Chapter 20

"Old Master Liu Jianfeng is about to make a move against Jingming." In the live broadcast booth, Mother Xu became nervous. "Can Jingming withstand his sneak attack?"

"A sneak attack relies on the element of surprise," Xu Hong said solemnly. "Old Master Liu Jianfeng moves silently and extremely fast. Once he strikes... if Jingming notices too late, he might not have time to react and could be killed with one sword strike. That's the power of an assassin."

"Wouldn't that be the first one out?" Mother Xu was worried.

"But as long as he can detect the opponent, there's no need to worry," Xu Hong said.

"Uncle, can Jingming detect the opponent?" Li Miaomiao asked.

"Who knows, both sides are god-level experts, it's hard to say." Xu Hong watched intently.

Countless viewers in the live broadcast room were also watching, waiting for the impending confrontation.

...

Xu Jingming held a long spear in his right hand, eyes scanning all directions, and ears listening carefully as he cautiously advanced down the alleyway.

He wore light armor and carried a shield, which would inevitably produce some subtle sounds as he moved. If he were wearing soft leather armor and practicing techniques like the Shadow Leopard Evolution Method or the Illusory Cat Evolution Method, his movements would be almost silent.

He didn't know that at that moment, a thin old man named Liu Jianfeng was lurking above the alleyway. Liu Jianfeng crouched there, making no sound, only using his peripheral vision to keep an eye on Xu Jingming. His breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible, and the world seemed to be in complete silence.

Xu Jingming didn't notice and continued to advance.

When they were about ten feet apart,

Liu Jianfeng narrowed his eyes.

Boom!

In an instant, he was like a bolt of lightning, diving down from above the alleyway. As Xu Jingming looked up, he saw a sword flash already in front of him.

At the moment Xu Jingming looked up, the long spear in his right hand instinctively thrust forward.

The spear's shadow was blurry, moving with terrifying speed!

Clang.

The sword strike turned and struck Xu Jingming's spear, using the recoil to push off the alley wall and leap back up, disappearing from sight.

The attack failed, and he had already fled.

"Damn!" Xu Jingming was drenched in cold sweat. "There was no sound at all. I only felt the air pressure when he attacked. I almost didn't block it in time, and I would have been dead."

Previously, whether it was practice in the training ground or the ranking matches, the opponents were all virtual.

This was Xu Jingming's first real battle with a true expert in the virtual world.

As for the real-world martial arts competition, it was always a fair one-on-one on the stage! Being targeted by an expert assassin was also a first for Xu Jingming.

The brush with death made Xu Jingming's scalp tingle: "Fortunately, I often practice the Shadow Spear, and my instantaneous power is fast enough to escape this crisis."

And in the distance,

The thin old man Liu Jianfeng had a hint of a smile in his eyes: "Not bad, kid. Within ten feet, I launched a surprise attack, and he actually reacted."

...

This first confrontation between the god-level experts instantly made the Xia country's official live broadcast room boil.

"Beautiful!" Huang Yong exclaimed.

"Beautiful assassination, beautiful defense!" Qin Yiwén's eyes sparkled.

Liu Xin waved and clicked, and in the live broadcast's battle space 'high altitude' area, the slow-motion replay of the previous confrontation began.

"Look, when Old Master Liu Jianfeng was hiding, he was like a dead tree, making no sound. Xu Jingming didn't notice anything. When he got close, Old Master Liu Jianfeng made his move," Huang Yong pointed to the screen.

In the slow-motion scene, Liu Jianfeng's pounce made him look like a sword being thrust forward.

"When he attacked, Xu Jingming only then noticed," Huang Yong pointed to the screen. "At the moment he looked up, the tip of Liu Jianfeng's sword was only about three feet away from him. The distance was too close, and at the speed of that sword, it would have taken only about 0.06 seconds to strike Xu Jingming."

"Although the reaction time of humans has shortened after practicing evolution methods," Huang Yong said, "body movements still take time. Look closely, Xu Jingming held the spear with one hand, exerted force, and thrust it forward. The spear's shadow was so fast it was blurry. This was an instantaneous burst of power! Fast like lightning! Even so, it was almost too late to block the sword, and he thrust the spear directly at Old Master Liu Jianfeng's body."

