Chapter 277: Chapter 235: Blood Rage Berserk
In the face of all this, Song Tianyun and Gui Zian said nothing. Evidently, the academy’s leadership had tacitly approved of Lin Ying’s decision.
One against five!
The crowd quickly dispersed.
Those live-streaming, filming, or taking photos all fell back to a safe distance. No one dared to get too close. After all, a fifth-tier battle was bound to be incredibly intense.
The students of the Eastern Capital Military Academy also retreated, their faces etched with varying degrees of nervousness. A one-on-five! And none of their five opponents were weak.
Anyone who dared to issue a challenge...
...was at least in the top 500 of the rankings.
’Just here for the show.’ Gao Neng had also moved to the side. He didn’t try to stir up any trouble, because he, too, wanted to see what Lin Ying’s true strength was.
The number one student of the Eastern Capital Military Academy, ranked 273rd on the Dragon List.
’I wonder if Lin Ying has any surprises in store.’
"Begin!" an old man standing behind the five youths declared.
This was a real battle.
It was taking place right at the gates of the Eastern Capital Military Academy, not in some virtual world. With places to hide in the surrounding environment, the outcome would depend entirely on true strength.
Moreover, they were responsible for any injuries or deaths.
"Lin Ying, die!" As soon as the command was given, Feng Xing was the first to charge forward. He wielded a sword, his form exceptionally graceful.
He thrust his sword forward.
Centered on his body, a clear Nine Palace Bagua diagram suddenly materialized at his feet, spanning a radius of five to six meters.
The instant the Nine Palace Bagua diagram appeared, streams of pale green light enveloped Feng Xing, forming a trench coat of the same color around him.
The coat fluttered.
Feng Xing’s speed suddenly accelerated.
Yet Lin Ying remained standing in the same spot, motionless from start to finish, simply allowing the sword to come at him.
"Trash!" Feng Xing roared. He accelerated again, not holding back in the slightest as he drove the sword straight into Lin Ying’s shoulder.
TING!
A metallic sound rang out.
Feng Xing’s sword had struck true, but it failed to pierce the skin. His expression flickered and, instantly alert, he leaped back.
...
The area fell deathly silent.
So, what the hell was the point of that attack?
Everyone stared at the center of the field. Lin Ying hadn’t even budged.
"He just took Feng Xing’s sword strike head-on?!"
"What happened?"
"Is he wearing some kind of battle armor? But I can’t see anything... Is it hidden armor?"
Murmurs of suspicion and gasps of surprise rippled through the crowd.
Feng Xing and the other four youths exchanged a glance.
"Lin Ying, what are you wearing?" Feng Xing was confident in the power of his attack. Even if it couldn’t completely pierce Lin Ying’s Defense Power, it should have at least penetrated an inch.
RRRIP! Lin Ying didn’t answer.
He simply tore away the cloth on his shoulder. There was no hidden armor or protective gear underneath, only clear, unblemished skin.
"No hidden armor!!!"
"He blocked Feng Xing’s sword with his bare body?!"
"This Lin Ying... his Defense Power is that high?"
At this, the entire crowd erupted.
Camera flashes flared—CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! Lenses zoomed in—SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! The live stream chat exploded. "My man! Awesome!" "Lin Ying, LMAO!" All sorts of comments flew across the screen.
Gao Neng was also rather surprised.
’I had a gut feeling Lin Ying’s fighting style would be more agile, but I never thought he’d be a tank who makes his living off his Defense Power.’
’Have I gotten him all wrong?’
While Gao Neng was lost in thought, Feng Xing’s face was alternating between pale and flushed.
’Impossible!’
’Our rankings are only fifty or sixty places apart; the gap in our strength shouldn’t be this huge! How could the difference be so great that my sword can’t even break through his defense?’
"Principal, Teacher, may I begin now?" Just then, Lin Ying turned, his gaze calmly falling upon Song Tianyun and Gui Zian.
"Mm, you may begin," Song Tianyun said with a faint smile.
WHOA!
Hearing this, the reporters finally understood.
Lin Ying hadn’t even started fighting yet. The "Begin!" from before had come from the challengers’ side. All along, Lin Ying had been waiting for Song Tianyun’s order.
"Lin Ying! Lin Ying!"
"Victory to the Eastern Capital Military Academy! Victory to Lin Ying!"
"Go, Senior Lin Ying!"
The students of the Eastern Capital Military Academy erupted in cheers.
’This guy’s flexing is impressive. Worth studying,’ Gao Neng mused. ’The way Lin Ying postured really caught everyone off guard, and it was a huge slap in the face.’
As for the effect... well, it went without saying.
Because the five youths, Feng Xing included, had completely lost it.
"Lin Ying, you’re courting death!"
"Get him together!"
"I’m gonna kill you!"
The five youths threw all caution to the wind.
Activating their domains in unison, all five charged forward.
At that moment, a crimson, mist-like light erupted from Lin Ying. The red mist enveloped him, dyeing his entire body the color of blood.
The scene was somehow familiar to Gao Neng.
He remembered seeing a similar red mist surround Mu Feifei on the battlefield three days ago, right after she ate a Blood Crystal Fruit.
’Wait a minute!’
’Could it be that Lin Ying’s body...’
