Infinite Star - Chapter 28

“Fun… You are fun…”

Zayn got accustomed to Kayn’s jibberish-like chatter.

“Well, now, how about we start the real fight?”

Zayn stood up and charged Kayn like in the previous time. His speed and form were nearly identical to his previous tries. Nothing changed.

Kayn again dodged the attack and got a bit unsatisfied with it. He hoped for a more challenging fight, now.

But as the thought formed, Zayn in a flash changed his attack and form and aimed it at the dodging Kayn. His speed and power in this attack far exceeded what he previously displayed.

Because he was caught off-guard, and Zayn’s imposing attack, there was nothing that Kayn could do.

*BOOM*

The punch hit Kayn right in the middle of his chest and he was sent flying away. He landed, like Zayn, in their first exchange, on the arena floor.

“The boy is far stronger than before. His movements and attacks are also far more fluently than before. What did he do?” Teacher Leaf commented on the fight.

The teachers normally held back to comment about the tournament’s fight. They wanted to let the students analyze each fight themselves as that was also important on the journey of cultivation. But right now Zayn was nearly bridging the gap of 3-Stars. He caught Kayn off-guard that was for sure, but to do that was also something thought of impossible.

For the teachers, a student able to skip 2-Stars was a wonderful addition to their academy. This student will always have the highest position in the academy and become a known powerhouse in the future. It happened many times in the past, that’s why it was processable. Finding a genius with the ability to skip 2-Stars, will eventually occur, even if it takes a millennium. But nearly bridging 3-Stars wasn’t found in any history book in the entire empire. There didn’t exist a record of a cultivator able to do that.

Zayn was the first one they encountered to do that. This could not only mean glory to their academy but also glory to their empire. And in their ecstasy, the teachers started to analyze his movement and comment about it.

“Maybe he was faking his previous strength? And then show off his real strength to impress everyone.” A young and new teacher shared his thoughts about the matter.

“You fool! Show off?!? Isn’t being able to bridge 3-Stars enough of a show-off? And he clearly didn’t fake his previous strength. You can easily tell from watching if one fakes it or not. Their movements will look restricted and off, but the boy gave everything he had.” An elderly teacher, who was well respected by everyone, elaborated. “What one could see from the previous exchanges was that the boy’s attacks and movements were inefficient. He got more efficiently during the fight. And after the one-minute break, the movements and attacks looked to be thoroughly refined. It’s most likely that he was examining and analyzing his movements in the one-minute break. To do that, to that boy’s extent, one needs to have high intelligence and battle talent. That kid sure can become the future of our academy.”

Everyone listened to the words of the elderly teacher. Even though many were skeptical about his analysis, they still believed him, because of his well-earned reputation.

Lying on the arena floor, Kayn became hysterically lively.

“Heheheheheheheheh. You are far more fun than I imagined. Great, now we can start to fight for real!” While he was saying that, he started to absorb qi around him as if he was cultivating. As he absorbed qi into his body, his skin tone changed. From his previous pale, corpse-like, white to a healthy pinkish skin tone. His pale lips also got more lively and his tired eyes began to look like as if he was alive.

This process reminded Zayn to his previous analysis. In Kayn’s previous fight, Kayn used a bizarre movement, which seemed like to swallow qi.

Zayn was sure that after the one-minute break he was able to defeat him with ease, but now it seemed like Kayn was also getting stronger.

Following his change of skin tone, Kayn stood up and fanatically charged at Zayn.

Zayn was prepared so he was able to dodge in time. He noticed that Kayn’s speed increased significantly. His moves were more lively and contained profound footwork. He was nearly as fast as Zayn.

“Heheheheheheheheh, you are good! GOOD! GOOD! You delivered what you promised I like that!”

Again he charged at Zayn. The contrast to his previous self was like night and day. Not only did his skin tone, and with that, his appearance, change, his personality seemed also to be changed. He was more lively and spoke more clearly.

From many young girls point of view, in the audience, he changed into a handsome young prince. Previously they all were disgusted by his previous appearance and his weird character, so no one really paid attention to him. The only significant trait of Kayn was his cultivation, but now he became a well sought-after student.

Kayn’s charge again missed Zayn, but Zayn noticed something alarming in this attack.

‘He’s getting faster! Shit!’

Zayn discerned that Kayn’s footwork was consuming qi. And this time it consumed more than his last charge. If Kayn was able to keep his consumption of qi rising, Zayn would be in grave danger. His chances, in defeating Kayn, was now at it highest. He had to act quick. Otherwise, it would become a fight in who could improve faster.

Zayn decided that he had to finish it now. He charged Kayn right away. Zayn’s superior strength and speed would guarantee the winner of this fight.

“It’s over Kayn!”

“Over? No, the fight only has begun. Heheheheheheheheheh!”

Kayn smirked at Zayn. He knew Zayn wanted to finish it, but he couldn’t tolerate that.

In that instant, Zayn’s movement abruptly halted. A coldness came over Zayn and, with that, a sense of fear.

This shuddering feeling wasn’t in any way comfortable. But Zayn knew what it was.

‘Killing Intent!’

Many in the audience were also blasted with this shuddering feeling, but contrary to Zayn, they only received a small part of the Killing Intent. It was mostly focused on Zayn.

‘What a fearsome boy! At that young age already having cultivated Killing Intent, what kind of incidents did he had to experience? Truly terrifying!’ Vown, of course, recognized Kayn’s Killing Intent and was astonished by this feat. He, himself, also had cultivated Killing Intent, but he was far older than Kayn was.

Zayn was confused. Kayn wasn’t obviously trying to kill him, as he mentioned many times that he was having fun, but he used his Killing Intent. Zayn wasn’t sure if one could use Killing Intent at will, but it was his only guess to this situation in front of him.

He had to use his willpower now to counter it. This fight now got far harder.

While Zayn was in his thought processes, on how to handle Kayn’s Killing Intent, Kayn sneakily stormed Zayn. He was so fast that Zayn hadn’t had much time to react.

A kick came flying into Zayn’s stomach. Somehow Zayn’s stomach felt weaker than before.

Zayn was pushed back a few meters. He felt like not being able to breathe after this attack. He pressed on his stomach, trying to process the pain.

Without giving Zayn much time another kick came flying to his chest and Zayn was pushed a few meters away and afterward fell behind.

“The fight is far from over! Get up and let’s have some more fun!”

Zayn now understood how terrifying Killing Intent was. Not only was his movements restricted by it, but even his defense was also diminished. It was furthermore possible that even his attacks got weaker than before.

When he used his willpower to counter Kayn’s Killing Intent, his concentration also slipped. Him only focusing on his willpower was too naive. Kayn wasn’t just standing around anymore. His personality changed and with that also his fighting style. Kayn wouldn’t wait anymore for Zayn. He was far more aggressive than before.

After a few breaths of analyzing his situation, Zayn stood up and prepared himself for an onslaught by Kayn. Zayn was now aware that he had to balance everything out. Countering the Killing Intent and at the same time focus on the fight in front of him.

“Good! If you would have given up after this then it wouldn’t be fun anymore. But you are stronger far stronger than that!”

Kayn again rushed at Zayn. Zayn wasn’t waiting still for Kayn, he also stormed at Kayn.

Both of them charged at each other and the crowd was anticipating the outcome.