Variables

"Six people... no, there's another one following behind them, very well concealed."

Li Yi recognized Tan Jiantong.

"They're coming straight for me. Tsk, tsk, when did they discover my position?"

Li Yi sprang lightly, landing on the neighboring tree like an ape.

Then, after several rapid leaps, he had shifted more than ten meters away.

Master-level parkour, combined with his exceptional body control, allowed Li Yi to complete those movements without a sound.

"These people have steady steps and solid builds. Their overall strength doesn't seem inferior to Lin Qin's ten-person group."

"That hidden one should be about as strong as Lin Qin, but their Inherited Skill is the key. If it boosts speed and strength like Lin Qin's, it'll be manageable. If it's a long-range damaging attack like Shi Zijun's, that'll be troublesome."

Li Yi's thoughts raced, and in an instant, he had assessed many possibilities.

Thanks to that extended meditation session, his mind was far more agile than before.

"Let's kill our way in from the flank first..."

In the darkness, a shadow silently dropped from the treetops.

Then it went down on all fours and raced forward.

"As expected of Li Yi. He easily detected an ambush that no one else noticed."

"Young people these days have it far too easy. Even with a strong family upbringing, once they face a life-and-death battle, all sorts of problems get exposed."

"That's right. It's still far too early to relax."

"Stop acting like an old fogey. Who didn't make mistakes when they were young?"

"Bullshit. Look at Li Yi. He's young too, but every move he's made has been decisive. He's bold yet meticulous, his hiding place was arranged perfectly, and he stayed alert even while sleeping. A high-quality prospective mech pilot like him is what newcomers should aspire to be."

With Liang Xing's midnight ambush, the powerful groups that had originally held the top ten spots were wiped out one after another, exposing quite a few problems.

For one thing, their watch rotations.

If they had arranged even two more people to patrol and stand watch at different intervals and directions, their entire groups would not have been wiped out in one sweep.

Thus, when Liang Xing employed ambush tactics, no one cursed him for lacking martial honor. More people criticized the temporary groups for their lack of vigilance.

It also highlighted Li Yi's proper arrangements and swift reactions, earning him widespread praise.

Meanwhile, no one was paying attention to the question of which of the two experts would win.

Tan Jiantong had a bad feeling.

Although he disliked Li Yi immensely, the moment he saw the rankings, he knew he had indeed misjudged him.

He had thought Li Yi was mediocre, only for him to make a stunning rise.

Though Tan Jiantong strongly suspected this was merely the final moment of glory for Li Yi, a mere member of The Humble Clan.

At this moment, however, he could not help but feel a measure of awe toward the enemy ahead.

Even though they had won every battle throughout the night and earned a great many points.

Suddenly, someone approached Tan Jiantong, covered his mouth, and spoke in a low voice.

This exchange was clearly private communication that livestream viewers could neither hear nor decipher by reading lips.

"Old Tan, I heard Li Yi and Boss Liang are in the same branch?"

"That's right."

"I heard you had some friction with Li Yi?"

"No, it's just a rumor."

Tan Jiantong flatly denied it.

"Hehe, I heard all about it. After you failed to recruit him for the boss, you even badmouthed Li Yi a few times. You deliberately tried to poison Boss Liang against him, didn't you?"

"That never happened."

Tan Jiantong denied it firmly.

"Someone heard you at the time. They just didn't say anything. But that won't stop someone from telling Boss Liang later."

"What do you want?"

"Nothing much. Once Boss Liang takes out Li Yi, it'll basically be time for us to fight among ourselves for the top ten. You have plenty of points, so how about giving them directly to me? You'll definitely be following Boss Liang in the future anyway, so you don't care about making the top ten this time, right?"

"You're threatening me? There's no proof, so stop putting on an act!"

"Hehe, what if I happen to have evidence?"

Just as Tan Jiantong was flying into a rage.

Suddenly.

"Ah!"

The teammate who had just been threatening him suddenly had his throat pierced through, then dissolved into particles of light.

"Enemy attack!"

At that moment, Tan Jiantong was still relieved that the person threatening him had left the virtual reality.

The next moment, he realized that he suddenly could not speak either.

With two strangled sounds, he clutched his blood-soaked throat and caught a streak of shadow flashing past from the corner of his eye.

"Li Yi!?"

Particles of light scattered away on the wind once more.

Clearly, Li Yi's counterattack had already begun in silence.

Before absolute strength, schemes were nothing.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Li Yi moved like lightning, and under the cover of night, he held an even greater advantage than the others.

After all, they had been fully prepared when ambushing the other powerful groups earlier.

But this time, before they had even approached their target, they were forced into a passive battle.

On top of that, they were facing Li Yi, an expert who had perfected combat and mastered parkour.

Screams immediately rang out one after another.

In just a few minutes, several streams of light flickered and vanished.

In comparison.

Liang Xing remained utterly calm, standing at the very back and quietly watching Li Yi's performance.

His gray-black eyes carefully observed every one of Li Yi's movements.

"Not bad. As expected of someone who overwhelmed Brother Shaocong. With this kind of strength, even I would probably need to activate my second Inherited Skill to take him down."

Another minute passed.

When the final stream of light flashed.

Li Yi stopped.

More than ten meters separated the two as they faced each other in focused silence.

Li Yi knew the other party was preparing something, but after that intense burst of activity, he needed time to catch his breath.

Moreover, the other party's Inherited Skill had most likely been prepared almost completely by the time Li Yi killed the second person.

If he charged in recklessly now, he would very likely face a fully charged strike.

Therefore, Li Yi chose to widen the distance and wait for the other party to make the first move.

"Li Yi, I admit that I underestimated you at the beginning."

Liang Xing's soft, sinister voice echoed among the canopy.

"But who told you to look so utterly ordinary at first?"

He slowly moved forward, closing in on Li Yi step by step.

Li Yi quietly retreated, maintaining the distance between them.

Some Inherited Skills killed without a trace. He had to remain vigilant.

The viewers were so tense they were practically biting their nails.

The livestream's viewer count was also surging nonstop.

A flood of comments covered the screen.

"Li Yi is amazing. He actually forced Liang Xing's one-hit kill to fail to go off."

"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful."

"I'm completely convinced by Li Yi now. His sense of danger is definitely top-tier."

"Ah, what a pity. Liang Xing prepared for so long, just waiting for Li Yi to get close."

Everyone who had seen Liang Xing's Inherited Skill was astonished.

If Li Yi had rushed toward Liang Xing immediately after dealing with the others, he definitely would not have avoided Liang Xing's long-prepared strike.

Many people also realized that Liang Xing had clearly seen Li Yi's strength. He would rather abandon his teammates than devote all his effort to storing power, ensuring he could kill Li Yi in one blow.

But as Li Yi widened the distance, variables had appeared in this sure-kill situation.