The javelin thrown by the bear-man Baka was astonishingly powerful; Yu Lian didn't even doubt that it could truly pierce a tank's armor.
However, at this moment, his opponent was already prepared, directly deploying a field shield, forming a transparent, rippling light wall.
Clang! The javelin struck the light sphere, making a sound like hitting an iron plate, but instead of being deflected like a bullet, it was only knocked off by a few degrees, yet its momentum remained undiminished, embedding itself directly into the Gravel Dragon's fleshy wing.
The Gravel Dragon felt a pang of pain and opened its mouth to bite the steel bar, but at this moment, Lieutenant Mondeson, like a legendary hero from the cold weapon era, had already charged in front of it and swung his sword in a horizontal slash.
The humming sword blade brought forth a shower of sparks against the giant dragon's steel carapace, and the grating friction sound was sharp as a knife, piercing the eardrums, much like the scene of cutting steel castings in a steel factory.
Lieutenant Mondeson's eyes were bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth, allowing the flying sparks to splash onto his power armor and even his face, yet he didn't even twitch an eyebrow, a picture of absolute toughness and coolness.
Yu Lian leaped down from the city wall with his gun, his legs giving way, and he stumbled, almost falling.
He even felt like he heard the wails of the nanomachines inside him, but he still relied on his Past life's experience to use the momentum for a roll, crossing a burning pile of rubble, and then sliding Past a collapsed steel frame, thus arriving behind the Gravel Dragon.
He took a grenade from his waist, pulled the pin, and shoved it into the gap between the cracked scales on the opponent's back armor—precisely the wound Ina had struck earlier.
Yu Lian covered his head and rolled back behind the steel frame, and Lieutenant Mondeson on the opposite side clearly saw this scene.
This middle-aged man, who had once again switched from a greasy uncle to a swordsman, suddenly pulled back his blade, parried the Gravel Dragon's bite, and leaped back two steps, his movements not elegant but agile and neat.
Power skeletons are really good! I miss my Emblem Machine more and more, Yu Lian thought, covering his ears.
A muffled explosion sent countless scales and blood foam flying from the monster, shaking it back to the ground.
Yu Lian poked his head out from behind the steel bar, his first glance not at the Gravel Dragon, which had finally suffered a heavy blow, but at Ina, who had half-emerged from the turret, seemingly wanting to come and help.
"Ina, don't worry about this side!" Yu Lian shouted loudly.
Ina very decisively pulled her head back in.
Thus, the autocannon she operated, after a brief cease-fire of a few seconds, roared to life again.
"Everyone, take your positions! Hold your ground!" Yu Lian shouted to the others, while picking up a high-carbon crystal sword from the ground, dodging the Gravel Dragon's tail, which was wildly flailing in agony, and sliding to its side.
He skillfully felt the power from the universe spirit, the smooth sensation of his arm filled with a wondrous energy, and with a light sweep of his sword, it gained a nuanced elegance of using minimal force to deflect heavy blows, parrying the Gravel Dragon's wing bone used to block the blade, and thrusting the sword into the giant dragon's side abdomen through the gap.
Yu Lian's stab was precisely at the junction between its abdominal carapace and back scales, which was also the Gravel Dragon's weakest point.
If an expert were Present, they would surely consider him the true swordsman, evaluating him far above Lieutenant Mondeson.
This was not surprising.
After all, in his previous life, Yu Lian had completely mastered the "Empire Assault Team Sword Arts," including the internal Fifth Form, which only special forces elites could study, and the Sixth Form, specially supplied to the Star Realm Knight Order.
Mental memory certainly cannot represent muscle memory, not to mention the vast difference in physical fitness between two lifetimes.
However, isn't there still something as unscientific as spiritual energy?
Yes, spiritual energy users can indeed use spiritual energy to replace physical strength and power, unleashing extraordinary strength and performing high-difficulty actions that defy common sense, much like settings in wuxia novels.
Because of this extraordinary power, there has been a flourishing of countless martial arts schools throughout the Universe, truly a golden age of martial virtue...
Hmm, a golden age of cold weapons! No problem.
Of course, seamlessly integrating spiritual energy and martial arts actually tests the awakened ones' spiritual energy cultivation, proficiency, and combat experience quite a bit.
Not to mention a mere sensitive person like Yu Lian, who hasn't even touched the shadow of the Star Ring and hasn't even entered the threshold, many high-level spiritual energy users who can be called "masters" are still quite clumsy in this regard.
If their Star Ring did not belong to the combat domain, then this was even more so.
Fortunately, although Yu Lian's current body was weak and his spiritual energy intensity was only that of a sensitive person who hadn't even entered the threshold, what he lacked least was experience.
This was true for both his mastery of martial arts and his comprehension of spiritual energy, as well as their seamless integration.