"Right," Qin Yiwén said. "If Old Master Liu Jianfeng continued his dive, the spear would have pierced his body first! The old master changed his move very quickly, the sword turned and struck down. That turn... was also as fast as lightning. They say the sword is fast! But to be this fast is truly remarkable. Striking the spear, he instantly used the recoil to push off the wall and escape."

Qin Yiwén marveled: "From the attack to the escape, the entire process took only 0.68 seconds, less than a second, it was simply amazing! In the past world martial arts competitions, there was never such a detailed confrontation!"

"We must admit, Old Master Liu Jianfeng is truly terrifying! Xu Jingming's spear technique is also terrifying, worthy of the title 'Spear Demon.' One old, one young, they have given us a true peak visual feast!" Huang Yong marveled, the more people in the martial arts world, the more they were captivated by such a confrontation. Isn't this more exciting than any movie?

In the live broadcast booth, the audience was also boiling.

"Is this what humans can do?"

"If I were Xu Jingming, I wouldn't have noticed at all. Even if I looked up, I wouldn't have had time to thrust the spear."

"Just in an instant, how could the spear be so fast?"

"Let me give you a fact: Spear Demon Xu Jingming's famous move is called 'Shadow Spear,' known for its speed."

"Xu Jingming's spear is fast, but Old Master Liu Jianfeng's change of move is also fast. The moment he saw Xu Jingming thrust the spear, he changed his move."

"Their confrontation is truly amazing."

"From Old Master Liu Jianfeng's attack to his escape, it took only 0.68 seconds! Is this human?"

"This is a god!"

"Is this what a god-level confrontation looks like?"

"Dad, Mom, I'm scared!"

The comments in the live broadcast room's chat section were rolling non-stop.

The host Liu Xin was also excited: "This is a god-level confrontation, and this is just the first confrontation in this god-level battle."

The number of viewers in the live broadcast room was rapidly increasing, reaching five hundred million, an unimaginable number of viewers.

"Beautiful."

"Beautiful spear technique."

Grandfather Xu Guishun, Xu Hong and his wife, and Li Miaomiao were all tense and breathless. When the confrontation ended, they became excited. Listening to the two national team coaches' commentary made them even more excited.

"Jingming's spear technique is truly beautiful. I can see it with my eyes, but I can't do it with my hands," Grandfather Xu Guishun sighed.

"One beautiful assassination, one beautiful counterattack. The burst of power I taught Jingming, now I can't even do it as well as he can," Xu Hong marveled with a smile. "To practice burst of power to this level, how many people in the world can do it? My son, six six six!"

Li Miaomiao's eyes also sparkled: "Really amazing." She practiced the sword, and she felt that Old Master Liu Jianfeng's sword technique was even more terrifying than the national team expert 'Cong Yao.' But her man still forced the old master to retreat.

Li Chenan and his wife also watched their future son-in-law's battle scene, nodding in satisfaction, their smiles becoming even brighter.

******

A misty small town.

The god archer Wang Yi was crouching on the roof of a tavern, carefully observing. The tavern was not the tallest building, but the view was already quite good. The angle between the roofs in front and behind the tavern allowed her to hide.

"I'm here," Xu Jingming said in the team voice chat as he arrived at the tavern's backyard.

"I'm watching the front street of the tavern," Wu Sai said, hiding in a residential building across from the tavern, monitoring a large area in front of the tavern.

"Jingming and Wu Sai, you two protect our god archer first, I'll be there soon," Panda Zhang Qian said in the team voice chat. "I'm a bit fat, so I walk a bit slower, please bear with me."

"I'm patrolling within two hundred meters of the god archer," Master Dong Xu, the Wicked Dual Knives, was quietly inspecting various areas. At that moment, a nimble figure flashed past a nearby roof, and Master Dong Xu saw it and immediately transmitted to the team, "I've spotted the female saber expert Lian Shuang!"