Xu Fan brought his blade down, cleaving the Nuger Worm—which was as large as the Female Snow Wolf—clean in two!
Green liquid splattered in every direction.
Even after being cut in half, the Nuger Worm didn't die on the spot.
Its body kept writhing.
As if it were struggling.
Every time it moved, more liquid seeped out.
It looked utterly disgusting.
The sound of its body scraping against the ground was like a human wailing.
It was grating.
The Sword Qi that burst from Xu Fan's blade crushed swathes of Nuger Worms.
It made their bodies explode.
The dirt beneath his feet was stained dark green.
It looked both bizarre and disgusting.
Yet even this sight couldn't make the other Nuger Worms afraid.
Their eyes were full of greed for Xu Fan's flesh.
The stronger Xu Fan seemed, the more excited they became.
Swathes of Nuger Worms crawled over their companions' corpses and scraps of flesh, surging forward without pause.
Meanwhile...
Countless viewers on Blue Star were watching Xu Fan's every move.
When the Nuger Worms rushed at Xu Fan, most viewers thought his luck had finally run out.
Some viewers couldn't handle the tension and instinctively shut their eyes.
They couldn't bear to watch Xu Fan die horribly.
But no scream from Xu Fan came through the Live Stream Room.
Only then did they open their eyes again.
What they saw was something no one could have expected...
The scene they'd imagined never appeared!
Instead, the situation was completely reversed.
At Xu Fan's feet and all around him lay the corpses and scraps of Nuger Worms.
Their blood wasn't red; it was green.
It was thick and viscous.
Combined with their sticky, slippery bodies, they were as disgusting as could be.
Quite a few viewers threw up on the spot.
But...
The scene may have been revolting, yet Xu Fan stood unharmed, his long blade in hand!
For the people of Yan Kingdom, this was the best news they could have hoped for!
Xu Fan raised his long blade with both hands, planted his feet in a horse stance, then swung at the swarm in front of him.
A flash of cold light.
A faint white ripple could be seen surging into the swarm.
Everything it touched was sliced in two.
Perhaps it was just an illusion.
The viewers, watching with rapt attention, even felt that Xu Fan's blade hadn't touched the Nuger Worms at all.
"Holy crap, can someone explain what's going on? How did contestant Xu Fan do that? It looks like his blade didn't even touch the bugs."
"This... This makes no sense."
"I feel like everything I thought I knew has fallen apart. Before, I'd only seen people slice out candles from a distance with a blade. This is the first time I've seen someone kill a living creature like that."
"This has to be the legendary sword technique. Our ancestors weren't lying—kung fu really does exist in this world!"
The entire Live Stream Room exploded again.
Viewers launched into heated discussions.
On top of that, quite a few people recorded Xu Fan killing the Nuger Worms and turned the footage into short videos.
They reposted them on social media.
Of course, people who didn't know the truth assumed the videos had been edited.
How could anyone in the real world produce such an effect with a single slash?
This wasn't some fantasy novel.
"Am I... am I seeing this right?" Xiao Ying, the host, rubbed her eyes hard, beginning to wonder if she'd stared at the screen so long that she'd started seeing things.
The Nuger Worms looked soft-bodied, with little defense.
Still, they were ferocious beasts as large as Female Snow Wolves!
It was one thing for Xu Fan to cut them in half with his long blade.
But the moves he was using now seemed like something out of a game or an anime.
Sword Qi!
Did that stuff really exist in the real world?
Suddenly, Warrior King Chen spoke slowly. "Maybe we made assumptions from the start."
Host Xiao Ying and the other guests all turned to him and asked in unison, "What do you mean?"
"Didn't the authorities reveal contestant Xu Fan's identity earlier? According to the public information, he's just an ordinary college student."
Warrior King Chen paused. "That's why we've been looking at him as if he really were an ordinary college student."
Come to think of it, it made sense.
Xu Fan was a contestant bound to Yan Kingdom.
Whether to protect him or for strategic reasons, his identity could have been classified as top secret!
Look at it from another angle.
Perhaps Xu Fan was really a soldier from a special forces unit.
Or maybe he came from a family of sword masters.
It wasn't impossible!
Of course...
Warrior King Chen didn't say that outright.
"Watch Xu Fan's swings closely. There's not a single unnecessary movement."
"Clean, decisive, and direct."
"Clearly, he must have studied swordsmanship or blade techniques from a young age."
Warrior King Chen offered his assessment.
"And when someone swings fast enough, they really can create a blade of wind. Plenty of sword masters can put out a candle from a distance."
"Of course, ordinary sword masters probably can't go much further than that."
"But don't forget, contestant Xu Fan got Wrist Strength Enhancement from a Treasure Chest earlier."
"He's several times stronger than an ordinary person. Add his superb swordsmanship, and you get the effect we're seeing now!"
Warrior King Chen spoke with a serious expression, offering an explanation for Xu Fan's performance that even he found a little far-fetched.
But...
Was there another explanation?
No!
Xu Fan's performance had already surpassed their understanding.
"Put that way, it does make sense. Contestant Xu Fan's movements are so professional. He's clearly been trained," Brother Qiang said, as if he'd suddenly understood.
"Wait..."
"No wonder contestant Xu Fan has stayed calm ever since entering the Forbidden Land."
"He's handled every situation with ease."
"Now I get it."
"Xu Fan's greatest source of confidence has been his superb swordsmanship from the very beginning!"
After the exchange between Warrior King Chen and Brother Qiang, the viewers in the Live Stream Room finally understood.
No wonder contestant Xu Fan dared to put himself in danger.
It was simply because...
He was strong enough!
"Good grief, if I had swordsmanship like that, I wouldn't be scared either."
"So this is kung fu, right? It is kung fu, right? Haha, I never thought our contestant would turn out to be a martial arts master!"
"It's great that Xu Fan was chosen to represent Yan Kingdom."
"Compared to him, Koichiro Mori's swordsmanship suddenly seems pretty ordinary..."
The viewers from Yan Kingdom were naturally overjoyed.
The taunts from overseas had also dwindled by more than half.
After witnessing Xu Fan's astonishing performance, they felt as if they'd been slapped in the face.
Contestant Xu Fan was truly incredible.
The guests in the Live Stream Room also breathed a sigh of relief, their taut nerves finally easing.
"With swordsmanship that impressive, and the Female Snow Wolf backing him up, he might be able to fight his way out while retreating and get away safely," Brother Qiang said.
After all, there were far too many Nuger Worms.
Retreating was the sensible choice.
But...
Host Xiao Ying furrowed her brows as she stared at the screen. "Our contestant Xu Fan seems to..."
"Have no intention of leaving?"
Before you continue