Free Web NovelChapter 47: Lin Yuan vs Gu Shiyan (2)
Lin Yuan’s eyes widened sluggishly, focusing his senses into Gu Shiyan’s aperture.
’Maybe he was draining all his essence to defeat me,’ Lin Yuan assumed, his eyes focusing on Gu Shiyan’s aperture.
Gu Shiyan’s beast essence was slowly depleting. It had already fallen to eighteen percent while Lin Yuan’s beast essence swirled at twenty percent.
Lin Yuan felt the cold, focused part of his senses lock onto the aperture. At twenty percent essence, he was technically in the lead, but in a battle of this scale, a two percent margin was a minor lead. If Gu Shiyan managed to land a single devastating blow, that advantage would vanish into ash along with Lin Yuan’s bones.
Yet, looking at that chaotic swirl of the beast essence in his aperture, Lin Yuan didn’t feel fear. He just felt a chance. For the first time in this battle, Lin Yuan saw a genuine chance. The arena remained silent. Even the spectators could feel the pressure lingering between the two disciples. Several spectators who had been shouting, cheering, and placing bets just moments ago were now frozen in their seats, clenching their fists in anxiety until their knuckles turned white.
On the VIP stands, Gu Yanluo’s eyes narrowed. He felt something was wrong. The elder of the Gu clan, a man who had witnessed countless life-and-death struggles and overseen the rise of many cultivators, leaned forward, his hands tightening. His profound sense, far superior to anyone else’s in the stadium, swept across the battle stage. He wasn’t looking at the external displays of fire or the physical speed of the boys. The beast essence inside Gu Shiyan’s aperture was moving abnormally, crashing repeatedly against the aperture walls like a beast trapped inside a cage.
Gu Yanluo’s jaw tightened. He knew that specific, desperate rhythm. Gu Shiyan was no longer controlling the Fire-Serpent essence; the Fire-Serpent essence was beginning to control him. If this trajectory continued, the aperture would fracture. And a fractured aperture meant the end of a cultivator’s path. But the tense in Gu Yanluo’s face was far more than fear of Gu Shiyan’s death. Something mysterious is hidden in the Gu Clan.
Meanwhile, Gu Shiyan slowly raised his head. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, a bright crimson that dripped sharply with his pale, sweat-slicked skin.
His eyes carried a trace of madness. It was a wild, bloodshot glare that belonged to a gambler who had staked his entire life on a single win. The arrogant young member of the Gu clan had vanished, replaced by a fierce, unyielding predator that refused to acknowledge its own bleeding wounds.
"Still standing?" Gu Shiyan laughed faintly. The sound was raspy, twitching in his throat as a small puff of dark smoke escaped his lips, carrying the smell of scorched plastic. "You really are annoying, Lin Yuan."
Lin Yuan adjusted his breathing. He drew the cool air deep into his lungs. "Likewise."
The reply was calm and almost emotionless. It wasn’t spoken with malice, nor was it meant to be an insult. It was a simple statement of fact, delivered with neutrality. To an opponent like Gu Shiyan, who thrived on passion, hatred, and the grandeur of combat, that utter lack of emotional feedback was more agitating than any curse.
"Acting calm again?" Gu Shiyan clicked his tongue, the sound sharp and dripping with anger and disdain.
A crimson serpent silhouette emerged behind him once more. It was larger than before, but its edges were jagged, less balanced, its form flickering like an unstable flame caught in a gale. Its hollow eyes glared down at Lin Yuan, having the exact expression of its master. The pale green beast essence erupted.
The surrounding temperature rose instantly, warping the air and creating distorted, shimmering mirages across the length of the arena. The remaining puddles of moisture vaporized into thin white clouds of steam with a sharp, hissing sound.
BOOM!
The stone beneath his feet exploded into a shower of pulverized stones. Gu Shiyan lunged forward, his speed had increased noticeably, fueled by the reckless, dangerous burning of his beast essence. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Lin Yuan immediately activated his rabbit essence. A silver-white light surged through his legs, the cool, agile essence of a Rank 2 Rabbit beast counteracted the oppressive heat of the environment, granting him a sudden, weightless burst of speed.
