Unexpectedly Bullheaded

But before he could go down to check on the situation, Feng Qing'er's voice came from beside him.

"It's fine. You'd only be wasting a trip. If he couldn't withstand even that much damage, he'd be the one serving as a mount."

Feng Qing'er sat with her arms folded and one leg crossed over the other, looking utterly composed. She even had time to stretch lazily.

In her opinion, if she had taken that attack head-on, she would have suffered serious injuries at the very least.

But Qin Yun was different. After all, he was the only human who had earned her recognition.

Although she couldn't sense anything through the dust, her sixth sense told her that he was completely fine.

Sure enough, as the smoke cleared, half the arena had been blasted into ruins.

Yet a small patch of the arena floor remained completely intact.

Standing on that patch was a young man whose entire body looked like white jade.

"Not bad. Even some One-Star Dou Emperors might not be able to withstand that attack." Qin Yun glanced at the right hand he had used to block the energy wave.

Only half his right sleeve remained, and there were even a few scrapes and cuts on his forearm.

But injuries that would have counted as minor wounds for an ordinary Dou Wang were nothing more than scratches to Qin Yun.

Once he entered the second stage of Threefold Reversal, even severed hands and feet could regenerate instantly, let alone a few scrapes and small cuts.

Then, before everyone's eyes, all the wounds on his arm healed in just three seconds, leaving his forearm as smooth as white jade once more.

Fuck, how am I supposed to fight a cheater like this? Lei Yan no longer wanted to say anything.

He realized that the fellow before him was nothing but a mountain of spaghetti code, a bona fide stat monster. No mechanics, just fucking stats.

After all, who would have expected a Five-Star Dou Wang with such powerful defenses to also come equipped with practically bugged self-healing?

You finally managed to break through his vaunted defenses by trading injury for injury.

Only to discover that his regeneration was absurdly powerful too, instantly refilling the tiny sliver his health bar had lost.

And it was a passive skill, at that. Seriously, was this guy even human? How was anyone else supposed to play?

"Don't be too disappointed. Just being able to break through my defenses makes you a rare genius.

"You should know that Feng Qing'er over there fought me for an entire year before she could barely leave a few scratches on me."

Seeing that Lei Yan seemed to be slipping into a bad state of mind, Qin Yun immediately spoke up to comfort him.

But what sounded entirely comforting to Qin Yun was painfully grating to Lei Yan's ears.

Fortunately, Lei Yan had a fairly resilient mindset. After several deep breaths, he finally calmed his restless heart.

"In that case, let's end this sparring match here..." Qin Yun had intended to take the offered slope and ride his donkey downhill, making a clean exit. He truly hadn't expected Lei Yan to refuse to give up.

"I'm not someone who takes advantage of others. I've struck you once, Brother Qin. Now it's your turn to strike back, isn't it?

"Please don't hold back, Brother Qin. Let me see just how absurd the gulf between us can be."

Lei Yan genuinely wanted to see where the limits of this young man, who was even younger than him, lay.

"All right, all right. Since you insist, I'll get serious." Seeing no way around it, Qin Yun could only unleash an attack of his own.

For this attack, Qin Yun used the Five Thunder Talisman from the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art. Without any brush, ink, or yellow paper, he simply traced talismans in the air with his finger.

His speed was absurd. In roughly three breaths, at least a hundred equally powerful Five Thunder Talismans densely filled the air around him.

Then, with a thought, he swiftly merged those hundred-plus Five Thunder Talismans into a circle ten meters across, enclosing Lei Yan at its center.

Once he was surrounded, lightning instantly spread out from the talismans and linked together, forming a hemispherical dome.

"This is my attack. As long as you can break through this lightning barrier, you've succeeded."

With his attack complete, Qin Yun took a step back and left the stage to Lei Yan.

Looking at the dense lightning barrier surrounding him, Lei Yan felt considerable pressure. On top of that, his previous attack had consumed a full half of his Dou Qi.

He had no idea whether he could break through this lightning barrier, or what price he would have to pay to do so.

"Brother Qin, did you really use your full strength?" Lei Yan wanted to confirm whether this represented Qin Yun's true ability.

"More or less."

"How much less?"

"Uh, a little."

"Tell the truth!"

"All right, all right. I'll turn it up a bit more. This time, I won't hold back."

Left somewhat helpless by his persistence, Qin Yun added more Five Thunder Talismans, doubling the intensity.

Now, a full two to three hundred Five Thunder Talismans had fused together, making even the surrounding air crackle with sparks.

Faced with this overwhelming lightning pressure, Lei Yan couldn't help swallowing. I might have spoken a little too quickly just now. Is it too late to take it back?

"Feel that? This is my full strength. If you're not afraid of dying, you can touch it and see."

Qin Yun had expected Lei Yan to retreat in the face of difficulty and take the way out he had offered.

He hadn't expected the fellow to be so bullheaded, completely ignoring the usual script.

"Then I'll give it a try." After a moment's hesitation, Lei Yan thrust his entire arm toward the lightning barrier.

A piercing scream rang out the next instant, accompanied by the meaty aroma of a rare steak.

"Holy shit, you actually did it! Do you have a death wish?!" Qin Yun hadn't expected him to truly dare.

Although he dispersed the Five Thunder Talismans in time, the damage was unavoidable.

At the sight of the blackened lump before them, nobody present could stay seated.

They scrambled to carry Lei Yan to the infirmary and administered healing pills to keep him alive.

"Don't you know how to control your strength?! This was a spar, not a fight to the death! Didn't you see that you'd practically roasted him?!"

Still shaken, Fei Tian repeatedly jabbed a finger at Qin Yun's head. With his strength, he could have intervened in time.

But he had thought the same thing as Qin Yun-that Lei Yan wouldn't dare. As it turned out, the fellow was pure recklessness.

"Yes, yes, it was my fault. I didn't expect him to actually take it head-on. But he should be fine. I increased the intensity based on his own strength, so it shouldn't affect his future cultivation."

Qin Yun let out a long breath as well. Sure enough, it was better not to attack casually. Earlier, he had nearly given someone an inner demon.

Now he had nearly turned someone into a kiln-roasted pig. Ugh, what a mess.

Fortunately, the examination showed that Lei Yan had a fairly robust constitution. Although his injuries were severe, they hadn't caused any lasting complications.

With proper rest and a month of careful recuperation, he would probably make a full recovery.