A seemingly colorless light, yet incredibly dazzling, in that instant, it seemed to cast the storm formed by the Rock Tornado into shadow.
Immediately following, the silent halo transformed into an invisible mental pressure, blossoming in the core of the rock fissure.
The giant rock beast, tearing through heaven and earth, at this moment, seemed to have encountered its natural enemy, collapsing for an instant. After the storm subsided, a figure flashed out, leaping over and widening the distance from Yu Lian.
That was, naturally, Brigadier General Morey. He still held two huge greatswords in his hands, his steps seemed to falter for a moment, but he quickly regained his footing, so the momentary change just now could easily be mistaken for an illusion. His complexion seemed even paler, appearing more somber, with a hint of shock, even horror, in his eyes. However, very quickly, this slight loss of composure was once again replaced by a sinister malevolence.
His eyes were distinctly black and white. The black was like an abyss, showing no divine light or focus; the white, however, was covered with a layer of unsettling grayness, like the skin of a corpse.
Yu Lian, with renewed interest, scrutinized the other party again, looking directly into his eyes at close range. In that instant, he felt a sting in his mind and quickly averted his gaze.
Indeed, this was definitely the effect of being parasitized by a slug in the brainstem. Of course, being parasitized by such a rare small creature could potentially be a win-win symbiosis, but it could also lead to one becoming a plaything for the manipulator behind the scenes, along with that fragile little thing. Judging by the Present appearance, it would clearly be the latter.
Yu Lian symbolically expressed some sympathy for Brigadier General Morey's predicament, then immediately turned it into profound disdain once more.
Heh, to be dominated by these filthy things, isn't that your own problem? Francis Morey, I actually had a little bit of pity for you.
The other party's face still bore a sinister smile, as if the situation was completely under his control: “Truly remarkable… at your age, with your current spiritual ability, you can absolutely be considered a genius! It’s such a pity, I actually have to cut short the future of a genius! A genius belonging to Earth!”
Who is he trying to fool with this crude psychological warfare? Not only was Yu Lian not swayed, he even felt a little amused, and couldn't help but pick his ear: “Alright, we’re all ancient beings, who are you trying to intimidate? Weren't you just using the seventh form of the Crushing Stone Decapitation Sword? Its flaw is actually in the instant the sword force bites… At that moment, the extraordinary power in your consciousness is overflowing with killing intent, surging with vigor. At this moment, your soul is at its strongest, yet also at its most vulnerable! And, I regret to say, Morey, your soul is truly astonishingly weak.”
Morey could no longer maintain his smile, replacing it with a grim poker face.
“Mind Lash couldn’t possibly have such power? Thought Sword? Or Soul Shattering Impact?” he asked.
Besides, even if his Crushing Stone Sword Path had a flaw, it should never have been something a rookie who awakened half a year ago could grasp. How could you be so skilled, how many times have you had high-intensity extraordinary combat experience? But if that's true, then why are you a new spiritual energy user?
Brigadier General Morey couldn't figure it out, and the entity behind him also seemed unable to comprehend.
Not understanding means the unknown, and the unknown will inevitably bring fear.
“Don’t guess! I have a friend who knows how to use the Heart-Breaking Thought Sword, if you don’t mind waiting a bit, I can invite her over to play with you.” Yu Lian sneered, extending his telekinesis, letting the small Psychokinesis Magic Eye stick to the ground, adhering to the cracks in the floor like a drop of water.
This spiritual energy treasure left by the Fafuer Dragon-person hundreds of years ago could be used as a silent flying brick, or as an extension of spiritual energy effects, even amplifying and strengthening the effects of mental attacks like Mind Lash.
These alchemy masters had such craftsmanship, but their population was sparse and they lacked a strong political entity, yet they were unwilling to completely become vassals of the Empire or the Alliance. This naturally caused great difficulty for humanity, so it seems they had no choice but to ask them to die!
With the Fa Fu'er Dragon Eye's enhancement, the effect of the Two-Ring Mind Lash instantly broke through the upper limit of its skill intensity, immediately forming a higher-Ring strike effect, directly giving Brigadier General Morey a head-on blow.
Of course, Brigadier General Morey was, after all, a battle-hardened practical master, and his own mental defense was not as weak as Yu Lian claimed. Although he had been caught off guard by Yu Lian exploiting a one-hundredth-of-a-second gap and was hit unprepared, at the critical moment, he even chose to withdraw his attack, finally managing to maintain his mental stability. The soul impact he received was ultimately kept within an acceptable range.