ROAR!
Lin Ying’s hair and eyes instantly turned red. An incredibly violent aura surged from his body, making him look less like a human and more like a frenzied beast.
’Blood Essence!’ Gao Neng recalled Fang Tangtang once mentioning that Lin Ying’s rise to prominence was because he had unexpectedly obtained a small vial of Blood Essence on a battlefield.
At the time, Gao Neng hadn’t quite understood how a single vial of Blood Essence could be responsible for Lin Ying’s meteoric rise. But now, he was starting to get it.
’Lin Ying, just like me...’
’...has undergone a physical transformation!’
Gao Neng had undergone his own transformation after drinking from the Spring of Life and eating the Immortal Fruit and Soul Fruit, gaining powerful regenerative abilities and Soul Power.
And Lin Ying, by drinking the Blood Essence... gained the ability to enter a berserk blood rage!
BAM!
A dull thud echoed.
A figure went flying across the field.
It was Feng Xing.
Lin Ying’s first target was the trash-talking Feng Xing. His approach was brutally simple: walk up and punch him in the face.
And just like that, Feng Xing went flying.
He hadn’t even had time to fully raise his guard.
One against five.
For the first person to be sent flying to be Feng Xing, one of the five challengers, was a development that truly shocked the surrounding reporters.
What shocked them even more was that Feng Xing didn’t fly very high or very far. In fact, he had barely become airborne before he ricocheted back.
This was because white metal bars had suddenly materialized behind him.
"A metal cage!"
The reporters were a knowledgeable bunch. Once they got a clear look at what was happening, their jaws dropped in disbelief.
The five youths, and Lin Ying along with them.
All were trapped inside a massive, white metal cage.
What’s more, the metal cage was steadily shrinking at a rate visible to the naked eye...
"What kind of combat style is this?!" one of the youths cried out in alarm. He had never imagined Lin Ying’s fighting style would take this form.
A berserk blood rage.
Combined with a metal cage.
This was no longer the challenge they had prepared for; it was more like a Dueling Arena.
A dueling arena for a caged beast!
SWISH!
SWISH!
SWISH!
Just then, white metal chains shot out, coiling toward the other four youths like nimble vipers.
"You want to clash with us head-on?! Then let’s clash!" one of the youths roared. While dodging the chains, he rapidly closed in on Lin Ying.
He brought his blade slashing down.
Once again, Lin Ying neither retreated nor dodged.
CLANG!
The metallic sound rang out once more.
A crimson light glinted in Lin Ying’s eyes.
BOOM!
He threw a punch.
The youth was sent flying again, crashing straight into the metal cage. He could no longer evade the chains, and his feet were swiftly bound.
’This fighting style is just brutal!’ Gao Neng was a bit stunned as he watched. The scene suddenly brought a classic line to mind.
’Lock the gates... and release...’
’Oh, wait, that’s not it. It’s: lock them in and beat them to death!’
Lin Ying’s fighting style was brutally straightforward.
He created a cage to shorten the distance, forcing them into close-quarters combat and making them brawl with him inside.
And the worst part was, you couldn’t out-brawl him.
Because he could enter a berserk blood rage, his body became as hard as tempered steel. Both his defense and his strength were immense, giving him the decisive advantage in a brawl.
"This strategy definitely came from Gui Zian!" Fang Tangtang piped up. "An ordinary person couldn’t have taught a combat style like this."
’I’m strong in close combat.’
’So I’ll trap my enemy and myself in a cage.’
’You can’t escape!’
’Which means you have no choice but to fight me up close.’
Furthermore, as the cage continued to shrink, the distance between them would get smaller and smaller, until it essentially became a face-to-face slugfest.
Gao Neng was also starting to understand.
’No wonder Lin Ying dared to take on five opponents...’
’In a normal fight, the five of them could have created distance, worn him down with attrition tactics, or used mid-to-long-range attacks. No matter how strong Lin Ying was, he couldn’t have beaten five people at once under those conditions.’
’But with the strategy Lin Ying employed, the five youths were like sheep in a pen. Not only were they unable to bring their full skills to bear, but they would also likely interfere with their own teammates.’
"This is outrageous! We have to break out of here first..." the oldest of the youths finally realized. In close-quarters combat, the five of them were no match for Lin Ying.
If they couldn’t break out of the cage.
They were sure to lose.
But under the current circumstances, did they still have a chance to break out?
The answer was...
No!
Because Feng Xing and another youth, due to their carelessness, had already been injured by Lin Ying. Their bodies were bound by the chains, and it would be difficult for them to break free anytime soon.
One against three!
Lin Ying wasn’t about to give them a chance to break the cage.
Most importantly, since Lin Ying had chosen this strategy, the white metal of the cage couldn’t possibly be ordinary.
It was an alloy, and an incredibly resilient one at that.
Forget a fifth-tier...
Even a sixth-tier might not be able to break through it quickly.
"Senior Lin Ying is invincible!"
"Victory to the Eastern Capital Military Academy! Beat them down!"
"They dare to block the gates of our Eastern Capital Military Academy? Beat those bastards to a pulp!"
The students of the Eastern Capital Military Academy were all shouting at the top of their lungs, cheering Lin Ying on.
