Personal space training arena.

"Ready." Xu Jingming stood in a spacious area, with electromagnetic cannons in the distance. "Electromagnetic cannon battery, fire!"

These electromagnetic cannon shells reached ten times the speed of sound. Each shell was a 10-kilogram metal projectile. When fired, they tore through the air, forming visible white shockwaves with terrifying power, instantly attacking Xu Jingming.

The electromagnetic cannon battery intelligently locked onto Xu Jingming, each shell relentlessly pursuing him.

Xu Jingming stood his ground, wielding a long spear.

"Bang."

The spear danced like a dragon emerging from water, precisely striking the metal projectile from the side, deflecting it.

"Bang, bang, bang!!!" After deflecting one shell, Xu Jingming naturally used the momentum to strike other projectiles. In an instant, the spear in his hand became a blur, deflecting over a dozen consecutive shells in the blink of an eye.

The spear borrowed momentum, flowing like water.

The power of the ‘shells’ fired from the electromagnetic cannon battery increased, starting from ten times the speed of sound and slowly increasing: 3500 meters per second, 3600 meters per second, 3700 meters per second...

As the speed gradually increased, Xu Jingming had less time to react, and the power of the shells grew even greater.

Yet Xu Jingming stood there, his spearmanship like flowing water, perfectly blocking each shell. The shells couldn't harm him in the slightest.

When the shell speed climbed to 4600 meters per second, after deflecting over a dozen consecutive shells, Xu Jingming finally faltered, forced to dodge a shell that grazed his body.

All the electromagnetic cannon shells suddenly stopped.

"I didn't block it; I dodged it with footwork," Xu Jingming shook his head slightly. "Of Xuan's *Hua Guang* (Transformation of Light) Legacy, the 'Water Style' of the first chapter's five ultimate moves is still far from mastery. None of them can be considered truly mastered yet!"

The first chapter of *Hua Guang* consisted of five ultimate moves, each of a different type; the combo style was only one of them.

Although Xuan's greatest achievement was the pure 'spear thrust', it didn't mean that he only knew that one move! The moves that Xu Jingming called 'Life Nurturing Spearmanship' actually contained many basic spearmanship techniques. In the early stages of life evolution, one had to cultivate all aspects of the foundation, and the requirements were very high.

"According to the legacy's description, the stronger you cultivate the 'Mountain Style,' 'Water Style,' 'Fire Style,' and 'Spatial Domain,' the better. Only with sufficient accumulation in these four ultimate moves can you integrate them into the final combo spearmanship, 'Hua Guang Style'," Xu Jingming thought.

Just like Xuan, before the most critical battle of his life, he also practiced 'Life Nurturing Spearmanship' for a long time; all of it was building momentum.

"According to what Xuan said, at the perfect stage of a planetary lifeform, the Hua Guang Style can unleash thirty-six consecutive strikes, making you nearly invincible at the same level," Xu Jingming shook his head slightly. "I'm still some distance away from that."

"Next, I'll practice the next move, Fire Style," Xu Jingming continued to cultivate.

…

In the blink of an eye, it was 9 PM on June 5th, the second round of the World Martial Arts Tournament knockout stage. Today, the global top four players would be determined.

"Welcome, viewers from all over the world. Today, we have invited three new guests to our livestream," the female host said, looking to her side at the cold Miyakawa Akari, the amiable bald man Alan Emelianenko, and the burly, towering beast-like Riven Gullit. "Our three guests are all fifth-order experts and can give us a more detailed introduction to the mysteries of the battles."

"Hello, everyone," Alan the bald man smiled, and Miyakawa Akari bowed slightly.

"We will definitely provide a good introduction to the matches, but in the upcoming battles, there may be things we don't understand," Riven Gullit said with a chuckle. "Everyone has to understand us; after all, these experts are all stronger than us."

Alan and Miyakawa Akari also nodded, slightly surprised that Riven Gullit was quite eloquent.

"Today, the world's eight strongest players will compete in four matches to determine the top four," the female host said. "The first match is between Tu Ling and Tiano Xili. Which of the three of you are more optimistic about?"

"Of course, it's Tiano!" Alan Emelianenko nodded. "Tiano's talent is among the best in the world, and his strength is terrifying and unpredictable. Although Tu Ling's talent is also very high, there is still a clear gap when compared to Tiano."

Miyakawa Akari nodded. "Tiano, Liu Hai, and Xu Jingming should be in a league of their own globally."

"Haha, everyone has seen my fight with Tiano," Riven Gullit said helplessly. "In front of him, I'm like an idiot; he can kill me however he wants."

