Free Web NovelChapter 107: Chapter 102: An Abstract Fighting Style that Follows the Heart
The entire audience was baffled. "Wait, where did you pull those from??"
"That’s not important."
Su Zhi pushed up the sunglasses on his nose.
"Yu Bao! Don’t give them a chance to adjust! Counterattack with Earth Force Field and Sandstorm!"
"WOOF!"
Cotton had just gotten up when the ground beneath its feet gave way. A section of the arena had inexplicably sunk.
A deeply mastered Tier Two Earth Force Field could already alter the sturdy material of the arena to a certain extent!
Even if the effect was minuscule, it still caught Cotton completely off guard.
"BOOM!"
The Sandstorm descended immediately after.
This move certainly wasn’t as sharp as Furious Sand Blade, but compared to Furious Sand Blade, it was easier to chain into the next attack.
Following up on the Sandstorm’s assault, Yu Bao activated Desert Concealment and closed in on Cotton at an even greater speed!
"Cotton, keep your left and right feet symmetrical. Don’t lower your head, don’t bare your teeth, keep your tail on the center axis, and use Water Burst."
Even at such a tense moment, Cao Mingyu hadn’t forgotten to micromanage.
But because of this, Cotton habitually obeyed the micromanagement and quickly readjusted.
Sometimes, a Pet Beast doesn’t fall out of sync because it can’t keep up with the opponent’s rhythm, but because it forgets its own rhythm during a high-intensity battle.
Cao Mingyu’s micromanagement might have seemed superfluous, but it was precisely what allowed Cotton to recover its composure with incredible speed.
Immediately after, a ring of water erupted from Cotton’s body, instantly bursting like a bubble.
All the surrounding dust and sand were completely dispelled by the powerful wave, and even Yu Bao was forced to retreat to evade it.
—Water Element Low Level Elite Skill, Water Burst. It detonates a wave of water centered on the user, attacking everything in the vicinity with no blind spots.
At the same time, several light blue Light Arrays emerged around Cotton, their crosshair-like light patterns locking onto the fleeing Yu Bao.
"FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!"
Immediately after, several powerful streams of water gushed forth from the Light Arrays.
Tier Two High-pressure Water Gun—greater power, faster activation speed, and more sources of attack!
"What?" Cao Mingyu’s eyebrow twitched as he saw Yu Bao disintegrate into sand.
The dust in the distance settled, revealing that the real Yu Bao had never moved.
"WHOOSH!"
And while Cotton was focused on attacking the Sand Shadow Guard, he unleashed a ferocious Furious Sand Blade with lightning speed.
Cotton was hit before it could retract the High-pressure Water Guns, and it was knocked to the ground with a cry.
Even though Yu Bao hadn’t used his full power in order to attack faster, the blow was still quite painful.
When Cotton got back up, the fur where it had been hit was already a mess.
The live stream chat had already exploded:
[Annihilation: Holy crap, holy crap! Tier Two Water Burst and Tier Two High-pressure Water Gun!]
[Frost Shadow Qtm: That’s insane... I don’t think I’d last a minute if I went up there...]
[Jade Balance 001: Hey, guy above me, have some confidence. You wouldn’t even last a second /smug]
[A Scum White Hair: Su Zhi isn’t going to have an easy time with this one. Wave White is a Water- and Light-Dual Attribute Pet Beast, so its combat methods are more diverse.]
[Xingyu Tianxin: But Yu Bao is super strong too! That blade-like skill Yu Bao has is even more intense than the High-pressure Water Gun!]
[Annihilation: True, and the tactics are slick! I never would’ve thought he’d use a clone to get close and bait an attack. I thought the one that stayed behind was the clone at first.]
[Day after Day: Cao Mingyu probably thought the same thing as you...]
[Audience987622: What’s going on? Didn’t everyone say to just mindlessly bet on Cao Mingyu? How come he doesn’t seem like such a sure thing?]
[Jade Balance 001: /smug]
[A Scum White Hair: /smug]
The atmosphere in the live stream chat was lively and relaxed, but Lu Dongjie was not relaxed at all.
At this moment, his attention was completely focused on the match.
