In a corner of the training room, two figures darted past each other rapidly.
"Whoosh--"
The sound of whistling wind arose.
Seeing the short-haired figure wielding an ice sword approaching her, Han Ling's eyes narrowed slightly, and instead of retreating, she advanced.
Instead of taking the blow head-on, she shifted her body to the side, narrowly avoiding a blade that grazed her chest.
During this process, his wrist tilted slightly, and the short blade slashed towards Lin Zhaoran's wrist.
Lin Zhaoran seemed to have anticipated this, and the longsword he thrust out dipped downwards, the originally straight blade instantly turning into a slanted slash.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew between the two training weapons.
Missing her first attack, Han Ling used the recoil from the block to drift backward, tapping her toes on the ground repeatedly, trying to create distance again.
But Lin Zhaoran gave her no chance to catch her breath. She took several forward steps, her ice sword following closely behind. The second sword, the third sword...
The ice sword left afterimages in the air, enveloping Han Ling like a blizzard.
Looking at the endless sword shadows that stretched like a tide, Han Ling took a light breath.
She moved swiftly, dodging and weaving while using her short blade to parry and deflect the incoming swords time and time again.
Such dodging requires very little physical exertion and is highly efficient, but it consumes an exceptionally high amount of mental energy.
This could be seen from Han Ling's fixed gaze and her slightly rapid breathing.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!..."
Short, rapid metallic clanging echoed through the spacious training room.
At a certain moment, Lin Zhaoran's sword technique suddenly changed, transforming from a straight thrust into a horizontal slash.
Different sword techniques contain vastly different forces.
"Call--"
The sword sliced through the air with a sharp whistling sound.
Han Ling's eyes narrowed slightly, and she pushed off the ground with her foot, her figure suddenly retreating backward.
However, she didn't retreat too far, leaving herself enough safe distance. After the sword slashed down a short distance in front of her, her movements changed again.
The figure moved straight towards Lin Zhaoran.
The short blade flipped rapidly in her hand, then she gripped it in reverse.
"Whoosh--"
The short blade stabbed straight at Lin Zhaoran.
Lin Zhaoran's pupils contracted slightly as he watched the short blade hurtling towards him.
The sword had just struck, and neither the momentum nor the force was enough for her to retract it, but...
Her free left hand shot forward with lightning speed!
As the Origin Power surged, a crystal Barrier about the thickness of a palm, crystal clear, instantly solidified in front of her!
Clang! Clang!
A crisp, cracking sound.
The suddenly formed ice crystal Barrier was insufficient to stop Han Ling's attack, but it did buy Lin Zhaoran some time.
Taking advantage of this brief opening, she quickly stepped back, creating a relatively safe distance. She then steadied herself, her eyes flashing, and pressed forward again, her ice sword raised once more!
"Clang! Clang! Clang..."
An even more intense collision rang out again.
"Hmm, we practiced together, so why am I not improving as fast as Sister Zhaoran and Sister Han?"
Not far away, Yu Yanhui looked at the two of them with some resentment.
Since the fierce battle to defend the city walls a few days ago, the base has enjoyed a rare period of peace.
During this period, after a war, everyone realized the gravity of the situation and tried to improve themselves.
Absorbing Origin Crystal, cultivating combat skills, making up for weaknesses, and so on.
Similarly, they are also trying to improve themselves.
Initially, they didn't actually have the awareness to train in close combat, since their abilities were Freeze and Water Flow Manipulation, and they were better suited for mid- to long-range combat.
It wasn't until one day, when they inadvertently witnessed Han Ling attack range was even greater than theirs, conducting close-quarters combat training, that they suddenly realized...
On the battlefield, weaknesses can sometimes be more fatal!
So they stepped forward and asked to join the close combat training.
Later... well... it turned out like this!
They became regulars in this training room, often practicing and honing their skills together.
Yu Yanhui let out a soft breath, tinged with a hint of helplessness, before turning her gaze to the more spacious area of the training room.
One could see figures, one after another, training at a distance, all consciously maintaining their own space.
Some were sparring with others, just like them, while others were practicing some unknown combat techniques by themselves.
Yu Yanhui's gaze wandered aimlessly, finally settling on one particularly eye-catching figure.
The shorter of the two men was engaged in a fierce fistfight with the other.
From the speed of their exchange and the faint, muffled thuds of impact, it was clear that the intensity of their battle far surpassed that of theirs, but...
Tiger King, Wang Hu?
I wonder which tasteless jerk came up with that nickname first!
Yu Yanhui silently complained to herself.
Because of his valiant performance in the last war, and his undefeated record of accepting all reasonable challenges from within the base during this period, Wang Hu has gradually earned the reputation of being "one of the strongest people in the base".
The reason it is described as "one of" is mainly because the base has never officially held any form of ranked matches, and the players' private sparring sessions were not necessarily at their full strength.
Moreover, not everyone has fought against him; at least she hasn't.
Therefore, no one can be 100% certain whether he is the strongest.
But without a doubt, he is absolutely among the top combatants in the base.
This can be seen from his fierce performance in tearing apart the Calamity Beast in the war, as well as his overwhelming combat record in recent times.
Then, at some point, the nickname " Tiger King " spread like wildfire.
Another guy who also earned a nickname was Liang Yanhao, known as " Flame Blade ".
However, compared to Wang Hu's "high-profile" performance among the Supervision Bureau members during this period, Liang Yanhao is much more low-key and reserved, and therefore has a relatively low profile.
Thinking of this, Yu Yanhui seemed to remember something, and her gaze turned back to a figure not far away.
The young man sat in the corner, his gaze fixed intently on the pale blue virtual image projected in mid-air. His slender fingers would occasionally lift up, lightly tap or slide in the air, flipping through the content of the image.
The close combat training these days mainly consisted of the three of them sparring with each other, but Shen Heng would occasionally join in as a sparring partner or instructor.
Then, whenever these specialized melee fighters, who were clearly more experienced, joined the team, they could feel with absolute clarity the objective gap in close combat skills between personnel of different roles.
Although they were all Fourth Tier ability users, their basic physical qualities and mental reactions were not vastly different, so they were not completely powerless against Shen Heng.
But when it really comes down to it...