Chapter Thirty-Three: The Ascent to Silver (Part Two)

“Meiyi, watch out!” Fei shouted loudly in warning, ready to rush forward and help.

But he had barely formed this thought when he heard Meiyi’s anguished cry, and she vanished from the arena.

Boom!

A tremendous crash echoed from the edge of the arena. Fei and Xi, following the sound, saw Meiyi’s face twisted in pain as she was embedded in the protective wall, her Dolphin Cloth shattered in several places.

“What terrifying speed and strength!” Xi couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his brow as he took in her miserable state.

The opponent’s speed was simply too fast. He hadn’t even seen how the attack had been dodged, nor how the counterstrike had landed. By the time he realized something was wrong, the situation had already come to this.

On the other side, watching the young woman struggle to climb out of the wall, Yin Seventeen could not help but marvel.

“As expected of the legendary Cloths—even a mere Bronze Cloth possesses such formidable defense!”

Given that all three wore Cloths, their defenses far surpassed those of the previous batch of reserve fighters. This time, he had struck much harder than before. Yet even so, this Dolphin Cloth girl had not completely lost her ability to fight; unlike the previous candidates, she had not simply collapsed into unconsciousness.

But that was all.

Meiyi crawled out of the wall with difficulty, staggered a few steps, then fell to the ground, unable to rise again. Her beautiful eyes glared at him with resentment, yet she was powerless.

Gulp—

Xi swallowed hard, eyeing his opponent warily. “How much strength did you use just now?”

“About… a tenth,” Yin Seventeen replied, thoughtfully pinching his chin and estimating.

Although the Bronze Cloth was the lowest ranked among the Sanctuary’s armors, he reckoned its defense was on par with the extreme upper limits of a Bronze Saint’s attack.

In other words, ordinary Bronze Saints could not break through a Bronze Cloth’s defense. If any Bronze Saint could casually shatter it, then the Bronze Cloth would be meaningless. In short, without an attack at the Silver Saint level, it was nearly impossible to inflict serious harm on a Bronze Saint; victory would have to be decided through endurance.

This was also one reason applicants for the Silver advancement trial were required to possess Silver-level strength. Without that, it would be almost impossible to breach the defenses of the other three Bronze candidates, and their only fate would be to be defeated by a combined assault.

Just now, his blow against Meiyi was delivered at nearly ten thousand times the speed of sound—ten times the base standard for Silver Saints. Shattering the Bronze Cloth was only natural.

“Only a tenth?” At his answer, Xi gasped, barely able to believe his ears.

But seeing Meiyi’s battered state, he had no choice but to accept this brutal truth.

It seemed they were facing an incredibly fearsome Bronze candidate.

“If you’re afraid, you can—”

“We will never surrender!” As if guessing what Yin Seventeen was about to say, Fei of the Southern Fish interrupted decisively.

He looked at the young man with determination. “I know you are strong, but we have our pride and dignity!

“Athena’s Saints never surrender!

“Even if this is just a contest!

“If you wish to claim the Silver Cloth, then defeat us fairly and honorably!”

He clenched his fist tightly and hammered it against his chest.

Moved by his comrade’s words, Xi of the Flying Fish also wore a solemn expression and declared, “There are only defeated Saints, never Saints who surrender!”

“I understand,” Yin Seventeen sighed, then continued, “Show me your ultimate techniques! If I strike, you will have no further chance.”

His strength surpassed theirs by too great a margin. If this were not a friendly contest, if he fought in earnest, the three of them would already be corpses on the ground by the time the battle began.

At his words, Fei nodded to Xi. Instantly, Xi moved into position, shielding his comrade, and ignited his cosmos, leaping up from the ground.

“Flying Fish Leap!”

In an instant, his cosmos blazing, he transformed into a massive fish, enveloped in blue water, its pectoral fins spread wide like wings, diving down at Yin Seventeen from above.

“So it really is just a fat fish that can fly?” Yin Seventeen couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

But though he laughed, he did not lower his guard.

As the flying fish approached, he simply stepped aside, effortlessly avoiding the charge.

After all, his speed far exceeded Xi’s. Perhaps, to a Bronze Saint, Xi’s speed was impressive, but to Yin Seventeen, it was no different from a sluggish snail.

He even seized the moment: as the flying fish landed, he aimed a punch at Xi, who was wrapped in the blue current.

No technique was required—he simply unleashed his cosmos, channeling its power into his fist. With a single, straightforward punch, he shattered the water shield and struck Xi squarely in the waist.

Such was the gap in strength!

Boom!

The fish formed from water had not yet dispersed from striking the ground when it exploded into fragments under Yin Seventeen’s punch, and Xi, still inside, had his Bronze Cloth shattered and was sent flying like a cannonball.

In that same instant, Fei arrived behind Yin Seventeen.

“Jade Spear Thrust!”

His cosmos ablaze, both arms were suffused with a pure jade glow. He clasped his arms together, transforming them into a white jade spear, and thrust at Yin Seventeen.

But just as the spear tip was about to pierce him, Fei saw Yin Seventeen suddenly twist aside, dodging the attack.

“What…” Fei was dumbstruck.

The opponent’s speed was simply overwhelming; before he even had time to adjust his aim, his strike had already missed.

It was like watching a film in fast-forward—his opponent sped by, but he himself could never keep up.

Even though he had timed his attack to coincide with the moment Yin Seventeen struck Xi—thinking he’d caught him off guard—in reality, that fleeting instant was, for his opponent, a leisurely and ample span of time.

“I told you, if I strike, you’ll have no more chances,” Yin Seventeen said with a helpless sigh.

As Fei brushed past, Yin Seventeen clenched his fist and punched.

Thud!

A dull sound rang out, mingled with the crack of shattering armor. Fei was sent flying, agony etched on his face.

To Yin Seventeen, the gap between the two counters seemed ‘long,’ but to the audience, it was all over in a flash.

They saw the Flying Fish and Southern Fish Saints attack together, almost simultaneously, but both were blasted away in the blink of an eye.

Boom! Boom!

Two tremendous crashes echoed from the protective wall; both Bronze Saints were now embedded within it.

After a brief silence, the audience erupted in cheers.

“Bravo!”