New Master! (2-in-1)

The Shadow Assassin originally had a passive talent that reduced physical damage by 50%, but after being thrown by Qi Ruifeng, more than half of his Life Value was wiped out, and he vanished into a wisp of black mist.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at the notification from the Spirit Realm Rules and was slightly surprised. Qi Ruifeng's attack had actually caused magical damage.

Logically speaking, grappling techniques should cause physical damage—for example, the notification message for shattering the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier was physical damage.

Bai Xiaowen quickly realized that this must be a skill enhancement effect of Qi Ruifeng, or a new effect of his class's passive ability! It allows him to specify the damage type of his skills.

After killing the Shadow Assassin, Qi Ruifeng was surrounded by a bright blue aura, and his passive skill "The Stronger Through Battle" had been stacked to 2 layers!

But this was not the end. Taking advantage of the shockwave from the "Back Suplex" that made Rageclaw and the Stitched Monster Fatty lose their footing, Qi Ruifeng's halberd flashed and he thrust it at Rageclaw, a clear sign that a new grappling technique was about to be launched!

"This must be a skill that comes with the equipment!"

Bai Xiaowen had reviewed Qi Ruifeng's information. Of his four combat skills, only the Back Suplex was a close-range attack. The other two were spells, and one was a protective skill! Since his Back Suplex was currently on cooldown, this skill must have been an equipment bonus.

Rageclaw's Life Value is currently at 60%~70%, so it's not advisable to continue sacrificing health. Bai Xiaowen's mind raced through the calculations, and he raised his hand to summon a Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, blocking Qi Ruifeng's thrusting attack.

*Swoosh! Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier was impaled on the tip of the halberd, and then Qi Ruifeng leaped high into the air and slammed him to the ground!

As the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier was smashed into countless Bone Shatter, a third azure halo appeared around Qi Ruifeng.

"You've already lost..." Qi Ruifeng with a victor's smile, "My current mental attribute is approaching 70 points! As a fellow awakened individual with Mental Specialty, you should understand what this number represents!"

The damage of a spell is calculated based on the Spirit attribute as the primary attribute. Generally, it is the Spirit attribute multiplied by a bonus coefficient, plus the spell's inherent damage.

The so-called bonus coefficient varies from spell to spell, but generally the minimum is 1.5. Typically, the higher the star rating of the spell, the higher the bonus coefficient.

In other words, Qi Ruifeng now has nearly 70 points in spirit attribute, and his base spell damage is already over 100! With the added inherent damage of spells, his damage is simply explosive! 70 points in spirit is already the value of a level 7 Mental Specialty Boss Tier, and it's possible for him to kill Bai Xiaowen with a single powerful spell.

Bai Xiaowen remained calm and said, "So what? Your spell only counts if you can actually cast it!"

The Skeleton Mage unleashed a Lightning Throw, signaling the start of the attack, and the other summoned creatures swarmed forward.

Bai Xiaowen knew that Qi Ruifeng's Back Suplex was still on cooldown, and the "Aerial Thrust Kill" skill attached to his equipment had a cooldown of at least seven or eight hours! In other words, Qi Ruifeng currently had no throwing techniques at all and could only cast spells by channeling his abilities!

This is also Qi Ruifeng's consistent tactic: using grappling techniques to increase his mental attributes by 30%, and then using devastating magic to flatten the enemy.

Against a normal opponent, it would have been a game over, but Bai Xiaowen had a wide variety of interruption methods, including the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier's Shield Bash, the Skeleton Mage's Lightning Throw, his own Talisman Switching, and the ultimate move of the Rageclaw! Preventing Qi Ruifeng from casting a complete spell was entirely possible.

The Skeleton Mage unleashed a Lightning Throw, but Qi Ruifeng neither dodged nor evaded it; the lightning bolt vanished as if it had Piercing the void.

Spirit Realm Rules: "Your summoned creature, the Skeleton Mage, skill: Lightning Throw, failed to hit its target."

Qi Ruifeng smiled mockingly, raised his right hand, and a ball of flame condensed.

Bai Xiaowen frowned. He activated his Divine Might scan but found that he could not detect Qi Ruifeng's presence. Qi Ruifeng was right in front of him, but his Divine Might could not lock onto him as a target!

However, this scan also yielded results; the Spirit Realm Rules once again provided a reminder:

"Based on your Insight Talent, you have obtained the following combat information."

"Qi Ruifeng has activated the additional effect of the Hero Class's exclusive equipment: Veil of Deception, which will cause visual illusions and Divine Might Disruption effects, and grant immunity to normal attacks and single-target spells with a priority of 7 or lower!"

Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes. Qi Ruifeng actually had exclusive equipment—even among Hero Class, only a small portion possessed exclusive equipment; most Hero Class didn't. Whether or not one had exclusive equipment had a significant impact on their strength.

"No wonder Qi Ruifeng waited until I used my [Intimidation] skill before going on stage, because [Intimidation] is an area-of-effect control skill, and it's the Yi-Yi skill that can ignore the ' Veil of Deception ' effect and interrupt his spells!"

In the blink of an eye, Qi Ruifeng's spell had finished casting, and a fireball the size of a washbasin shot over.

Given Qi Ruifeng's Meditation Specialty level, this [Flame Blast] would likely deflect by at least thirty degrees. Without any movement skills, Bai Xiaowen would have virtually no chance of dodging it.

The Stitched Monster Fatty used the Meat Hook skill, throwing the chains around Bai Xiaowen's body twice before dragging them—this Meat Hook skill completely exhausted Fatty's Divine Might.

However, the Meat Hook cannot replace a movement skill, nor can it match the projectile speed of a fireball.

Under Qi Ruifeng's Divine Might control, the Flame Blast deflected slightly but still accurately struck Bai Xiaowen.

Bai Xiaowen summoned the last Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, Targeted Airdrop and stood in front of him. With a loud bang, Bai Xiaowen could feel the surging heat as the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier were blasted into charred bone fragments without any doubt.

This spell deals a whopping 225 damage!

Bai Xiaowen raised his gun and calmly fired. The bullets struck Qi Ruifeng, only creating ripples in the air; they had no effect whatsoever.

"No matter how much you struggle, the result won't change," Qi Ruifeng said with a smile. "Bai Xiaowen, you may think you're very strong, but you're still too inexperienced on the CUAA stage. Maybe you'll show some promise after our generation retires, but at least for now, it's impossible."

"I don't believe your ' Veil of Deception ' state can last forever," Bai Xiaowen said calmly, his expression unchanged. "As long as I can withstand the duration of this state, I'm confident of victory. You should know very well that your team's last member is MT, who poses no threat to me. If you lose, Jiangnan University will be swept five times by me... You should be more anxious than I am now."

Qi Ruifeng's expression changed slightly. He raised his hands, and a surge of fiery energy condensed within them. "I'd like to see how many seconds you can last!"

Crimson flame energy flowed across Qi Ruifeng's body, emanating a powerful aura, making him appear like a human torch. Clearly, Bai Xiaowen's words had struck a nerve, and Qi Ruifeng decided to unleash his ultimate move.

According to the information, Qi Ruifeng's ultimate skill is an area-of-effect damage spell called Flame Hell. Enemies hit by Flame Hell will not only suffer high fire damage, but will also be inflicted with subsequent burning damage and a severe slowing effect.

Of course, such powerful skills require a long casting time and are easily interrupted. Moreover, they cannot be easily stopped in the later stages of use, otherwise, there will be a backlash.

Under the "Veil of Deception," Qi Ruifeng was confident that he could successfully unleash this ultimate move.

He didn't want to waste any more time with single-target spells on Bai Xiaowen, since Bai Xiaowen could use summoned creatures to block single-target spells. This time, he was going to roast Bai Xiaowen and his summoned creatures together!

Facing Qi Ruifeng's terrifying energy fluctuations, Bai Xiaowen stood up straight. A smile appeared on his lips as he slowly said, "You've finally used this move."

A flame was also burning in Bai Xiaowen's right palm.

An additional skill derived from the Kusanagi Sword, the Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts - Orochi Nagi, activated!

Ten thousand Psionic Points is nothing to Bai Xiaowen right now. Besides, every time he uses Orochi Nagi, he feels that his control over the Kusanagi Blood is becoming more proficient, so it's not like he's gained nothing.

A flicker of fear crossed Qi Ruifeng's eyes. His "Veil of Deception" was utterly useless against the surging, howling flames that swept in! Because the Orochi Nagi was an area-of-effect attack!

Besides the burning heat, the shockwave from Orochi Nagi is the key element of Bai Xiaowen's use of this move.

Qi Ruifeng was struck by a tremendous force, his body enveloped in flames as he flew backward. His skill was interrupted, and he also suffered a backlash. In addition to losing half of his Life Value, the three layers of the "The Stronger Through Battle" buff on his body were also cleared, and the "Veil of Deception" state ended prematurely. As for the duration of the Body of Ascetic Cultivation, it had already ended.

With Rageclaw, it charged forward, leaping through the air and pinning Qi Ruifeng, who was engulfed in fiery energy and utterly powerless to resist, firmly under its claws, unleashing a powerful Suppression!

"What kind of skill is that...? Orochi Nagi from the Kusanagi Clan in The King of Fighters World? When did he learn to use this move...?"

