Chapter 380: Fierce Battle in the Second Half |
“Who would’ve thought a mere sophomore could throw the whole situation into chaos like this?”
Watching the battlefield spiral out of control, Ma Xuan knew the worst had already arrived.
Xiao Qingxuan and Zhang Yu alone were enough to tear the construction site apart.
If he moved to stop the two, then Shi Huaiyu—freed from his restraint—would break through with her team in no time.
If a full-scale battle broke out openly right on the construction site, they might never get the bunker built.
“But there’s no other choice now…”
Ma Xuan recalled the Small Threefold Harmony that had been suppressing Shi Huaiyu from afar. Then he thrust his palm forward—mud and sand exploded beneath his feet like a flash flood, surging toward Zhang Yu and Xiao Qingxuan and hurling them away.
At that moment, Shi Huaiyu seized the opportunity, leading her teammates atop the crashing wave of earth and mud.
Meanwhile, Cong Na and Yang Yan had already fallen back and stood guard before the bunker.
Both sides faced off, their gazes clashing with a crackle of battle intent.
Ma Xuan sighed and said coolly, “Bu Ziran, get out here. We’re all-in on defense now.”
“Ji Susu, you focus solely on building. Just do as much as you can.”
He pressed his palms together, summoning waves of earthen walls that encased the bunker behind him.
In the next second, the battle exploded before the bunker.
Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang charged headlong into Cong Na and Bu Ziran, generating blast after blast of powerful Martial Qi.
Shi Huaiyu hurled waves of earth and sand toward the bunker, only for a thunderous metallic clash to ring out.
“That’s one of the Civil Engineering Seven Absolutes,” Shi Huaiyu explained. “Ground-Hardening—Ma Xuan picked up one more Absolute than I did.”
“With Ground-Hardening, he gives up soft control over the terrain to turn it into rigid defense.”
Ma Xuan stomped, and jagged pillars of rock shot from the ground like steel spears.
At the same time, Ji Yuanshu launched bursts of thunderfire-infused Martial Qi from afar.
Zhang Yu summoned multiple Formless Golems with a thought, blocking the incoming thunderfire.
Then he struck with a mighty fist—waves of Martial Qi blasted toward the wall guarding the bunker.
Bu Ziran countered with Lungmetal Sword Aura from his mouth, but Tian Yang swept in with a storm of wind and sand.
Elsewhere, Xiao Qingxuan’s dragon-shaped Martial Qi howled and crashed wildly against Ma Xuan’s walls.
The entire site shook violently with each clash, as if rocked by consecutive earthquakes.
Though Ma Xuan and the others held back as much as they could, they were too close to the structure—they couldn’t unleash their full strength.
Zhang Yu’s side had no such qualms and kept the pressure on, forcing Ma Xuan’s team to stay on the defensive.
The earthen barriers Ma Xuan raised began to crumble under the assault, revealing glimpses of the bunker with each failed repair.
“A battle breaking out on-site—that’s the worst-case scenario.”
He knew it was too late to change the tide. All he could do now was hang on and salvage as many points as possible.
When the round ended, their bunker’s completion was scored at 42%.
Seeing the result, Bu Ziran glared at Ji Susu. “What the hell happened? We blocked that many attacks and you only got to 42%?”
Ji Susu replied coolly, “The foundation was about to shake apart. Hitting 42% is already decent.”
Ji Yuanshu said, “That’s only because you let them breach the site. I don’t get it—how did you let Zhang Yu mess things up that badly when you had the numbers?”
Bu Ziran frowned and shot him a sideways glance. “What’s your department ranking? You understand competitive combat?”
Ji Yuanshu opened his mouth but had nothing to say.
Ma Xuan let out a breath. “The attackers naturally hold the advantage. There’s no helping it.”
“But the next round is our turn.”
“As attackers, our advantage in overall strength will only grow.”
Ma Xuan looked toward Zhang Yu and the others, voice turning icy. “Next round, I’ll bring their completion score down to zero.”
“Not a single brick left.”
…
Elsewhere, Shi Huaiyu laughed. “Beautiful round.”
She looked at Zhang Yu. “Especially you. If you hadn’t thrown their formation into disarray, we’d never have broken through that easily.”
Zhang Yu smiled. “All I did was stir the pot. I owe it to your support.”
Che Yufei turned to Shi Yunxiang. “How are you holding up?”
Shi Yunxiang looked sadly at his once-pristine Law Husk hands, now covered in deep gashes and dents.
“That Yang Yan guy... he was targeting my new Law Husk on purpose, wasn’t he?”
