Chapter 296: Score Settled
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Wang Tong was wholly engrossed in attacks and started to overlook defense. He charged up GN force to his fist and hewed at Li Ruoer with abandon. The GN force ignited the air and released a blaring sound. Li Ruoer did not flinch, as she calmly blocked the attack with the blade. The impact forced the two warriors to break the engagement.
Wang Tong cracked a smiled and licked the blood off his right hand. He admired the blade for its power, as he did not expect to get hurt while his hand was charged fully with GN force. The taste of the blood triggered a flood of memory rushing into Wang Tong's mind.
Li Ruoer gathered herself and examined the body of Rosy to make sure there was no damage. She was shocked by Wang Tong's strength, as she was convinced that her strike should have been able to chop Wang Tong's arm off. However, it seemed that Rosy was only able to graze the boy's skin.
"Wang Tong, you are full of surprises. However, our fight ends here. You will be the first person to have seen the Enchantress's coup de grace!" Li Ruoer announced with unswerving confidence.
Li Ruoer's confidence piqued Wang Tong's interest as he wondered what the enchantress's coup de grace would look like.
Wang Tong watched as Li Ruoer set the blade about her waist, and the index and middle finger of the other hand pressed lightly on its mid-upper section. Wang Tong noticed Li Ruoer's eyes start to give off a faint purple luster, which was gaining intensity by the second. Without sensing any wind, Wang Tong was surprised to see the Enchantress's hair being tossed around and getting disheveled by some unseen force.
Suddenly, a strange light appeared at where Li Ruoer's two fingers had rested.
"Shit! It was a light of a sword aura formation." Fear came over Wang Tong as soon as he saw the deadly light.
Li Ruoer's soul energy had already crept quietly up to three hundred. This was her real energy level, and it was unmatched by any fighter of her generation. However, the soul energy was not what set her apart from the others.
"Enchantress's Song!"
Li Ruoer's dream-like voice hummed a tune as the strange light at her fingertip expanded into thousands of sharp rays of blade aura. As if commanded by Li Ruoer's humming, these deadly blade aura flew to Wang Tong.
Wang Tong's body tensed up as he marveled at such peculiar method of using one's soul energy.
At the sight of the deadly coup de grace, Wang Tong did not waver; instead, he became even more excited.
In a blink, these blade auras intertwined to formed thirty shimmering aura blades. They lined up in a rotating circle, each blade seeming to have a thousand facet, as a thousand lights bounced off of its surface. It turned the sword formation into a splendid display of both deadliness and astonishing beauty, a fitting combination as the coup de grace of the Enchantress.
Wang Tong opened up his sea of consciousness as the golden soul energy spilled out into his hands. Wang Tong would not dodge the incoming attack; instead, he was determined to face it head-on. He could have sneaked in a cheap attack while Li Ruoer was charging up her sword formation. However, the yearning to test the Enchantress's ultimate power had prevented Wang Tong from doing so.
All thirty-six aura blades had landed at their mark and exploded. The thirty-six explosions rattled the building as an avalanche of plaster fell off from the ceiling. Behind Wang Tong, a giant hole appeared from the immense force of the blade aura.
The purple luster faded as Li Ruoer regained some of her conscience at the sight of the havoc she had wreaked. She didn't mean to kill Wang Tong after all, and for a second, Li Ruoer was worried for Wang Tong's safety.
As Li Ruoer was unnerved by the potential death of Wang Tong at her hands, she heard a blast from a pile of cement and concrete and then saw Wang Tong walk out from the explosion with a golden light in his eyes.
As Li Ruoer locked her eyes onto Wang Tong's, she immediately lost her consciousness.
It was the soul energy override, an ability Wang Tong had learned from Mr. Wannabe in the crystal space.
The key to performing the soul energy override was to synchronize one's soul energy wave with that of the opponent. Wang Tong was just hit by Li Ruoer's soul energy blades, so the memory was fresh. Hence, the synchronization was easily achievable.
Having gained temporary control of Li Ruoer's sea of consciousness, Wang Tong searched it using his own soul energy while hungrily absorbing its power. As soon as he reached the bottom of Li Ruoer's soul energy, he was shocked by the complexity and intricacy.
After a few moments, Wang Tong was ready to pull his soul energy out. He couldn't sustain the connection for too long, since Li Ruoer was a high-level fighter who possessed exceptional soul energy defenses. He had succeeded in overriding her soul energy only because she had lowered her guard due to her concern for Wang Tong's life.
Before he left the enchantress's consciousness, Wang Tong paused and decided to take a final look at the real form of the enchantress. He eventually found her in a corner, but instead of a teenage girl, he saw only a little girl curling in on herself. Helplessness and loneliness were written all over her face.
"Is this really Li Ruoer?" Wang Tong was shocked.
