Chapter 289: Sublimed in Battle

The Zongwang Player teams surrounded by the Heroic Spirit army wanted to cry but had no tears.

In a one-on-one fight, they still had considerable confidence in themselves.

But now it's not one-on-one; it's one versus many.

"Can we get a chance for a duel?"

The Sword Saint profession player, holding a long sword, wore a grim expression as he looked at the Heroic Spirit squad before him.

"Sorry, kid, this is no longer a trial!"

The leading Warrior Heroic Spirit smiled and said to the Sword Saint.

"This is already a war!"

"A war that you yourselves have provoked!"

"Talking more is useless; come face us!"

Saying this, the Warrior Heroic Spirit stepped forward and brought down his greatsword with a heavy chop.

"What an undeserved disaster!"

The Sword Saint player helplessly blocked the greatsword; he was strong in duels, but this fragile profession was far too weak in a large melee.

"Boom!"

The Heroic Spirit flood submerged everything; the Sword Saint player struggled to resist, but still turned into white light and vanished.

The coordination of the Heroic Spirit squad made the Sword Saint feel despair—magic, arrows, curses, divine arts…

These seemingly unrelated forces would appear at the right time and place, attacking in close succession, leaving him not a single breath of respite.

Even if he had the power to cleave through anything, with his sword not yet drawn, he could only swallow his resentment under the relentless onslaught.

"War is truly cruel!"

Revived as white light elsewhere in the dungeon, the Sword Saint clutched his head, enduring the penalty of soul weakness, and complained helplessly.

"War might be even more cruel than you imagine!"

A sudden voice made the Sword Saint incredulously lift his head; before him appeared another Heroic Spirit squad.

"No way……"

The Sword Saint felt a bit desperate, involuntarily gripping his weapon, his face grim to the extreme—going from the tiger's den into the wolf's lair; what the hell is there left to fight?

……

"No way!"

Mu Yi looked at the azure-colored binding barrier that had appeared beside him, representing restraint, and couldn't help but feel a headache.

Although they had been as careful as possible, they were still ambushed.

"What a clever magical setup—I didn't sense any corresponding magical aura at all!"

Lily waved her staff, shooting a beam of light that directly dispelled the barrier; a hint of excitement appeared on her face, for she is always interested in things she doesn't understand.

Mu Yi's eyes emitted a golden light that directly illuminated a Heroic Spirit squad from the void.

"What an impressive little girl, breaking our magical trap in just an instant?" the mage Heroic Spirit in a red robe said, looking at Lily with some surprise.

Mu Yi's ability can be explained as a bloodline ability.

But Lily, with her gestures, used magic to dismantle the compound trap formed from combining their squad's abilities, which was quite surprising.

"What an ingenious design—it seems to blend some shadow-divine divine arts, but for the sake of secrecy, its offensive power is completely abandoned; it can only be used for encirclement and warning! Was it specially designed for the Abyss Demon?"

Lily answered the mage Heroic Spirit's doubts in an academic tone.

"How did you discover us?"

Mu Yi was somewhat doubtful; he still had confidence in the effect of the great fog.

"The most dangerous place is the safest place!"

The leader of the Heroic Spirit squad revealed a smile.

They were quite pleased with Mu Yi's team, which had caused many Heroic Spirit deaths.

Only such powerful challengers are the juniors they wish to see.

The better Mu Yi and his team perform, the happier they become.

"Have our intentions been seen through?"

Mu Yi scratched his head, realizing the opponent hadn't dispelled the great fog but had anticipated their actions on an intellectual level.

"I originally wanted to conserve some stamina, but since we've been discovered, we need to settle this quickly!"

Mu Yi drew his blade, intending to fish in troubled waters, but instead it turned into self-ensnarement.

If we get dragged out here, this challenge dungeon run is basically over.

"Other squads will come over in about ten minutes!"

The leading Heroic Spirit kindly reminded Mu Yi, then in the next instant appeared before him and smashed down with a fist as big as a sandbag.

"Thanks for the reminder!"

Mu Yi dodged the fist, swept with his holy sword, but the opponent seized his wrist and used the leverage to fling Mu Yi backward.

"An inch punch? A monk?"

