Marksmanship Achieved, Martial Arts Traits

"Let's see how much longer you can hold out!"

Li Mo seemed to savor the feeling of crushing him, and his assault grew even more savage.

His saber technique truly could not be called refined. It was purely wide, sweeping strikes, but with absolute strength and speed behind them, he still forced Xu Wuyi into a wretched state, danger closing in on every side.

Only after truly crossing blows with Li Mo did Xu Wuyi realize that while Li Mo's martial skill might not be high, it actually suited him extremely well.

His strength was tremendous. Never mind the gap in life level—even against opponents close to his own level, his strength would probably still give him a considerable advantage.

With broad, heavy attacks and trading wound for wound, he could brute-force his opponent to death.

And right now, because of the gap in life level, Xu Wuyi could not even manage to trade wounds.

This could not go on!

Xu Wuyi's mind raced.

If he kept defending blindly, the other man would shake him to death alive!

What should he do?

There was no absolute superiority or inferiority between attack and defense. Zeng Bonan and Hu Haobo had both understood that principle back then, and Xu Wuyi naturally understood it too.

The premise of counterattacking from defense was that you could block your opponent's attacks.

If you could not block them... then the only choice was to attack head-on!

Just as the Ghost-Head Broadsword came chopping down at his head once more, and the shadow of death loomed over his heart, something seemed to explode in Xu Wuyi's mind.

In that instant, sudden insight descended on him.

Defense? If he could not defend, then he would not defend!

The core principle of the Wind-Settling Spear—unmoving as a mountain, invading and plundering like fire!

He had always emphasized the defense of "unmoving as a mountain," but had neglected the offense of "invading and plundering like fire"!

Against the opponents he usually encountered, the moment he counterattacked, he could often gain no small advantage, causing him to rely more and more on that style.

Only now, after facing Li Mo, did he truly realize that the martial path must never cling rigidly to convention.

He had to use offense in place of defense. Only then would there be a sliver of life!

The thought flashed through his mind like lightning. Xu Wuyi suddenly stamped his foot, and instead of retreating, he advanced, charging straight toward that enormous Ghost-Head Broadsword!

At the same time, the blood and qi throughout his body surged wildly, compressed and condensed to the limit along the route of Cloud-Parting Force, then poured entirely into the long spear in his hands!

Waist, back, shoulders, arms, wrists... his power linked through each joint, like a dam brimming with floodwater suddenly opening its sluice gates!

"Break!"

Xu Wuyi let out a low roar, his voice hoarse and strained!

The long spear turned into an afterimage almost impossible to catch with the naked eye. It was no longer a thrust—more like a driving stab!

This strike, condensed from all his essence, qi, and spirit, stabbed without hesitation toward Li Mo's chest!

Life against life!

A trace of astonishment flashed across Li Mo's face. He had never expected that this opponent, who had been passively taking blows the whole time, would launch such a decisive counterattack at this moment.

They were already too close. The flaw of his crude martial skill began to show. In his effort to attack, his body was almost full of openings.

He wanted to change moves and return to defense, but the momentum of his full-force downward chop was already spent. In that hurried instant, he could only twist his body slightly while gathering his blood and qi in front of his chest, trying to withstand it by force.

"Hiss—!"

The spear tip containing Cloud-Parting Force pushed to its limit pierced in like a red-hot branding iron sinking into butter, instantly tearing apart the blood-and-qi defense Li Mo had hastily set up and stabbing with absolute precision into the left side of his chest.

No matter how high his life level was, he could not block a spear thrust with his flesh alone!

And Li Mo's Ghost-Head Broadsword fell almost at the exact same time, slicing past Xu Wuyi's shoulder, bringing up a spray of blood as it took off his entire left arm!

Agony surged through him, but Xu Wuyi seemed not to notice. All his mind and spirit were gathered on that one spear strike.

The spear tip entered flesh, and the secondary eruption of Cloud-Parting Force exploded inside Li Mo's body!

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

At Li Mo's chest, three clouds of blood burst out in succession.

"Triple force!"

