Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Zara smoothly moved between the flexters like a swimming fis.h.!.+

As compared to Chen Mu, she was more familiar with the various skills of the flexters. Even back then, the flexters from sword and s.h.i.+eld sect did not cause much trouble for her. Not to mention that ability-wise, she had now improved significantly.

After experiencing Chen Mu's ruthless bloodthirstiness, the flexters of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect were still dwelling in their shock. Their plummeted morale resulted in a discounted performance. In no time, they panicked when they realized that all their usual combinations were utterly useless against this woman. She seemed to be able to figure out the loopholes of their combinations at a single glance.

The Painted Graphistemma seemed to have turned into the most devious creature in her hand, and harvested the life of its peers mercilessly!

Many members of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect held a military position in the city. The apprentices brought the tactical combinations back to the sect. Their initial intention was merely to help their juniors to earn some merit. Unexpectedly, the flexters of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect quickly realized the usefulness of the tactics. They could utilize the tactical combinations to gain an edge over similarly numbered enemies.

Subsequently, it grew into the trump card of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect. It was a requirement for all the newly recruited flexters to learn the basic tactical combinations. After a few years of training, they would achieve tacit coordination with the other members, enabling them to defeat their enemies with similar headcounts. This was a crucial factor for the rapid growth of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect.

Due to the strength of their current enemy, the flexters of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect showcased their most mastered skill without much deliberation. However, they did not foresee that their trump card seemed to have entirely lost its effectiveness. They fell into despair! They could not comprehend all this.

Little did they know that Zara had survived at the menacing Hundred Depths alongside Chen Mu. They had tried all the formulae to survival, which inevitably included, tactics, the most efficient way to overcome the strong by the weak! Coincidentally, this was part of Chen Mu's expertise. As time went by, Zara too had grown familiar with various tactics.

For Zara, the combinations that the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect performed did not appear to be considerably praiseworthy.

She toyed with the mysterious vine in her hands. Its accuracy and efficiency were outrageous. In a blink of an eye, many of the flexters of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect were knocked out. There was only a small number of them amongst the supine flexters that were killed by the Painted Graphistemma. The rest of them were eliminated by the thin dark golden vine that was initially tied around her wrist.

The four Soft Golden Vines, which were glistening dark gold, were merely as thick as a bracelet and approximately seven or eight centimeters long. They traveled in between of the flexters eerily and rapidly like four tiny dark golden snakes. The next second, rays of golden light erupted together with a shower of fresh blood!

According to Chen Mu's observation, the internal structure of the Soft Golden Vine possessed a pattern that would allow it to fly naturally. Never in his life had he seen this pattern before. The efficiency of the pattern towards the usage of energy was far better than any pattern found in the cards of the Heavenly Federation. It was able to generate a propulsive force for flying and acted much better than jet stream cards. By far, this was the most advanced pattern Chen Mu had ever seen in the flying field.

The Soft Golden Vine was the best remote weapon for flexters who majored in vine weapons. Aside from the four Soft Golden Vines, there were eight other thinner vines of different distinctive colors. More precisely, they should be called as silk instead of vines. The colored silk was obtained from the tail of the Spotted Peac.o.c.k and was extremely thin. Typically, Zara would tie them around the knuckles of all her fingers except for her thumb.

The Spotted Peac.o.c.k was a dangerous creature that required strenuous effort to deal with. Chen Mu and Zara were both simultaneously injured when they tried to hunt the Spotted Peac.o.c.k. Its most fatal weapon was the colorful thin silk that grew on its tail. Every color represented a different natural pattern and caused the silk to carry different characteristics.

The red silk could form an energy layer with extremely high temperatures. It could even pierce through a four-star Power s.h.i.+eld easily.

Green colored silk, on the other hand, contained uncountable and tiny poison glands that were arranged tightly. The poison glands were able to release a highly condensed poisonous gas.

The white colored silk resembled a thin but strong electric eel. Even Chen Mu was astounded by the powerful electricity that was generated.

With four Soft Golden Vines, eight silk from the tail of Spotted Peac.o.c.k, with an additional Painted Graphistemma, the battlefield had turned into a highly efficient slaughterhouse!

Mose and Hazak entered the arena, leading a group of guards. However, no one noticed Zara. All their gazes were attracted and fixed intently on Chen Mu and the old man. The widened eyes of the old man were beaming with ferocity, and his hair was spiked. But his hands were moving incredibly slow. It was as though the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld in his hand weighed a thousand tonnes and would take all his efforts to budge it!

He let out a loud and frightening cry, “Charge!”

The Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld, which was coated in a jade green awn, flew towards Chen Mu at a steady speed.

It was moving exceptionally slow as if it was a crawling tortoise. An intense sense of danger flashed across Chen Mu's mind. Zara, who was engaged in the fight, detected the sudden surge of danger and could not help but to throw a glimpse towards Chen Mu.

State Zero was activated. Every single detail was being a.n.a.lyzed as a profusion of faint thin lines were drawn across them. The sense of danger showed no sign of subsiding. Instead, it grew more and more intense! As never before, Chen Mu wore a grave expression!

