Chen Dong’s two arms had abruptly expanded. Countless water vapors rapidly gathered, and in several seconds, his arms grew to around 6 meters long, and they now looked like a pair of large drills.
The circular drills were spinning at high speeds and were full of sharp barbs. It could be imagined if that thing were to brush past Xia Fei’s body, even a combat suit with sturdy defense would be grounded to shreds by it!
Creating cold ice required a level of mastery, while controlling the cold required an even higher level of mastery. Chen Dong’s understanding toward his Freeze Special Ability had already reached the latter.
“Come, let’s fight again!”
Chen Dong yelled and proceeded to dash right at Xia Fei. The two huge ice drills spinning in his hands created an ear-piercing whine.
Xia Fei gritted his teeth and exerted strength to both his legs and shunted to the side.
*Crash!*
The pair of drills came into contact with the icy surface as a slew of broken ice scattered in every direction like an explosion!
Before Xia Fei could steady himself, Chen Dong’s arms lashed out horizontally, causing the two spinning drills to sweep past him. Xia Fei tapped the ground with both feet as his entire figure leaped upward as he evaded the cut from Chen Dong’s follow-up attack.
*Thud!*
Xia Fei landed squarely back on the platform as the ice cleats on the bottom of his combat boots gripped tightly onto the icy surface. Xia Fei had only been able to duck and avoid that series of attacks just now, completely unable to mount a retaliation at all.
Chen Dong’s speed was simply too fast. Not only were the weapons he was wielding in both his arms much more powerful than before, but even the speed and the force behind his attacks had also been strengthened!
This pair of drills that Chen Dong was wielding was already 6 meters long, and it was continually spinning like a real drill.
Xia Fei needed to be further away from Chen Dong to dodge his drills, making it that much harder for him to get close enough to Chen Dong’s body to dish out his counterattacks.
Technically, the bigger the weapon’s size, the heavier it would be, which meant the frequency of each swing would decrease. But for some unknown reason, Chen Dong seemed to be able to brandish those two large drills of his much faster than the two icy blades; could his physique had been bolstered by his ability as well?
Xia Fei kept dodging even as he continued to think about this problem, ‘That completely defies common sense. How could a weapon that became heavier provide even more frequent swings?!’
All of a sudden, Xia Fei discovered that the shape of Chen Dong’s two ice drills had been changing the whole time; it was just that the difference was extremely minute, such that the average human would hardly be able to spot it.
As Xia Fei continued to duck and weave while keeping his eye on Chen Dong’s ice drills, he finally understood what was going on. It turned out that the ice drills were actually automatically changing along with Chen Dong’s movements.
It meant that Chen Dong was not actually wielding that pair of ice drills at all. Every time his arm moved forward even by one centimeter, the ice drills would also automatically change by a centimeter in the same direction. As long as he could control the morphing ice drills to fit his arm at all times, there was actually no need for him to use any strength to manipulate the drills!
What an amazing ability!
It was an ability that allowed the user to move it with their mind. Such an ability was absolutely incredible!
A whole 30 minutes had passed, and Xia Fei had been evading Chen Dong’s attacks without once going on the offensive himself as he was in a passive position now.
Evasion also required Xia Fei to expend a lot of physical strength and keep his concentration levels at peak condition. This was especially true when choosing the right path to escape. He simply could not make even the slightest mistake.
The temperature in the ring was about a dozen degrees below zero, yet Xia Fei was sweating profusely, as he was using up a lot of his physical strength.
Standing in the corner of the ring, Xia Fei took out a White Dew fruit from his spatial ring and popped it in his mouth, quickly munching on it.
The White Dew had the miraculous effect of replenishing physical condition when eaten. In such a battle, Xia Fei needed to ensure that he had enough physical strength at any given time, as even the slightest of mistakes would turn out to be problematic.
Chen Dong threw an icy stare at Xia Fei. 30 minutes had already passed, and no matter how hard he had tried, he still couldn’t land a hit on Xia Fei at all ever since their fight started, and he was slowly becoming somewhat annoyed by this.
A dozen or more victors had already been decided in the other 26 rings. In contrast, the candidates in the ring no. 21 had hardly even exchanged blows with each other beyond the handful of bouts, let alone tell which party would be victorious right now.
