Chapter 122: First Attempt

Yet from the way things looked, Luo Chen was still completely on the defensive. Unable to grasp the changes in his opponent’s footwork, he could do nothing but dismantle each attack, with no chance to counter.

However, after throwing out so many attacks without once managing to hit Luo Chen, Mairon was beginning to grow anxious as well. An opportunity to show off like this did not come often. His footwork changed again, becoming faster and more unpredictable, so dazzling that it was almost impossible to follow. This was the Seven-Star Steps passed down through Mairon’s family. It could not be considered a top-tier movement technique, but it was still impressive enough. At the very least, it was a complete system of footwork rather than a makeshift collection of ordinary light-body techniques.

Luo Chen was now even more hard-pressed. He could only use speed to escape his opponent’s changes, retreating steadily while maintaining a short distance between them. Mairon, meanwhile, followed him like a shadow, refusing to let him go.

When the two sides were roughly equal in speed, one seeking speed and the other seeking variation, neither could do anything to the other. Still, the one relying on speed to evade inevitably looked rather shameless.

Seeing the two of them circling the arena, one in front and one behind, the students from Classes One and Two could no longer sit still and began shouting insults.

“Luo Chen, you’re really shameless! All you know how to do is run around like a stray dog!”

“Exactly! What kind of match is this? It’s more like a cat toying with a mouse!”

“Stop running and fight Mairon already! Don’t waste our time!”

“...”

Although the students from the senior Classes Three and Four also felt that Luo Chen was being somewhat underhanded, they thought to themselves that the people from Classes One and Two were hardly any better. They had actually sent someone who knew a proper movement technique into the match. Wasn’t that obviously bullying them?

Rigg was growing anxious as well. He assumed Luo Chen was deliberately stalling, waiting for the lesson to end. If Mairon still could not land a hit by then, the match would count as a draw. As long as he managed a draw, Luo Chen could preserve his dignity. That boy was truly cunning, Rigg thought.

Just as nearly everyone had concluded that Luo Chen’s plan was to waste time, and the battle had begun to seem utterly dull, Luo Chen suddenly stopped. He no longer retreated. What was more, he did something no one had expected—he closed his eyes.

That was right. Luo Chen truly shut his eyes, not even looking at Mairon.

The crowd erupted in astonishment. What did Luo Chen think he was doing, fighting with his eyes closed? Could it be that he believed losing this way would make the defeat less humiliating?

Though Mairon did not understand Luo Chen’s intentions, he immediately flew into a rage. To him, Luo Chen’s behavior was an extremely insulting show of contempt.

Joanna frowned. “Has that idiot lost his mind? Or does he think that losing with his eyes closed will be less embarrassing? This is so ridiculous!”

Elise speculated, “Luo Chen does not seem like someone who would act out of boredom. I think Mairon’s footwork has dazzled him, and he is trying to fight by sensing the wind and identifying his opponent’s position. But no matter how disorienting it is, sight is still more accurate than sensing the wind. He has not been pushed to the point of giving up all hope yet!”

Mairon did not care about any of that. He intended to defeat this man who dared to despise him at once. He went straight up to Luo Chen and thrust out his sword.

Strangely, Luo Chen moved aside as though he had seen the attack coming, dodging the blow. Mairon froze for a moment, then stepped to the left and followed with another slashing stroke. Luo Chen bent low and evaded it once more, then thrust his own sword toward Mairon, forcing him to retreat hurriedly.

Everyone was baffled. Luo Chen had actually avoided two consecutive attacks from Mairon. That could not have been a coincidence. Could his ability to sense the wind and identify his opponent’s movements really be that powerful?

The instructors from both classes exchanged startled glances.

Mental perception?

But a prerequisite for mental perception was powerful spiritual energy. The academy’s meditation courses had not even begun. Even those who had started studying in advance could not possibly have developed spiritual energy sharp enough to sense and track another person’s movements.

The instructors’ guess was correct. Luo Chen was indeed using mental perception to fight. In an ordinary battle where combat techniques were permitted, he would never have dared to attempt something so reckless. But now that neither side could use combat techniques and they were limited to circling with light-body skills, the distance between them had narrowed to a range he could estimate with reasonable accuracy. Since his footwork could not keep up with his opponent, he might as well try sensing his movements. To his surprise, the results were quite good.

The reason he had closed his eyes was not to show contempt for his opponent. Once he shut off his other senses, his perception became sharper, allowing him to track his opponent’s movements more accurately.

Elise had noticed something as well. “Joanna, did you realize it? Luo Chen is not sensing the wind or tracking the movement of his weapon. He is using mental perception!”

“It does look that way, but that is impossible. I have never seen him cultivate his spiritual energy.” Joanna was utterly bewildered. “What other abilities does that boy have that we know nothing about?”

In truth, Luo Chen’s spiritual energy was not as powerful as the instructors imagined. It was merely extraordinarily acute. Even Sean, a dark-element holy servant who excelled at hiding in the night, had failed to escape his sixth sense. That alone proved how sharp it was.

Normally, however, the sensitivity of spiritual energy was directly proportional to its strength. Someone like Luo Chen, whose spiritual energy was not especially powerful yet was so keen that he could use it for perception, was an exceptionally rare anomaly.

Mairon refused to believe it. He rapidly stamped out several steps, moving so quickly that his footwork became nearly impossible to see.

This time, Luo Chen could no longer keep up. His opponent’s changes in aura were too rapid and complex, while Luo Chen’s mental perception was still too weak. He immediately opened his eyes, only to find himself flustered and scrambling.

At that moment, Nicole suddenly spoke.

“Master, use this opportunity to try the Super Mental Wave!”

“The Super Mental Wave? Nicole, didn’t you say that once it was used, it could not be stopped, and that I would be exhausted afterward?”

“That is true. But you should experience it once beforehand. Then, if you truly need to use it in the future, you will at least know what to expect.”

“All right. I’ll give it a try.”

Luo Chen compressed his spiritual energy into a single point, then abruptly released it.

A booming sound echoed inside his head. Then a strange sensation spread rapidly outward like a rising tide. It was not sight, hearing, smell, or any other individual sense, yet it felt as though all his senses had been combined into one. The sensation was profound and mysterious.

Every piece of information within a hundred meters was returned to Luo Chen with astonishing clarity. In an instant, he calculated the number of people present in the training ground: one hundred and fifty-seven in total.

Each person possessed a different aura. Eight of those auras were far stronger than the rest, which meant they were obviously instructors. The remaining auras varied in strength and had to belong to students. Two of the more familiar auras were probably those of Elise and Joanna. They should be roughly thirty-five meters behind him.

There was more. Beneath the training ground, countless forms of life were moving—earthworms, moles, and creatures like them. Three birds were flying across the sky.

Even though Luo Chen was not deliberately diverting his attention to observe these things, he knew them all with perfect clarity.

It was as though countless eyes were observing everything around him, while countless minds analyzed every piece of information that reached them.

It was wondrous—truly, unbelievably wondrous.