Chapter 48: After 316 Unfruitful Punches
"50th time!"
Someone said slowly. But it was more than enough for everyone to hear. And they were clear what that person meant by "50th time!" earlier. He meant that Derek attacked Ethan 50th time so far. And at the same time, this Ethan also dodged all 50 Derek's attacks.
"Senior brother! What exactly is that person trying to do?" ,That junior brother from earlier asked his senior brother.
That wise senior brother shook his head and said, "I am also not certain. But my guess is right, this Ethan is definitely an intelligent person."
"I don't understand, senior brother!" ,The junior brother said politely and then further asked, "Could you please elaborate?0
The senior brother smiled in return and replied calmly, "I am not certain. But if my guess is right, then this Ethan is trying to drain his opponents stamina."
"Stamina? But why? Please speak clearly, Ivan!" ,Someone from the crowd asked and waited for the answer.
Ivan is an Inner Disciple of the Sacred Fire Academy. Even though his status was high, compared with Young Master Robin who is the Core Disciple, he was one rank away from becoming a Core disciple.
Everyone liked and respected Ivan. He was very polite and was never an arrogant person. He treated everyone well. Due to this, everyone has good impression about him.
But the most important thing which everyone liked about him is that he is a very intelligent person. His analysis about the complex things were almost accurate and mostly right. But if he doesn't know anything, then he won't feel shy to say that he really don't know it.
So when they saw that Ivan is speaking, they all remained silent and waited for his explanation. Because they felt that for something as simple as this fight, Ivan will definitely have an answer.
Ivan spoke, "If my guess is right, then this Ethan is trying to drain Derek's stamina. Derek has powerful background. If he cripples or killed anyone within the city, then this news could be suppressed by the Punishment Department. The Punishment Department could even twist the truth and make it look as if Derek was righteous and was catching a criminal. And in the process, just because his opponent was strong, Derek had to go a little overboard and cripple or kill his opponent."
Ivan continued, "By doing this, Derek will be rewarded. As for Ethan, even though we all know that he is not any criminal, but so what. Does any of us has any courage to speak the truth? We won't seek death right? If we supported Ethan at that point, then Ethan might escape. But Derek will suffer the punishment. Punishment Department will use it's authority to fame us for any crime we didn't commit."
Ivan continued, "If my guess is right, then this Ethan also know this. He might have thought this as well. That means, he can't even land his finger on his opponent who has the entire Punishment Department behind him."
Ivan sighed and continued, "So this Ethan might have come up with this idea. He let Derek punch him as many times as he wanted to. He won't be bothered about any of it. As long as this Ethan won't land any finger on Derek and force Derek to exhaust his own strength and stamina, then he will eventually stop at one point. Even if he brought the entire Punishment Department to force Ethan for submission, Ethan will have good reasons to back off."
Ivan continued, "Ethan then could ask the Punishment Department whether he really harmed Derek at all. He could ask the Punishment Department whether he touched Derek during this period. Punishment Department might have huge political power, but that power has it's limit as well."
Ivan smiled and said, "And most importantly, Ethan has high chance to draw support from Young Master Robin. Everyone thinks that Young Master Robin is always strict and cold. But as far as I know, Young Master Robin is someone who always treats his benefactors well. Since Ethan sold him the legendary fruits, Young Master Robin might even come to Ethan's rescue."
Ivan said, "Overall, this Ethan is trying to avoid as much trouble as possible. And my analyses might be accurate this time. Because he didn't take his hands out of his pocket since the beginning of the fight. He clearly had no intention to fight Derek. And at the same time, he won't let Derek cripple or kill him. So this is the reason why he might be only dodging and not attacking back."
The spectators heard Ivan's explanation and felt that his explanation was logical. Especially the part where Ethan didn't pull out his hands from his pockets this whole time. When they saw this, they were more convinced with Ivan's explanation.
At this moment, Derek was furious. He felt as if Ethan was intentionally making fun of him. He was blinded by the rage. He was the grandson of the Chief Elder of Union's Punishment Department. How could he tolerate such despicable acts from others?
He roared in extreme anger and pounced on Ethan. But Ethan with his nimble body and agile footwork easily dodged. Derek didn't stop there. Each dodge from Ethan made him more and more furious.
"Earth Shattering Punch!!!"
"Wind Hammer Punch!!!"
"Wind Halberd Punch!!!"
Derek tried many of his known skills and used on Ethan. But Ethan had terrifying Stamina and Agility which is too much for a 5th Level of Elementary Stage cultivator. He easily dodged all the attacks and still didn't show any sign of exhaustion.
Time passed. 50 punches became 60 punches in no time. 60 became 80 punches. 80 punches became 100 punches.
At this point, Derek showed signs of exhaustion. Cold sweat was oozing out of his body. But he didn't stop there. In fact, he hot bloodedly rushed forward and used even more strength and threw punches at Ethan with no skill involved.
150 Punches
200 Punches
250 Punches
300 Punches
After 316 Punches, Derek was completely covered in sweat. His body was no longer under his control. Taking a step further became even more difficult for him.
After 316 Punches, he stopped. He gave up and decided to no longer take a step further. He felt that if he took another step, then he might lose his live out of exhaustion.
As for Ethan, despite only dodging all this time, no one found even a drop of sweat on his body. Unlike Derek, whose breathing is now abnormal and was almost on his knees, Ethan was looking completely fine with normal breathing.
As people were watching the entire show, Ethan moved forward and stood in front of Derek. People were now completely curious what Ethan will do next. But what he said next made them shudder in shock.
"Well, I want to kill you now in front of everyone. What do you think?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone