Key of Ultimate Truth

Gu Yan smiled faintly and took out his longsword.

"You could have simply ordered every Ability User in the country to study martial arts."

The tip of the sword pointed diagonally at the ground, blue light seeming to leap along its edge. It was incredibly sharp.

The sword contained a Quasi-Herrscher Core. In Gu Yan's hands, its power was enough to rival a Divine Key.

(Divine Keys: Weapons created using Herrscher Cores in Honkai Impact 3rd.)

But Gu Yan was using it now simply because ordinary weapons could not even withstand the force of a single swing during the sparring match between the two of them.

"Rather than force them, it's better to put the benefits right in front of them."

The assessment was temporarily suspended, and the entire venue became the arena for the two of them. No one went forward to disturb them.

Those with high positions and authority also knew Xu Muchi's status and did not dare to stop her.

For a moment, the entire command building fell silent as the two faced off.

"If that's the case..."

Gu Yan gripped the hilt with both hands and raised the sword before him. "Then have it your way!"

The instant he finished speaking, he suddenly charged forward and brought the longsword crashing down.

Clang!

The sound of metal colliding rang out. Xu Muchi raised her sword to block the heavy blow. Her long skirt trembled from the impact, and the ground beneath her feet cracked.

Everyone at the scene sucked in a sharp breath.

Their eyesight was exceptional, so they could naturally tell that neither of them had used any special abilities. They had achieved this purely through speed and strength. Even if they used their abilities, they still would have been utterly unable to withstand it.

That single slash from Gu Yan was enough to instantly kill an A-Class ability user, possibly before the target could even react.

"Impressive." Xu Muchi spoke softly. She could feel the threat and the confrontational force pressing against her.

Unlike the Gu Yan of the past, he was now a drawn blade.

As an excellent support, one either frantically threw out buffs to raise one's teammates' combat power;

Or picked up a blade, slaughtered the enemies, and protected one's teammates.

Gu Yan shifted his center of gravity to the left. Pressing his blade against the longsword, he slashed down diagonally, while Xu Muchi dodged to the other side.

Vmmm—

The blade and sword scraped against each other, tearing through the air and making it tremble.

Before Gu Yan could stabilize his footing, Xu Muchi swung her longsword and slashed toward his side.

The tip of the sword moved incredibly fast, drawing a silver-white crescent through the air. The spectators could not follow its speed at all.

Her long skirt spun with it. Her entire figure resembled a snowflake, soft and graceful, agile and elegant.

Gu Yan, meanwhile, kicked upward, the tip of his foot striking the blade precisely and knocking the attack off course. Immediately afterward, his blade slashed upward from below at a vicious and deadly angle.

But he knew very well that he could not do anything to Xu Muchi.

Sure enough, Xu Muchi reversed her grip on the sword and lightly tapped it, causing the blow to lose its force—

Of course, that was merely how it appeared to everyone else. In reality, the collision had left both their tiger's mouths numb.

After two or three exchanges, which had taken no more than the blink of an eye, everyone remained silent, staring intently at the battle in the arena—a visual feast.

Although this visual feast was rather hard on the eyes.

In that short span, they had exchanged blows several times. An ordinary Ability User would have been cut into several pieces by now.

They imagined themselves in the battle, yet no matter how they considered it, they could not find any possibility of surviving.

Setting aside comparisons with Gu Yan and Xu Muchi—or assuming their own speed and strength were on par with theirs—their combat awareness, footwork, and techniques were completely crushed. Even if they used their abilities, it would be useless.

On land, could a martial-arts-trained King Kong beat Godzilla?

When the differences in abilities were not that great, technique became especially important.

Wasn't this damn internal competition?

"Old Qin, who is that? He's actually keeping up with Senior Xu!"

Qin Hong'an wore the expression of someone who had won the lottery. His eyes shone as he stared at Gu Yan, and he only pulled his gaze back after someone called out to him.

"He's Gu Yan. Haven't you seen the files?" Qin Hong'an coughed twice and returned to his serious expression.

An S-Class support, ancient martial arts on par with Senior Xu, Gu Yan... Hehehe...

