Chapter 494: Divine Burst
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
However, having seen that everyone, including Guan Dongyang, had followed Wang Tong’s order to the letters, Lie Xuan was hard-pressed to make herself the exception. Plus, she had had just reaped benefits from his tactics, and therefore, she thought that she should return the favor by playing along.
Wang Tong scanned the METAL fighters in front of him with a cold glance and then said, “Today, I am going to teach you guys a very practical usage of soul energy. This technique is called Divine Burst. As you might or might not know, both GN force and mastery are only a manifestation of the soul energy. There is practically no limit on the amount of power you can harness from the soul energy. Let me show you what I mean. Duo Lun and Tan Bu, please step forward.”
Tan Bu and Duo Lun removed themselves from the row of soldiers with long strides.
“You can begin now.” Wang Tong announced.
The two unsheathed their long blade simultaneously. Duo Lun was level eleven while Tan Bu had just reached level fourteen. A difference of three levels would definitely show in whatever they were going to demonstrate. The anticipation kept everyone on the edge.
The two soldiers attacked each other at the same time. Their long blades collided in the air as the sound of metal hitting each other reverberated in the room.
“Clank! Clank!” Every strike sounded harder than the last.
The rest of the soldiers were astonished by how much the spar resembled a real fight in a deadly way. Leveraging on his superior soul energy, Tan Bu was able to gain the upper hand; each strike he delivered carried the force that meant to kill.
Without knowing that the two were best friends, any on-lookers might take the scene as a life and death duel between two soldiers deadlocked in a blood feud.
“Zenn!”
Due to the level differences, Duo Lun could not evade each and every strike, so more than a few slashes cut open his skin, and blood splashed out of the wounds. However, Tan Bu didn’t seem to mind his friend’s injury as he doubled down on the resolution in each attack.
Although Duo Lun had to face a warrior who was three levels above him, he fought bravely. From time to time, he was able to sneak in a counter-attack despite his injuries.
The two fighters knew each other’s fighting style well and had similar combat moves. Therefore, everyone was very impressed by how long Duo Lun lasted in the fight without any advantages.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed across Wang Tong’s eye, and Duo Lun’s body quivered slightly as if a rush of electrical current had run through his system. Immediately after that, Duo Lun’s strikes started to gain more frequency and vigor, and everyone watched in disbelief as the battle slowly turn into a heated deadlock.
The two’s reactions were exceptionally fast, and neither of them showed the typical flaws that were commonly observed in low-level soldiers. As one of Tan Bu’s thrust attack missed its target, he immediately followed with a side sweep to the left where his opponent had dodged to, as if he knew Lun Dun was going to jump to the left all the while. Duo Lun, on the other hand, effortlessly blocked Tan Bu’s follow-up attack with his blade, then glided his blade across the spine of the other blade, towards Tan Bu’s chest. Tan Bu retreated, but it was already too late as the sharp tip pierced through his defense and into his flesh. Blood welled from the hole left by the strike.
“Stop!” Wang Tong commanded. The two immediately paused what they were doing and returned to their place in the line of METAL warriors.
“This is what I wanted to show you, a special little trick to… “
“Captain, shouldn’t we look after Duo Lun and Tan Bu’s wounds first?” Lie Xuan cut Wang Tong short as she was concerned about the two young soldiers. She gave Wang Tong an accusatory glance for his ignorance of his comrades’ wellbeing.
“Miss Lie Xuan, their injury was minor, just scratches and bruises. They better get used to it… The sooner, the better.” Wang Tong said in a disinterested voice.
Lie Xuan scowled. She glanced at the two young soldiers and was upset to find out that neither of them were even remotely interested in having their wounds tended, despite the small puddle of congealed blood formed at their feet.
What was worse, Lie Xuan’s protest didn’t even catch the attention of a single soul in the training room.
Wang Tong continued. “The main function of the GN force is offense, and its intensity is relatively the same for warriors of similar levels. However, using that little trick that I had just shown you, any fighter can boost their attack frequency and intensity, as well as movement speed. This technique is based on a school of thoughts called ‘Light Overdraft.’ As its name suggests, you are pretty much borrowing your future combat capability and spending them now. A word of caution… Don’t keep this ability active for longer than five minutes. Use it wisely.”
Lie Xuan watched as everyone listened to Wang Tong’s words attentively, some nodding their heads from time to time.
Although Wang Tong came off as arrogant and insensitive, Lie Xuan had to accept the fact that she was alone in that assessment. Even after she entered the battlefield, hundreds of House Lie foot soldiers were willing to protect her with their lives. As a result, she barely understood the feelings of low-rank soldiers.
Supplied with the best tactics ever since she was a child, Lie Xuan would never understand an ordinary soldier craving for the opportunity to improve their strength.
What Wang Tong had given everyone was not only a few tricks, but also hope and opportunity to become strong.
In the eyes of the soldiers, Wang Tong’s training was not a duty, but a blessing. Any advice and suggestion Wang Tong had offered could save their lives or help them realize their dreams one day.
Everyone knew that Lie Xuan had gotten used to her privileges, and therefore, no one heeded her seemingly kind and compassionate suggestion.
“Captain, would the Divine Burst interfere with the output of the GN force?” Ross asked.
“Definitely… But, its effect varies from person to person. It requires some degree of adjustment. When you are finally used to it, it will help to increase your combat ability by at least ten percent.”
Wang Tong announced, and then started to demonstrate the technique.
Everyone watched Wang Tong’s move while trying to grasp its concept. Those who got it knew immediately that it required one to think outside of the box in order to fully understand it.
However, understanding it was only the first step, and the real battle started when the soldiers attempted the technique themselves. So delicate was the linkage between the soul energy and the GN force that even the smallest distraction would cause it to snap and the technique to fail.
There was only one method to master the technique: more practice.
Lights of determination glinted in Duo Lun and Tan Bu’s eyes. They had tried their best to comprehend Wang Tong’s moves and words. Plus, they also had the advantage of experiencing the benefit of the technique at first hand. They realized that the sudden increase in movement speed would be very useful during a moment of life and death. Duo Lun remembered the sensation of hyper-awareness when Tan Bu’s blade wheezed toward him. Within a fraction of a second, his brain had already calculated the precise landing spot of the blade, and before he knew it, his body was already preparing for the counterattack, that had eventually pierced into Tan Bu’s chest.
After having followed Wang Tong’s instructions for a few rounds, the soldiers started to practice against each other. Some got injured during the process, but no one stopped. They knew that if they didn’t give it all they had in the training room, they would quickly perish out there in a real war.
Wang Tong tried to distance himself from any compassionate feelings toward his students. His merciful thoughts could be the students’ downfall in the future.
Wang Tong scanned the room and assessed the progress of every student. He quickly found out that the students’ biggest hurdle came from adapting to the technique’s unconventional way of transforming soul energy into GN force. Many students were still struggling to make the change from conventional methods that they were used to.
After some time, Wang Tong announced a decision: those who could not adapt to the new method would have to leave the focus group. No one wanted to get kicked out of the focus group after they had devoted so much time. So, his announcement drove the students to train with more determination and intensity.
While the students were training, Wang Tong walked to the mechanic shop and used the spare time to fix a few more METAL suits. After a few hours, when Wang Tong returned to the training room, he was pleased to find out that none of the students had given up despite the difficulties. He nodded as a sliver of hope rose inside him, and then he returned to his repairing work again.