The pace of a high-end match is fast, placing high demands on the commentator. Deciding what to explain and what to skip requires split-second judgment.
Beyond that, he himself was very concerned about whether Su Zhi could win!
"This exchange seems intense, but it should just be the two sides probing each other. Neither Yu Bao nor Cotton has shown their core tactics yet..."
"Wait! Yu Bao is on the move! Breaking from his usual strategy of using a late-game advantage, Yu Bao is launching a ferocious, preemptive assault!"
As Lu Dongjie began his commentary, a veritable tempest of wind and sand had already stirred up on the arena floor.
The Tier Two Sandstorm covered half the arena, sweeping toward Cotton like a shroud.
At the same time, Yu Bao himself summoned two Sand Shadow Guards, using the momentum of the Sandstorm to charge at Cotton.
Furious Sand Blades appeared one after another, flying toward Cotton with a sharp, imposing aura!
However, Cotton used Water Burst to blow away the oncoming Sandstorm, while several Light Arrays fired a continuous stream of High-pressure Water Guns to counter the Furious Sand Blades.
Under the impeccably precise strikes of the High-pressure Water Guns, the ferocious Furious Sand Blades were blasted apart one by one.
—This was Cao Mingyu’s custom-tailored tactic against Furious Sand Blade: using the precise attacks of the High-pressure Water Guns for anti-missile defense.
Yu Bao’s Tier Two Furious Sand Blade could maintain two to three blades at most, but Cotton’s Tier Two High-pressure Water Gun could maintain four to five streams simultaneously!
The extra firepower easily neutralized Yu Bao’s assault.
At the same time, the surplus High-pressure Water Guns changed direction and fired at the approaching Yu Baos.
"POP!" "POP!"
The two Yu Baos burst into dust on the spot.
Tier Two Sand Shadow Guard can maintain two Stand-Ins at most—so the last one must be the real one.
"WOOF!"
The final Yu Bao leaped high, pouncing toward Cotton while simultaneously firing a Furious Sand Blade.
It was clearly trying to risk everything on one last-ditch effort.
However, perhaps due to dwindling energy or some other reason, the Furious Sand Blade didn’t hit Cotton, instead whizzing past, trailing a cloud of roiling dust.
Without the cover of the Furious Sand Blade, Yu Bao naturally became the target of every attack, with all the High-pressure Water Guns aimed at it.
"FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!"
The last Yu Bao also burst into a cloud of sand, blooming in the air like a firework of dust.
"What?!"
Cao Mingyu’s eyes flew open.
’That wasn’t the real one either? Then where is it?’
"It’s Desert Concealment!"
Lu Dongjie, the commentator, was so excited his face was red and his neck was thick with exertion. "Yu Bao left a Stand-In in its original spot while using a feint attack as cover! It activated Desert Concealment to circle around to Cotton’s rear flank!"
At almost the same time, Cao Mingyu on the stage suddenly realized what had happened.
Furious Sand Blade raises very little dust when it’s released. The cloud of dust trailing behind it just now was actually Yu Bao in its Desert Concealment form! freewebnøvel.com
Cotton spun around in a panic and saw Yu Bao, who had appeared behind it.
The Furious Sand Blade flew off into the distance, while Yu Bao closed in at a ridiculous speed, launching a Skybound Strike at Cotton.
Cotton subconsciously lowered its center of gravity. ’If this is all it is, I can still defend.’
But in the next moment, a pale yellow Energy Light Array appeared beneath its body.
Before Cotton could react, a Yellow Earth Wall shot up, launching it into the air!
Cotton hadn’t expected that Yellow Earth Wall, a Defense Skill, could be used to launch a heavy object so decisively!
"SMACK!"
Yu Bao twisted its body in mid-air, its limbs whipping around to transfer power, and kicked Cotton squarely in the butt.
This move was called Water Buffalo Fights the Rat!
"WOOOOOF—"
Cotton let out an agonized howl, flying through the air in an arc and nearly falling out of the arena.
The audience in the live stream was already dumbfounded:
[Frost Shadow Qtm: Uh, I’m watching the Senior Year Group One match, right??]
