Chapter 84: Le Buleng
Translator: TYZ Editor: Pranav
Honestly speaking, humans were strange and contradictory creatures.
When they were fighting every day in the Wilderness, they looked forward to a peaceful life. But when they were in the Induction Ground, where they could actually lead comfortable lives, they instead looked forward to taking part in battles.
Ai Hui felt somewhat emotional as he stepped onto the blind battle arena.
Life in the Induction Ground was not as boring as he had expected it to be. Although his life here may not be as intense and exhausting as the one he had led in the Wilderness, there were still many twists and turns that made his days colorful.
He thought of the people he had met and the events he had encountered. Lou Lan, Master, Mistress and Senior Mingxiu were all friendly and kind-hearted individuals. There were peace and comfort in every aspect of his life. His powers had increased significantly as well—he was indeed leading a beautiful life.
The arena was pitch-black and nothing could be seen.
Ai Hui could not help but feel astonished. It seemed that the arena had been upgraded. Last time, the training hall had used Ink Night Fumes and had required contestants to wear masks. All those were not needed anymore. He raised his head and looked at the elemental energy shield above, and guessed that the shield was responsible for this upgrade.
Ai Hui’s guess was right. Ever since the concept of blind battles was created, it had undergone many changes. Training halls now depended on blind battles to earn money, and all of them had racked their brains to improve the concept. By doing so, all of them wished to distinguish themselves from the rest.
Nothing was more motivating than that.
This training hall had adopted an original approach to blind battles. They designed a type of elemental energy shield called the Light Absorption Dome. The dome was able to absorb light, causing just darkness to remain within; however, the audience seated outside the dome could still clearly observe the battles happening inside. Furthermore, to ensure that the audience obtained a good view, seats had been set up in mid-air around the arena.
Of course, these seats, which granted an excellent view of the battle, needed to be purchased.
Zu Qiuni was seated on one of those seats; in fact, she had purchased one of the best seats available. She was very curious about how much progress Brother Yan had made after his seclusion. Although she was tired of hearing Brother Yan’s master’s favorite saying “pick yourself up from where you had fallen,” she understood that his master was a training fanatic.
Le Buleng was not really famous in the Avalon of Five Elements; compared to Duanmu Huanghun’s master, Dai Gang, Le Buleng had a much lower reputation.
He had always been single, leading a solitary life, without many accomplishments as well. His most impressive accolade was that he took up the position of Division Leader of the Icy Flames Division for three years. However, due to his addiction to training, he had completely ignored the affairs of the division, resulting in a boycott of all his subordinates. He had also felt that the duties of a division leader hindered the progress of his training, and hence, he left the division.
Le Buleng was most famous for his tough training.
Reportedly, Dai Gang had once said that if he had put in half the amount of effort Le Buleng had put in training, he would have become a grandmaster at the age of thirty. This clearly showed how much hard work Le Buleng put into his training.
However, Dai Gang eventually became a grandmaster at the age of forty, and Le Buleng was not even a master now.
In the past, when Brother Yan had just comprehended the [Flaming Heavenly Spider Transformation], he was viewed by many as the most outstanding talent among his generation. That was when he was at his peak; no one had expected the clan leader to make Le Buleng as Brother Yan’s master. During that time, there was a unanimous objection to this decision from everyone else in the clan. Given the clan’s wide connections and affluence, although it wasn’t possible for Zu Yan to become the disciple of a grandmaster, it was definitely more than possible for him to become the disciple of a master.
The clan leader had finally convinced everyone.
However, beyond everyone’s expectations, Le Buleng had rejected Zu Yan. The reason he had given was that Zu Yan’s character was too weak and he was hence not suitable to become his disciple. It was only after the clan leader had implored him that he eventually decided to accept Zu Yan as his disciple. But even after taking Zu Yan as his disciple, Lu Buleng did not really like Zu Yan and seldom cared about him, letting him do whatever he wanted.
Zu Qiuni could not understand why the clan leader wanted Zu Yan to be Le Buleng’s disciple even though there were so many other qualified experts in the Avalon of Five Elements.
She also naturally felt that Le Buleng’s assessment of Zu Yan was right. But now, Brother Yan had totally become another person as compared to the past. To Zu Qiuni, the most interesting thing was Brother Yan’s seclusion; by a slip of the tongue, Zu Yan had accidentally revealed that his seclusion plan was drawn up by his master.
When Zu Qiuni heard about this, she was dumbstruck. She really did not expect that person to draw up a seclusion plan for Brother Yan; however, she also did not expect Brother Yan to agree to this plan and subsequently complete the seclusion.
In the past, Brother Yan had always complained to them about how crazy Le Buleng’s training sessions were. He felt that ordinary people would absolutely not able to keep up with his training system.
She silently prayed in her heart.
I hope that Brother Yan doesn’t become like Le Buleng. Le Buleng is not considered a role model for success at all…
Right now, Brother Yan seemed to show signs of going insane.
Zu Yan stood silently in the arena with both his eyes closed. He was like a statue, not even breathing at all.
It was only when the bell rang, which marked the start of the blind battle, that Zu Yan opened his eyes.
Without any hesitation, he immediately activated the [Hellfire Spider Web]. His mind took note of every single detail in the arena as he recalled what his master had told him. The reason he had failed was not the disparity in base level, but rather, it was due to his lack of understanding of combat techniques. He wasn’t able to identify the right fighting techniques to use in various situations.
During this period of time, he had been frantically trying to improve his combat techniques.
With a sway of his body, he appeared beside a contestant like a phantom. Even though this contestant had been on high alert, he did not react when Zu Yan approached close to him. Zu Yan’s figure seemed to soundlessly appear out of thin air.
Like a viper in the darkness, his right leg struck out silently.
It was only until Zu Yan was three inches away from the other party that the sound of his kick could be heard.
The opponent’s facial expression changed drastically. However, before he could react, his body had already flown upwards. He lost consciousness while he was in mid-air. The referee of the training hall threw out a lasso with his whip and caught the already fainted contestant. The two referees looked at each other and saw traces of fear in each other’s eyes.
Even the referees were stunned, let alone the audience. The kick was extremely vicious and efficient, making everyone gasp aloud in horror.
After a moment of shock and silence, the audience erupted with enthusiasm.
Weren’t these experts the main reason why everyone came here to watch the blind battles? This person was indeed powerful! There was going to a good show!
Zu Qiuni stared blankly at the arena with her mouth wide open. Was that ferocious kick from Brother Yan?
Nearby, in the arena, Ai Hui heard a sudden yet brief explosion and felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
Expert!
Ai Hui had a different definition of the word “expert” from ordinary people. He did not classify someone as an expert based on his base level, but rather on the level of his combat techniques. The sound of that kick was like an explosion, abnormally powerful yet brief. The kicker had excellent control over his elemental energy as he did not put too much elemental energy into this kick. One could see that he had a remarkable understanding of combat and was skilled in concealing the sound of his attacks.
Only a combat veteran could produce such a kick.
Ai Hui realized that the upcoming onerous battle was unavoidable.
However, for some reason, even though he knew that it was going to be a tough fight, he was not scared at all and was excited instead.
It'd be nice if he had a stalk of grass to chew on now. Suddenly, he thought of the stalk of soul-fogging grass on Lou Lan’s head. Nah, forget it—the soul-fogging grass does not taste nice anyway.
Ai Hui grinned as a ghastly look appeared on his face.