Chapter 56: Champion's Short Sword VS Past Warm Affairs

The opposing player frowned slightly upon seeing that Lao Hu was the one stepping up to the arena.

Lao Hu looked at the opponent whose ID was "Champion Rapier" and a sarcastic smile crept onto the corner of his mouth. After slightly swinging the heavy sword in his hand and hoisting it onto his shoulder, he said, "What? Are you unhappy to see me as your opponent?"

Hearing Lao Hu's words, the expression of "Champion Rapier" changed inexplicably, and then he looked at Lao Hu's face with a somewhat peculiar look.

"Tell me, which of the three were you yesterday? After all, you are a sword-class player."

Hearing Lao Hu's words, "Champion Rapier" had no intention of responding to what he said, but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly into a mocking arc, and he said coldly, "When is the shaman-class player from your team going to play?"

Hearing the words of "Champion Rapier," Lao Hu shook his head slightly and said with a hint of reproach, "So impolite? Such disrespect to your opponent? You must remember that your opponent is none other than yours truly. And aren't only the three of you in your team hired boosting mercenaries? Are you so confident that the three of you can sweep us? Don't forget, you might not even be able to force out the person you want to see."

"Hehe, is that so? You guys are quite confident yourselves. It seems you plan to save him for last, but do you think you'll get the chance?"

"Champion Rapier" sneered with a slightly ferocious expression. Although a cloak obscured his face in terms of fashion, the mouth illuminated by the light clearly revealed a chilling and ferocious smile.

"No matter what you do, just surrender obediently this time. It can only end here today."

Because the three-chi green-steel sword in the hand of "Champion Rapier" had its appearance changed by purchasing a fashion skin, it looked like the Heaven-reliant Sword from martial arts novels, exuding an extremely restrained and overbearing aura.

"Is that so?"

Lao Hu said with keen interest, a slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth, which went completely unnoticed by anyone.

In the battle ring tournament, although it was currently an eight-person combat, five winning points were enough to secure victory, meaning the side that won five matches would be declared the winner. However, based on the current situation, the opponents had no intention of ending it in five matches; instead, they wanted to sweep all eight matches. Normally this was not allowed, but because it was the semi-finals, all eight matches could be played if both sides agreed—provided both sides actually won matches. If one side achieved a five-match winning streak straight, the mechanism to play all eight matches would not be triggered.

"I am curious, is your big talk because you are genuinely confident, or do you think we are easy to bully? I am really curious about a few things regarding you guys, so naturally I have some questions that need answering from you. But it seems we can ask them later."

Lao Hu's voice sounded cold. With the sneer on his face and the killing intent in his eyes, Lao Hu had already entered a murderous state. Lao Hu in this state was something Ye Yu had only heard about in rumors, never having witnessed it firsthand.

"Champion Rapier" was the first to gain an attribute bonus that enhanced agility, which was clearly a skill provided by the customized talent skill tree. Judging by his stance, he clearly favored an unorthodox swordplay style, engaging opponents with high agility. If there was a disparity in strength between the two sides, a sword-class player in such a high-agility state could easily slaughter their opponent.

"Champion Rapier" did not strike first, choosing to temporarily retreat instead. The Heaven-reliant Sword in his hand flashed with a brilliant golden radiance, and with a horizontal sweep of his sword, a sharp, crescent-shaped golden sword Qi shot forth.

However, the moment the first wave of sword Qi was unleashed, "Champion Rapier" swung the Heaven-reliant Sword once more, and right behind it came four consecutive sword afterimages. The terrifying sword afterimages also contained rich, concentrated sword Qi, carrying a sharp edge that cut through everything in their path.

"Champion Rapier" obviously did this intentionally. His purpose was to use the sword Qi attacks to create distance between himself and Lao Hu. Having learned from previous battles, "Champion Rapier" was well aware that although the opponents they faced were novice players, the talents they possessed were comparable to veterans. The intelligence provided by the RG Club on such players did not include their customized talent skill trees, which was also a headache for them. Opponents like this could not be taken lightly; a shaman-class opponent had already cut down three of their men, which was deeply humiliating. Naturally, they could not allow a repeat of that.

