A Card In Hand

Chapter 33: The Lion’s Roar Fist

Although he smiled amiably, Prince Jinxi swore that the moment Li Ao summoned, he would launch an attack.

Ready?

I’m going to grind you into the ground now!

I’ll crush you like a bug on the platform!

Li Ao stretched out his right hand.

Without a word.

He simply hooked his finger at Prince Jinxi.

Prince Jinxi’s teeth itched with hatred. Even at death’s door, you still pose?

“Li Ao, please enlighten me!”

Prince Jinxi said politely with a bow, waiting for Li Ao to return the gesture.

As they exchanged courtesies, he suddenly unleashed a high-speed spinning light arc slash with his right foot.

This half-moon shaped light arc slash, known as the ‘Kicking Blade Wave,’ is a highly advanced combat technique among summoners.

Over a meter in diameter and rapidly spinning, it was entirely formed from light energy.

Unmatched in sharpness.

It could slice through any object in its path.

Previously, although Prince Jinxi could smoothly execute the Kicking Blade Wave, it took a long time to gather energy.

However, after wearing the Phantom Light Orb, which supplied light energy from a treasure, he could achieve an instant effect.

What made Prince Jinxi even more formidable was his talent, ‘Golden Light as Arrows.’

His light-based Kicking Blade Wave not only caused maximum damage but also could autonomously chase the target according to his will until its energy was completely exhausted.

“Danger!”

Fuxi shouted urgently.

He didn’t have time to scold Prince Jinxi for his despicable tactics, only hoping that Li Ao could dodge in time.

On the platform, Li Ao lightly shifted his steps to the left.

Just right.

He narrowly avoided the swiftly approaching Kicking Blade Wave.

Those who saw Li Ao’s dodging move immediately realized that this young man from a branch of the Iron Clan Family had not beaten Prince Jinxi in martial combat by sheer luck.

At the very least, in terms of combat skills, this young man was definitely skilled.

He dodged it?

Prince Jinxi’s lips curled into an extremely cruel and cold smile.

“Do you really think it’s over? You’re wrong; this is just the beginning of your nightmare!”

“Come back to me!”

With a swift gesture behind him, Prince Jinxi summoned the kicked blade wave that had been speeding toward the edge of the Obsidian Platform.

The blade spun in an arc and reversed direction, slicing back towards Li Ao with undiminished speed.

Li Ao once again dodged the attack.

Prince Jinxi launched a second kicked blade wave, directing it and the first to sandwich Li Ao in a pincer attack.

Cang Yue watched anxiously, “Close combat means he can only take hits from a distance!”

Tie Zheng shook his head.

At a distance, Li Ao was unable to strike Prince Jinxi, yet he could still dodge.

In close combat, it would be over for Li Ao, playing right into the enemy’s hands.

Prince Jinxi was waiting for the moment Li Ao would close in on him.

Bolstered by the Mammoth’s Strength, Prince Jinxi didn’t need a direct punch to knock Li Ao down; the shockwave alone from his fist could do it.

Moreover, with close combat, the sky teemed with Nightmare Spiders, and the ground thundered with the poundings from the Silver Golems and trampling by Mammoth beasts; engaging up close was a tactical error.

Li Ao couldn’t possibly win, but if he managed to dodge from a distance, he could drag out the fight.

Thus, even in defeat, no one would see it as a disgrace; instead, they would acknowledge his strength.

“Trying to dodge?”

In preparation for a thorough beating of Li Ao, Prince Jinxi had devised countless battle plans over the past few days.

He had been waiting for this day.

As long as Li Ao stepped into the arena.

Prince Jinxi had a hundred ways waiting.

He had feared that Li Ao might back out and not dare to step up, but now that Li Ao was in the arena, Prince Jinxi wasn’t thinking about victory, but how he could more thoroughly torment his opponent.

As Li Ao continued to dodge the rapidly spinning kicked blade waves in succession.

The Flaming Gold Lion opened its massive jaws.

Its fangs like daggers.

A confluence of flames gathered before it.

Prince Jinxi drew a beautiful arc with his hands in front of its mouth, channeling the concentrated flame energy from the Flaming Gold Lion into his arms, then roared cruelly, “This is a joyous barbecue feast. Try its flavor!”

His fists struck forward at an extremely high speed.

Fists poured down like rain.

Following the direction of the punches.

Countless flames transformed into roaring lions of fire, tearing at the enemy.

This move was the Lion’s Roar Fist, a secret technique passed down by Prince Jinxi’s father, capable of using flames to morph into the shape of lions that autonomously attack the enemy.

