Heng Fang and Yang Qingshuo stood on the other side of the ancient battlefield and didn’t interfere with this battle. At this moment, when they saw Xu Jingming throw away his shields and draw his spear, the two of them became excited.
“Brother Xu’s spearmanship is much better than his shield techniques. He was already at Lv. 3 before the competition started.” Yang Qingshuo was filled with anticipation.
Heng Fang’s eyes burned. “This is the first time Old Xu is using spearmanship in this competition!”
…
Xu Jingming held the spear in his hand and felt calm. He had held spear shafts since he was a child and practiced his Six Directions Spear—he practiced jabbing and blocking every time. Day after day, year after year, he rose to prominence in the country during his youth and adolescence. He became the national team’s linchpin at the age of 18 and reached the highest stage at the age of 20.
Even though his future was ruined as a cripple, he had never given up on the spear in his hand and had honed an even better spearmanship. He made a comeback a few years later, making the entire martial arts world recognize his spearmanship as one of the top ten in history.
Over the years, the feeling of holding the spear shaft in his palm was ingrained into his soul.
He had always felt regretful that the spearhead was spherical in reality during competitions. Moreover, it had a cushioning layer to protect the contestants.
Only when the virtual world arrived did he truly experience the feeling of killing the enemy with a single strike.
“Stop acting all mysterious!” The stocky Fang Yu held a City-Storming Halberd in his heavy black armor and stared at his opponent. “Xu Jingming, giving up on the shields was the most foolish thing you did in this battle! Shields are good for defense, so you can easily block my halberd technique! And if you use a spear, blocking my halberd technique will be ten times harder. You and I both use long weapons. This halberd of mine is 3.2 meters long, much longer than yours. Every additional inch provides better performance! Don’t you understand the most basic logic?”
Fang Yu was actually a little uneasy, so he used words to agitate Xu Jingming, hoping to find out what was happening.
“Then, let’s give it a try.” Xu Jingming moved.
Whoosh.
His figure turned ethereal as he charged at Fang Yu.
Fang Yu stood still and focused on responding.
Whoosh.
The distance between Xu Jingming and Fang Yu suddenly decreased. With Xu Jingming and Fang Yu’s speed, it was only a matter of an instant to cover the 60-centimeter advantage. If it were Lei Yunfang, the world champion in movement techniques, he might’ve been able to seize this moment. However, Fang Yu couldn’t.
Swish.
The spear thrust out like a dragon the moment the figure arrived!
The spear spun and arrived in front of him.
Fang Yu hurriedly raised the City-Storming Halberd.
Clang!
He barely blocked the spear with the latter half of the halberd, and this made Fang Yu’s heart tighten. How did it happen so quickly?
After my footwork broke through, my entire body became more agile. With a thought, strength rises from my feet, and I become extremely fast and fierce. The speed at which I strike out has also increased. Xu Jingming was delighted. A casual thrust of my spear is already a threat to Fang Yu.
This was the first time he used his spearmanship at the Firestarter Cup!
It was his first time using his spearmanship after his footwork breakthrough, and Xu Jingming felt delighted.
Boom!
Xu Jingming executed his footwork just as Fang Yu blocked the thrust, and with a twist of his spear, he struck out ferociously.
At this terrifying speed, the spear shaft curved, and the spearhead cleaved down like an ax!
Clang!
Fang Yu immediately blocked with the City-Storming Halberd in his hand, but the terrifying explosive force made him take a step back.
It was said that cleaving strikes were powerful, but Fang Yu was a peerless genius with an evolutionary method compatibility of 103% after all. He had a huge advantage in terms of physique, but he was still suppressed. It could only mean one thing: Xu Jingming’s physical force delivery technique was too strong.
Even though his physique was ordinary, he still unleashed terrifying strength and speed.
Pu! Boom! Chi! Rip! Whoosh!
He delivered one spear move after another as each move tore through the air with different sounds.
