Chapter 85 - 85 71 Fairness and Bottlenecks

85: Chapter 71: Fairness and Bottlenecks 85: Chapter 71: Fairness and Bottlenecks The afternoon battles were a world apart from those in the morning. “Again.” Lu Ping’an silently approached his opponent, constantly whipping him back with consecutive attacks. Even the sturdiest defense crumbled under the onslaught of his hammer’s relentless strikes. “…Just go away.” The moment the opponent’s weapon got knocked away and their defense shattered, Lu Ping’an had already let go. With a casual flick of his wrist, the forgotten battle ax had claimed another victory. But he didn’t feel the sensation of striking his opponent as they disappeared in a flash of light. At this point in time, as long as they had any lives remaining, getting injured was absolutely unacceptable… No, even with their last life, it was best to avoid injury to prevent being penalized for healing charges. Despite winning, Lu Ping’an didn’t feel at ease, knowing the next match would come quickly. The constant battles were exhausting, especially the ones where they couldn’t afford to get injured and the opponents grew increasingly more powerful. “…They have clearly grown stronger. True combat is indeed the best teacher, and not only for me.” In the morning exchanges, Lu Ping’an had noticed that many of the new candidates’ “weakness” was just temporary. “Inexperienced newbies with no fighting experience are merely chickens. But after a morning of fighting each other, these chickens have evolved into blood-sucking hens. Their movements are no longer stiff, and they show no hesitation in using their abilities, making them harder to deal with.” Most candidates, for various reasons, had come into contact with contamination and awakened their powers. In a peaceful society, they lacked combat experience, and even those with occasional Secret Realm experience had little experience in fighting against other humans. But after persevering all morning, they had fought at least dozens of battles. Having accumulated muscle memory and combat experience, their rigid bodies were no longer sluggish, and their blunt and straightforward use of powers faced harsh restraints from reality. The problem of stopping at the sight of blood was surely solved. Making progress or being eliminated, actual combat was always the best teacher, forcing candidates to integrate their combat capabilities. Lu Ping’an and many veterans simply had a head start on them. With the hardware conditions of the newbies being not much different, every fight became more difficult… Many old hands who had run amok in the morning were rapidly eliminated as the consequences of intelligence leakages and newbies adapting to the battlefield. As for Lu Ping’an, he couldn’t lose, but fighting had become much more tiring. As he walked, Lu Ping’an wrapped bandages around both his hands, where the skin over his knuckles was split open again. The wound was not caused by an attack but merely the result of overusing his hands. This was even after he had deliberately used his “Magic Plants Tentacles,” as the impact and chopping of the two-handed battleaxe were too damaging to his hands. After over a hundred grueling matches, he had sustained many accumulated hidden injuries. Now it was a matter of who would fall first. “…Damn, it’s Tentacle King.” This match seemed to be a bit easier, but when his opponent saw Lu Ping’an, he cursed fate’s injustice… and then ran away. Hearing this, Lu Ping’an sighed helplessly. Was this a good thing? He didn’t know when he had gained a reputation that made others retreat without fighting. He felt that his opponents were becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, but in the eyes of the professors outside, he had made the most significant progress and was undoubtedly among the top ten. In some intelligence booklets, he had even become one of the “Thirty Strongmen You Can Consider To Surrender Upon Meeting,” with the evaluation saying: “Speed: B, Attack Power: A, Attack Speed: S (Extremely Dangerous), suspected to be a Life or Space Talent Ability user. High-frequency and large-scale space attacks are his most dangerous aspects. At the same time, he possesses a powerful self-healing ability, excels in sustained battles and has strong burst power. He has no apparent weaknesses and is adept in all ranges of combat, making him a tough opponent to handle.” Simultaneously, there were some negative reviews. “…Hits too hard, maybe the tentacles don’t know how to control their strength. As of now, it has caused nearly 20 people to pay injury penalties. If you’re certain that you have no chance of winning, you can consider evading the battle.” What Lu Ping’an didn’t know was that the guy who had just vanished in a flash of light hadn’t been on his second life, but his last. To outsiders, the most absurd aspect of Lu Ping’an was his “attack speed.” Generally speaking, the activation of an Abnormal Ability required time and a “ritual.” Higher-grade abilities even demanded a price, such as the “five steps” of the Shrink Land ability. This was also the main reason why low-level professionals mostly used weapons and professional skills rather than Abnormal Abilities… Who would dance before a fight, only to end up with a bruised head? Of course, if that “dance” could bring destruction, then