“Indeed, when it comes to being underhanded, I certainly can't compare to you.” No one expected that Du Ming would actually respond to Fang Rui in the chat, and he responded so quickly, as if he was very eager to admit this and felt happy about it.

“Damn it! Even when it comes to being underhanded, you can’t lose!” Lü Boyuan jumped up from the Team Samsara’s player seats. He had just lost miserably and was especially bitter about the defeat. Seeing Du Ming so frankly admit that he was inferior to his opponent, he couldn't stand it at all. As for the debate about being underhanded, that was not crucial in his eyes at all.

“Ahem… this…” Fang Minghua coughed.

“Judging from Tang Rou's style, she should not appreciate the underhanded style at all,” Jiang Botao said.

“Fang Rui’s trash talk hit him right where it hurts!” Fang Minghua said.

“So, he very quickly cleared himself of that,” Jiang Botao said.

“Just paying attention to these things, what about the match?” Lü Boyuan seemed very dissatisfied with involving personal emotions in the match, especially since this was the Grand Finals, so crucial.

“Don't worry.” Jiang Botao patted Lü Boyuan. “His concentration is very focused. Even if he thinks of Tang Rou, in the end, what fills his mind is just ‘do your best in the match.’ Believe in him!”

Lü Boyuan still wanted to say something, but seeing the changes on the field, he finally held back.

Du Ming, after quickly replying to Fang Rui's trash talk, immediately began his counterattack, not underhanded at all, very upright, facing directly towards Boundless Sea, Wind-Sweeping Sword!

Sword light scattered out. At this time, Cloud Piercer had just been hit against the wall by Boundless Sea’s nianqi (chi energy), and his figure was still trembling. The amplitude of the shaking was small in this situation, but the frequency was fast, and it was difficult to make accurate attacks before stabilizing. But Du Ming, even in this state, launched an attack, the sword light of Wind-Sweeping Sword directly meeting the nianqi that Boundless Sea was blasting again.

Swordmaster attacks are physical attacks, while Qigong Master’s nianqi attacks are magic attacks. Physical attacks colliding with magic attacks makes the judgment calculation much more complicated. Boundless Sea was currently blasting a Qi Detonation, the Qigong Master’s Awakening skill, so its power was self-evident. And Wind-Sweeping Sword was also a very powerful move in the Swordmaster's skills. As a result, the two skills collided, but they did not interfere with each other. The sword light seemed to fall on Boundless Sea, while the nianqi of Qi Detonation continued to blast towards Cloud Piercer.

Hit!

Cloud Piercer was hit again, and Fang Rui had already taken into account the character's fall after hitting the stalactite. This attack was extremely accurate.

But Fang Rui did not expect that Du Ming would actually launch an attack in this situation, and it was Wind-Sweeping Sword, and he could split it so accurately. It was just a little slow.

Because Cloud Piercer had just been hit by Spirit Dragon Wave, targets hit by this skill would have their attack speed and attack power reduced. Affected by this, although the Wind-Sweeping Sword was operated very beautifully, its power did not reach its peak. It was not fast enough!

Even so, it was difficult for Boundless Sea to dodge. Du Ming's attack was indeed too beautiful, and he controlled the character too well. It was not something that could be avoided by moving one or two steps. If it couldn't be dodged, then it could only be blocked!

The slightly slower speed allowed Fang Rui to complete the operation in time. Boundless Sea pushed his palms forward, gathering nianqi, and quickly expanding it into a nianqi shield.

Clap!

The nianqi shield was not a substance, but after the sword light of Wind-Sweeping Sword fell, it actually made such a sound. The nianqi-condensed shield seemed to have a shape, and it shattered in a way that was visible to the naked eye.

Blocked, Fang Rui's heart was also a little weak. The Spirit Dragon Wave reduced the attack speed, so he was able to cast a nianqi shield in time; the Spirit Dragon Wave reduced the attack power, so this nianqi shield just offset the power of this Wind-Sweeping Sword. If either of these two points were missing, this Wind-Sweeping Sword would have made Boundless Sea suffer greatly.

And now, although Boundless Sea did not suffer, because he had to deal with this attack, he could not fully connect his offensive. Cloud Piercer, who was blasted to the ground by Qi Detonation, used Triple Slash to rush to Boundless Sea’s side.

Qigong Masters have close combat abilities, but they are not particularly good at melee combat. Facing a powerful close-combat class like Swordmaster, any Qigong Master would probably avoid close combat as much as possible.

But Fang Rui, this underhanded Qigong Master who seemed like he should avoid this disadvantageous close combat more than any other Qigong Master player, made an unexpected move at this time.

Spiral nianqi Kill!

Boundless Sea did not retreat, but instead launched a Spiral nianqi Kill.

The rotating nianqi instantly covered a large area in front of Boundless Sea. Du Ming did not rush in. The third part of the Triple Slash was used, and with a slight turn, the sword light took Cloud Piercer past the spiral nianqi Kill’s coverage. Without stopping, he swept out a sword, which was the Swordmaster’s level 75 ultimate move, known as the fastest attack speed for Swordmasters, Meteor Style.

