Chapter 302: Men Shi vs Ban Lan Gen

Snow Bird Harbor.

In a small arena closest to the dock.

The grueling battle had already lasted half a day.

"Puff, puff, puff..."

The dwarf Men Shi was panting and drenched in sweat.

He looked helplessly at Ban Lan Gen, feeling powerless.

Ban Lan Gen was a treeman, and he had already taken root in the sand of the arena.

His body was three times larger than normal, and there were dozens of times the branches on his tree body, swaying around as the wind blew.

"Come, I'm standing right here."

"Come attack me!"

"Consider it my loss if I take even a step back."

Ban Lan Gen taunted the dwarf Men Shi arrogantly.

His face could be seen on the upper half of the tree trunk.

A large number of branches and vines intertwined into two huge wooden palms by the sides of the tree.

One hand was holding the Gold Flower Hacksaw.

The other hand was holding a silver level rectangular tower shield.

At the same time, there was a epaulette hidden in his tree crown. It was the Flowing Wave Armor. 

Other than the Flowing Wave Armor, his Battle Qi Syringe was concealed somewhere too.

The Small Thunder God Flying Hammer flew around him, landing on the tree crown at times like a flying bird.

In order to guarantee his victory, Ban Lan Gen had borrowed equipment from the other leaders before beginning the challenge.

He was fully armed!

In terms of equipment, he far surpassed Men Shi.

Men Shi only had his two-handed war hammer in his hands.

This war hammer was only at the silver level.

The dragonman youngster wanted to lend equipment too.

However, he had very few to begin with.

The Grand Arena Medal and Golden Silk Chainmail could not be lent out.

The Grand Arena Medal was constantly in use while the Golden Silk Chainmail needed repairing.

There was also another important reason: these two pieces of equipment were under the effect of both the Anti-investigation and Prophecy spell and Deceptive Disguise spell.

If he lent them to Men Shi, the secret would be exposed.

To be fair, Men Shi himself did not think that Ban Lan Gen would be this well-equipped either.

Xiong Ju had already done this before and now Ban Lan Gen did the same again.

"Both battle qi and stamina are nearly depleted."

"I can't fight anymore..."

Realizing this, Men Shi sighed deeply.

Then, he shouted: "I surrender."

He walked down the arena with dignity, but he could not conceal the frustration on his face.

He had been completely suppressed the entire fight. Other than the initial stage, he could not even threaten his opponent at all.

When they fought, Ban Lan Gen had thrown out the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer at the first moment.

It caused a great disruption to Men Shi.

Men Shi fought like a typical dwarf; he had outstanding defense but not enough offense.

While Men Shi was distracted, Ban Lan Gen quickly retreated and took root in the sand after pulling some distance.

Men Shi knew the situation was bad when he saw the treeman taking root, so he quickly expended his battle qi to launch a fierce assault.

When he arrived before Ban Lan Gen, he stood firm and prepared to engage in close combat.

The distraction level and threat of the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer quickly decreased.

Ban Lan Gen had only received this equipment for a short time, so he could not control it accurately.

However, this was within his expectations.

He had once observed the dragonman youngster and Xiong Ju's fight. The dragonman youngster had used this weakness to cause trouble for Xiong Ju instead.

Ban Lan Gen gave up the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer and used battle skills in a frenzy, disregarding the battle qi usage.

The audience thought it was unwise to engage in this style of fighting.

In a clash of battle qi expenditure, it was obvious that Men Shi had the advantage.

Even though Ban Lan Gen had taken root, it only gave him a slight boost in recovery speed and some minor effects.

In terms of battle qi consumption, his remaining reserves could not hold against the relentless attacks by Men Shi.

Ban Lan Gen kept to this combat tactic.

After paying the price of an enormous amount of battle qi, he finally took root in the sand of the arena.

Men Shi was full of vigor thinking that he had the advantage now.

But in the next moment, Ban Lan Gen took out the Battle Qi Syringe with a loud laugh.

He stabbed it fiercely into his arm.

The Battle Qi Syringe contains the battle qi he has accumulated over time, which is of the same origin as him.

After the jab, his battle qi was quickly replenished to its peak state.

Men Shi was stunned on the spot.

When Xiong Ju and the dragonman youngster fought, he had forgotten to use the Battle Qi Syringe.

This allowed Ban Lan Gen to successfully catch Men Shi unguarded.

This tactic succeeded brilliantly!

After taking root, his defense and recovery abilities gained the advantage.

His battle qi reserves also surpassed Men Shi.

This Battle Qi Syringe easily turned the tide in his favor.

The audience was shocked and discussed among themselves fervently.

The heroic duel did not ban equipment, potions, or other external-use items.

However, the audience gave greater recognition to the battle between the dragonman youngster and Xiong Ju.

It was able to show the determination and fighting spirit of the duelists.

Ban Lan Gen had such an advantage in equipment, but he still fought so carefully and reservedly. It was hard for the audience to cheer him on.

The rest of the battle had no surprise.

Men Shi continued to attack while Ban Lan Gen guarded himself.

He extended his roots into the ground and recovered more stamina and battle qi. Even though there were injuries sustained on his branches, he quickly recovered.

His self-healing speed was only slightly inferior to healing spells.

Ban Lan Gen's greatest weakness was that he could not move.

However, Men Shi could not take advantage of this weakness now.

This was because he lacked long-range attack methods.

His strongest long-range attack was a battle skill. This battle skill allowed one to throw their war hammer at the enemy.

It could not be used easily.

Ban Lan Gen was in a good condition now, so if Men Shi threw his hammer, it was likely he'd lose possession of it.

By then, Men Shi would be in an even more embarrassing spot without a weapon.

Men Shi's only choice was to engage in close combat with Ban Lan Gen.

However, he lacked an attack strong enough to decide the battle.

He was not only facing the fully armed Ban Lan Gen, but also his massive wooden palms and the vines and branches that could strike from any angle at any moment.  

Ban Lan Gen had transformed into a tree-shaped fortress with no blind spots.  

After several such exchanges, Ban Lan Gen burst into laughter and began to persuade Men Shi to surrender.

“Give up. My advantage is too great.”

"Can't you see it? The winner of this duel can only be me."

"You're just a clown. You can't threaten me at all. Why waste any more time? Just admit defeat gracefully."

"Once my tactic succeeds, this battle can be considered over. I've already secured victory."

Men Shi acknowledged that Ban Lan Gen had a point.  

But he didn't give up.

Because he thought of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps and also of the dragonman youngster.

The Bayonet Gang had issued the challenge to disrupt the dragonman youngster’s recovery. They sought to use various underhanded means to force the dragonman youngster to face reality and engage in a heroic duel with Teng Dong Lang as soon as possible.

Men Shi knew this was the Bayonet Gang's scheme.

He wouldn't let Ban Lan Gen succeed so easily.

Thus, Men Shi adopted a stalling tactic.

Every time he launched a close combat attack, he quickly retreated to a safe area to rest and prepare.

During this time, he resisted the interference of the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer while consuming potions.

This left Ban Lan Gen speechless.

Remember, he could not move.

Even if he gained the upper hand in close combat and even injured Men Shi, it was still difficult to press the advantage.  

Because once he pursued, he had to leave the ground and release his rooted state.  

Once the rooted state was released, it would become extremely difficult to do it again.

This tactic succeeded because it caught Ban Lan Gen off guard.

If the Ban Lan Gen attempts to root again, Men Shi will certainly not agree.

The more critical point was the Battle Qi Syringe.

All of the battle qi stored had been used. It would take more than a few days to reaccumulate it.

Without this crucial equipment, Ban Lan Gen would find it difficult to execute the rooting tactic again.

"I cannot easily release the rooting state."

“Otherwise, all my careful preparations and efforts would be in vain.”

“Who would voluntarily give up their advantage?”

"Moreover, what if this is the opponent's trick, with Men Shi acting openly while setting a trap secretly? If I rush to victory, actively pursue, abandon the rooted state, and ultimately lose, wouldn't I become the biggest laughingstock in Snow Bird Harbor this year?"  

Ban Lan Gen felt a heavy psychological burden.  

Earlier, in his duel with the dragonman youngster, he had been careless and was successfully ambushed, knocked unconscious with a single punch.

Due to this humiliating outcome, he had endured mockery and ridicule in the days that followed.

On the surface, there might not be much open mockery directed at him, but the members of the Bayonet Gang privately gossiped about Ban Lan Gen.

After all, Ban Lan Gen was one of the six leaders of the Bayonet Gang, a high-ranking figure who needed to maintain his dignity.

Those in power needed reputation.

“This time, I must be cautious.”

“Losing to Commander Long Fu is one thing, after all, Xiong Ju was no match for him.”

“But losing to an obscure silver level member of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps would be too embarrassing.”

“What face would I have left to continue serving as the leader of the gang?”

Ban Lan Gen dared not be so arrogant anymore.

This time, he acted with extreme caution.

To provoke Men Shi into attacking and engaging in prolonged close combat, he constantly taunted and insulted Men Shi, aiming to stir up his anger.

If it were someone like Gang Lie, they might have fallen for it.

But Men Shi was an honest man.

No matter how vile Ban Lan Gen's insults were, he endured them in silence and steadfastly executed his delaying tactic.

Gradually, Men Shi spent more and more time resting and less and less time attacking.

In close combat, the situation was clearly unfavorable for Men Shi.

Whether it was the Flowing Wave Armor or the Gold Flower Hacksaw, both gave Ban Lan Gen a significant close combat advantage.  

Meanwhile, the best equipment Men Shi had was his silver level war hammer.  

The gap was too obvious.  

However, once Men Shi retreated and created a safe distance, Ban Lan Gen also lacked effective long-range attack methods.  

He was, after all, a close combat battle qi cultivator.

His most reliable long-range attack method was the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer he just borrowed.  

However, while this flying hammer could cause disruption and threat, the level of threat it posed was insufficient to create a window of opportunity for victory. 

In fact, the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer itself was not yet fully crafted and remained an unfinished product.  

Men Shi relies on his long-handled two-handed war hammer to block the attacks of the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer. During the period when the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer was spinning around, he could calmly swallow potions.

In this situation, the Evil Eye was different.

The mental beams emitted by the Evil Eye were extremely powerful, almost always hitting their target, and extremely difficult to defend against.

Unfortunately, this precious artifact imbued with the power of the abyss had already been destroyed by Xiong Ju.

As a result, although Ban Lan Gen held a significant advantage, the initiative remained firmly in the hands of Men Shi.

The scene of the duel grew increasingly grim.  

At first, the spectators were enthusiastic, nearly filling every seat in the duel arena.  

But soon, the battle became monotonous and tedious.  

Some spectators grumbled and left.

Those who remained still held out hope that Men Shi might have other tricks up his sleeve. Would some unexpected change suddenly occur?  

But as time dragged on, hour after hour passed.  

Those who persisted in watching could see clearly: Men Shi had no other tricks; he was merely stalling for time.  

More and more spectators left the small duel arena.

What had once been a packed arena now had only a few scattered spectators, with large empty sections.

Even the vendors had disappeared.

A group of children were laughing and chasing each other between the seats.

A few elderly people were lying on the seats, sound asleep. They had grown bored from watching and dozed off, falling asleep like that.

A few couples were chatting in the corners, whispering to each other, filling the air with the sweet stench of love.  

Some new spectators entered the arena, hoping to catch the excitement.  

But they usually couldn't last more than ten minutes before leaving in disappointment.  

“I should have brought more potions,” Men Shi, who was in the midst of battle, regretted more and more.  

He did not bring enough potions!

Earlier, he had not anticipated such a battle scenario.

Normally, in intense combat, there was rarely an opportunity for one to consume potions.

Men Shi had thought he had brought enough potions.

Now, he deeply regretted it but there was nothing he could do.

Without potions to replenish him quickly, his stamina and battle qi had plummeted to rock bottom, and his combat effectiveness had declined severely.

Men Shi found it difficult to engage in close combat again.

Meanwhile, Ban Lan Gen remained in peak condition.

In this rooted state, the treeman continuously accumulated advantages.

Ultimately, Men Shi decided it was unnecessary to risk close combat.

If he were injured, it would not just cause trouble for the mercenary corps or worry the Commander Long Fu, but it would also allow the Bayonet Gang’s plot to succeed.

Men Shi finally shouted out loud and admitted defeat.

The referee had already fallen asleep and was woken up by a staff member nearby.

“Ah, it's over?” The referee looked up at the sky.

It was already dark.