Severing Blow

The Abyss Mech stood forty meters tall, its entire body a gradient black, its outer armor exceptionally sleek.

The dome's pale lights reflected off it, giving it an extraordinary air of nobility.

Its torso and limbs were long and slender, making it remarkably stylish.

Among all the Divine Mechs Li Yi had seen so far, it ranked in the top three in terms of appearance.

As for first place, that was naturally his Pluto Mech.

It possessed both beauty and dominance, both agility and power.

At that moment.

Seeing Qian Tongyue successfully activate the Abyss Mech, Li Yi showed a grave expression for the first time.

Although Qian Tongyue was currently ranked only thirty-first.

After reviewing these people's past records and battle videos, Li Yi was certain that this man posed a greater threat than Zhang Xiao and Chen Liji, who ranked above him.

The main reason he was only ranked thirty-first was that his evolution level was limited, only slightly better than Zhang Qingjian's.

Yet looking back at his past battles, whether in awareness, technique, or Divinity Techniques, he often displayed flashes of brilliance.

Against this man, Li Yi needed to make some preparations.

At Chen Qiong Zhi's command, the two massive mechs began accelerating and charging at each other.

As the Abyss Mech sprinted forward, its arms suddenly reached for the hump on its back in an extremely bizarre posture.

With the motion of its grasping hands, black beams shot out through its fingers.

"That opening move—his Divinity Technique is coming."

A thought flashed through Li Yi's mind. Just before the Pluto Mech collided with the Abyss Mech, he brought it to an abrupt stop, spun it 270 degrees in place, and simultaneously made its foot arches tremor-stack against the ground, unleashing immense force.

The enormous strain traveled to his knees, and searing, slicing pain surged through them.

Li Yi did not so much as furrow his brow.

Bang!!!

The blast wave spread wildly as though exploding.

The instant the Pluto Mech leaped up under the immense force from its foot arches, a violent streak of black light sliced through the empty space beneath it, ripping the air apart with an ear-piercing shriek.

Several of the weaker spectators below immediately suffered ringing ears and dizziness.

But the changes on the field were not over yet.

As the Pluto Mech leaped, its body used the inertia of its rotation to kick out, striking the Abyss Mech squarely on the shoulder.

Clang!!!

A thunderous metallic crash rang out. The Abyss Mech forcibly withstood the blow, then swung both arms, sending two semicircular streaks of black light slashing toward the Pluto Mech.

Having failed to gain ground with that strike, the Pluto Mech retreated at high speed, narrowly avoiding the two arcing black-light slashes from the Abyss Mech.

This was Qian Tongyue's Divinity Technique, the Yin-Gui Wind Blade.

In the battle videos Li Yi had watched, once Qian Tongyue used this Divinity Technique, there was almost nothing it could not cut through.

It had even cut through the outer armor of an E-rank Divine Mech before. It was truly astonishing.

The only reason he ranked thirty-first was because his physique held him back.

After landing, the Pluto Mech did not rush to attack. It began circling its opponent.

The Abyss Mech, meanwhile, swung its arms like lightning as it gave chase.

With the offense and defense reversed, Li Yi appeared to be at a disadvantage.

Zhang Wuqiang smiled.

"Looks like Li Yi can only be arrogant until he reaches Tongyue."

"Li Yi's previous battles were utterly overwhelming, but now that he has encountered Brother Tongyue's Divinity Technique, he can only flail helplessly."

The few people still waiting to fight all felt as though they had finally let out a breath.

Good. This was where it ended!

Yet just as they relaxed, an unexpected change occurred in the fighting arena!

During the chase, the Pluto Mech used a tremor-stacking technique applied to its feet to pull off an unbelievable sudden stop, evading the Wind Blade chopping down from the left.

Then came the Vortex-Word Technique stacked with the Pierce-Word Technique. Having built up momentum, it unleashed a double burst and savagely struck the Abyss Mech's right arm as it swept horizontally.

Bang!!!

