Light Fortress
Chapter 316 - 16 Iron Eater_2

Chapter 316: Chapter 16 Iron Eater_2

"Brother Zou, the people under your teacher’s command are arriving a bit too slowly."

He turned to Zou He and said, "The news of the challenge has gone out... The spectators have packed the Taoist School, so why haven’t the challengers arrived?"

Zou He said coldly, "Don’t worry, just wait a bit longer. My exceptionally gifted little junior brother... has just finished his seclusion and cultivation and is on the way. In at most ten minutes, he will be here."

"So the idea is to drag this out a bit longer, so that more people can see..."

Fatty Luo frowned and whispered in a cautionary tone, "Brother Gu, you have only been cultivating for half a year. Challenging someone comes with more disadvantages than advantages for you... If you win, it is as expected, but if you lose..."

Gu Shen is an S-rank!

If you lose, that would be bad news!

"If it’s a battle between equals, why care about the length of cultivation time?" Gu Shen said lightly, "As long as it’s the same level, even if the opponent has ten more years of cultivation than me, what of it? If he wants to delay, then let him delay... Let Changye see how I win!"

With Gu Nanfeng present.

The most important aspect of "fairness" for this battle could be ensured!

The reason for today’s counterattack, even taking it to the front of the Fourth Judge, was first to legitimize his own "S-rank" status and second... Gu Shen did not want to be put on the back foot.

Does Han Dang want to play dirty?

A fair duel, an open and above-board challenge of the same level... Gu Shen naturally had no fear.

But if he did not take the initiative today, it would be very difficult to guard against those hidden knives and secret arrows coming from the shadows in the future.

"Rest assured..."

Gu Nanfeng said softly, "What you’re worried about won’t happen."

That one sentence was the greatest guarantee.

He would be responsible for supervising the entire scene and making sure that no underhanded tactics would occur in today’s duel.

With these words, Fatty Luo realized what the purpose of Young Master’s trip was. Clearly, the Young Master truly regarded Gu Shen as a "friend." He intended to leverage the Gu family’s name to add weight to this duel.

Realizing this, Luo Yu stopped talking. He just stood aside obediently and silently sent a message to his own master via the communicator.

...

...

"...He’s here!"

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, watching as the crowd in the Taoist School parted to make way.

The clamor surrounding this arranged fight was tremendous, but Zou He’s teacher, "the Fourth Judge" from the prison, had not shown up from start to finish, for a very simple reason.

It was a fight between students and disciples.

Zhou Jiren did not show himself.

And naturally, neither would he.

The outcome of this fight hinged on the disciples’ own strength. News of Zhou Jiren heading to the North Continent was already well known among the upper echelons of Changye City... If he showed up today, and Zhou Jiren did not, then even if his disciples won, they would unavoidably be subject to criticism.

"The little junior brother from the Fourth Judge’s camp, ’Shen Li,’ a Strong Attack Type Transcendent, has an A-Rank talent and has been cultivating for one year and three months. His last deep water area test was one month ago, successfully completing the Deep Water Area Fifth Layer, ready to break through to the sixth layer at any time."

The file information Chu Ling pulled up appeared before Gu Shen’s eyes.

"Strong Attack Type, ability ’Iron Eater’?"

One piece of information caught Gu Shen’s attention.

It was an ability that involved the use of iron elements... Not too dissimilar to the "Iron Throne," yet not quite the same.

Tie Wu’s "Iron Throne" could perfectly manipulate the separation and aggregation of iron elements. Once reaching Great Success, it could even strip and reconstitute elemental forms. Because the power utilized was purer, it was categorized within the "Natural" type.

The ability "Iron Eater" was a bit more straightforward and brutal.

Shen Li could control visible iron objects and incorporate them into his own body. In other words... he himself was a human-sealed artifact capable of melting iron. Every punch and kick was as if tempered with iron.

This was practically a moving humanoid weapon!

In a one-on-one fight on an arena, this was an almost invincible ability.

To hit, I have fists of iron.

To defend, my body is as sturdy as iron.

And when Shen Li made his appearance... Gu Shen suddenly realized why he had been made to wait so long.

A youth not much different in age from himself, clad in a suit of armor with unique properties, slowly climbed onto the Taoist School’s stage under everyone’s gaze.

