The King's Avatar

“Yup, you’re dirtier than me,” Du Ming unexpectedly replied back to Fang Rui immediately. He seemed quite eager and quite happy to acknowledge it.

“Fuck! You can’t lose, even if it’s in being dirty!” Lu Boyuan jumped out of his seat. He had been feeling rather unhappy because of his defeat in the group arena. Just when he was feeling particularly sad, he saw Du Ming admitting that he couldn’t compare to his opponent and couldn’t bear it. As for what was being compared, that wasn’t the point.

“Um… well…” Fang Minghua coughed.

“From the way Tang Rou plays, I don’t think she’s very appreciative of people who play dirty,” Jiang Botao said.

“Fang Rui hit him right where it hurts!” Fang Minghua said.

“That’s why he immediately made things clear,” Jiang Botao said.

“If that’s all he’s concerned about, how is he going to win?” Lu Boyuan was very dissatisfied with how Du Ming was letting his emotions affect the match, especially in one as crucial as the finals.

“Don’t worry,” Jiang Botao patted Lu Bouyan’s back, “He’s very focused right now. Even if he’s thinking of Tang Rou, all that will be on his mind is to play his very best. Have trust in him!”

Lu Boyuan still wanted to say something, but when he saw a new development happening on stage, he was able to restrain himself.

After Du Ming replied back to Fang Rui, he immediately counterattacked. There was no dirtiness, only righteousness. He turned to face Boundless Sea, Downwind Sword Slash!

Sword light flew out. Moon Luring Frost had just crashed into a wall after getting hit by Dragon Wave. His entire body was shaking, making it very difficult for him to attack accurately. Even so, Du Ming let out an attack. The Downwind Sword Slash collided with Boundless Sea’s qi.

Blade Masters dealt physical damage, while Qi Masters qi dealt magic damage. Physical against magical. It was much harder to calculate which one had higher priority. Boundless Sea had fired a Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow, a Qi Master Awakening skill. Its might didn’t need to be said. On the other hand, Downwind Sword Slash was a Blade Master skill with very high priority. When the two skills collided, there was no interaction between them. The Downwind Sword Slash moved right past the qi, striking Boundless Sea. The Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow continued its journey forward, hitting Moon Luring Frost.

Hit!

Moon Luring Frost was hit again. Fang Rui had accounted for how far Moon Luring Frost would bounce back after crashing into the stalagmite. His attack had been extremely precise.

However, Fang Rui hadn’t thought that Du Ming would send out an attack of his own in these circumstances. It was a Downwind Sword Slash, too. Unfortunately, Du Ming was just a bit too slow.

Because Moon Luring Frost had been hit by Dragon Wave. His attack speed and attack power had been reduced. As a result, despite beautifully executing the Downwind Sword Slash, it wasn’t as powerful nor as fast as it should have been.

Even so, it wouldn’t be easy for Boundless Sea to dodge it. The execution from Du Ming had been too on point. Fang Rui wouldn’t be able to avoid it unless he used a skill. As a result, instead of dodging, he blocked!

Fang Rui was able to respond in time due to the attack’s slowed speed. Boundless Sea pushed out with his palms. Qi gathered in front of him and then quickly enlarged, forming a Qi Wave Shield.

Pai!

Qi Wave Shield wasn’t a material object. However, when the Downwind Sword Slash hit it, the collision still made a sound. The immaterial Qi Wave Shield was like a material object, and it shattered just like one.

He had blocked it, but Fang Rui still felt a bit of lingering fear from the attack. The Downwind Sword Slash had been slowed because of the Dragon Wave, which gave him enough time to form a Qi Wave Shield. The Downwind Sword Slash had been less powerful as well, which made it just weak enough for his Qi Wave Shield to resist it. If the Downwind Sword Slash had been faster or stronger, Boundless Sea would have taken a huge blow.

Although Boundless Sea was able to block the attack, because he had to deal with it, he wasn’t able to continue his combo on Moon Luring Frost. As a result, one Moon Luring Frost recovered from the strike from Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow, he used Triple Slash to close in onto Boundless Sea.

Qi Masters had close-ranged capabilities, but close combat wasn’t their specialty. Against a Blade Master, who specialized at close combat, most Qi Masters would choose to run away.

But Fang Rui was a dirty Qi Master. He seemed to be the type of person who would avoid these sorts of disadvantaged situations, yet he made a surprising move.

Spiral Qi Kill!

Boundless Sea didn’t retreat. He stood his ground and let out a Spiral Qi Kill!

The spiralling qi instantly enveloped a large area in front of Boundless Sea. Du Ming didn’t go into it. He just happened to be on his third slash of his Triple Slash, so he changed directions and slid past the Spiral Qi Kill. Without pause, he slashed with his sword, using the fastest Blade Master attack possible, the Level 75 skill, Meteor Form!

