Chapter 41 Desperate Situation

Xu Jingming's spear suddenly thrust out, as fast as lightning, the red tassel dancing, directly stabbing at Lei Yunfang, who was circling around him. Lei Yunfang, wielding his twin blades, paused slightly in his footwork. The spear struck three feet in front of Lei Yunfang, missing its mark.

For Lei Yunfang, even a supersonic arrow from a divine archer posed a threat only within ten meters. He could easily evade Xu Jingming's spear thrust by anticipating the preparatory movements.

Xu Jingming could stab a hundred times and still not touch Lei Yunfang once.

Missing the thrust, Xu Jingming dared not follow through with a sweeping strike, but immediately retracted his spear.

"Clang."

The instant Xu Jingming missed, Lei Yunfang closed in, his blade flashing. Fortunately, Xu Jingming retreated and retracted his spear with lightning speed, the shaft barely blocking the blade.

"Pfft." He blocked the right-hand blade, but the left-hand blade was already upon him.

"Bang!" Xu Jingming immediately raised both arms, his vambraces colliding with the left-hand blade. The Bajiquan explosive force affected Lei Yunfang, and Xu Jingming immediately retreated, spear at the ready.

Lei Yunfang glanced at the blade mark on Xu Jingming's vambrace in surprise and said, "Vambraces as shields? Utilizing Baji?"

"A desperate measure," Xu Jingming said.

The armor's defenses weren't uniform; areas like the breastplate and vambraces offered the highest protection. Many close-combat experts used their vambraces as 'small shields.' Lei Yunfang's swift blades couldn't possibly cleave through the vambraces.

"Vambraces are too small. How many blades can they block?" Lei Yunfang, like a hunter, strolled leisurely around Xu Jingming, changing direction intermittently.

Xu Jingming had to turn accordingly, ensuring his opponent remained within sight. Lei Yunfang was clearly the one circling, like a gust of wind. Xu Jingming was merely turning, but the mental strain of constantly following him made the pressure even greater.

"I only made one spear thrust, a combination of offense and defense, and Lei Yunfang found an opportunity to strike, relying on my vambraces to block it," Xu Jingming mused. "Attacking gives him an opening, but if I don't attack, will I just keep getting beaten?"

This feeling was unbearable.

He understood Fang Yu's earlier predicament. Before, with his superior footwork, he could attack and retreat at will, completely suppressing Fang Yu.

Now Lei Yunfang was doing the same! Xu Jingming's attacks couldn't touch him, while he could attack at any time, failing and attacking again dozens, even hundreds of times... Xu Jingming saw no hope of victory.

"Whoosh." As Lei Yunfang circled Xu Jingming, he occasionally unleashed a blade strike, unpredictable and dangerous.

If Xu Jingming's defense faltered even slightly, Lei Yunfang would immediately launch a close-quarters assault.

"Clang!"

Again, Xu Jingming relied on his vambraces to repel Lei Yunfang.

"I've been defending the whole time, and he still found an opportunity?" Xu Jingming's pressure intensified. "What am I supposed to do?"

Attacking wouldn't touch him.

Defending still allowed him to find openings!

"I'm finally experiencing how terrifying the world's best footwork is," Xu Jingming thought bitterly. He also had third-tier footwork, but compared to Lei Yunfang, it was laughably clumsy.

...

In the Xia nation's livestream, even ordinary viewers could see the current situation clearly.

"Lei Yunfang's footwork is too powerful," male commentator Jin Fan declared. "When he fully unleashes his footwork, Xu Jingming can't even touch him! Xu Jingming has no chance at all. He's bound to lose."

"Relying on vambraces to compensate for defensive weaknesses, but vambraces aren't shields. It's impossible to block every time," female commentator Ju Wenqing nodded. "I see no possibility of him winning. Actually, Xu Jingming is already doing very well. He's still holding on against the full-force assault of the world's number one in footwork."

"That's right."

Host Liu Xin, who was particularly fond of Xu Jingming, also nodded. "Previously, Lei Yunfang would kill his opponents with a single strike. This time, two blades aren't enough. He has to fully utilize his footwork... Xu Jingming has managed to hold out for so long; he's truly strong."

The audience was waiting for the outcome.

"It looks like Xu Jingming will stop here."

"He's already excellent."

"Lei Yunfang is going all out with his footwork. Xu Jingming has lasted for three minutes, right?"