Gu Shen cast a complex glance at Zou He.

The latter remained calm, as if indifferent to the gazes of the crowd.

Was Shen Li just concluding his seclusion and cultivation?

To any bystander, it was clear that this guy had been preparing his iron weapons right before the battle!

"Little junior brother... you’ve finally arrived!"

The most excited person upon seeing Shen Li was Chu Jue. He rushed forward and patted the armored suit, eliciting a heavy, muffled sound, and felt a full sense of security.

Chu Jue secretly glanced at Gu Shen and whispered a reminder, "That kid is extremely skilled in close-quarters combat... His hand-to-hand techniques are quite formidable, and he seems to be immune to mental shocks. You must be very careful. Even with that armor on... you still need to be cautious."

Shen Li listened all the way through, showing no reaction, just coldly glancing at Chu Jue.

"..."

Despite being from the same sect, Chu Jue was intimidated by that glance and dared not speak further. Thinking of the "ruthless deeds" of his little junior brother, he very wisely swallowed whatever else he was about to say.

Shen Li dragged his body to the stage, took a deep breath, held his breath, and placed both hands on the platform.

"Crack..."

Shen Li slowly climbed onto the stage, while the iron armor draped over his body unexpectedly fused with his skin as he ascended. Bit by bit, it seeped inward, melting away like ice and snow... Within seconds, all that was left was a thick swirl of iron wind around him.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, watching as Shen Li pressed his hands down, leaving indentations on the fighting platform of the Taoist School.

Is this the ability of an "Iron Eater"?

This guy must have prepared for a long time... He must have integrated more than just one suit of iron armor, right?

...

...

In Da Du, Gu Shen had been through several battles.

Most of them were a matter of life and death... Whether in the Dream world or the real world, a slight misstep after a loss could mean a shattered soul or a destroyed life.

Facing the Changjiu Foundation, facing the Angel Envoy... In battles with immense pressure, Gu Shen could clearly feel his own combat power changing.

His enhanced combat strength seemed to have little to do with his enlightenment.

After he completed his comprehension of Great Hypnosis... he hadn’t even undergone the Extraordinary Trial of the deep water area again.

Because... it was pointless.

The activation of Truth Ruler became more obedient to his will.

Chi Huo also became more adept.

Just as Gu Nanfeng had said, even without the deep water area, Transcendents could still cultivate, and what they needed to do in the early stage... was to find a "bright lamp" of their own.

It was a path of exploration.

What exactly was Chi Huo’s ability... Was it Spiritual?

No, it was definitely more than that.

Gu Shen vaguely felt that if he continued to advance according to the Extraordinary Trials of the deep water area, the abilities of Chi Huo might become "limited to just that."

On the way north, Lu Nanjin asked Gu Nanfeng what the best cultivation method was.

The answer of Young Master Gu was very simple.

None other than—

Fight!

Breaking through the limits, survival means life, failure means death... This is the craziest method of cultivation, but it is also the most effective one.

Gu Shen knew from the very first glance at Shen Li that not everyone in Changye Village was like Chu Jue, all show and no substance.

This was definitely a person with extensive real combat experience!

Though young, his eyes harbored malevolence.

The iron wind lingering above the Taoist School faintly carried a whiff of a bloodstained aura.

"Gu Shen... this duel... something’s not right!"

Chu Ling, who had been constantly checking the files, suddenly spoke with a heavy tone.

"Shen Li was ordered not to leave the Wind Eye monitoring area of Snow Forbidden City... because he killed four out-of-control targets during the execution of a B-level containment mission last time, all of whom died under the attack of the ’Iron Eater’."

"This mission has attracted the attention of the Federation Central Security Committee. They decided to supervise Shen Li and observe him for a while... In other words, he wasn’t in seclusion, but ’grounded’ under the Fourth Judge."

"Just now, the Fourth Judge lifted the restrictions... He was only then able to leave the disciplinary room!"

Gu Shen’s pupils constricted slightly.

Shen Li, who had climbed onto the platform, locked eyes with him, the black in his pupils like a piece of lacquered iron.

No salute.

No words spoken.

The next moment—

The stone floor of the platform suddenly exploded, and Shen Li, like a cannonball, shot out and slammed fiercely towards Gu Shen!

...

...

(Apologies for the delay; the writing was challenging.)