Che Yufei sighed. “Of course he was. Wanted to make sure you couldn’t hold out.”
“That’s why I never entered these competitions when I was a freshman. Costs too much and I never place anyway.”
Xiao Qingxuan interrupted, “The next round’s going to be rough. Ma Xuan’s attacking.”
Shi Huaiyu nodded. “We have to hold them outside the construction zone.”
“If they break in and go all out, we might not even reach 10%.”
…
A short break later, the second half began.
Ma Xuan looked toward the site. “Wipe them out.”
He planned to use their numbers and superior strength to methodically eliminate the opposition and grind all building materials into dust.
This, to Ma Xuan, was the safest, most efficient, least reversible tactic when you vastly outclass your enemy.
“Follow me. Grind them down.”
Moments later, waves of mud surged up from both sides of the battlefield, colliding like two opposing tsunamis.
Within the swirling mud, the teams clashed.
Through the shared vision of every teammate’s ocular Law Husk, Ma Xuan maintained full control of the battlefield.
He saw Zhang Yu, shrouded in Formless Cloud Qi, charging at Cong Na.
He saw Xiao Qingxuan controlling nine dragon-shaped Martial Qi strands, tearing through the mud to strike at him.
He saw Shi Huaiyu activating Small Threefold Harmony, both dueling him and supporting her teammates.
Finally, Ma Xuan’s gaze landed on Che Yufei.
“Leaving aside Shi Yunxiang, who’s still building, the weakest one left is you.”
“So I’ll start with you.”
Following his orders, Cong Na and the others began focusing their attacks on Che Yufei.
Shi Huaiyu’s team immediately moved to react.
Ma Xuan watched their maneuvering and muttered, “Trying to support Che Yufei?”
“Pointless. You’re outnumbered and outgunned. You’ll only get picked off one by one.”
But then he noticed their formation shift and raised a brow. “Oh? Moving to gang up on Cong Na?”
“Trying to bait us into retreating by forcing a counter-exchange?”
Seeing Shi Huaiyu’s gambit, Ma Xuan simply smirked. Unhurried, he stirred the mud and kept directing his team to stretch the frontline.
As the teams tangled and stretched the battlefield out further and further, Ma Xuan’s eyes suddenly sharpened. “Here it is.”
With a heave, he summoned mud into a massive dome, inverting it like a bowl over the battlefield, then activated Ground-Hardening to reinforce and solidify it.
Inside the dome were Che Yufei, Ma Xuan himself, Yang Yan, Bu Ziran, and Ji Susu—isolated from the rest.
He’d been waiting for this: a moment when he could use Ground-Hardening to divide the field and isolate a target.
Now, with the wall up, Ji Yuanshu and Cong Na would retreat at high speed, avoiding an ambush by the four outside.
As for breaking through the wall…
“Even with all four of them attacking together, it’ll take at least twenty seconds.”
“And twenty seconds…”
He looked at Che Yufei and thought, “Plenty of time to beat this broke bastard to a pulp.”
Of course, death was off-limits in this competition.
So Ma Xuan simply said, “Crush his hands and feet.”
He looked at Che Yufei. “Unless you want your whole body smashed, surrender now.”
It would save them time and Mana.
But Che Yufei just smiled and charged.
Bu Ziran snorted and stepped forward, unleashing wave after wave of Lungmetal Sword Aura.
“A broke bastard at death’s door dares to join a competition?”
The others struck as well, all attacking Che Yufei.
But just as their techniques clashed, Bu Ziran felt something oddly familiar in the Martial Qi he struck.
“You!”
As their combined assault landed, Che Yufei’s body twisted and warped under the pressure—until it revealed Zhang Yu’s face.
Zhang Yu looked at the four and said calmly, “You really thought we wouldn’t notice you telegraphing so hard?”
Ma Xuan frowned. “Shi Huaiyu saw through my target and repositioned ‘Che Yufei’ to bait me? Used the mud to hide their swap…”
Outside the barrier, the “Zhang Yu” standing guard had just had his Formless Cloud Qi disperse—revealing Che Yufei.
They’d both turned off their rankings and Foundation Establishment Fields to hide during battle.
Ma Xuan’s mind raced.
“In the first half, I was too focused on managing Small Threefold Harmony to go all out on Zhang Yu.”
“But now, Small Threefold Harmony is rooted beneath my feet. I can hold the barrier and attack Zhang Yu freely.”
“And Zhang Yu’s not at full strength. He burned Mana and took hits in the first half, and the break was short.”
“So… do we press the mistake and go all in?”
“See if we can break Zhang Yu right here and now?”
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