The Legendary Mechanic, page 512
In the past, the newcomers came with the intention of making friends with them. These newcomers thought that everyone would be talking calmly and politely, while the older members would make this meeting into somewhat of a review and questioning section. They would keep asking provocative questions and watch the new Beyond Grade A suppress their anger and answer every question. Most people there had experienced this and left a dark history. Therefore, this became a tradition in accepting the newcomers.
If someone could not take it, they would speak with fists to determine their position in the future.
If it was a previously renowned neutral Beyond Grade A becoming an ally, only then would they give the newcomer face and restrain themselves.
Of course, Black Star, who had just become a Beyond Grade A, was not on that list.
However, this was only the start, and they had yet to even start the real provocation, but Black Star had already retaliated. It was clear that this newcomer was not planning to follow their plan.
It’s probably because Heber shared his experience with him…
In their eyes, it looked like Han Xiao knew about their tradition, and Heber, who also left a dark history there, was from the Shattered Star Ring. Therefore, it was most likely that Black Star knew about this from him and did not want to let their plan succeed by speaking in this manner.
“Not going to happen…”
They secretly exchanged looks and made a plan.
“Hehe.” The person who spoke first said coldly, “Black Star, I don’t think you’ve realized what your position is.”
“Oh? Mr. Star Slasher, what do you mean?” Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
Viru, a Beyond Grade A Pugilist of the War Soldier Branch. Among his nicknames were ‘Star Slasher’ and ‘Fixed Star Splitter’. He came from the Primeval Star River, now an ally of the dynasty, and was operating tens of thousands of galactical Pugilist dojos in the Central Galaxy.
“This is the center of the universe, the Central Galaxy. Do you think this is the Shattered Star Ring that only has five Beyond Grade As? How dare you speak to us that manner…”
Boom!
Before he finished his sentence, Viru suddenly released his energy, which slashed the villa in two. The thick aura and his cold stare pressed onto Han Xiao. As if he was furious, he said word by word, “A newbie who has just entered the Beyond Grade A stage, who gave you the right to be this arrogant in front of us‽”
“Tsk.” Expressionless, Clotti waved his hands and told the patrols who rushed there not to get close. Viru restrained his energy and did not let it spread out. Clotti did not stop Viru’s action.
Other than the Beyond Grade A close to the Youngsters Faction who was shaking his head and did not speak, the others all had unfriendly expressions on their faces and stared at Han Xiao, pressuring him.
Even if Heber had told him the rules earlier, they did not believe that Black Star would not be afraid of offending all of them at once.
If Black Star continued to not step back, they did not mind teaching him a lesson. As for if that would anger Black Star… they all had Beyond Grade A organizations, so it did not matter.
The few of them secretly looked at Han Xiao’s expression, hoping to find a tint of panic or fear on his face.
The sharp and aggressive aura was like a knife in Han Xiao’s face. He narrowed his eyes and suddenly chuckled. “Alright, let’s make things easier. We’re all Beyond Grade As. If we have any conflicts, we can settle it by fighting.”
Then, before everyone could respond, Han Xiao pointed at Viru. “You and I will fight, how about that?”
The others were surprised and even more interested.
This newcomer is deliberately issuing a challenge? How confident. Doesn’t he know we’re all seniors who’ve fought a very long time for the dynasty?
They initially wanted to bring sparring up to provoke Black Star into fighting, but they did not expect this guy to propose it first.
“Okay.” Viru’s expression looked irritated.
He had already showcased his energy, yet Black Star still wanted to challenge him. Did Black Star think that he had a chance of winning?
Viru would not allow his position to be threatened.
Han Xiao was calm. He had already guessed that only strength would earn him respect in the Beyond Grade A allies circle, so he had mentally prepared to fight long ago.
In order to befriend Beyond Grade As, he first had to show strength worth befriending.
This time, Clotti spoke slowly.
