Combusken's Explosive Eight-Stage Kick

The power boost from Blaze did not affect its host. Instead, it put Combusken, as a Martial Soul, into a blaze state, increasing the power of its Fire-type skills by seventy percent.

At the same time, Ye Chen poured twenty levels' worth of Soul Power into Combusken's Martial Soul Origin, allocating all of it directly for Combusken to use and thus boosting its overall combat strength.

With twenty levels' worth of Soul Power and the blaze state, Combusken saw Xiao Wu about to grab it and smash it into the ground. In its panic, it had a flash of inspiration and suddenly spat a Fire Spin at the ground.

Boom—as the sound of impact rang out, Xiao Wu slammed Combusken hard into the ground.

Fortunately, the Fire Spin absorbed most of the impact, so Combusken wasn't badly hurt.

But this was only the beginning. Xiao Wu's first Soul Skill, Waist Bow, was actually the opening move of the Explosive Eight-Stage Throw. Still gripping Combusken around the waist with both hands, she sprang into the air upside down, flipped over, and slammed it into the ground again.

Boom—another crash rang out, but Xiao Wu's attack still wasn't over. She used the recoil from that second slam to flip back around and smash Combusken into the ground once more.

At that moment, Combusken was like a sack Xiao Wu had seized with both hands and was swinging left and right, while the sharp whistle of its passage through the air and the thuds of impact rose and fell in quick succession.

Every time Combusken hit the ground, the watching noble students and work-study students couldn't help crying out in alarm. Some of the noble students didn't dare look, because Xiao Wu had thrown them around like that too.

When Xiao Wu grabbed Combusken around the waist again, she didn't continue slamming it into the ground. Instead, she flung it into the air.

After six slams and throws in all, plus the opening move of her first Soul Skill, Waist Bow, Xiao Wu had thrown Combusken a total of seven times.

As its name suggested, the Explosive Eight-Stage Throw involved throwing someone eight times in a row, and the eighth throw was by far the most terrifying.

After tossing Combusken into the air, Xiao Wu leaped up after it. She grabbed it around the waist with both hands, spun twice in midair, and then slammed it viciously into the ground.

After being battered by the Explosive Eight-Stage Throw, even a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster would surely be gravely injured and knocked unconscious.

But Combusken now had twenty levels' worth of Soul Power strengthening it. Its overall combat strength and defense had both reached the level of a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster.

On top of that, every time Xiao Wu slammed it into the ground, it spat a Fire Spin at the earth to absorb the force of the impact. As a result, the damage Combusken actually suffered had been reduced to a minimum.

So despite being thrown seven times, it had only suffered superficial injuries and hadn't hurt any bones or tendons.

Just as Xiao Wu completed the eighth and final throw of the Explosive Eight-Stage Throw, Combusken, hurtling toward the ground, spat out another Fire Spin. Using the recoil as it struck the earth to cushion its fall, it flipped over and landed safely on its feet.

Xiao Wu landed at the same time. Seeing Combusken covered in dust but barely hurt, she froze. "How is that possible?"

"Nothing's impossible. Combusken, it's our turn to counterattack. Use Double Kick!" Ye Chen's voice rang out suddenly.

At his command, Combusken let out a strange cry of "Kachamo—" to the sky. Its flame-shaped crest and two thick, powerful legs suddenly shone with white light as it activated Double Kick.

Xiao Wu came to her senses just in time to see Combusken vanish from its spot at astonishing speed.

The sight not only made Xiao Wu's expression turn grave; Tang San, who was fighting Ye Chen on the other side, also paled. Only then did he realize that Combusken was Torchic's evolved form and should have the ability to accelerate as well.

Xiao Wu had just thrown Combusken eight times in a row. That meant Combusken had stacked its speed attribute eight times with the aid of its acceleration ability, which was why it could move so fast.

What neither Tang San nor Xiao Wu knew was that while stacking its speed attribute eight times, Combusken had also stacked the sustained boost from its first Soul Skill, Blaze, eight times.

Combusken now had an eighty percent increase in speed and a one-hundred-and-fifty-percent boost to the power of its Fire-type skills. It could now hold its own even against a three-ring Soul Elder.

What's more, the move Combusken was about to use wasn't just Double Kick. It was the far more terrifying Explosive Eight-Stage Kick.

After evolving into Combusken, the Combusken Martial Soul had gained the Fighting type in addition to Torchic's Fire-type origin.

This had raised Combusken's Fighting talent to the highest level. It could not only learn certain Fighting-type skills on its own, but also easily imitate any kind of martial art thanks to its fighting talent.

Xiao Wu's Explosive Eight-Stage Throw wasn't a Soul Skill at the moment, but a form of martial art.

So after experiencing the full version of the Explosive Eight-Stage Throw firsthand, Combusken had already memorized its key principles and learned to apply them.

If Xiao Wu's first Soul Skill, Waist Bow, was the opening move of the Explosive Eight-Stage Throw, then Combusken's Double Kick was the opening kick of the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick.

"Kachamo—"

Combusken's battle cry rang out. It struck first at astonishing speed, taking two quick steps forward before leaping with a trail of white light. Its right leg slammed into Xiao Wu's abdomen.

Before Xiao Wu could be kicked flying, Combusken twisted in midair. Its right foot hit the ground, its left leg rose, and it drove a high kick into her chin, sending her straight into the air.

The next sight left everyone staring in shock. With its exceptional ability to stay airborne and its incredible speed, Combusken stepped on the air itself and chased after Xiao Wu as she flew upward.

By the time Xiao Wu reached a height of seven meters, Combusken had caught up with her. It rapidly stepped through the air, kicking her eight times in succession from different angles.

The trajectory of Combusken's eight kicks looked like a giant character for "rice" made of white light in the sky.

Within that crisscrossing pattern of light, Xiao Wu was struck again and again in the abdomen, back, left shoulder, right shoulder, and other parts of her body.

Focus Energy increased the chance of hitting vital points because heightened mental strength made it easier to pinpoint an enemy's weak spots.

That heightened mental strength could also precisely avoid an enemy's vital points.

They weren't enemies, so Combusken's Explosive Eight-Stage Kick naturally avoided all of Xiao Wu's vital points.

Still, after taking a Double Kick and then being struck repeatedly by the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick, Xiao Wu couldn't avoid some painful bruises, even if she wasn't seriously injured. She plunged from the sky and crashed hard onto the ground, unable to get back up for a while.

Fortunately, the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick was a Fighting-type skill. If it had been a Fire-type skill, all eight kicks would have carried a one-hundred-and-fifty-percent increase in Fire-type skill power.

After watching Combusken defeat Xiao Wu with the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick, Ye Chen smiled with satisfaction. Once Combusken learned Blaze Kick, the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick performed with Blaze Kick as its foundation would become a Fire-type skill.

With the Fire-type power boost from its first Soul Skill, Blaze, the Explosive Eight-Stage Kick would be every bit as terrifying as a thousand-jin branding iron, glowing red-hot, punching through an enemy's body from every angle until it burned them to ash.