Proving Oneself (2)

"Hiss..."

A circle of flame expanded from Li Yang's feet. Forming out of the flames, bright red eyes glowed as a 4 legged beast shown itself.

"Blazing salamander." Li You Zi commented at the martial spirit with a green aura emitting from its body. It was only a low grade spirit, but it was at the peak of low grades and had even combat prowess with most high grades.

Yu Tian didn't pursue his opponent, but instead watched calmly as the lizard-like beast hissed at him while standing in front of Li Yang. Its body had dark, rosy red scales which contrasted nicely with its golden pupils.

The tip of its tail burned with a small flame the size of a torch, swinging around aggressively. Yu Tian calculated the range of its reach mentally, reminding himself to be careful of it.

[Shockwave]

"Whack!"

Shooting another wave of electricity towards Li Yang and his martial spirit, Yu Tian was stunned to see the blazing salamander swatting the attack away with its tail, deflecting it back towards him.

"What?" The electricity harmlessly dissipated against Yu Tian's body.

"How?" Li Yang was more shocked to see Yu Tian being unaffected by his own Qi technique.

Normally, when cultivators condense their Qi to utilise a technique, it was done with the sense that their Qi is converted into an purely attacking force.

For example, if a cultivator's natural element was wind and they used a Qi technique to create bladed projectiles out of air, the attack would have enough power to rend whatever was in its way. If this same attack would be reflected and they could not block or avoid, it would be equally lethal to themselves as it would be to others upon release of their Qi.

It was identical if one threw a stone. By the time the stone has left their hand, their control of it disappears once it had its direction. Similarily, if the person throwing the stone was somehow able to get in the way of its trajectory, they would still experience the same force as any other obstacle. 

The special ability of Li Yang's martial spirit was to deflect projectile attacks from enemies with equal or lower cultivation than himself. However, in Yu Tian's case, not only did he get hit by his own attack, but seemed completely fine.

This defied every logic behind the fundamentals of Qi.

"I don't believe in ghosts." Li Yang muttered as he stretched his hands out, beginning to use all of his strength against Yu Tian.

[Cone of Flame]

"Hong!"

[Eyes of Eternity]

Yu Tian saw a wave of searing fire shoot out towards him, expanding at the end and threatening to envelop his entire body. He immediately activated his eye and lunged back to gain distance, moving along the edge of the stage.

Catching his movement, Li Yang moved his hands along to follow him with his Qi technique. Some of the spectators cried out when the flames got too close, with Li You Zi and Li Ming being forced to step up to contain the AOE attack.

"Boom!" The loud explosion of embers was pushed back from their barrier.

"Force him towards me." Li Yang then commanded his martial spirit.

"Screech!"

Yu Tian saw the blazing salamander barrelling over towards his flank, threatening to cut off his route of retreat. It moved in a slightly funny way with its stubby legs pedalling frantically on the rough stone.

Lunging into the air, Yu Tian used the martial spirit as a footstool to propel himself higher, spinning around to dodge its sharp teeth.

"Hoo..." Landing on his feet supported by a single hand, Yu Tian let out a breath and prepared to retaliate. Against opponents with higher cultivation than himself, it was a great time to practice and get used to his new Qi techniques.

"Is running all you can do?" Li Yang grimaced at seeing Yu Tian completely fine. He had not been able to land a single blow on the younger boy, and it was deeply humiliating for him with the cultivation difference between them.

"Of course not." Yu Tian shook his head.

A light seemed to glow in his eyes as he allowed the lightning Qi to freely flow over his entire body. Instead of empowering one or several parts of his body, Yu Tian chose to let it completely envelop himself.

"Crackle." "Crackle."

The whole feeling was slightly numbing and a bit ticklish, but nothing that would bother him negatively. In fact, Yu Tian felt that his body was now lighter and even more nimbler than before.

[Electrification]

If Yu Tian's speed has shocked Li You Zi and the others before, they were completely flabbergasted now. He moved at a speed around the stage that was comparable to even the speed techniques of the Yun family, and seemed to maybe be even a bit faster than them.

Li Yang panicked as his body could no longer keep up against the younger boy. Having to control his Qi technique while aiming at a sporadic speed threatened to make him lose control, which would result in him possibly hurting himself.

Even his blazing salamander seemed at a loss on what to do against Yu Tian. The former god ducked in and out of its attack range so fast that the martial spirit couldn't react to it.

"Flowery tricks." Li Yang cancelled his Qi technique and switched tactics. "I don't believe that you can keep this up forever!"