…

In the stands.

Xu Jingming and his friends and family gathered in the same area, chatting about the matches in small groups.

"Whoosh." A figure suddenly appeared; it was Liu Hai.

"Master," Xu Jingming immediately stood up.

"Captain," Xu Hong and Dai Tongda immediately greeted him. Li Miaomiao, Wang Yi, and the others also greeted him politely.

Liu Hai nodded with a smile and sat down next to Xu Jingming. "You sit down too."

"Master, it's rare for you to watch a match with me," Xu Jingming said with a smile.

"The first match today is Tiano," Liu Hai said. "If I can win the second match, then my opponent in the next round of the semi-finals will be Tiano! To be honest, Tiano's talent is terrifying. He has never truly shown all his strength in any public battle. He is a mystery to me, so I want to hear your opinion."

He knew that his disciple was an expert at the same level as him. They had different understandings of martial arts, so their perspectives on watching the match would naturally be different.

"Yes," Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

His master was in the upper bracket, and he was in the lower bracket.

Whether it was his master or Tiano… he would only be able to meet them in the finals. Of course, that was only if he could become the sole victor in the lower bracket! Otherwise, he wouldn't be qualified to enter the finals.

"The match has begun," the female host said excitedly. "The map for this battle is a forest map!"

A rainy forest with muddy ground.

Tu Ling wore dark gold light armor and held a shield and saber, focusing intently on her opponent—Tiano Xili. Tiano was still wearing black light armor, but he held a golden long staff in his hand.

"A long staff?" In the livestream studio, Liu Hai watched and said softly, "This is the first time Tiano has publicly used a long staff."

"For the quarter-finals, he should be more cautious. This may be his most proficient weapon," Xu Jingming also said.

"A sixteen-year-old little girl; she's so young," Tiano said with a smile, casually carrying the long staff. "Come on, come on, just attack with all your strength."

"Alright."

Tu Ling's expression was solemn. She only responded and then moved instantly.

Whoosh—

Three ‘Tu Ling’ figures appeared simultaneously and strangely. They moved through the forest trees, sometimes on the ground, sometimes on the branches of trees, changing unpredictably and quickly approaching.

"Quite agile," Tiano still held the long staff with one hand, resting it on his shoulder, very relaxed.

"Swoosh."

The three ‘Tu Ling’ figures approached simultaneously, each holding a shield and saber.

"Whoosh—" As they approached, Tiano struck first! After all, the staff was longer, and the attack range was greater! He grabbed one end of the long staff with one hand and directly swept it horizontally! The staff swept through the air, creating visible white shockwaves, causing the three ‘Tu Ling’ figures to dissipate. Tu Ling's real body was smashed away while holding her shield, landing on a distant tree.

Tu Ling stared at Tiano, feeling suffocating pressure.

"His staff technique is too fast. A simple horizontal sweep is so fast that I can't get close at all," Tu Ling felt the huge gap.

"Xia country's Tu Ling is the most agile fighter I've seen in this World Martial Arts Tournament," Alan Emelianenko said. "There are several who are faster than her in pure speed, but she is very agile and can constantly change direction! Her shield and saber skills are also very superb..."

"It's useless. Tiano is just one word—fast! His long staff can sweep at will, but because it's fast enough, Tu Ling can't avoid it," Riven Gullit shook his head.

…

The match proceeded as expected. Tu Ling used unpredictable footwork to approach and attack, but Tiano always swung his staff, either sweeping horizontally, slashing diagonally, or flicking it over, sending Tu Ling flying away.

"Little girl, I let you attack seven times; now it's my turn," Tiano took a step, as if teleporting, instantly arriving in front of Tu Ling.

Tu Ling was frightened and retreated.

But a strike had already hit her body. Although she tried to raise her shield to block, the strike was too fast! It flashed along the edge of the shield and struck Tu Ling's throat. Tu Ling's entire body began to turn illusory.

"Although I have reached the fifth order in all aspects, there is still a huge gap compared to Tiano," Tu Ling understood this.

"What do you think?" Liu Hai's expression was noticeably more solemn as he asked Xu Jingming beside him.

"During the livestream, the screen showed..." Xu Jingming looked at the slow-motion replay, "Tiano's speed when he finally reached Tu Ling was 403 meters per second at its fastest. Even I have no advantage in speed when facing him. And this may not even be his maximum speed."

"Jingming, can you also break through 400 meters per second?" Liu Hai looked at his disciple.

He was far from being able to do that.