The flame ability and space ability clashed against each other.
Space twisted and distorted like raging waves.
Du Sen struggled to break free from the spatial confinement like a trapped beast.
"So powerful!"
Yan Dongxu didn't dare let his guard down one bit. The situation had already escalated beyond comparing their abilities, it was now a life-or-death battle.
If he got careless and let Du Sen break through the spatial blockade, he could be reduced to ashes in an instant.
To be safe, he retreated to the edge, leaving room to escape.
At the same time, he tried various means of spatial attacks.
Teleporting objects to smash into Du Sen, folding space, and so on.
But it was to no avail.
Du Sen's flame ability was too strong, it had already formed a domain where Du Sen was the absolute ruler.
He couldn't even penetrate it with his space ability.
Ultimately it came down to the difference in their power levels.
The only thing he could do now was to seal Du Sen in, limiting the spread of the intense heat.
"That's all you've got?" Du Sen looked at him playfully like a fiery king.
"You can't get out either, what's there to brag about? Didn't you say you wanted to beat me up? Come on then!" Yan Dongxu retorted with equal trash talk.
"You really think you can trap me here?" Du Sen shook his head. The flames around his body burned even more intensely, especially around his fists which gave off scorching golden light.
"I'll break through!"
Du Sen swung his fist toward the side. A pillar of fire instantly tore through Yan Dongxu's spatial restraint.
The blistering heat instantly caused the ground to boil and bubble.
"I admit that you're very strong, but you just awakened your ability, your application isn't adept enough yet." Du Sen said arrogantly.
Yan Dongxu gasped. He knew Du Sen was provoking him.
If he had swung that fist at him just now instead, even if it didn't kill him, he would have been severely injured.
However, Du Sen's move gave him valuable insight.
Could compressing then releasing his ability result in such great destructive power?
He immediately tried it. Spatial ability gathered in his hand, then he swung out violently.
Whoosh!
A terrifying spatial blade formed out of nothingness sliced through the air.
Du Sen, who was still gloating, suddenly felt an intense sense of crisis and quickly swung out a tongue of flame.
In the midst of the flames, he saw the spatial blade shooting rapidly toward him, already arriving 10 meters away in front of him.
Seeing the flames being torn apart, Du Sen didn't dare be careless. He instinctively punched out.
A vacuum instantly formed between his flame-infused fist and the spatial blade, white lightning crackled violently between them.
Boom!
The spatial blade shattered, but the resultant chaotic spatial turbulence was even more terrifying. Like a rain of knives, the turbulence directly engulfed Du Sen.
Even with his flame ability protecting his body, countless fine cuts were still sliced into Du Sen's skin.
"Sh*t man! You're serious?" Du Sen cursed loudly. His other hand hurriedly moved to shield his crotch.
The back of his hand was also sliced by the spatial turbulence. If he hadn't protected himself in time, the consequences were unimaginable.
If any critical body parts actually got cut off, there was no guarantee they could be reattached.
Yan Dongxu was equally shocked. He didn't expect that move to be able to injure Du Sen, its destructive power astonishing.
Angered, Du Sen stopped holding back and fought Yan Dongxu with full seriousness.
Ripping through the spatial restraints, Du Sen transformed into a blazing fireball shooting toward him.
Whoosh!
Yan Dongxu instantly teleported to another spot.
Du Sen simply couldn't lock onto his shadow.
However, as time passed, no matter how crafty a direction he teleported to, Du Sen would always appear at his side in the next second.
This forced him to use his spatial ability to shield his body as he warded off Du Sen's attacks.
But that made him too passive. A loud smack sent him crashing into the ground, sinking into the boiling hot magma.
If not for his spatial shield protecting his body, he was sure he would have died.
Yan Dongxu was also provoked to anger now, his concentration intensifying.
He removed the glass-like spatial barrier, allowing the spatial ability to adhere tightly to his body instead.
Although his movements were stiffened, it was still better than being confined in that shield unable to counterattack.
Bang bang bang!
Yan Dongxu was beaten very miserably, but as time went on, his motions grew increasingly agile while his spatial defenses became more substantial.
Slap!
After teleporting and switching positions, he captured the spot where Du Sen was about to appear next and smoothly swung at his face.
A loud slap straight across Du Sen's face stunned him directly.
This was also the first time amidst their close quarter combat that Yan Dongxu managed to get a hit in.
At the same time, he was blowing the horn signaling his counterattack.
With his mastery of spatial abilities growing by leaps and bounds through the continuing battle, the pressure Du Sen exerted became smaller and smaller.
Soon he had beaten Du Sen's face black and blue.
Of course, he wasn't much better off either, Du Sen's scorching fists could send his spatial defenses fluctuating violently.
He was also punched full of purple bruises.
But having just awakened his abilities, being able to fight Du Sen to this degree, he was already very content.
He had heard before that death can stimulate one's potential.
Just now each time Du Sen had pummeled him into that magma, he had felt as if he was about to die.
Perhaps that was why his strength improved so rapidly.
"Kid, you really astonish me!" Du Sen grew more alarmed the more they fought. In his eyes, Yan Dongxu was the person with the highest talents that he had ever seen.
As the battle dragged on, Yan Dongxu's strength seemed to visibly improve at an astonishing pace.
Was this the potential of a SSS-grade spatial ability?
If Yan Dongxu's initial strength was only at B or A rank, then now he had already strode to reach the threshold of S rank.
Bang!
Both their fists landed squarely on each other's face at the same time.
Then they each retreated back several tens of meters to disengage.
"Hahahahaha!"
They looked at each other and laughed, restraining their abilities as they lay panting heavily on the vacant land, gazing up at the blue sky.
"Hey, got any cigarettes left?" Du Sen asked, turning his head.
"Yup!" Yan Dongxu took out a cigarette pack from his pants pocket. He discovered that the cigarette pack had been stomped completely flat.
He pulled out two badly crumpled cigarettes, straightened them out a bit, and tossed one over saying help yourself.
Du Sen lit both their cigarettes then they lay there leisurely smoking away.
"When were you planning to stop hiding it?" Du Sen asked.
"Don't know, anyway the fewer who know the better. With more abilities comes more trouble. I'm living pretty good now, don't want too much trouble." Yan Dongxu said, exhaling some smoke.
Du Sen chuckled, "When I first awakened my ability, I thought the same as you. But you'll gradually discover that some things, you really can't just sit by and do nothing about."
"Just like when you stopped that guy who lost control after freshly awakening back there. You'll encounter more and more such incidents in the future. And people who know about you will only increase."
Yan Dongxu was indifferent. "Who cares? Go with the flow I guess. We didn't determine a winner today, let's fight again next time!"
"We should head back now too right? You good with those injuries?"
"No problem! Let's go." Du Sen got up and tossed away his half-finished cigarette. As he left, he cooled down that patch of magma land as well.
Yan Dongxu then brought him back into the mall.
Everyone gaped dumbstruck when they saw the two walking out from another entrance.
"B-boss...did you two fight each other?" Lin Xia looked at the bruised and swollen faces of Yan Dongxu and Du Sen, asking in astonishment.