Chapter 165: Spirit Hubs and Spirit Arts
"Boom!" Just like the last time this move was unleashed, Luo Yi's position became the epicenter, and the surrounding two hundred meters were engulfed by the shockwave. The destructive power rivaled a small fuel-air explosive, while the terrifying high-frequency vibrations from the Spirit Explosion pulverized all the sand and rock near the center. Dust flew everywhere, shrouding the arena in a fog of war.
"The outcome is about to be revealed. Who will be the ultimate victor...?" The live broadcast drone, having prepared in advance, easily dodged the air currents from the ground explosion. The commentator, whose vision could pierce through the obscuring fog, continued to narrate for the audience.
"Cough, cough, cough... you still lost." As the fog slowly dissipated, Hei Ya, much taller than average and covered in wounds from the explosion, was the first to emerge.
He swiftly retracted the shields that had instantly grown on his left and right arms, now severely damaged from the explosion.
"Fortunately, to defend against that move of his, my bones and the alloys in my body, integrated with my Life Field, synthesized this shield just before the explosion. Those high-frequency vibrations could even destroy my bone alloys."
"No! The power of this Spirit Explosion is only about half of what it was that day!" Hei Ya had just caught his breath when, cross-referencing it with his memory, he immediately realized something was off.
"You guessed right, but no prize." Luo Yi's voice quietly appeared by his ear.
"But how is that possible! My eyes clearly perceived that you had completely exhausted all the Spirit Energy in your body!"
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom!" Luo Yi offered no verbal explanation, choosing instead to communicate with a barrage of Spirit Energy missiles fired at point-blank range.
He enjoyed combat, but that didn't mean he enjoyed throwing his life away without any chance of victory.
With Hei Ya's declaration, the final match concluded. Nearly half the arena erupted in thunderous cheers, contrasted, of course, by the dead silence from the other half.
Before the match, supporters from both sides had agreed to pick a section each, leaving the middle seats for the casual spectators, the "melon-eating masses." This arrangement now made the stark division perfectly clear.
"Can you tell me how you fooled my eyes?" Despite Hei Ya's severe injuries, his terrifying physique still allowed him to remain on the field for the moment.
"Mirage Art." Luo Yi uttered three words, then used most of the remaining Spirit Energy in his body to condense another clone identical to himself. "Using it to unleash the Spirit Explosion was enough."
"How could you be unharmed by such a close-range explosion if the vibrations weren't originating from your true body!?" Hei Ya persisted, unwilling to give up, much like a student who failed to solve a final exam question repeatedly asking the teacher if there was an error in the problem.
"Since you're asking so sincerely, then I'll... continue." Having achieved his objective of victory, Luo Yi was clearly in high spirits, and revealed some things that weren't too secret.
"Earth Wall Art!" Luo Yi spoke three more words. No sooner had his voice faded than, as if a giant hand were scooping up the surrounding sand, a wall of earth abruptly rose from the ground.
"You truly are a genius in researching Spirit Arts! But I will catch up and defeat you soon. In my life, I only fear being unrivaled!" Hei Ya attempted to express himself in classical language. The two of them seemed to have developed a mutual respect, the kind born from a good fight.
"In Huaxia, you're the second person to make me stumble." Hei Ya and Luo Yi chatted as they walked.
"There's someone else who can defeat you?" Luo Yi was also curious. If he hadn't used informational asymmetry to trip up his opponent, whether he could have won would still be an unknown.
"Nothing much, we didn't truly fight. He just played a trick on me, then said he'd see me at the award ceremony. He seems to be from the medical team."
"Hm." Hearing that he was from the medical team, Luo Yi didn't pay it any further mind.
"It seems I'm late?" Bai Mo teleported onto the main stage, greeting Chairman Hua and the other person who was still seated.
The guards on either side, seeing a person abruptly appear, immediately drew their weapons in caution. Only after recognizing him as Bai Mo did they put their weapons away.
"Indeed, you're a bit late, Bai Mo. You only show up after the matches are over. What happened to your voice? It sounds like surround sound."
"A slight after-effect of an experiment. It shouldn't be too late, though. I still caught the final, intense part; it was brilliant. This Luo Yi has come up with a lot of impressive things."
"Indeed. We plan to bring him into the Research Institute and let him establish a Spirit Art research project group."
"Good."
"You never visit without a purpose," Hua Taishan asked with a smile, "so why are you here today?"
"I came to hear about the Martial Edict."
"We plan to invite some of the top twenty contestants from this martial arts competition who are interested to join us in a subsequent compilation of the Martial Edict. The current Martial Edict, which only reaches the Spirit Animation Fourth Stage even at its peak, is becoming a bit outdated. Would you like to join?"
"That's not my forte. I'll just be an onlooker."
"Each has their own ambition. And you can no longer be seen as a junior now."
"Come to the award ceremony tomorrow. I'll announce this matter then."
"Alright, see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Bai Mo came in a hurry, and then left in a hurry.
"How was it?" Hua Changjiang asked after Bai Mo disappeared from sight.
"This Bai Mo, he seems to have grown stronger again. Experimenting directly on his own body... he truly is a ruthless man."
"Someone ruthless to himself is even more ruthless to others," Hua Changjiang sighed. "And the recent situation isn't too optimistic either."
"What's wrong, Changjiang?"
"What else could it be? It's a struggle between power and might. The people from the Research Institute have mostly sided against us. On our side, we only have Bai Mo, who's not very reliable in character and has no desire for power whatsoever."
"Since when did the Research Institute become a crucial leverage point?"
"The Spirit Energy Research Institute has a total of 2,200 people. Including him, there are over a dozen high-tier Ability Users who have entered the Unmelting Realm, and dozens more around the Spirit Animation Fifth and Sixth Stages. This is already enough to influence many matters."
"I don't understand these things. I'll leave it to you, Changjiang, to figure out."
"Power! When will I have the decisive power to settle everything with one blow!" Without the support of sufficient personal strength, Hua Changjiang felt the power in his hands was as fragile as glass.
"Spirit Arts. The essence of Spirit Arts is likely a simplified simulation of Spirit Hub functions, allowing the practitioner to, to a certain extent, break free from the limitations of the physical Spirit Hub and unleash corresponding abilities."
"Luo Yi's final Mirage Art today felt a bit familiar. The way the mirage he released exists is similar to my own clones: both exist in the form of Spirit Energy."
"Without a corresponding Spirit Picture, how exactly did he create such a Spirit Art? Could it really have been constructed out of thin air?" Bai Mo pondered the things he had seen today as he walked.
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