Chapter 213: The Edge of That Axe

Watching the holographic projection of Hamon and Jin Huguo fighting frantically with their battle sabers, the hundreds of spectators in the tournament space held their breath.

The saber is known as the "courage of a hundred weapons."

In a sense, this is because its close-quarters combat is the most frenzied and brutal, far less refined and elegant than that of the long spear or long sword.

Especially since the two combatants at this moment are both Fifth-Stage experts, appearing like gods of war; their collision and slaughter truly combine violence with art, making the viewers' blood boil.

"Jin Huguo is at a disadvantage."

"Brother Jin is in trouble." The students of Kunlun Martial Arts University watched with extreme tension, all praying silently.

Even though Li Yuan has already revealed his Fifth-Stage strength and is nearly invincible roaming the Seventh Star Realm battlefield, subconsciously, most Kunlun Martial Arts University students still believe Jin Huguo is a cut above and represents the greatest hope for Kunlun Martial Arts University in this year's virtual tournament.

"That Hamon is so strong. Is he the number one genius of the Flower Flag Nation?"

"Hold on, Jin Huguo!" The millions of spectators from the Xia Nation also stared intently, hoping for a miracle.

In a sense, this is a battle of glory.

In this global tournament, every participant represents not just themselves, but also their school and their country.

Everyone hopes that their country's martial arts genius can roam the battlefield invincible.

"Hamon is so powerful; how has he not been able to kill this Xia Nation person after such a long time?"

"Is this person called Jin Huguo really that strong?" A large number of spectators from the Flower Flag Nation and even Europa are paying close attention.

Hamon's fame in the Flower Flag Nation and Europa is very great, and many students worship him.

That Jin Huguo can fight Hamon for so long has already exceeded the expectations of many of them.

Suddenly.

"Hamon is going to win." A Flower Flag Nation spectator's eyes lit up, and he shouted loudly.

"Brother Jin is in danger."

"Jin Huguo, watch out!" The millions of Xia Nation spectators exclaimed, tense to the extreme.

……

First Star Realm battlefield, atop the rolling, vast mountain range.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" Hamon unleashed a series of terrifying saber techniques, having fully entered the state of Heaven-Man Unity. Every strike seemed to have divine assistance, with astonishing power, completely suppressing Jin Huguo.

When Jin Huguo's arm went numb and blood began to spill from the webbing between his thumb and index finger, and it looked like he could no longer hold out.

"Let's die together!" Jin Huguo roared suddenly. Boom! His figure lunged, instantly meeting the incoming saber strike, his battle saber aiming to thrust straight forward.

It seemed he was determined to fight to the death.

"You die." Hamon's expression was ferocious; his physique was taller, and his battle saber was larger and heavier, so he did not dodge the opponent at all.

The saber was as fast as lightning.

"Puchi~" Jin Huguo barely dodged the frontal strike, but a streak of saber light followed, hacking fiercely onto his shoulder. An arm was sent flying, and blood sprayed.

However, the moment his arm was hacked off.

Swish~ The battle saber in Jin Huguo's hand was lightning-fast, slipping from his grip and soaring out like a hidden weapon.

At such close range!! Hamon had nowhere to dodge.

"Puff~" The terrifying heavy saber hacked fiercely along the gap in the battle armor, plunging directly into Hamon's abdomen, and instantly, countless blood splattered.

"Boom~"

Another streak of saber light flashed like lightning; Jin Huguo's body was instantly torn apart, and he died.

"Hoo!"

Hamon took a deep breath, looking down at his wound. The heavy saber had pierced deep into his internal organs, and a large amount of blood was gushing out. He felt his life force fading rapidly.

He then looked at Jin Huguo's body, which had become torn to pieces.

"Jin." Hamon's expression was solemn, and he whispered to himself: "I underestimated you."

"Your strength has indeed become terrifying."

"If we can fight again later, I will definitely not be the slightest bit careless." Hamon thought silently.

