Chapter Ninety-Nine: Frenzied Excitement

Raphael’s family martial technique, Tiger Emperor Strike, was even more ferocious than Infinite Collapse. He had once flaunted it in public, bending a three-centimeter-thick steel plate with a single blow—no exaggeration. Even the dual force of the Silk Palm could not neutralize such sheer, brutal power.

“Playing dirty, huh? Don’t you know that skill is also a kind of ability?” Luo Chen’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Fine. Since you want a fair fight, I’ll beat you fair and square!”

As soon as Luo Chen finished speaking, his palm expanded several times in size and slammed forward—a second-level martial technique: Giant Palm Seal!

The crowd gasped in astonishment. Even with the Silk Palm’s softness, it seemed impossible to counter Raphael’s Tiger Emperor Strike this time. Luo Chen was meeting force with force—wasn’t this like a moth to a flame?

The second-level Giant Palm Seal and the family technique Tiger Emperor Strike were not merely a level apart.

But Luo Chen’s move was no ordinary Giant Palm Seal; it was Giant Palm Seal amplified by eighty percent vortex pressure!

Hard and soft energies could cancel each other out, but when two hard forces collided, there was no neutralization. A thunderous bang erupted, energy bursting forth and strong winds sweeping the spectators’ clothes into the air.

A figure shot backward like a cannonball—not Luo Chen, who had used a second-level martial technique to meet force with force, but Raphael, who had unleashed his family’s Tiger Emperor Strike.

Not only the spectators but even Zhuo Yuqing, watching from afar with her Eagle Eye technique, was speechless with shock. With his spirit power weaker than his opponent’s, Luo Chen’s Giant Palm Seal should not have been able to overpower the Tiger Emperor Fist so cleanly. Even with Zhuo Yuqing’s skill, she would have needed clever tricks and other high-tier second-level martial techniques to make Raphael suffer.

Though his spirit power was still slightly weaker than Raphael’s, Luo Chen’s Giant Palm Seal, enhanced by eighty percent vortex pressure, was considerably stronger than Tiger Emperor Strike. He only retreated a few steps, his blood surging in his chest, but Raphael fared far worse—slamming heavily to the ground and sliding several meters, unable to stand up for a moment.

At last, Raphael understood: Luo Chen was stronger. Even without tricks, he could force him down. But Raphael, who prided himself so highly, could not accept this reality. He had some reputation at Blue Emperor Academy; to lose so miserably to a student from an ordinary class would ruin him—he would never be able to show his face again.

No, impossible. How could that kid possess such power? Surely it was a trick, it had to be! If he used deceit, then I can’t be blamed for doing the same!

Forcing himself to accept this excuse, Raphael quickly pulled something from his pocket and swallowed it. Almost instantly, a hot surge rose from his abdomen, spreading rapidly through his limbs; the pain vanished, replaced by boundless strength. He leapt to his feet.

His exposed arm muscles swelled visibly, veins bulging on his neck, and his eyes were bloodshot—he looked like a wild beast, terrifying to behold.

“Rage Pill! That’s a Rage Pill—Raphael’s gone mad, he actually took a Rage Pill!”

“Is he really trying to kill Luo Chen? This is serious, someone go report to the Disciplinary Committee!”

The crowd stirred anxiously; none had expected Raphael to be desperate enough to take a Rage Pill!

Rage Pills were potent stimulants that could greatly increase a person’s strength for a short time. Even an ordinary person, after taking one, could use brute force to defeat a second-level spirit warrior. If a spirit warrior took one, the effect was even more formidable. However, Rage Pills were expensive and had severe side effects—at best, they would damage one’s vitality after the berserk episode; at worst, one could die suddenly in battle. Thus, unless it was a matter of life and death, even those who could afford them rarely used them. No one expected Raphael to resort to such a strong Rage Pill in a malicious brawl—he was clearly willing to risk everything.

For Raphael, reputation was more important than life itself.

Seeing Raphael’s state, the spectators instinctively moved further away; after taking a Rage Pill, a person’s rationality was greatly reduced and could attack anyone who displeased him.

Even Raphael’s two followers were terrified and rushed to stop him: “Raphael, please calm down!”

“Get out of my way—anyone who blocks me dies!” Raphael sent them flying with a forceful sweep. Now entirely irrational, he struck even his own followers; no one else dared intervene, for fear of inciting his wrath.

Feeling the surging power within, Raphael burst out laughing: “Luo Chen, you can never defeat me—never!”

Raphael was still more than ten meters from Luo Chen, but he raised his hand and unleashed a fierce tiger head—his earlier Tiger Emperor Strike, now able to attack at mid-range through the air. The Rage Pill had indeed massively boosted his strength.

This time, Luo Chen did not meet Raphael head-on; after all, an opponent powered by drugs had far greater strength, so it was wiser to use martial skills that conserved spirit energy to counter him.

Vortex pressure at twenty-five percent—Silk Palm!

The tiger head was struck by the Silk Palm and vanished, but Luo Chen was not pleased. Silk Palm specialized in countering hard force, and with the twenty-five percent boost, could barely neutralize Raphael’s airborne Tiger Emperor Fist.

Then came the second, third, fourth tiger head. By the time Luo Chen countered the fourth, the vortex pressure effect in his spirit core finally weakened. The Silk Palm’s soft energy negated most of the tiger head’s force, then swiftly switched to a second surge of hard energy. In the explosive clash of hard energies, Luo Chen was jolted several meters back, touching down and propelling himself further away—he needed time to replenish his spirit core’s pressure.

Raphael pressed the attack relentlessly, launching two more tiger heads: “Hahaha, why aren’t you arrogant now? Go on, be arrogant!”

Suddenly, a voice shouted from the distance: “Stop! Stop at once!”

A group of people rushed over from the far side of the trial grounds, led by a tall, red-haired beauty—Joanna. The Flaming Rose had joined the Blue Emperor Academy’s Disciplinary Committee. On duty that weekend evening, she had received a report of a malicious brawl in the trial grounds and hurried over with her fellow committee members.

Seeing Luo Chen among the fighters, she was shocked; the other was Raphael from her class. Joanna knew Raphael had some strength, but it was absolutely impossible for him to unleash Tiger Emperor Strike so fiercely at mid-range.

Joanna instantly deduced the truth: when a spirit warrior’s power suddenly increased so drastically, there could only be one explanation—a Rage Pill.