Chapter 84: Instant Ryou, Armament Haki Lv3!
Shen Lie's fist was blocked, but he didn't retreat.
His other hand swung out immediately after, the Armament Haki coating his fist growing even denser.
In Chen Yu's vision, the Armament Haki on Shen Lie's fist had turned pitch black, reaching an extreme saturation.
Bang!!
Before the fist even made contact, a powerful shockwave exploded in the air in front of Shen Lie's knuckles.
Chen Yu sidestepped to avoid the blast while simultaneously reaching out to grab the opponent's wrist. He could clearly feel the flow of the Armament Haki. "Oh... so that's how it works."
His top-tier Haki talent allowed him to understand instantly. Combined with the experience he had been fumbling with for so long, everything clicked into place in that single moment.
[Armament Haki: Lv2 → 3/5, Proficiency: 0/100]
(Current Effect: Defense amplification, Ryou—Flowing Armament Haki, achieving non-contact strikes and Internal Destruction effects.)
Despite having his wrist grabbed, Shen Lie didn't panic. He drove his knee violently toward Chen Yu's lower abdomen.
Chen Yu released his grip and took two steps back, the smile on his face growing wider. "Again!"
This time, Chen Yu also activated his Armament Haki. The density of the Haki covering his arm was even more intense than Shen Lie's.
The flames in Shen Lie's eyes burned fiercely. "Good!"
Both took a step forward simultaneously, their fists colliding in mid-air.
If one looked closely, there was a small gap between their fists. Two forces of Haki clashed, creating a buzzing Zzzzt sound in the air.
Shen Lie revealed a knowing smile. "I knew it! You can do it too!"
Chen Yu remained silent, simply throwing another punch.
He was afraid that if he admitted he had literally just learned it, Shen Lie's Dao Heart would crumble on the spot.
The momentum of the fight secretly startled Long Aotian and the others watching.
They weren't surprised by Chen Yu, but by this youth named Shen Lie, who was actually managing to trade blows with an animal like Chen Yu.
With a muffled thud, the two separated.
Shen Lie felt a wave of numbness wash over his arm and stumbled three steps back. Chen Yu, however, stood completely still.
"Your... Hardening... is stronger than mine." Shen Lie shook out his arm, but the look in his eyes grew even more excited.
"But I haven't lost yet!" He charged again, his fists swinging even faster.
Every punch carried the effect of Ryou, extending his attack range, though the raw attack power wasn't overwhelming.
Chen Yu tanked the hits while observing Shen Lie's usage of Haki.
Shen Lie's physique was impressive, and his application of Armament Haki was proficient; clearly, he had trained for a long time.
However, he had only achieved the level of projecting the energy outward (Emission), not Internal Destruction.
Without the critical hit effect of Conqueror's Coating, the damage output was just average.
Chen Yu occasionally countered. When his fist landed on Shen Lie's body, the boy reacted swiftly, concentrating his Armament Haki to defend.
"Stop!" Chen Yu suddenly shouted, taking a step back.
Shen Lie's fist froze in mid-air. He looked at Chen Yu, panting. "What's wrong? Are you giving up?"
"No." Chen Yu shook his head with a smile, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "I want to show you something cool."
Chen Yu glanced at a camphor tree not far away. The trunk was thick enough that it would take two people to wrap their arms around it, and its branches were lush.
He walked toward the tree and stopped in front of it. His arm was quietly coated in thick, black Armament Haki.
Compared to the fistfight with Shen Lie earlier, the color was several shades deeper, like refined iron dipped in ink. Black arcs of lightning danced around his fist.
Unlike the majestic, overwhelming aura of Conqueror's Coating, this punch felt calm—like an abyss, terrifyingly deep and bottomless.
He drew his fist back like a full bow.
"Watch closely." Chen Yu gave a low shout. "Fist Bone..."
As his voice fell, his fist shot out like a cannonball leaving the chamber.
There was no earth-shattering noise. Chen Yu's fist stopped steadily just in front of the tree bark, not even leaving a shallow mark.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Long Aotian was the first to laugh out loud, leaning over to whisper in Zhuge Jing's ear. "Did he fumble the bag?"
Zero and Zhuge Jing nodded along, their eyes full of teasing. Clearly, they didn't take the punch seriously.
