Chug-Chug-Chug-Chug

Unlike an anomaly like Ji Jue, who had studied for less than two months and forcefully lit up all twelve Sovereign Virtue insignias by cheating with his ability and grinding like a madman, Lou Feng was an apprentice who had formally trained under Kong Qingyan since the age of seventeen. The benefit of proper formal training was that, while not as bizarre as someone from an unorthodox background, his fundamentals were rock-solid. Although he couldn't pull off anything as absurd as Ji Jue's zero windup and instant cooldowns, he was already able to integrate his own comprehension and insight into the insignia to achieve a unique qualitative shift. To pull that off on the spur of the moment was enough to qualify him as a true prodigy. Bound by gravity's shackles, the White Stag insignia shuddered for an instant, unable to break free and completely suppressed. Tianyuan and White Stag, order and chaos, were diametrically opposed to begin with. When one gained the upper hand, the other could only eat dirt. In that split-second delay, spiritus solidified into razor-sharp points and came piercing down like a torrential rain. Yet in the next instant, a barrage of harsh, grating screeches rang out, continuous and ear-splitting. The pink shell plastered with bunny and kitty stickers shattered. Little Niuma, shielding Ji Jue, shuddered violently. Most of its plastic casing had sloughed off, and a deep slash cleaved right across its midsection! "BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!" The cracked, detached horn dangled from the chassis, blaring relentlessly. Though no one could understand it, it gave off the unmistakable impression that it was swearing like a sailor. "Ha!" Lou Feng couldn't hold back a laugh, pressing forward aggressively with relentless strikes. "Is this all Master Ye's student is capable of?" Dodging around, Ji Jue said nothing, only letting out a helpless sigh. It was like watching a toddler reach for an electrical outlet—unable to dissuade him, and too late to stop him. Stop pulling aggro, big bro! We have no grudge against each other, so why must you force yourself down a dead-end road? "Ji Jue, take it seriously." Ye Xian glanced over, truly unable to stomach Ji Jue slacking off any longer. "Since our guest came in earnest to seek guidance, at least show him some of your real tricks." "All right." Ji Jue nodded, casting a sympathetic look at the still-smug Lou Feng. You're in huge trouble now. Professor Ye is an exceptionally petty person... And what's worse, I'm not very generous either! At that moment, his hand finally pressed against Little Niuma, pouring every drop of spiritus in his body into it without holding back! The high-pitched blare of the horn spiked and erupted, accompanied by the nonstop shriek of grinding steel, roaring like a creature in furious wrath. In an instant, catalyzed by Ji Jue, the materials swallowed into its belly were thoroughly digested. The blessing originating from the Desolate Ruins coursed through the dragon blood motor oil, spreading across its entire frame in a flash and bringing a brand-new metamorphosis to this vessel of mortal iron. The last bits of plastic casing and impurities peeled away from the wildly mutating motorcycle, shedding its old husk. In their place rose a grim, metallic sheen and blazing flames belching from its engine. In an instant, it expanded! Tearing free from its invisible shackles, it once again assumed the form of a five-clawed beast! Gone was the previous half-vehicle, half-beast look with exposed mechanical joints, nor was there any remaining trace of a scooter's diminutive outline or component parts. Only a steel monster over three meters long stretched its limbs, razor-sharp claws casually raking deep fissures into the ground. Its bestial face snarled, savage as a wolf! "An aberration?!" Kong Qingyan's smug look vanished without a trace, her narrow eyes widening. "Is that an aberrant composite?!" "Is it?" Ye Xian replied impassively. "He made it himself. I wouldn't know." "This violates the rules!" "Didn't the rules state that any method and any tool is permitted? I didn't forbid your student from using matrices or alchemical creations either," Ye Xian countered mockingly. "What, the moment the table turns on you, you can't take it? If so, why bother fighting? Pack up and head home early." The corner of Kong Qingyan's eye twitched rhythmically, her face darkening. She's completely insane! Ye Xian, that lunatic—any student taught by her was bound to be deranged as well. This entire fucking lineage is nuts from top to bottom! To let an apprentice who hasn't even studied for a year craft an aberrant composite, and that apprentice actually pulled it off? Nobody would