Chapter 175 Bloodbath

Jun Mo Xiao's continuous attacks used almost exclusively close-quarters combat skills from the Fighting-type. In the battle against Tyranny, it was under this hurricane-like barrage of rapid-fire strikes that Zhang Jiale's Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was directly blown apart. Now, how would Zhang Jiale's former partner, Sun Zheping of the Dazzling Blood Flowers duo, fare?

The number of spectators present who had memories of those bygone days was actually not that many, but in the hearts of these two players, this was a battle that stretched from the past to the present. It was as if Sun Zheping had never left, and Ye Xiu was still the Battle God he once was.

"Not so easy!"

Sun Zheping suddenly roared in the channel. Berserker grabbed an opening, his entire body surging with blood energy.

Berserk?

No, it wasn't. This was even stronger than Berserk, the Awakening skill that Berserkers could only master at level 50: Bloodthirst.

This skill state could not be stacked with the Berserk state; only one could exist at a time. Bloodthirst provided a 25% higher boost in combat power than Berserk, and also granted a Super Armor state. Attacks came with a Bloodsucking effect, which was divided into two types: positive and negative. Positive Bloodsucking meant absorbing blood, recovering his own health by 10% of the damage dealt to the opponent. Negative Bloodsucking meant selling blood, sacrificing his own health to inflict heavy damage on the opponent.

Once this skill was activated, it was rare for a Berserker to continue passively taking hits. The Super Armor state alone, which was even tougher than Steel Bones, allowed them to ignore the effects of many attacks.

However, grappling skills had a special priority. When Ye Xiu saw Sun Zheping directly activate this Awakening skill, he immediately moved forward to use a Grapple Throw. But the Berserker under Bloodthirst was even fiercer than when under Berserk. The heavy sword was as swift as a lightsaber. Before Jun Mo Xiao's hand could reach him, Berserker's sword had already arrived. Ye Xiu immediately knew that in a contest of speed, Jun Mo Xiao would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage.

Block!

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella met the sword. A horizontal block, with a loud clang, the block was very solid. However, Berserker's strength under Bloodthirst was unexpectedly great. Although the attack was blocked, Jun Mo Xiao was actually pushed back, his feet scraping against the ground as he slid.

This was also within Ye Xiu's expectations. Jun Mo Xiao took advantage of the momentum to jump back, sheathing his sword and transforming it into gun form, like a Flying Gun attack, swiftly creating distance. However, Berserker's heavy sword had already descended once more.

This guy!!

Sun Zheping's speed of execution exceeded Ye Xiu's imagination.

This strike wasn't any skill, just a normal attack. An ordinary attack with no startup or recovery lag. An arc was drawn, attempting to jump back and use Flying Gun to retreat. Jun Mo Xiao fired his gun, but was caught by Berserker's sword.

Bullets shot straight into his chest, splattering a few drops of blood. However, Berserker's figure didn't even tremble. He raised his sword with both hands, and the Blood Shadow Blade's sword shadow spread in the air, pulling a cloud of blood mist as it slashed down on Jun Mo Xiao.

With just one strike, the drop in Jun Mo Xiao's health bar made the audience feel anxious.

Knights had excellent defensive capabilities, not just because they wore plate armor, but also because of their Plate Armor Mastery attribute, which further boosted their health and defense when wearing plate armor. Because of Armor Mastery, an Elementalist would never choose plate armor in order to gain greater survivability, because the Intelligence and Casting Speed provided by cloth armor were things they absolutely couldn't give up.

Each class gained greater combat power from their respective Armor Mastery, but the unspecialized class had none of these. Jun Mo Xiao was only strengthening himself with the base stats of his armor. The effect of armor on him seemed so superficial, far less significant than the abnormal weapon in his hand, the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella.

Blood Shadow Blade sent Jun Mo Xiao tumbling to the ground with a single strike. Ye Xiu used a quick recovery to try and roll away, but Sun Zheping had already controlled Berserker to pursue the attack. An Earthquake Slash, enhanced by the Bloodthirst state, was like a teleport. With a slight shift, he instantly appeared directly above Jun Mo Xiao, swinging his heavy sword down.

Jun Mo Xiao dodged again, but Earthquake Slash had area-of-effect damage. Jun Mo Xiao didn't completely evade the area. Under the intense, earthquake-like shaking, his character couldn't stand still. Berserker then swung two consecutive sword lights horizontally and vertically, a Cross Slash.

Hit, hit, continuous hits!

Sun Zheping's bold use of Bloodthirst forcibly interrupted Jun Mo Xiao's continuous attacks, changing the initiative on the field.

Such courage, such boldness, truly worthy of the name of the former number one Berserker. No, even today, no one had the confidence, the courage, to use such a forceful method to seize the initiative on the field. Such a choice might seem unwise to many. If Jun Mo Xiao's grappling skill had been just a bit faster, he might have thrown Berserker out before his attack erupted...

