Chapter 652: Eight-Rank Combat Power! Choose a Weapon!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Virtual world, arena.

Amidst thunderous roars, two human figures, resembling ferocious beasts, clashed in the bustling city!

One stood over three meters tall, his body bulging with coiled muscles, key areas protected by pale golden scales.

His eyes were vertical dragon pupils, brimming with endless bloodlust and savagery.

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

Above his head hovered a phantom figure, divine in appearance, forged entirely from lightning!

His opponent was a man clad in black battle armor.

He stood over two meters tall as well!

His entire skin shimmered with an eerie black-purple hue, gleaming like metal.

"Chain Lightning Technique!"

ZAP! ZAP!...

Five consecutive golden lightning bolts, like enraged dragons, slammed down from the sky toward his foe.

Simultaneously, Xu Jingming, in Thunderstorm State, swung his spear like a phantom, thrusting with blinding speed!

"Xu Jingming, your lightning won't work on me! Metal Defense!"

BOOM!!

The black-clad man's skin darkened further into deep black-purple.

The lightning, potent enough to instantly kill a peak seventh-rank beast, was absorbed by his bare flesh!

Though his skin blackened and cracked, it healed at an astonishing rate!

CLANG! CLANG! BLOCK!...

A series of piercing metallic clashes rang out.

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

"Thunder Pierce Demon Killing Spear!"

Brilliant golden lightning engulfed Xu Jingming's spear.

The violent energy surge made the entire space tremble.

In the next instant, the spear shot forward like a thunder dragon, aimed straight at the man's head!

CLANG!!

The spear's sharp tip was halted by the man's battle blade.

Yet the immense impact and wild lightning still sent him flying backward!

THUD! THUD! THUD!...

The black-clad man was hurled backward.

Amid the towering skyscrapers, he smashed through six or seven buildings before finally stopping.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ~~~

Beneath the starry sky, the shattered buildings collapsed one after another, dust exploding everywhere.

Yet the black-clad man rose again from the ruins.

"Sixth-rank upper, yet you've reached eighth-rank Master-level combat power.

Xu Jingming, you're impressive.

But to kill me, you're still not strong enough."

The black-clad man in the ruins bent his knees slightly, then exploded upward!

In an instant, he leapt a kilometer away and landed right before Xu Jingming.

Wild golden lightning raged across his skin, relentlessly destroying his tissue.

Blood poured from every part of him; some areas even revealed writhing internal organs through torn flesh.

Yet his body healed just as rapidly.

It was clear: his healing outpaced the lightning's destruction.

"Damn it, even eighth-rank Grand Masters have this kind of recovery?"

Xu Jingming retracted all his lightning, sighing helplessly: "Eva, end the battle."

"Eva received."

A clear, melodious voice responded.

Instantly, the black-clad man dissolved into glowing particles and vanished.

The collapsed buildings swiftly restored to their original state.

"Huff... huff..."

Xu Jingming, out of Thunderstorm State and back to his normal height, gasped for breath.

He sat down on a bench in a nearby park, catching his breath for a long while.

"You've done well for an S-rank—you held your own against an A-rank eighth-rank Grand Master."

A little girl with twin pigtails sat beside Xu Jingming, grinning mischievously.

Because she was short, her bare feet dangled above the ground as she sat.

They swung freely—adorably so.

"Held my own against an eighth-rank Grand Master.

That means my peak combat power is roughly equal to what Yang Teacher had before."

Xu Jingming felt disappointed.

At sixth-rank middle, he couldn't even pierce an eighth-rank Grand Master's defense.

He'd expected this upgrade to finally let him inflict serious damage.

But while he could now hurt him, it wasn't enough to kill.

"You chose an eighth-rank Grand Master specializing in martial arts—he naturally has strong recovery."

Eva shrugged helplessly, "But if you'd chosen an eighth-rank Grand Master elemental mage,

your spell clashes would've been evenly matched.

In fact, his stamina would've outlasted yours—you'd lose if it dragged on."

"So I'll need to reach seventh rank to kill an A-rank eighth-rank Grand Master."

Though frustrated, Xu Jingming could still hoard ability points.

Of course,

the A-rank eighth-rank Grand Masters here refer to elite ones from major factions.

Otherwise, an eighth-rank Grand Master from a back-alley background—

one who hasn't even mastered SSS- or SS-ranked combat techniques—wouldn't stand a chance against him.

"Also, I need to equip a weapon for my Thunderstorm State."

In Thunderstorm State, Xu Jingming's body swells to over three meters.

His two-meter-one-long Melt-Soul Black Obsidian Spear is now too short.

In the virtual world, he could freely condense it to any length—but in reality,

he lacks a suitable long-handled weapon.

"In Thunderstorm State, my strength reaches its limit.

With a heavy weapon, I could achieve 'one force breaks ten thousand methods.'

But using a spear now would be inappropriate."

Though a spear can slash, its primary use is thrusting.

A nimble, swirling spear doesn't suit massive, sweeping chops.

"A two-handed war hammer or a long-handled battle axe would be ideal.

But then I couldn't use my spear-based combat techniques..."

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

Halberd!

The halberd's axe-blades on both sides were perfect for wide, sweeping chops.

And its forward spear-point could thrust like a spear!

It was the perfect fusion of spear and battle axe—a heavy weapon!

"I'll head to the martial arts gym's equipment section—find one that suits me, and buy it!"

He acted immediately.

Taking off his neural helmet, Xu Jingming didn't care it was past 10 PM—he headed straight for the gym's equipment section.

The Thunder Gym's equipment section operated 24/7; Xu Jingming, unfolding his Lei Long Wings, arrived quickly.

But sadly, after searching the entire place, he found no halberd that suited him.

Helpless, he asked the equipment section manager.

"You want a halberd at least 3. meters long, weighing 300 tons?"

The manager swallowed hard, doubting he'd heard wrong.

He recognized Xu Jingming's identity, of course.

But he never imagined Xu Jingming wanted a weapon this long and this heavy!

This doesn't look like it was meant for human use.