The Star Realm battlefield is a complete simulation of reality.

Therefore, once injured, one cannot recover quickly.

Especially with injuries like Hamon's, if it continues, death is certain.

Never mind that he only has a Level 15 physique; even a Source Martial Artist would die if they didn't receive treatment.

Only a few dozen seconds later.

A massive Level 16 Star Realm creature passed by, roaring as it charged toward Hamon.

Even though Hamon was heavily injured, logically, with his remaining strength, dodging would not have been a problem.

However, Hamon let this massive Star Realm creature charge into him, and he died instantly.

Being killed by a Star Realm creature, the base points and Star Realm points are all retained, and the total score remains unchanged.

Thus.

On the First Star Realm battlefield, Hamon's total score remained first, and he was far ahead of second place.

Jin Huguo's total score had dropped to sixth, but with less than an hour left until the end of the melee tournament, with his remaining points, it would not be difficult for him to rank in the top hundred.

……

This battle deeply shocked millions of spectators; no one expected the slaughter between the two sides to be so tragic.

Jin Huguo was killed first.

Hamon was also heavily injured by Jin Huguo's desperate counterattack before death, and in the end, he allowed himself to be killed by a Star Realm creature.

In a sense, both sides could be considered to have perished together.

"Hamon actually almost lost to that Xia Nation person."

"This Xia Nation person was unremarkable before, yet possessed such terrifying strength. The Xia Nation still has Yin Man, Tantai Feng, Li Yuan, Zhu Tong... Heavens! Can Hamon break out of their encirclement later to take first place?" The spectators from the Flower Flag Nation and Europa all felt a bit panicked.

If one Jin Huguo was this fierce, what about the other experts of the Xia Nation?

"It's a pity for Jin Huguo; he was only a little bit off, and he had every hope of killing Hamon."

"It is quite a pity." Most of the Xia Nation spectators felt regret, but the vast majority were still very rational.

Before the two sides fought, most people felt that Hamon should be stronger.

That Jin Huguo could fight the opponent to this extent had already exceeded the expectations of most people.

……

In the higher-level spectator space.

"Jin Huguo lost." Li Yang sighed.

"There's no helping it; in previous predictions, Hamon was expected to challenge for first place." Xu Yuanzhang said calmly: "Jin Huguo being able to heavily injure Hamon, forcing the opponent to withdraw from the tournament, is already very rare."

"Hmm."

Li Yang nodded and continued to watch the light screen: "Let's see about Li Yuan. It's highly probable that he and Hoffman will have a battle."

"I estimate so; the system will secretly guide it." Xu Yuanzhang said: "These Fifth-Stage experts, by the final stage of the melee tournament, will mostly seek out duels with each other."

The two had been deans for decades and were very clear about some of the potential rules of virtual battles.

What is the purpose of the tournament? First, to select the top-tier experts fairly and justly; this is why those Fifth-Stage experts are not directly guaranteed a spot in the finals.

This is a rule set by Dongfang Ji.

Whenever huge rewards are involved, as long as there are guaranteed spots, there is a possibility of backroom deals.

An open tournament is to avoid unfairness as much as possible.

Just like the college entrance exam, unless it is a special exemption at the Star Master level, everyone must pass the college entrance exam to enter martial arts universities at all levels.

Second is tempering, allowing numerous top-tier geniuses to duel each other.

Geniuses fighting is not only a stimulus for them but also a stimulus for countless ordinary spectators.

Therefore, it often happens during the melee tournament stage.

Once a Star Realm battlefield has multiple Fifth-Stage experts, it will mostly lead to a battle of the Fifth-Stage.

This kind of highly anticipated duel, compared to private sparring, is a completely different baptism for the participants' souls.

……

Time passed, and the battlefield area began to shrink further.

It gradually shrank from a diameter of 50 kilometers to 30 kilometers.

Many of the remaining participants collided with each other while moving, beginning another round of large-scale combat.