At this moment, seeing the approaching sword Qi, Lao Hu shifted his body slightly to dodge it, using his shield directly to block the subsequent sword Qi attacks. However, as soon as Lao Hu evaded, he saw "Champion Rapier" not far away swinging the Heaven-reliant Sword, his figure flashing forward in a burst of speed like a wisp of residual smoke. A cold glint flashed in Lao Hu's eyes, and the shield in his hand was already raised in front of him.

Clang—

The Heaven-reliant Sword struck Lao Hu's shield. The expression of "Champion Rapier" changed slightly, and his figure flashed once more.

Lao Hu let out a cold snort, and the heavy sword in his hand began to swing. As Lao Hu brandished the heavy sword, it became a dazzling blur. Wherever the heavy sword passed, a rapid succession of "clang, clang, clang" sounds rang out, and sparks from friction were clearly visible.

The expression of "Champion Rapier," which had previously looked ferocious, turned into one of shock under this simple exchange of blows.

"What is going on? Master Rapier is actually fighting to a standstill with a player in the Bronze tier?"

"He is indeed quite strong. Do players in the Bronze tier battle ring already possess such capabilities now?"

"What am I seeing? 'Champion Rapier's' triple-strike combo skill was easily blocked. That seemingly random swinging of the heavy sword effortlessly stopped the fatal triple-strike."

"Our Master Rapier is merely toying with him. He won't be able to jump around for much longer; after all, our Master Rapier is extremely strong."

"True, true, he's just playing with this little kid."

Hearing the voices from the audience, Lao Hu's expression did not change much. He merely curled the corners of his mouth upward and said, "Hey, hey, hey, did you hear what your fans are saying? It seems you are letting me win, which is why your fatal skill got blocked by me. I should really thank you for showing mercy, Master Rapier."

Listening to Lao Hu's sarcastic and cold sneer, the brow of "Champion Rapier" gradually furrowed. An offensive shaman-class opponent was already troublesome to the point of surprising all three of them. Although they had figured out a counter-strategy, they still hadn't witnessed the opponent's other skills. If those other skills were deployed, everything would remain an unknown variable. Still, given their combat experience, winning shouldn't be difficult, especially since they were playing on their own main accounts this time.

What he hadn't expected, however, was that this team didn't only feature a strong offensive shaman-class player; the defensive-class player currently on stage was equally formidable.

「Hehe, you won't live long. You are bound to lose this battle.」

"Champion Rapier's" figure shifted continuously, relying on high-speed movement and blinks to launch attacks. One after another, his assaults were successfully parried by Lao Hu's shield and heavy sword, and he was even hit by a rebounded debuff skill, which instantly forced "Champion Rapier" to violently retreat.

"Hmm? There is actually a negative slow-effect status."

"Champion Rapier" said with puzzlement, but the Heaven-reliant Sword in his hand had already swept out horizontally, launching another sword Qi attack. Three golden streams of sword Qi directly shot towards Lao Hu's position, but upon close observation, one could notice that the trajectory of these three golden sword Qi beams was not entirely aimed at Lao Hu's body.

Instead...

"That guy is actually planning to block Lao Hu's paths of advance and retreat. Those three sword strikes have sealed off Lao Hu's positioning."

Ye Yu narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the flight path of the three golden sword Qi beams from "Champion Rapier."

Indeed, an opponent like this was a true adversary. Combat proficiency wasn't the only thing that could be improved; although Lao Hu was a veteran, the opponent was by no means weak. Therefore, Lao Hu had already fully entered a combat mindset.

Realizing that the offensive maneuver of "Champion Rapier" was meant to seal his positioning, Lao Hu gradually slowed his pace, relying directly on his shield and subtle lateral side-steps to deflect one of the golden sword Qi beams, finding a gap to evade the rest.

The defensive-class possessed a mobile blink skill that could be used multiple times, which was a specific advantage of the defensive class. Moreover, thanks to Lao Hu's specializations in the customized talent skill tree, the skill's cooldown time and number of uses had also increased significantly.

A normal defensive-class player could only use such a skill six times, but under Lao Hu's deliberate build specialization, the number of uses reached ten. Furthermore, upon reaching the sixth use, it would trigger the cooldown phase, and the total cooldown time was shortened drastically. While normal cooldown times were fixed by standard rules, Lao Hu's time was reduced by more than half. The only drawback was that it sacrificed the attribute-buffing characteristic inherent to the blink.

