Chapter 24 To Lose or to Live

Now, only he and his master remained in the entire mountain forest. Xu Jingming unhesitatingly threw away the two shields in his hands, retrieved the two sections of longspear from his back, connected them together, and with a twist, *ka*, they locked into place.

At this moment, Xu Jingming was single-minded, with only his opponent in his eyes.

"Now, the final is no longer in doubt," Zhang Qing said softly on the commentary platform.

The host, Liu Xin, nodded. "With Wang Yi killed, only Xu Jingming and Teacher Liu Hai are left for a one-on-one battle. It has to be admitted that there is still a big gap between Xu Jingming and the world's number one, Teacher Liu Hai. The outcome of this battle seems to be sealed. Teacher Liu Hai's team should win this Spark Cup competition."

"Of course, I also hope for a miracle. I'd be happy to be proven wrong," Liu Xin said with a bright smile. "That would be a miracle that would shake the entire Xia country."

"Martial arts breakthroughs aren't achieved overnight," Lei Yunfang said. "The gap between Xu Jingming and Liu Hai is too big. If Wang Yi were still alive, there might still be variables. Liu Hai is too cautious and unwilling to put himself in a dangerous situation, so he eliminated Wang Yi first."

"Very cautious," Zhang Qing nodded.

...

"We're going to lose." Li Miaomiao, Wang Yi, Yang Qingshuo, Liu Chongyuan, Heng Fang, Xu Hong, Dai Tongda, Dai Xiaoqing, and many others, including numerous family members and friends, were all watching this battle.

Although they hoped that Xu Jingming could win, anyone with a bit of sense understood how slim the chances were.

******

Xu Jingming suddenly charged forward, his combat boots stomping through the muddy mountain forest, his figure as fast as an afterimage, a dark red afterimage rushing straight at Liu Hai.

"Quite the imposing aura," Liu Hai said, holding a shield in one hand and a saber in the other.

"Shua."

Xu Jingming charged to close range, and with a movement of his hand, a longspear danced like a dragon, spinning and stabbing towards Liu Hai! The dancing red tassels made the trajectory of the spear even more blurred and unpredictable.

Liu Hai casually swung his saber, the blade easily blocking the spear, then slashing and splitting against the shaft, causing it to deflect to the side.

Xu Jingming's footwork shifted, and the longspear instantly retracted and thrust out again.

*Pu pu pu pu pu pu!*

In the livestreaming scene, Xu Jingming's longspear instantly split into more than a dozen streaks. Although he thrust out more than ten times in succession, because it was too fast, the ten-odd spear shadows simultaneously remained in people's vision, as if they were thrust out at the same time.

"The advantage of a spear against a saber and shield is the length of the weapon. My attack range is greater, but Master needs to get close."

"And the spear is good at stabbing! It's the fastest way to launch continuous attacks."

Xu Jingming understood how to exploit the weapon's inherent advantages.

For a time, streaks of spear shadows appeared like arrows, dazzling to the eye. Liu Hai held the shield in his left hand, but he didn't use it to block. Instead, he only used the saber in his right hand to defend. His right hand saber slashed left, slashed right, pressed down... actually drawing arcs, and those arcs were all parts of circles.

With a single saber drawing arcs, no matter how swift and fierce Xu Jingming's spear techniques came, they were naturally blocked.

"The Dao of Taiji is best at defense." Liu Hai was very relaxed, he didn't even need to use a shield, a single saber was enough.

"Beng!" (Burst)

Suddenly, among the many spear shadows Xu Jingming thrust out, one strike abruptly used a *beng* (burst) and *tiao* (upward pick) force, trying to knock away the defending saber. Liu Hai's seemingly gentle saber light became much tougher at the moment Xu Jingming exerted the *beng tiao*, and with a slight tremor, it dissipated seventy to eighty percent of the *beng tiao* force, and the rest was not worth worrying about.

"Peng." Xu Jingming stabbed his spear again and again, then suddenly switched to a short-range chop, the saber light wielded by Liu Hai was incomparably tough, also blocking this sudden chop.

In an instant, Xu Jingming was attacking frantically. His current fighting style was different from the past, focusing more on speed and instantaneous force. This made his moves even more difficult to defend against, but Liu Hai was able to block them.

...

"This Xia country young man, his spearmanship is fierce." Among the Blue Star Alliance delegation, the Sakura country envoy knew the most about spearmanship and saw the ruthlessness of Xu Jingming's spearmanship. The Sakura country itself was also a country with many spear practitioners. Although kendo was thriving in the Sakura country, spear arts were enough to rank second, especially in cold weapon combat, where spears had far more advantages than swords... In the month or so since the virtual world opened, the rise of spear arts had already approached kendo.

"This guy called Xu Jingming, his spearmanship is fast. And many chopping, picking, and holding actions are very small, and they all exert force instantly. The momentum-gathering actions are very small, making it difficult for opponents to resist." The Sakura country envoy looked solemn. "This video of the Xia country competition must be carefully studied by our country."

The envoys from countries such as the Tianzhu and White Eagle Federation carefully observed, compared them with domestic experts, and their expressions became solemn.

