Taking On the Armor-Piercer Type III Head-On

Jiang Hai City No. 1 High School's central field had already been completely packed with people. The appeal of the Special Recruitment Selection Tournament finals had exceeded everyone's expectations; even the corridors of the surrounding school buildings were crammed with students watching the spectacle.

Sunlight spilled across the enormous main arena, and the specially made rubber flooring reflected a dazzling glare.

Song Xi had taken her place early on the left side of the arena. The black combat suit specially made for her by Celestial Pivot Industries clung tightly to her skin, fully outlining her graceful figure.

Jiang Yuan climbed the steps onto the arena one at a time and stopped opposite Song Xi.

The referee raised his right hand high, then brought it down sharply.

"Finals, begin!"

The moment the referee's words fell, the mechanical armor beneath Song Xi's feet blasted out a powerful stream of air.

Like a cannonball fired from its barrel, she crossed more than ten meters in an instant and appeared before Jiang Yuan.

Song Xi had no intention of probing him. The Armor-Breaker Type III Cybernetic Body on her right arm directly entered a high-frequency oscillation state.

The High-Frequency Oscillation Core emitted an ear-piercing hum, and the air around her fist trembled into visible ripples.

That punch shot straight for Jiang Yuan's face, its wind lashing painfully against his cheeks.

Jiang Yuan shifted his footing, his body sliding diagonally backward at an utterly unbelievable angle.

The standard-issue alloy sword in his hand lightly tapped Song Xi's mechanical arm. Rather than meeting her force head-on, he redirected it outward with the flow of her momentum.

Song Xi's punch missed, detonating in the air with a muffled sonic boom.

She immediately adjusted her posture. Her right leg's mechanical armor exerted force, twisting her body through the air as she swept another side kick toward Jiang Yuan's waist.

Jiang Yuan remained calm and unhurried. He retreated lightly, his alloy sword drawing a semicircle before him and dissolving Song Xi's attack once more.

The spectators in the stands began to stir.

"What is Jiang Yuan doing? He keeps dodging. Is he too scared to even fight back?"

"With what could he fight back? Didn't you see what happened to Wei Shan? If that cybernetic body so much as grazes you, your bones will be pulverized."

"What a bore. I thought he had some amazing move, but he's just a coward. Should've known better than to come watch this match."

Several students who had always been jealous of Jiang Yuan loudly mocked him from within the crowd. Their voices were deliberately loud enough for everyone around them to hear.

Guo Hongtao stood beneath the arena, sweating profusely. His hands gripped the guardrail so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

"What the hell do you know? Brother Yuan is using tactics! When the enemy advances, we retreat—that's military strategy!" Guo Hongtao shouted back, but his voice was quickly drowned out by the surrounding jeers.

In the front row of the VIP section, Chu He sat comfortably against his chair in a sharply tailored custom suit.

Watching Jiang Yuan dodge again and again, he let out an extremely contemptuous sneer.

He tracked Jiang Yuan's movements. When Jiang Yuan retreated to a particular coordinate slightly left of the arena's center, Chu He pressed the activation button without hesitation.

Beneath the arena, the High-Power Magnetic Interference Device deeply buried in the concrete activated instantly.

An invisible yet overwhelmingly powerful magnetic field immediately engulfed every inch of space within a five-meter radius of the device.

The instant Jiang Yuan stepped into the area, he felt an immense dragging force rise from beneath his feet.

His center of gravity sank uncontrollably. It was as though his legs had been filled with tons of molten lead, and every step required enormous effort.

Jiang Yuan's originally fluid movements visibly slowed, and his body even swayed against his will.

The standard-issue alloy sword in his hand was also severely affected by the magnetic force. It was as though an invisible giant hand had seized the blade and kept dragging it toward the ground.

"There's my chance!" Song Xi keenly caught Jiang Yuan's abnormality.

Though she had no idea what Chu He had done below the arena, Jiang Yuan's sudden opening was the perfect chance for her to secure victory.

The Armor-Breaker Type III Cybernetic Body on Song Xi's right arm erupted with a dazzling blue light. She pushed the High-Frequency Oscillation Core to its absolute maximum of one hundred percent, and her right fist, carrying destructive high-frequency oscillation force, smashed straight toward Jiang Yuan's heart.

