Eternal Life: I Have the Favor System-Chapter 184 - 141: Choice (2)
"It’s almost been ten rounds."
The man attacking his lower body shouted.
"Damn it, get him!"
The saber-wielding man’s face was a mask of fury. He was completely taken aback that even his strongest slash had failed to gain an advantage while Chu Lingguang was scrambling to defend himself.
"Kill!"
The three of them swarmed him again.
In truth, there had been no pause in the action.
"Come on!"
Chu Lingguang tightened his grip on his Long Spear, his eyes locked on the saber user. With a Black Dragon Tail Swing, he defended his flanks, first parrying the attacks from the two men on either side. Then, with a final move—Wild Horse Leaping Over the Stream Middle Level Spear—he swept the spearhead-on toward the saber-wielding man.
With this thrust, Chu Lingguang ignored his flanks, focusing only on unleashing his full power. He intended to take this guy out before the other two could knock him back.
"ROOOOAR!"
The sound of a Dragon’s Roar and Elephant’s Wail echoed once more.
As Chu Lingguang unleashed his full power, his Dragon Elephant Power automatically manifested its Majestic Skin Aspect. His strength skyrocketed, and when combined with the resonance point from the Unity of Man and Gun, the resulting gale was simply unstoppable.
"Wha—?"
The saber-wielding man’s expression changed drastically.
He desperately swung his saber upward with both hands.
"CRASH!"
Saber met spear.
The saber-wielding man’s long saber was knocked from his grasp, and the explosive force sent him flying out of the combat zone.
"CLANG!"
As Chu Lingguang’s spear swept down, he thought the exchange was over. ’The other two will surely break through my defense and send me flying.’
But unexpectedly...
The three fought as a coordinated unit, and their daily training included many drills for rescuing comrades. When the other two saw how terrifyingly powerful his spear strike was, they feared for their partner’s safety and quickly swept their own weapons at Chu Lingguang’s Long Spear, hoping to help their comrade withstand the blow.
But his Spear Technique was too fast.
They couldn’t save their comrade in time.
By the time their weapons swung over, the force of Chu Lingguang’s sweeping spear was nearly spent. With a CLATTER, Chu Lingguang’s Lightning Spear was knocked from his grasp and flew outside the combat zone.
Chu Lingguang stared at his empty hands.
In that moment of crisis, he unleashed the Iron Mountain Fist, striking straight at the chest of the spear-wielding opponent with the Iron Mountain Fist Descending Technique.
Back then, during the second round of the assessment, Chu Lingguang had only just awakened his Blood Dragon Elephant and had not yet mastered the Circulation Operation Skill. Even so, he had sent the Wooden Man Target—which stood over two meters tall and weighed nearly nine hundred pounds—flying a full ten meters.
Now, his Qi Power had multiplied.
One could only imagine the power of Chu Lingguang’s punch now. Greatly alarmed, his opponent thrust his spear down, desperately trying to block the fist.
Unfortunately for him...
Chu Lingguang’s Skin Aspect manifested with this punch; a fleeting phantom of Dragon Scale Elephant Hide even flashed across his fist.
The man felt a force equivalent to nearly a ton slam into his spear. The weapon snapped instantly, and the fist continued onward, striking him squarely in the stomach and sending him flying from where he stood.
"SMACK!"
At that exact moment...
The man who had been attacking his lower body landed a whip-like kick against Chu Lingguang’s cheek. Chu Lingguang tumbled to the ground, and by the time he tried to get up, the man’s long saber was already pressed against his throat.
"Damn it."
The man gritted his teeth.
Even though he had captured Chu Lingguang, he felt incredibly frustrated. The three of them had teamed up, yet Chu Lingguang had still managed to eliminate two of them. His own victory was only thanks to a cheap shot. If not for that fast, powerful kick, defeating an unarmed Chu Lingguang would have been far from easy once he set up his defense.
You could say today’s assessment wasn’t a test of the strength of these rising stars, but a demonstration of the Imperial Guard’s incompetence. Once this assignment was over, every one of them would surely be punished.
It was all because Chu Lingguang was a monster.
Taking down six Imperial Guards by himself... it was simply outrageous.
"Stand down."
The Imperial Guard Captain shouted from the sidelines, his face dark.
The man returned to Pan Tongguang’s side, saber in hand. All eleven guards were ashen-faced. Even Pan Tongguang hadn’t expected them to lose so miserably.
Indeed, this assessment wasn’t just a test of strength for Chu Lingguang’s group; it was also a test of the Imperial Guards’ capabilities.
Their superiors had set a goal: defeat Chu Lingguang’s entire group at the cost of losing only three guards. Yet while they had technically won, only a single guard was left standing in the end.
