Chapter 275: Tian Gang

"You still don't understand."

Seeing Gouchen shook his head, "An ordinary man bears no guilt, yet possessing a jewel invites blame. If the Toy Factory key truly can unlock a hidden realm, its value must be astronomical enough to make every major guild kill for it."

Thus, Eugene defected from the guild; Joker, Frankenstein, and Barthemos chose to secretly hide the key and conceal its existence."

But even from a purely probabilistic standpoint, the strength of those who obtained the key is far too evenly distributed—all around Lv20."

Not a single one at Lv30 or even Lv35."

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say?"

"It's not just us collecting keys—the keys themselves, through some unseen cosmic causality, are choosing their masters."

Seeing Gouchen said calmly, "I am a child of heaven, a dragon among men, born to rise above all others. What do you have? No guild, no background."

Even if you win this death match and escape here, you'll only become a target—a juicy morsel—for countless others and factions eager to kill you."

"The Laughing Troupe, Prometheus, the Evil Science Alliance."

Li Cheng scratched the helmet of his power armor, producing a screeching metallic sound. "Hmm... actually, I'm on fairly good terms with the leader of the Evil Science Alliance—the Side of Truth."

"Heh. I believe you."

Seeing Gouchen laughed. "I'll give you one last chance—leave this place."

Li Cheng's answer was to raise his rusted cleaver.

"If that's how it is," Seeing Gouchen's gaze sharpened; the infant's right arm suddenly swelled, returning to adult size. "Then die."

He kicked off the ground, launching forward like an arrow—so fast that even Li Cheng, with his Multi-Brain Domain Technique active, felt his vision blur.

Click.

Li Cheng flipped his left hand, pulling out a nuclear lighter, cranking it to maximum, and sweeping a torrent of roaring flame forward.

The fire surged like a long dragon across the lawn, about to engulf Seeing Gouchen—when he spun on his toes, dancing like a folk dancer, sidestepping and collapsing to the ground, using his short sword to brace himself, narrowly avoiding the flame column.

Simultaneously, his long sword flew from his grip, hurtling toward Li Cheng's face.

Even without the Gao Si machine gun, the People's Power Armor remains a highly effective strength amplifier.

The rusted cleaver slashed upward, knocking the long sword away with a clang, sending it spinning to embed itself deep into a tree trunk, piercing clean through.

Seeing Gouchen seized the opening, closing in, his right hand pushing the nuclear lighter from Li Cheng's grip with a Tai Chi palm strike, while his left hand, clutching the short sword, slithered like a snake toward the helmet.

At this moment, the gray rain had just been scorched by heat and was still regenerating health; the familiar's position swap skill was meaningless.

Li Cheng had no time to block—he twisted the cleaver's handle sideways, slashing toward Seeing Gouchen's neck, aiming to trade wounds.

He had power armor for protection; being stabbed might not kill him. But if Seeing Gouchen's head was severed, he would die for certain.

Clang!

Seeing Gouchen was forced to change tactics, shifting from thrust to block, intercepting the rusted cleaver—the blades locked together, sparking violently.

The rusted cleaver simply couldn't keep up with the intensity of this level of combat; after repeated clashes, flakes of rust and iron peeled away.

But Li Cheng knew well: strike once to avoid a hundred strikes—he gave Seeing Gouchen no breathing room, swinging the cleaver in relentless, continuous slashes, pinning his opponent down.

The clashing of metal rang incessantly; Seeing Gouchen had not lied—his other half-soul truly was a master of swordsmanship.

As the pace of combat increased, his demeanor grew ever calmer, his sword techniques more elusive—like antlers hanging from a deer, unpredictable and fluid—leaving tiny dents on Li Cheng's power armor.

"Your combat instinct is decent, but unfortunately, you've never received systematic training."

Seeing Gouchen dodged the cleaver's swing, slicing his sword across the power armor's hand armor as he spoke quickly: "This is a common misconception among many transcendentals—disdaining techniques and forms, believing that as long as their stats are high and skills strong, they can crush any opponent."

Yet they fail to realize: in battles of equal rank, artistry matters most."

A true master can play like a chess player—making one move while calculating the next ten, a hundred—luring the opponent into exposing weaknesses, then delivering a fatal strike at the critical moment."

The instant he finished speaking, Seeing Gouchen struck like a phantom, thrusting his short sword and shattering Li Cheng's left wrist.

Instantly, sparks erupted; the left joint seized, frozen in place.

Just as Seeing Gouchen moved to exploit his advantage, a penetrator shell erupted from deep within the woods—interrupting his motion. It was the magic cannon Li Cheng had hidden there earlier.

Li Cheng grinned, leveraging the height advantage granted by his power armor, smashing his forehead into Seeing Gouchen's brow—then, as Seeing Gouchen instinctively staggered back half a step, Li Cheng lifted his right leg and delivered a solid, crushing kick to Seeing Gouchen's chest.

Boom!

Seeing Gouchen flew backward again. In midair, he used his sword to plow the ground, halting his retreat, then slowly straightened—only his chest armor burst open; he suffered no serious injury.

The stat theft was complete.

Seeing Gouchen flicked his sword, his eyes blazing with fierce confidence.

The stat points stolen from the three enforcers of City Hall, plus those stolen from Master Pi Fu, were now sufficient to unlock the next stage.

"You are the first outsider to witness this technique."

Seeing Gouchen tore off his tattered shirt; swirling columns of blue smoke rose from his feet, engulfing his entire body except his head.

He raised his blurred, smoke-covered right hand, recalling the long sword, and spun the hilt violently.

Li Cheng sensed danger—he used his still-functional right hand to pull out the Avenger minigun and opened fire.

Poom-poom-poom—

A torrent of bullets slammed into Seeing Gouchen's body—either deflected or blocked by an invisible barrier.

Meanwhile, Seeing Gouchen's shadow rippled, splitting into three, rising from the ground like crawling figures—transforming into indistinct, shadowy human forms.

{Item Name: Great Sword · Tian Gang}

{Type: Weapon}

{Quality: Perfect}

{Attack Power: Strong}

{Effect: Wandering Spirit. Summons three spectral duplicates of oneself. Duplicates understand simple commands, absorb 350% of incoming damage, inherit 50% of the user's stats and 20% of skill/item effects. Cannot use any active skills or items. }

{Cost: 50% Spirit Power, Sanity, Stamina}

{Cooldown: 10 seconds}

{Requirement: Accumulated 20 temporary stat points}

【Note: Raising a cup to invite the bright moon, with my shadow we become three. The three of you, living well together matters more than anything else.】

【Note: This equipment is a bound item and can only drop upon death. Current bound target — Gouchen】

Tian Gang and Di Sha are a pair of paired swords; Di Sha, the short sword, steals attributes, while Tian Gang, the long sword, calculates based on the player's highest attribute to summon a clone. When combined, they form a simple yet powerful combo technique.

Gouchen drew a deep breath, leaned forward, and charged.

Li Cheng activated his jetpack, leaping a hundred meters upward and backward, landing on the overpass, standing on its edge, and raking the ground below with his machine cannon.

Gouchen led the charge, using the mysterious smoke enveloping his body to disperse the machine cannon bullets; three You Shen clones followed closely behind, slipping into the blind spots beneath the overpass and attacking from the opposite side.