Chapter 334: Why Did You Provoke Her?

“Are both sides ready? Then let’s begin!”

As the referee gave the command, Guo Li Cheng stepped forward, swinging her blade widely towards her right shoulder and back.

She intended to start with a furious slash!

For Guo Li Cheng, who was right-handed, this was the most natural and fluid way to exert force, thus creating her most powerful cleaving move.

However, the furious slash had a drawback: the movement was too broad and the wind-up too obvious, making it theoretically not difficult to defend against.

“Monk” Hert was also a high-spectacle, high-popularity player skilled in close combat, so he naturally knew how to counter this move.

He stabilized his stance in advance, raising his sword in a high defensive posture, ready to strike at leisure.

However, it was useless.

This sword strike was as fast as lightning and as powerful as a collapsing mountain.

The moment he parried, Hert couldn’t deflect Guo Li Cheng’s attack as he had expected, nor could he follow up with a counterattack.

His sword, along with his arm, was forcefully struck by Guo Li Cheng, severely knocked out of position, dropping from above his head to below his chest, exposing his entire face.

Thud!

Guo Li Cheng didn’t have time for another sword strike, so she immediately used a headbutt.

“Ah!!!”

Hert’s skull had been replaced with titanium alloy, but the nasal cartilage still had abundant nerves and could still perceive pain.

Under the intense pain, his tears flowed uncontrollably.

What a hard head!

What the hell, such great strength!

Hert’s coach was also startled.

The speed and strength displayed in that last blow were definitely at the level of a Level 7 player. Where did this person come from?!

Hert quickly jumped back, escaping the opponent’s attack range. He forcibly suppressed the instinct to close his eyes in pain and carefully observed Guo Li Cheng’s next move.

Ha—

The smile on Guo Li Cheng’s face became even more chilling.

She had already tested the opponent’s “stats.”

Strength and agility are a bit low, little brother.

And he’s afraid of pain, tsk tsk—

“Come—come on! You want to be a hero, don’t you!?”

Hert was actually intimidated by now, but he was a professional player after all. While trying to adjust his state, he shouted to embolden himself.

“I’ll chop you up!!”

He swung five swords in a row, but they were all easily neutralized.

When parrying the last blow, Guo Li Cheng suddenly moved forward with an almost eerie footwork, wrapping her sword blade and crossguard around his, then twisting forcefully, directly disarming Hert. His training sword dropped onto the ring.

Then, she followed up with a powerful elbow strike, hitting Hert’s temple and knocking him to the ground.

Damn it!

In gladiatorial arenas above Level 2 that allow weapons, losing your weapon is roughly equivalent to losing your life.

Precisely because of this, disarming is a technique that is both practical and humiliating!

Hert ignored his injuries and desperately tried to pick up his training sword, but by this point, Guo Li Cheng was no longer a player with “martial virtue.”

Strike while the iron is hot!

She knew very well that her lower body strength was actually even more terrifying than her arm strength.

She rushed up, swung her thigh in a circle, and aimed a purely brute-force soccer kick at Hert’s torso, who was still half-prone on the ground.

A “cannon shot” echoed in the training ground.

Hert made no sound, flying rapidly in a straight parabolic arc, crashing into the octagon cage’s railing like a large sack of flour, then falling lifelessly.

Guo Li Cheng leaped high, pursuing him.

Mid-air, her sword grip had changed from a normal hold to a savage grip, holding the blade near the crossguard and using the end of the hilt as a hammer in reverse.

For a training sword, the hilt was precisely the thinnest part of the outer polymer, the most lethal, and far harder than the blade, with dimensions more conducive to exerting force in close combat.

Bang!

Guo Li Cheng descended from the sky, her knee making intimate contact with Hert’s chin on the ground.

After this solid blow, the opponent completely passed out.

But everything happened too fast. Hert’s coach hadn’t realized his player was finished, and even the referee in the arena didn’t have time to react.

So Guo Li Cheng sat on Hert, expressionlessly wielding the deadly weapon in her hand, delivering heavy, hydraulic hammer-like blows, raining down like a storm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bright red liquid continuously spurted out at high speed.