Because this Xu Jingming was at the top level in their country, and Liu Hai couldn't see his limit.

...

Xu Jingming continuously attacked for a full three minutes, exhausting his understanding of spearmanship, but Liu Hai still used a single saber to defend against all attacking moves.

"Jingming, I'm going to start attacking now. And my attacks will become stronger and stronger, increasing without limit, until I reach my limit." Liu Hai suddenly said in a private voice message, "Let's see how long you can last."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Hai's saber techniques changed.

As Xu Jingming's longspear struck again like a venomous snake, a flash of saber light stuck to Xu Jingming's longspear, making Xu Jingming quite uncomfortable. The moment it stuck, the single saber slid down the shaft of the spear! Trying to chop off Xu Jingming's fingers that were gripping the spear.

Sticking the spear to chop the fingers was all natural and as fast as lightning.

"Peng." Fortunately, the moment his master's saber stuck to the shaft of the spear, Xu Jingming immediately exerted his *beng jin* (bursting force), opening the distance between the shaft and the saber light, avoiding this strike.

"Shua."

Liu Hai's saber light flickered, closing in again and again. As long as the saber touched the shaft of the spear, it would stick and control it.

Xu Jingming was forced to retreat continuously, while at the same time trying to shake off his master.

"Sticking the spear and chopping the hand, if you can block this move, then the next move will come." Liu Hai was very leisurely, the power of his moves was increasing, the speed of his saber techniques was faster, sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce. Making Xu Jingming more and more strained, in just one minute, he was forced to defend completely.

A single saber forced Xu Jingming, who was holding a longspear, to only defend. Xu Jingming felt stifled, but the saber light was too terrifying! He was going all out to defend, and he felt like he might not be able to hold on.

"How can someone practice saber techniques to such a terrifying degree? I've met many opponents, and I've seen many weapon techniques in the virtual world... but I feel like Master is far above everyone else. The gap is too big." Xu Jingming felt like he was suffocating.

He had fought Lei Yunfang, but Lei Yunfang's movement techniques were terrifying, but his saber techniques didn't pose much of a threat to Xu Jingming.

Not to mention anyone else, Xu Jingming was able to suppress or even crush his opponents in terms of weapons.

Only when facing his master...

His master was like the sea, and he couldn't see the edge. He always felt that he had tried his best, but his master still suppressed him with a single saber, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Faced with this situation, in terms of pure skill, I'm too far behind Master. The way to break it is either to break it with power or to break it with speed." Xu Jingming thought, "My evolution method hasn't been improved for long, and my body's explosive power is not as good as Master's. I definitely don't have enough strength, and my only hope is instantaneous speed."

"Extreme speed."

"My fastest move is Shadowless Thrust!"

When Xu Jingming was suppressed and almost suffocated, he finally made a decision, making a final gamble.

In the past, he would only use Shadowless Thrust when he found an opportunity and was confident.

This time, he wasn't confident, but he still had to use it.

Using it would expose a big flaw!

If he didn't succeed, he would die.

"It's now!"

When his master's saber closed in, Xu Jingming unleashed all his strength without warning.

His master's pressure, the psychological impact brought about by the attention of countless people across the country, and the forced use of Shadowless Thrust without any confidence... all made Xu Jingming feel that this time was different from usual.

In the past, it was a fatal blow, sealing the throat with blood.

This time, it was a desperate assassination! It was a strike that disregarded one's own life! Xu Jingming was completely insane.

"Hong."

When he disregarded his life and went all out to pursue speed, at this moment, Xu Jingming felt that when his muscles and bones were mobilized, he was mobilizing a deeper level of power. The explosive power of many muscle groups was faster, and the speed increased again. This was a speed faster than usual.

"Faster than any of my past moves! Maybe, I can win!" When Xu Jingming thrust out this spear, he only felt that this move was incredibly beautiful, and he even felt that he might win.

Liu Hai was as always, constantly increasing the pressure to see how long his disciple could withstand it. He was just wielding his saber normally, but who would have thought that Xu Jingming would suddenly explode with a spear.

The spear shadow was too fast! Liu Hai's scalp tingled.

"Not good." Liu Hai didn't even have time to move, and his left-hand shield immediately closed, *peng*, the spear shadow stabbed into the shield!

The shield was, after all, the best weapon for defense. And Liu Hai's one-handed shield was also larger than Xu Jingming's shield. As long as he retracted the shield slightly, he could block a large area.

When the shield blocked it, it naturally rebounded. Liu Hai also discovered that Xu Jingming's longspear had been shaken open, revealing an obvious flaw.

*Hu.*

Naturally, Liu Hai took a step forward, a flash of saber light, and then touched Xu Jingming's throat, penetrating his throat.

"It was blocked." Xu Jingming murmured, his most peak strike, an extremely fast strike, was still blocked. Not blocked by the saber, but blocked by his master's shield.

"I forced Master to use his shield." Xu Jingming's figure turned illusory and dissipated in the mountain forest map.

In the entire mountain forest, only one person remained, holding a shield and saber. Liu Hai, who was somewhat afraid, said, "This silly kid, that last move was really fast."