……

When the time reached 11:25 PM, at the spectator stand belonging to Starry Sky University.

Swish! A figure wearing fire-red robes appeared out of thin air.

"Sister Yueyue."

A crisp voice sounded from the side; it was Wu Dongdong, who couldn't help but say: "Your luck was too bad; you actually ran into Yin Man just now, otherwise you would have had every hope of rushing into the top hundred."

The fire-red robed figure was Lin Lanyue; she and Wu Dongdong had also participated in the tournament.

Before the tournament, Lin Lanyue had even communicated with Li Yuan twice.

"There isn't much difference." Lin Lanyue smiled faintly: "With my skill level just having crossed into the Fourth-Stage High Tier, even if my luck were good, I would only barely rush into the top hundred... In the elimination tournament, I am destined to be eliminated."

"Hmm." Wu Dongdong nodded gently.

In the melee tournament, luck plays a part... but in the elimination tournament, 990 people are selected for only 10 final spots, and everyone must go through at least eight rounds of major battles; there is almost no luck factor.

"How are the others?" Lin Lanyue smiled.

"I know who you want to see." Wu Dongdong laughed: "Your brother was eliminated faster than me. As for Li Yuan... his strength is even more terrifying than during the Ten-School Freshman Battle; he is already a Fifth-Stage expert, and I'm afraid he's no weaker than Tantai Feng."

"Has he reached Fifth-Stage Heaven-Man Unity?" Lin Lanyue's eyes brightened slightly.

Inside the battlefield, she could only see Li Yuan's score soaring on the leaderboard, but she couldn't see the specific battle process.

She had communicated with Li Yuan many times before, but she didn't know that Li Yuan had already reached Heaven-Man Unity.

"Wow, Sister, look quickly." Wu Dongdong suddenly pointed to a huge light screen that was rapidly enlarging above the tournament space: "Tantai Feng, he ran into Nevsky of the Ross Nation."

"The two are about to fight." Wu Dongdong was quite excited: "I wonder if Tantai Feng can win."

"Tantai Feng? Nevsky?" Lin Lanyue couldn't help but look up.

……

At this moment, it wasn't just Wu Dongdong and Lin Lanyue.

Throughout the entire tournament space, almost all spectators couldn't help but look at the rapidly enlarging light screen.

And the two major experts who had already begun an intense confrontation.

Tantai Feng, King of the Preliminaries, the peerless genius of Xia Nation's freshman year; even with Li Yuan's rise, he still hadn't been able to completely shake his position. Most people still believe Tantai Feng is more powerful.

After all, the title of King of the Preliminaries is too great.

And Tantai Feng had once defeated Li Yuan.

And his opponent, Nevsky, as the "strongest expert" to rise in this tournament for the Ross Nation, also had terrifying strength and was recognized as the Ross Nation's number one genius, also a Fifth-Stage expert.

This battle is a battle of the Fifth-Stage.

The two of them were also the first and second in points on the Tenth Star Realm battlefield, respectively.

Such a duel, in terms of attention and expectation, was even above the great battle between Hamon and Jin Huguo.

……Tenth Star Realm battlefield, on an ice field.

"Tantai Feng." Nevsky held a battle axe, and as he swung it, he forced Tantai Feng to retreat repeatedly.

His hair was messy, his height exceeded 2.2 meters, and he was burly and robust. Although he was a young man in his early twenties, he made people feel as if he were thirty or forty.

"Nevsky, give me some face." Tantai Feng roared in a low voice: "There must be millions of people outside watching us fight."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The two sides fought lightning-fast battles time and again; Tantai Feng used his saber and shield in coordination, blocking Nevsky's battle axe hacks time and again.

The axe was too heavy.

Hacking, it was fiercer than a saber!

Blocking, it was comparable to a shield.

The weakness of an axe is that it is slow, but at this moment, the axe in Nevsky's hand was even faster than Tantai Feng's saber, naturally suppressing Tantai Feng completely.