Amid the huge boom, a massive gash burst open where the Abyss Mech's right arm connected to its shoulder, exposing the dense, deep-red connective tissue beneath the hard outer armor and skin.

The gap was enormous. At the joint between the Abyss Mech's arm and shoulder, only a small portion of the bone layer, along with the skin and neural connection layers at the back, remained intact.

It was a horrifying sight.

Immediately afterward, the Pluto Mech pressed its advantage and struck the unbalanced Abyss Mech in the head with a tremor-stacking blow.

Boom!!!

The Abyss Mech swayed before pitching forward.

The Insertion Pod carrying Qian Tongyue was also forcibly ejected and crashed onto the ground.

Zhang Xuqiang's mouth twitched violently.

A flood of comments instantly appeared on the livestream page.

"???"

"They're both D-rank mechs, yet he not only broke through its defenses, he even punched its arm apart?"

"Holy shit, I, Yu Ji, hereby declare Li Yi the strongest fighter on Jade Pool No. 7!"

"Looks like Class 3 really can't be underestimated this year. Brothers, stop watching and come train with me!"

At that moment, Cai Xiaodong received a notification from his communicator and discovered that his livestream account had received a huge tip of 200,000 Star Credits.

"Holy crap, thank you to the young lady with the ID Jade Pool's Richest for the tip. Thank you, thank you!"

Zhang Xuqiang looked at Chen Qiong Zhi.

"Instructor, Li Yi deliberately damaged a Divine Mech, causing immeasurable harm to Qian Tongyue's future use of it. What do you have to say about that?"

Chen Qiong Zhi's brows drew together slightly, then relaxed. She said,

"Live mech combat is encouraged aboard the ship. A little damage is not a serious issue. The core was not damaged, and it will automatically repair itself in ten days or half a month."

"For the next few days, have Qian Tongyue focus on his other courses. Live mech training will be suspended for now."

Zhang Xuqiang could tell that Chen Qiong Zhi had already decided to favor Li Yi. The corners of his eyes nearly split all the way to his temples.

His face darkened, and he said no more.

The others rushed forward to check on Qian Tongyue inside the Insertion Pod.

Chen Qiong Zhi looked at the Pluto Mech and asked, "How is it? Do you need to rest?"

"No. Let's continue with the next one. I'm still not satisfied after that match."

Li Yi had not expected the Vortex-Word Technique stacked with the Pierce-Word Technique to create such a devastating severing effect.

He guessed it was because Qian Tongyue had happened to be charging at high speed, adding another layer of acceleration.

Combined with his habitual style of targeting joint connections, that was what had produced such a startling result.

"Looks like I need to be careful when using mech techniques next time. It would be ugly if I accidentally killed the person inside the cockpit with a remote shockwave."

The next match was against Chen Liji.

To everyone's surprise, that guy argued that he had not known about the wager beforehand and demanded that its terms be voided, refusing to participate in the bet.

Considering there was indeed room for dispute, Zhang Xuqiang ultimately gritted his teeth and accepted Chen Liji's withdrawal.

Li Yi did not particularly care. Chen Liji's Divine Mech was also an E-rank Wind God Series mech, so Li Yi did not need it that badly for now.

Thus, the next fighter was Zhang Xiao, ranked twenty-eighth.

This brother had it even worse.

After lasting only seven exchanges against Li Yi, he was directly knocked out of the cockpit and fell unconscious.

Faced with a string of varied Divinity Techniques and opponents, Li Yi felt that he had become increasingly proficient in applying his mech techniques and combat skills. He had gained a great deal and was looking forward to the next match.

"Zhang Xuqiang, hurry and send someone up. If we finish within ten minutes, we can still grab the last of the Xeno-Beast Meat."

The moment he said this, a stream of hahahahas flashed across the comments.

A joyful atmosphere filled the entire venue.

"Is the final opponent that bastard Zhang Xuqiang? Good. Very good."

"I support Li Yi taking on eight alone and crushing the Zhang-Qian faction!"