His sword vaguely caused a chainsaw-like vibration in the air, precisely leaving a very serious wound on the Gravel Dragon's abdomen, from which a large amount of brownish-yellow liquid seeped out; the color was very dark and the smell was very pungent, but it wasn't very viscous, making it truly hard to tell whether it was blood or bodily fluid.
No wonder the scientific community always found it difficult to classify this creature as either an "insect" or a "beast."
Yu Lian, having struck effectively, did not try to pull out the sword but let go and retreated quickly.
As a renowned ranger who roamed the galaxy, he would never make such a low-level mistake.
Sure enough, just as he retreated a few steps, the spot where he had stood was pierced by suddenly rising ground spikes.
Upon closer inspection, he found that the monster's two sharp hooked claws had extended from its lumbar spine, connected to two long tentacles covered in tiny barbs.
One had plunged into the ground, which was the true identity of the sneak attack on Yu Lian just now; the other swung out like a steel whip, even causing a slight crackle in the scorching air, and with a "bang," it swept into Youyou, who was rushing over for reinforcement.
The giant, who was the second strongest in the team, was sent flying back like a kite with a broken string, falling silently into the rubble beside the city wall, unable to get up for a moment.
Of course, Sergeant Youyou was wearing power armor after all, so he should be fine, right? Probably...
Moreover, he actually didn't go down without helping at all.
It should be noted that this charge with a bulky body and power skeleton instantly attracted almost all of the Gravel Dragon's attention, and his figure also blocked Sergeant Baka behind him.
Baka, under the cover of his comrade's "head," had already rushed to the Gravel Dragon's side, still holding that oversized custom power axe in both hands.
He roared and swung an axe, directly hitting, uh, hitting the sword Yu Lian had left on the Gravel Dragon.
At first glance, it looked like pile driving, pushing the blade half a foot deeper into the wound, leaving only the hilt.
Yu Lian hissed, feeling a bit of pain himself.
Judging solely from that move, anyone who thought this seemingly wild, violent, and reckless bear-man warrior was brainless would be the truly brainless one.
If it had been in the Past, this monster would have already flapped its wings and fled.
It should be known that although the Gravel Dragon was a wild animal, and it was truly unknown whether it was an insect or a beast, its intelligence was certainly not low; however, at this moment, it still did not let out cries of pain or fear, but instead, it managed to stand upright, using its tail and two tentacles for Balance, and opened its large mouth.
Blinding light flashed within it, condensing into a ball of light that whistled out.
This time, its target was not Yu Lian and the others who were close at hand, nor the soldiers on the city wall, but still the turret where Ina was located.
Yu Lian was the only one Present who reacted, instinctively channeling all his energy and physical strength into a spiritual energy impact, which struck precisely on the trajectory of the light sphere, causing it to deflect.
The astonishingly powerful light sphere slammed into the city wall partition next to the tower.
Although it did not directly hit the target, it seemed to cause irreversible damage to the steel bars supporting the sentry gun.
The turret immediately showed a noticeable tilt, and with a creaking sound, it leaned more and more, threatening to collapse at any moment.
Fortunately, Ina on the tower had already leaped from her seat and rolled onto the city wall.
Yu Lian breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately felt his limbs go limp, and even a dizzy spell, knowing that the overuse of spiritual energy had already burdened this weak body.
But precisely at this moment, the Gravel Dragon's steel-whip-like tentacle, with its sharp hooked blade, had already swung over.
Yu Lian focused the last bit of spiritual energy into his arms, covered his head with both hands, and squatted down to defend, preparing to receive the impact in the least dignified way.
However, it was delayed, and when he opened his eyes, he found that the Gravel Dragon's other tentacle had been caught by the big black guy Youyou and Sergeant Baka.
These two largest members of the team, the first and second, pulled hard on the Gravel Dragon, as if in a tug-of-war.
At the same moment, the fierce "swordsman" Lieutenant Mondeson charged again.
He probably thought that the Gravel Dragon's flapping wings were the source of its power, so he simply tore open the wing membrane on its fleshy wing with a single sword stroke.
The Gravel Dragon was truly desperate this time, spewing out an energy bomb again, but both its speed and power were far inferior to the previous one, clearly indicating it was forcibly fired before the cooldown time was up.
However, the bomb still hit Lieutenant Mondeson, who was close at hand, and then transformed into a tangle of electric arcs and fire, thus igniting him.
The Lieutenant let out a painful groan, but still, with another sword stroke, he tore open another wing membrane of the Gravel Dragon.
The Gravel Dragon let out its first piercing scream of the day, like the death shriek of a strangled crow amplified tenfold, even revealing its panic and rage.
It erupted with strength from somewhere unknown, forcibly flinging Baka and Youyou away with its tentacles, and directly flapping its broken wings, carrying the two swords embedded in its body, it leaped several meters high, preparing to escape.
However, it was too late.
Yu Lian, holding a power hammer he had retrieved from somewhere, was already standing on its back, aiming a hammer blow straight at its forehead!
