High-Level Martial Era

At the very onset of the battle, Li Yuan immediately intercepted Kimura Tatsuo, a scene that was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of spectators on the Spectator Platform.

After all, the biggest highlight of the 17th cage melee was the showdown between Li Yuan and Kimura Tatsuo.

"Quick."

"Li Yuan goes straight for Kimura Tatsuo, are they going to clash head-on?"

"Could it be a direct duel between the two?" The Spectator Platform erupted in excitement in an instant.

Immediately, the giant broadcast screens suspended in the sky concurrently displayed the scene of Li Yuan and Kimura Tatsuo engaging in combat.

…"Eldest senior brother is really domineering."

"Heading straight for the strongest."

"With the strength of our eldest senior brother, defeating this Kimura should be a piece of cake," the students of Kunlun Martial University also erupted, their eyes wide open and fixed on the scene.

…

"Li Yuan challenging Kimura is definitely a mistake."

"Kimura is the strongest."

"Kimura is the strongest Martial Path genius from our Sakura Country this time; he will surely aim for first place," a great number of students from Sakura Country were screaming like mad.

They even kept sending barrage messages, engaging in 'friendly exchanges' with students from Xia Country.

They were few in number, but their fighting spirit was strong.

"This won't be easy."

"Li Yuan's Spear Technique is very fierce, it doesn't feel much weaker than Dantai Feng's; Kimura might not be able to win," a few of the Sakura Country students were quite rational.

…

"Their showdown should be the peak confrontation of the second round."

"Li Yuan is even more overbearing."

"But Kimura Tatsuo is not weak either." The vast majority of spectating students were betting on Li Yuan.

However, Kimura Tatsuo's performance in the first round cage melee was also quite impressive.

In this battle, who can win?

…

"Li Yang." Morita Daiku, looking down at this scene from the teacher's Spectator Space, glared at Li Yang.

"It's not my fault."

"I just relayed what you said word for word to my student," Li Yang said innocently: "Then my student said he must ask Kimura Tatsuo for some advice, to learn from a master."

"Hahaha!" Dozens of teachers from various schools couldn't help but laugh.

"Just wait."

"Li Yang, don't be so smug," Morita Daiku said through gritted teeth: "Who wins and who loses isn't set in stone yet."

"Mm-hmm, you're absolutely right," Li Yang said with a smile: "Look, they're starting to exchange blows."

…

Li Yuan's actions had drawn attention from all sides, but he himself lacked such awareness.

Li Yuan only knew that since the teacher had given an order, he had to try his best to accomplish the mission.

"Clang~"

The two Long Spears had already collided, and following Kimura Tatsuo's spear movement, he was attempting to redirect the power of Li Yuan's spear to one side.

"What a cunning use of force," Li Yuan's eyes shined slightly, and as soon as they engaged, he felt the difference between his own Spear Technique and that of Kimura Tatsuo.

His own spear strikes were powerful and heavy, and his defense was as steady as a mountain.

In one word, heavy.

But Kimura Tatsuo's Spear Technique was all about the word 'entangle', assaults unfurling one after the other, continuous and seemingly endless.

"I should spar for a bit longer; it's rare to experience such Spear Technique," Li Yuan's thought process immediately changed.

He originally wanted to end the battle quickly, but Kimura Tatsuo's Spear Technique had given him many insights.

He wanted to try it out a little longer.

As for the total Points ranking? Dantai Feng's forfeiture a while ago made Li Yuan calm down a lot; does first place in the second round Points matter?

Just making it to the top eight to enter the fourth round directly would suffice.

With the Points Li Yuan had obtained in the first round, as long as he survived till the end of the second round, it was almost certain he would step firmly into the top eight.

"Clang!"

"Clang! Clang!"

Li Yuan's Long Spear danced like a writhing serpent, numerous Spear Lights bursting forth, as he directly displayed 'Stellar Illumination', momentarily forming a huge circle around him.

The stars formed a sphere! The spear tip drew a circle!

Time and time again, he fended off Kimura Tatsuo's spear assaults, no matter how furiously he attacked Li Yuan, with flashes of Spear Light unable to shake Li Yuan's Defense.

"As solid as a mountain, the Long Spear is like a circle," Kimura Tatsuo finally realized the terrifying aspect of Li Yuan.

An impenetrable Defense.

No matter if he thrust, swept, or furiously chopped, Li Yuan would easily block and deftly dissipate the force, even countering in the process.

"Boom~"

Li Yuan's occasional retaliatory spear thrust made Kimura Tatsuo feel incredibly uncomfortable, desperately blocking them.

"His skill, his exploitation of physical strength, far exceeds mine," Kimura Tatsuo eventually understood, being a Fourth Level Intermediate Rank expert.

Li Yuan was simply using him as a whetstone.

"Are all the people from Xia Country this strong?"

"That Dantai Feng was despairingly strong, and this Li Yuan also turns out to be so powerful?" Kimura Tatsuo felt a hint of powerlessness.

But immediately, his eyes also flashed with ferocity: "I'm going all out, I just can't believe it."

"Using me as a whetstone?"

"Be careful not to chip your blade, or you might end up being my whetstone," Kimura Tatsuo also went berserk, attacking Li Yuan with all his might.

He was well aware that with his first-round score, it was enough to storm into the top 136.

The top eight? With Li Yuan standing in the way, there was no hope.

So he decided to fight with all his might to defeat Li Yuan.

"Boom! Boom!!" The two engaged in a wildly frenetic offensive and defensive battle, with their Long Spears colliding fiercely over and over again, so intensely that the other combatants subconsciously avoided them.

Their battle was too ferocious.

