Chapter Fifty: The Broken AT Field

Before Feng Xue could react, a black shadow flashed past the corner of his eye. It was as if it had dived into water; a faint force surged from every inch of his skin, the result of attacks dispersed by the AT Field.

"It’s useless. No matter how fast you are, if you can’t break through my defensive layer, it’s all in vain." Feng Xue stood there, enduring Xiao Li’s attacks from all directions, but to him, these assaults felt no more than a gentle massage by the time they reached his body.

Such is the despairing effect of the AT Field. In its passive state, its principle is akin to the phase-shift armor from Gundam SEED: as long as there’s enough energy supply, it’s virtually immune to all physical attacks.

In fact, injuries lacking explosive or thermal effects couldn’t even consume the soul particles generated by the AT Field.

"Even, if I wish, you couldn’t even see me," Feng Xue declared. The Gourmet Demon once again scattered its nonexistent "phosphor powder," and he vanished from Xiao Li’s senses.

Indeed, this was the essence of Feng Xue’s “Yu Step.” Although he’d learned about the techniques of shrinking distance and Yu Step through his martial arts training, he lacked the subtle acuity required. However, he possessed the Origin of "Deception." Though it was difficult to wield the Origin directly at the Transcendent level, the demon form refined by his Gourmet Cells allowed him to indirectly imbue the Gourmet Demon’s traits with the power of Origin.

That phosphor powder, existing only in the world of souls, was precisely the Gourmet Demon’s characteristic. By dispersing this powder, Feng Xue could more easily deceive any creature within its range. The Yu Step, which originally required complex calculations and skill, was simplified in such an environment, needing only a few minor movements to bring out its effects.

"Explode, Xiao Li!" As Feng Xue slowly approached, a voice suddenly rang out from the stands—it was Kai.

"Isn’t this basically cheating?" Feng Xue’s eyebrow twitched as he called out to the referee, but it was futile—after all, this was their territory. Moonlight Hayate could only cough twice, casting a resentful glance at Kai.

But as Feng Xue’s face darkened, a sense of crisis abruptly arose in his heart. He saw Xiao Li suddenly burst forth with a dense aura of vitality.

"Even if it’s Eight Gates Release—" Before Feng Xue finished speaking, a fist wrapped in bandages struck directly at his chest, slamming him against the wall.

"Ugh…" He spat out two mouthfuls of blood and staggered out from the dented wall. "That’s truly terrifying power—the instantaneous burst of speed even exceeded the vibration rate of soul particles within my Absolute Territory, no wonder it could strike me directly."

Feng Xue had underestimated him. He hadn’t expected Xiao Li, freed from his weights, could unleash such power with just one gate open. For the first time, tension appeared in Feng Xue’s heart.

"Are you alright?" Xiao Li panted. Feng Xue’s lack of immediate retaliation was a relief; after all, Eight Gates Release was never meant to be a routine technique. Even opening the first gate brought intense pain throughout his body.

"No, not at all! I’ve broken at least three ribs!" Feng Xue tore off his tattered shirt, revealing a physique harmonized by Gourmet Cells. On his right chest, there was an obvious depression. "I never imagined—besides unlocking the brain’s limits on the muscles, Eight Gates Release can even remove the brain’s own restrictions."

As he spoke, he slowly walked forward. With each step, the muscles on his chest visibly pushed his broken ribs back into place.

"Ugh!" Feng Xue spat out another mouthful of blood, but his spirits were much improved. Having mastered the True Meaning of Food, his body always stored over two hundred kilograms of food energy (Feng Xue’s Gourmet Cell activity wasn’t high enough to store several tons like Zebra). Upon injury, the Gourmet Cells rapidly absorbed this energy for recovery. Though not at the level seen in Toriko—where even a pierced throat could quickly heal—fractured ribs and bruised muscles were no issue.

"I underestimated you. Next, I’ll show my strongest state so far. You’d best prepare yourself for the possibility of dying at any moment…" Feng Xue walked slowly toward the center of the arena. This time, he didn’t use tricks like the Yu Step. He was certain that Xiao Li now, like Index, could imprint all information into his mind. Thus, the Yu Step, which relied on exploiting discarded information, would lose its effectiveness.

The soul particles around Feng Xue began to condense and compress, shrinking from a spherical space with a two-meter diameter centered on him, to a thin layer covering his fists like gloves. In this state, the AT Field had virtually no defensive power, but in exchange, the high-speed condensed vibrating particle mantle granted Feng Xue a nearly savage offensive capability!

This was not the AT Field’s normal usage; in fact, its standard offensive application was to cast a thin layer outward, producing an effect like sword energy, capable of cutting through anything. But Feng Xue’s Heaven and Earth Dual Souls hadn’t yet unified, and the amount of soul particles his Life Soul could produce wasn’t sufficient for such precision and consumption. He could only settle for a compromise: developing this technique that entirely abandoned defense to boost attack. Though merely an interim skill, Feng Xue held firmly to the belief that "a move may be rough, but its name must be grand," and so he named it—

"Black Tortoise Sheds Its Armor!"

"He’s concentrated all his defensive chakra in his hands!" Neji, relying on his Byakugan to observe energy, saw Feng Xue’s transformation directly. But in the next moment, his leg weakened beneath him. Though he quickly recovered, he seemed dazed—"What… what is that?"

"What did you see—" Before Tenten could ask, she stopped, for she too saw the cause of Neji’s loss of composure—

A gigantic butterfly with a demon-like head and blue-violet metallic wings slowly solidified from a mere energy vision phantom into an apparition visible to all. If that were all, it would be nothing, but at this moment, the butterfly radiated an irresistible, terrifying aura, like that of a natural enemy.

"What is that? A tailed beast?"