A faint joy stirred in Xu Wuyi's heart. The secondary eruption of Cloud-Parting Force had directly produced triple force, something he had never succeeded at before.

He had not expected to succeed instead at this life-or-death moment.

The triple force drove into the body and directly shattered Li Mo's heart. No matter how much innate divine strength he had, no matter his life level of 12.6, he could no longer survive.

"Pfft!" Li Mo suddenly spat out a huge mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He lowered his head and looked at the spear shaft sunk into his chest. His massive body swayed, then fell heavily backward, smashing onto the arena with a dull thud.

The Ghost-Head Broadsword dropped to the side with a clang.

[Victor: Xu Wuyi!]

[Rank Points +7!]

The system notification rang out.

Xu Wuyi dropped to one knee, barely holding himself up with his spear. The searing pain from his left shoulder nearly made him black out, and blood dyed half his body red.

He gulped down ragged breaths, looking in the direction where Li Mo had vanished into white light. A complicated expression, mixed with pain and relief, appeared on his face.

He had won...

At an absolute disadvantage, he had given up on holding his defense and chosen an all-or-nothing attack—and he had actually won!

In reality, Xu Wuyi opened his eyes inside the virtual pod, his face slightly pale. Joy filled his heart, but so did gravity.

The fact that he had beaten Li Mo this time was largely because his opponent had let his guard down, thinking he no longer had any means of attacking. Only then had Xu Wuyi gotten the chance to strike with his life on the line.

If Li Mo had fought carefully enough and not given him such an almost point-blank opportunity, it would have been very difficult to kill him instantly with a single thrust.

And Xu Wuyi only had one chance to deliver a heavy strike. After that, he would definitely have been cut in two.

"This exchange actually served as a warning for Li Mo... No, that's not right. If we were really fighting in reality, I couldn't possibly take a slash head-on just to try for that kind of chance."

Xu Wuyi could not help shaking his head slightly.

Even if he was willing to cripple himself to win, the proctor would not allow it and would directly declare him defeated. Even the college entrance exam did not encourage such methods.

After all, the purpose of the college entrance exam was to select talent from high school students, then let martial arts universities nurture them.

What was the point of selecting a bunch of cripples? To send them to martial arts universities as mascots?

The excitement of defeating Li Mo stirred a few ripples in Xu Wuyi's heart, then quickly settled back down.

He did not go home right away. Instead, he went to the school training room.

In his mind, Li Mo's heavy, forceful chop and the feeling of his own final life-risking thrust were still incomparably clear.

"Triple-layered force..."

Xu Wuyi picked up a solid metal spear used for training. It felt slightly heavy in his hand.

He closed his eyes and carefully savored the feeling from when the spear tip had pierced Li Mo's chest, that sensation of power bursting forth layer upon layer like a tide.

That had not been luck. Under the pressure of life and death, he had pushed Cloud-Parting Force to a certain critical point.

He wanted to seize it.

His mind grew calm. The Mountain Moving Method circulated naturally, and his consciousness locked onto the panel for the Wind-Settling Spear on the Martial Dao Diligence Record within his sea of consciousness.

He drew in a deep breath, driving power from his waist and hips, letting his strength connect joint by joint. A Cloud-Piercing Thrust suddenly shot out!

A familiar sensation surged into his heart. His body seemed to act on instinct, directly unleashing that triple-burst force.

The spear tip stabbed out. Puff, puff, puff—three extremely brief, almost overlapping muffled sounds abruptly burst open!

The key to the third layer of force did not lie in an even stronger eruption, but in "control"!

It was not a stacking of brute force, but a more exquisite form of mastery.

"So that's how it is..."

Almost the instant he grasped the triple-layered force, he felt his understanding of the Wind-Settling Spear step into an entirely new level.

The spear in his hand seemed to come alive. It was no longer a cold weapon, but an extension of his arm, a vessel for his will.

In his sea of consciousness, the text on the panel changed accordingly:

[Wind-Settling Spear Current Realm: Minor Mastery (0.1%)]

[Martial Art Trait Unlocked: Silk-Winding Force]

[Evaluation: Force honed to the finest detail, attack and defense as one.]

Silk-Winding Force?