[Fireball]

Yu Tian had to suddenly swerve and turn to avoid a ball of flame that nearly struck his head, whistling past him with a dull whoosh.

His opponent started shooting projectiles in various directions in order to attempt to hit him. With the randomness in the attacks, Yu Tian realized that even his eye can't calculate where the next one might travel due to the unpredictability.

However, this also meant that his opponent's guard was lowered. Yu Tian charged towards the older boy, easily bypassing his martial spirit that desperately attempted to intercept him.

[Shockwave]

Dashing in front of Li Yang, Yu Tian fired off another wave of electricity at point blank range. This time, it successfully landed and Li Yang's attacks were forcefully stopped as he lost control of his body.

"Ah!" A numbing sensation soon overcame Li Yang as he crumpled to the ground like a boneless bag.

Yu Tian was forced to back away when the blazing salamander suddenly returned, swatting its tail down to where he stood a second ago. A huge pillar of flame erupted from its tail, nearly burning him to a crisp.

Panting lightly, Yu Tian made distance between himself and his opponent and shut [Electrification] off. He felt his own body feeling drained from keeping his Qi technique up for so long.

[Electrification] was powerful as it provided a massive buff to himself, but required tons of lightning Qi to maintain. Although it seemed like he had the complete upper hand, Yu Tian knew that he couldn't stretch the fight out any longer.

He would rather not risk the chance of defeat, but with the blazing salamander guarding Li Yang, Yu Tian was unable to land a finishing blow.

Li Yang eventually felt his senses returning as the numbing faded from his nerves. He picked himself up from the ground, a hand on his body to steady himself.

Although he could see Yu Tian was slightly tired, Li Yang felt ashamed to be unable to keep up with the younger boy. If his opponent had his martial spirit, didn't it mean that his cousin could easily crush him like a bug?

He had no other choice. Li Yang had to use his strongest technique now.

"Here it comes." Yu Tian was ready as a glow of red and golden light began to emit from Li Yang's body.

[Martial Spirit Fusion]

"He finally used it." Li You Zi sighed from the spectators side.

Li Ming also felt that this battle was coming to its climax, and didn't think Yu Tian could hold on any longer. He truly thought it was a shame that the young boy couldn't use his full power in this battle.

The blazing salamander was absorbed into Li Yang's body, transforming him as they fused together. Yu Tian's feet slide back slightly from the sudden influx of energy, a bead of sweat dropping from his forehead.

When the light faded, Li Yang emerged with red tinges in his hair. Several scales covered the lower half of his face that were identical to the ones that the blazing salamander had on its body.

However, Li Yang's face showed no hostility, only slight admiration. "You're truly talented, cousin. Forcing me to this state and using [Martial Spirit Fusion]."

The older boy never expected Yu Tian to still be this powerful. With such major setbacks in his cultivation, it was enough to make normal cultivators give up and live the life of a mortal.

Just how powerful would Yu Tian be if he could unleash his full potential?

[Electrification]

"Let's see if it is enough to allow you to win then." Yu Tian lightly smiled as he reactivated his Qi technique.

The lightning surrounding his body made his dark hair stand up slightly again, and the former god stood unafraid as he stared down Li Yang.

Both boys seem to pause briefly before launching themselves at each other in the same time. Li Yang knew that his battle prowess had now increased to nearly the strength of a Dou General, so he no longer shied away from direct combat.

"Hah!"

Li Yang and Yu Tian unleashed a flurry of blows against one another. One, two, three, and then countless exchanges were made between the two in the ground and air.

"Whack!" "Thud!"

The sounds of their bodies clashing against one another was clearly heard by the spectators. It appeared to be evenly matched until everyone saw Yu Tian slowly being forced on the defensive.

"Damn, it hurts." Yu Tian gritted his teeth as it felt like he was blocking hard, burning stones pelting his body. The effects of the cultivation difference was made apparent now, and he couldn't keep holding on like this.

Lashing out with a kick, Li Yang easily managed to push it down with a palm. He wasn't prepared when Yu Tian spun around at the same time, spinning and launching another kick with his left foot that slammed against his face.

"Ugh." It didn't hurt Li Yang much, but he was still surprised to be caught off guard by the speed of the move. Even in his fused state, Li Yang realized Yu Tian's technique still made him slightly faster than himself.

[Firewall]

Suddenly, a wall of flame erupted beneath Yu Tian's feet that he had to jump back to avoid. However, he then found himself caged in all directions when 3 more walls sprouted from the ground, trapping him inside like a cage.

