Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 258: Fifty Percent

Everyone was in disbelief when they saw Wu Rui. A sixteen-year-old tier four martial artist. What kind of monstrous talent does he have?

They had correctly gauged his strength. Wu Rui had shot past tier three nine-star and broken through into a tier four one-star martial artist.

“Hahaha! It looks like I caught up to you, Xiang Ning!” Wu Rui’s pressure was stronger after he stepped into tier four. His confidence was overwhelming!

Anran had indeed requested that their best candidate be tier four at the age of eighteen, but to think that Wu Rui had become a tier four at sixteen years old!

While the year was soon ending, they were still considered sixteen years old! How strong would they become if they were given another two years? Their future was limitless!

Even Xiang Ning was shocked. He knew that it was extremely difficult to grow and break through as their strength increased. He also knew what kind of difficulties and challenges a martial artist had to go through to reach this stage. Wu Rui was an honorable opponent, and considered himself his lifelong rival. Xiang Ning had no choice but to take him seriously.

Wu Rui could have helped Xiang Ning, who was using the Eight Gates, fight against Balamu as long as Wu Rui’s foundation was improved and he killed enough beasts with his breathing technique.

Both Xiang Ning and Wu Rui smiled at each other.

“Well, do you acknowledge me now?” Wu Rui shouted with pride. That acknowledgment was his main driving force!

“Hah! I’ll only know that if we fight more!” Xiang Ning laughed as he released his aura. He no longer hid his strength and the full might of a tier four martial artist was released, but somehow his pressure was slightly weaker than Wu Rui’s.

The other participants and Anran were shocked once again. To think that Marsh City had these two monsters! One was Wu Rui who was like a war god on the battlefield, killing every beast he could find. The other was Xiang Ning, who had suppressed a thousand beasts as if he was their king. The two were almost equal in ferocity!

While she was still excited, Anran was also perplexed by what Xiang Ning had said. It was clear that he wasn’t revealing his strength to make him look appealing for the position. Then that meant.…

“Good!” Wu Rui nodded as his grip on the iridium rod tightened. A slight creaking sound was heard as the rod itself could barely withstand his strength. “Mountain Crash!” That was Wu Rui’s strongest attack, combined with the Wu clan’s exclusive breathing technique at its peak. The technique had surpassed Peak Mastery!

What kind of monsters were lurking in Marsh City?! The pride of the martial artists from the other cities had already been trampled under their feet. They could never catch up to either of them. If they called themselves geniuses, then both Xiang Ning and Wu Rui were Chosen Ones!

“Peak Mastery! No! It's surpassing it! Holy shit!” Anran could no longer hold back as her excitement peaked. Humanity's desire to fight among themselves hadn’t changed—from the ancient roman colosseum to the present, everyone would be excited to spectate a fight between two masters.

“Xiang Ning! Let’s see how you will respond to my attack!” Wu Rui leapt forward and brought his rod down. The speed was so fast that Xiang Ning couldn’t dodge it in time.

Xiang Ning had never felt this excited!

“Eight Gates! Gate of Origin, open!”

“Charging Toss!” Xiang Ning dug his feet into the ground and charged forward with overwhelming speed and strength.

“Holy shit! Is he crazy?! Does he intend to receive that attack head on?!”

“He’s going to die!”

Everyone shouted, but there was nothing they could do as they saw Xiang Ning’s sword meet Wu Rui’s rod. An explosion rang out as Wu Rui was shot back tens of meters by the shockwave.

“They are monsters!”

But the fight was far from over. Xiang Ning followed up with his Mountain-Splitting Slash before Wu Rui even had a chance to regain his balance.

“Mountain Breaker!” Wu Rui twisted his body forcefully, his shoes melting from the friction with the ground. In the last possible moment, Wu Rui’s Mountain Breaker had advanced from Awakened to Peak Mastery.

Their weapons collided and sent shockwaves everywhere. This time, both of them were sent flying. But they didn’t stop and clashed a few more times. Every time they clashed the air was rocked with explosions and they were forced back.

After numerous clashes their bodies were already bloody due to the shockwaves. Their skin had been torn and cut apart by the air pressure; they were true battle junkies. If any of their attacks were slightly stronger, the other one would have been killed!

Suddenly, both of them stopped within ten steps of each other. Everyone stared, unsure what had happened. Only after some time did they realize that both Xiang Ning and Wu Rui were slowly accumulating their strength as their aura gathered around them. While the speed wasn’t fast, it was very clear that the auras were steadily increasing.

“Wait, why’re their auras getting thicker?”

“Looks like we’re the frogs in the well instead.”

The eight contestants were no longer their former arrogant selves. Instead, they were like students watching a fight between teachers.

Anran closed her eyes. “It’s time for the final blow.”

“Gate of Resting, open!”

“Berserker’s Blood!”

Wu Rui and Xiang Ning unleashed their techniques at the same time. The temperature of the seventh floor increased by an entire degree as sweat evaporated from the combatants’ bodies and formed a thick mist.

“Mountain-Splitting Slash, Oscillate!” Xiang Ning unleashed his attack first. Oscillate was a technique he had come up with. At the moment of impact, his Mental Power would vibrate his weapon at a high frequency, allowing him to increase the destructive force of his attack.

“Mountain Crash!” Wu Rui, who was also a tier two nine-star spiritual cultivator, was also using his Mental Power to accelerate the speed of his attack. He had copied Xiang Ning’s technique!

It may look simple, but it was something he had learned after fighting over a hundred beasts. Thanks to that one simple trick he could fight against beasts that were of a higher tier. It was one of the biggest reasons he could win against them in the first place.

The sound of crashing weapons resounded one last time.

This time the entire dojo shook from the force of their attack. Luckily, the vibration was relatively minor so only those tier four and above could feel it.

Anran and the rest of the contestants were clenching their fists. They couldn’t see who had won due to the dust cloud. Who won?

Soon, the dust settled.

“Heh, looks like I still lost. Tell me, when can I ever catch up to you?”

In the end, Xiang Ning had emerged victorious and was looking at Wu Rui, who was panting on the ground. Both of them were bloody from their fight.

Not even Xiang Ning knew how to answer him.

“How much did you hold back?”

The other nine people on the floor couldn’t believe what they had heard. How was it possible that Xiang Ning had held back?

“Hmm… it’s a bit hard to explain, because there’s many stages to it.”

“Fuck off.”

“Fine, fifty percent.” Xiang Ning honestly answered. Even he wasn’t sure how strong he would be if he opened all of his gates, but that would be reserved for a fight with his life on the line as he would be more or less dead due to the side effect. Thus, it was quite reasonable for him to say that he still had fifty percent of his strength left.