Chapter 142: Chapter 142: The Battle of Profundity Ends
Boom!
Boom boom!! The two of them were fighting at lightning speed.
Li Yuan's spear vibrated continuously, the spear like rolling stars, dancing like dragons and snakes, repeatedly blocking Tantai Feng's long sword.
Although Tantai Feng was still attacking with full force, his speed and strength still surpassed Li Yuan's, but he no longer had an overwhelming advantage.
Time and again, the blade attacks were rendered ineffective against Li Yuan's flawless defense.
"The Starry Intent."
"Body like the stars, spear like a dragon! This is the Starry Intent." Tantai Feng sensed Li Yuan's rapid transformation.
Even as time passed and the battle continued, with just one sword, Tantai Feng was no longer able to suppress Li Yuan; instead, there was a trend of being suppressed by Li Yuan's defensive counterattacks.
"I thought I was talented enough."
"I didn't expect that there would be someone more talented than me among my peers." Thoughts raced through Tantai Feng's mind. "Breaking through in battle, how impressive!"
"Why haven't I done that?"
"Maybe next time I break through, I'll pretend to do it in battle and show off a bit?"
Tantai Feng remained calm, still not using the shield in his left hand.
"Fight!"
"Fight!" Li Yuan grew braver as he fought, completely transformed.
Winning or losing? Li Yuan didn't care; he just wanted to have a great fight.
Just now, under Tantai Feng's extreme pressure, Li Yuan defended with all his might, and with the insights gained from his recent spear practice, he finally broke through, having been on the verge for some time.
Most crucial was his mental strength of level 23, which provided a huge advantage for his current state of mind.
Allowing him to take that crucial step in battle.
"Break!"
Li Yuan's spear rolled, suddenly exploding with spear after spear, swift as lightning, turning from defense to offense, pushing Tantai Feng back step by step.
Starry Spear Technique - Galaxy Cascade!
The same move, when executed with Li Yuan's full strength and insight, was vastly more powerful.
...
"Starry Intent! Mental Profundity!"
"Li Yuan actually broke through? Under such immense pressure in this battle, he managed to break through?"
"Incredible."
"So fast? Li Yuan only reached the Bright Moon stage in August, and now he's pushing towards the perfect fourth stage?"
"Tantai Feng is in danger."
In another viewing area, the hundreds of teachers watching were completely stunned, watching the intense battle on the stage.
Tantai Feng's sudden burst was already surprising enough, but it was within their expectations.
After all, Tantai Feng had always shown extreme talent; he reached the high-level fourth stage in May this year.
After so long, achieving a profound mind, although surprising, was still acceptable.
But Li Yuan? He only broke through in August!
"What?"
"Mental Profundity!" Li Yang and Dean Xu were equally shocked, even somewhat dumbfounded.
That's right!
Previously in the battle, Li Yuan had indeed shown signs of understanding the Starry Intent.
But showing signs and truly understanding it are worlds apart!
The difference is significant.
"Can Li Yuan win?" A sudden sense of expectation arose in Li Yang's heart.
...
"The battle is so intense."
"Wow!"
"Li Yuan is starting to gain the upper hand?"
"The situation is turning around."
"Is Tantai Feng going to lose?" The entire viewing stand was in an uproar, with everyone staring wide-eyed at the scene.
They couldn't fully understand the specific skill levels, but they could grasp the general situation.
Li Yuan, who had been at a complete disadvantage, was gradually beginning to suppress Tantai Feng.
At this moment, most spectators had an involuntary thought: Is Tantai Feng going to follow in the footsteps of Gaurav and Yu Ming?
Several times before, it had been proven.
Li Yuan was best at defensive counterattacks, and he was definitely the strongest defender in the Ten School Freshmen Battle.
...
"A profound mind?"
"A freshman from Kunlun Martial University has also achieved a profound mind?" The top global talents from Starlight University and Starry Sky University were both shocked and complex in their hearts.
They had all seen that Li Yuan had broken through.
It was one thing for Tantai Feng to break through; he was originally the top genius of Starlight University.
But Li Yuan?
Before this, many martial arts geniuses from the three top martial arts schools didn't even know who he was.
...
Li Yuan's breakthrough and explosive performance shocked all the spectators.
But the 'battle of profundity' on the stage had reached a fever pitch.
The fierce battle between the two continued.
Finally.
"Clang!" When Li Yuan's spear thrust out like lightning again.
The sword attack was a beat slower and failed to block the thrust.
"Boom~" The huge shield moved horizontally, smashing heavily against the spear, causing the spear to deviate.
Boom!
Li Yuan was blasted back, widening the distance between them, staring intently at Tantai Feng. Tantai Feng did not follow up with an attack but stopped as well.
"Why did you help me?" Li Yuan suddenly asked, filled with confusion.
Just now, without Tantai Feng's extreme pressure, even if he was only a step away from a true breakthrough, he wouldn't have managed it.
In a sense, it was Tantai Feng who helped him.
"Didn't you help Dazhuang?" Tantai Feng grinned. "I saw you were on the verge of a breakthrough and thought I'd try to help you. I didn't expect you to really break through."
