Chapter 88

"Yi-ji, I'll block him, you look for an opportunity." Xu Jingming said over the team voice chat, his eyes fixed on his master Liu Hai. At the same time, he reached behind him and took out a pair of shields, one in each hand. Xu Jingming took a few steps and positioned himself between his master and Yi-ji.

"Using shields?" Liu Hai laughed and suddenly charged forward.

His imposing figure blurred as he directly rushed toward Xu Jingming, which made Xu Jingming's heart tremble: "What incredible speed, much faster than me."

The moment Liu Hai reached close, Xu Jingming also charged forward, thrusting both shields forward as if to push away a piece of the sky.

Whoosh!

Liu Hai's figure flashed, moving sideways to Xu Jingming's side, and a flash of the blade came down.

"Thud." Xu Jingming slightly pulled back his left shield to intercept the blade.

Shields are extremely adept at defense. Even an ordinary person would block a large area with two shields in front of them. For an expert like Xu Jingming, a slight movement of the shields could seal off the enemy's attack angle.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!" But the blade didn't stop, striking three times in quick succession, each with fierce momentum, all landing on the left shield, making Xu Jingming feel the shield tremble and his arm go weak. When Xu Jingming was about to use his strength to counter the fourth strike,

The fourth strike, at the moment it landed, strangely stuck to Xu Jingming's shield, making him lose his balance. Xu Jingming's face changed slightly, but the stuck blade suddenly exerted force, causing Xu Jingming's shield to vibrate. However, Xu Jingming reacted quickly, and his right shield immediately closed to block the incoming blade.

"Thud! Thud! Whoosh! Clang!"

The blade flashed, seemingly identical, but the sounds of collision with the shields were different. The different collision sounds represented different force techniques, making Xu Jingming very uncomfortable, as if he were caught in a turbulent current, where the different blade techniques made it hard for him to adapt.

"My technique of borrowing and redirecting force is useless, and it even makes me a bit disoriented," Xu Jingming realized. "Only by attacking with overwhelming force can I disrupt my master's blade techniques, and the dual shields can complement each other to cover defensive weaknesses."

Almost instantly, Xu Jingming's shield technique changed.

His defensive shield technique was also extremely powerful. The moment the blade and shield collided, the shield would suddenly exert force, either pushing forward, pressing down, or sweeping! Each weapon collision made Liu Hai feel as if the shield in front of him was a spinning reef, rotating clockwise or counterclockwise, or even actively colliding.

"Interesting." Even so, Liu Hai's single blade still pressed down on Xu Jingming, toying with him, tearing apart his dual shield defense.

...

In the official live stream of the Xia Kingdom, countless people watched this confrontation.

When Liu Hai charged toward Xu Jingming, the audience became excited! It's here, it's here, the peak battle they had been waiting for!

"Xu Jingming, don't get one-shotted."

"Block a few more strikes."

The audience watched nervously.

Liu Hai's blade, like a white ribbon, seemed identical, but the force behind each strike was different. There were powerful, gentle, and yin-yang changing techniques. This made Xu Jingming, holding dual shields, somewhat disoriented, and he began to show gaps. But then Xu Jingming's shield technique changed, becoming extremely powerful, launching fierce counterattacks!

Under the fierce shield technique, Liu Hai's single blade still pressed and pulled, but with the dual shields working together, the defense stabilized, and he couldn't break through for a moment.

"Power is the way!"

"Xu Jingming, be this powerful. A powerful shield technique is hard to counter."

"Haha, Xu Jingming blocked it, this is getting exciting."

The audience became even more eager, hoping for a turning point in the battle.

"Ba Ji is skilled in close combat." Xu Hong, who had been eliminated, was now with his wife. He looked up at the battle and nodded in satisfaction, "Especially skilled in close-range force application. Even the team leader would find it hard to counter Jingming's shield technique."

This was a difference in combat styles.

Shield techniques are adept at defense, while Ba Ji is skilled in close combat. When combined... within a three-foot distance, Xu Jingming's dual shields were extremely fierce, and even Liu Hai's single blade found it hard to break through.

...

In the forest map.

When Liu Hai was slashing Xu Jingming, Wang Yi, who was already fifty meters away, stood behind a large tree and fired an arrow!

"Whoosh."

Wang Yi, with her advanced Evolution Technique and third-stage swordsmanship, now fired arrows at an incredibly fast speed.

"Hmm?" Liu Hai, who had been paying attention to Wang Yi, frowned and dodged the arrow, which embedded itself in the tree trunk, causing the tree to explode and collapse.

"Wang Yi's Evolution Technique has also broken through, and her arrow speed is fast enough," Liu Hai noted.

"Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh."

At a fifty-meter distance, Wang Yi sought opportunities, firing arrows repeatedly.

Liu Hai had to dodge after attacking Xu Jingming a few times.

"I can't fully focus on my disciple; more than half of my attention must be on Wang Yi," Liu Hai thought. "Letting a third-stage archer shoot arrows and still trying to kill Xu Jingming? Even I can't do that."