Although all the participants had the same Physical Quality, both Li Yuan and Kimura Tatsuo, one nearing Fourth Level Perfection and the other nearing Fourth Level High Rank, unearthed far more strength from their bodies than the others.

The power and speed of the spear's dance hardly seemed to belong to a physical quality of 10.0 level.

Time passed.

The number of people on the platform kept decreasing, 180 people, 150 people, 120 people… but Li Yuan was still fiercely battling it out with Kimura Tatsuo.

Their fight

also made the entire Spectator Platform boil over completely, with countless spectators shouting excitedly.

"So fierce, this is what a master duel looks like."

"Haha, of all the new student fights of the ten schools, this is the most intense one."

"Li Yuan's defense is impeccable, and Kimura Tatsuo is also attacking wildly," countless spectators discussed.

"It shouldn't be! With Li Yuan's strength, he should be able to quickly resolve Kimura Tatsuo," many powerful individuals said, filled with doubts.

Given the strength Li Yuan displayed in the first round, he should have easily crushed his opponent.

...

"I told you, Kimura is the strongest, he even forced Li Yuan to go all out in defense."

"Kimura is sure to win," spectators from Sakura Country constantly posted barrages of messages.

Many viewers from Sakura Country lacked the insight and naturally assumed the attacker was stronger.

Suddenly—

"Thump~" A muffled sound.

Li Yuan, who had been on full defense, suddenly twisted his long spear, and in the instant, it flicked away Kimura Tatsuo's long spear. The spearhead, like a dragon hiding in the deep sea of stars, suddenly burst forth with speed that soared to the extreme.

It pierced Kimura Tatsuo in a flash of lightning, and that terrifying impact sent Kimura Tatsuo flying out forcefully.

He slammed heavily to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth.

"You!" Kimura Tatsuo struggled to hold onto his long spear, staring in disbelief at Li Yuan who had suddenly burst forth.

"Thank you."

"Without your spear technique, perhaps I wouldn't have understood the key to my own so quickly." Li Yuan held the spear in his right hand and regrettably said, "It's just a pity, your spear technique is not strong enough."

If Kimura Tatsuo's spear technique was fourth level high rank, Li Yuan believed his own gains would be greater.

A pity Kimura Tatsuo wasn't that strong.

"If my spear technique were stronger, you might not have been able to hold out," Kimura Tatsuo gritted his teeth.

"Is that so?"

"I hope you can withstand my spear attack then," Li Yuan smiled and couldn't be bothered to waste more words.

Boom!

Li Yuan moved again, his silver-colored long spear bursting forth like a silver streak, shooting straight towards Kimura Tatsuo with a whistling sound.

"Ha!"

With blood at the corner of his mouth, Kimura Tatsuo also let out a fierce shout, surging forward to try to block with his spinning long spear.

"Thump~"

The collision of spear shafts.

Li Yuan's long spear pressed down smoothly with the twist of his waist, generating even greater impact force, and directly knocked away Kimura Tatsuo's long spear.

"Not good," Kimura Tatsuo's face changed drastically.

Boom! A shadow of the spear followed close behind, rolling forward with bursting destructive power, and directly attacking him.

Stellar Spear Technique fourth style—Meteor Fall.

Li Yuan's set of moves changed too quickly, smoother than when he defeated Fang Kui in the first round. His spear technique's speed was so fast Kimura Tatsuo couldn't fully block it.

He couldn't even retract his long spear in time, only managing to lift his left hand instinctively to block.

"Crack!" The sound of an arm breaking.

The terrifying impact carried by the spear shaft sent Kimura Tatsuo flying backwards, while the spear tip followed by moving from top to bottom across his face.

Before Kimura Tatsuo even hit the ground, he had already disappeared from the platform.

Defeated!

With no sign of an outburst before, but once he did, he defeated Kimura Tatsuo in just a few moves.

"Hm?"

"Only just over seventy people left?" Li Yuan's gaze swept over the entire platform, "That's enough."

"This fight with Kimura Tatsuo was as good as a long session of solitary contemplation for me," Li Yuan's heart was filled with joy, "Less points is fine."

That's just how skill training is.

Sometimes, diligent practice and prolonged meditation yield nothing, but occasionally, a single battle, or seeing a certain scene, can lead to an instant epiphany.

"Better end this early so I can get back to practicing with my spear, I might just fully grasp it," he thought.

Boom! Li Yuan moved swiftly, his spear dancing through the air and creating shadows that caused droplets of blood to fly, as one participant after another fell to the ground.

His points skyrocketed.

...

"He won!"

"Li Yuan is awesome."

"Li Yuan." The hundreds of thousands of students from Xia Country on the Spectator Platform all got excited, cheering and rooting for Li Yuan.

First, he defeated Fang Kui, and then Kimura Tatsuo.

The two battles had different opponents.

But in either fight, once Li Yuan began his explosive attack, no one could withstand even a few moves.

...

"He lost just like that?"

"Li Yuan exploded with power, and Kimura couldn't defend against even ten spears?"

"The gap between Kimura and Li Yuan is that big?" The numerous students from Sakura Country who initially supported Kimura Tatsuo were dumbfounded, finding it hard to accept this scene.

"Li Yuan's spear technique is so powerful; he is the true spear prodigy."

"It's a pity such a talent like Li Yuan is not from our Sakura Country."

"With Li Yuan's strength, he's definitely capable of clinching the championship."

"It's not that Kimura is weak, but that Li Yuan is too strong, absolutely flawless, simply a hexagonal warrior," swiftly, many students from Sakura Country began to flatter and support Li Yuan.

They only pursue the strong.