That boy had rendered meritorious service before, and his character seemed decent too. He had to find a chance to make Gu Yan take a fancy to his daughter.

No, his daughter had already been married for several years. Perhaps his granddaughter...

"It's him? They were too far away just now, and he was moving too fast. I couldn't see clearly." The speaker was Qin Hong'an's deputy minister. He glanced at the battle again. The speed was so fast that afterimages appeared. Let alone their faces, he could not even distinguish how many people there were.

He shook his head, turned toward Qin Hong'an, and said in a strange tone, "Old Qin? Wipe off your drool."

Gu Yan brought his sword down with all his strength. Xu Muchi's expression turned solemn as she slashed toward him with her sword. Just as the two blades were about to meet, Gu Yan rotated his sword and struck the longsword directly.

Bang!

A booming impact rang out. The ground around them had already shattered, exposing the soil, and the enormous shockwave even overturned the front rows of the spectator stands.

To achieve this through pure strength was simply terrifying.

Xu Muchi's longsword trembled without stopping after the collision. It took two shakes of her wrist to steady it. Gu Yan, by contrast, had been forced to switch to wielding the sword one-handed, and the webbing of his right hand had split open.

"Your sword is pretty good. Looks like you won't have to keep asking me for one."

Xu Muchi was right. The quality of Mutated Soul Steel was beyond question. Her sword had been knocked into a tremor, and both fighters' hands had gone numb, yet the sword remained steady as a rock.

Sword: Gu Yan is a damn legend. I'm the MVP!

"Are we continuing?" Gu Yan shook his hand and glanced at the surrounding wreckage. None of this had anything to do with him. He refused to pay compensation.

"Let's stop here." The battle had gone on for quite a while, and the effect it had produced was already sufficient. With some additional processing and publicity, the matter would essentially be settled.

Gu Yan sheathed the sword and put it into Mustard Seed Space. He shrugged and walked out of the arena. If they continued fighting, it was genuinely uncertain who would win.

Xu Muchi was stronger in combining techniques with ancient martial arts. Her attacks and defenses changed unpredictably, making them impossible to guard against. But if they were only competing in martial arts, Gu Yan was not inferior to her.

Besides, his physique had also been enhanced by Elfa. When it came to endurance, he truly feared no one.

Then there was this sword. Not only was it extremely suitable for Gu Yan, but its sharpness and toughness alone would be difficult to replicate even with the most advanced technology in this world.

As for how great a shock the two of them would bring to the country's Ability Users, that was not something he cared about.

"Don't rush off. You haven't collected your new certificate yet, have you?"

Xu Muchi caught up and walked alongside Gu Yan.

"Wouldn't now be inappropriate?" After all, this was an assessment, not some unimportant activity.

"It won't take long, and it'll save you another trip!" Xu Muchi smiled gently, then transmitted her instructions to Qin Hong'an.

"Actually, that's fine too." Taking another day off would not be bad!

But Qin Hong'an did not need Xu Muchi to instruct him. The moment he saw the two of them leaving, he hurriedly rose and came over.

"Who is that?"

"The head of the Ability Department, Qin Hong'an."

Gu Yan shuddered. He had not expected that perverted uncle to have quite a background. His gaze was just too creepy.

"Why is he coming toward us?" To be honest, Gu Yan had not been this afraid even when a Herrscher was staring at him.

"I asked him to come." Xu Muchi did not notice Gu Yan's evasive gaze.

Gu Yan was startled.

Holy crap. Official-bandit collusion. This is definitely official-bandit collusion!

"Young Friend Gu, please!" Gu Yan had just wanted to find an excuse to run, but Qin Hong'an had already arrived before the two of them.

"I still have something to do..." Gu Yan tried to refuse.

"Young Friend Gu, are you saying you're very busy?" Qin Hong'an immediately realized that Gu Yan had misunderstood something and also tried to persuade him to stay.

"I've got something good for you..." He smiled at Gu Yan with great benevolence.

"Something good? Is it an Ability Certificate?"

"What Ability Certificate? It's even more exciting than an Ability Certificate..."