it would be a different story, and all the tactics might revolve around allowing the dancer to “finish the dance.” Low-level Abnormal Abilities not only have a slow activation speed and obvious prelude, but their effects are generally weak. Forcing the use of such abilities in a real fight is like playing FPS games, standing still, and aiming for a big move, which is a surefire way to get killed (uppercut!) “That guy, Tentacle King, has the power of a big move just with his basic attacks and activates them without any warning, fast and vicious, completely unreasonable.” This is the secret of Lu Ping’an’s consecutive victories: his attacks are “too fast.” Unpredictable attacks are hidden under his cloak, and with low consumption that can be almost be ignored… he has become one of the few first-tier professionals among the top ranked fighters. The Meow outside had already laughed herself awake. As it turns out, her “Lu Ping’an score” was really getting more and more valuable. “Come on, Lu Ping’an! Defeat a few more 2-tier fighters!” But the youngster remained unsatisfied, constantly adjusting the position of the space exit, correcting the movement of his tentacles, studying various techniques like whipping and slashing, and killing his way through. [Gained a small amount of exotic weapon (Tentacle) usage experience. Congratulations, Host. Professional skill, All Weapon Specialization has been upgraded!] [All Weapon Specialization (Exotic Weapon specialization direction), current LV6, 86/100.] Lu Ping’an fell silent, withdrawing his slander against Mr. Knight. Indeed, Mr. Knight was doing a great job. All Weapon Specialization, as it can absorb all experience from any weapons, including unarmed combat, shooting, and even driving… ahem, with the collective efforts of the masses, it had been skyrocketing, particularly with the focus on Xue En and Hua Xueyi, the two big All Weapon Specialization holders. It had reached the mid lv5s just a while back, but after a day of killing under Mr. Knight’s BUFF, it was now getting close to the qualitative change of LV7! “A Lv7 professional skill, especially in Weapon Specialization, I’m really looking forward to it…” Having tried Lv12 axe techniques, Lu Ping’an knew what Lv7 meant. At that level, the axe techniques would gain the unique inheritance of a specific school and awaken the sect’s unique characteristic “Resonance.” In simple terms, martial arts would complete their qualitative change in martial arts, awakening supernatural abilities that could be used regularly and with low consumption. To put it even more bluntly, basic attacks would carry lightning, passive attacks would have critical hits, low-level martial arts would become mid-level martial arts, and noobs would be instantly defeated upon meeting. Originally, most professional skills would gradually slow down after reaching Lv4, as they polished their skills to reach the mastery level. Each point of experience gained would become more and more challenging. But the sheer variety of experience types the All Weapon Specialization can absorb, along with significant dividends from each professional, had forcefully pushed it to the threshold of qualitative change. Now, with Mr. Knight’s additional BUFF, the continuous wheel battles were refining further, with the continuous inspiration from the BUFF accumulating quietly to the edge of a qualitative change. Just when it broke through to Lv6 during the battle, Lu Ping’an felt that he had noticeably become stronger. “…Wait, I’ve taken advantage of Mr. Knight again. He won’t let me go out and meet Li Dao’an, will he?” “What are you thinking? Are the benefits you picked up (cheated) the same as the gains you made yourself? On the contrary, the trials in the Knight’s Secret Realm expect to see the constant improvement of warriors, and breakthroughs in battle are actually encouraged.” “As for the permanent blessings… aren’t they already yours? If you’re targeted this time, wouldn’t you be targeted again next time? This is a blessing, not a curse.” Big Meow’s explanation brought relief to Lu Ping’an. He was already scared of “fairness.” “For knights’ trials, fairness is just a rule, not a goal. Gods of war and combat primarily value evolution. And the means and ways of evolution represent the biggest disagreement between Rust Knight and Brother Tu… ” Lu Ping’an didn’t pay too much attention to everything else he heard. As soon as he heard that he wouldn’t be targeted, he relaxed. At last, in the next level where he had won without a fight, he encountered a third-tier opponent. “…Chris, are you sure this isn’t Mr. Knight’s targeted approach?” “Well, it’s probably a test. For warriors at critical bottlenecks, Mr. Knight always sends the most suitable opponent. Strong enemies are the essence of experience. It’s possible Mr. Knight thinks that only a third-tier fighter can give you enough pressure to complete your transformation.” “…Rust Knight! I… nevermind, you win, you’re my Master.” Remembering that he was still in the Knight’s Secret Realm, Lu Ping’an reluctantly held back his “beautiful Eastern words.” But looking at the third-tier strongman in front of him, he silently stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. “… Although I most likely won’t win, let’s give it a try. Ha, who knows if we don’t fight?”