"That old man Liu Jianfeng is going to attack Jingming," Xu Mu said nervously from the livestream audience seats. "Can Jingming withstand his sneak attack?"

"A sneak attack relies on the element of surprise," Xu Hong said solemnly. "Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng moves silently and is extremely fast. Once he attacks... if you notice him even a little late, Jingming might not have time to react and would be killed by a single sword strike. That's the power of an assassin."

"Wouldn't that be the first elimination?" Xu Mu worried.

"But as long as you can detect him, there's nothing to fear," Xu Hong said.

"Uncle, can Jingming detect him?" Li Miaomiao asked.

"I don't know. Both sides are god-level masters; it's hard to say," Xu Hong said, watching intently.

Countless viewers in the livestream were watching, focusing on the imminent clash.

...

Xu Jingming held his spear in his right hand, watching in all directions and listening intently, carefully advancing along the alley.

He was wearing light armor and carrying a shield, so his movements would inevitably create some subtle sounds. Those wearing soft leather armor and practicing evolution methods like *Shadow Leopard Evolution Method* or *Phantom Cat Evolution Method* could move with virtually no sound.

Unbeknownst to him, a small, thin old man, Liu Jianfeng, was lurking above him in the alley ahead. Liu Jianfeng was curled up, silent, watching Xu Jingming out of the corner of his eye. His breathing was so faint that it was almost nonexistent, and the world seemed to be silent.

Xu Jingming didn't notice and continued to advance.

When the two were about ten yards apart,

Liu Jianfeng's eyes narrowed.

Boom!

In an instant, he was like a bolt of lightning, swooping down from above the alley. Xu Jingming looked up and saw a sword light coming towards him.

The moment Xu Jingming looked up, his right hand instinctively swept the spear upwards in a *beng* (崩, snapping/flicking) motion to deflect the attack.

The spear shadows were blurred, and the spear was terrifyingly fast!

Clang.

The incoming sword light twisted, striking Xu Jingming's spear, and using the force of the rebound, the small, monkey-like figure stepped on the alley wall and leaped to the top of the alley, disappearing.

The attack failed, and he had already fled.

"Damn!" Xu Jingming had a cold sweat on his forehead. "There wasn't any sound at all. Only when he attacked and stirred up the air did I feel something. If I'd been a fraction of a second slower, I'd be dead."

Before, whether it was sparring in the training hall or the ranking matches, the opponents were virtual.

This was Xu Jingming's first time fighting a real expert in the virtual world.

As for the martial arts competition in reality, it was a fair one-on-one fight in the arena! It was also the first time Xu Jingming had experienced being assassinated by an expert.

Walking on the edge of life and death made Xu Jingming's scalp tingle. "Fortunately, I often practice Shadowless Thrust, so my instantaneous burst of strength was fast enough to escape."

In the distance,

the small old man, Liu Jianfeng, had a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Not bad, little guy. I launched a sneak attack from within ten yards, and he was actually able to react."

...

This first clash between god-level experts instantly caused the Xia country's official livestream to erupt.

"Beautiful!" Huang Yong exclaimed.

"The assassination was beautiful, and the defense was also beautiful!" Qin Yiwen's eyes were also shining.

Liu Xin waved his hand and, in the 'high altitude' area of the livestream combat space, began to replay the previous exchange in slow motion.

"Look, when Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng was hiding, he was like a dead tree, without any movement. Xu Jingming didn't notice anything. When he got close, Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng struck," Huang Yong pointed to the screen.

In the slow-motion scene, Liu Jianfeng's pounce made him look like a sword being thrust out.

"Xu Jingming only noticed when he attacked," Huang Yong pointed to the screen. "At the moment he looked up, the tip of Liu Jianfeng's sword was only about three yards away from him. It was too close. At the speed of that sword, it would have hit Xu Jingming in about 0.06 seconds."

"Although human reaction times have become shorter after practicing evolution methods," Huang Yong said, "body movements still take time. Look closely, Xu Jingming is holding the spear with one hand, his body is exerting force, and the spear is snapping upwards so fast that the spear shadows are blurred. This is an instantaneous burst of *cunjin* (寸劲, short-range power)! As fast as lightning! Even so, it was too late to block the sword. His spear was directly aimed at Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng's body."