believe this in a million years! She almost wanted to charge into the arena, grab Ji Jue by the collar, and interrogate him: Stop fighting, dammit, tell me how the hell you pulled this off first! And now, the tide of battle in the arena had thoroughly turned! The moment Ji Jue resolved to use Little Niuma, it meant the phase where his attacks couldn't pierce his foe's defense was completely over. And with the carapace of the Desolate Ruins enveloping Little Niuma, it was Lou Feng's turn to experience the suffocating frustration of failing to break through! And the final straw that broke the camel's back was the promise from Ji Jue: "Win this, and you get a drumstick." "BEEEEE—P!!!!" The iron beast threw back its head and roared, charging beneath the blazing sun like a streak of flowing metallic light. In an instant, it leaped forward, crashing straight into the hardened spiritus shield. Five claws raked down in relentless succession, sending sparks exploding through the air, and in the blink of an eye, gruesome gashes scarred the spiritus shield. "Get lost!" Lou Feng bellowed, sweeping his hand. Razor-sharp spiritus blades coalesced out of thin air and impaled outward. On the ring at his fingertip, an Entropy mystery rite quietly activated, coating the blades in a brilliant flare of fire too blinding to look at directly. Scorching heat swept past in a violent wave, washing over the steel monster. Yet aside from scorching the carapace black, it had no effect whatsoever—there wasn't even the sensation of striking anything! Something's wrong... That split second just now... Lou Feng's pupils constricted as he finally recognized the aura he had sensed—it was the blessing of the White Stag! When the blazing spiritus blade slashed down once more, he finally saw it clearly: the spot about to be struck disintegrated preemptively, turning into dispersing shadow, only to reassemble the moment the blade passed through! —Shadowform! This damn thing converted parts of its body into shadow, completely ignoring his attacks! Bang! The dull crash of a shattering shield erupted. A razor-sharp tail thrust through the breach like a spear, lunging straight for his head. But at the critical juncture, the necklace flared once again, unleashing a violent repulsive burst that deflected every encroaching object! Little Niuma went flying backward! Yet regrettably, a sharp crack sounded from Lou Feng's fingertips. The gemstone on one of his rings silently shattered. And right on the back of Lou Feng's hand, a bruise appeared without warning, swelling rapidly with an indescribable ache, numbness, and itch. The bullet hadn't penetrated his flesh; it had been deflected by the consumable shield on the ring, ricocheting away. Only now did the delayed report of gunfire reach him from the distance. When he looked up, he saw a faint wisp of gunsmoke curling from Ji Jue's muzzle. He had fired. From just a single use, Ji Jue had already seen through its rules and limits. This repulsive force that indiscriminately shoved all threats away was likely a blessing of Tianyuan, functioning on roughly the same principle as the gravitational pull from before. To be sure, being unable to close the distance was troublesome, but an omnidirectional, 360-degree effect meant far greater energy consumption. There was no way it could be sustained for long, or else Ji Jue wouldn't even need to bother fighting anymore. Its most economical and effective application was to maintain it for just an instant, force the enemy back, comfortably open up distance, and then follow up with attacks. And after that instant passed, before the spiritus-shaped shield could regenerate—that was the crucial window! And so, lying in wait... a direct hit! "That should be about enough, Brother Lou," Ji Jue sincerely suggested. "Just surrender. It'll save us both some trouble." In all honesty, he didn't know what his opponent's original strategy had been. Clearly, things hadn't gone according to Lou Feng's expectations, rendering most of his preparations useless. Now, with Little Niuma at full throttle, the situation had completely changed. Both of them were Celestial Chosen at the Calling stage, neither having advanced yet. Lou Feng merely possessed an extra matrix, which didn't mean he had significantly more spiritus than Ji Jue. The spiritus shield couldn't defend against everything, and the repulsion field couldn't be kept up constantly. As long as Ji Jue stalled and repeated the process a few more times, Lou Feng would collapse on his own. Meanwhile, Ji Jue had the spiritus reserves of the Celestial Rail system at his back, giving him a hidden mana bar several times larger than his own. There was simply no contest. For a moment, nobody made a sound in the