However, the impact and damage did exist. A battle-hardened Four-Ring expert and a rookie who had awakened for more than half a year engaged in a life-and-death duel, and in the first round, it was the former who suffered a great loss.
Brigadier General Morey had no choice but to be cautious.
Of course, looking at his current erratic expression, was he being cautious himself, or was it something else?
Thinking of this, Yu Lian, with a mischievous twist, added, “I only awakened half a year ago.”
This sentence seemed to be purely mocking, but it also seemed to imply many peculiar emotions. This was enough to make the other party, and whatever was behind him, imagine wildly.
Morey’s face stiffened, then he squeezed out a ferocious smile tinged with blood, and once again swung his sword and lunged forward.
This time, he didn't play any fancy tricks, just swung his sword in a plain, unremarkable way, striking at Yu Lian's head with one blade and sweeping across his waist and abdomen with the other.
This was a very uncreative choice, but also a very correct one, so correct that Yu Lian almost cheered.
When the opponent's mastery in the occult is “unfathomable,” don't think about a quick victory. Using a sword, using one's fundamental skills, using one's hard-earned strength honed through countless battles, will always be able to defeat the opponent.
“Heh… I’m betting on your right hand’s feint! All the spiritual energy’s focus is actually in your left hand!” Yu Lian suddenly laughed.
Morey’s sword movement seemed to hesitate for a moment, but it was so quick that most people wouldn’t even react. He wasn’t completely bluffed by Yu Lian, and still launched his attack as planned, his left-hand sword continuing its sweeping motion, its trajectory still sharp and smooth as it came to kill.
Crushed stone was once again lifted by the spiritual energy ripples, whistling around the sword path. Every single stone seemed capable of piercing steel and cutting through flesh.
This gap, for many Three Rings and Four-Ring experts, would be too short to seize, but for Yu Lian, it was always enough.
He knew that his current problem was that his body couldn't keep up with his combat awareness. Fortunately, he also knew that the biggest difference between humans and animals is that humans always use tools.
The Psychokinesis Magic Eye, which had been hiding in the rock crevice, suddenly leaped out, instantly climbing onto Brigadier General Morey's back, and once again condensed into a sphere.
Immediately after, the marble-sized silver metal sphere flashed with light, emitting a spiritual energy pulse towards Morey's spine from behind him.
This was just a very basic long-range telekinetic attack, capable of piercing the armor and shields of ground mobile fortresses, but it could not inflict a fatal wound on a Four-Ring expert. Logically, if Morey truly had the temperament of a hardened soldier, even if it meant taking a severe hit, he should have continued his attack. Exchanging injury for death is truly nothing for a soldier.
However, Brigadier General Morey, who had overcome numerous challenges for the Commonwealth's secret police and supernatural crime suppression for twenty years, turned around with almost frantic movements, parrying the spiritual energy pulse with his greatsword.
Yet, even so, he still remembered to twist his right-hand feint into a genuine killing strike, delivering a powerful, mountain-splitting blow straight down.
This, at least, finally showed a bit of the style of a hardened secret police chief.
If Yu Lian were truly an ordinary rookie, he probably still wouldn't have been able to block this attack, but he had already anticipated it, and merely subtly dodged a little, then, stepping with “Spiritual Footwork,” moved one step away from the greatsword's direct strike, his scimitar whistling upwards in a strange way, circling the opponent's sword hilt.
After a series of clashing metal sounds, Yu Lian's scimitar actually managed to draw a wound on the opponent's wrist. He knew when to stop, and quickly retreated before the subsequent ground collapse created by the opponent could trap him.
In the second round, a pure martial arts contest, Brigadier General Morey once again lost by a move.
However, he could no longer afford to be exasperated, and from his distorted face, he squeezed out a chilling, fearful question: “What do you know?”
“You people always think that 1+1 must equal 2. But in the world of expert confrontations, there’s never such an obvious good thing!”
Yes, Yu Lian could be sure that if he were facing Morey alone, he would never be this relaxed. It was also a two-level challenge, but Brigadier General Morey was not like that Orange Cat, he had much more combat experience.
“What exactly do you know?” the other party repeated loudly, his voice finally tinged with exasperation.
But the biggest problem was that, despite his furious, ready-to-erupt demeanor, he never launched another attack.
This time, Yu Lian personally witnessed the distortion on Morey's face; on one side was the determination to fight to the death, while on the other was a suppressed emotion mixed with hesitation and retreat.
Brigadier General Morey still wanted to continue fighting, but the other thing in his head was truly afraid.