“Go fight outside the Psionic Seal Ring. Don’t fight near the mother planet.”
…
“Your Excellency, Black Star’s meeting with the National Pillars was not pleasant. He challenged His Excellency Star Slasher to a spar. Clotti and the other National Pillar have gone along as well.”
Hearing the report from the internal communicator, Urranrell said, “Clotti will take care of this. You guys don’t have to worry about it.”
“Understood.”
“Hmm… go and notify Black Star’s friends.”
Then, Urranrell hung up the communicator and shook her head.
She did not like the tradition of bullying the newcomer between the Beyond Grade A allies, but she also did not want to force these Beyond Grade As to do anything unless absolutely necessary.
However, the private relationship between the dynasty’s allies being bad might not be a bad thing. It would not affect their partnerships with the dynasty, and profit was the priority.
…
“What? He’s fighting with those allies?”
After hearing what the emissary came to their doorsteps to say, Hila and the various guards’ expressions changed drastically.
This time, Aesop spoke and comforted them. “Don’t worry, it’s just a test of strength between Beyond Grade As. Sparring is very normal. I’ve seen them do it before.”
Sadly, not many people took what he said in.
“Let’s go take a look.” Ames did not say much and stepped out of the door.
Chapter 801. Spar |
Outside the Psionic Seal Ring, Han Xiao and Viru floated in the cosmic space. A spaceship was looking there from not very far away.
The spaceship carried Clotti and the other Beyond Grade As, as well as Ames, Aesop, and the rest who had arrived later.
“It’s been a long time, Aesop,” that Ancient Ones member greeted with a fake smile.
“Ravenlaude, you’re still alive,” Aesop replied.
“Ever since you were kicked out of the Ancient Ones, I have yet to hear from you. So, it turns out you went to the most rural area, the Shattered Star Ring. Why, you couldn’t make a living in any other Star Fields?” Ravenlaude said with a mocking tone.
“You’ve lived so long that your memories are failing you. Why do I remember that I left the Ancient Ones?” Aesop gave him a faint glance.
Among the Ancient Ones, Aesop did not have a good relationship with this person.
Back when Aesop left the Ancient Ones, other than because he did not want this title to prevent him from looking for trouble, it was also because he did not have a good relationship with some of the other members. As a powerful Oracle, he did not like to use his ability for unrelated people. When the times he rejected them started to pile up, it became the source of their conflict.
Ames did not know anyone, so she stood at the side and watched alone.
This was a chance to observe Black Star’s strength. Other than Clotti, who was not very interested, everyone else was focused and looked forward to the two of them to start the fight.
They knew how strong Viru was; his combat capability had been tested countless times through battle. Therefore, the only question was—how long could Black Star hold on?
They had heard that Black Star had the ‘Indestructible Body’ nickname and that the toughness of his physical body seemed to be on par with the Tyrant’s. They wondered if he would be able to stop Viru’s sky splitting blade.
Han Xiao activated his mechanical suit. The helmet covered his face and hid his expression. Then, he opened the secondary dimension gate. The mechanical army swarmed out and filled the battlefield instantly.
Quite a lot, but in front of me, these are all minions. Viru snorted in his mind. His muscle violently expanded, and a light blue flame burned on the surface of his body.
A surging flame concentrated on his palm and kept extending, forming a hundreds-of-meters-long blue energy sword so dense that it almost looked like it had a physical form.
Pugilists had different branches. The War Soldier Branch focused on fighting with blades, but it was different from being a Mechanical Pugilist. Mechanical Pugilists completely relied on weapons to fight and used Mechanical Force to enhance their weapons, while Pugilists only used weapons to better their own skills. Their damage source was still their own Pugilist flame.
With a deep breath, the flames gushed into the hundreds of meters long blade. Viru slashed multiple times consecutively. Blue blades of light shot out and created empty areas within the formation of the mechanical army. The power of those blades of light dropped as they destroyed mechanical soldiers, from completely shattering the first ones to only heavily damaging the ones after.
