The Strongest's Battle, the Maddest War.

Vast Sea, Desolate Island, a New Chapter of War Opens.

Amidst the astonished gazes of thousands of spectators, Feng Bujue not only shaved his head but also casually removed his coat.

Clearly, the completely "beyond limits" Jue-Ge was no longer restricted by the system's constraints on "clothing." He could even take off his pants if he wanted...

Seeing Jue-Ge's transformation, Gui Xiao's surprised expression lasted only a few seconds before he accepted the situation.

"Hmph... that's more like it..." Gui Xiao chuckled, grabbing the clothing on his shoulders and tossing away the white coat emblazoned with the Order Studio logo. "It wouldn't be fun otherwise..."

With this action, he was telling Jue-Ge that he, too, had stepped into the same realm.

"Aren't you going to summon your creatures first?" As he spoke, Feng Bujue undid the button near his collarbone and rolled up both sleeves to his elbows.

"No rush," Gui Xiao replied. "I want to test your level first..."

*Hiss—*

At the instant he finished that last word, Gui Xiao's figure flashed before Jue-Ge, delivering a flying kick to the latter's face.

But, in that same instant, Feng Bujue seemed to have foreseen the attack, tilting his head just enough to evade it.

Then, with a crisp "smack," Jue-Ge seized the leg that was now passing over his shoulder with one hand and flung Gui Xiao into the air.

"Throwing me into the air... planning to use some kind of long-range beam attack, I presume..." Gui Xiao thought to himself as he was sent flying. "Hmph... laughable, do you think I can't step on air to change direction?"

Thinking this, he tried to use air-stepping to change direction, but… the moment he took his first step, he felt something was wrong.

It was the feeling of exerting all his strength for a punch but hitting only air; the "solid feedback" that should have returned after the power output never came.

"This is…" Gui Xiao's battle instincts were unquestionable. In that split second, he used his data vision to confirm what attack he was subjected to. “…【Weightless Contact】!”

Gui Xiao was very familiar with this move. It was a title skill that had accompanied 【Shiva】for a long time. As 【Order】's direct competitor, 【Gods】's data… even if Gui Xiao had not seen it with his data vision, he would undoubtedly have learned about it from the competition recordings and the information provided by the studio.

Therefore, Gui Xiao knew very well the principle and method of breaking this skill – to resist 【Weightless Contact】, one must use flight abilities like "Sky Dance," while methods like "stepping on air," which were still essentially "borrowing power," would not work.

Unfortunately, Gui Xiao didn't have a pure flight ability… and Feng Bujue was naturally well aware of this.

"God..." A second later, as Gui Xiao was still in shock, Jue-Ge's voice rang out.

Hearing this, Gui Xiao looked down sharply, realizing that a small bottle had appeared at the other's feet at some point, its cork already removed.

"Crap!" Seeing this, Gui Xiao immediately guessed his opponent's intention and cursed inwardly.

"Feng..." But Feng Bujue's move had already been completed, and Gui Xiao had no room to dodge. "... Bo!"

As the shout echoed, the 【God Sealing Wave】's beam shot up into the sky, directly hitting Gui Xiao's body.

It was already the finals of S3, and the fact that Feng Bujue "could use all skills" was undoubtedly common knowledge, but no one expected that this man, who had clamored to "settle the score" with his opponent before the match… would use a "forced sealing" method right from the start.

If this move succeeded, Gui Xiao, sealed into the bottle, would be nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter… Jue-Ge only needed to unleash an attack skill with enough power to instantly kill, targeting the bottle, and he could instantly obliterate his opponent, who was in an energy state and unable to defend.

Of course, Gui Xiao... was not so easily calculated.

The so-called "strongest" meant having a way to cope with any situation; to be impregnable in defense and invincible in attack, only then could one be undefeated in battle.

Seeing the beam coming toward him, Gui Xiao's mind raced, and he shouted, "stAnd!"

As soon as the shout sounded, a creature two meters tall, with a horse's head and a human body, clad in black armor and carrying a giant sword, appeared before Gui Xiao, making contact with the God Sealing Wave's energy first.