Chu Lingguang rubbed his cheek. The Majestic Skin Aspect, the Dragon Scale Elephant Hide, enhanced his physical defenses. His opponent’s kick had been astonishingly powerful; the only reason he hadn’t been knocked unconscious was that he had awakened the Majestic Skin Aspect.
Even so, Chu Lingguang’s head was still spinning.
He got up, dusted himself off, and retrieved his Lightning Spear from outside the combat zone. Only then did he notice that everyone was staring at him.
Lin Longde’s face was a picture of shock, filled with envy and admiration for Chu Lingguang.
Nearby, Yan Chengdu let out a helpless sigh. He had thought that after awakening his Dragon Elephant Power, he could finally compete with Chu Lingguang. He never imagined the gap was still so vast.
Qi Shiwei and Gao Yimu were utterly dejected. As Noble Family Disciples, they had been thoroughly trounced by Chu Lingguang today, a complete loss of face.
Even Chen Jin, who had awakened two measures of Dragon Elephant Power, felt a sense of powerlessness as he looked at Chu Lingguang.
Likewise, Emperor Yue Xuan, despite his reluctant expression, had to admit to himself that Chu Lingguang’s first-place ranking was well-deserved.
"Excellent."
"Thank you, everyone, for coming to appraise the performance of myself and Liu Wan."
Li Dayao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Suppressing a smile, he turned to Yang Shaorong and the others and offered a cupped-fist salute.
"Hahaha, many thanks."
Liu Wan, however, made no attempt to hide his delight.
Eleven Imperial Guards, and only one was left standing at the end—the rest were all defeated. Even though Chu Lingguang alone had taken down six of them, this result would still be a glorious entry on their performance records.
He vaguely recalled from the academy’s records.
In the previous year’s assessment, a total of three Imperial Guards had been left standing at the end.
However, the previous class of students was brimming with talent.
Thirteen of them had reached the final round.
Yan Zhen was the last candidate standing.
He had also defeated six people, just like Chu Lingguang, but his path hadn’t been nearly as precarious.
From the moment he faced Pan Tongguang, Chu Lingguang was attacked from both front and back. In every subsequent exchange, he had to face two Imperial Guards. In the end, he had even managed to gain the upper hand against three of them, sending two flying.
Even if there was a hint of opportunism in his victory, the awakening of his Blood Dragon Elephant was no less significant than Yan Zhen’s simultaneous awakening of three measures of Dragon Elephant Power.
Secondly, according to the academy’s records...
Yan Zhen only unlocked his Majestic Skin Aspect on the second day after leaving the academy.
And he only achieved full circulation of his meridians three months after leaving the academy.
Therefore, taking all factors into consideration, both Liu Wan and Li Dayao knew that their month of hard work had yielded an unexpected harvest.
"Congratulations, Mr. Li."
"Congratulations, Mr. Liu."
The crowd offered their congratulations.
"Chu Lingguang, you are full of surprises."
Feng Junyi was the first to approach Chu Lingguang.
"Lord Feng."
Seeing Feng Junyi approach, Chu Lingguang and Lin Longde both went to greet him, saluting in unison.
After all, Feng Junyi had given them pointers on their training.
The two could be considered his Disciples, and they had even rejected Fan Zhibian for his sake.
"No need for such formalities. You’ve both done very well."
Feng Junyi squeezed Chu Lingguang’s and Lin Longde’s arms. He was genuinely surprised that both of them had made it to the end, and was especially astounded that Chu Lingguang had taken the top spot. So *he* was the one who had caused such a stir.
Full circulation of his meridians.
The Blood Dragon Elephant.
The Majestic Skin Aspect.
Each awakening was extraordinary, almost unbelievable.
"Junior Brother."
Just then, Yang Shaorong also walked over. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
"Greetings, Eldest Brother."
Chu Lingguang hurriedly saluted.
Yang Shaorong quickly took his arm and gestured to a man with a beaming smile behind him. "This is Eunuch Liu. Your performance astonished him, and he wishes to pass his legacy on to you. I tried to dissuade him, but he wouldn’t listen. He wanted to ask for your opinion himself."
Eunuch Liu’s smile froze.
’Yang Shaorong is clearly telling me to refuse him, just without phrasing it so bluntly.’
"Chu Lingguang, your talent is extraordinary, and you have won this one’s great favor," Eunuch Liu said with a laugh. "My Soft and Flexible Technique finally has a successor."
"BOOM!"
As he spoke, he sent a palm strike out from a distance, aimed at the stone wall.
There was a tremendous bang.
A massive Palm Seal appeared on the stone wall. None of the candidates present had ever witnessed such a sight, and they were all left completely dumbfounded.