Han Xiao immediately activated various bonus abilities and controlled his mechanical army to join him in the battle.
Viru was surrounded by tons of mechanical soldiers. His sword danced so quickly that it formed a sphere. Blades of light continuously shot out from it and destroyed the formation of the mechanical soldiers, causing tremendous damage. It was as if a tornado had appeared in the cosmic space.
As the combat information kept refreshing, Han Xiao tutted in his mind. This guy’s damage is indeed high. Maybe even Heber is weaker in this respect.
Compared to Heber’s heavy and firm offense, Viru mainly focused on swiftness and sharpness. His area attacks were not bad, and his individual target damage was even more horrifying. Earlier, when colossal defense-focused Giant Soldier turned its shield to full capacity in an attempt to stop Viru’s attack, Viru still easily slashed it in two without stopping.
Nonetheless, Han Xiao did not randomly pick this opponent. Viru’s attack damage was indeed high, but he was inferior compared to Heber in one aspect… his tankiness!
Although this guy was also a Pugilist and had a ton of damage reduction talents, he did not have a very essential core tanky talent… he was not immune to True Damage!
Viru had a fifty-percent True Damage reduction talent, which was way weaker than True Damage Immunity. True Damage was still much more terrifying than normal damage even when halved!
When comparing Heber and Viru, Han Xiao could only fight head-on with the former, but for the latter, he just so happened to be the type of enemy Han Xiao indirectly countered!
The blades of light shot out in all directions. The mechanical army formation took quite a lot of damage, so the mechanical army dealt with it by spreading and attacking from further distances.
Under the focus fire of psionic cannons, Viru’s blade formed a complete sphere. He used a certain ability, turning the blades of light around him into a special kind of shield, blocking most of the psionic attacks. The explosions were blocked by the sphere of light.
However, the mechanical army was too large, and their attacks were too concentrated. Viru’s defense could not stop all of them. Occasionally, psionic attacks would pass through the blade shield and land on his body, shaking his protective energy flames.
Feeling the obliteration of the cells in his body, the look in Viru’s eyes changed.
So powerful… prolonged battles are not suitable for me. I need to attack his physical body.
Having realized that, Viru’s energy flame vibrated. The shield around his body expanded and turned into an impact wave, blowing away the mechanical soldiers around him.
Then, he held his sword backhand. His entire body turned into a blue phantom and charged toward Han Xiao, leaving countless afterimages behind. When he reached the frontline of the mechanical army, he turned from holding his sword backhand to front hand, striking forward. It was like all the afterimages were concentrated on this attack.
Star Slasher Style Technique—Blade Shadow!
Thousands of blades of light erupted at the same time and spread outward in all directions, instantly shattering the formation of the mechanical army in one direction and penetrating many layers of defenses. The shattered mechanical parts splashed everywhere.
Han Xiao immediately clenched his fist. Blue-gold Mechanical Force shot out from the Void Dimension, grabbing all the parts like a lightning net and connecting them together.
[Waste Modification]!
[Advanced Machinery Construction]!
The shattered parts became mechanical soldiers again.
However, in just this short instant, Viru disappeared. As if he had teleported, he passed through the layers of defenses and appeared right in front of Han Xiao. The sword in his hand returned to normal size from hundreds of meters long. With the more concentrated Pugilist energy sword in his hand, he slashed right down!
“It’s not my first time fighting a Mechanic,” Viru said with an expressionless face. It was not a secret that Mechanics had the Waste Modification ability. Being very experienced, he knew that a Mechanic would definitely use it. Using that opportunity, he used a special mobility ability and instantly got close to Han Xiao. He was a Pugilist focused on speed, so he had more ways of closing the distance than Heber.
Swoosh!
The blade slashed right through Han Xiao’s body without any resistance, as if it had cut him in half. However, Viru did not feel like he had slashed through anything. His expression changed instantly.