【Name: Summoning Technique – Ta Ye (Substitute Type)】

【Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered】

【Skill Category: Summon】

【Effect: Summons a Ta Ye (Substitute-type summons can be summoned or dismissed at any time, with no cooldown time; duration is based on "Durability"; non-plural substitutes cannot be multi-summoned)】

【Substitute Ability Values: Destruction Power A, Speed A, Range B, Durability A, Precision C, Growth B】

【Substitute Ability: Unparalleled Swordsmanship (Extremely strong combat ability), Abyss Body (Immune to all dark attribute attacks), Steel Will (Hardly affected by any mental abilities)】

【Consumption: Concentrate spirit to summon】

【Learning Conditions: Activate Summoning and Spiritual Arts specialization; be shot through by an "arrow" or have a "disC" implanted that damages the Substitute; have been to the "Devil's Palm" area; have equipped a "Saint's Remains"】

【Note: Legend says that in a certain abyss world that even demons cannot set foot in, there exists a kind of black horse, called "the galloping night," which is the concrete manifestation of the most active and purest power in the abyss; one day, a soul from another time and space, called the "Abyss Walker," came to this world, and after a long period of time, he resonated with "the galloping night," his soul fused with this power, and the abyss berserker named "Ta Ye" was born. 】

Gui Xiao summoned this creature not because Ta Ye was the most suitable for this situation, but because Ta Ye was the only summoning creature he possessed that could "appear instantly and be located in front of the player."

It could be said that this was a helpless move, but in any case… it could solve the immediate crisis.

Because the God Sealing Wave could only work on the first creature it hit, Ta Ye's sudden appearance put Feng Bujue in a dilemma. He could either cancel the skill altogether or grit his teeth and seal Ta Ye first.

After weighing the options, he naturally chose the latter; because substitutes have the basic characteristic that "the damage a substitute receives will be reflected on the main body" (there are exceptions, such as plural-type substitutes, but Gui Xiao's substitute did not belong to this category), so… if he could seal Ta Ye and kill it instantly, he could also cause Gui Xiao's death.

However… how could Gui Xiao let him have his way?

When Ta Ye entered the God Sealing Wave's energy stream, Gui Xiao's main body had already begun to move. He wouldn't just stand by and watch his substitute being sealed into the other's bottle. In the blink of an eye, he had taken something out of his inventory and hurled it towards Jue-Ge.

What he threw wasn't anything rare, just a regular concentrated explosive. The power of this explosive wouldn't kill a level 60 player in most cases (unless the player was hit in the face without any armor and without defending), but it was more than enough to shatter a bottle…

*Whoosh—*

The sound of air being torn apart rang out as the explosive came flying.

Although Gui Xiao couldn't borrow any force, relying on the strength of his own arm to throw the grenade was easy enough.

As for Feng Bujue… since the God Sealing Wave required the use of both hands, he could only use his feet to counter.

Without a moment to spare, Jue-Ge's left leg flashed, and a Gale Leg slash flew out, accurately intercepting the incoming item.

*Bang!*

The next second, an explosion rang out in mid-air, and shock waves and flames burst out in all directions.

Even though Feng Bujue's reaction and kick were as fast as they could be, the aftershock of the explosion still managed to shatter the bottle on the ground… As a result, the God Sealing Wave lost its sealing container and became ineffective.

But seeing this, Jue-Ge's expression didn't change, and he still completed the entire skill, guiding the energy stream carrying Ta Ye towards himself.

"Heh..." Gui Xiao, watching this scene from the sky, smiled and said, "What? You want to engage in close combat with my substitute? Just by looking, you can tell that his physical strength is better than…"

*Boom—*

Before he could finish speaking, Feng Bujue threw a punch.

At the instant the fist reached him, Ta Ye still wanted to cross his arms to block, but… he had just come out of the God Sealing Wave, wasn't steady on his feet, and was also a step slower than the player, so he couldn't block.

As a result, Jue-Ge's blow landed squarely on the center of Ta Ye's torso, roughly where the stomach was located… and blasted a round, through-and-through hole.

"What a pity…" After unleashing this 【Ultimate Fist】, Feng Bujue sarcastically remarked in a very lazy tone, "If your substitute was as short as you, my fist could have hit your face directly."

At the same time, Gui Xiao in mid-air was pale and speechless; without a doubt… at this moment, his torso also had a hole in it, just like Ta Ye's.

At this moment, the intense pain and even more intense anger did not prevent Gui Xiao from making the right judgment. He immediately dismissed his substitute to prevent the injured Ta Ye from being chased down by Jue-Ge.

"I think this punch is enough to make you understand… when fighting me, releasing a 'substitute' that 'reflects damage to the main body' is a huge risk." Watching Ta Ye disappear from sight, Feng Bujue was not surprised at all, his tone still leisurely.

On the other side, Gui Xiao spent a few seconds using the 【Right Hand of Denial】 to repair the damage to his body and quickly adjusted his breathing.

However, after catching his breath, he didn't respond to the substitute topic right away but instead roared, "Who did you call short just now!"