The heart was a martial artist's vital weak point. The Special Recruitment Selection Tournament rules explicitly prohibited attacks on that area, and violators would be immediately disqualified.

But Song Xi no longer cared about the rules. She had only one thought in her mind: completely cripple Jiang Yuan, wash away her previous humiliation, and prove to everyone that Celestial Pivot Industries' technology was the strongest.

The referee's expression changed drastically. He had never expected Song Xi to strike with such lethal intent.

"Stop! Illegal attack!" the referee roared as he desperately rushed forward, trying to prevent the tragedy.

But Song Xi was too fast. The referee had no chance to reach them in time.

Below the arena, Guo Hongtao's eyes went wide, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat as he let out a desperate howl.

The smile on Chu He's face grew even brighter. He was already prepared to enjoy the miserable sight of Jiang Yuan's breastbone and internal organs being shattered.

Bang!

An extraordinarily muffled impact exploded across the arena.

Song Xi's metal fist struck Jiang Yuan squarely in the chest.

A heavy dark-golden sheen rapidly surfaced across Jiang Yuan's body. Baxia · Stone-Metal Body, at the minor mastery stage, pushed his defense to its absolute limit at the instant of impact.

The moment the violent force touched his skin, it was rapidly diverted by that dark-golden power.

The tremendous force traveled from Jiang Yuan's chest, raced down his spine, surged into his legs, and finally slammed viciously into the arena beneath his feet.

Crack, crack, crack!

The special rubber flooring beneath Jiang Yuan's feet let out overloaded cracking sounds.

Thick fissures spread madly outward from his feet, and the entire arena shook violently beneath the force.

Purely yang inner force formed an indestructible, blazing defense across the meridians in his chest.

The high-frequency oscillation waves struck the Nine Yang Inner Force like fragile ice and snow thrown into a blazing furnace. They were crushed away layer by layer, vanishing without even causing a ripple.

Jiang Yuan stood where he was, his feet rooted to the arena as though they had grown there. He did not retreat a single step.

The feverish expression on Song Xi's face froze completely.

She felt as if her fist had not struck flesh and blood at all, but an immovable steel fortress.

"That's impossible..." Song Xi's voice trembled uncontrollably. She desperately tried to pull back her fist, only to discover that Jiang Yuan's chest seemed to possess a massive suction force that held it firmly in place.

"Is that all the power your toy has?" Jiang Yuan asked calmly, his left hand shooting out like lightning.

His five fingers curled into claws, carrying a sharp howl of wind as they seized the mechanical outer casing on the outside of Song Xi's right arm.

Riiip!

The high-strength mechanical casing Celestial Pivot Industries was so proud of, said to withstand attacks from third-tier mutated beasts, was torn apart by Jiang Yuan as though it were made of paper.

Broken metal components scattered in every direction, striking the protective barrier around the arena with a clattering barrage.

Song Xi's skin-tight black combat suit was also torn apart by the violence, exposing large patches of fair skin to the air, with glimpses of her chest visible beneath the ruined fabric.

But Song Xi had no time to care about her exposed body. An intensely powerful sense of danger engulfed her, making every hair on her body stand on end.

Jiang Yuan's right hand followed immediately after, unleashing the Profound Heaven · Shattering Bone Hand he had only recently comprehended.

His fingers locked with incredible precision onto the bionic connection seam at the elbow of Song Xi's cybernetic body.

That was the most critical force-transmission point of the Armor-Piercer Type III, as well as the weakest part of its entire mechanical structure.

Jiang Yuan released his Nine Yang Inner Force, both hands exerting force at once as a strange spiraling power drilled through his fingers and into the mechanical armor.

Crack!

A piercing sound of metal snapping rang through the entire venue, crisper and louder than the earlier fractures.

The High-Frequency Oscillation Core let out several shrill wails before spewing thick black smoke and shutting down completely.

Song Xi's entire right arm lost all power support and became a heap of scrap metal, hanging heavily at her side.

Jiang Yuan released her, allowing Song Xi to lose her balance and stagger backward before finally collapsing onto the arena floor.

He remained standing where he was, looking down levelly at the terrified, disheveled Song Xi.

"Are you done with that punch?" Jiang Yuan asked, wiping the saliva from his mouth.