Ratatatatatatata…

Roar~!

Roar, roar, roar~!

The dense, rain-like punches morphed into lions of fire.

They roared angrily, charging at high speed towards Li Ao in front of them.

Lie Feng’s expression changed drastically.

Just yesterday, he had lost to this very move.

Possessing the talent of the Lion’s Heart, yet being defeated by Prince Jinxi’s Lion’s Roar Fist and knocked out of the ring was a great humiliation, haunting him all night.

Seeing Prince Jinxi deploy it again today, he realized that integrating the combat beast Flaming Gold Lion’s fiery source energy, Prince Jinxi’s Lion’s Roar Fist was more than ten times more powerful than yesterday!

Could I withstand it?

Lie Feng wasn’t entirely sure, even though he too possessed a Silver-grade combat beast, the Windstorm Lion.

Man Huang slowly shook his head.

Tie Zheng remained silent.

Cang Yue, on the other hand, let out a scoff.

With his agile type and extremely flexible movements, the dense, rain-like Lion’s Roar Fist seemed to him not without gaps.

From a sufficiently long distance between them, Cang Yue was confident he could dodge this move.

Of course, to face it head-on would be foolish.

He wouldn’t do such a silly thing.

On the platform.

Li Ao moved through the throng of Flaming Gold Lions like a fish swimming through densely packed, ravenous creatures. In an astonishing manner, he weaved through nearly imperceptible gaps, continuously closing in on Prince Jinxi.

“Interesting, come closer, come on, just a bit closer!”

Prince Jinxi, far from angry, seemed delighted as he muttered to himself.

Countless beams of golden light converged on his arms, coalescing into a sphere.

The Mammoth’s trunk lifted.

It bellowed towards the heavens.

Behind Prince Jinxi, an immense, ancient mammoth phantom flashed into existence.

A sound wave more shocking than thunderous lightning rolled out, sweeping across the arena, unstoppable in its spread.

Zzzzzz…

Electric currents wildly surged around Prince Jinxi’s hands.

Eventually, they formed a net of lightning around the gradually forming orb in front of his chest.

“Kneel before me, you little insect!”

Prince Jinxi, with his gaze locked on the approaching Li Ao, unleashed the long-brewing Mammoth’s Rage – Thunderous Momentum with a fierce intensity.

Light followed the direction of Prince Jinxi’s punch.

The orb transformed into a terrifying beam of light, piercing through everything with a solidity nearly tangible.

With one punch, the entire mini-world dimmed.

The weaker new trainees couldn’t even open their eyes to see what was happening on the platform.

The assistant referees quickly fled from the direction of Prince Jinxi’s attack, fearing that even a thousand meters away, the punch’s shockwave could cause them harm.

“It’s a trap!”
Cang Yue shouted in alarm, realizing only then that using Lion’s Roar Fist to force Li Ao into close combat was a trap Prince Jinxi had set early on.

“…” Tie Zheng could not bear to watch what followed on the platform, lowering his head in anguish.

He had actually wanted to stop Li Ao from competing.

Even if he had to fight.

He could have conceded early and left the ring.

The Iron Clan family had seen a decline in talent over the recent generations and desperately needed an elite descendant with outstanding combat skills like Li Ao.

Li Ao’s lack wasn’t in his own cultivation or talent, but in a powerful war beast to accompany him.

Today’s tragedy was entirely avoidable.

However, Li Ao didn’t seem to have a strong sense of belonging to the main family, instead placing his trust more in Fuxi of the Silverlight City branch.

Fearing that pushing Li Ao too hard might lead to rebellion, he refrained from persuading too much, never anticipating that Prince Jinxi intended to beat Li Ao to death!

At this moment, Fuxi, blinded by the dazzling light, couldn’t see what was happening on the platform and was jumping anxiously.

Huo Mei frowned deeply.

Ling Long clenched her small fists tightly, worried for Li Ao.

The timid Yue Sha, scared, hid in Ling Long’s arms, not daring to watch what was coming next.

Li Ao and Prince Jinxi.

The distance between them was now less than ten meters.

Boom!

The terrifying column of light from Mammoth’s Rage – Thunderous Momentum blasted towards Li Ao in an instant.

Li Ao’s next move was unexpected to everyone watching; he didn’t dodge but instead extended his right hand as if he were a naive child, completely unaware of the immense power of the looming column of light.

With a calm expression, he reached out his hand and single-handedly caught the fearsome beam that was about to strike his face…