Shield Master

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

Within the valley, the clash of battle cries, impacts, and blades rang through the heavens.

Amidst the flashing blades and crisscrossing sword lights, over twenty figures launched a siege from all directions against the lone central figure.

Some swung sabers in fierce chops, others danced with sword beams, and a few manipulated telekinetic weapons...

In an instant, the entire valley was shrouded in a thick aura of slaughter.

Bai Yuan found himself trapped in the encirclement, the pressure mounting.

He had to simultaneously counter attacks from every side—martial artists engaging in close combat, while mentalists provided long-range harassment.

This forced his attention to scatter constantly, unable to focus on breaking any single opponent, leaving him only to block and dodge repeatedly, forcing back those who pressed in.

Yet from start to finish, he struggled to find an opening for a decisive strike.

Between the saber flashes and flying blades, Bai Yuan's figure advanced and retreated, his war saber seeming to come alive in his hands. Each swing carried a sharp, piercing sound as it repelled one foe after another.

The besiegers themselves felt a stir in their hearts.

"Truly formidable—fifteen martial artists and eleven mentalists working together, and he still handles it with such composure!"

The flying blades controlled by the eleven mentalists already numbered over two hundred, forming a metallic storm that dominated the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the fifteen martial artists clung to him like shadows, their saber lights flashing to seal off every angle of evasion.

With long and short range alternating, offense and defense complementing each other, even they couldn't imagine a way to break such a formation.

Yet Bai Yuan had held them off.

"Fortunately, these people are just thrown together, with no real coordination—flaws everywhere. Otherwise, I'd probably be done for today."

Bai Yuan quickly assessed the situation.

The twenty-plus before him, though imposing in numbers, relied solely on stacking bodies.

For instance, just as a martial artist spotted an opening on Bai Yuan's left, a mentalist behind him launched a flying blade at the same spot, forcing the former to sidestep.

This chaotic siege wasn't so much cooperation as it was a crowd of individuals fighting on the same battlefield by chance.

Not only did they fail to create a combined force greater than the sum of their parts, but their mutual interference actually diminished the real threat.

The cosmic-level spectators watching shook their heads.

"Bai Luoyan's footwork excels in agility, so she can handle encirclements and pick them off one by one. But Bai Yuan is different—his explosive power is strong, but his attack trajectories are too direct, too easy to read."

Facing the combined assault, Bai Luoyan moved with ease, dodging attacks while taking down opponents.

Bai Yuan, however, clearly struggled to do the same.

At this rate, defeat was inevitable.

"Got him!"

Just then, one man broke through Bai Yuan's defenses, a grin spreading across his face.

He held a shield in one hand, deflecting the saber lights aimed at Bai Yuan from all directions.

Though these strikes targeted Bai Yuan, they also threatened the shield-bearer himself.

In his other hand, he gripped a saber, mustering full strength to bring it down on Bai Yuan's head.

"Looks like I'll have to reveal some other tricks." Bai Yuan frowned.

In an instant, a first-rank Force Shield materialized in his left hand.

Clang!

The moment blade met shield, the attacker immediately felt a dense, vibrating force ripple through the shield, dissipating his power layer by layer.

"Everyone, watch out! This guy's also a Shield Master!" the man shouted in urgent warning.

Using a shield and mastering a shield were two entirely different things.

The former merely meant blocking with the shield as an auxiliary; the latter meant truly understanding how to use it to neutralize attacks, even turning defense into offense, making the shield a weapon.

Bai Yuan's expression grew serious. Knowing his footwork lacked finesse, he hadn't come unprepared.

His countermeasure was precisely this blade-and-shield combat style—using the shield to compensate for his mobility shortcomings and minimize his flaws.

Before this, his saber technique had been mediocre, and his shield skills only covered basic blocks.

It wasn't until he experienced a system epiphany that his strength made a qualitative leap, elevating even his shield usage to a new level.

"Though I haven't reached the realm of 'man and shield as one,' it's more than enough to handle you lot!"

With the shield's support, Bai Yuan's raw power might not have changed directly, but it reduced his vulnerabilities, allowing him to focus more energy and strength on dealing with a single opponent.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

In that fleeting moment, Bai Yuan seized a narrow opening, shoving his shield horizontally to sweep away all the blades before him.

At the same time, his body burst forward, turning into a golden streak that pierced through the encirclement. His right-hand war saber flashed with a cold gleam as it pierced one man's chest.

The man's face twisted in shock, his eyes filled with terror.

Only then did he truly grasp Bai Yuan's fearsome nature.

Had it not been for the crowd restraining him, that single strike would have been enough to finish him off completely.

Having dealt with one opponent, Bai Yuan turned back to face the crowd, a sharp gleam burning in his eyes.

Everyone's hearts jolted, but as members of the Blade Clan, their will was far tougher than that of ordinary races, and they suppressed their wavering in an instant.

"Everyone, don't panic! Even if he's still a Shield Master, with so many of us, we're not without a chance of victory!" a burly warrior in the crowd roared.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...

The battle raged on fiercely. Over twenty men clung to Bai Yuan like a pack of starving wolves, yet there was not a trace of fear on his face.

After all, earlier when he was trapped in the encirclement, relying solely on his war blade, he had already managed to withstand their ferocious assault.

Now that he had successfully broken out, and was wielding a Force Shield etched with faint golden patterns, he handled these opponents with even greater ease.

Just then, one of his foes brandished two gleaming blades and lunged at Bai Yuan.

In an instant, countless sharp streaks of saber light wove together, dazzling the eye and sealing off every avenue of escape.

Yet, faced with such a violent onslaught, Bai Yuan didn't even blink. He simply raised his shield steadily and charged straight at the man without hesitation.

No matter how fast your blade technique, against such pure, brute-force impact, it lost all meaning.

Confronted with Bai Yuan's unyielding counterattack, the man could only grit his teeth and meet him head-on, letting his twin blades clash violently against the indestructible shield.

Clang!

Amid the deafening crash, the twin-blade warrior's tiger's-mouth split open, and he staggered back a step.

But before Bai Yuan could press his advantage, three figures struck simultaneously from the side and rear.

One man parried with his blade, deflecting Bai Yuan's lethal blow; another slashed diagonally, forcing Bai Yuan to defend; the third aimed his blade straight at Bai Yuan's lower body!

The support came too fast. Bai Yuan could only exchange a single strike with one of them, using the force to leap back several zhang.

"Thanks!" the twin-blade man steadied himself and voiced his gratitude.

"Thanking us is still too early. Next time, we can't guarantee we'll be able to save you," one of them replied in a low voice, his gaze locked on Bai Yuan.

If they had been even a step slower, this man would surely have been run through by Bai Yuan and eliminated.

And with every person they lost, the pressure they bore would only increase.

At that thought, the wariness toward Bai Yuan in everyone's hearts deepened another layer.

This opponent was not only a master of both offense and defense but could also precisely seize fleeting openings in the chaos of battle.

If it weren't for the fact that Bai Yuan's fighting style was straightforward and better suited for one-on-one duels, making it hard for him to fully unleash his strength in a melee, they wouldn't even have the right to cross blades with him.