Chapter 8

As the opponent approached with a fierce momentum, Qin Huang did not feel much tension in his heart. He calmly operated his mech and moved forward.

"237 seconds left..." He glanced at the four-dimensional image floating in front of him, where a small, bright red number was constantly flickering.

The time was tight, but it should be enough to resolve the battle!

He was not a hothead. Since he dared to accept Xiao Pingyue's challenge so easily, he naturally had some confidence! As long as it didn't drag into a prolonged battle, turning the tide was not impossible.

Both of them were using the Bronze One-Star "Void Hunter" Type 3 mechs, which were the most basic non-standard mechs. Their various performance indicators were quite similar, both equipped with medium-sized particle oscillation blades and no long-range weapons. Therefore, the confrontation was a test of their close-combat skills and brain reaction speed!

Qin Huang had often practiced on the virtual combat platform before, and his overall performance was good, so he was not unfamiliar with this. Although the realism of this simulation was close to actual combat, the operation process was not fundamentally different. The only shortcoming was his physical condition.

"Brat, prepare to die!"

Xiao Pingyue's mech rushed forward a few steps, and his left arm flickered slightly. A bright, pale blue light stream spurted out, then solidified under the strong magnetic field, quickly forming a ten-meter-long giant light blade. It left a series of afterimages in the air and attacked Qin Huang's left side like lightning.

At the critical moment, Qin Huang's mech slightly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the attack. The particle oscillation blade in his hand lightly swayed, grazing the opponent's light blade and landing on the mech's blue energy shield, creating a bright, shimmering ripple that quickly returned to normal.

Xiao Pingyue was slightly taken aback. Qin Huang's reaction speed was clearly beyond his expectations. Although the energy shield of the mech was not so easy to break, the attack would cause additional energy consumption. In this round, he was at a disadvantage.

Lucky brat! Xiao Pingyue sneered inwardly and flew forward, his light blade flickering as he launched a series of rapid counterattacks against Qin Huang!

The dense blade shadows almost enveloped him, leaving dazzling trails in the air. With Xiao Pingyue's strength, even a slight touch would result in significant energy loss, and the continuous attacks would further suppress him until he was completely defeated!

The "Alaya Vijnana Mind Method" quietly activated, making his mental perception much clearer. The speed of the opponent's attacks seemed to slow down, and the blade trajectories became easier to predict, allowing him to better anticipate the subsequent attacks.

Although the mysterious secret technique, which had no discernible level, did not significantly enhance his abilities due to his recent cultivation, it was enough to handle the current battle situation.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged dozens of blows, attacking and defending each other.

The spectators were amazed:

"Who would have thought that Qin Huang had this hidden skill, managing to hold out until now..."

"Strange, I remember he was whipped by the instructor yesterday for failing the training. He should still be injured, yet he's still so strong?"

"Exactly, Xiao Pingyue is already a certified mobile warrior. It should be easy for him to deal with Qin Huang!"

"Maybe he's just pretending to be weak!"

"Does that mean his strength is not much inferior to Xiao Pingyue? It's hard to believe!"

The spectators' doubts were not without reason. With 95% realism, the simulation was almost as close to actual combat as possible. Xiao Pingyue's suggestion was clearly intended to use his superior strength to overwhelm Qin Huang!

As a junior mobile warrior, Xiao Pingyue could last at least thirty minutes. Without a miracle, Qin Huang's defeat was inevitable. However, the development of the battle exceeded everyone's expectations.

Wu De glanced at Liu Caihui with a smug look, saying nothing. The faces of Liu Caihui and Xiao Pingyue's followers were not pleasant, their eyes dark and silent.

In the arena, Xiao Pingyue watched as his mech's energy reserves continued to drop, making it difficult for him to maintain his composure.

In close-combat mech battles, the goal was to protect oneself while inflicting as much damage as possible on the opponent, using every means to quickly resolve the battle.

Therefore, both he and Qin Huang adopted the same strategy: using rapid and fierce attacks to quickly break through the opponent's energy shield and then attack and destroy the mech itself to secure victory.

However, Qin Huang's attack prediction was slightly better, often intercepting his fatal attacks at the last moment, or at least weakening their power, preventing him from achieving his goal.

The brat's attacks were not frequent, and his speed could not match his own, but his luck was off the charts, almost always hitting his energy shield and being difficult to avoid!

After several rounds of attacks, his mech's energy reserves were almost depleted, while the other guy still had plenty of energy left!

"Damn it, what's going on?" Xiao Pingyue cursed inwardly, feeling helpless.

He was a certified mobile warrior with a source energy index of 12, a top student qualified to operate a Bronze One-Star mech, and had just obtained a new cultivation technique. He should not be outmatched by this insignificant brat!

Today's battle was not only to avenge his followers but also due to past grievances with Qin Huang. During the initial training, Qin Huang's outstanding performance had repeatedly overshadowed him, earning the instructor's favor and arousing his jealousy!

If possible, he wanted to crush this brat completely, preferably so that he would never recover, to avoid competing for the limited key training spots in the future. From his perspective, the fewer future competitors, the better!

However, it seemed that his plan would not go as smoothly as he hoped.

A few seconds later, with the spectators' exclamations, Xiao Pingyue's energy shield, which was already on the verge of collapse, finally ran out of energy and disintegrated, turning into a shower of bright light particles that dissipated in the air.

In other words, his mech was now defenseless, like a young woman stripped naked, at the mercy of the opponent!

"Damn..." With his energy reserves depleted, Xiao Pingyue was helpless, watching as the opponent's blade pierced through the outer armor and shattered the transparent crystalline metal wall of the core compartment!

A second later, the system declared Qin Huang the winner.

"Are you kidding me? How is this possible?" The spectators were incredulous.

In their view, the strength gap between the two was obvious, and Xiao Pingyue's victory should have been a given! Unfortunately, the outcome was shocking, and they wondered what had gone wrong.

"Boss, you're amazing!" Wu De rushed over to support the slightly pale Qin Huang, as such a battle was still a significant burden for him.

"Want to go again?" Xiao Pingyue, who had exited the system, gritted his teeth and said, "I wasn't ready just now, so this round doesn't count!"

Qin Huang replied indifferently, "Sure, but I need time to rest. Let's do it again tomorrow!"

Although he had won, his source energy was also depleted, and he was not in a condition to continue the battle.

"No need!" Xiao Pingyue threw a delicate red sealed crystal bottle, "This is a bottle of Lanhua Essence, a gift from me! Drink it, and we'll continue!"

Liu Caihui felt a bit pained. This "Lanhua Essence" was a high-quality biological recovery agent with a rapid energy replenishment effect, worth over a hundred star coins. Even the instructors were reluctant to use it frequently. His leader was willing to invest a lot to regain his pride.

"Alright, I won't refuse! But the stakes for this round are a thousand star coins, how about that?" Qin Huang smiled.

"Deal!"

The young man said no more, unscrewed the cap, and drank the fragrant liquid, then sat down to meditate. The mind method quietly activated, and a faint warm current flowed from his mental sea, circulating through his body's meridians, rapidly restoring his energy!

The recovery agent was indeed effective. Ten minutes later, Qin Huang, now fully refreshed, logged back into the system, and the battle resumed.