In front of the girl, on the ground was a doll, and the little girl extended her arm, trying to reach it. But, her fingers were shy of a few inches. Despite the futile attempt, the girl was insistent in her action. Wang Tong felt a slight pity for the helpless little girl, so he walked to her and pushed the doll closer to her.
And then he saw a golden flash—
Li Ruoer staggered back a couple of steps, face pale as purple lights flickered in her eyes. She asked, "Wang Tong, what have you done?"
Blood had seeped through Wang Tong's clothing. Although he had survived the Enchantress's coup de grace, he had underestimated its power and didn't put up a full defense. However, he conceded that getting beaten up was the best way to understand opponent's real power.
Wang Tong held Rosy in one hand and pointed its tip at her owner's chest. "You lose."
Li Ruoer was stupefied by what had just happened. She remembered seeing the golden light in Wang Tong's eyes, but she could no longer recall what had happened next as if she had just wake up from a dream that she had already forgotten.
Wang Tong cracked a smile and then turned the blade around, so the handle was facing Li Ruoer, "Li Ruoer, it's just a spar. "
Li Ruoer took over the blade as her face turned bleak. She stomped on the ground out of sheer frustration, "I will honor our deal. But remember, this is not the end of it!"
Li Ruoer turned on her heel and ran away without even sparing Wang Tong a glance. Wang Tong smiled wryly. What he saw in her soul energy seemed to suggest that behind the shining facade, the life in the Great House was nothing to be jealous about.
After the duel, Wang Tong returned to his dorm and found that Zhou Sisi had been waiting for him. Ever since she learned about the duel, she had been worried for Wang Tong. As soon as she saw Wang Tong's blood-soaked clothing, she was infuriated.
"This had gone too far. Let's call the police!" Zhou Sisi said angrily.
It took Wang Tong a while to realize that Zhou Sisi was referring to the blood on his shirt, so he said, "Nah, it's no big deal, just some scratches. You should have seen Li Ruoer, and I think she is the one who should call the police. But anyways, the tactics of the enchantress was potent. You should have seen the way she used her soul energy...It was incredible!"
Zhou Sisi swallowed down the anger and started to dress Wang Tong's wounds. Despite the bloody appearance, these wounds really meant nothing to Wang Tong.
Even Li Ruoer had failed to understand how Wang Tong could have survived her coup de grace. Li Ruoer was confident that her coup de grace would be able to carve her opponent up even if he or she was wearing a METAL suit, much less wearing practically no protection at all.
Wang tong had been too reckless with Li Ruoer's sea of consciousness. Anyone who had mastered the art of soul energy override would understand that it was extremely harmful to alter other's consciousness. However, Wang Tong only knew the way to enter the sea of consciousness, but was unaware of the danger he might have imposed to Li Ruoer.
Wang Tong lied on the bed as the images of the aura blade flashed in his mind like a movie. He conceded that the members of great houses were masters of disguising their real powers. He reasoned that if Li Ruoer knew how to do it, so would Lie Jian. However, Lie Jian would rather lose face than reveal his real power in front of his nemesis, Patroclus.
After the fight, Wang Tong not only gained insight into the Enchantress's technique, but also on the Enchantress's training method. Since both Ma Xiaoru and Li Ruoer had reached about the same level of soul energy, Wang Tong reasoned that Li Ruoer's much higher damage output was a telltale sign that Ma Xiaoru's training method needed adjustment. He had even formulated in his mind the adjustments he believed that were required to bring Ma Xiaoru's damage to the next level. However, he lamented the fact that Ma Xiaoru was not here with him. Otherwise, he could test his theory right away.
Suddenly, another question pressed on him.
"How did Ma Dutian gain his power? And why didn't he notice the obvious shortcomings in Ma Xiaoru's training?" One question bade other. Sensing the complexity of the problem, Wang Tong started to feel tired, so he pushed the matter away.
"I am fine; these are just scratches. No biggie. I covered my face though. See? No scratches on my face."
Wang Tong's words made Zhou Sisi forget about her anger and burst into laughter. She chided gleefully, "Idiot! Are you turning into Hu Yangxuan? That's very attractive."
"Haha, of course not! Hu Yangxuan only has his face, but I got not only the looks, but also the personality. "
Zhou Sisi shook her head and decided to ignore his silliness.
After an hour of working, Zhou Sisi was finally done taken care of Wang Tong's wounds. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and then said. "That will be it for today. Lay on your back and don't move. Next time, think before you act, and please use the brain in your head, but not the one in between your legs! You struck lucky once by surviving the nuclear blast, but your luck would eventually run out."
"Yes, madam!" Wang Tong smiled broadly.
"Just shut up and rest, will you?"
Zhou Sisi didn't leave Wang Tong until she cleaned up the room and made sure he had everything he needed for tomorrow.