"Dazhuang? Tian Dazhuang?" Li Yuan was stunned, not reacting immediately.
How did Tantai Feng know?
"Dazhuang is one of my best friends at school; we often spar together." Tantai Feng smiled. "I know about you helping him."
"You're a good person." Tantai Feng gave Li Yuan a thumbs-up.
Li Yuan nodded slightly, understanding the reason.
But he still looked at Tantai Feng oddly.
A good friend? Would a good friend ask for help to beat up Tantai Feng?
But Li Yuan suddenly remembered that Tian Dazhuang had mentioned a few days ago that he had sparred with Tantai Feng.
"You helped me, aren't you afraid of losing?" Li Yuan asked in a low voice.
"Does winning or losing matter?" Tantai Feng smiled in return.
Li Yuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "It doesn't matter, the rewards are similar."
"You're wrong again."
"It matters a lot." Tantai Feng said seriously. "If I lose, I won't be the global number one of this year. Even if you surpass me, at least let me have my moment of glory."
Li Yuan was stunned. This guy didn't follow the usual logic at all.
"I helped you."
"But I also said, with my shield, you don't stand a chance." Tantai Feng smiled. "Li Yuan, forcing me to use the shield, you are definitely the global number two this year."
"From now on, I won't hold back."
Without waiting for Li Yuan to say more.
Boom! Tantai Feng exploded once again, his speed instantly soaring, charging towards Li Yuan like lightning, a blurred sword attack slashing down fiercely.
This sword was even faster than before.
"Whoosh!"
Li Yuan's spear whistled, trying to block the attack.
"Boom~"
Tantai Feng's shield, like a heavy hammer, suddenly lifted, colliding with the spear tip, then the shield sliced horizontally, clashing with the spear tip, forcefully knocking the spear aside.
Rushing towards Li Yuan like lightning.
Boom! Li Yuan, seemingly anticipating this, withdrew his spear, his legs exerting force, retreating backward.
"Boom~"
"Bang! Bang!" The two fought at lightning speed. Although Li Yuan exerted all his strength and was careful in defense, facing Tantai Feng's sword-shield burst, he was completely at a disadvantage.
The sword was like flowing light, swift as lightning.
The shield was like a heavy hammer, either smashing or defending.
With the sword and shield combination, Tantai Feng's strength increased by more than double, completely suppressing Li Yuan, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.
...
The entire viewing stand grew quieter at this moment.
Many spectators held their breath, watching this scene.
No one expected the final match to reach this stage. After Li Yuan's explosive performance,
Tantai Feng used his shield to once again suppress Li Yuan.
"So strong."
"Sword techniques! Shield techniques! Movement techniques! Tantai Feng has reached the perfect fourth stage in all these aspects, almost to the extreme."
"He's very close to the fifth stage." The teachers watched with shock.
...
On the stage, Li Yuan was repeatedly and arduously defending and retreating.
At this moment,
Li Yuan realized that Tantai Feng's true strength lay not in his sword techniques, but in his shield techniques.
The shield in his hand seemed alive, both offensive and defensive.
Moreover, after fully exploding, Tantai Feng's movement techniques were clearly superior.
Even with the Starry Intent and a profound mind, Li Yuan couldn't withstand it.
A profound mind and raising spear and movement techniques to over 90% of the fourth stage are two different concepts.
It requires a lot of time to continue practicing, and what Li Yuan lacked was time.
Suddenly.
"Swish!" Another sword slashed down, and Li Yuan raised his spear to block.
At the moment of blocking,
Tantai Feng's left-hand shield suddenly flew out, like a cannonball, directly smashing towards Li Yuan's chest.
At such close range, the shield was too fast.
So fast that Li Yuan couldn't react in time.
"Boom~" Li Yuan felt a terrifying force piercing through his armor, impacting his entire body, and he was blasted backward.
Whoosh! Tantai Feng stepped forward.
Whoosh!
The eerie sword attack flashed, slicing down along Li Yuan's spear, cutting across Li Yuan's face and neck.
Blood splattered.
Li Yuan's figure became blurry.
"I lost." Li Yuan didn't feel disappointed, instead, he smiled. "A profound mind, this battle was very rewarding. In terms of true strength, I'm indeed not as strong as him."
In the end, Li Yuan was quite grateful to Dantai Feng.
Whoosh!
Li Yuan's figure completely disappeared.
"What a freak!"
"I had to risk throwing my shield to finally defeat him despite my full burst." Tantai Feng muttered. "The information said he only had third-stage skills last year?"
"This progress is much faster than Gong Mi and the others, even faster than me."
"It seems I won't hold the title of global number one of this year for long." Tantai Feng shook his head.
...
"Tantai Feng!!"
"Tantai Feng!" Tens of thousands of spectators on the viewing stand were cheering his name excitedly.
In this battle, both sides had fought with all their strength, and it was extremely intense.
In the end, Tantai Feng's full burst won the victory.
"Awesome!" Tantai Feng felt elated listening to the cheers from all directions.
He didn't care about being surpassed by Li Yuan in the future; at least today, he had won this battle.