The captain remained impassive, his mental energy field flowing smoothly over Ling Yun without pause. He then turned in another direction, as if he hadn't noticed him at all. This was a tactic to lull his opponent into a false sense of security. He wanted Ling Yun to believe he hadn't discovered him, and then, taking advantage of Ling Yun's relaxed state of mind, deliver a fatal blow.
A sneak attack is far more likely to succeed than a direct confrontation. This is the essence of the captain's years of experience. Moreover, when a strong person attacks a weak one, the success rate is almost one hundred percent.
The captain's left arm transformed once again into an incomparably sharp steel longsword. As his power extended, the blade continued to lengthen, and a silver wave of mental energy meandered across its surface. In an instant, the steel longsword shone brilliantly in the torrential rain.
With a deafening roar, accompanied by a thunderous howl, countless arcs of cyan-purple electricity appeared on the blade of the longsword.
Rainwater trickled down the captain's dark, bluish face, almost forming a small river. Without blinking, the captain raised his longsword and slammed it forcefully into the ground!
The longsword automatically lengthened the moment it pierced the ground, enough to penetrate ten meters deep, piercing Ling Yun through again.
Faintly, the captain seemed to hear a weak scream coming from somewhere underground. The longsword was an extension of his body, making it feel even more real. It had indeed pierced a resilient body, and Ling Yun was not yet dead, struggling desperately against the longsword.
The captain was relieved. The tip of his longsword transformed into an eight-clawed hook, which hooked onto Ling Yun's body, thus pulling him back to the surface from the ground.
Suddenly, the captain felt a sense of foreboding. An unnamed danger was creeping up on him from behind.
The captain cried out in alarm, no longer caring about Ling Yun on the ground. In an instant, his longsword transformed back into its normal form and retracted into his arm, ready to soar into the sky.
But it was too late. Several silent, silver strands of mental energy instantly attached themselves to the Steel Captain's back. Like the sharpest blade in the world, the captain's back, which was far harder than steel, immediately sparked blindingly.
Having transformed into a body of steel, the captain had lost the ability to feel pain. However, he wasn't completely devoid of sensation; a strange feeling emanating from his back told him that the telekinetic silver threads had already damaged his body. In the blink of an eye, the silver threads had penetrated several centimeters deep into his skin. Had the captain's body not been incredibly tough, the silver threads would have sliced him into several pieces in an instant.
The captain was both shocked and furious, unable to fathom how Ling Yun had managed to unleash telekinetic cutting from underground. Wasn't he already severely injured? What was going on? His sneak attack had failed, and he had been ambushed by Ling Yun instead. This bizarre weapon was truly giving the captain a headache. It was almost invisible and intangible, yet indestructible, and incredibly silent—truly impossible to defend against.
But there was no time for him to think further. A sharp pain shot through his back, a sign that the silver threads had severed all his external muscles and were damaging his internal organs. The captain roared, unleashing a violent surge of mental energy. He lunged forward, deflecting the incredibly tough silver threads far away. But then, the silver threads suddenly snapped in two, each breaking into two pieces that gently wrapped around his elbow.
With two sharp clangs, the captain's two steel hands fell to the ground with a thud. Stimulated, the iron spikes all over his body instantly retracted.
A figure suddenly appeared in the direction the captain had lunged. With incredible speed, it collided with the captain. Both men jolted in mid-air. But then, the figure grabbed the captain by the chest, its eyes wide open, staring intently into his.
Ling Yun! The captain's steel-like eyes narrowed slightly. The figure was none other than Ling Yun, whom he had pierced through the ground with his sword. He had reappeared on the surface without anyone noticing.
But then, the captain saw a terrifying red light flash in Ling Yun's eyes, instantly illuminating his bluish-black face.
What kind of strange technique is this? The captain instinctively sensed the danger to his life. A strange numbness was rapidly spreading from his feet. The captain couldn't help but look down and was immediately terrified.
A strange red light was extending upwards along his feet. After the red light spread, his entire body turned into lifeless stone.
Petrification! After several days of simulation in the fifth stage, Ling Yun finally succeeded in replicating the petrification technique.
Chapter 89 The Steel Captain (4)
In the instant the black dagger pierced him through the air, Ling Yun used his telekinesis to precisely control the movement of his internal organs within his body, narrowly avoiding the sword's attack. As long as his internal organs weren't damaged, his self-healing ability would quickly heal the flesh wound, and his superpowers wouldn't suffer a significant decline. Although it was a penetrating injury, it wasn't considered a serious injury for a superhuman. However, if his internal organs were pierced, the consequences would be severe; even if his self-healing function worked, it would require a very long recovery period.
Ling Yun suddenly chuckled in mid-air. This injury was strikingly similar to the one he suffered against the psychic and the one he was pierced by Medusa during the fifth simulation. It seemed he truly had the ability to self-harm. And he had successfully paralyzed his opponent time and time again.
Before landing, Ling Yun used Mirror Image Technique, strangely projecting a mirror image onto the ground while his real body remained hidden in the air using the Eye of Illusion. The captain, assuming Ling Yun was seriously injured, neglected to scan with his mental field and failed to detect anything amiss.
The mirror image could naturally be changed at Ling Yun's will. Since Ling Yun did not know the art of earth-遁 (earth-遁术, a type of magic used for teleportation), the simulation of the mirror image was inaccurate. Coincidentally, the captain also did not know the art of earth-遁, and although he noticed the strangeness, he did not take it to heart.