Mu Yi hadn't expected to face such an opponent; at this close range, where an inch is short and an inch is perilous, his blade was not very usable.

As Mu Yi was blown away, a figure descended from the sky wielding a battle axe.

"Clang!"

Before Mu Yi could react, Aili blocked that chop.

"Oh no!"

Mu Yi saw Aili's figure, his eyes suddenly narrowing, and he involuntarily looked toward Lily's direction.

The Heroic Spirit squad's composition is perfect—warrior, monk, mage, assassin, ranger—five people forming an ideal adventuring party.

At this moment, Mu Yi and Aili were both restrained, and the rest would naturally go deal with the isolated Lily.

The instant he turned his head to look at Lily, the Heroic Spirit martial monk turned into a phantom and lunged at Mu Yi's face.

"You don't have time to look left and right!"

——Transcendent entering Sainthood

The Frenzy aura burst outward from the martial monk as its center in an instant, a faint light rose from his body surface, radiating a frightening boiling heat like a furnace.

——Yang Blaze Momentum!

The martial monk clenched his palms together, scorching firelight appearing in his palms; as he struck down at Mu Yi, Mu Yi only felt surging heat waves accompanied by scorching flames spreading out.

"Legendary ability?"

Mu Yi's mouth twitched slightly; he knew this Heroic Spirit before him was a tough opponent, and most likely a very tough one.

It's not Legendary, but being able to use Legendary ability usually means one thing: the opponent is a peerless genius capable of comprehending abilities beyond their rank.

Such an opponent, aside from not having reached Legendary on their status panel, is in every other way a template of a Legendary martial monk.

However, Mu Yi did not retreat; he put his sword and blade into his backpack and threw a punch at the martial monk's palm.

"Bang!!"

The tremendous roar followed the Frenzy aura as it swept toward death.

The solid ground inside the city cracked open directly under their full-force collision!

"Inch punch?" the Heroic Spirit martial monk looked at Mu Yi with some confusion.

That strike just now, Mu Yi actually blocked it with his most familiar inch punch.

"What a troublesome opponent!"

Mu Yi grew somewhat solemn; his full-force blow collided with the opponent's, yet the opponent's body didn't even tremble—this is not just a martial monk, but also an ascetic?

"Animal Realm!"

A white dragon burst from the barrier and directly sent the martial monk flying.

"Don't worry about me, this new spell is very useful!"

Lily's voice entered Mu Yi's ears; he discovered Lily was now using the spell that had previously restrained them to turn around and control the remaining three Heroic Spirits of the enemy.

The azure barrier became an uncrossable chasm for the remaining three Heroic Spirits, though one could see that maintaining this spell also consumed great mental effort; otherwise Lily would not merely be watching.

After glancing at Lily's situation, Mu Yi let out a sigh of relief.

Worry brings chaos; Lily had sent Aili out, so how could she let herself fall into danger?

"Little girl, your power is really strong!"

"Next, I'm going to get serious!"

——Frenzy

On the other side, the barbarian warrior laughed wildly as he hammered his chest; his already extraordinarily mighty stature began to swell, terrifying muscles and vicious veins bulging, his whole body turning into a colossus over three meters tall.

A crimson aura enveloped his skin; he roared, brandishing a massive battle-axe and swinging it straight at the maid Aili.

"Clang!"

A war hammer of equal size blocked the axe's attack; the ancient yet heavy war hammer burst forth with dazzling lightning, then smashed back at the barbarian who had now become a colossus.

"Looks like now you can fight me with your all!"

Having shattered the white dragon in an extremely short time, the Heroic Spirit martial monk did not rally to attack Mu Yi, but instead gazed at him and said.

"Please instruct me!"

Mu Yi assumed a stance, took a deep breath, and focused all his attention on the martial monk before him.

"Come!"

The two collided like two trains, fighting in the most primitive way, the Frenzy aura continually spreading from where they clashed.

Even the barbarian warrior and maid Aili, who had been immersed in grappling, were affected.

"Really terrifying, being able to fight Lin to this extent!" the barbarian warrior looked somewhat surprised at Mu Yi, who was exchanging blows with the martial monk.

