Zhang Buyao vs. Nora

Yu Xian was extremely interested in Multicast. Chiefly, after being enhanced, this skill possessed exceptionally high growth potential, its ultimate form being Infinite Cast. Although Infinite Cast required +10 enhancement, it allowed a skill, when cast, to produce the effect of casting countless times. In other words, the limit of the player's own control was the limit of the skill. If a player's control was also infinite, then this skill truly could unleash a single spell and instantly slaughter every living creature in the entire world. Of course, from ancient times to the present, no such monster had ever appeared in the Zhen Realm. The strongest wielder had merely blown an entire continent to pieces with a single strike, and after becoming invincible across the Zhen Realm, they shattered the void and departed, leaving behind only the data of their past presence preserved within the Zhen Realm. "There's still a chance! There's still a chance! I still have a chance!" Jun Guqiong frenetically cast skills, his eyes fixed deathly upon Yu Xian, the layers of painted skin on his body alternating between decreasing and increasing. Meanwhile, his uncanny painted skin avatar also rushed forward at top speed, bearing Mental Seeds on its body. Given its point-blank proximity to the Mental Seeds right now, an explosion would be devastating. In the stands, many spectators wanted to warn Yu Xian upon seeing this, but their voices were drowned out by the cheers and clamor. Jun Guqiong seemed to glimpse a ray of hope for survival, perhaps even victory, and poured all his effort into casting his skills—until, suddenly, he couldn't cast anything at all. The next moment, he collapsed in shock. The strength within his body was swiftly drained away, and his consciousness began to haze over. "You seem to have forgotten that casting your skills costs HP," Yu Xian remarked faintly at that moment. Behind him, the uncanny painted skin had likewise shriveled and fallen. Mouth agape, Jun Guqiong dissolved into white light and vanished, filled with grievance and indignation. Jun Guqiong had considered that he might be defeated by Yu Xian, but he never imagined he would be eliminated in such a manner—he had drained his own health to zero with his own hands. On the arena stage, it was now Yu Xian's turn to feel nervous. Taking a deep breath, he opened his status panel and slowly looked at his skills, chanting silently in his heart, *Multicast, Multicast, Multicast...* When he saw the skill he had obtained, he pumped his fist with vigor. Yes! It was precisely what he wanted. [Painted Skin Clone: Strip off a layer of painted skin, transforming it into an avatar possessing 80% of your attributes, capable of casting skills through the avatar. Maximum number of Painted Skin Clones is 12.] [Multicast: Every time a skill is activated, there is a chance to trigger Multicast, doubling the skill's effects.] Although Painted Skin Clone was a useless skill because Yu Xian didn't have painted skin himself, Multicast was now his. His strength had jumped another significant notch. More importantly, this skill held incredible potential for the future! From then on, he continued to compete, but he never encountered any interesting opponents again. Most were just players grinding event points, and many of them surrendered before the match even began upon seeing Yu Xian. Night fell, and after nine o'clock, countless competing players dissolved into white light and returned to Novice City. The moment Yu Xian teleported back, he flopped straight onto the bed, feeling as though he had been utterly worn down. It was primarily because the players after Jun Guqiong refused to fight him at all. Although his points kept climbing, he felt like a monkey—specifically, a monkey made to stand in place as a punishment. The kind where tourists came by, glanced at him, and immediately walked away. After all, he was merely a monkey, not a popular attraction like a panda, tiger, or lion. This time, Zhang Buyao was teleported back a little later. Yu Xian looked over curiously. "Win or lose?" "Won, of course," Zhang Buyao said in high spirits, flopping down beside Yu Xian. Though her kill speed was nowhere near as fast as Yu Xian's, the vast majority of players could hardly deflect her divine flying sword. Furthermore, even if they could parry the flying sword, she still had her hidden dagger. Of course, whenever she ran into someone she couldn't beat, after probing for a few rounds she would decisively concede. As a result, she won far more than she lost, with her points sitting around 1,200—solidly in the upper-middle echelon of players. "Come on, chicken legs are on me today!" After lying down for a while, Zhang Buyao sat up and declared. Yu Xian got up lazily and glanced at Zhang Buyao, somewhat curious why she was in such a good mood. Still, he wasn't the sort of person to spoil the mood when someone else was happy, so he smiled and went out with Zhang Buyao right away to grab some chicken leg rice. Eleven o'clock at night. After returning and taking a shower, Yu Xian strolled back to his bed. Next was time to scout out the competition. He first found today's recordings of Shenshang Chai and opened them one by one to watch. Sure enough, Shenshang Chai had also begun gambling for skills; by the second round, he no longer closed in on his opponent. Judging from the marks left on the opponent, he had likely mastered lightning-element attacks, electrocuting his foe to death following Time Stop. The stronger someone was, the more benefits they reaped from this tournament, which would make subsequent matches all the more difficult. Between top experts at least, the variables influencing victory or defeat would only multiply. After finishing Shenshang Chai's matches, Yu Xian continued watching one after another, reviewing all the players in the top fifty. Then he manually entered Zhang Buyao's name, searching up her match recordings. He actually watched recordings of Zhang Buyao's battles every day. If anyone ever pissed her off, he would make sure to teach them a lesson the next time he ran into them. However, Zhang Buyao had fought just as before: opening with sword in hand as she flew toward her opponent, engulfing them in sword light within an instant. Then, while they scrambled desperately to defend themselves, a dagger would strike out in a sudden ambush, ending the battle in a flash. After that, Zhang Buyao basically retained the initiative throughout, hammering her opponents until they barely had time to defend themselves, leaving them virtually no chance to counterattack. Truly, the best defense was a good offense, a tactic Zhang Buyao demonstrated to perfection. Yu Xian smiled as he continued watching, but when he saw Zhang Buyao's final opponent, his eyes instantly widened. A flash of white light appeared across from Zhang Buyao, and Nora stepped onto the arena stage. In the video, both women showed slight surprise before looking at each other and smiling. "Yaoyao!" "Nora!" "Long time no see!" The two greeted each other with smiles. Then, as the match began, they said in unison: "Give it our all? Give it our all!" Zhang Buyao gripped her longsword, letting it carry her into the air toward Nora. Nora, on the other hand, drew an umbrella—one that might very well be a pair with Yu Xian's Wolf-Tooth Umbrella. The umbrella snapped open, and bullets instantly sprayed from the shaft toward Zhang Buyao. The umbrella served both as a shield and as a firearm—specifically, a formidable shotgun. The instant Nora fired, a shield appeared before Zhang Buyao, intercepting the bullets dead on. The shield then hovered beside Zhang Buyao as her sword slashed against the canopy of Nora's umbrella, her body darting to the right with the agility of a swimming fish. Just as she slipped past the umbrella, Zhang Buyao saw Nora slashing down with a longsword. She raised her own sword to parry at once, their blades clashing together with a resounding clang that drew a roar of cheers from the spectator stands.