However, Lao Hu was thoroughly familiar with the handling of his own movement skills, so as long as he wasn't facing a life-threatening situation or an opening where the opponent could capitalize for a kill, he chose not to exhaust all these movement skills at once.

"Hehe, do you think dodging like this alone will be useful?"

The movement speed of "Champion Rapier" was naturally formidable, and coupled with the skill's agility amplification, Lao Hu's speed was noticeably slower by comparison. Placed side by side with "Champion Rapier," Lao Hu's movement speed was considerably weaker.

Relying on his agility, "Champion Rapier" moved with a swiftness akin to drifting clouds and mist, reaching the extreme limit. Within just a few breaths, he closed the distance between them. Launching himself forward with a powerful leap upon landing, he grabbed Lao Hu's left foot with his left hand and, with a ferocious yank, dragged Lao Hu down and violently slammed him into the ground.

Bang—

Dust billowed into the air. Amidst the flying sand and stones, everyone's vision was temporarily obscured, preventing them from clearly seeing Lao Hu and "Champion Rapier." However, everyone had clearly witnessed the preceding moment when "Champion Rapier" grabbed Lao Hu's left foot with his left hand and violently hurled him down onto the ground from mid-air. The impact of such a collision certainly wasn't light.

The moment the dust cleared, Lao Hu was seen bracing his shield against the ground. Although the ground had cracked open, Lao Hu had utilized his shield to absorb the blow, resulting in not a single fraction of his health bar being depleted.

Upon seeing this, a flash of surprise crossed the eyes of "Champion Rapier," who coldly remarked, "Do you really think you stand a chance? Keep dreaming!"

Instantly, "Champion Rapier" raised the Heaven-reliant Sword high, and a circular array of light condensed behind him. A razor-sharp aura continuously emanated from the circular light array behind "Champion Rapier," causing the surrounding air to warp and distort under the immense pressure.

"Sword Array: Slaying Slash"

"Champion Rapier" swung the Heaven-reliant Sword, directly taking dead aim at Lao Hu, and brought it down fiercely. The circular light array behind him erupted, spewing countless streams of sword light that crazily surged toward Lao Hu.

However, at that very instant, Lao Hu's figure was directly enveloped by a burst of light, and in a flash, his presence vanished entirely from the spot.

Down below, Ye Yu watched the scene on stage intently, his brow furrowing slightly as he thought, "A skill like this seems to have very high damage, but it definitely possesses numerous weaknesses when it comes to sword Qi attacks—meaning there must be ways to block or mitigate it. Otherwise, a skill like this wouldn't even pass the AI evaluation criteria of the customized talent skill tree."

"An opponent like this makes it interesting, don't you think?" "Cup of Wine Traps Hero" was also observing this battle meticulously at that moment. He naturally knew from what Ye Yu and the others had said that Lao Hu was a notorious killer-player from the old server; how could a player like that possibly lose easily?

In the audience seating area, Ye Lingxue had once again taken a seat to watch the match. However, this time, she was not accompanied by the bulky fellow from last time, but rather by two female players. All three wore identical black robes, and their faces were obscured by veils. Because they bore the mark of genuine real-world players, it meant all three female players had entered the game wearing their real-world appearances.

"Xue'er, who do you think will win this battle?"

"Although that defensive-class player has displayed remarkable combat strength—having previously blocked 'Champion Rapier's' triple-strike attack, a feat you simply don't find among players in the Bronze tier—it only proves that this player's innate talent is quite high, or else that he smuggled himself into the novice server from an old server using some method."

Upon being questioned by the woman on her right, Ye Lingxue shrugged and replied.

"When all is said and done, you still haven't said who you think will win this match. I've placed my bet on 'Champion Rapier.' After all, this guy has spent years lingering in the opulent Platinum tier, so his combat capability is naturally extraordinary. Dealing with someone in the Bronze tier should be a piece of cake for him."

At this point, the woman sitting to Ye Lingxue's left chimed in. Ye Lingxue merely rolled her eyes at her and retorted, "Let's just watch for now. All the funds I could spare have been wagered on the [Purple Void Realm] side."

Upon hearing Ye Lingxue's words, the two women widened their eyes in utter disbelief as they stared at her.

A long while passed, and those eyes remained wide open.