Strangely, the training ground was extremely quiet at this moment.

Hert’s teammates covered their heads with their hands, his coach stared blankly with his mouth agape, and Dong Xin was secretly filming with his phone.

No one, including the referee, dared to call a stop.

Because they weren’t quite sure if the tormentor in the ring was still in “competition mode.”

Who dares to go up and pull her away?

You go, I’m certainly not going!

From the start of the match until now, less than 30 seconds had passed. Guo Li Cheng hadn’t retreated a single step, completely crushing her opponent.

Weaker creatures must never disturb a powerful predator’s feeding.

This is the law of survival!

In nature, species that don’t understand this principle have their genes ruthlessly eliminated.

“Stop!!”

Suddenly, a loud voice came from above.

“I apologize for his provocation before the fight, please stop.”

Guo Li Cheng looked up and saw a gray-haired middle-aged man, about 50 years old, standing on the second-floor platform.

He was very thin, causing his eye sockets to be deeply sunken and the veins on his forehead to be very prominent, but he didn’t look thin due to malnutrition. Instead, he gave the impression of being very agile, having very disciplined and healthy lifestyle habits, and being very adaptable.

This should be the owner of the venue, Mr. De Lu.

“Miss, please come up. We need to—have a good talk!”

“Alright.”

Guo Li Cheng dropped the training sword, picked up Hert by his hair, pulled his head to her ear, confirmed he still had a breath left, then gently put him down.

Hmm, just like that.

Be elegant, pay attention to your image.

She jumped out of the ring, walked through the silent crowd that automatically parted for her, and headed to the second floor of the training hall, marked “No Rookies.”

Hert’s team didn’t dare to breathe. They went on stage to “collect the body,” held Hert under his armpits, and dragged him off the stage.

At this point, people could clearly see that his titanium alloy forehead was already pitted and his facial frame was distorted.

A titanium alloy skull custom-made for gladiatorial combat had actually been hammered out of shape by a soft, blunt object.

“Please sit! You are Miss Guo Li Cheng, correct?”

In the office, Guo Li Cheng sat like a lady at Mr. De Lu’s desk.

“Here, wipe the blood off your face first—”

Mr. De Lu offered a towel.

“Ah! Thank you, I’m so—”,

“Alas—looking at Hert, this season’s matches are all going to be scrapped.”

Legendary agent and veteran coach De Lu sat down, forcing a difficult smile.

“Miss, you’re really making things difficult for us. Level 6 players are still uncommon here. Originally, if Hert could have completed a season smoothly, he could have brought at least 10 million credit points in revenue to the training hall.”

“I’m sorry.” Guo Li Cheng apologized sincerely, “I will compensate your losses and train and compete in his place.”

The two exchanged a smile, reaching a consensus at light speed.

“Excellent!”

That’s what I was waiting for!

A person who understands!

Mr. De Lu smiled and nodded.

“Having a newcomer skip levels and directly participate in Level 6 gladiatorial events breaks a series of rules—but no event organizer will go against money, so they won’t refuse a mysterious powerhouse, especially one with such an outstanding image as yours. With some promotional hype, I think I can find a way to let you replace Hert and put you into Level 6 gladiatorial matches.”

Guo Li Cheng: “Thank you! I’m glad you think so!”

“But I must warn you, Level 6 unrestricted powered armor matches are very dangerous, and your current state—you have ample talent, but your skills and experience are still insufficient.”

“I know, that’s why I urgently need an excellent coach, and I will train diligently!”

“Hmm.”

De Lu highly approved of Guo Li Cheng’s humble attitude.

And the fighting talent Guo Li Cheng displayed was far more than just “ample.”

In fact, De Lu was constantly trying to suppress the excitement in his heart.

A super champion aura of a Level 7 match surged from her.

He definitely couldn’t be mistaken!

“Then, if you don’t mind, may I have the honor of personally being your agent and coach?”

Don’t refuse, boss! Please don’t refuse me!!

“Of course I don’t mind, please guide me, uncle!”

Yes!

“Please guide me. May I ask one more question, do you have any daily experience using powered armor?”