Having won his first match, a bald man came over to the information system in the main hall to check his opponent for the next match, and the display screen showed that his next match would be whoever ended up winning the fight between Chen Dong and Xia Fei.
That bald man laughed, a hand rubbing his shiny bald head as he said, “To think I would have such bad luck, actually pitting me up against that madman Chen Dong.”
As for Xia Fei, this man had basically disregarded him. He cracked his knuckles and made his way over and stood in front of ring no. 21.
“Hmph, others might be afraid of you, but I’m not!” The bald man sat down below the ring as his eyes stared daggers at Chen Dong, the flames of battle smoldering in his irises.
Chen Dong took two steps back, stooped, and then went hurtling straight for Xia Fei like a cannonball, his two ice drill arms placed right in front of him.
Xia Fei hurriedly did a sidestep to dodge this charge, and just as Xia Fei’s figure moved, Chen Dong’s ice drills suddenly swelled!
Chen Dong had increased the length of his ice drill in that instance and went piercing right toward Xia Fei!
Xia Fei had not expected that Chen Dong’s assault this time around would be so fierce. He struggled to twist his body, his feet desperately stomping on the icy surface. The ice cleats on his combat boots could sense the explosive force Xia Fei had applied, so the spikes extended themselves, lodging his two feet tightly into that ice to provide maximum support for Xia Fei!
*Crash!*
Xia Fei’s entire body soared upward, the ice drills barely brushing past the soles of his shoes. It was yet another close shave!
Chen Dong had clearly seen himself attack Xia Fei countless times. The barbed ice drills would always be just several centimeters away from Xia Fei’s body, yet he would avoid the attacks every time with his unpredictable movements.
Chen Dong was becoming more and more annoyed. He kept increasing the intensity of his assault, like a combination of a raging blizzard and ferocious hailstorm, wildly attacking, again and again!
Xia Fei was nowhere near as irritated as Chen Dong, but instead, his mind was actually becoming clearer and more composed. He did not spend too much time practicing the Crafty approach, so there were still many moves that he had yet to master with proficiency.
After fighting for over an hour, and countless near-death experiences, Xia Fei was slowly becoming more and more dextrous with utilizing the Crafty approach. Combat was the best way to hone the technique, as Xia Fei discovered that it was far more efficient for him to experience and try out new moves during actual combat than to train by himself.
Swallowing another White Dew to replenish his lost strength, Xia Fei’s eyes began to show excitement.
On the other side of the ring, Chen Dong had abruptly stopped his attack on Xia Fei as he tossed an unknown fruit into his mouth from his spatial ring.
Xia Fei was stunned. It turned out that Chen Dong was also expending a lot of his energy just like himself, and he too needed to rely on ingredients for recovery!
As if a shot of cardiotonic had been injected into Xia Fei’s heart, his black pupils shone brightly, ‘That’s right! Perseverance is key in combat. There’s no way to tell who will win or lose until the final second!’
Xia Fei privately made up his mind and wagged a finger to beckon Chen Dong with one hand, “Come! Let’s go again!”
Chen Dong saw the look of determination on Xia Fei and rumbled with laughter, “Great! We won’t stop until we have a victor! I refuse to believe that you can keep on dodging like that!”
The two figures were engaged in a fight once more!
Xia Fei was like a cunning loach, ducking and evading in the blizzard, while Chen Dong was like a persistent stalker, closely following Xia Fei’s every footstep.
Both men exerted everything they knew, neither backing off, much less admitting defeat!
Though there was no blood spilled or kills made, such a sight had similarly drawn plenty of the audience’s attention.
Every time Xia Fei escaped Chen Dong’s ice drills, the audience would gasp and exclaim as they watched in front of their television sets.
This was combat!
Frenzied combat!
Non-stop combat!
From day to night, this battle had gone on for a full 12 hours!
Xia Fei was becoming more and more adept with his Crafty approach. He could now retaliate once every three bouts, so while Xia Fei’s counterattacks still couldn’t penetrate Chen Dong’s defense, it nevertheless did increase his self-confidence quite a lot.
As time passed, Chen Dong was slowly turning more stony-faced. Xia Fei was indeed no match for him, but he could clearly sense the youth had been steadily improving ever since their battle began!