"Whether a million people are watching or ten million, it doesn't matter." Nevsky laughed: "If you can beat me, you will naturally shine brilliantly."

"Bring out your full strength and defeat me."

"Otherwise, you're going to lose." Nevsky was extremely composed.

"Damn it!"

"Let's fight." A trace of madness flashed in Tantai Feng's eyes; he liked to show off in front of others, but deep down, there was also a trace of madness.

Boom!

Tantai Feng suddenly erupted, actually throwing away his shield. His body seemed to become slightly distorted, and his speed soared in a bizarre way as he lunged toward Nevsky.

Swish! Swish! Saber light was like a tide, swift as lightning.

"Clang!"

"Clang!" "Clang!" A trace of solemnity flashed across Nevsky's face, and he hurriedly swung his battle axe, blocking like a huge shield.

But Tantai Feng, who was erupting with full power, was completely focused on his saber, thoroughly mad.

"Fast! Fast! Faster!" Tantai Feng whispered, his whole body's strength pushed to the limit.

The battle saber in his hand hacked fiercely.

One strike faster than the next.

Those streaks of terrifying saber light almost submerged Nevsky, almost reversing the situation.

At this moment, Tantai Feng only felt that his spirit and energy had reached a brand new peak.

"Die!" Nevsky roared suddenly, finally catching a slight flaw in the connection of Tantai Feng's saber technique. While blocking a strike with his battle axe, he suddenly flipped the axe.

He hacked straight down fiercely!

Swish!

This axe strike erupted suddenly, but it faintly caused Nevsky's entire momentum and aura to soar, like a god of war hacking through mountains and rivers, whistling as he hacked Tantai Feng, sending him flying backward.

Boom! Nevsky followed up with force, his figure flickering to keep up, and he hacked down with another axe strike.

"Clang!"

Tantai Feng braced his saber, barely blocking, but his whole body was sent flying backward again.

"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" Nine consecutive axe strikes, terrifying collisions time and again.

Tantai Feng, having thrown away his shield, finally could not hold out.

Accompanied by the final terrifying axe light hacking down.

"Fifth-Stage Mid-Tier, it's Mid-Tier!!" Tantai Feng stared fixedly at the axe hacking toward him, roaring in his heart.

Puchi~

The axe light flashed past!

Tantai Feng died in battle, blood staining the ice field red, and the entire ice field returned to tranquility.

"Truly powerful."

"I intended to erupt when encountering Yin Man or Hamon in the finals, but I didn't expect a freshman to force me to use the 'Thousand Axe Continuous Slash' I had just realized not long ago. Indeed, one cannot underestimate anyone." The burly man Nevsky thought to himself.

After calming his heart, Nevsky continued to walk along the ice field.

……

Nevsky, if he doesn't erupt, he doesn't, but once he erupts, he reveals terrifying strength, causing countless spectators to tremble.

"Tantai Feng lost?"

"Nevsky is too fierce."

"Why do I feel that Nevsky is stronger than Yin Man, Li Yuan, and Hamon?" Bursts of discussion sounded in the tournament space.

Compared to the tragic battle between Hamon and Jin Huguo.

In the battle between Tantai Feng and Nevsky, although Tantai Feng also erupted with astonishing strength, his loss was without suspense; he lost in Nevsky's repeated frontal frenzied attacks.

……

Seventh Star Realm battlefield.

"Brother Jin lost before, and now Tantai Feng has lost too?" Li Yuan glanced at his smart ring; although he couldn't see the specific duel situation.

And he couldn't communicate with the outside world.

But through the drastic changes in the points of Tantai Feng and Nevsky on the leaderboard, he could judge the outcome.

"Hoffman, where are you?" Li Yuan walked in the mountain canyon, searching for the opponent's tracks.

Along the way, any Star Realm creatures or participants he encountered were caught up to and killed by him, sweeping away everything.

Li Yuan's points continued to rise.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 214 =====