However, Sun Zheping did it. This wasn't the first time. In his professional career, he had turned what others saw as recklessness, imprudence, and aggression into victory countless times. This obviously couldn't rely entirely on luck. Hidden within was precise observation and judgment. After that was the courage and determination to take a gamble, which was what many lacked, but Sun Zheping possessed.

Even Han Wenqing, who was always brave and aggressive, was seen more for his ferocity, while Sun Zheping was known more for his madness, a madness that disregarded everything!

"Not so easy!"

The message Sun Zheping sent in the public channel before his eruption hadn't yet disappeared when suddenly, a new line popped up. It seemed that these two liked to return the other's words verbatim in today's match. However, returning a phrase was easy. Could they really carry out such actions?

Jun Mo Xiao suddenly trembled, and this unspecialized character instantly became blood-red, with thick blood seeming as if it would burst from his skin at any moment.

Bloodthirst?

No, that was impossible.

Those who understood the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella knew that it could have skills attached to each of its transformed forms. However, Bloodthirst was an exception because it was an Awakening skill. The level 50 Awakening skill and the level 20 class change skill were the most distinct skills of each class, blank spaces for attaching skills to weapons. No class could use another class's class change or Awakening skill, and the unspecialized class was no exception.

Jun Mo Xiao wasn't using Bloodthirst. In that case, there was only one possibility for this state: Berserk.

It was very different from Bloodthirst, but it was basically considered a low-level version of Bloodthirst. Even in the background story of *Glory*, Berserkers comprehended the Awakening skill Bloodthirst through their understanding and control of the Berserk state. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Bloodthirst was an upgraded version of Berserk.

At this moment, Jun Mo Xiao used Berserk, wanting to use this low-level version of "Bloodthirst" to contend against the real Bloodthirst? Moreover, because it was a skill attached to his weapon, its level was only one, far from the max level Berserk state that ordinary Berserkers would definitely max out. It was simply like hitting a stone with an egg!

Everyone thought so, but Berserker's next attack missed.

No way?

Everyone was surprised.

Just a level one Berserk, the increase it brought to Jun Mo Xiao couldn't be considered significant. Did this slight boost really make Sun Zheping unable to react?

Yes, he was unable to react...

After another sword missed, Sun Zheping couldn't help but smile wryly.

So many years had passed. He had been injured, retired, and then returned. His habits still hadn't changed, and this guy just so happened to recognize this point about him. So in this match, Sun Zheping found that old feeling and erupted with all his might. Ye Xiu responded with well-aimed counters, immediately suppressing Sun Zheping's offensive.

The change was in that one Berserk.

Although it was only level one, although the increase was very small... However, Sun Zheping just couldn't keep up with this tiny bit of improvement at this moment. It wasn't about speed, but about rhythm. Sun Zheping's rhythm was always pushed to the max. Changes in beat, conversions between fast and slow? No, Sun Zheping's concept didn't include these things. His rhythm was always to do everything in one step, to reach the extreme in one step. So at this moment, when Ye Xiu's Jun Mo Xiao used a level one Berserk, and his attributes improved slightly, Sun Zheping's attack rhythm seemed to be stuck in a bottleneck, unable to be pushed further, because this was already his limit. Sun Zheping always competed at his limit.

Sun Zheping needed to adjust to a new rhythm, but this was something he wasn't good at and hated doing. Moreover, he understood very well that Ye Xiu was trying to stall him at this point. The moment he changed his rhythm would be the moment Ye Xiu regained the initiative. In a duel between experts of their level, such a change in rhythm could be a turning point in the battle.

The difficulty and subtleties involved were something that ordinary viewers couldn't understand, not to mention professional players. Those who didn't fully understand the two of them probably couldn't comprehend it immediately, and would only be as bewildered as the ordinary viewers: It was just a level one Berserk. How could Sun Zheping not keep up?

"How disgusting!" Ye Xiu cut off his surging offensive like that, and Sun Zheping felt as disgusted and upset as if he had swallowed a fly. He had finally regained the feeling of the old days, but why did even this terrible experience come back with it? This opponent was as annoying as ever!

Rhythm... What was that thing? He probably wouldn't understand it in his entire life... Facing this guy, he was actually doing worse than Zhang Jiale, right?

Berserker finally fell.

A sense of rhythm was a very fatal flaw in this former god-level player. In terms of the standards of a professional player, he could probably be described as a complete mess.

So, in front of this opponent who knew him inside and out, his flaws were quickly exposed, and then, he suffered a crushing defeat.

"You played well. You were actually able to launch such an offensive. You gave me quite a scare." After the match, Ye Xiu actually took the initiative to exchange a few words with him.

"Enough nonsense. I still lost," Sun Zheping said impatiently.

"How could you possibly win against me alone?" Ye Xiu laughed.