Yu Xian suppressed his strength.
If he went all out inside the Aska, the warship certainly wouldn't withstand his barrage of attacks.
Thus, he capped his energy at 0.1, matching that of the three-headed dragon before him. After all, he and Nora were testing their coordination after fusing, not engaging in a genuine life-or-death fight.
Under the AI's control, the three-headed dragon opened its jaws and spewed deep-blue energy flames. A swarm of bubbles instantly manifested beneath Yu Xian's feet, propelling him at high speed with their elasticity.
The training room was enormous, even larger than Yu Xian's Island Grotto-Heaven. Circling around in a wide arc, Yu Xian materialized behind the three-headed dragon, unleashing a surge of black threads from his fingers to pierce toward the beast.
Yet the three-headed dragon reacted with swift precision. A sweep of its tail batted the black threads aside, and both its left and right heads whipped around simultaneously, wildly spitting energy blasts toward Yu Xian.
Yu Xian broke into a sprint, constantly accelerating using the elasticity of the bubbles.
Suddenly, a mischievous smile crept onto his face as he thought, *Nora, tag out!*
Leaping forcefully into the air, his body radiated red light the very next second. The dominant host and support role swapped in an instant, and Nora immediately took over combat duties.
Truth be told, Nora hadn't expected Yu Xian to choose this exact moment to swap, but she was fully prepared—and indeed had been the entire time.
As a barrage of energy blasts hurtled toward her, she glanced slightly to her right. A mass of bubbles immediately formed beneath her feet. The instant she touched down, the bubbles began spinning at high speed, turning her footwear into roller skates.
She zipped across the floor in a zigzag pattern like a streak of lightning, effortlessly evading every energy blast.
Next, a cluster of red energy coalesced in her palm. Countless blood-colored spears shot forth in rapid succession from the crimson energy, forcing the three-headed dragon to unfold its wings as a shield before itself and endure the onslaught of blood spears.
*Energy has become so much easier to control.*
Taking the lead for the first time, Nora glanced at the crimson energy in her hand, musing inwardly.
Clearly, fusing with Yu Xian had drastically amplified her power. Although they were suppressing their energy output right now, their control over energy had not diminished in the slightest.
Before the fusion, she had to form each blood spear one by one before launching it. But after fusing with Yu Xian, she could directly conjure a dense mass of energy and effortlessly produce a barrage of spears from it.
"Nora, switch!"
Just as Nora was gearing up to unleash a full offensive, Yu Xian's voice rang in her mind.
She froze for a split second, then decisively swapped with him once more. Taking over, Yu Xian immediately condensed a spiral spear and blasted it toward the three-headed dragon.
The dragon's wings, which had previously held off Nora's attacks, were instantly pierced through by the spiral spear.
"Nora, switch!"
Seeing his strike hit home, Yu Xian immediately swapped with Nora again.
In the blink of an eye, the two reversed roles once more. Nora glanced at the pierced wings and seized the opening, gathering crimson energy and firing a dense rain of spears.
Without its wings to serve as a shield, the three-headed dragon's body was riddled with spears and dissolved into dispersing energy in an instant.
Even Nora was stunned by the outcome of her attack. This time, she truly grasped the brilliance of Yu Xian's tactic.
Everyone had weaknesses they were bad at, but they also had strengths they excelled at. This tactic maximized their strengths while covering their flaws. For someone like her, whose shortcomings were prominent, it was downright perfect.
*Clap, clap, clap, clap!*
Niman applauded, smiling at Nora. "A splendid display of teamwork! Though your synchronization still has room to grow."
Yu Xian and Nora separated at once. Yu Xian nodded. "Yeah, the coordination is still a bit stiff. It's only our first time, after all. With more practice together from now on, our proficiency will gradually improve."
"Actually, what amazed me most was how Nora turned the bubbles into roller skates," Niman said, looking at Nora. "Did you plan that in advance, or was it just spur-of-the-moment improvisation?"
Nora explained, "I saw Yu Xian using the bubbles as springs, so I figured since bubbles are round, they could also be used as wheels. After we swapped, I gave it a try, and to my surprise, it was even easier than I expected."
By "easy," she meant manipulating the bubbles was effortless—essentially "what you picture is what you get"—and the handling was silkily smooth.
"Yu Xian, if our synchronization is high enough, could we control the body simultaneously?" Niman asked, turning toward Yu Xian.
Yu Xian nodded. "Yes, absolutely. For instance, if each of us controlled one arm, it would be effortless to draw a circle with the right hand while drawing a square with the left. But if our coordination is poor, we'd probably end up tripping over each other and sending conflicting commands. That's why I usually forbid the support from controlling the body."
"Then we can practice that as well," Niman said with a smile. "For example, using specific mental cues to relay intentions. If Nora is in control of the body and mentally calls out 'skates,' you could handle rotating the bubbles beneath her feet. Wouldn't that take a lot of the mental burden off her?"
Yu Xian nodded in agreement. Provided their synchronization was high enough, this was indeed a viable avenue to greater strength.
In fact, four people could cooperate, each controlling the left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg, pulling off unpredictable moves no opponent could anticipate.
It wasn't merely about direct physical strikes with the limbs, but using all four limbs to channel and manipulate energy. Not only would the effects be fascinating, but the sheer unpredictability could turn the tide of battle and instantly finish off foes.
The simplest example was Yu Xian's ultimate technique—the Limitless World-Collapsing Bubble. On his own, he had to assume the Super Integrator: Flash Form to execute it.
However, with someone else cooperating, the move could be performed without entering the Super Integrator: Flash Form; it would merely require time to charge. One could handle the fighting while the other focused on gathering energy, still firing off the Limitless World-Collapsing Bubble all the same.
"Come on, let's keep practicing."
Thrilled by the tantalizing prospects he envisioned, Yu Xian looked at Nora and invited her once more.
From then on, he and Nora fused again, continuing their combined-combat drills. Constantly swapping control mid-fight, their initial clunkiness smoothed into fluid proficiency, and the delay between their switches dwindled until it took place in the blink of an eye.
Later, Niman joined the fusion as well. Two grew into three, multiplying their combat repertoire. Furthermore, Niman possessed even greater combat experience than Yu Xian; her mushroom abilities were wildly eclectic, and with ample energy available, she carpeted the entire training room in mushrooms.
Eventually, the moment simulated energy monsters coalesced, they were wiped out instantly by the deadly spores unleashed from the surrounding mushrooms.
"At the Star Rank, we should be invincible. As for the Li Rank, if I play my trump cards, killing one isn't impossible. System Rank... well, with trump cards, I could kill one too, but that's where the line is drawn. As for the Hegemon Rank beyond that... those aren't beings you can defeat with mere tricks." After another monster disintegrated into dispersing energy, Niman evaluated their combined combat prowess.
As a former Cosmos Rank combatant, though her strength was now vastly reduced, she still had preserved some mushroom spores crafted back during her Cosmos Rank days. By activating those spores, her lethality was formidable indeed.
Yet she had no intention of treading her old path, which was why she had remained at Crescent Bay pondering how to forge a new future—never expecting she would cross paths with Yu Xian.
Now, she knew which path to take.
Chapter 262