【The Match Will Begin in Thirty Seconds】

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye. As the system voice rang out, the "Lieutenant Match" between [Jianghu] and [Hell Front] entered the preparation stage.

On [Jianghu]'s side, the one entering the arena was [Wu Daoke]; this big shot, who had been mentioned from Chapter 101 onwards and always managed to appear on various leaderboards... was the second-in-command of the [Jianghu] studio. He was a top expert known as one of the "Dao Jian Xiao" (Knife, Sword, and Laughter) alongside [Xiao Wen Cangtian] and [Kuang Zong Jianying], and also a founding member of the studio. Just based on his concise, powerful, and distinctive ID, as well as his persistent presence... he was enough to be considered the "most familiar stranger" in this book.

As for [Hell Front]'s side, as you all probably guessed, [Xu Huai Shang], who had maintained a "perfect attendance" record so far, unsurprisingly appeared in the lineup for the first three matches.

Throughout the eleven rounds of S3 so far, Goddess Xu had participated in the "Lieutenant Match" the most, and she had won all of those matches without fail.

It could be said that, at this stage, Feng Bujue's "special attention" to her had achieved results beyond expectations—whether in terms of appearances or actual performance, even if [Hell Front] as a "team" ultimately failed to win the championship, Xu Huai Shang's "personal" performance was enough to make her the "MVP" in the eyes of the players. A professional player who could maintain such exposure and competitive level in a non-studio team would naturally receive a contract that was no worse than what [Hong Ying] offered.

[Five... Four...]

The countdown began, and Wu Daoke and Xu Huai Shang still stood in place, quietly waiting for the barrier to disappear.

Whether as players of the same type or as experts of the same level... they had no reason to actively distance themselves from each other.

The dao (saber) is the courage of all weapons, and the contest between dao users values bravery above all else.

Neither was willing to take the first step back.

Neither would show the slightest weakness in momentum.

[...Fight!]

The moment the match began, both of them remained motionless, but something had already collided in the air.

It was dao intent, murderous intent, and energy...

Because both of them had reached a point of perfection in their control of energy, the contest... had already begun before they drew their daos.

"Why didn't you use 'Tuoli' (Energy Drain) to strike at me?" After a few seconds, Wu Daoke spoke first. "If you had launched that move the moment the barrier disappeared, I would only have a 50% chance of being able to block your dao."

He was telling the truth.

Sometimes, telling the truth is the best provocation.

"In other words..." Xu Huai Shang replied calmly, "in that instant, you believed you had a 50% chance of killing me."

"You could also say that," Wu Daoke said. "Of course, I'm not saying that to shout 'I'm stronger than you,' because relatively... in that instant, you also had a 50% chance of instantly killing me."

"Hmm..." Xu Huai Shang thought for a moment and continued, "It seems you also understand... the contest between you and me is destined to require only one move."

"Heh..." Wu Daoke smiled. He didn't comment on her words but instead said, "You still haven't answered my question."

Hearing this, Xu Huai Shang took a deep breath and then said, "There's no need to use 'Tuoli'."

"Oh?" Wu Daoke asked doubtfully, "What do you mean by that?"

"'Tuoli' is just a technique to pursue speed and power... Dealing with you, there's no point in using these 'material' means," Xu Huai Shang replied.

"So, you're now preparing to use some kind of 'metaphysical' means to determine the outcome with me?" Wu Daoke retorted.

"Heh..." At this moment, Xu Huai Shang also smiled.

Her smile was beautiful, beautiful beyond compare. Just one glance could make people infatuated and mesmerized.

However, Wu Daoke only felt a trace of coldness from this smile.

A moment later, Xu Huai Shang withdrew her smile and then asked Wu Daoke a question.

A very dangerous question...

"Where is your dao?"

To some players, this sentence sounded familiar. For example... Kuang Zong Jianying and Cai Bupa Ne, who were watching the match in the spectator space at this moment, immediately remembered that Lin Yan seemed to have asked He Yang Xinci a similar question in Linlu Town.