But this time, before the meteor could cross, it had already lost its brilliance. Cloud Piercer's right wrist, which was wielding the sword, was actually grabbed by Boundless Sea's left hand.

Empty-Handed Weapon Catch!

Not a Qigong Master skill, this was the weapon crafting skill that Fang Rui had chosen today.

This skill, which could change in every match, would be fully utilized by every player. Because it was not only an additional option, it was also an unknown. If this was used well, the first use in each match would be particularly brilliant. Ye Xiu's unspecialized Lord Grim used the characteristics of the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella to maximize this point. In each match, he could have 12 such firsts…

Other classes did not have this. Everyone only had one chance, and because the space for skill selection was not as large as the unspecialized class, sometimes the opponent could guess it. But today, the Electronic Eye chosen by Su Mucheng and the Cloud Grasping Hand chosen by Samsara’s Lü Boyuan did cause considerable trouble for their opponents when they were first used. Su Mucheng used the Electronic Eye to defeat Jiang Botao effortlessly, and Lü Boyuan used the Cloud Grasping Hand to successfully complete a close-quarters engagement with Dancing Rain, taking the lead in creating a major threat, but unfortunately, he was unable to secure the victory.

At this time, the Empty-Handed Weapon Catch chosen by Fang Rui also shone with such brilliance. Fang Rui expected that Du Ming could easily dodge the Spiral nianqi Kill and launch a preemptive attack, so he had already planned the Empty-Handed Weapon Catch. Even the fastest move of the Swordmaster, Meteor Style, was accurately caught by Boundless Sea.

A parry and counter, one parry and one counter, no matter how low-level, this basic structure was always there. Boundless Sea, who blocked the sword, then hit Cloud Piercer's abdomen with his other hand.

If this move was used with more force, this counter could directly knock the opponent's character away, but Boundless Sea's punch was so gentle. Cloud Piercer did not even shake his body much after being hit, but Du Ming's expression had changed. Fang Rui, giving up the explosive force of this counter, suppressed the attack effect that this counter could create to the greatest extent, and then, launched his Qigong Master's basic skill.

Du Ming had no way to avoid it. Because of that counterattack, Boundless Sea's right hand had already poked his abdomen, and the Qigong Master's attack was different from other classes. He did not need to make limb movements such as swinging his arm or turning his wrist to exert force. He created damage by relying on nianqi, the nianqi that traveled through his body's meridians. Now that his hand had hit Cloud Piercer, there was no need to exert force again. The nianqi circulating within Boundless Sea had instantly reached his hand, much faster than any limb movement that Du Ming could make with Cloud Piercer!

Nianqi activated, Pulse Break: Intelligence Destruction!

Reducing the opponent's intelligence attribute, naturally damaging the opponent's magic attack power and defense. Qigong Masters deal magic damage, so the purpose of this attack was to make the Swordmaster's already weak magic defense even worse.

After Pulse Break, the offensive truly unfolded, starting with the light and agile Pushing Cloud Palm, followed by Spiral qi Rush, all the way down, a set of extremely standard, unadulterated Qigong Master combos, executed by Fang Rui, until the end, the finishing move: qi Explosion!

Not surprisingly, the attack seamlessly connected. It was perfect to use this level 75 ultimate move at this time. Fang Rui did not show any novelty, but steadily used qi Explosion to infuse all the powerful nianqi into Cloud Piercer. Some of the small components of the light armor worn by Cloud Piercer jumped under the urging of nianqi, and his body flew out, a mouthful of blood spurting wildly from Cloud Piercer's mouth.

“Admit it, what you can’t compare to me isn’t just being underhanded!” Fang Rui taunted in the chat without any modesty. His attacks were very efficient. So far, except for that one Spiral nianqi Kill that missed, all other attacks had thoroughly hit Cloud Piercer. After only one or two exchanges, Cloud Piercer's health had been reduced by fifty-four percent, leaving only thirty-four percent.

And what about his Boundless Sea?

Fang Rui's Boundless Sea had not lost any health at all, and was still in perfect condition at one hundred percent.

The audience was silent.

That guy who did nothing at the beginning, just squatting under the stalactite shamelessly, actually suppressed Du Ming with such a strong stance in the end? Du Ming had already shown an extraordinary state in the match with Su Mucheng, no… even in this match, it could be seen from the execution of that Wind-Sweeping Sword that his state was still excellent, but even so, he was still completely suppressed by Fang Rui.

Cloud Piercer, who was blasted away by qi Explosion, got up from the ground, with traces of internal injury blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth, but immediately began his counterattack.

Too impatient?

Lost his composure?

Such impatience made people subconsciously have such thoughts, but Fang Rui, who had just ridiculed Du Ming, had a stern expression. Only he knew best what kind of threat Du Ming's immediate and decisive counterattack posed to him.

This kid! His state is really good. Fang Rui had to admit this.

Chapter 40 The Threat of Counterattack