In the very beginning, all Xia Fei could do was to barely dodge Chen Dong’s attacks, but now he could calmly evade Chen Dong’s relentless assault and even throw out counterattacks from time to time!
Such a rate of improvement could very well be described as meteorically fast!
More importantly, he could feel a sort of unyielding determination from Xia Fei’s eyes, a tenacity to not easily give up until the very last second!
This sort of opponent was scary and needed to be taken seriously!
A sense of excitement that had not surfaced in a long time got Chen Dong’s blood pumping. He resolved to defeat this difficult opponent, and as long as he did not collapse to the ground, he would keep up his assault forever without fail!
Chen Dong raised both of his arms outward and adopted a stance like he was about to perform a quick attack, “You’re an opponent worthy of respect. Tell me your name.”
Xia Fei’s two legs were slightly bent, ready to dodge and counter at any time. He curled the corner of his lips and answered, “Xia Fei.”
“Xia Fei…” Chen Dong quietly muttered the two words. “That’s a good name. No matter what happens, we won’t be stopping until we attain an outcome from this fight! Here we go again!”
…
Endaro Star Region television network, a staff member wearing a headset connected to the director’s office.
“Director, the originally 12-hour direct broadcast of the Adjudicator Union’s Crisis grade assessment is up, but there’s still a match going on that doesn’t look like it’s ending any time soon. What are we going to do now? Do we continue with the entertainment programs that we have scheduled, or do we continue with the broadcast of the match?” The staff member asked.
The bearded director was momentarily taken aback, “How much longer do you reckon they’ll go on before it ends?”
That staff member frowned, “Director, this match started from 8 AM in the morning, and it has yet to end. Seeing how those two are fighting, I doubt they would be finishing it up any time today.”
“Oh!” The bearded director paused. “The fight has been going for 12 hours already? How are the ratings?”
With that, he turned on his computer and called up the audience statistics chart for today.
“According to the chart, the ratings have been climbing ever since 9 AM in the morning, and right now, it accounts for about 15% of the audience ratings across the entire Endaro Star Region!”
The Endaro Star Region had an innumerable amount of television stations, so drawing 15% of the ratings was an amazing record!
In fact, all the six television stations in Endaro Star Region that had been awarded the permission to broadcast today had all seen a significant boost in their ratings today, especially that match between Xia Fei and Chen Dong, which had already accounted for more than 50% of the ratings for the entire assessment!
By now, all the other matches had already concluded, so more than 70% of the entire Endaro Star Region were watching the same match, and that was the big showdown between Xia Fei and Chen Dong, the bottom-ranked candidate taking on the top-ranked candidate!
The complexion of that bearded director darkened as he berated loudly, “You fool! This accounts for 15% of our audience ratings! Entertainment programs? Tell them to entertain the ghosts! Quick, round up a hundred more channels to do a live broadcast of this match… Wait a minute, make it two hundred! Let’s try and fight to get 17% of the audience ratings! Immediately contact the advertisers and tell them that there is a hot match being broadcast throughout the star region. They’ll have to increase their payment by 100%. Otherwise, their ads won’t be aired!”
“Also, get the special report taskforce to promptly prepare for a special program for this 24 hours special broadcast. Send a filming crew to Earth and try to interview both parties of this match,” The director was excited. He decided to do everything he could to milk this match for all its worth and build upon this runaway success. Only
Turning off the communicator, the bearded director continued to watch eagerly as the ratings rose, “15%! I’ve never once seen such crazy ratings my entire life!”
…
Many lightyears away, Avril’s bedroom had already been ravaged, countless stuffed animals strewn all over the place that were losing their arms or their tails.
Avril was seated by the bed, a stuffed monkey in her hands. She was staring avidly at Xia Fei on the display screen, and every time he escaped from death by the skin of his teeth, the monkey in her hands suffered.
Soon, the monkey had been reduced into six parts.
Avril reached her little hand toward the head of her bed, but she had unfortunately gotten nothing even after groping around for a time. Her bed full of stuffed toys had already all been torn up by her.
Knitting her eyebrows, Avril dashed to the door and shouted loudly, “Bring all the toys in the playroom over here!”
At this time, Chen Dong and Xia Fei’s fight had been going on for 12 hours and 21 minutes!
