Chapter 198 Nine-hit Combo

　　For all these years, Liu Hai had always let his disciples make the first move when sparring. Of course, his Tai Chi shield and saber technique was also good at defense and counterattack.

　　"Master, be careful." Xu Jingming looked at his master from afar. His mind focused, he stomped on the ground, causing it to tremble. He himself had already transformed into a streak of dark red afterimage, rushing toward Liu Hai. Because his speed was too fast, the air shrieked piercingly wherever he passed.

　　Liu Hai held a large shield in one hand and a saber in the other. He was as heavy as a mountain, calmly watching Xu Jingming charge over.

　　The more important the battle, the calmer Liu Hai was. Even if he seemed excited and full of fighting spirit, his heart remained like a calm lake, clearly reflecting every aspect of the battle.

　　"Bang!"

　　The spear suddenly chopped down and collided with the large shield. The terrifying power of the collision spread in all directions. Liu Hai's hair flew wildly, while Xu Jingming's eyes were full of fighting spirit.

　　"Clang clang clang."

　　Xu Jingming wielded his spear and attacked wildly, chopping, smashing, thrusting, sweeping… One strike followed another in a frenzied assault. His speed was extremely fast, and he attacked Liu Hai madly. Even if a mountain stood before him, he would smash it to pieces.

　　Liu Hai didn't launch any counterattacks; he merely held up his large shield to defend, perfectly blocking every one of Xu Jingming's attacks.

　　No matter how Xu Jingming attacked, Liu Hai was like a reef in the water, withstanding all impacts.

　　"Jingming, your spearmanship is just so-so," Liu Hai said. "I'm about to start attacking."

　　"Master, come on, show me what you've got," Xu Jingming said with a smile.

　　Liu Hai suddenly took a step forward.

　　He stepped forward and thrust his shield forward, as if a mountain was pressing down! It collided with Xu Jingming's spear, causing Xu Jingming's expression to change slightly. He moved his feet and retreated several steps in succession.

　　"Master cultivates the Raging Tiger Evolution method; his strength is much greater than mine to begin with. His shield is also a large one, so the power of his shield strikes is very strong." Xu Jingming retreated rapidly. Liu Hai took a step and immediately caught up. Xu Jingming's spear flicked strangely, transforming into an arc, thrusting upwards from below, trying to pierce Liu Hai's body.

　　Liu Hai easily pressed down with his left-hand shield, blocking the spear. As he blocked it, he continued to charge forward, and a flash of saber light appeared.

　　As soon as Xu Jingming's spear missed, he retreated in advance. The saber light flashed across his chest, about three inches away from him.

　　"The shield is powerful and fierce, but the saber is soft and sinister." Xu Jingming had long known his master's fighting style, so he was always very careful of that saber.

　　The master and disciple exchanged blows.

　　Liu Hai's shield and saber complemented each other. His defense didn't reveal any flaws, and his attacks were ferocious and strange.

　　Xu Jingming had the advantage in footwork and was extremely fast! He didn't give Liu Hai any chance to get close.

　　During the fight between the two, this valley was the one that suffered! Wherever their weapons collided, large trees exploded, the mountain walls rumbled and large pits appeared, and even the ground was crisscrossed with huge ravines or large holes.

　　There were no spectators to this battle; no one outside knew anything about it.

　　But this duel was the strongest real battle since the virtual world was opened!

　　"Boom." Liu Hai was extremely ferocious. His large shield suddenly yielded in a strange way, and Xu Jingming's spear missed. Liu Hai immediately advanced, wanting to get close.

　　"Pfft pfft."

　　Xu Jingming's spear suddenly moved.

　　At close range, he thrust out his spear with super-fast speed.

　　"What?" It was clearly an old move, yet he could still exert force. Liu Hai couldn't help but feel a tightening in his heart. The saber he wanted to use to attack immediately changed direction.

　　Clang! The saber light struck the shaft of the spear.

　　The spear rotated, and the second thrust came.

　　Double hit!

　　Liu Hai's left-hand shield finally arrived in time, narrowly defending against this thrust.

　　"What fast spearmanship," Liu Hai said as he looked at Xu Jingming. "My left-hand shield and right-hand saber almost failed to block it."

　　"Master, don't lose to your disciple," Xu Jingming said with a smile. What he had suddenly used just now was the foundation of one of the five great spearmanship ultimate moves recorded in the upper volume of *Hua Guang*: 'Continuous Thrust Spearmanship.'

　　Of the five great spearmanship killing moves, the one Xu Jingming valued the most was the continuous thrust.

　　Because he had the experience of possessing 'Xuan,' Xu Jingming was very clear that Xuan's strongest spearmanship only had one move, 'Thrust,' or rather, continuous thrust! All kinds of continuous thrusting methods. Xuan could thrust continuously tens of millions of times.

　　Continuous thrusting had already become an instinct for Xuan.

　　When Xu Jingming was honing his will, he was practicing the Transforming Rainbow Spear Technique, pursuing continuous thrusts.

　　"Pfft pfft pfft!!!" Xu Jingming began to reveal his fangs. In the beginning, he was just warming up, while also giving his master the 'illusion' that his disciple's spearmanship was only so-so. Then, he used the continuous thrust spearmanship without any warning!

