" Tang Wen sneered.
The Awakened was furious, but he immediately caught on. "As if I’d fall for such an obvious taunt."
He gave a vicious grin, staring at Tang Wen’s handsome, detestable face. ’Later,’ he thought, ’I’ll make sure to stab him in the throat first. I’ll never give this pretty boy the chance to surrender.’
"What taunt?" Tang Wen said with contempt. "What difference would another five minutes of rest make? Looks to me like you’re just chickenshit!"
He was carrying three bags of stones—some visible, some concealed. His fighting style was completely different from those who had come before.
He suspected he would be the one least affected by the opponent’s Superpower.
That was why he felt so secure, taunting the man relentlessly.
The Awakened glared at him with murder in his eyes, now completely unable to enter a state of Meditation to recover his focus.
’He was a true prodigy, one of heaven’s chosen! When had he ever endured such a vile insult?’
A few minutes later, a stone was tossed into the air.
The Awakened gave a cold smirk. Seeing the stones in Tang Wen’s hand, he sneered, "Only children throw stones when they fight."
He failed to notice that as soon as the words left his mouth, the expressions on the faces of Commander Zhao and even Zhou Bing, who had insisted on coming to watch, became extremely unnatural.
CLICK. The stone hit the ground.
The match officially began.
The Awakened was about to spout another threat.
But a terrifying roar suddenly thundered in his ears:
HUMMM, HUMMM, HUMMM!
Tang Wen had gone all out from the very start, loosing a rapid volley of three Sound Burst Level stones.
The Awakened’s expression changed dramatically as he scrambled to raise his shield and protect his face.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
It was like being struck head-on by a Siege Hammer.
The Awakened stumbled back seven or eight steps, only barely managing to halt his retreat at the very edge of the fighting platform.
He was furious. ’Devious! Far too devious!’
Before he could say a word, the sound of something tearing through the air came again.
He hurriedly yelled, "Muscle strain! Muscle strain!"
After the two shouts, he felt dizzy and his vision blurred.
After all, no matter how strong a Superpower was, it still relied on Spiritual Power.
He had fought multiple matches in a row today, and his mental reserves were already running low.
But, just as always, his Superpower was incredibly effective.
He saw the detestable pretty boy frown and shake out his hands, looking as if he didn’t dare to throw again.
In reality, the moment the man shouted "Muscle strain," Tang Wen’s Experience Panel had flashed.
Nothing happened.
Tang Wen flexed his hands, confirming that everything was normal.
But then an idea struck him. He clutched his arms and put on a show of being in extreme discomfort.
He stumbled backward in a panic.
"Slippery feet!"
Stepping off the platform meant losing! The Awakened was hell-bent on killing Tang Wen; how could he possibly allow him to simply surrender and leave?
THWAP!
In his panic, Tang Wen dropped his bag of stones.
"Haha! Idiot!" the Awakened roared with laughter.
It wasn’t just his opponent; even Commander Zhao shook his head. ’This Tang Wen... still too young, not enough combat experience.’
He took two steps forward, preparing to rescue him.
The members of Flame Camp felt it was a real pity. ’If his opponent’s Superpower wasn’t so broken, Tang Wen might have actually won.’
His teammate, Wu Tian, clicked his tongue, thinking that Tang Wen shouldn’t have dropped the bag of stones. At the very least, he could have used it to intimidate his opponent.
Tang Wen continued to retreat rapidly.
The Awakened bellowed, "Slip and fall!"
As he shouted, he leaped into the air. His blood-red spear shot forward like a bolt of lightning, cleaving the air as it flew straight toward Tang Wen!
Clearly, he intended to replicate the scene from his first match.
Once Tang Wen, who had neither a shield nor a long saber, fell, he would surely be pinned to the ground by a single spear thrust, just like the last one!
"Oh no!"
Commander Zhao and the others cried out in alarm, as if watching a tragedy repeat itself.
"Tang Wen!" Zhou Bing cried, her vision going dark.
In that split second.
Tang Wen was suddenly no longer panicking. He dodged the blood-red spear, and his hand shot to his waist, pulling out another bag of stones.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
A three-shot, sonic-speed volley.
"This is impossible... Argh!"
The tables had turned too fast.
The Awakened was dumbfounded!
