Chapter 22: Crushing Ye Bai Completely!
Following his breakthrough, a series of upgrade notifications flashed across his panel.
[Realm: Initial Stage (Low) → Initial Stage (Mid)]
[Physique: 1000 → 1500]
[Mental Strength: 1000 → 1500]
[Observation Haki: Lv1/5]
(Proficiency: 39/100)
[Armament Haki: Lv1/5)
(Proficiency: 46/100)
[Conqueror's Haki: Lv1/5]
(Proficiency: 10/100)
[Swordsmanship: Lv1/5]
(Proficiency: 20/100)
"My realm actually increased. Life Return really is a god-tier skill for ordinary people."
Chen Yu felt the changes within his body.
At this moment, his aura was gentle and long-lasting, revealing not a shred of threat.
But Ye Bai's heart trembled violently.
"How is this possible..." His voice quivered with disbelief from within the smoke.
Outside the ring, Ling Wenhe and Wei Tianyi both sucked in a cold breath.
Wei Tianyi stroked his beard in admiration. "It has only been two days since he awakened!"
Ling Wenhe nodded in agreement, though he remained silent.
The waves in his heart were far from small. If an SS-Class genius from a prestigious background like Ye Bai broke through in a short time, it would be perfectly normal..
But Chen Yu? An unlucky kid with an F-Class character panel, unloved by his father and mother?
He could actually break through too.
And breaking through during battle!
Ling Wenhe began to suspect if the Alliance's grading system for talents had malfunctioned.
"Breaking through in battle?!" Ye Bai's chunibyo soul ignited. "What kind of protagonist behavior is this?!"
Ye Bai, who had always believed himself to be the Chosen One, couldn't accept that someone was better at showing off than him.
He immediately controlled his ten clones to pounce on Chen Yu from different directions.
But this time, Chen Yu's eyes narrowed.
The gentle aura around Chen Yu suddenly retracted, replaced by an oppressive feeling like a beast staring down its prey.
He swept his gaze over the ten incoming smoke clones. Under the coverage of Observation Haki, Chen Yu easily neutralized the encirclement.
He gave a crooked 'Dragon King' smile. "Old Bai, although the truth hurts..."
"Is that it?" Chen Yu held up his pinky finger. "You still need to practice."
These words caused Ye Bai's pupils to shrink.
He had awakened the unsolvable Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit!
The clones just now were merely a warm-up! Hearing Chen Yu's mockery, he no longer held back.
The grey mist around him surged madly. All the smoke instantly converged into a massive smoke vortex three meters in diameter.
Inside the vortex, countless sharp smoke blades condensed.
Chen Yu looked at it. It resembled Smoker's move from One Piece, White Blow.
From within the grey mist, Ye Bai shouted explosively, "Smoke · Strangling Array!"
This move could not only trap the opponent with the vortex but also use the high-speed rotating smoke blades to slice them apart.
Among the younger generation in the Capital, he was confident no one could take this head-on!
Ye Bai stared at Chen Yu. Although he didn't know why Chen Yu could ignore the Logia elementalization...
Maybe he was wearing Sea Prism Stone gloves, or maybe he wet his hands with water. But none of that could shake one fact.
Ye Bai's eyes held a trace of certainty. "Logia abilities are not something your mere Taijutsu can break!"
But in the next second, Chen Yu's action left the three spectators completely stunned.
"Watch closely. This is the 'mere Taijutsu' you speak of!"
Chen Yu's black hair suddenly moved without wind, growing dozens of meters in an instant.
With Life Return, Chen Yu could control every part of his body—hair was no exception.
Under the ultimate control of Life Return, every strand of hair became as hard as refined steel, the tips coated in a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki.
"Lion's Gatling!"
Chen Yu waved his hand at the smoke vortex. Hundreds of hair strands shot out like Finger Pistols in a torrential rain, precisely hitting the connecting points of the smoke blades in the vortex center.
Sizzle—Sizzle—
The moment the Armament Haki touched the smoke, the solid smoke blades burst like popped bubbles.
The massive vortex lost its power, scattering into loose grey mist filling the sky.
Ye Bai's main body was exposed behind the mist, his face full of disbelief. "How is this possible?!"
"You... I am clearly a Logia user, how can you..."
Before he could finish, Chen Yu stomped his foot violently.
His Initial Stage (Mid) physique caused the speed of his Shave to skyrocket.
His figure instantly turned into a black blur, crossing through the residual grey mist in the blink of an eye to appear right in front of Ye Bai.
Ye Bai hurriedly tried to elementalize and hide in the smoke, but Chen Yu's Observation Haki had long since locked onto his aura.
Chen Yu's right fist suddenly tensed. 1500 points of physical strength fused with Armament Haki.
The pitch-black Haki on his fist condensed a halo of energy the size of a basketball.
The surrounding air was compressed until it emitted crisp crackling sounds.
This was the peak form of the Marine Six Style secret technique!
"Six King Gun · Maximum Ring!"
In One Piece, Rob Lucci needed to charge up to use this move.
But Chen Yu, relying on Life Return plus Haki, could unleash it with a casual wave of his hand!
BOOM!
The terrifying impact slammed ruthlessly into Ye Bai's chest.
He was blasted away as if hit by a heavy cannon, flying backward to crash into the stone wall of the dojo. The stone wall instantly cracked into spiderweb-like fissures.
"Wah!" He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and the smoke around his body completely dissipated.
Logia Elementalization, under the double impact of Armament Haki and the Marine Six Style secret technique, offered no resistance at all.
Chen Yu walked forward and helped up Ye Bai, whose face was ashen. "You kid are pretty freakish. You still have consciousness after that!"
Hearing this, Ye Bai turned his head stiffly to look at Chen Yu, his pupils quaking.
Aren't you the freak?
You used that kind of move, and you aren't even panting?!
Wei Tianyi walked up quickly, his voice full of shock. "Was that the Marine Six Style secret technique just now?!"
"No, it was stronger than that!".
Ling Wenhe also swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Those S-Class geniuses in the Capital who are praised to the heavens really should come and see this."
"You are at least a whole tier above them!"
Ye Bai looked at Chen Yu with eyes void of defiance, leaving only deep shock.
He had always thought he was the "Chosen One," awakening a Logia ability, with top-tier family background and talent.
But today, he was pinned to the ground and hammered by someone with an F-Class ability!
"Although I lost to you, I still won't give up on Ling Yue!" Ye Bai gritted his teeth..
"Don't think you're so amazing just because you won! I just haven't developed my ability well yet!"
"If you have the guts, don't use Sea Prism Stone gloves!"
"...".
"Alright, alright." Chen Yu rolled his eyes. "If I knew earlier, I wouldn't have held back. I should have just knocked you out."
"So noisy."
Hearing this, Wei Tianyi and Ling Wenhe were startled again.
That strike just now was him holding back?
Instinctively, they chose not to believe it. But rational judgment told them it was actually possible.
After all, Chen Yu's current state could only be described as 'slightly sweating.'
Tsk tsk tsk, young people these days.
(To be Continued)