Qi Ruifeng's face was ashen, his mind a jumbled mess. A full second later, he finally reacted, a flash of light appearing on his body as he used a control-removing item to break free from the Suppression the Rageclaw's ultimate attack, and rolled away despite the five layers of bleeding effect.

However, once Bai Xiaowen's counterattack began, it was like a spinning machine running at Ma Li, with subsequent strikes coming quickly and efficiently one after another! A yellow Spell Talisman light fell, freezing Qi Ruifeng, who was still rolling, in place and stunning him for 2.5 seconds!

In Blood Frenzy mode, the Rageclaw, with a 40% bonus Critical Hit chance, bite and gnaw relentlessly; the Skeleton Mage unleashes ranged lightning; Bai Xiaowen raises his guns in Rapid-Fire Mode; and the Stitched Monster Fatty also raises his cleaver...

Although Qi Ruifeng possessed formidable combat prowess, his physical constitution remained a significant weakness as a Mental Specialty Awakened, resulting in low Life Value. Under the relentless onslaught of Bai Xiaowen and his remaining summoned creatures, Qi Ruifeng's Life Value was quickly depleted, and he was teleported out of the arena.

"The fourth match is over, Jinghai University wins!"

The instant Qi Ruifeng collapsed, two lines of Chinese characters flashed across the large screen, shimmering with vibrant colors. However, the entire auditorium fell silent. Even the host from Jiangnan University was speechless for a moment.

A full five seconds passed before sporadic murmurs began to circulate.

"He lost? Senior Qi Ruifeng actually lost?"

"Ouch! Why did you pinch me?"

"Let me see if I'm dreaming... but it seems I'm not..."

Amidst sporadic discussions, most remained silent, their silence masking a turbulent undercurrent of thought.

Qi Ruifeng, one of the representatives of the 1993 golden generation, showed his talent from his freshman year. In his sophomore year, he took over as captain and led the Jiangnan University team to a series of victories, dominating the Jianghai Division for two years. He was the undisputed Master Tier of the Jianghai Division. Even in the national CUAA league, he has a place. Last year, he even made it to the top four.

And now, the Master Tier has fallen, fallen before an even younger Master Tier.

Many people recalled the previous news headline, "The Battle Between the Old and New Master Tier." This slightly biased headline turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

With the arrival of Xiao Jinfeng, the last remaining member of Jiangnan University and the Champion Knight, everyone's attention had already shifted. It was clear to everyone that Xiao Jinfeng had no chance of defeating Bai Xiaowen. Even though Bai Xiaowen's skills were currently on cooldown, he still had several powerful summoned creatures present, which could easily surround and kill Xiao Jinfeng.

If Xiao Jinfeng were an Agility Specialty assassin or Snipe, he might have a chance to pick off an easy kill, but as a main tank, he is clearly not good at this kind of finishing-off Assassination role.

In fact, Xiao Jinfeng's appearance on stage was like the final polishing process before crowning the new Master Tier... It made Bai Xiaowen's amazing record of Master Tier five Jianghai Division in one go even more dazzling.

Chen Guowei was stunned for a moment. "They really did win five games in one go?"

"Yes, it should be true if nothing unexpected happens." Xiang Hui looked at the big screen and saw Xiao Jinfeng surrounded by a group of summoned creatures. He couldn't break through no matter how he tried to break through, and his Life Value was slowly but steadily decreasing under the onslaught.

"Thank goodness," Chen Guowei patted his chest, "I didn't bet with Lao Bai on this, otherwise I'd have to wash his stinky socks for a month."

"You were betting on a request, not washing socks," Xiang Hui said, curling his lip and giving Chen Guowei a disdainful look. "Actually... you should have bet. Even if you lost to Lao Bai, it would have been beneficial for you. You've misused your cleverness."

Chen Guowei was a little confused. "There are benefits to losing?"

Xiao Jinfeng finally collapsed.

From the very front row of the stands, Xiao Jun was the first to jump up. "Yay! We won!"

The atmosphere was a bit cold. Xiao Jun glanced at the venue with a puzzled look, at the audience members whose faces were grim, and slowly lowered their raised fists.

"Yes, we won!"

On the contestants' bench, Chen Guowei jumped up and shouted, echoing Xiao Jun from afar, which at least prevented the atmosphere from becoming too awkward.

Regardless of how many people were staring in stunned silence, Chen Guowei remained oblivious, clapping and applauding as he went, then scanned the auditorium. "Hey, what are you all standing there for? Hurry up and clap! Such a wonderful match, you might not see one like this even once in four years of university... Tsk tsk, Lao Bai is amazing, one against five!"