Chapter 124: Suppression

In a couple breaths, criss-crossing green and red patterns appeared on Douma’s body. They were formed by his tensed muscles, which protruded in abnormal fashions at different parts of his body. He even grew taller by a few centimeters.

When he uncrossed his arms, everyone was shocked.

Douma also had the green and red patterns on his face. His tensed facial muscles tugged the corners of his eyes and mouth upward. The outline of his teeth could even be seen under his tightly pulled skin. He looked incredibly savage and evil. Since his hair tie had fallen during the fight, his hair fell around his shoulders, making him look like a demon.

When the people watching from the buildings on either side of the street saw this, they were terrified and shocked, so much so that they trembled. They believed they were seeing a monster. The Merkarian students watched in dumbfounded shock. Most of them did not understand what this was, but a grim look settled in Nali’s eyes.

The moment Chen Chuan saw this abnormal change, his expression turned serious as well, because Cheng Zitong had talked about this transformation in passing.

Once a martial artist reached the Second Limit, they could make their mutated tissue grow rapidly through breathing and medicine to instantly increase their strength.

But that was no different from them burning away their lifespan. In this state, their mutated tissue would grow out of control and deprive the body of some of its natural functions.

If a person did this and did not get relief and treatment in time, their days would become numbered.

Douma had become stronger, but he had burned all of his bridges for it.

Perhaps this was because someone had to be held accountable for the day’s events.

If that were the case, Chen Chuan would fulfill his wish.

He unbuttoned the jacket of his student uniform to reveal the white dress shirt underneath, then threw the jacket away.

Douma waited for Chen Chuan to take off the jacket. Even if from that moment on every second that ticked by brought him closer to death, he respected Chen Chuan as his opponent. He was likely the last person he would ever fight.

When Chen Chuan was ready, Douma growled, and the ground under his feet shattered. In an instant, he arrived in front of Chen Chuan and seized his shoulders before lifting him up in the air and throwing him down.

He was so fast that Chen Chuan’s body could not react. The moment Douma grabbed him, Chen Chuan activated his refined force and had all his mutated tissue brace itself to defend against Douma’s refined force. But to his surprise, he sensed no refined force. Douma only used a normal throw.

Chen Chuan sucked in a breath to further tense up his mutated tissue to protect all parts of his body. When he was slammed into the ground, it shattered, and debris flew everywhere. He left a shallow pit beneath him.

Douma did not stop there. He picked Chen Chuan up again to slam him against the ground again, but Chen Chuan hooked his leg around his calf, causing Douma to be unable to move him. When Douma looked up, he saw Chen Chuan’s calm gaze. Suddenly, he spun around, gathered strength in his arms, and threw Chen Chuan away.

Chen Chuan pulled his arms and legs inward and curled into a ball while tensing his mutated tissue. The next moment, he crashed into the apartment beside him.

Boom!

The wall shattered.

“Chen Chuan!”

Luo Kaiyuan panicked and clenched his fists. Just as he wanted to charge toward Douma, the Merkarian student in front of him blocked his path. Luo Kaiyuan grabbed the Merkarian student’s wrist and restrained him by driving him to his knees on the ground. Then, he kicked him away. The moment he took another step, another Merkarian student ran forward to stop him.

Chen Chuan pushed himself off the wall behind him and stood up, completely unharmed. He dusted off his chest before returning to the road.

When everyone saw that he was uninjured, they were in disbelief. Guan Xinyin, too, was in a state of shock. She stared at him for a long period of time.

Chen Chuan cast a glance at Douma and noticed that his breathing had quickened. His eyes were bloodshot as well. Even though Douma had overpowered him, Chen Chuan did not receive any attacks from refined force, and an assumption formed in his head.

Douma had gained a large boost in strength and speed by stimulating his mutated tissue, but the human body was an intricate piece of work, and that was especially the case for refined force. Due to its nature of being formed after a lot of training, a martial artist would be unable to use it if even one thing went wrong in their body. Fang Dawei was one such example. After he received his implants, he could no longer use refined force.

And so, Chen Chuan theorized that while Douma’s physical abilities had increased, he was unable to use his once familiar refined force with ease, since he was not used to how his current body was working. He could only fight by relying on his current body’s strengths.

That was fine. After all, brute strength trumped skill. As long as someone was strong enough, they could defeat their opponent without refined force. That was, if they could outlast their opponent. Chen Chuan could tell that the abnormal physical state put a great burden on the body. He just needed to force Douma to continue exerting himself and wasting even more energy.

Chen Chuan rolled his eyes and said calmly, “Looks like we’ll have to continue the lecture, Mr. Douma.”

Douma roared and charged forward.

This time, Chen Chuan was prepared for his speed, which was why he had decided to maintain some distance between them. When Douma rushed over, he moved to the side to avoid him, causing Douma to crash into the spot where Chen Chuan originally was. The ground underneath shattered. Since he was unable to stop himself in time, he charged forward a considerable distance more. Douma’s control over his own strength was sorely lacking after he went through the transformation.

But just when Chen Chuan thought that he had managed to avoid Douma, the man reached over and grabbed Chen Chuan’s arm before yanking him back.