He was still in mid-air, not yet having landed. Faced with Tang Wen’s attack, he reacted with incredible speed, blocking his torso with the shield, but in his haste, he couldn’t protect everything at once.
His left foot, exposed from behind the shield, took a direct hit.
As if struck by a large-caliber hand cannon, his left foot exploded into a spray of mangled flesh that splattered everywhere.
CLANG. The shield fell to the ground.
The crowd was stunned by the reversal, their mouths hanging open and eyes wide with astonishment, looking like a flock of dumbstruck geese.
Tang Wen showed no signs of mercy. He fired a sonic-speed stone that slammed into the bottom of the shield.
After a loud CRACK, the Awakened staggered. The bottom of the shield slammed into his remaining foot, causing the top of the shield to tilt and expose his forehead.
At that moment, he finally understood what had happened and shrieked, "You’re not affected by my ability! You’re immune to the Bad Luck Skill! This is imposs—"
SPLAT!
He couldn’t finish his sentence. A stone arrived, and he suddenly felt his head become lighter, a cool sensation like his head had been shaved bald.
Then, he and the shield collapsed to the ground together.
No one was looking at him; all eyes were subconsciously fixed on the piece of his skull that had been sent flying.
Tang Wen turned and smiled at the stunned Zhou Bing.
Zhou Bing wasn’t looking at the piece of skull. She was staring at Tang Wen, one sentence echoing in her mind: ’You’re immune to the Bad Luck Skill!’
The entire field was silent for a good ten seconds.
"Aaaah! We won! We won!"
The Flame Camp contingent erupted in cheers.
The big guy, Zhang Lin, leaped up, about to hug An Lei who was standing next to him.
But a glare from her sent him retreating, so he turned to hug his own squad leader instead.
"Damn it!"
General Zhou was surprised to find that, contrary to his expectations, Black Old Ghost didn’t fly into a rage.
No one from Black Mountain Camp stepped forward to collect the body.
Instead, the middle-aged man from earlier—the one who could see people’s ages—walked out with a few others, his face completely blank.
"Young Master! Young Master! What are we going to do now?"
General Zhou’s hearing was superb, and his expression shifted slightly. "He wasn’t one of your men. Who was he?"
Black Old Ghost lowered his voice. "This has gotten out of hand. You’re in way over your head with this one, and your camp can’t handle the fallout. How about this: you secretly hand that kid on the platform over to me, and maybe this whole affair won’t spill over onto you!"
Hearing this, General Zhou actually felt relieved. If this were truly a catastrophe, Black Old Ghost would have already made his move.
He smiled and urged, "We won. Send up your next fighter!"
Black Old Ghost rubbed his temples.
They had paid a hefty price to hire this young Ability User and set up this entire scheme.
Now, not only was he dead, but it looked like they might lose out on the three and a half years of mining rights for the coal mine as well.
’Would his godfather, the Black Mountain King, spare him after this?’
His heart grew heavy as his mind raced, weighing his options.
His gaze drifted to Tang Wen, who was picking up his bags of stones. The corner of his mouth twitched. ’A genius like that... if we don’t get rid of him now, what are we waiting for?’
’To wait for Flame Camp to swallow us whole?’
Sneering inwardly, he made his decision.
...
「The competition continued.」
BANG!
The next man from Black Mountain Camp to take the platform with a shield felt as if he hadn’t been hit by a stone, but by a rampaging bull-like Exotic Beast.
He and his shield were driven back relentlessly until he was pushed right off the platform, where he plopped down on his butt.
Tang Wen had won two rounds in a row.
The third person went up, and two stones sent them packing.
Three more went up in succession, and three more were swiftly knocked down.
Tang Wen, a six-win streak.
"We won! We won!"
"He took out all six! He’s from our Squad One!"
"Tang Wen is a fucking badass!" Zhang Lin yelled.
An Lei’s eyes were filled with admiration as she raised her long spear high, cheering along with the crowd.
Tang Wen’s shoulders were being slapped enthusiastically by the crowd.
Everyone who slapped his shoulder hard couldn’t help but frown. ’Damn, this kid’s shoulders are hard as rock!’
He walked over to Zhou Bing and looked up at her slightly.
"Sister Bing, we won!"
"You’re immune to the Bad Luck Skill?"
Huh?
Tang Wen frowned and nodded with a hint of confusion.
’Sister Bing,’ he thought, ’isn’t your focus a little off?’
