Fist Wind Shatters the Air

Goku gathered light in his palms once more. A blue-white sphere formed between his hands. It was smaller than the last one, but more tightly compressed, with denser patterns of light flowing across its surface and almost no energy spilling from its edges. The spectators grew noticeably quieter. Someone in the front row murmured, "This one's brighter than the last."

Goku thrust both palms forward, firing a ki blast. This one was faster and narrower, leaving an almost straight white streak through the air. It reached Lin Chen almost the instant it was fired. Lin Chen moved before the beam arrived—he took half a step forward to the left and turned slightly sideways. The ki blast grazed past his shoulder and exploded at the edge of the ring, sending several splinters of wood flying. They spun once in the air before landing outside the ring, bouncing twice on the sandy ground before coming to a stop.

Goku's eyes lit up when he saw the attack had been dodged. "You're starting to evade."

Lin Chen pulled back the foot he had stepped out with and readjusted his stance. "I've been watching. Every punch and every ki blast has a starting point."

Goku did not argue. He pressed forward a step, his right hand clenched into a fist and aimed at Lin Chen without striking immediately, as though searching for the right moment to punch. Lin Chen raised his hand to waist height as well, palm forward and fingers slightly spread in an obvious defensive stance—but Goku noticed that his center of gravity was slightly lower than before.

They moved at the same time.

Goku punched first, at a trickier angle than before, his fist rising in an upward arc midway through the strike. Lin Chen did not block with both arms. Instead, he twisted sideways and dropped his shoulder, letting the fist graze over it. At the same time, he stretched out his right hand, fingers spread, and slapped toward Goku's shoulder after the punch. Goku's body turned slightly from the blow, but he quickly steadied himself. His right knee immediately followed, driving toward Lin Chen's abdomen. Lin Chen pressed down with his palm to block it, though the impact still forced him half a step back.

[Ding! Attack endured, Constitution Light Orbs acquired ×4, Constitution +12.]

[Ding! Saiyan Combat Instinct Fragment acquired ×1. Current Saiyan Bloodline Fusion Rate: 6%.]

Their exchange of offense and defense continued for about thirty seconds. Goku began adding small changes of direction to his successive punches—sometimes changing the path of a punch midway, sometimes withdrawing it quickly and switching to a sweeping kick. Lin Chen's defensive posture became more flexible in response to these changes. Rather than merely blocking head-on, he adjusted his body angle before contact to redirect the force and reduce the impact his arms had to bear.

Some people in the stands stood up to watch. The benches around the main ring were already full, and those standing in the rows behind peered over the heads of the front row toward the center of the ring. There was not much noise; most people were intently watching the movements onstage.

Goku stopped after a rapid exchange and took half a step back. "Your movements are smoother than they were at the start of the match." He adjusted his stance and lowered his center of gravity. "It's like you're adapting the longer we fight."

Lin Chen did not answer. His breathing was about the same as when the fight began, with no obvious change. The cuff of his martial arts uniform had been scorched away earlier, exposing the skin of his forearm. He rolled his shoulder, then pushed the damaged sleeve farther up, exposing part of his upper arm.

Goku said nothing more. He drew both hands back to his waist again, palms facing each other as blue-white light gathered once more. This glow was brighter than either of the previous two, as though he intended to unleash greater power with this attack.

"Ka—me—ha—me—ha!"

The beam shot out again. It was roughly the same size as the second one, but faster and more tightly spiraled, compressing a long, thin trail of heat along its path toward Lin Chen.

This time, Lin Chen did not dodge. The instant the beam reached him, he raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and held his palm forward. The beam struck his palm, forming a ring of expanding light at the point of contact. He was not pushed back. His feet remained firmly planted on the wooden boards as the beam briefly gathered before his palm, blocked for an instant before scattering off to both sides.

Goku's eyes widened after the blast ended. "You caught it... with your palm?"

Lin Chen lowered his hand. His palm was red, but not burned. The heat had already faded. He flexed his fingers, and his knuckles made faint cracking sounds.

[Ding! High-intensity energy attack endured, Kamehameha Fragments acquired ×8, Kamehameha Synthesis Progress: 47%.]

[Ding! Saiyan Burst Fragments acquired ×2. Current Saiyan Bloodline Fusion Rate: 10%.]

Goku fell silent for a moment. His breathing was slightly faster than before, but it still maintained a steady rhythm. "Your strength keeps growing during the battle. You said you couldn't use the Kamehameha, but when you caught it just now, there was a similar energy fluctuation in your palm—though incomplete, it was heading in the same direction."

Lin Chen moved the right hand that had caught the ki blast. "I saw it clearly that time."

Goku looked at him, then assumed his stance again after a moment. "Then I'll get serious too." He spread his feet apart and bent his knees slightly. His entire posture was more focused than before, and the flow of his energy became tighter, like a current compressed to its limit, with almost no ripples at its edges. "The next attacks won't be so easy to dodge."

Lin Chen adjusted his stance as well. His right hand still retained the heat from that ki blast, slowly cooling in the morning breeze. Dust left in the cracks between the wooden boards rose with their shifting footsteps. Some of it was scattered by the wind, while some settled back where it had been.

Sunlight crossed over the guard ropes on the east side of the ring and shone on the boards between them, stretching the shadows in the seams a little longer. Someone in the back of the crowd shouted, "Fight already!" but the voice was swallowed by the surrounding noise as soon as it fell.