Shen Lie frowned tightly. He walked up quickly, reaching out to touch the spot on the trunk Chen Yu had aimed at. The fingertips felt smooth bark.
He looked at Chen Yu in confusion. "Did you... miss-control your strength?"
"Even with an emitted impact, it shouldn't fail to even shake the bark."
"Let the bullets fly for a while." Chen Yu smirked, jutting his chin toward the other side of the tree. "Just a little party trick."
As soon as he finished speaking.
Crack—
A subtle fracturing sound suddenly came from inside the trunk, as if something was shattering internally.
Everyone's expressions stiffened. Just as they were about to step forward, the back of the camphor tree suddenly exploded.
Cracks on the bark spread outward from the center of the trunk, dense as a spiderweb.
The next second.
BANG!!!
A deafening explosion.
Wood chips and shredded bark blasted outward, flying full two meters away and pattering onto the ground.
When the dust settled, everyone saw that a massive chunk was missing from the back of the trunk. From the core to the rear surface, the wood had been vibrated into fine powder.
Yet, the bark Chen Yu had touched remained perfectly intact.
A breeze blew, and the tree swayed gently. In the middle was a charred, hollow void, the edges of the splintered wood still slightly hot.
Long Aotian's laughter got stuck in his throat, his mouth hanging open, unable to close.
The other two subconsciously took a step back, the teasing in their eyes replaced entirely by shock.
Shen Lie stared at the hollowed-out trunk, his pupils contracting violently, his body beginning to tremble slightly.
He realized it now. Chen Yu's punch hadn't failed.
Instead, he had condensed all the Haki into the interior of the trunk. He hadn't damaged a single inch of the surface, but he had directly shattered the core!
"Finding you was the right choice!" Shen Lie looked at Chen Yu with excitement.
Ever since he awakened his Armament Haki, he had been training this ability relentlessly. But after achieving the Ryou effect, he had hit a bottleneck.
He didn't know how to cultivate it further. After seeing Chen Yu use Divine Departure on TV, Shen Lie was certain Chen Yu could give him the answer.
"Th-This is..." Shen Lie turned to Chen Yu, his voice trembling, his eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge. "Please, you must teach me."
"Internal Destruction." Chen Yu suppressed the corner of his mouth, which was trying to rise in satisfaction after a successful flex.
"You probably noticed it too. Pure Ryou projection doesn't have strong attack power."
"Especially when facing opponents with maxed-out defense and physique." Chen Yu patted his own chest. "You unleash a whole combo, and it's basically just chip damage."
"By controlling the Armament Haki to explode inside the enemy, you can bypass their defenses and deal true damage."
"So that's it! So that's it!" Shen Lie's eyes lit up like lightbulbs. "Then, Teacher Chen, what is Ryou?"
"Uh..." Chen Yu paused, remembering the lack of Haki knowledge in this world. "It's a technique to project Armament Haki away from the body."
"Teacher Chen! Then... what is Armament Haki?" Shen Lie raised his hand again.
"Uh... it's the ability you use to harden your body."
"Armament Haki... what a fitting name!"
Long Aotian watched the Q&A session. "Jing, what kind of gibberish are they speaking?"
Zhuge Jing shook his head. "I understand every individual word, but put them together and I'm lost."
Seeing that the night was getting deep, Chen Yu interrupted the knowledge-thirsty Shen Lie. "Lie, look, it's getting late. Are you hungry? I haven't finished my instant noodles yet."
"Right, should I cook another pack?" Long Aotian suggested.
"Sure." After moving his hands and feet, Chen Yu was naturally hungry.
Zhuge Jing and Zero didn't look full either—after all, how could an evil capitalist let you get full on a single pack of noodles?
Growl—
Shen Lie's stomach also let out a loud protest. He turned away shyly, intending to leave.
But he was pulled back by Chen Yu. "Since you're already here, let's make dump... let's eat together."
"Is it really okay?" Shen Lie asked embarrassedly. "Won't it be too much trouble?"
"Tch, listen to this guy." Zhuge Jing dragged a table out from somewhere. "You came all the way here in the middle of the night to duel this animal, and now you're afraid of troubling us?"
"Exactly, exactly. What flavor do you want?" Long Aotian asked.
Shen Lie stopped being polite. "Do you have Coriander flavor?"
???
"You have a pretty unique taste!"
...
(To be Continued)