Chapter 188: Trending: Not a Single Drop Left! - 2

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Lei Shan smirked coldly. Like a bolt of lightning, he adjusted his trajectory twice in quick succession, maintaining his charge without losing momentum. He shifted his path in perfect sync with Shixing's movement—his target remained unchanged.

Seeing this, Shixing's thrusters roared once more, and a flight module unfolded behind him, propelling him into the air.

This was the first time he had taken to the skies in this fight.

The main reason he had avoided airborne combat was that Feiyan Sect's Soul Masters all had flying-type Martial Souls. If he also fought in the air, it wouldn't give him much of an advantage.

In fact, it would likely waste even more soul power.

After all, moving across the flat arena floor and maintaining flight in open space were entirely different in terms of energy consumption. Keeping his flight module running at high intensity at all times simply wasn't efficient.

Yet Lei Shan responded in the same way.

Like a streak of lightning, he changed direction twice again and shot into the air, still on a direct collision course with Shixing.

Shixing could only sigh internally.

This Lei Shan… really is a pain to deal with.

In just the blink of an eye, they had both changed direction twice. At this point, there was no time left to dodge.

Shixing let out a sigh.

This was originally meant to be his trump card.

Shixing's soul power erupted as the various components of his battle armor activated, revealing numerous built-in thrusters.

With propulsion systems embedded across his entire body, he moved fluidly as if his battle armor itself were guiding him through a series of high-difficulty maneuvers.

Of course, his own coordination played a crucial role.

It was evident that he had trained extensively with this ability.

Lei Shan's attack landed squarely on Shixing.

However, thanks to the thrusters on his battle armor, he didn't get sent flying in a straight line. Instead, he redirected the force, shifting sideways midair.

As he was knocked back, he continuously adjusted his trajectory, and in the end, he still managed to land firmly on the arena.

The moment he touched down, Shixing retrieved two small energy-restoring bottles from his storage soul tool and directly slotted them into the belt of his battle armor.

His soul power began to recover automatically.

Of course, this method was much slower than actively absorbing soul power, but in the midst of battle, it was no less effective than a support-type soul skill for energy restoration.

Among Xiao Ping's trio, Shixing's combat system was the most eclectic, and his strategic thinking was far more flexible. While most of his battle armor was designed to enhance agility, he hadn't neglected sustainability either.

After all, soul engineers were particularly vulnerable to endurance issues.

"This is bad—so he can do that too?!"

Lei Shan hadn't expected Shixing's battle armor to possess such a capability.

He had originally envisioned a scenario where Shixing would have to juggle combat while manually absorbing energy from the bottles, which would undoubtedly hinder his movements. If that had been the case, Lei Shan would have had a real chance of eliminating him by capitalizing on that moment of distraction.

But unexpectedly, Shixing's battle armor had completely circumvented that weakness.

The audience erupted in astonishment.

Shixing's thrusters roared to life again as he retreated toward the center of the arena.

Having witnessed Lei Shan's explosive power and nimble footwork, he was now wary of staying near the arena's edge.

Otherwise, a single mistake could send him tumbling off the stage.

The two clashed for three more exchanges.

Shixing swapped out the energy-restoring bottles on his belt.

Though his soul power was still depleting as the battle raged on, the rate of consumption had noticeably slowed.

Once again, the match had turned into a war of attrition.

"Huff… huff…"

Shixing panted heavily, glancing at Lei Shan, who lay sprawled on the ground. He then turned to the referee and asked, "That's my win, right?"

"Sun Moon Royal Battle Team, victory!"

A four-win streak.

Shixing had secured his fourth consecutive victory through sheer endurance.

His ability to sustain himself for so long was nothing short of absurd. The most astonishing part? His battle armor wasn't even specialized for endurance—it was designed primarily for agility.

In the audience, Zhou Xinghao watched Shixing with a thoughtful expression.

"Not a bad idea… Why didn't I think of that?"

As a heavy artillery specialist, agility wasn't a major concern for him. That meant he could design a belt that held even more energy-restoring bottles, increasing his absorption capacity significantly.

Perhaps it was time to further enhance his battle armor's passive soul power recovery.

Doubling it might be a stretch, but increasing it by fifty percent? That seemed entirely feasible.

"Feiyan Sect, send in your next contestant."

The fifth Feiyan Sect member stepped onto the stage—a petite young woman. She assessed Shixing's condition with a frown and asked, "Are you sure you want to keep going?"

Despite the brief break between matches, during which he had rapidly absorbed soul power from the bottles, Shixing had only recovered about a third of his energy. Moreover, his repeated clashes with Lei Shan had taken a toll on his stamina.

"For you guys? More than enough." Shixing smirked.

The petite girl bristled.

"How arrogant!"

She already disliked him for taking down four of her teammates in a row. She had only asked out of concern for his pride, hoping he would step down before suffering an embarrassing defeat.

Now, she had no intention of showing mercy.

Xueyu let out a cold snort and immediately released her martial soul.

Icebird Martial Soul.

More importantly, her soul power fluctuations were even stronger than Lei Shan's. Though she still had the optimal configuration of two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring, she was clearly a high-rank Soul King.

If I have to go through another battle like this…

Shixing felt like Feiyan Sect was wringing him dry.

 Offstage.

Su Yu observed Shixing's condition with a hint of sympathy.

Feiyan Sect had actually forced three consecutive attrition battles—even he hadn't expected that.

Still, with Shixing's endurance, he should be able to pull off a one-versus-seven.

The only problem? It was going to be absolute hell.

What was supposed to be a performance had turned into a real struggle.

Shixing truly looked like he was being drained dry.

"Man, this is brutal." Xiao Ping sighed without thinking.

Su Yu shot him a look of surprise.

Why are you sighing?

Your endurance is even worse than Shixing's.

Under Su Yu's gaze, Xiao Ping suddenly realized the issue. His heart skipped a beat.

 Question: What's the hardest part of a one-versus-seven?

In the past, Su Yu might have answered "raw strength."

But after watching this match, he finally understood: the hardest part is endurance.

If your strength was overwhelming, the enemy would surrender before you even had to fight all seven.

But if you couldn't end things in a single strike, then soul power endurance became the most critical factor.

Back then, Su Yu never had to worry about this.

Now, Xiao Ping found himself deep in thought.

Can I still modify my battle armor in time?

…Probably not.

 Ten minutes later.

Shixing had been drained once again, barely standing, looking completely exhausted.

His soul power was emptied.

"I swear, I've got nothing left!"

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(End of Chapter)