Chapter 278: Admit Defeat
If Xu Zhi were asked to describe the feeling of stopping bullets midair, she would probably say—
Effortless.
It was even easier than she had imagined.
There was a hint of curiosity in the girl’s eyes, as if she were witnessing such an extraordinary ability for the first time herself.
She looked at the three bullets. Although their movement had frozen, the flames clinging to them still flickered.
Which meant that what she had halted was only the bullets themselves. The extraordinary power attached to them had not been “solidified.”
Xu Zhi thought for a moment and understood.
When she had said “Stop,” what she pictured in her mind were the three bullets flying toward her—not the extraordinary power Chun Ming was channeling.
“So that’s how it works?”
Chun Ming’s eyes also flashed with surprise, but his experience in many battles told him that freezing up in shock during combat was unwise. He immediately pulled the trigger again to follow up—
But it didn’t work.
His bullets would not leave the chamber.
Xu Zhi noticed the motion and understood again. It wasn’t just the three bullets in front of her. The bullets still inside Chun Ming’s magazine had been “stopped” as well. Naturally, they couldn’t be fired.
Interesting. The ability of Curse Speech.
Since Curse Speech was not something that belonged directly to Xu Zhi like the Eye of Insight, but was connected through a familiar, she couldn’t fully comprehend every detail of its usage instantly in her mind. She only knew the general idea; finer details had to be explored on her own.
In a sense, Curse Speech could be considered her mouthpiece—but it had no mouth of its own and could not explain how to refine its own usage.
The noise beneath the arena seemed to grow louder.
Seeing his firearm rendered useless, Chun Ming immediately changed tactics. As an extraordinary of the Blade path, his physical condition was naturally excellent. He lunged forward in several swift strides, rapidly closing the distance between them.
If ranged attacks didn’t work, then—
Close combat.
Xu Zhi carried no melee weapon either. Judging from the extraordinary ability she had displayed, she didn’t appear to be someone skilled in close combat.
He still had the advantage.
It took only about three seconds to reach her. During those three seconds, Chun Ming’s aura intensified continuously. Steam-like heat began venting from his pores. He resembled a boiler building pressure.
The moment he reached Xu Zhi, his wheat-colored skin transformed into the hue of flames.
Fire burst from his pores in waves. His entire body ignited, as if he himself had become flame.
Simply standing near him felt like standing beside a furnace. Facing him directly, Xu Zhi naturally felt it even more clearly.
Chun Ming clenched his teeth. The intense heat of the flames was uncomfortable even for him. His nose, filled with fire, could no longer draw breath. When he exhaled through clenched teeth, burning moisture turned into plumes of white steam.
His fist shot forward at terrifying speed toward the girl before him.
You can stop bullets? Then try stopping my fist!
The iron fist, wrapped in flame and heat, closed in rapidly.
Xu Zhi did not panic.
Relying on her combat experience and the trajectory calculations running through her mind, she shifted her steps lightly—pivot, sidestep, slight backward lean, retreat.
With several impossibly nimble movements, she slipped behind Chun Ming with astonishing ease. Even the silver chain at the side of her glasses merely swayed gently—proof of just how steady and controlled her movements were.
Anyone with sharp eyes could see from those evasive steps that her close-combat ability was far from weak.
At the very least, Chun Ming was no match for her.
But in the next moment, Xu Zhi did something that puzzled everyone.
Having moved behind Chun Ming, she did not attack. Nor did she distance herself from his blazing body. Instead, she extended one finger and lightly tapped his back, deliberately allowing the flame to cling to her fingertip.
Only then did she withdraw her hand and step back casually.
Setting herself on fire on purpose?
The crowd below the arena stared in confusion at the girl whose fingertip was burning. Her flesh began to char almost immediately. Yet despite the intense pain, her expression did not change in the slightest.
Was she insane?
Just as the audience struggled to understand—and as Chun Ming turned and threw another punch toward her—the girl spoke her second sentence since stepping onto the arena.
“Extinguish.”
Her voice was soft. She wasn’t even looking at Chun Ming—only at the flame on her fingertip. Though gentle, her tone carried the unmistakable force of a command.
In the next instant, the flame dancing on her finger vanished abruptly, as if crushed by an irresistible authority.
And Chun Ming—whose entire body had been blazing as he charged at her—was the same.
The raging fire covering him seemed to have all its oxygen stripped away. Beginning from his fist, the flames died out inch by inch. In less than a second, the human inferno reverted to his ordinary form.
When he was engulfed in flames, he endured pain—but gained certain enhancements in return. Now, caught completely off guard, his extraordinary ability felt as though it had been sealed away. All enhancements vanished instantly.
Shock and fear flashed in his eyes.
His fist, which had been swinging toward Xu Zhi, halted abruptly in midair as confusion overwhelmed him.
The gust from the stopped punch stirred Xu Zhi’s hair, yet she showed no sign of alarm.
In fact, she looked mildly surprised. Almost apologetically, she said,
“Sorry, Senior. I only meant to extinguish the flame on my fingertip.”
“I didn’t expect it would affect you too.”
For a moment, Chun Ming’s face twisted.
He wanted to demand what nonsense this junior was spouting!
Listen to that! Is that something a human being says?!
He tried to mobilize his extraordinary power again, attempting to reignite the flames—
It didn’t work.
“What did you do to me?!”
Xu Zhi shook her head at once. “Senior, that’s not a very appropriate accusation. I was just testing my ability.”
“I didn’t expect Senior to be so…”
She didn’t finish the sentence.
But Chun Ming felt as though he had already heard the words—
So fragile.
His face turned slightly green.
His halted fist lashed out again. Nothing else—this junior’s words were simply too infuriating!
The girl before him stepped back lightly, dodging with ease. Smiling, she said,
“Senior, I’ve already tested what I wanted to test. I don’t want to waste time.”
“You should admit defeat.”
You should admit defeat.
The four words seemed to carry some strange power.
For a brief instant, Chun Ming’s eyes grew unfocused. Then, as if fully conscious, he withdrew his attack stance and turned toward the referee platform.
“I concede.”
—Boom!
The uproar beneath the arena nearly lifted the roof.
It was for Chun Ming’s defeat, for his strange surrender, for the completely one-sided battle that defied all expectations—
And for Xu Zhi.
For the special ability she had revealed.
And for the first time ever—A first-year defeating an upperclassman.
Ohhh I wonder how energy much it took to make her senior surrender? It makes me curious if the amount of energy needed to use it to influence living people changes based on things like willpower, level or something else.