Chapter 266: Nightmare

With a loud bang, Li Hao was sent flying; this technique of close-quarters combat, delicate to the extreme, was simply breathtaking. While Li Hao was still in mid-air, Chao Qinglong, who had touched the ground first, saw his eyes instantly erupt with red light. Accompanied by a thunderous boom, he vanished from his spot, and the moment he reappeared, he was already in mid-air, delivering a perfectly extended super-kick that struck Li Hao squarely.

Boom...

Li Hao took the double impact and flew backward like a cannonball, slamming directly into the wall; the entire wall cracked with a snap. Before he could react, Chao Qinglong had already arrived, rushing toward Li Hao while suspended in the air. With a roar, *da-da-da-da-da~~~*

Fists like a rain of madness smashed toward Li Hao. At this moment, Li Hao had no power to fight back. This...?

The entire arena was silent. This was the domination of Chao Qinglong, the number one person in USE. From momentum to technique to strength, he was the peerless, strongest fighter. Where did this clown Li Hao come from? How desperate could he be to insist on provoking Chao Qinglong? Was it for the joy of three seconds of posturing?

Suddenly, Chao Qinglong sprang away, rapidly opening a distance of over ten meters.

At this moment, everyone's gaze turned toward Li Hao.... Is he dead?

The two generals also looked at each other; this... the gap was a bit large. They had thought it would be a battle between a dragon and a tiger, but was this just a loudmouth? Was all their imagination just a hallucination?

The medical team was already on standby; the Mid-Season Tournament was quite well-prepared in this regard.

Li Hao, who had been beaten nearly into a punching bag, fell to the ground, while Chao Qinglong opposite him had not moved at all. Li Hao stood up slowly, shook his neck, rubbed his chest in discomfort, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "No improvement at all. This level doesn't really look like you. Why... are you afraid of me?"

??????

hatthefk!

Is this human language?!

Everyone was dumbfounded. This... was this something the person getting beaten should say?

"Damn it, if Chao Qinglong hadn't held back just now, he would have been beaten to death long ago!"

"What kind of bullshit is this? Even I want to hit a guy like this!"

"This time next year should be his death anniversary. Everyone can offer him some incense then; the first person to posture himself to death."

Depuya let out a snort of laughter. Although he had lost, there was no helping it since he couldn't beat Perkins, so he still had to talk trash.

"A bunch of kids who haven't seen the world. Watch carefully, learn well. You really know nothing about power!"

Opposite him, Chao Qinglong remained as cold as iron, his ice-like gaze locked onto Li Hao, not surprised in the slightest.

Luo Bi and the others were full of confidence. Fifteen years of decadence, no systematic training, no support from good equipment and technology?

That was for ordinary people. Since when did Li Hao become an ordinary person?

*Pop~*

The red light in Chao Qinglong's pupils flared, and the pressure on his body rose sharply. Golden Zone—Red Pupil State.

In the same Golden Zone state, Chao Qinglong's Red Pupil was not on the same level as others'. With his foundation, once he entered the Red Pupil State, he was at the War God level. Moreover, no one knew what abilities Chao Qinglong possessed, and the most terrifying thing about Chao Qinglong was that he never suffered from Expansion.

In the eyes of Warriors who had already awakened the Golden Zone, the red-eyed Chao Qinglong at this moment was like a monster from the primordial era, his entire body exuding a dangerous aura that seeped into the bones. The stronger a person's Mental Power, the more intense this perception was.

Bang...

Chao Qinglong made his move, and at the same time, Li Hao also vanished. The next second, the two collided in the center of the arena.

Boom...

A figure flew backward...

It was actually Chao Qinglong. Chao Qinglong was sent flying directly. Li Hao leaped into the air like lightning and delivered a sweeping kick. Boom...

Chao Qinglong was kicked directly toward the ground, shattering it. Li Hao, still in the air, kicked down like lightning. *Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa... *

Like a machine-gun leg, he delivered point-strikes, and the ground was continuously pierced through. This damn thing was forged from hard Mars sand and stone! Chao Qinglong performed a high-speed roll to open up distance. Just as he stood up, Li Hao had already attacked. Chao Qinglong's expression was ferocious; he did not dodge or evade. Boom...

He took Li

Hao's punch to the chest head-on, his eyes cold. He immediately followed with a full-power strike of his own toward Li Hao's chest, simultaneously knocking Li Hao back while turning to deliver a spiral side-kick toward Li Hao's neck. Li Hao leaned back to dodge, but this was entirely a feint by Chao Qinglong, who used his right hand to brace himself and landed a continuous double-ring strike directly on Li Hao's head.

... Taking advantage of the moment Li Hao suffered the heavy blow, Chao Qinglong flashed in close, his hand-blade pointing directly at the throat.

Bang~~~

The hand-blade missed; Li Hao had vanished. The next second, he appeared at Chao Qinglong's side, delivering a mountain-toppling, sea-draining punch.

Chao Qinglong blocked with his right hand, but a warning sign appeared. The fatal part was the side-kick from below.

Boom...

Losing his center of gravity, Li Hao's punch had already closed in. One punch, one collapse—Double Strength!

Boom...

Blood seeped from the corner of Chao Qinglong's mouth. He was forced to retreat five or six steps before standing firm, dragging a trail of debris across the ground.

All the participating teams were watching. What the hell is this???

This guy named Li Hao can suppress Chao Qinglong?

Chao Qinglong wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression cold. "You haven't improved much either!"

Li Hao smiled and waved his hand. "I was afraid of beating you to death."