Two instances of negligence nearly cost the captain the heaviest price.
The instant the longsword pierced the mirror image, the concealed Ling Yun had already recovered from all his injuries, using his telekinetic powers to silently cut through the shadowy attack on the captain. If the captain had been just an ordinary superhuman, this attack would have been enough to kill him.
Unexpectedly, the Captain's body was abnormally tough. Despite Ling Yun's full effort in cutting, he only managed to sever the captain's two hands. However, Ling Yun did not give up the attack and switched to defense. Just then, the Copying Technique had finished recombining the data of the Petrification Technique, and Ling Yun, with a flash of inspiration, immediately applied it to the captain.
For some reason, the speed at which the data from the supernatural analysis is copied is much faster during battle than usual. And the more intense the battle, the faster the analysis speed.
Ling Yun knew firsthand the terrifying power of petrification; he suspected that even a captain as strong as him might not be able to withstand it. Sure enough, a deep sense of fear appeared on the captain's usually icy, steely face. Anyone seeing themselves about to be turned to stone would likely feel such terror. Even someone as powerful as a captain was no exception.
Ling Yun was overjoyed. He channeled his telekinetic energy into the captain's body like a gushing spring. He didn't need to harm the enemy. But if he could stop the captain's actions for a short time, petrification would quickly turn him into a lifeless statue.
Captain Steel roared, an unprecedented sense of crisis causing all his potential to erupt in an instant. A steel fist suddenly sprang up from his iron-black chest and slammed into Ling Yun's chest.
The captain had used all his strength. Ling Yun hadn't expected that the opponent could attack with his chest. Caught off guard, he was sent flying backward, spitting out blood.
The captain watched as the crimson light spread up to his calves, leaving him completely numb below them, devoid of his former sense of control. Clearly, he had turned to stone.
His mental field was resisting the red light, but this time, it failed. Petrification wasn't Medusa's invention; after the data was recombined, only Ling Yun knew how to restore a petrified body. Others, once petrified, were truly turned to stone, with no chance of reversal.
The captain's face suddenly hardened. He abruptly raised his left arm, transforming it into an incredibly sharp steel blade, and slashed down forcefully at his knees. With a sharp crack, both of the captain's lower legs were severed. Despite his body being made of steel, there was no blood, but the captain's face still twitched involuntarily.
With no resistance, the red light instantly spread to the severed lower legs, converging at the short section before disappearing in a flash. The two lower legs, now stone sculptures, fell heavily from the air, their immense weight unable to withstand even the soft, muddy ground, instantly shattering into several pieces.
Ling Yun took a step back, his face pale. He hadn't expected the captain to be so ruthless to him. Not everyone could make such a tough decision.
The captain's entire body radiated a steely blue light. A storm of mental energy surged forth from his heavy body. To Ling Yun's astonishment, new hands and legs slowly grew from the captain's arms and legs. With a flash of blue light, all of the captain's wounds were healed.
Rebirth?! This extraordinary technique, whose power surpasses even self-healing, flashed through Ling Yun's mind in an instant.
"I'm going to tear you to pieces!" Countless spikes and steel blades sprouted from the captain's body again, returning him to his initial battle form. His face was filled with deep rage. "You forced me to permanently lose a portion of my superpowers to recover my body. Tell me, how much torture do you want to vent my hatred?"
Ling Yun stood silently for a moment, then suddenly turned and sprinted away. He couldn't think of any other way to deal with the captain besides running away. This guy wasn't human; there was no point in fighting him to the death.
A cold smile appeared on the captain's lips. He suddenly straightened his body and shot straight toward Ling Yun like a supersonic aircraft. His speed was many times faster than Ling Yun's.
Sensing the rapidly approaching artillery barrage behind him, Ling Yun could even clearly see the captain's狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious and malicious) face in the panoramic view. His heart tightened, and he quickened his pace again. Suddenly, one after another, iron spikes detached from the captain's body and shot out towards Ling Yun like rockets. They were so fast that they were almost invisible to the naked eye.
Ling Yun dodged left and right, but the iron spikes and blades were simply too fast and too numerous. In the end, they rained down like a deluge, and his mental energy field defenses were no match for such a dense and sharp attack. A sharp pain suddenly shot through his thigh; a sharp piece of steel had pierced deeply into Ling Yun's calf.
The captain caught up in the blink of an eye, his right hand wielding a hammer that shattered the barrier Ling Yun had hastily erected. His left hand, wielding a sword, moved like a blur, slashing repeatedly, leaving several long gashes on Ling Yun's chest and abdomen. Compared to his initial speed, the captain seemed like a completely different person; Ling Yun was utterly powerless to resist.
A net-like network of silver threads of mental energy appeared between Ling Yun and the captain, swiftly slashing towards the captain's neck. However, this time the captain was prepared, and the ball of light formed by the mental energy field blasted the silver threads into several pieces.
The captain raised his left-hand iron sword, completely disregarding Ling Yun's invisible and intangible mental energy field spear. With a clang, the moment the telekinetic spear touched the captain's body, Ling Yun felt as if he had pierced a block of iron. His hands trembled violently, and his telekinetic energy instantly dissipated.
The captain's left arm had once again pierced Ling Yun's chest, lifting his body high into the air: "You unkillable cockroach!" the captain said viciously, suddenly drawing his sword and stabbing Ling Yun's body again and again. "You have self-healing, don't you? Let me see if your self-healing is faster, or my iron sword!"