silence. Only the shrill cries of seabirds echoed alongside the distant chugging noise. BOOM! A loud crack erupted as fissures spread beneath Lou Feng's feet. "Surrender?" That pale face looked up, bloodshot threads crawling across his eyes. Utterly incapable of enduring such absurd humiliation, he flew into a complete rage. "Arrogant trash!" Shattering sounds rang incessantly through the air. Spiritus, shifting erratically between solid, liquid, and gas, crackled as if boiling. When Lou Feng crushed a bead on his bracelet, his nearly dry spiritus recovered with astonishing speed—and then surged even higher! Chrono-Sand?! Ji Jue's eyes nearly popped out of his head. On a bracelet that large, every single bead was made of Chrono-Sand, renowned as the ultimate medium for spiritus—every one of them a mana potion comparable to the capacity of a high-tier Celestial Chosen?! Using such precious material as single-use consumables? Is this what fuck-you money looks like?! And it didn't seem to stop there... At this moment, a vast torrent of spiritus surged, weaving together under the manipulation of Deft Craft into a ferocious outline that enveloped Lou Feng. In the end, a metallic gleam actually surfaced over the intangible spiritus. Faint spiritus circuits intertwined, and the insignia of Tianyuan manifested once more, forming a brand-new silhouette. It was a suit of spiritus armor encasing Lou Feng from head to toe! As if forged from bronze and adorned with gilded accents, it stood majestic and terrifying, its aura rising like a living creature. The Lou clan's secret technique— —Spiritus Shaping: Dragonscale Armor! "Master Kong, isn't this cheating?" Ye Chun couldn't hold back any longer, raising her voice. Dragonscale Armor was a technique that required at least a Celestial Chosen of the Regeneration stage to use. It completely exceeded the realm of their capabilities—by more than one entire stage! Kong Qingyan countered firmly, "Every alchemical item was crafted by his own hands, and all that spiritus was accumulated by him over time. He is merely releasing years of preparation in a single burst. How can that be considered cheating?" Ye Chun instinctively looked toward her aunt. But Ye Xian said nothing, standing as motionless as a clay figurine or wooden carving. No reaction at all. In an instant, the entire field fell deathly silent, save for the distant sound of the tide and the chugging hum on the road outside the wall. Between Lou Feng's outstretched hands, vaporized spiritus condensed into two fiercely blazing jet-blades. A mere sweep through the air carved deep fissures into the ground. He strode forward toward Ji Jue, accelerating under Sovereign Virtue's enhancement, and shot forward! Ji Jue let out a silent sigh. He just knew that rich boys like this spoke pure bullshit. Did this guy look even remotely like someone who could take an L? We agreed on a hearty, satisfying duel, but the moment your HP drops and your MP empties, you start spamming Alt+1 and Alt+2 like mad, chugging potions without stopping and playing dirty, huh?! Then don't blame me for ignoring street honor. You're the one who turned on the hacks first! "I really didn't want to use this move..." He sighed with regret, taking a step back, then another. Under the blessing of the White Stag, he sprang backward, paying no heed to Lou Feng hot on his tail or the rapidly closing gap between them. Right until he had nowhere left to retreat, his back pressed against the wall. At that moment, Kong Qingyan, who had been watching with a sneer, seemed to finally realize something. Her expression changed drastically, and she opened her mouth to shout, but alas, it was already too late. Chug-chug-chug-chug-chug— Behind the wall, the shrill thrum of the water pump grew ever more violent, pulsing like a furious heart. Ji Jue raised his hand and abruptly clenched it into a fist. —[Car, Come]! BOOM! In an instant, a massive steel monstrosity shuddered violently. Accelerating without warning, it smashed through the perimeter wall of the factory compound, driving straight in amidst flying dust and blasting bricks, hurtling directly toward Lou Feng! Yet the silhouette emerging from the cloud of dust was not a fully loaded semi speeding down the road, but a specialized utility vehicle that had been parked by the sewer on the roadside, busily operating since morning... Dragging thick pump hoses, carrying a colossal tank that struck terror into the hearts of all who beheld it, and reeking with an abominable stench that made one retch on instinct. This was the hidden option Ji Jue had ruled out of his tactical choices ever since stepping into the center of the arena: the ultimate evolution of the Dump Truck Iai... Septic Truck Iai!!!