　　This was the combat strategy that his master often taught! A sudden reversal would shock the enemy. As long as it delayed their reaction time by a 'fraction of a second,' he could win.

　　Liu Hai was indeed caught off guard, but he was too good at defense with his shield and saber coordination, and he managed to hold on.

　　Since he had used continuous thrusts, Xu Jingming no longer held back.

　　"Transforming Rainbow Spear Technique."

　　"Kill."

　　Xu Jingming abandoned all other spearmanship moves and only used one move, thrusting, fully displaying the Transforming Rainbow Spear Technique!

　　Constant continuous thrusts.

　　Double hit, triple hit, six-hit combo!

　　According to Xuan's requirements, Xu Jingming could only perform a 'six-hit combo' to a qualified degree! The so-called six-hit combo didn't mean that each interval was the same, but that each thrust had to accumulate momentum and borrow strength, with each thrust borrowing the power of the previous one, and finally guiding all the power to the sixth thrust to make it the fastest.

　　However, the conditions for performing it… a double hit was the simplest. The more continuous hits there were, the more difficult it was for Xu Jingming to perform with his current realm.

　　"What fierce spearmanship!" Liu Hai's left-hand shield was already defending with all its might, and his right-hand saber had to assist as well.

　　Xu Jingming's attack was too fierce, like a tidal wave. The shadows of his spear flashed continuously.

　　Continuous thrusts!

　　If there was even a slight flaw, the spear would follow the flaw and thrust in to kill him. Therefore, Liu Hai didn't dare to be distracted in the slightest.

　　"Break, break, break, break through!" The better his master defended, the stronger Xu Jingming's attacking will became. He usually practiced his spearmanship against the air, or against arrows, stones, or virtual opponents. How could it be as enjoyable as facing his master! His master's defensive moves were too perfect, allowing Xu Jingming to pursue even stronger spearmanship.

　　Under the excitement and with his mind and will becoming even more fiery, Xu Jingming's spear was like a phantom. When he thrust out six times in a row in one breath, he thrust out the seventh strike, naturally and smoothly. At this moment, Xu Jingming only felt extremely happy. It was the seventh strike, the eighth strike, and finally the ninth strike that erupted!

　　Nine-hit combo!

　　According to Xuan's description, being able to perform a qualified nine-hit combo at the Planetary lifeform stage meant that he had achieved a small success in continuous thrusting. Reaching a thirty-six-hit combo would be considered a great success. At the Planetary lifeform stage, it would be difficult to find an opponent of the same level.

　　"Wonderful, wonderful." When he unleashed the nine-hit combo, Xu Jingming only felt incomparably happy, so happy that his scalp was about to explode.

　　Every day, he thrust out tens of thousands of times, pursuing even stronger spearmanship.

　　When he finally broke through, that sense of accomplishment and joy made his mind and will tremble with frenzy.

　　At this moment—

　　The "Combat Boost: 85%" in Xu Jingming's personal combat strength panel had quietly changed to "Combat Boost: 100%."

　　"This spearmanship…"

　　While Xu Jingming felt happy and wonderful when he unleashed the Transforming Rainbow Spear Technique's nine-hit combo, Liu Hai, who was facing this spearmanship, felt completely different! He instinctively felt a huge sense of threat!

　　He only felt death descending, and he couldn't block this kind of spearmanship!

　　"Could it be that I can't even defend?" At this moment, Liu Hai's mind and will were also trembling, trembling with anger and unwillingness! All his life, he had studied various styles from around the world, but all of them were based on Tai Chi!

　　With Tai Chi as the foundation, and with the shield and saber complementing each other, he was the best at defense.

　　Since he first participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament, he had never been injured!

　　And now, he had an eighth-order inheritance and possessed a cosmic legend who was also a master of shield and saber techniques that were compatible with him. He had become even more adept at defense, and this was his greatest pride.

　　His disciple was now also at the fourth-order limit. Since they were both at the fourth-order limit, he could tolerate being suppressed! But he couldn't tolerate not being able to defend! This was his last bit of pride in 'defense'!

　　"Block it!"

　　When Xu Jingming thrust out the ninth spear, it was also the most terrifying strike of the nine-hit combo.

　　Liu Hai only had one thought: he had to block it, he had to block it at all costs.

　　At this moment, he was retreating rapidly. The shield was too heavy and it was too late, so he rotated his right-hand saber and drew an incomparably graceful arc. Dangerously and narrowly, at the last moment, he chopped at Xu Jingming's spear shaft, causing the spear to change direction and brush past Liu Hai's body.

　　"I blocked it." Liu Hai only felt immense joy, and at the same time, he understood, "I finally understand why that cosmic legend's saber was so fast."

　　At this moment, the "Combat Boost: 102%" in Liu Hai's personal combat strength panel had changed to "Combat Boost: 120%."

　　"What?"

　　After unleashing the most enjoyable nine-hit combo, Xu Jingming felt that he could win, because the final strike, which condensed the momentum of the previous eight strikes, was too fast.

　　But when his master retreated with his shield, the saber light rotated, and an incomparably graceful trace of saber light was imprinted in Xu Jingming's heart. And this saber light had unbelievably blocked the final strike, making Xu Jingming unable to believe it. He could even block this?