In the long history of this vast galaxy, there were indeed legendary examples of individuals who transformed from rookies to high-Ring experts in just half a year. And without exception, they were all influential figures of their time, all darlings of the universe spirit!
Examples of cross-level counter-kills, in these legendary stories, actually existed.
Now, the main will controlling this body shouldn't be Morey, right? How pathetic.
Yu Lian shook his head inwardly, silently mourning the complete loss of swagger of the poker-faced secret police chief.
He had looked quite stylish with that grim, low-pressure, dark style poker face before!
However, since the other party wanted to ask, Yu Lian was naturally happy to answer. He had always been a warm-hearted person who enjoyed teaching!
He swore to the universe spirit that after those few rounds, in order to ensure absolute output against a Four-Ring expert, Yu Lian was now extremely exhausted! In gaming terms, his mana bar was almost empty.
If it weren't for Spiritual Vein Circulation allowing his mana bar to recover faster, this battle wouldn't even need to be fought.
“What do you want to know? Why have you been getting the short end of the stick every round since just now? The Crushing Stone Decapitation Sword is a type of resonance martial art. Besides being a powerful war sword art that can break through armies, it can also use spiritual energy to resonate with the surrounding soil and rocks, essentially allowing you to manipulate rocks with your mind. Is that why you chose this battlefield?”
You, a dignified Four-Ring expert, are still using underhanded tactics against me, a “rookie” who only awakened a little over half a year ago.
“Also, the combination of quasi-space jump spiritual energy techniques with resonance martial arts is quite novel. Whether it’s group attacks against armies, or hiding a fatal blow within a vast display of power, these are very imaginative tactics… If used in future military conflicts, they might even be able to instantly slay enemy leaders and spiritual energy users on the battlefield. Is this a new tactic you, as the Deputy Commander of the Blue Guards, developed for everyone? Hmm, truly very creative!” Yu Lian added.
Yu Lian dared to swear to the universe spirit that he was truly praising the other party sincerely at that moment.
It should be known that this set of assault tactics, combining quasi-jump skills and formation-breaking martial arts, once matured, became a standard for a considerable number of Earth's spiritual energy users. In the future Suspension Arm War, the Hundred-Day War, the Volunteer Army era, and even the subsequent Second Independence Movement era, there were instances of instantly slaying generals and breaking enemy lines at the start of battles, which largely established the prestige of Earth's spiritual energy users.
In the official coding, this set, for now, is considered a combination of spiritual energy and martial arts, with a name like “Supernatural Assault Tactic Type 13” that sounds particularly scientific and easy to record.
Yu Lian himself was a practitioner of the Type 13 tactic, though with his (current) strength, he couldn't quite execute it yet.
Of course, not being able to execute it doesn't mean he can't offer some pointers. Isn't theoretical knowledge still knowledge?
“So, you developed this? This is the first time I’ve heard of it.” Yu Lian nodded with the demeanor of a master, then earnestly advised:
“However, my suggestion is that this combat method is best not used in overly wide environments. It demands too high a level of spiritual power and control from the spiritual energy user, and is easily interfered with by the opponent. However, in narrow spatial passages, it will certainly achieve miraculous effects, and it will be very effective in boarding combat. However, this also Presents a challenge to the performance of existing Emblem Machine. Therefore, for a long time in the future, this should probably remain limited to suppressing supernatural crimes, right?”
Brigadier General Morey subconsciously retreated a few more steps, his gloomy expression seemingly congealing into ominous dark matter.
He looked like an ancient starfish scientist who had just entered the Faraday era, proudly preparing to announce to the world that he had finally understood the nature of lightning, only for an extraterrestrial visitor to descend from the sky, ready to capture him as a biological battery.
Immediately after, Morey's grim, distorted expression twitched for an instant, then switched back to a relatively much more normal expression, one suppressing anger, as he loudly declared: “This should have been a top-secret spiritual energy combat tactic belonging to our nation!”
So what? Yu Lian was puzzled.
“Warrant Officer Yu Lian, you are an Earthling, aren’t you? You are an Earthling, aren’t you?”
He roared furiously, like a rabid mad dog. The sinister malevolence transformed into savagery, and all his swagger was gone.
This was a premonition that the space slug was losing control.
Yu Lian’s eyes narrowed, and he clicked his tongue, somewhat annoyed. This thing had already parasitized a spiritual energy user, having absorbed enough spiritual blood and cells, once it lost control and exploded on the spot, Brigadier General Morey would naturally not survive, but what kind of monstrosity would emerge, Yu Lian really couldn’t be sure.
But, at this moment, Morey let out a low growl, like a wounded beast.