He was involved in a variety of battles almost every day for the past two years. Sometimes he was triumphant, sometimes he was left with no choice but to run away, and sometimes, he didn't even have the chance to escape. Having strived through multiple disastrous events and survived, Chen Mu's sensitivity towards danger had achieved a new high. Being irritated by the intense sense of danger, his mind was focused, and his a.n.a.lysis skill was raised to the utmost under State Zero.

Chen Mu stared at the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld that was slowly getting closer to him and did not budge at all.

A faint noise slowly wafted through the atmosphere. The noise increased significantly, and the buzzing noise was bothering everyone's ears. The noise rang louder, and within a few seconds, the buzzing sound echoed clearly throughout the whole arena. This was the sound of the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld, and the volume was still increasing!

The dust and gravel on the ground were gradually elevated as if an unknown force attracted them. Zara, who was standing under the ghost-faced flower, changed her expression conspicuously! Everything on the arena quaked along with the frequency that was released by the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld.

Zara was no exception. Her muscle and blood were trembling out of her will! She was not the only one who experienced the quake. The face of the sword and s.h.i.+eld sect flexters were painted with fright as they stood still like clay statues. From a closer look, it was apparent that all the muscles and bones on their bodies were quivering unwillingly. They had completely lost control of their bodies!

The expression of all the guards beside Mose changed abruptly. One of them took out a black stick that was strapped on his back. The moment the black stick fell into his hand, it extended and revealed a black cattail. The rest of the guards followed suit and took out their respective weapons to protect Mose.

Hazak's face was solemn. He remained still while he studied the two of them scrupulously.

“Hmph!” Zara snorted out of frustration. The Painted Graphistemma returned to her as it wrapped around her arms, waist, and legs! The uncontrollable trembling had finally subsided, and she heaved a sigh of relief. But the next second, her gaze could not help but fall on Chen Mu.

The Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld continued to fly around the atmosphere, but this time, with no one underestimated it. It acted as the source of the quake, triggering everything around it to tremble along!

Chen Mu could significantly feel the quake even when he was far from the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld. That explained how terrifying the oscillating frequency released was! He was certain that anything that came in contact with the slow-moving green blaze would be annihilated in a blink of an eye. Any part of his body that contacted the green blaze would be completely destroyed, and the tissues would be split into atoms!

But…

All of a sudden, Chen Mu's eyes glistened! He lowered his head and removed the Power Glove on his right hand in a composed manner.

Clank! The Power Glove with the golden tail fell on the floor. At this moment, the buzzing noise was tearing the atmosphere of the arena apart like a storm. Aside from the old man, no one noticed the clunking from the dropping of the Power Glove.

Gammick's face turned pale as he had exerted all his energy! If the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld did not hit Chen Mu, then its oscillating frequency would continue to intensify. Eventually, it would turn the arena into a graveyard. All present life, including himself, would not be able to escape!

Why did he remove the glove? He was extremely puzzled. Is he surrendering?

He looked into Chen Mu's eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. No! His eyes focused as he stared intently at the square box on Chen Mu's wrist!

Just like everyone else, Chen Mu's body was trembling out of his will. He felt slight discomfort, but he had yet to lose control of his own body completely. After inserting the Green Mark, his body had achieved its extremely shocking level of durability. More importantly, he needed to utilize the perception that came with it!

He took a deep breath and gently raised his right hand! An enormous amount of black and white energy beads appeared from nowhere and were slowly elevated into the air. The whole arena was filled with beads!

At this moment, everyone was nervous. Mose and his guards acted as though they were facing the world's strongest enemy. No one had any knowledge about the power of destruction that came with these tiny beads. Hazak, who appeared calm initially, had turned defensive too. With the black and white energy beads floating in the air, the arena now resembled a world filled with a peaceful game of chess.

As the quake intensified, the energy beads were subsequently affected and showed a sign of instability. The power secretly amused Chen Mu. Without further ado, he made his counterattack without any indication of holding back!

All the energy beads flared up synchronously. While everyone was in their defensive mode, they were abruptly startled by the bright flare.

Go! Cage of Thousand Cuts!

Like a cage, the rays that were messily intersecting with each other, covered the bright green blaze from the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld!Despite being very thin, the rays were shockingly sharp. There had not been anything that it failed to cut through! However, when the blinding rays approached the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld, they rebounded! Hundreds of intersecting light rays recoiled in a synchronized manner. Aside from the constant increase of the oscillating frequency, which faced a brief and sudden pause, it did not cause any damage to the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld.

The Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld continued to travel steadily and firmly towards Chen Mu. After a brief pause, the oscillating frequency resumed skyrocketing. Sparks could be seen in the air around the s.h.i.+eld. Gammick felt relieved as he realized that the energy beads could not beat the Lotus Leaf s.h.i.+eld!

Despite being slightly shocked, Chen Mu did not panic. For the past two years, how could it be that there was no improvement in his proficiency in the Bipolar Card?