The halved ‘Han Xiao’ suddenly disappeared. His real body was little more than ten meters away.
Earlier, Han Xiao had used some kind of illusion device and misguided Viru’s senses. Deceiving a Beyond Grade A Pugilist who could lock the target with his energy was very difficult, but this special illusion device was one of the high-level machines that Han Xiao had built that could be used in Beyond Grade A battles. It could create an illusion that perfectly simulated even his own energy presence, and it had a quite long cooldown.
Having missed one attack, Viru’s movement did not stop. He turned and attacked another time, quicker and swifter. His blade extended and slashed onto Han Xiao’s chest like a whip.
Star Slasher Style Technique—Whip Slash!
This attack was initially targeted at Han Xiao’s chest, but Viru changed its direction and targeted Han Xiao’s head.
However, Han Xiao’s response shocked him—he did not dodge at all and went toward it directly.
The blade cut Han Xiao’s mechanical suit right open, slashing across his forehead. Blood gushed down from his head.
Viru was shocked. Before he could withdraw his blade, he saw Han Xiao grab onto his arm like he was completely unharmed and punched right onto his chest.
Boom!
The vibration echoed in Viru’s body. Tons of cells were destroyed and quickly born through Viru’s energy. As the process repeated, he felt a strong pain in his body.
[Machinery Apostilization] and [Mechanical Force—Emperor’s Power] gave Han Xiao a lot of attributes, so his attacks were much stronger.
Then, Han Xiao’s bloody wound recovered right under Viru’s nose. The nanoparticles of the mechanical suit fixed the broken part as well.
This recovery speed… Viru’s pupils constricted.
This time, the mechanical army behind Viru turned their barrels and fired at the two of them.
Just as Viru was about to back away, two enhanced Oathkeepers appeared beside Han Xiao and held him back.
With a swing of his blade, he slashed an Oathkeeper’s body but met a tremendous force of resistance. He could not cut it in half with one slash. The blue-gold Mechanical Force flashed inside the wounds of these two Oathkeepers.
These two Oathkeepers were elite mechanical soldiers that had received bonuses from the [Emperor’s Gift]. Even Beyond Grade As would not be able to destroy them in just one attack.
Unable to break the Oathkeepers into pieces in one slash, Viru reacted quickly and hastily blew them away with an energy impact wave. However, he was attacked by the Oathkeepers at the same time. Psionic cannon shots landed on his chest, and his movement paused for an instant again.
The psionic cannon fired from behind him. Chains of shots landed on his back. Viru was not willing to give up on the opportunity of being able to attack Han Xiao at such a close distance, so he released a defensive shield behind him that barely blocked the focus fire for an instant before attacking Han Xiao violently.
The battlefield left its original area and kept shifting.
The two of them fought at close range. Viru’s blade slashed through Han Xiao’s body time after time, cutting away parts of his mechanical suit and his flesh again and again. However, he recovered at a visible speed, and his wounds healed in seconds.
The longer Viru fought, the more shocked he was. He had heard about Han Xiao’s ‘Indestructible Body’ nickname, but he had never expected it to be so powerful.
Since some time ago, Clotti, who was watching from afar, had stopped being uninterested. He was now focusing on their battle with a serious look on his face.
Han Xiao’s recovery speed shocked even him.
He had never seen any Mechanic with a physique so strong that it could match up to even a Pugilist.
“A newbie who has just advanced shouldn’t have such combat capability,” one of them said with shock. He voiced the thought that was in everyone’s mind.
Han Xiao used [Repel – Thorns] and [Void Dimension Jump] consecutively to guard against his opponent’s attacks. The two of them fought at close range for a short period of time before the enormous mechanical army finally held Viru back again. Han Xiao finally got out of the close-range battle.
After taking Viru’s chain of powerful attacks, Han Xiao was close to unharmed. At least the others could not see what damage he had taken on the surface.