"Yes," Qin Yiwen said, "If Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng had continued to dive, the spear would have pierced his body first! Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng changed his move extremely quickly, and the sword light had already come down. That change of sword light... was also as fast as lightning. Everyone says the sword is fast! But to be this fast is really remarkable. He struck the shaft of the spear and instantly used the rebounding force to touch the wall and escape."

Qin Yiwen praised, "From the attack to the escape and disappearance, the whole process took 0.68 seconds, less than a second! It's simply too wonderful! The world martial arts competitions of the past have never had such a precise exchange!"

"We must admit that Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng is truly terrifying! Xu Jingming's spear technique is also terrifying. He deserves to be called the Spear Demon. The old and the young have shown us a true peak visual feast!" Huang Yong praised endlessly. The more one is in the martial arts and fighting circle, the more one is intoxicated by such exchanges. Isn't this a hundred or a thousand times more exciting than any movie?

In the livestream audience seats, the viewers were also boiling.

"Is that something a human can do?"

"If I were Xu Jingming, I wouldn't even notice it, right? Even if I looked up and saw it, I wouldn't have time to strike with the spear, right?"

"How can the spear strike be so fast in just an instant?"

"Let me popularize a common knowledge for you: Spear Demon Xu Jingming's globally renowned ultimate move is called 'Shadowless Thrust', and he is famous for his fast spear strikes."

"Xu Jingming's spear strike is fast, but Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng's change of move is also fast. He changed his move the moment he saw Xu Jingming's spear strike."

"The exchange between the two sides is really awesome."

"From Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng's assassination to his escape and disappearance, it only took 0.68 seconds! Is that a human?"

"That's a god!"

"Is this what a god-level battle is like?"

"Mom and Dad, I'm scared!"

In the livestream's comment section, countless messages were constantly scrolling.

The host, Liu Xin, was also excited. "This is a god-level battle, and this is only the first exchange in this god-level battle."

The number of viewers in the livestream was also rapidly increasing, now reaching 500 million, which was an incredible number of viewers.

"Beautiful."

"Beautiful spear technique."

Old Mr. Xu Guishun, Xu Hong and his wife, Li Miaomiao, and the others were all holding their breaths nervously before, but they became excited after the exchange ended. Listening to the commentary from the two national team coaches made them even more excited.

"Jingming's spear technique is really beautiful. My eyes have learned it, but my hands can't," Old Mr. Xu Guishun sighed.

"One assassination was beautiful, and the other's counterattack was beautiful. I taught Jingming how to exert *cunjin*, but now I'm not as good as him," Xu Hong exclaimed with a smile. "How many people in the world can practice *cunjin* to this level? My son is awesome!"

Li Miaomiao's eyes were also shining. "So amazing." She practiced swordsmanship, and she felt that Old Mr. Liu Jianfeng's swordsmanship was even more terrifying than the national team expert Cong Yao, but her man still forced that old man to retreat.

Li Chen'an and his wife also looked at their prospective son-in-law's battle scene and nodded in satisfaction, their smiles becoming even brighter.

******

In a drizzling town,

Archer Wang Yi was half-squatting on the roof of a restaurant, carefully observing. This restaurant was not the tallest building, but the view was already very good. The angle between the roofs in front and behind the restaurant allowed her to hide.

"I'm here," Xu Jingming said in the team voice chat after arriving at the back of the restaurant.

"I'm watching the front street of the restaurant," Wu Sai said, hiding in a residential house opposite the restaurant, able to monitor a large area of the front street of the restaurant.

"Jingming and Wu Sai, you two protect our archer first. I'll be there soon," Panda Zhang Qian said in the team voice chat. "I'm fat and walk a little slower, please forgive me."

"I'm patrolling within 200 meters of the archer," Grandmaster of Twin Blades Dong Xu was also silently patrolling. Just then, a nimble figure flashed across the roof not far away. Grandmaster of Twin Blades Dong Xu saw the other party and immediately transmitted to the team, "I've discovered the Miao Saber Heroine Lian Shuang!"