Not to mention the others, everyone from Tianjing doubted whether the person in front of them was the Li Hao they knew. Ma Long's mouth was open so wide it was almost reaching his ears; he had never seen such a flamboyant side of him. Chao Qinglong extended his hand, took a step forward, his body suddenly arching. Roar~

Boom...

Red light exploded from Chao Qinglong's red pupils, burning over his entire body. His whole body was overflowing with a red, flame-like aura, extending about half a meter outside his body.

Luo Bi and the others' pupils contracted violently, their expressions grave. They knew Chao Qinglong was definitely stronger than them, but they hadn't expected his mastery of the Golden Zone to have reached this level. Those who had just awakened the Golden Zone were already stunned.

What is this???

So much for the Red Pupil???

Isn't this the ultimate ability of the Golden Zone? Isn't this the limit of S11?

Not only had several people already appeared who could use Burning Will, but the level Chao Qinglong displayed was more than enough to beat ten of them.

Lu Donglei and Sazerac exchanged a glance, both seeing the satisfaction in each other's eyes. Golden Zone second stage—Burning Will. Usually, being able to cover the body with energy was considered decent, but the energy displayed by Chao Qinglong before them was far ahead. This was not a standard Burning Will; it showed he had completely mastered this superhuman power.

At this moment, Chao Qinglong was in a transcendent state, as mighty as a killing god from hell.

Suddenly, Chao Qinglong's right hand pointed at Li Hao and pressed down fiercely. Boom...

The ground beneath Li Hao's feet shattered. His entire body seemed to be pressed down by an invisible giant boulder; his body clearly bore an indiscriminate downward pressure, and the ground beneath his feet was directly crushed into gravel by the pressure.

????

"Damn, is he manipulating gravity!" Depuya was dumbfounded. How was anyone supposed to live like this? This ability was simply fatal for speed-types, and it was equally fatal for someone like him who excelled at stealth.

"It's not gravity, it's Universal Force..." Aofei said. As the primary opponent, Aofei had managed to learn of Chao Qinglong's ability. Universal Force—what Chao Qinglong had mastered were gravitational and repulsive forces.

Li Hao's body began to sink toward the ground, and the surroundings began to collapse; his movements had been completely locked down. At the same time, Chao Qinglong reached out toward the weapon rack, flicked his index and middle fingers, and with a *zing*, a long sword flew directly into his hand.

The next second, the long sword was also burning with red flames.

Zhou Naiyi and the others watched with pale faces. How did the situation turn into this? How could they fight this? Just because they had grasped the Golden Zone and entered the Red Pupil state, they understood even more clearly what it meant to spread this power throughout the entire body. What terrifying Mental Power this was.

The power Chao Qinglong displayed had already exceeded their understanding. With such an overwhelming Zone Value, added to what was simply the most convenient superpower, what else was there for anyone else to play for?

Ma Long, who had just regained his confidence, suddenly plummeted to the bottom of the valley, especially when he saw that Li Hao still didn't have much of a reaction. How was this supposed to be handled?

?

Actually, he wasn't the only one with this feeling.

Cang Gongtian, Luo Dongsheng, and the others followed Chao Qinglong on the surface, but to say they weren't waiting for an opportunity in their hearts would be impossible. Currently, the strength Chao Qinglong displayed was clearly still stronger than theirs.

Just at this moment, something happened that made everyone's jaws drop. Li Hao suddenly laughed, then, bearing the immense pressure, stepped out of the sinkhole one step at a time and spread his hands. "Doesn't do much, does it?"

Chao Qinglong's left hand pressed down violently. The next second, he moved with his sword, the blood-red long sword manifesting a sky full of sword shadows that enveloped Li Hao. Li Hao's body instantly pulled out trails of afterimages within the sword shadows. Seven or eight Chao Qinglongs and seven or eight Li Haos instantly exploded with a *boom*. The two figures brushed past each other. The landing Chao Qinglong turned around in one fluid motion and chopped down with the long sword in his hand. Across a distance of three or four meters, a streak of red light slashed past, and the ground exploded.

The sword light grazed Li Hao's scalp. His hair hadn't been long to begin with, and it was immediately shaved into a crew cut on the side. As his body tilted, Chao Qinglong flashed in front of Li Hao, the long sword in his hand stabbing directly toward his chest.

The hearts of Zhou Naiyi and the others were in their throats. They didn't know when their power had extended outward, but they couldn't make a sound at all. At this moment, Chao Qinglong was like a monster from the primordial era; he was simply not Human.

*Snap*~~~~ *Boom*...

A red ripple exploded, and the sword tip stopped in front of his chest. The clothes on Li Hao's chest had been torn, but two fingers were clamped tightly onto the sword tip. Chao Qinglong let out a low growl, red air waves churned, and his left foot, exerting force, sank into the ground, but the sword in his hand remained motionless, unable to advance even an inch.

The next second, Li Hao countered with a palm strike to Chao Qinglong's chest.

*Bang*~~~

Chao Qinglong's entire body's air waves exploded, his hair flipped back, and the aura burning all over his body was blown away. His whole person was blasted back seven or eight steps. With a sudden low growl, the ground sank violently, and he forced his body to a halt. With a muffled *boom*, the ground immediately collapsed by half a meter.

Perkins and the others were already ashen-faced. Damn, is this still a person? Is the Nightmare Mode coming again?

Only a few minutes had passed, but when everyone looked at Li Hao, their gazes had all changed. Someone who could suppress Chao Qinglong like this was unheard of!

Still writing this. The plot is hard to handle; it needs enough atmosphere and a manifestation of abilities and characters. Once written, it still needs to be revised and the scenes reviewed to find bugs, ensuring as much as possible that what everyone sees is the best state. There will be another chapter in the evening!