184: Chapter 184 Wang Lin's Test (Part 9)

The two clone Wang Lins vanished with two "poof" sounds.

Wang Lin's true body dove down from the sky.

Wind Ability enveloped his body, making him look like a diving eagle.

Wang Lin held his right hand in front, the Rasengan in his palm spinning continuously, its light growing brighter and brighter.

Song Zhengchu watched the sphere drawing closer and closer; he did not dodge.

His hand gripped his sword steadily. An inch longer, an inch stronger.

The Rasengan in Wang Lin's hand was not as long as the sword in his own.

Before the Rasengan could strike him, his sword would strike Wang Lin first.

The sword was longer than the arm, and the arm was longer than the sphere.

For Wang Lin's hand to touch him, it had to pass his sword first. And his sword would not give Wang Lin that chance.

Even if Wang Lin had Shadow Shapeshifting, he wasn't afraid.

Shadow Shapeshifting could dodge the sword, but it could not dodge the Sword Qi.

His Sword Qi would pierce Wang Lin's body at the same time the sword pierced Wang Lin's shadow.

The Sword Qi would disrupt the circulation of Qi, blood, and energy within Wang Lin, preventing him from maintaining the energy balance in his palm.

Once the energy became unbalanced, that sphere would explode in Wang Lin's own hand.

Song Zhengchu's gaze was locked firmly onto Wang Lin.

His hand gripping the sword made no further movements, his breathing had no fluctuations, and his heartbeat had no changes.

He had become a sword, a sword without emotion.

Victory or defeat, it all depended on this one strike.

It was close. Closer and closer. Ten meters. Eight meters. Five meters. Three meters.

Song Zhengchu's sword was raised, the tip pointing at Wang Lin's chest.

No need to aim, no need to calculate; his sword had already locked onto Wang Lin.

No matter which direction Wang Lin dodged, no matter what Superpower he used, no matter what method he employed, his sword would strike him.

One meter.

Song Zhengchu's sword thrust out.

The tip of the sword pierced through Wang Lin, but there was still no blood.

Wang Lin's body vanished the instant the tip of the sword touched his skin.

His body had instantly moved from one point in space to another.

No movement required, no time required, and no need to traverse the distance in between.

Spatial Ability.

Song Zhengchu's sword pierced empty air.

His body leaned forward slightly from the excessive force, and his vision went blank for an instant as the target suddenly vanished.

But as a swordsman, his reaction was very fast.

The moment his strike missed and Wang Lin vanished, his body's instincts had already made a judgment.

Song Zhengchu turned around violently.

As he turned, he had already begun to retract his sword to parry.

The blade drew a semicircle in the air, transitioning from a thrusting posture to a defensive one.

This process took less than a tenth of a second; people in the stands only saw a streak of silver light drawing a circle in the air.

Wang Lin appeared behind Song Zhengchu.

The Rasengan in his hand, carrying the power to destroy everything, smashed toward his stomach.

Song Zhengchu's sword blocked the space between the Rasengan and his own body.

The blade lay horizontally in front of his stomach, a faint luster gleaming on the black sword—that was his Sword Intent.

Materialized, visible Sword Intent.

His Sword Intent was more solid than Vajra Transformation, thicker than an Earth Element wall, and more reliable than any defense.

Song Zhengchu smiled slightly; he had blocked it.

But at the very moment the Rasengan was about to collide with the blade, Song Zhengchu's expression changed.

His sword was moving; the blade trembled in his hand like a captured snake, desperately trying to break free from his grip.

At this moment, Song Zhengchu recalled the scene when Wang Lin first entered the arena, raising his hand and shouting "Blade, come," and the blade flew into his hand.

At that time, Song Zhengchu thought it was some kind of special Superpower, like telekinesis or something.

But now he knew, that wasn't telekinesis; that was Metal Manipulation.

Superpower [Metal Throne].

Absolute control over all metal.

It wasn't "manipulation," it was a "throne."

"Manipulation" is when you use your hands to control an object, while "throne" means that object should naturally listen to you.

Wang Lin didn't need force, didn't need technique, and didn't need Superpower fluctuations.

As long as he willed it, the metal would listen to him.

His blade was like this, and Song Zhengchu's sword was the same.

This was why [Metal Throne] could squeeze into the eleventh position in the Superpower rankings.

Because its requirement for Mental Energy was very low; otherwise, relying on Iron Demon, a LV6 Mental Energy, it would have been impossible to control an entire train to accelerate.

Nor would it have been possible to use the train's metal to turn into a humanoid Gundam.

Song Zhengchu's sword was desperately flying toward Wang Lin, wanting to leave Song Zhengchu's hand and fly into Wang Lin's.

It wasn't the sword betraying Song Zhengchu; it was the metal itself obeying Wang Lin.

Song Zhengchu gripped the sword as if holding a startled, wild horse.

Veins bulged on his arm, his hand was trembling, and his Sword Intent was fighting against the will of the Metal Throne.

In the end, his Sword Intent won.

The Sword Intent Song Zhengchu had used for decades, his loyalty to the sword, his persistence toward the sword, and his love for the sword...

These things converged, overpowering the call of the Metal Throne.

The sword quieted down again, resting peacefully in his hand like a tamed horse.

But it was precisely during this momentary struggle that Song Zhengchu missed the best opportunity to parry.

His sword was 0.01 seconds too slow.

The Rasengan passed through the gap between his blade and his body, slamming solidly into his stomach.

There was no sound—not that there was no sound of collision, but that the sound itself was swallowed by the sphere.

The sphere spun between Wang Lin's palm and Song Zhengchu's stomach; when it reached the limit of its rotation, it exploded.

Cyan light gushed out from the sphere, like a flood that had been suppressed for too long finally breaking through the dam, rushing toward Song Zhengchu's body and covering the sky.

Song Zhengchu's body flew out, spinning.

Spinning in the air, the sword flew from his hand, tracing a silver arc before landing on the ground.

Song Zhengchu's body slammed into the wall of the Martial Arts Arena, emitting a loud bang, and a circular crater appeared in the wall.

Song Zhengchu slid down from the wall and sat on the ground, head lowered, motionless.

The Martial Arts Arena went quiet.

Everyone was looking at Song Zhengchu sitting by the wall; a swordsman of the Holy Court, a LV7 Ancient Martial Artist, a special envoy of the Council of Elders, had actually been knocked flying by a LV4 Esper.

Lu Zhiyi looked at Song Zhengchu's stomach, her eyes complex.

She remembered the feeling when she was first hit by Wang Lin's Rasengan; it was the same feeling.

But fortunately, she had used her sword to parry at that time, blocking most of the damage.

But Song Zhengchu had taken this blow solidly.

But there was a question in Lu Zhiyi's mind...

Song Zhengchu clearly had the ability to return his sword to parry, but it seemed something happened at the end that made it too late to block.

Wang Lin stood in place, his right hand still maintaining the posture of pushing out the Rasengan.

There were no injuries on his hand, but his hand was trembling.

Because the Rasengan had consumed too much of his power.

Shadow Shapeshifting, Vajra Transformation, Wind Ability, Earth Ability, Metal Throne, Spatial Ability...

He had used almost all his power in exchange for this one strike.

He looked at Song Zhengchu sitting by the wall, and Song Zhengchu looked back at him.

Song Zhengchu slowly stood up.