Shield Master

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...

The valley echoed with cries of battle, clashing impacts, and ringing blades.

Amid the crisscrossing flashes of swords and blades, more than twenty figures attacked one person in the center from different directions.

Some swung their blades in fierce chops, others unleashed sword flashes, while still others controlled telekinetic weapons...

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

Bai Yuan was surrounded, and the pressure on him mounted.

He had to face attacks from every direction at once: Martial Artists closing in for melee, and Psychic Masters harrying him from afar.

This forced him to constantly divide his attention. He couldn't focus on bringing down any one of them, and could only block and dodge again and again, forcing back the opponents who came at him.

But from beginning to end, he couldn't find an opportunity to land a fatal blow.

Between the flashes of blades and flying knives, Bai Yuan darted back and forth. The War Blade in his hand seemed to have come alive, each swing accompanied by a sharp whistle as it drove back one opponent after another.

The attackers surrounding him were just as shaken.

"Impressive, as expected. Fifteen Martial Artists and eleven Psychic Masters have joined forces, and he's still holding his own so easily!"

The eleven Psychic Masters controlled more than two hundred flying blades in total, forming a metallic storm that swept over the battlefield.

The fifteen Martial Artists, meanwhile, stayed close on his heels, their blades flashing as they sealed off every angle of escape.

Their attacks alternated between long and short range, with offense and defense complementing each other. Even they couldn't imagine how to break through such a formation.

Yet Bai Yuan had held them off.

"Good thing these people only threw together a temporary team. They have no idea how to coordinate, and their openings are everywhere. Otherwise, I might really have been done for today."

Bai Yuan quickly assessed the situation.

The more than twenty people before him seemed imposing, but in truth, they were simply relying on their numbers.

For example, just as one Martial Artist spotted an opening on Bai Yuan's left, a Psychic Master behind him sent flying blades toward that same spot, forcing the first man to dodge sideways.

Rather than a coordinated assault, this chaotic encirclement was more like a crowd of individuals fighting independently who just happened to be on the same battlefield.

Instead of combining their strength into something greater than the sum of its parts, they were getting in each other's way, greatly diminishing the actual threat they posed.

The Universe Realm powerhouses watching the fight all shook their heads.

"Bai Luoyan's footwork is nimble, which lets him handle encirclements with ease and take his opponents down one by one. Bai Yuan is different. His explosive power is impressive, but his attacks follow overly direct trajectories and are too easy to read."

Against a group surrounding him, Bai Luoyan could rely on his footwork to evade their attacks with ease while taking them out one at a time.

Bai Yuan, on the other hand, would clearly struggle to do the same.

At this rate, he was bound to lose.

"I've got him!"

Just then, one man broke through Bai Yuan's defenses, his face lighting up with delight.

He held a shield in one hand, deflecting the blades that came slashing at Bai Yuan from every direction.

Though those attacks were aimed at Bai Yuan, they also threatened him.

With his other hand gripping a blade and all his strength behind it, he brought it crashing down toward Bai Yuan's head.

"Looks like I'll have to reveal some other abilities after all." Bai Yuan frowned.

In an instant, a first-tier Force Shield appeared in his left hand.

Clang!

The moment blade and shield collided, the attacker immediately felt a dense, rippling force travel through the shield, dispersing his strength layer by layer.

"Everyone, watch out! He's a Shield Master too!" the man hurriedly shouted.

Knowing how to use a shield and mastering its use were two entirely different things.

The former merely meant blocking with a shield and using it to support one's attacks. The latter meant truly knowing how to use a shield to neutralize attacks, and even turn defense into offense, making the shield a weapon.

Bai Yuan's expression was solemn. He knew his footwork wasn't nimble enough, so he had naturally prepared for that.

His solution was to fight with both blade and shield, using the shield to make up for his weak footwork and cover his openings as much as possible.

It was just that, before this, his blade skills had been ordinary, and he only knew a few basic shield blocks.

Only after experiencing the system's epiphany had his strength undergone a qualitative leap, and his use of the shield had reached a new level as well.

"I may not have reached the point where I and my shield are one, but I can handle the likes of you with ease!"

The shield might not directly increase Bai Yuan's strength, but it reduced his openings, allowing him to devote more of his attention and power to dealing with one opponent at a time.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

In an instant, Bai Yuan seized a fleeting opening. He swept his shield sideways, knocking away every blade in front of him.

At the same time, he burst forward, becoming a Golden Flowing Light as he broke through the encirclement. A cold gleam flashed from the War Blade in his right hand, and it pierced straight through one man's chest.

The man's face changed drastically, horror filling his eyes.

Only now did he truly realize how terrifying Bai Yuan was.

If he hadn't been held back by the others, his opponent would have been able to finish him with a single blow.

After taking one man out, Bai Yuan turned to face the others, his eyes shining with a fierce brilliance.

Everyone's heart jolted, but as members of the Blade Clan, their will was far stronger than that of ordinary races. They suppressed their wavering resolve in an instant.

"Don't panic! Even if he's a Shield Master, there are so many of us—we still have a chance!" a burly warrior in the crowd shouted angrily.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The battle raged on. More than twenty people, like a pack of hungry wolves, clung to Bai Yuan relentlessly, but his face showed no fear.

One had to remember that, earlier, when he was surrounded, he had already been able to withstand the others' fierce attacks with nothing but the War Blade in his hand.

Now that he had broken through the encirclement, he was wielding a Force Shield streaked with pale golden patterns, making it even easier for him to handle them.

Just then, one opponent charged at Bai Yuan, swinging two blades that gleamed with cold light.

In an instant, countless sharp flashes of blades interwove, dazzling the eye and sealing off every possible avenue of escape.

To everyone's surprise, Bai Yuan didn't even blink in the face of such a fierce assault. He simply raised his shield steadily and charged straight at his opponent without hesitation.

No matter how fast your blade technique was, it meant nothing against such a purely brute-force charge.

Faced with Bai Yuan's forceful counterattack, the man could only grit his teeth and meet him head-on, smashing his twin blades against the seemingly indestructible shield.

Clang!

Amid a deafening crash, the twin-blade warrior's palms split open, and he staggered backward a step.

But before Bai Yuan could press his advantage, three figures attacked at once from his flank and rear.

One man swept his blade across to block Bai Yuan's fatal strike; another slashed in diagonally, forcing Bai Yuan to defend; the third aimed straight for his lower body!

The reinforcements arrived too quickly. Bai Yuan could only trade a single blow with one of them before using the force to retreat several yards.

"Thanks!" The man with the twin blades steadied himself and voiced his gratitude.

"It's too early to thank us. Next time, we can't guarantee we'll save you in time," one of them replied gravely, his gaze never leaving Bai Yuan.

If they had been even a moment later, Bai Yuan would have run the man through with a single blow, eliminating him.

And with every person they lost, the pressure they had to bear would increase.

At the thought, everyone grew even more wary of Bai Yuan.

This opponent could both attack and defend, and was capable of spotting fleeting openings with pinpoint accuracy in the middle of a chaotic melee.

If Bai Yuan's fighting style weren't so direct and better suited to one-on-one duels, making it difficult for him to bring his full strength to bear in a melee, they wouldn't even be qualified to fight him.