Chen Chuan noticed that Douma’s arm and fingers had become much longer than before, but he had intentionally made sure that they stayed the same length as before his transformation before they engaged in this clash of fists again, successfully tricking his opponent. But Chen Chuan reacted quickly and brought a leg up against Douma’s torso so that Douma could not drag him closer.

When Douma saw that he could not drag Chen Chuan closer despite pulling a few times, he decided to throw a punch at his head, only for Chen Chuan to bring his arm up to block and parry his fist. Even though Douma’s punch held considerable power, Chen Chuan could block most of his punches and other attacks with relatively little consequences. The attacks that landed did not deal too much damage. Still, he tilted his head to avoid the punch. Just in case.

Douma threw a dozen punches in succession, but they did nothing to Chen Chuan, though his own breathing became increasingly labored. He stopped hitting Chen Chuan and instead grabbed him, lifted him, and threw him on the ground again.

This time, Chen Chuan hooked his legs around Douma’s head and brought him down as well, forcing him to kneel on one knee. But Douma refused to let go of him. He stood up, bringing Chen Chuan with him, and slammed him against the ground again. The ground under Chen Chuan instantly shattered.

Douma stood up once more to repeat his attack, but Chen Chuan let go of his neck. With his mutated tissue propelling his leg into motion, he was able to gather strength despite being in such close proximity to Douma, and he stabbed his toe into the side of Douma’s neck.

Even if Douma’s pain tolerance had increased dramatically, the attack still made him loosen his grip. Chen Chuan broke free of his grasp, turned sideways, and slid away. He then grabbed Douma’s arm and made him lose his balance, then clenched his fist with his free hand and punched him in the face.

Douma’s head was thrown back. In a daze, he tried to fight back, but he felt something yank his body forward, and his world spun.

Chen Chuan had thrown him over his shoulders to the ground. The ground underneath him shattered in the pattern of a spider’s web.

But while the increase in mutated tissue drove Douma into agony and drained his life, it also increased his tenacity, so he was fine even after the throw.

Chen Chuan had wanted to follow up the throw with a lock, but as the mutated tissue kept growing, Douma’s skeletal system seemed to have changed, and Chen Chuan could no longer fight against him with strategies suitable for normal people. So, he gave up on that plan. Instead, he delivered a kick at Douma’s head while he was still on the ground. Douma instinctively brought his arm up to block it, then flipped his hand over and grabbed Chen Chuan’s calf to throw him away.

Once Chen Chuan landed on the ground, he tumbled a few times before pushing himself up. Once again, he was completely unscathed.

He stared at Douma and saw that he was gasping for breath. He also seemed to have become thinner. His skin was no longer tight, but rather loose.

This meant that Chen Chuan’s strategy was effective. Engaging Douma in an intense fight made him drain his life force at an incredible speed.

Chen Chuan lowered his stance a little. Before Douma could attack, he charged forward. When Douma saw him coming, he inhaled and met Chen Chuan head on. But when he threw a punch, Chen Chuan avoided him with ease and punched his stomach. With his other hand, he shoved at Douma. Immediately after, he brought his palm up to press it against Douma’s face.

Alarm bells rang in Douma’s head. He brought his arm up and knocked Chen Chuan’s hand off, but Chen Chuan drove his knee up. Douma, too, brought his knee up to protect himself. Their knees clashed, but Chen Chuan remained unmoved, while Douma was forced back a few steps.

Chen Chuan brought his leg down slowly. He noticed that Douma had gotten weaker, and even his reflexes were slowing. This meant that his mutated tissue had stopped growing. As his life drained away, his physical abilities also fell into decline.

He stared at the panting Douma and said, “You can give up now, Mr. Douma.”

Douma growled and charged at him, but when he was only halfway to his target, Chen Chuan kicked him in the head. He stumbled to the side and nearly fell on the ground.

The Merkarian students cried out in shock. “Sir!”

Douma tried his best to stand straight and sucked in a deep breath. The color of the green-red veins deepened. Without a single word, he charged at Chen Chuan again with so much strength that the ground behind him shattered.

Chen Chuan lowered his head and avoided Douma’s hands. He crashed into him and lifted him on his shoulders before throwing him on the ground.

Bam!

The ground under their feet trembled.

Douma tried to struggle to his feet again, but when he was only halfway up, Chen Chuan punched him in the face, sending him back to the ground. When he tried again, Chen Chuan punched him once more.

The Merkarian students watching could no longer bear the sight. They tried to help, but Martial Valor University students rushed over and pinned them down.

Everyone watched quietly as Chen Chuan sent Douma pummeling down every time he tried to get up.

Finally, after Douma failed once again, he lay on the ground, motionless. His body had shriveled up at this point, and only his skin covered his deformed bones. Steam wafted out of his body, just like vapor from boiling water.

“Did you see that? The patterns on my body were the real record of the meridian studies. That’s how meridian studies are supposed to be taught,” he said.

Chen Chuan examined the patterns and said, “You should have said this in a proper lecture.”

“Yes, but we didn’t have the time. The echoes of the world are getting stronger. We must gain a foothold in the world, for only then will we have the strength to keep pace with the tide of the times,” Douma mumbled. His voice grew fainter until he fell completely silent.

Chen Chuan turned to the blinding sunlight above and sucked in a breath before he walked toward the students waiting for him in silence.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep