Chapter 57: Xiu'er

Chapter 57: Xiu'er

"Hm?"

For the first time, a note of surprise escaped Kelo's lips.

He clearly had not expected that this seemingly ordinary opponent could execute such a subtle change of move in an instant.

He wanted to retract his great axe, but it was too late.

"Thud!"

The spear's light struck solidly against his wrist.

Rotten flesh was sliced open in an instant.

A jet of dark green slime sprayed out.

Yet, after cutting through the flesh, the spear's light was blocked by tough, mutated bone.

It left only a wound deep enough to see the bone, but failed to sever his wrist.

"Somewhat... interesting..."

Kelo, instead of being alarmed, grew angry. The mining drill on his other arm, with a piercing shriek, drove fiercely toward Qin Feng's head.

Qin Feng, having missed his strike, showed no greed for further gain.

He stomped hard on the ground with his toes, using the recoil to propel his body backward in a rapid retreat, instantly opening a distance of over ten meters and returning to a safe attacking range.

The first exchange ended in a draw.

A glimmer of hope rekindled in the eyes of all the watching students.

Qin Feng... he could actually wound that monster!

Kelo glanced at the wound on his wrist, where countless tiny tendrils of flesh were visibly writhing and growing, attempting to heal the injury.

"Your spear technique... is quite good..."

He said hoarsely, his voice tinged with a cruel excitement.

"Then... let me see... how many moves you can last under my hand!"

"Boom!"

Kelo's massive body charged again.

This time, he showed no further contempt. The great axe and the drill swung together, transforming into an impenetrable, deadly storm of steel that swept madly toward Qin Feng.

Qin Feng's gaze was focused as never before.

His figure, amidst the ferocious assault, was like a tiny boat in a raging sea.

He no longer chose to clash head-on but pushed his footwork to the extreme.

Qin Feng's steps became erratic.

Now forward, now backward, now left, now right.

Each step landed on the most precise point; each dodge seemed perfectly timed.

He was like a master dancer, performing a dance of death on the blade's edge.

The spear in his hand transformed into a thousand phantom images.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The dense, rainstorm-like clashing of metal rang out in a continuous stream.

With the spear's tip, he constantly tapped against the trajectories of the axe and drill, each touch using his own strength to deflect and redirect the opponent's wild attacks.

Skill overcoming brute force!

He had, with his miraculous spear technique and footwork, actually managed to block all of Kelo's tempestuous assault!

The entire battlefield—everyone was stunned.

They could not imagine that a person's spear technique could reach such a level.

And wasn't Qin Feng's vitality index a bit too high?

In just one month, his speed and strength could already contend with a monster like Kelo.

"Roar...!"

Kelo howled in frenzy.

His attacks grew faster and more violent.

Gradually, the pressure on Qin Feng began to increase.

His space for dodging was continuously compressed.

The energy reading on his power armor was also dropping rapidly.

"Clang!"

Another violent collision. Qin Feng's body was jolted backward, sliding several meters before he barely steadied himself.

The arm holding the spear had begun to tremble slightly.

The enhancement of the power armor, after all, had its limits.

In the face of an absolute disparity in strength, any technique seemed somewhat pale.

"Die!"

Kelo seized this fleeting opportunity.

He raised his great axe high; the blade was wreathed in dark green energy reeking of decay, and with the force of splitting heaven and earth, it came crashing down toward Qin Feng's head!

This strike sealed off all of Qin Feng's escape routes.

It was a killing blow!

Everyone's heart leaped into their throat.

In that instant between life and death.

Qin Feng's eyes, which had remained utterly calm, suddenly changed.

His world seemed to freeze at that moment.

The descending great axe became unbearably slow in his vision.

Kelo's ferocious expression, the flying dust around, the horrified looks of his distant teammates... all of it turned into a still backdrop.

His mind was a blank clarity.

A cool, vast awareness poured into his consciousness from the unseen.

The hundreds of battles he had experienced in the Imperial Arena over the past month; the insights into footwork gained from sparring with Zhou Yu; every instruction from Professor Gu Yue; and now, the life-or-death crisis he faced...

All his realizations, all his experience, all his skills—at this moment, they fused completely into one.

His body reacted faster than his mind.

He no longer tried to dodge.

Instead, he stepped forward half a pace to meet the falling giant axe.

The long spear in his hand was abruptly withdrawn, then thrust out again with a speed unprecedented and extreme.

This thrust had no spear light, no sound or fury.

Only pure, transcendent speed.

So fast it seemed it could even catch up with light.

So fast it seemed even shadows had no time to react.

The killing move—Flowing Light, Chasing Shadow!

“Pfft—”

A barely audible sound of a blade piercing flesh.

In the instant before the giant axe was about to land on Qin Feng’s head.

That iron-gray long spear, launched after but arriving first, precisely pierced through Kro’s dark eye socket, entering and exiting from the back of his skull.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Kro’s massive body stiffened in place.

The giant axe, raised high and less than ten centimeters from Qin Feng’s head, also halted in midair.

The mad, ferocious expression on his face solidified.

A trace of disbelief, a trace of release, and a trace of bewilderment appeared on that rotting face.

He slowly lowered his head, looking at the steel warrior before his chest, who held the long spear and stood tall.

“Good… fast… spear…”

With his last shred of strength, he rasped out a few words.

Then, the final glimmer of light in his eyes faded completely.

Qin Feng, expressionless, twisted his wrist and withdrew the long spear.

“Boom—”

Kro’s mountain-like body, losing all support, crashed backward, slamming heavily onto the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

The battle was over.

Qin Feng pulled out the alloy long spear, stepped away from Kro’s fallen form, panting heavily while staring fixedly at Kro.

Nurgle’s followers had immense vitality; Qin Feng suspected Kro was playing dead.

After waiting cautiously for over three minutes, Qin Feng delivered a finishing blow, then finally breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)