"This... could it be..." Jian Shao's cold sweat immediately broke out.

"No, no... maybe it's just a bluff." Although Bupa tried to analyze it calmly, her tone showed that she wasn't very confident.

"Dao-ge (Dao Brother) hasn't been to the Linlu Town scenario, and that wasn't a match at all, there's no recording..." Jian Shao continued, "There's no reason for Xu Huai Shang to use the words that 'Yan Wang' said to He Yang Xinci to bluff, right?"

"Hmm..." Bupa pondered as she thought, "Now that you mention it..."

As they were talking, Wu Daoke on the field also replied after some thought, "My dao..." As he spoke, he clenched his left fist, bent his elbow, and gently tapped his chest, "...is here."

"Hey—" When his voice fell, Jian Shao and Bupa both exclaimed in the spectator space, "Don't say those lines!"

"Oh." Two seconds later, Xu Huai Shang responded with an expression that was slightly disappointed but not surprised, and then... actually didn't say anything else.

Wu Daoke certainly couldn't accept this. How could she remain silent about her own state after probing her opponent's state?

"Then..." Wu Daoke quickly asked, "...where is your dao?"

"Don't!" Hearing this sentence, Jian Shao jumped up and down anxiously in the spectator space, "Why are you asking her that! What's so good about asking that!"

Unfortunately, his words couldn't reach the field, and... Xu Huai Shang had already begun to answer.

"My dao..." Goddess Xu said, raising her beautiful, fair chin slightly and gesturing towards Wu Daoke's chest, "...is also there with you."

"Alright! Stop there!" Jian Shao roared in the spectator space, "Don't say..."

"You... what did you say?" Wu Daoke on the field once again said the line that Jian Shao didn't want him to say.

"Whether it's the dao in your hand or the dao in your heart..." Xu Huai Shang's words were also well-rehearsed, "You think it's yours, but in reality... it's not."

"Ho~" Wu Daoke was a little angry, mainly because he couldn't quite understand what the other party was talking about, "Then it can't be yours, can it?"

"Did you two rehearse this!" In the same second, Jian Shao banged on the transparent force field in front of him and complained loudly in the spectator space, "Speak properly! Stop playing the wuxia (martial hero) style! People are going to die!"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you." On the field, Xu Huai Shang continued, "Make your move. When you lose... you'll understand."

"Hmph..." Wu Daoke snorted coldly, "Mystifying..." He gave such an evaluation and continued, "I will make my move without you telling me."

Dao-ge's character and style were naturally much better than He Yang Xinci's. He didn't launch a sneak attack halfway through his words; he finished the entire sentence and waited a few seconds before making his move.

Instantly, dao light appeared, and blood shadows bloomed.

The wind urged the wild sand, and the qi controlled the extreme dao.

A shocking decision, a moment of life and death.

The victory or defeat of two top dao users indeed didn't require a second move.

Under similar combat styles, the gap would instead appear extremely obvious and insurmountable.

As blood sprinkled in the wind, Wu Daoke smiled again. This time, he smiled heroically, but also bitterly.

"Heh... is this the 'metaphysical' dao technique..." Wu Daoke said with a smile, "I even used the words 'Wu Dao' (No Dao) in my name, but in reality, I seem to have completely misunderstood some things..."

As he spoke, Xu Huai Shang had already turned around and looked at her opponent, who had passed by her: "That's just how it is..."

Until this moment, her hands were still very clean, and the twin daos at her waist seemed to have never been drawn... No one knew how she had injured Wu Daoke, and no one saw it.

"If you weren't a dao user, this might have been a very difficult battle for me." Before her opponent turned into light and disappeared, Xu Huai Shang said as if summarizing, "Unfortunately... Precisely because we are in the same field, I knew from the moment you stood in front of me... that I was destined to win."