Mike was now standing in front of Li Jiye with a very large épée in his hand. Just looking at the sense of loftiness he exuded, Li Jiye knew he shouldn't be underestimated.
Today was the finals of the Tier 2 part of the Grand Four-City Contest. However, fewer people had come to watch the finals as compared to previous matches. Most of them had actually gone to watch the Tier 3 competition.
This was as expected. After all, the Tier 2 Grand Four-City Contest was akin to friendly exchanges between students.
But the battle between the Tier 3 students would ultimately determine the true champion of this tournament, who would then participate in the higher-level and more prestigious Grand National Contest.
Li Jiye didn't know much about the Grand National Contest. At this moment, he was already focusing all his attention on the burly and strong Mike in front of him.
"Let the match… BEGIN!"
Under the referee's order, Li Jiye immediately brandished his old tricks. In a short span of time, he summoned Shadow Wind Steps and flew around the ring. Immediately, a gust of wind followed.
Mike didn't panic in the least at the sight of this. He smiled lightly, his face radiating kindness.
Li Jiye used Shadow Wind Steps to shuttle around the ring constantly but didn't make an attack yet.
For some reason, every time he tried to attack with Godspeed Steps or Storm Fist, he would clearly see Mike's eyes flickering at each of his movements. A trace of doubt slowly crept up on him.
"I've already pushed Shadow Wind Steps to the limit… Can he still keep up with this speed?" The situation gave Li Jiye some heavy thoughts. He was about to use Falling Leaves Deadly Knives to test things out when Mike raised the épée in his hand so quickly that Li Jiye didn't even notice the movement.
"Yes… Mike's speed doesn't lose out to me…" After confirming this, Li Jiye flew back several steps.
Sure enough, the moment he retreated, Mike slashed his épée forward with a gust of blazing wind.
A crimson sharp knife aura slashed towards Li Jiye. Just as he had retreated a few steps with Shadow Wind Steps, the force of the attack charged towards him. In a moment of desperation, he gritted his teeth and drew out the long knife from his waist with lightning speed.
A turquoise glow mixed with a hint of undetectable white light suddenly shot out from the long knife.
Wave Decapitation! A blow that was the fusion of the Wind Element and Divine Blessing!
A loud clang resounded on the ring.
Li Jiye and Mike withdrew almost simultaneously.
Even Mike, who had always performed with ease, was a little surprised. "Your strength… You can even match up to me?"
The corner of Li Jiye's mouth raised, and he looked up directly at Mike before brandishing the long knife in his hand. "What do you think?" he replied.
Mike's skill was the B-level Crimson Blast Specialization, which was a variant talent that emerged from combining the Fire Element with Power Mastery. It stood to reason that with the combination of the two highly explosive elements, his competitive strength would be higher than those at the same level as him. But unfortunately, he had met Li Jiye, an abnormal martial artist with multiple elemental powers.
Their evenly matched confrontation aroused Mike's interest.
"Okay, come at me!"
Mike no longer had any contempt at this moment. He suddenly exerted his full strength, and a faintly discernible aura gradually enveloped his body.
"Watch out! I'm going to use my explosive A-level martial art. In my current state, my attack power will be twice as strong! Li Jiye, you're worth my effort. Now, take this!"
As soon as his words fell, the transparent aura around his body gradually intensified and raged. Startled, Li Jiye frowned deeply and subconsciously changed his Wind Element to Power Mastery.
Mike pointed his épée straight at Li Jiye, who was still rooted to the spot. It wasn't that Li Jiye wanted to take this attack head-on; it was just that for some inexplicable reason, it felt like Mike's attack would hit him no matter how he dodged.
This was the fighting instinct he had developed after several battles, and he was utterly convinced of it.
With the switch to Power Mastery, Li Jiye's aura suddenly changed. He focused his attention completely on his hands, and at the same time, the long knife in his hand burst into a dragon-like turquoise glow.
"Wave Decapitation!" "Charge up!"
The intertwining sword auras collided almost instantly, and the extremely sturdy ring seemed unable to withstand the offensive attack of such intensity. In the next second, several cracks appeared in the center of the ring.
The harsh blast that erupted from the collision could be vaguely felt by the audience.
Instead of delaying again, Li Jiye slammed his right foot onto the ground. At this moment, he didn't have the Wind Element to help, nor the ingenuity of the Shadow Wind Steps. He rushed towards Mike with lightning speed, holding the long knife that became even more powerful with the support of Divine Blessing.
Mike was not to be outdone either. He swung his two-meter-long sword fiercely into the wind. They abandoned their elemental power and even their martial arts at that moment.
The pleasure of fighting hand-to-hand surged into them simultaneously.
However, over time, Li Jiye gradually realized that Mike's physical strength seemed to have finally reached its limit. The crimson flame aura surging from his body gradually retracted, and the strength on his sword also weakened gradually.
"The burst of power he used must be some kind of technique to draw out his elemental strength… Although his physique is strong, he can't maintain this state for too long. In comparison, my physique is nearly Tier 3 intermediate-level and is much stronger…"
Thinking of this, Li Jiye found Mike's weak spot and whirled around quietly to avoid his attack. Moving lightly, he did a roundhouse kick in the blink of an eye and swung his knife right next to Mike's neck.
"Mike, good match."
At the moment they touched, a trace of red light flashed in Li Jiye's eyes.
"Ding! Congratulations on your successful replication of the B-level specialization, Crimson Blast."
Seemingly very accepting towards his defeat, Mike quickly nodded towards him with a smile.
The Tier 2 section of the Grand Four-City Contest had finally come to an end. Li Jiye stood on the ring surrounded by students from Polar Star Academy. He received a badge from Yaoyang City's City Lord, and cheers immediately filled the competition venue.
The crowd chanted his name for a while in Yaoyang City.