“Yes, I have practical combat experience.” Guo Li Cheng was not someone too immersed in the pleasure of feigning weakness. She felt that this kind of thing shouldn’t be hidden.

“Very good! But battlefield experience is different from arena experience. Do you have one-on-one close combat experience before? Especially against opponents whose strength gap isn’t too large?”

In De Lu’s opinion, within the Star Union Space, there probably weren’t many mercenaries or adventurers whose strength was “close” to Guo Li Cheng’s.

As long as the strength difference isn’t too vast, it’s fine.

“Yes! My teammate, a mutant three meters four tall and over 800 kilograms, I often spar with him in close combat while wearing powered armor. I win more than I lose, almost seven to three!”

How much does he weigh?!

De Lu was speechless for a moment.

He instinctively wanted to refute that there were no such gigantic mutants, nor any mutants who could fight against powered armor, but looking at Guo Li Cheng’s expression, she was actually serious.

Where the hell do you usually hang out?!

“Then—come train regularly every day! Oh, and you can also introduce your mutant friend to come along. If you can bring him, I’ll waive all your fees.”

It’s not that I don’t believe you, we just want to broaden our horizons.

“No problem! Goodbye! Um—oh, right.”

Guo Li Cheng was about to leave, then turned back.

“Is there anything else?”

“Compared to ‘Enlightened Master’ Kelly, what do you think of my future prospects?”

“Ha, then I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you,” Mr. De Lu showed a somewhat sad smile, “I wasn’t old enough to remember much during my mother’s prime, so I can’t answer your question.”

“Oh, so she was—”

Guo Li Cheng’s emotional intelligence was not low.

She could sense that the other party didn’t want to talk about it, and considering the need to maintain NPC favorability, she didn’t press further, bowing slightly.

“I apologize, I was presumptuous.”

“It’s alright.”

Returning to the first floor, Dong Xin led a large crowd over.

“How was it? Mr. De Lu—what did he say about you?”

“Ample talent, insufficient experience and skill.”

Guo Li Cheng spread her hands.

“That’s it.”

Everyone was extremely shocked to hear this.

Mr. De Lu was not someone who handed out compliments on talent lightly. On average, among every thirty players who trained here, one would be told by Mr. De Lu that they had “some talent.”

And this was already an extremely high evaluation; barring accidents, such a person could at least reach Level 5 matches.

As for the evaluation “ample talent,” it had never been heard before!

In the early morning, the bad kids of Cangyuan all returned to the branch.

“Come on, brothers, how were the results?”

Ye Xing was the first to report good news, claiming that with just three more days of observation, they could definitely replace the two guys responsible for zero element mining.

The other few, following the additional match points they had gleaned from Ding Chui, acted separately. But aside from Guo Li Cheng, whose luck and strength were off the charts, soaring straight to Level 6 matches, most others, such as Dan Ta and Ma Lou, needed to wait a few days before they could play their qualifying matches.

“No big deal.” Ma Lou said, “As long as Guo Li Cheng makes a name for herself, she can use her prestige to form a team and lead us in three-on-three or five-on-five matches.

“But Male God—how did you get into the next level of competition?”

“Ha, don’t even mention it. At my spot, I could participate in a match as soon as I signed up, but as soon as I registered, most people forfeited, and the few remaining ones—”

“Alright, you don’t need to spoil it!”

Ye Xing knew that he should be able to find the video on Paradise Island’s network.

Indeed!

The screen showed Male God firmly grasping one player’s body with one hand, lifting him off the ground, and holding his head with the other hand, then slowly beginning to rotate the two parts in opposite directions.

The unlucky guy quickly cried and surrendered.

“Alright! In any case, report to the Executive Officer!”

Lu Yuan was very satisfied with the progress of the new branch.

He was also very interested in Guo Li Cheng’s reported plan for territorial expansion, which mimicked local militias.

In the early stages, they could use a gang identity as a cover to continuously annex territory, but once they expanded to a certain extent, it would be difficult not to attract the attention of the Seven Deadly Sins.

At that point, military force would have to be projected there. One day later, the expeditionary force finally reached the Jump Point before the X13 black hole cluster, completing three-quarters of their expedition!