"This is the end!" Li Yang soared above him and condensed all of his remaining power into his next technique.

[Cone of Flame]

"Boom!"

The flamethrower slammed down with a explosion against the rocks, spreading onto the stage like a inverted flower. Smoke and ash billowed into the air, obscuring vision.

Li Yang landed back onto the stage, sinking to a knee. He breathed heavily with sweat covering his entire face. "Finally..."

"Not yet..."

Li Yang froze as a voice coughed out from the smoke. Yu Tian slowly emerged, the left side of his body covered in light burns and his new robe already trashed.

"H-How?" His opponent's pupils shrank in disbelief.

Yu Tian's eyes remained steadfast and unwavering as he stared at Li Yang, even though he looked horrible appearance-wise. "This battle is not over."

[Alpha Force]

"!"

This time, it was Yu Tian who took the initiative. Combining the technique with his eye and [Electrification], he charged forward with a roar and lashed out at Li Yang.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Now Li Yang was forced to block as he raised his hands to resist Yu Tian's attacks. Loud, dull thuds were heard as the older boy resisted the heavy strikes with his body.

"Ahh!" Li Yang's body released another wave of energy, covering himself in a blazing inferno.

Yu Tian was thrown off from his attack, rolling onto the ground. His right leg was now also burned badly, and his body screamed in pain from the other injuries he received due to Li Yang's flames.

However, Yu Tian still willed himself to stand up again, albeit slowly, ignoring the pain.

"There's too much I need to do, I can't lose..."

Li Yang was once again amazed at Yu Tian's tenacity. He couldn't help but to stop again to ask the younger boy. "Why are you pushing yourself so much?"

He seemed so unusually mature and intelligent for his age. Li Yang had never seen such outstanding character in even his senior brothers at the school. However, Li Yang also had his personal reasons and goals to achieve.

Hearing his opponent's words, Yu Tian paused and broke into laughter.

Staring into the sky that had began to turn slightly orange as the evening neared, the former god felt himself strangely invigorated. "Isn't it obvious?"

"I need to save the ones important to me," Yu Tian's eyes sharpened with focus and determination. "And protect them so they will never get hurt again."

This was Yu Tian's purpose in his new life, as well as his pride as the god of war.

"Let's finish this." A strange feeling overtook Li Yang as something seemed to change in Yu Tian. The older boy couldn't place what has happened, but it made him uncomfortable.

It was the aura of a predator was staring down its prey, who was already tired of playing around and looking to devour its target. Taking a slow step backwards, Li Yang finally realized this feeling was his danger instincts screaming at him.

"Break!" Swinging a hard fist, Yu Tian struck hard against Li Yang's defense and pushed the older boy back. However, he immediately fell to a knee afterwards and gasped while grasping at his chest. 

It felt like his heart was being squeezed by an invisible hand. Yu Tian knew that he couldn't handle the strain any longer. It was time to use everything in one go.

Seeing Yu Tian's weakness, Li Yang hurriedly retaliated with a blast of flame at his struggling opponent.

[Alpha Force]

[Electrifiction]

Something felt familiar when Yu Tian combined his techniques with one another, and felt like an epiphany of some sorts. The power of his eye was activated as he pushed himself and his Qi reserves to their max limits.

He prepared to activate all his techniques together again, but this time he also included [Shockwave] that enveloped his hand in additional energy. All of his techniques seemed to be like pieces of a puzzle that mysteriously complimented each other, and this strange familiarity only grew stronger within him when he found his own body already moving instinctively.

The various elements of calculation, speed, power, and force all meshed together perfectly with his lightning Qi. Yu Tian already found himself suddenly in front of Li Yang in a trance-like state.

"What?" Li Yang suddenly saw Yu Tian appear in front of him from where he was, easily stepping aside to dodge the fire. 

This sudden closing of distance overloaded Li Yang's senses and he couldn't react properly. His body was weighted as slow as molasses and the older boy tried hard to lift his arms to protect himself, but it was already too late.

Stretching out both of his hands into palms, Yu Tian's face was expressionless as the lightning that covered them struck directly into his opponent's body. It felt as if the world somehow became slow around himself, where only he moved normally at a walking pace.

The name also seemed to immediately appear in Yu Tian's head, making him subconciously form out the words silently with his lips.

[Lightning Flashes Twice]

"Ah?" Yu Tian was suddenly surprised when his opponent was sent flying out of the stage by the attack, and everything seemingly returning to normal.

There was only a stunned, deafening silence that followed his sudden victory after a dull thump from Li Yang's body landing in the grass.