From Igniting Talent to Becoming a Demon God Section 18

Without saying anything more, Lu Chao slowly stepped forward.

A sensation softer than concrete came up through the soles of his feet, and his figure advanced steadily until he reached the center of the field.

Noticing the movement, the ordinary students who were also taking part in practical combat training exchanged glances, and soon three new people stepped out.

Once they had put on their protective gear, they surrounded him in a triangular formation.

Lu Chao slowly exhaled, the muscles across his body gradually tensing.

"Begin."

Let me see.

How strong I am now.

"Interesting. Junior Brother Lu is back on stage yet again."

"This round isn't easy. From what I saw before, he was always barely scraping by. Can he do it?"

"It's been a month. Maybe Junior Brother Lu's vitality has already broken ten?"

"Even if he's broken ten, it'll still be tough. These ordinary students have all been here for quite a while. Their vitality is at least around seven or eight, and they've got a ruthless streak too. They won't be easy to deal with... If you ask me, it's dicey."

There were quite a few figures near the basic sparring area.

Over the past month, another seven or eight new disciples had entered the school. In addition, there were several senior brothers whose vitality hovered around ten, all of whom had yet to pass this trial.

At once, they noticed the commotion.

Some had bruises still lingering on their faces and folded their arms as they looked over, clicking their tongues and shaking their heads. Others calmly analyzed the situation on the field and were not very optimistic.

The voices from off the field drifted over, buzzing noisily beside his ears.

Lu Chao paid them no mind. He merely lowered his waist slightly, raised both arms, and clenched his five fingers into fists.

His right arm bent at the elbow to guard his jaw, while his left fist held steady in front of him.

This was the most commonly used fighting stance in Gold-Stone Combat Arts, ensuring a broad field of vision with both offense and defense covered.

His calm gaze swept over the entire field as he quickly assessed the three opponents in protective gear.

The young man directly in front of him was somewhat burly and tall, his body packed with hard muscle. His vitality was probably no lower than eight or nine.

The opponent on the left looked thin, but his boxing stance was rather practiced, showing a certain amount of experience.

As for the person behind him.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that it was actually someone he knew. It was none other than Xu Linfeng, who had learned boxing with him at the very beginning, then later given up and chosen to become an ordinary student.

After a month, the other man had clearly grown much sturdier as well.

The ordinary students' methods of improvement were not too slow in the beginning, but compared to combat arts, they had many drawbacks, could not last long, and carried a certain amount of potential damage.

So, under Master Luo's deliberate arrangement.

These ordinary students with an average vitality of seven or eight had become a difficult trial for honing the formal disciples.

Thud!

As thoughts flashed through his mind, the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook.

Lu Chao looked straight ahead. The burly young man in front of him charged forward, rushing to grab him around the waist like a giant bear.

His vision dimmed, the towering figure almost blocking the incandescent light overhead.

His breath tightened. Lu Chao sank his center of gravity, gathered his strength, and prepared to clash head-on.

Whoosh!!

However, just as his power was about to erupt.

The thin opponent on the left stepped in like a ghost, closing the distance and forcing his way to Lu Chao's flank.

Amid a sharp sound of tearing air, a straight punch shot out, stirring up a vicious gust as it went straight for his temple.

Xu Linfeng behind him had also somehow approached silently, his arms like pythons as they coiled toward the back of Lu Chao's head and neck, intending to lock down his body and end the fight.

The three of them cooperated with perfect tacit understanding, sealing off all of Lu Chao's avenues of evasion in a single instant.

"Junior Brother Lu..."

Zhang Hong sighed, a trace of worry flashing across his face.

The many disciples watching from below secretly shook their heads, feeling that the outcome was already decided and there was no suspense left.

Once a combined attack took shape, it was very hard to dodge. How could one person block attacks from three directions at the same time?

Swish!!

However, a whistling sound rose.

In that split second, Lu Chao actually lowered his waist and settled his hips, drawing both fists in to guard himself. His entire body crouched down in an instant like a compressed spring.

Whoosh!!

The burly young man's giant-bear waist grab swept over the top of his head, brushing past his hair and hitting empty air.

Xu Linfeng's body-locking technique and the other man's whistling straight punch also crossed past at the same time, landing on nothing.

The sudden change left everyone stunned. The three whose attacks had missed widened their eyes, a trace of astonishment rising in each of them.

In the next instant—

Whoosh!

Lu Chao, half-crouched on the ground, exploded into motion, his body twisting like a drawn bowstring unleashing its force.

His gathered right fist shot out with the momentum, like a cannonball leaving the barrel, and slammed into the lower abdomen of the lean opponent on his left.

A hundred kilograms of force poured out in full, denting the red padded protective gear inward.

Bang!!

The lean opponent's feet left the ground, his body instantly bending into the shape of a bow as he flew two meters backward.

The dull sound of him crashing to the floor rang out as if it had struck the bottom of everyone's heart.

"Not good!"

The burly young man's expression changed drastically, and he snapped back to his senses at once.

He tried to switch moves, the muscles in both arms bulging as he changed his grab into a smash, bringing up a vicious gust as he hammered down toward Lu Chao's back.

But—

Thud!

Muscles taut, Lu Chao stepped sideways with his right foot and stomped down heavily like an iron nail driven into the ground.

"Hiss!"

The burly young man, whose foot had been pinned, went pale. His movement warped out of shape, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

In that brief instant, Lu Chao's thigh muscles tightened like ropes, and the strength of his whole body twisted into one force.

Borrowing the rebound from stomping the ground, he sank his shoulder and bent his elbow, drawing his right arm inward before driving it forward like a mountain-splitting pestle. It became a heart-striking elbow that crashed hard into the burly young man's chest.

Bang!!

A figure flew backward. The burly young man's massive body rolled several times across the floor before finally managing to stop.

The expressions of the crowd below the stage shifted, and some of them looked dazed.

Another one defeated?

Amid the shock and suspicion, Xu Linfeng, who was standing behind Lu Chao, refused to accept defeat and seized the opening.

Taking advantage of the instant when Lu Chao's body stalled after the elbow strike, he stepped forward.

His left fist was drawn back at his waist, held in reserve and ready to respond to any change, while his right arm punched out, heading straight for the back of Lu Chao's head.

The angle was tricky and ruthless, stirring up another vicious gust.

It was about to brush Lu Chao's hair and defeat him.

At the critical moment—

Lu Chao drove force through his right foot and pushed off, his left foot retreating. With a clean, sharp pivot, he turned back and narrowly avoided the punch.

With his position changed, he was now facing his opponent head-on.

"Chance!"

However, Xu Linfeng's eyes lit up.

He stepped forward again, and the left fist that had been gathering power at his waist shot straight out, driving toward Lu Chao's lower abdomen.

This strike had been rehearsed many times in his mind. It was swift and hard, and both its angle and force could be called perfect. It was only half a foot from Lu Chao's clothes, nearly impossible to dodge.

But in the next instant—

Smack!

An even more powerful hand reached forward, arriving later but striking first, and clamped around his left wrist like an iron pincer.