Perhaps it was a penetrative move, perhaps it was a powerful tear, or perhaps it was a sudden burst of attacks… But there was one thing in common—an endless stream of attacks, one after another! Xu Jingming used his footwork to utilize the recoil from every clash between weapons, borrowing the force of the collision to deliver the next strike endlessly!
This was Xu Jingming’s most accustomed spearmanship.
In his second entry into the World Martial Arts Tournament after breaking his leg, he pressed forward with an indomitable will and was known to be ferocious. This was because his leg was injured, and his footwork was too weak, so he had no choice but to choose such a combat method.
Footwork determined at least half of one’s strength, and that was no lie.
Awesome! Awesome! Xu Jingming was extremely delighted. The 100-meter radius around him was like a huge domain, and he could clearly control every aspect of it. Through the control of space, Fang Yu felt as if he had fallen into a spatial cage and couldn’t escape.
He could get as close as he wanted and as far as he wanted! He was the one doing the beating! Fang Yu couldn’t threaten Xu Jingming at all.
This was also the reason why Xu Jingming had always chosen light armor—he had always placed great importance on movement techniques.
…
In the livestream stands, Team Urim’s Liu Jianfeng and the others had solemn expressions.
“Little Fang Yu is in trouble.” Liu Jianfeng frowned as he watched. “Xu Jingming’s movement advantage is too great. He has completely grasped a spatial advantage; he can fight and leave whenever he wants. The initiative is completely in Xu Jingming’s hands.”
“Yu’er’s halberd technique draws the will of dark waters, making it endless. It shouldn’t be easy to crack it,” Fang Yu’s father couldn’t help but say.
“It’s useless. Xu Jingming’s spearmanship is like lightning—it’s called speed,” Liu Jianfeng said. “When one’s speed reaches a certain level, all kinds of connected attacks are useless. This is because the other party isn’t wasting time with you at all. It’s all one-hit kills at maximum speed. If you can block it, you live. If you can’t block it, you die!”
“Xu Jingming is most famous for Shadowless Thrust. It’s just that in the past, I didn’t think it posed a threat.”
“At that time, Xu Jingming hadn’t broken through to Lv. 3.”
“But when the body is at the Advanced level of the evolutionary method… Shadowless Thrust after reaching Lv. 3 is definitely much more terrifying.”
The few of them had solemn expressions as they sensed that the situation was going south.
…
Fang Yu—who was fighting Xu Jingming—felt it best.
It feels terrible. Fang Yu was in pain. He felt as if Xu Jingming was controlling a spiderweb. He was a worm trapped in the spiderweb—he couldn’t charge forward, nor could he escape.
Wearing his heavy armor and brandishing his halberd made him appear even more clumsy.
Footwork—if my footwork breaks through to Lv. 3, he won’t be able to suppress me with my physique. Fang Yu was suffering. There was nothing he could do; his footwork hadn’t reached that level.
He could only use his halberd to defend against Xu Jingming’s consecutive strikes.
Xu Jingming consecutively struck out dozens of times, and his footwork and spearmanship became more and more perfect and smoother. He had a great time fighting.
Bam.
As Fang Yu’s City-Storming Halberd trembled slightly from the strike, Xu Jingming’s hands holding the spear suddenly turned into a blur.
Pfft!
The spear turned into a blur and returned to its original spot as if nothing had happened.
Spearmanship: Shadowless Thrust!
Xu Jingming looked across at Fang Yu holding the City-Storming Halberd. A hole had appeared in the latter’s throat, and his body was beginning to turn ethereal.
Fang Yu stared at Xu Jingming—he had to remember this opponent. He was defeated very badly in this battle.
When Fang Yu turned ethereal and disappeared from the battlefield, Xu Jingming smiled and turned to look at Heng Fang and Yang Qingshuo in the distance. He smiled and shouted, “We won!”
“Brother Xu, impressive.” Yang Qingshuo jumped up.
“Old Xu, awesome!” Heng Fang laughed loudly.
Amidst the laughter, Xu Jingming, Heng Fang, and Yang Qingshuo turned ethereal, and the entire battlefield map dissipated.
Team Pearwood won and became the last team to enter the top four!