Whoosh!
The distance vanished. The two figures crossed paths instantly in the center of the shattered arena.
Boom!
A fist collided against a palm. Gu Shiyan’s right hand, coated in a thick, roaring gauntlet of concentrated fire, slammed into the center of Lin Yuan’s raised left hand.
The shockwave rippled throughout the arena, traveling outward in a visible ring of dust and air. The battle stage beneath their feet cracked further, spider-webbing outward across the platform.
"Again!" Gu Shiyan roared, his voice cracking with sheer exhaustion.
BOOM!
A barrage of punches descended. It was a relentless, suffocating storm of strikes, executed with a speed that left afterimages in the air.
Left. Right. Center. Every strike carried scorching Fire-Serpent beast essence, leaving trails of burning red sparks that hung in the air like fireflies. Each punch was designed to obliterate, to break through Lin Yuan’s guard by sheer, overwhelming power.
But, Lin Yuan remained calm. His eyes continuously tracked every movement. To him, the speed of the punches was like a pattern. Every attack revealed itself before it arrived. He read the tightening of Gu Shiyan’s left shoulder muscle a fraction of a second before the arm moved. He felt the change in Gu Shiyan’s center of gravity a moment before the leg swung. He dodged the attacks precisely with the analytical focus of Gu Shiyan.
Whoosh!
He tilted his head by a mere two inches. The fiery fist brushed past his cheek, the intense heat lingering a few strands of his hair, but leaving the flesh untouched.
Whoosh!
A kick swept beneath him, carrying enough force to shatter a pillar. Lin Yuan jumped, his body rising with the grace of a leaf caught in an updraft. The kick missed, whistling harmlessly through the empty air beneath his legs.
Boom!
Another punch descended, aimed directly at his chest’s center. Lin Yuan twisted his waist, his spine bending at an angle that seemed almost impossible, allowing the strike to glide along the edge of his robes. freёwebnovel.com
The punch struck empty air. The spectators stared in shock. Their eyes darted back and forth, struggling to keep up with the rhythm of the blows. It looked like a dance between a raging wildfire and a balanced phantom. No matter how high the flames leaped, they simply could not catch the shadow.
Neither side was willing to retreat, but Lin Yuan appeared strangely steady and still. He was not fighting. His expression was calm, his eyes clear and devoid of malice, fear, or excitement. He was analyzing, and waiting for the inevitable failure of his opponent’s attacks.
"Coward!" Gu Shiyan snarled, his chest heaving as his breath grew heavy and vehement. The continuous, missed strikes were draining his physical stamina along with his beast essence. "Fight me properly!"
"Why?" Lin Yuan calmly stepped backward, his legs sliding smoothly over the battle stage.
The question froze Gu Shiyan. It was a single word delivered with such utter sincerity and lack of mockery that it caught him off guard. His next punch halted in mid-air for a fraction of a second, the flame flickering.
"You waste essence." Lin Yuan continued, his voice cutting through the roar of the fire like cold water. Another dodge. Lin Yuan slipped to the right as Gu Shiyan’s delayed punch finally snapped forward. "You lose control, and you attack with anger."
A palm brushed past his shoulder, Lin Yuan dodged again. "That makes you entirely predictable."
"Shut up, motherfucker," Gu Shiyan roared, his voice carrying the dual, overlapping hiss of the beast essence in his aperture. His beast essence exploded recklessly.
Several spectators widened their eyes, standing up from their seats to get a better look through the battle.
Mo Qinghe frowned. The elder’s usual unbothered, detached demeanor vanished, replaced by a deep expression. His posture was like ready to intervene if the situation collapsed into an outright tragedy.
"His control is breaking," Dan Zhenren slowly lowered his tea cup, the liquid inside completely still despite the vibrations shaking the stadium. His eyes were fixed on the pulses of dark green light emanating from Gu Shiyan’s chest. "He’s forcing too much essence through his aperture. But why is it dark-green?"