"If I get hit by an arrow, I'll lose. My movement skills can't match Lei Yunfang, who even failed."

Liu Hai couldn't be careless and had to keep an eye on Wang Yi, with most of his attention on her.

...

"Wang Yi's arrow speed exceeds 700 meters per second. Even Liu Hai is a bit flustered," the audience noted.

"Letting a master archer attack while still focusing on Xu Jingming, Liu Hai is a bit too arrogant."

"If he gets hit by an arrow, Liu Hai might lose the match."

The audience could see that under the terrifying bow, Liu Hai was fully dodging or trying to block with his blade.

The arrows were just too fast!

Even the world's top person had to be careful with such a bow.

"This female master archer's bow is quite powerful," the Blue Star Alliance envoys from various countries commented on the match. "That shield expert is also quite good at defense, blocking Liu Hai's blade."

"If the shield expert and the female master archer were in our Sakura Kingdom, they would be among the top three experts. The Xia Kingdom is truly powerful. We haven't even had one person pass the third level of the Star Tower. The young generation of the Xia Kingdom is so strong... We must make our people work harder. With our smaller population, if we don't work hard, we'll fall further behind!"

...

Liu Hai suddenly took out a shield from his back, holding it in one hand and a blade in the other. This made Xu Jingming more cautious: "Is Master going to use his full strength?"

Whoosh.

Liu Hai charged directly toward Wang Yi, who was far away.

"What? Not dealing with me, but going after Yi-ji?" Xu Jingming was surprised and immediately followed.

"Is Coach Liu Hai going to defeat us one by one?" Wang Yi panicked. "I thought he would be confident enough to let me shoot arrows."

Liu Hai's full-speed burst made Xu Jingming, who was chasing from behind, fall further behind.

Wang Yi immediately judged: "He is much faster than me. I can't escape."

"My only hope is one arrow."

Wang Yi instantly took out a piercing arrow.

A piercing arrow, combined with her large bow, was enough to penetrate the light armor of these third-stage experts.

"Ordinary arrows must aim for the head. With his large shield in front, I can't hit him. Only a piercing arrow... and at short range, I only have time for one."

"I only have one chance."

Wang Yi stood calmly, her bow aimed at Liu Hai.

For Liu Hai, fifty meters was less than a second, but in that time... a master archer like Wang Yi could think through several scenarios.

She remained expressionless, coldly watching Liu Hai charge.

Thirty meters, twenty meters... the distance kept shrinking.

"Within ten meters, I don't believe he can block it in time." Wang Yi waited for the best moment.

But at fifteen meters, Liu Hai suddenly threw his blade, catching Wang Yi off guard. She instinctively fired her arrow! She had intended to wait until seven or eight meters to fire unexpectedly.

But Liu Hai was too cautious.

The blade thrown from fifteen meters was incredibly fast. Wang Yi couldn't dodge in time and was hit, the blade piercing through her body.

Wang Yi's piercing arrow, fired at fifteen meters, was slightly deflected by Liu Hai's left hand, which moved down slightly to block it.

"He must have practiced throwing blades." Wang Yi's body flickered, thinking resentfully, "This Coach Liu Hai is too cunning."

Liu Hai picked up the blade where it fell.

"Charging directly at an archer, the final move is always to throw a projectile. But against juniors, there's no need to carry projectiles." Whether throwing a blade or a stone, Liu Hai was extremely accurate, having practiced projectile techniques.

But in this match, he didn't choose to carry any projectiles.

At close range, he directly threw the blade!

For him, at close range with a single shield, he had the confidence to defeat any opponent one-on-one, so throwing the blade was no big deal.

"Being constantly targeted by a master archer is uncomfortable. Now I'm more comfortable." Liu Hai, holding a shield in his left hand and a blade in his right, looked at his approaching disciple Xu Jingming.

"Master, with your strength, do you need to be so cautious?" Xu Jingming couldn't help but ask. "Do you need to eliminate the archer first to deal with us two juniors?"

"Immature."

Liu Hai said privately, "This is the national finals. A moment of carelessness can affect your entire life. Also, remember... in combat, you need to think more! There's no need to make things so difficult. Why make the match so hard?"

"In combat, you need to be steady! If you can win, do your best to win. Do you think I was never injured in five consecutive championships?" Liu Hai looked at Xu Jingming, "You, a young guy, broke your leg in your first world championship? It's because... I am more steady."

"Rushing in easily leads to failure. After suffering such a great setback, you still haven't learned." Liu Hai looked at Xu Jingming, "Combat is not about rushing. Combat strategy is also part of the principles of Tai Chi."

Xu Jingming sighed inwardly. Even being the world's strongest, his master was still so cautious and steady. Could he defeat such a master?

"Come on, without the archer's interference, I can give you a better training experience." Liu Hai looked at Xu Jingming with a gentle smile.

Tomato just finished doing math with his son and found that the monthly votes had exceeded 35,000. He had to add an extra chapter. He hurriedly wrote until now, updating a chapter for everyone.

This monthly vote addition ends at midnight tonight.

Adding an extra chapter is still a big pressure for the current Tomato, sweat...