Chapter 652: Eighth-Rank Combat Power! Choosing a Weapon!

Boom boom boom!!

Virtual world, the arena.

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, in the middle of a bustling city, two humans who looked like fierce beasts were locked in combat!

One was over three meters tall, his entire body a mass of knotted muscles, with pale golden scales protecting his vital areas.

A pair of dragon-like vertical pupils seemed to contain endless bloodlust and savagery.

Brilliant golden lightning flickered and danced across the surface of his body, while a golden ring of thunder spun wildly behind him.

Above his head hovered an illusory figure, as if a deity, condensed from lightning!

And his opponent was a man dressed in black battle attire.

He too stood over two meters tall!

His entire skin was a bizarre black-purple, gleaming with a metallic sheen.

"Chain Lightning Art!"

Crack! Crack!......

Five golden bolts of lightning streaked down from the sky like furious dragons, striking toward his opponent.

At the same moment, Xu Jingming, who had entered his Thunderstorm State, swept his spear and thrust out like a phantom!

"Xu Jingming, your heavenly thunder is useless against me! Metal Defense!"

Boom!!

The black-clothed man's black skin grew even deeper in color.

The heavenly thunder, powerful enough to instantly kill a peak seventh-rank fierce beast, was forcibly withstood by his body!

Although his skin was somewhat charred and cracked, it was healing at an extremely rapid pace!

Clang! Clang! Clash!......

A string of ear-piercing weapon collision sounds rang out.

The black-clothed man swung his battle blade, perfectly blocking every one of Xu Jingming's attacks.

"Thunder Piercing Demon-Slaying Spear!"

Brilliant golden lightning enveloped the spear in Xu Jingming's hands.

The violent energy fluctuations made the entire space tremble.

The next instant, the spear, like a thunder dragon, thrust viciously toward the man's head!

Clang!!

The sharp spear tip was blocked by the battle blade in the man's hands.

But the tremendous impact force and violent lightning carried by the spear still blasted him flying!

Bang! Bang! Bang!......

The black-clothed man was sent flying backward.

In this city of towering skyscrapers, he smashed straight through six or seven buildings before finally stopping.

Rumble~~~

Beneath the starry sky, the buildings he had punched through collapsed with a roar, dust flying in all directions.

Yet the black-clothed man rose once more from the ruins.

"A sixth-rank upper position, yet able to reach the combat power of an eighth-rank grandmaster.

Xu Jingming, you've done very well already.

But if you want to kill me, you're still not quite enough."

The black-clothed man in the ruins bent his knees slightly, then exerted his strength with a sudden burst!

His entire body shot like a cannonball, leaping from a kilometer away to right in front of Xu Jingming.

Violent golden lightning ravaged the surface of his skin, constantly destroying his body tissues.

His whole body was bleeding, and in some places one could even see writhing internal organs through the flesh.

But at the same time, his body was also constantly healing.

It was clearly visible that the healing speed was a bit faster than the lightning's destructive speed.

"Damn it, do eighth-rank grandmasters really have this much regenerative power?"

Xu Jingming gathered in the lightning across his body and said helplessly, "Eva, end the match."

"Eva, acknowledged."

A crisp, pleasant voice rang out.

In an instant, the black-clothed man across from him dissolved into points of light and vanished on the spot.

The collapsed buildings quickly returned to their original state.

"Huff, huff......"

Having exited Thunderstorm State and returned to his normal build, Xu Jingming gasped for breath in great gulps.

He found a spot in a nearby park to sit down, and only after quite a while did he recover his strength.

"For an S-rank, you've done very well — you can fight on equal terms with an eighth-rank grandmaster of A-rank."

The twin-tailed little loli sat down beside Xu Jingming, giggling.

Perhaps because she was a bit short, her bare little feet couldn't reach the ground while sitting on the chair.

She could only swing them in the air, looking very cute.

"Fighting an eighth-rank grandmaster to a draw.

That means my peak combat power right now is about the same as Instructor Yang's from before."

Xu Jingming felt a little disappointed.

When he was at the mid-stage of the sixth rank, he couldn't break through the defenses of an eighth-rank Grandmaster at all.

He had originally thought that after this advancement, he should be able to cause considerable damage.

But unexpectedly, damage was indeed dealt, yet not enough to be fatal.

"You chose an eighth-rank Grandmaster who follows the Warrior path, so naturally the opponent has powerful recovery."

Eva spread her hands helplessly. "Of course, if you had chosen an eighth-rank Grandmaster who is an Elementalist.

Your two barrages of spells would also be evenly matched.

In fact, the opponent's endurance is stronger than yours, so if it drags on, you'd still lose."

"Looks like to kill an A-rank eighth-rank Grandmaster, I'll have to wait until I reach the seventh rank."

Though helpless, Xu Jingming could continue to accumulate ability points.

Of course,

The A-rank eighth-rank Grandmaster here refers to an elite Grandmaster from a major faction.

Otherwise, an eighth-rank Grandmaster from some unorthodox background,

who hasn't even mastered an SSS-rank or SS-rank combat technique, naturally wouldn't be his match.

"Additionally, I still need to equip my Lei Lei Bao Tai with a weapon."

After entering Lei Lei Bao Tai, Xu Jingming's body expands to over three meters.

A two-meter-one-long Molten Fiend Obsidian Spear is naturally a bit short.

In the virtual world it's fine—he can condense it at will, as long as he wants.

But in the real world, he's missing such a long-handled weapon.

"In Lei Lei Bao Tai, my strength reaches its limit.

If paired with a heavy weapon, it would absolutely reach the level of one force breaking ten thousand laws.

But if that's the case, using a spear becomes somewhat unsuitable."

Although a spear can also be used for slashing, its primary use is still thrusting.

A nimbly wielded spear doesn't pair well with wide, sweeping slashes.

"Using a two-handed warhammer or a long-handled battle axe would be best.

But then I wouldn't be able to use my spear-type combat techniques..."

After thinking for a moment, Xu Jingming's eyes suddenly lit up—he thought of a solution.

A battle halberd!

The halberd head on both sides is like a battle axe, suited for wide, sweeping slashes.

And the straight blade at the front of the halberd head can thrust like a spear!

It can be said to be a heavy weapon that perfectly combines spear and battle axe!

"First I'll go check the equipment department at the martial arts hall. If there's one that fits, I'll just buy it!"

No sooner said than done.

Xu Jingming took off his neural helmet and, not caring that it was already past 10 PM, headed straight for the martial arts hall's equipment department.

The Lei Ting Martial Arts Hall's equipment department is open 24 hours, and Xu Jingming, with his Thunder Dragon Wings deployed, arrived quickly.

But unfortunately, after looking around inside, he didn't find a single battle halberd that suited him.

Helpless, he could only inquire with the equipment department's manager.

"You're saying you want a battle halberd at least three and a half meters long, weighing 300 tons?"

The manager swallowed hard, wondering if he'd misheard.

He naturally recognized Xu Jingming's identity.

But he hadn't expected that the weapon Xu Jingming wanted would be so long and so heavy!

It didn't look like something meant for a human to use at all.