...

Countless viewers were waiting for the outcome of this duel. Whether it was the hostile Cheng Zihao, Sun Li, or Xu Jingming's own friends and family, everyone clearly understood that his chances of winning were almost zero.

"Yi-jie and the others eliminated those four opponents," Heng Fang said.

The livestream scene was vast, showing the entire town within a kilometer radius, but almost everyone was focused on the pinnacle battle between Xu Jingming and Lei Yunfang. Very few were watching Wang Yi and Yang Qingshuo chase down the four members of Lei Yunfang's team. Those who did glanced and then looked away.

But at this moment...

All four members of Lei Yunfang's team had been wiped out.

With a spear thrust through his opponent, Yang Qingshuo watched the opponent's virtual form disappear.

"Yi-jie, all opponents eliminated," Yang Qingshuo said over the team comms.

Swoosh.

Wang Yi also arrived at the alleyway, nodded, and looked into the distance. "Captain is fighting Lei Yunfang. Let's go help him."

"Mm," Yang Qingshuo nodded.

The two quickly made their way to an inn seventy or eighty meters from the battleground. They reached the inn's rooftop, gaining a clear view of the fight.

Xu Jingming was being heavily suppressed. He had to give it his all. He couldn't even launch a single attack with his spear; he was just desperately defending! Even so, he occasionally lost his guard and had to rely on his vambraces to block.

Fortunately, he only needed to protect his head! Lei Yunfang's blades couldn't cleave through Xu Jingming's armor. After all, after reaching the advanced stage of the evolution method, Xu Jingming's armor weight had increased significantly, resulting in much higher defense.

"I can't help Xu-ge. If I go over there, I'll be taken out with a single move," Yang Qingshuo said.

"I'll try," Wang Yi said.

Wang Yi watched carefully.

She sensed the wind, the drifting drizzle, her gaze locked onto Lei Yunfang as he moved in the distance. She began to draw her bow, an arrow nocked on the string.

"Whoosh."

Wang Yi's eyes turned cold, and she released her finger. The arrow instantly tore through the air, a supersonic arrow, hurtling toward its target.

Lei Yunfang, fighting Xu Jingming, sensed the wind, his footwork ghostly, riding the wind. Suddenly, he sensed an abnormal vibration in the 'wind,' glancing at it. It was an arrow that was already twenty meters away. Lei Yunfang slightly altered his rhythm, and with a "chih," the arrow flew past him, embedding itself in the stone pavement and creating a crater.

"Zhou Yi's arrows require me to fully focus to deal with them. Little girl, your arrows? I don't even need to look," Lei Yunfang laughed. He truly didn't need to look.

With his keen sensitivity to the wind, as long as the arrow approached within a certain distance, he could detect it even if it was a sneak attack from behind.

"He avoided that arrow so easily?"

Wang Yi, watching from afar, felt as if Lei Yunfang had merely moved normally, slightly changing his rhythm, and her arrow had missed.

"Again, I have to at least distract Lei Yunfang."

Wang Yi gathered her strength and shot another arrow.

Lei Yunfang didn't need to deliberately pay attention to the arrows or even look. He simply sensed the abnormal fluctuations in the wind, took note of them, and changed his rhythm accordingly. Lei Yunfang treated it as a fun exercise to hone his footwork.

"In my training dojo, I simultaneously face a group of virtual divine archers attacking me. I dodge and kill enemies at the same time. Compared to virtual opponents, this little girl is ultimately just one person. She poses no threat at all," Lei Yunfang thought, staring at Xu Jingming. "On the other hand, Xu Jingming can really hold on. Let's see how much longer you can last."

Again, he suddenly closed in, his blades flashing.

Xu Jingming's mind was completely focused on Lei Yunfang, his spear desperately blocking the attacks.

Defend, defend, defend!

Lei Yunfang's ghostly footwork and sudden blade attacks forced Xu Jingming to defend instinctively every time, without time to think.

"Clang." Once again, his vambraces barely managed to block, forcing his opponent back.

"That's the fifth time. How many more times can I block?" Xu Jingming's skin turned red, his eyes also reddening. His blood and Qi were flowing at their peak. He was mobilizing every last ounce of strength from the depths of his body, but he still felt like a prisoner trapped in a desperate situation. The more he struggled, the more powerless he felt.