"You're the only shorty here, who else could I be talking about?" Jue-Ge squinted and drawled.

"Bah! Who's short?" Gui Xiao retorted. "You bald guy! What right do you have to talk about me?"

"Huh?" Hearing this, Feng Bujue's expression changed, and his dead fish eyes widened. "Who are you calling a bald guy? I'm just trying to illustrate the fact that 'even with the height of your hair, you're not as tall as me,' so I'm visually demonstrating my net altitude to everyone."

"Stop talking nonsense! You're clearly using the act of shaving your head to enter the 'beyond limits' realm!" Gui Xiao shouted. "Becoming stronger at the cost of baldness! Only you could do something so tasteless!"

"Huh?" Feng Bujue tilted his head. "Tasteless?" He raised an eyebrow and replied, "Baldness is the great enemy of men, and you call such a conscious act tasteless? Did you drink milk all the way up to your lungs?"

"What's drinking milk got to do with you, [beep]! I just like to drink it, okay?" At this point, Gui Xiao also started to swear.

"Oh, is that so…" Feng Bujue said, suddenly reaching into his inventory and taking out a bag of snacks, tearing open the package and putting a stick in his mouth.

"You… what… are… you… doing?" Gui Xiao asked, word by word.

In fact, during the preparation phase, he had already looked through everything in Feng Bujue's inventory, and one thing he found quite remarkable was… that in the finals of such a major competition, Feng Bujue's inventory actually contained snacks.

You see, even 【Order】's "Hot-Drinking Puffer" wouldn't bring such things to the finals; any normal player would definitely make good use of every space in their inventory on such an occasion, putting useful items in it.

But… not only did Feng Bujue bring snacks, but at this moment, he was also eating them in full view of everyone.

"What's wrong?" Jue-Ge smirked deviously after hearing Gui Xiao's question and replied, "Only short people are allowed to drink milk, and bald people aren't allowed to eat seaweed?"

When he said this, Ruo Yu in the spectator space couldn't help but lower her head, cover her face with one hand, and let out a low, muffled roar: "Ah—"

Because she understood Jue-Ge, Ruo Yu had this kind of reaction.

A moment later, not only Ruo Yu but also many people… including Gui Xiao, belatedly realized what Feng Bujue was "doing."

In short… this was all pre-planned by him.

Why would he specifically bring a bag of dried seaweed to this match? It was because he had planned to use this stuff from the beginning; from the start of the match to him finding the opportunity to say that line about Gui Xiao's height, to the subsequent dialogue… all the inducement and preparation were to let him say the line, "Only short people are allowed to drink milk, and bald people aren't allowed to eat seaweed."

Jue-Ge didn't hesitate to call himself bald to forcefully establish that Gui Xiao was a "shorty"… it could truly be said that—the match can be lost, but Gui Xiao must be short.

Perhaps some might ask, "Why did he have to spend so much effort to do something so boring in the eyes of others?"

By thinking about this question, you have already lost.

Does Feng Bujue need a reason to "screw" with someone? As long as he feels it's worth it or can get pleasure from it, that's enough.

"You bastard…" During the exchange, Gui Xiao had freed himself from the effects of Weightless Contact and landed back on the ground; however, his sanity did not land with him.

Some moves… require the appropriate abandonment of reason to activate, just like the one he was about to use now.

"Ah—" After landing, Gui Xiao made a stance similar to a horse stance, his legs separated and slightly bent, his hands clenched into fists and placed on his waist muscles, and then… he began to roar.

"Ho~ So you're going to transform…" Feng Bujue watched his opponent, calm as ever, muttering to himself, "Super Saiyan…"

Yes, Jue-Ge wasn't joking, Gui Xiao really did possess an S-level transformation skill called 【Super Saiyan】; however… he had never shown it in any public setting.

The reasons for not showing it were nothing more than two: first, for secrecy; second, there was no need.

Ask yourself, does a player who can beat top experts like 【Shiva】in their normal state need to transform? The answer is definitely no.

But at this moment, in this ultimate battle, facing an opponent like 【Crazy Bujue】… both of these reasons no longer existed.

"Ah—" As Gui Xiao roared, golden fighting spirit shot straight into the sky, erupting into a vortex in the clouds; the violent energy caused the entire battlefield, from the ground to the air, to tremble, and even the viewers watching through the screen could feel the ferocious and unrestrained power.

However, Jue-Ge, standing ten meters away in front of Gui Xiao, directly facing that power, calmly watched his opponent, slowly putting seaweed snacks into his mouth.