[Annihilation: No, you’re in the wrong place. This is the Common Defense Alliance Super 1000 Series.]
[Audience183113: This is the Su Zhi you guys said was a total noob?? My ass he’s a noob!]
[Day after Day: Cotton is really strong too. I thought that kick would have been enough to end the fight...]
[Jade Balance 001: With a hit like that, he’s about to win, right?]
[A Scum White Hair: Hard to say. Wave White is a Pet Beast with outstanding endurance. If you don’t take it out in one go, it can heal back to full in an instant.]
"This ’A Scum White Hair’ has a point. Wave White’s single-target and group-sustain capabilities are both outstanding, which is why they are often used as disaster relief Pet Beasts.
"Yu Bao’s attack built up momentum and put Wave White at a major disadvantage, but it still wasn’t enough to be the deciding blow!"
Lu Dongjie stared at the live feed of the match, his mouth running nonstop.
"Look closely! Cotton is already using Bathing Light Water Healing. This is Wave White’s Core Skill, which can rapidly mend injuries and boost its condition..."
"Cotton also used Pure Water Shield and Gravity Water Prison on itself!"
"WOOF?!"
Yu Bao was just about to launch a Furious Sand Blade to finish off Cotton when it was shocked to find that Cotton was already back to full health.
A large sphere of water completely enveloped Cotton, with an outer layer of a Water Shield that shimmered with a faint blue light.
The Furious Sand Blade pierced the Pure Water Shield, but its momentum was instantly deadened the moment it touched the sphere of water.
In the end, the Furious Sand Blade dissipated within the sphere of water, causing no damage to Cotton’s actual body.
—Gravity Water Prison, a Water Element High Level Elite Skill. It can envelop a designated target in high-density water, sealing off its movements.
At the same time, it also possesses immense defensive power!
[A Scum White Hair: It’s the Defensive Flow!]
[Jade Balance 001: Defensive Flow?? Isn’t that a Blast Rock Rhinoceros strategy?]
"No... our friend Bai Mao is right! This is a variation of the Defensive Flow!"
Lu Dongjie, who hadn’t understood at first, had a sudden moment of clarity after being prompted by A Scum White Hair.
"After a Blast Rock Rhinoceros activates the skill Defense Wall, as long as it remains stationary, it can continuously increase its Defense Power."
"If an opponent doesn’t interfere, the Blast Rock Rhinoceros’s defense will quickly reach a nearly impenetrable level, allowing it to steamroll the rest of the fight. That is the Defensive Flow."
"And Cotton’s line of thinking is actually reaching the same goal by a different path as the Defensive Flow."
"At this stage, almost no Pet Beast possesses the Strong Attack power needed to break through Gravity Water Prison. Under the combined effects of Gravity Water Prison and Bathing Light Water Healing, Cotton is practically an unbreachable wall."
"Yu Bao has no way to break through Cotton’s defense, but Cotton can counterattack with Water Bombs and High-pressure Water Guns. The attrition will definitely be greater for Yu Bao!"
[Annihilation: Seriously, what kind of multi-year psycho comes up with a tactic like this??]
[Golden Rare: This is too ridiculous. Can Wave White even fight like this??]
[Dandan’s NoobDog Sauce: I heard Cao Mingyu is usually a by-the-book, steady guy... how come his strategy this match is so abstract...]
[A Scum White Hair: Pfft, by-the-book my ass.]
[Day after Day: Su Zhi is in trouble...]
On the stage, Cao Mingyu pushed up his glasses, his gaze resolute.
’This is my style of fighting.’
’My friend, Su Zhi, thank you for teaching me to follow my heart. Now, let me use the fruits of my epiphany to defeat you!’
While maintaining its defensive position, Cotton fired a dense barrage of Water Bombs and water guns, continuously attacking Yu Bao.
Yu Bao could only scatter and flee, or barely block the attacks with a Yellow Earth Wall or a Quicksand Shield.
Cotton’s attacks couldn’t deliver a decisive blow either, but it was like boiling a frog in warm water, slowly wearing down Yu Bao.
The scales of victory seemed to be quietly tipping...
...until Yu Bao suddenly stopped.
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