But this time, before the Meteor Form arrived, it lost its radiance. Moon Luring Frost’s right hand was caught by Boundless Sea’s left hand.

Empty Handed Blade Block!

It wasn’t a Qi Master skill. This was the skill Fang Rui had chosen to put on his weapon.

Every player would take advantage of the extra skill that they had. Because not only was it another tool, it was an unknown to the opponent. When used correctly, its first usage in a fight would always shine. Ye Xiu was able to take advantage of this principle almost limitlessly because of his unspecialized character and his special weapon. He could use a total of 12 different skills for the first time…

Other classes were different. Everyone only had one opportunity, and because the range of possibilities was much smaller compared to an unspecialized, the opponent could sometimes guess what it was. It wasn’t the case today though. Su Mucheng’s Electronic Eye and Lu Boyuan’s Cloud Grasping Fist had been used to great effect on their first use. Su Mucheng had used Electronic Eye to finish off Jiang Botao effortlessly. Lu Boyuan had used Cloud Grasping Fist to successfully close in on Dancing Rain, giving himself the upper hand at the start. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to convert that advantage into a win.

Now, Fang Rui had chosen Empty-Handed Blade Block, and it too was put to great effect. Fang Rui had predicted that Du Ming would easily dodge his Spiral Qi Kill and had used the Empty-Handed Blade Block in advance, which was how he had been able to block Meteor Form, the Blade Master’s fastest attack.

It was a dismantle skill. Block and then throw. Even if it was only level one, this basic structure would always exist. Boundless Sea blocked the attack and then hit Moon Luring Frost’s stomach.

If this skill was used aggressively enough, the throw would send the opponent flying back. However, Boundless Sea had punched very softly. Moon Luring Frost didn’t move an inch after taking the punch. However, Du Ming’s expression had already changed. Fang Rui had given up on the explosiveness of the throw to minimize the throw effect, so he could follow up with his own class’s offensive moves.

Du Ming had no way of dodging because with the “throw”, Boundless Sea’s hand was already touching his stomach. The difference between Qi Masters and other classes when they attacked was that Qi Masters didn’t need to make any arm or wrist movements to produce a force. Their attacks relied mainly on qi, which flowed from their inner body. Since his hand was already on Moon Luring Frost, he could immediately attack. The qi quickly traveled from his body to his hands far faster than Moon Luring Frost could swing his arms!

Pulse Break: Break Intelligence!

Break Intelligence lowered the opponent’s Intelligence stat, which reduced the opponent’s magic attack power and magic resistance. Qi Masters dealt magic damage. Thus, the purpose of this skill was to drastically lower Moon Luring Frost’s weak magic resistance even further so he could maximize his DPS towards him.

Once the Pulse Break went into effect, the real offense began. It started with a gentle Cloud Pushing Palm, followed by a Spiral Qi Rush. The combo was a very standard one. Not a bit of dirtiness could be seen. For the final blow, he ended with Qigong Blast!

After a standard combo, he finished perfectly with a Level 75 skill. Fang Rui didn’t do anything new with his comboing. He ended it with a reliable Qigong Blast, pouring qi into Moon Luring Frost. The light armor worn by Moon Luring Frost trembled from the violent qi. As his body flew back, blood spurt out from Moon Luring Frost’s mouth.

“Admit it, you can’t beat me not just in dirtiness!” Fang Rui taunted arrogantly. His attacks had been extremely efficient. Apart from the Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow that missed, all of his other attacks had landed on Moon Luring Frost. All of it had taken place within one or two exchanges, yet Moon Luring Frost had already lost 54% of his health. He only had 34% remaining.

As for his Boundless Sea?

Fang Rui’s Boundless Sea hadn’t lost any health. He was at a perfect 100% health.

The entire stadium was dead silent.

That shameless and despicable bastard, who just sat there behind a stalagmite in the beginning, was somehow dominating Du Ming, who was playing incredible today? Du Ming had shown that he was in amazing form during his match against Su Mucheng. No… even in this match, that Downwind Sword Slash showed how well he was playing. Even so, Fang Rui was completely overwhelming him.

Moon Luring Frost climbed onto his feet after getting blown back by the Qigong Blast and immediately counterattacked. A trace of blood still hung from his mouth due to the damage from the qi.

Isn’t he being too impatient?

Has he lost his cool?

It was hard not to think these thoughts seeing Du Ming’s impatience. However, Fang Rui felt a shiver down his spine. He knew best that Du Ming immediately counterattacking was the biggest threat to him right now.

This bastard! He really is playing well today. Fang Rui couldn’t help but admit it.