Others don't know how strong the martial monk is; as the person who most often sparred with him, he knows the martial monk's abnormality—if not for the Abyssal invasion, the Heroic Spirit martial monk would definitely surpass the Legendary threshold and leave his mark in the Multiverse.

"Indeed very terrifying!" Aili nodded vigorously, but he deeply knew that Mu Yi had not yet exerted his full strength—that was the truly frightening part.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

No one could understand the Heroic Spirit martial monk's feelings; in battle he kept falling into a disadvantage, though close-quarters combat was his forte.

But now he was like a small boat in a stormy sea, instantly engulfed by waves as furious as a raging tide!

Tremendously heavy fists pounded his body like a relentless downpour, the Frenzy force continually tearing at his flesh and destroying his internal nerves.

In the course of fighting him, Mu Yi underwent rapid growth, absorbing all his techniques and, in an extremely short time, wielding those powers with ease—as if he had been immersed in this path for many years.

What's more surprising to the martial monk is that Mu Yi's physique, even sturdier than his own, when using Legendary ability, could truly be called a humanoid war golem, his body so sturdy it hardly seems human.

He had previously been within the core radius of a nuclear bomb explosion, yet he had hardly suffered any injury.

Yet in this fierce collision, he felt his body crying out; Mu Yi's physique was more resilient than his.

"Bang!!"

The violent shock left the martial monk's hands somewhat numb, but his tenacious will let him still maintain calm thought.

This force…

Indeed, it's a Qi strike!

Also, a shock fist?

The Heroic Spirit martial monk felt a tremendous force pressing down on him, slamming him hard into the ground!

I can't hold on any longer…

Feeling collapse signals from every part of his body, the Monk Heroic Spirit's eyes held only calm.

Fear, panic, or even despair…

These things, he had already defeated one by one during his spiritual cultivation!

Giving his all in battle is what he should be contemplating.

As a traditional-school monk, he leans more toward spiritual cultivation.

That is why, through asceticism, he preemptively grasped power beyond his current ability, yet the strength from such harsh practice clearly cannot compare to Mu Yi, the freak who grew up amid slaughter.

The thunderous clash of fists, the collision of bodies—this pure, wildly violent confrontation gradually made the Monk Heroic Spirit feel a sense of being alive that it seemed to have forgotten for a long time.

The feeling was strange; he sensed that if he were truly alive at this moment, perhaps in this instant he would genuinely cross the gate of Legend and become a true Legend monk.

Unfortunately, once etched by the world, he completely lost any possibility of further advancement.

A Heroic Spirit's body is both a blessing and a curse.

They are still alive, yet they no longer have the chance to write their own story.

Compared to him, Mu Yi's story has only just begun.

In battle, he naturally made substantial progress.

"It's over!"

Mu Yi unleashed all the power within, and scarlet Inner Qi coalesced around him into a Dharma Form several zhang tall.

The Dharma Form synced with Mu Yi's attack, hammering down his own fist.

Under the double strike, the Monk Heroic Spirit's body finally collapsed; after enduring countless shockwaves that struck straight to the internal organs, its body reached its limit.

"Puff~"

The Monk Heroic Spirit flew out like a burst sack, turning into light that began to dissipate.

"What a thrilling battle!" the Monk Heroic Spirit said, looking at Mu Yi with satisfaction.

"Zongwang Prompt: Congratulations, player, for defeating the elite Heroic Spirit—Sacrificial Monk – Ascetic – Lin. You have met the basic clearance condition; out of combat, you may exit the Challenge Dungeon at any time."

"Zongwang Prompt: Congratulations, player, for receiving recognition from the elite Heroic Spirit—Sacrificial Monk – Ascetic – Lin."

"Zongwang Prompt: Your Challenge reward has been increased!"

Mu Yi bowed slightly toward the Monk Heroic Spirit in respect; although it was his one‑sided theft of teaching, the other could also be called his teacher.

With sword and blade he could win faster, but the meaning of a military master lies not only in victory or defeat, but also in growth within the battle.

In sparring with the Monk Heroic Spirit, he gained much—not only learning various melee techniques, but also deepening his understanding of the military master's divine abilities.

As originally guessed, the military master's path of growth has no shortcut, or rather, combat is the sole shortcut to a military master's growth.

The more intense the battle, the more it can activate the military master's divine growth.