On the battlefield, Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes. He sensed the aperture, the source of Gu Shiyan’s power. The beast essence swirl was becoming unstable.
Gu Shiyan lunged again.
"Fire Serpent Fang!" He thrust his right arm forward, his fingers locked together like a spear point. The large serpent phantom behind him synchronized with its master’s movement, its massive jaws opening wide as it plunged downward toward Lin Yuan.
A crimson beam of concentrated heat exploded forward. The attack tore across the arena, leaving a dark trench in the battle stage, melting the rock into a sluggish, glowing track of slag.
Lin Yuan immediately reacted, his figure obscured, vanishing from his previous position so quickly that he left a faint afterimage behind. The beam barely missed his shoulder. The sheer force of the attack tore the sleeve of his robe into a fluttering shreds, and the heat cauterized the surface of his skin before it could even bleed. A faint, scorched meat smell lingered around Lin Yuan.
Thick dust, smoke, and debris scattered throughout the battlefield, creating a concentrated cloud that obscured the two fighters from view.
Gu Shiyan laughed maniacally. "Hahaha! Run! Keep running, bastard, that’s all you’re good for!"
He was panting heavily, his hands resting on his knees as he stared into the grey fog, his eyes searching for any sign of Lin Yuan. His aperture was screaming, a dull ache turning into a sharp, stabbing agony with every heartbeat. But he didn’t care. He was convinced that Lin Yuan was at his limit, that the boy was nothing more than a frightened rabbit running until its heart burst.
Lin Yuan ignored him. He was moving through the smoke, his footsteps silent, his body low to the ground. He was sensing through the dust, his inner vision was looking for the truth of Gu Shiyan’s aperture.
Every time Gu Shiyan released a large attack, the lower-right section of his aperture trembled.
Lin Yuan inhaled slowly, his heartbeat steadied, and his breathing stabilized. The roar of the crowd, the crackle of the lingering flames, the weight of the smoke — the entire arena gradually disappeared from his senses. His mind narrowed down to a single point of existence.
Only Gu Shiyan remained. Across the battlefield, Gu Shiyan gathered essence once more. He refused to let the momentum die. He wanted to finish this with the next blow, to erase Lin Yuan from the world.
This time even his veins began shimmering red under his skin. The applause of spectators changed into scary murmurs.
"This doesn’t look normal."
"What is he doing?"
"Too much essence."
Even Gu Yanluo stood up slightly. For the first time since the battle began, the composure of him wavered. His face devoured by tense and fear, looking like he was seeing Gu Shiyan, who was using a forbidden technique to attack.
"Shiyan!!" The whisper never reached the battlefield. Gu Shiyan couldn’t hear anything. The world had shrunk down to a single, burning obsession. He only saw Lin Yuan, that calmness irritated him. No. It terrified him. It was the calmness of an executioner.
"DIE!" Gu Shiyan’s roar shook the arena, carrying the full, desperate weight of his soul. The pale green essence erupted everywhere. He was using all of his beast essence.
Lin Yuan also lunged forward instantly, covering the distance.
BOOM!
Fire exploded around him with the force of a detonating mountain. The blast blew away the remaining dust, clearing the stage in a single stroke. Thick dust engulfed the battlefield once more as the stone beneath the impact turned to powder.
The crowd stood. Lian Nichang stood, his fists clenched so hard his nails drew blood. Even Luo Zhen stepped forward instinctively, his eyes straining to see through the roaring flames. The entire arena stared at the smoke.
The silence was absolute.
"AAAAAAARGHHHHHHH!" Suddenly, a scream rattled across the arena. It was Gu Shiyan’s scream. Blood began pouring from both eyes, running down his cheeks in thick, dark trails that mixed with the sweat and soot on his face. His body trembled violently, his hands twitching in irregular patterns as if he were being struck by continuous bolts of lightning. The massive Fire-Serpent phantom dissolved into ragged streams of fire that shot out in every direction, striking the floor, the walls, and the barrier in a frantic, dying frenzy.
Inside his aperture, a sharp crack rippled the layered wall of the aperture.
