A Warrior’s strength lies in their Physique, power, fighting spirit, vigorous Qi and Blood, and unyielding Battle Intent—

A Mage’s strength lies in their Magic Power, intellect, diligence, boundless imagination, and vibrant inspiration—

The advantage of a Mage is not in pure, overwhelming offensive power.

It is in controlling the flow of battle.

When facing a powerful enemy, they find ways to Weaken them, trap them, and prevent them from using their Peak strength.

Ice, Flame, Thunder, stone, Light, and darkness are all part of their strategic arsenal.

Exploit their weaknesses, and blunt their strengths.

By combining Magic in ingenious ways, they overcome predicaments and solve problems.

BANG!

In the blink of an eye, the two were fighting at near point-blank range!

BANG—BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Knees, fists, head, elbows, kicks, strikes!

He didn’t just swing his War Axe; every part of his body was like a lethal Weapon!

Every blow was a killing strike, capable of piercing through layer after layer of Shields!

But Heavy Walls condensed upon the Body-Protecting True Barrier, an Ice Lake formed on the walls, and thirty-six layers of repulsion Magic pushed him away! At the same time, Ice Bees, Penetrating Thunder Shocks, and a series of direct offensive Magic spells all detonated at close range!

BOOM!

War God Kai Jia’s body burned with white flames, erupting with a brilliant light of Elements amidst the thick fog and darkness!

Once, twice, three times...

He was able to counter more and more of the attacks.

It wasn’t about blindly throwing out all his Magic. Ground-based Magic was used to restrict his Movement.

Weakening and binding Magic entangled his body.

Offensive Magic was used to clash with him directly, with defensive Magic as the final safety net!

Magic wasn’t just for casting on enemies.

It could be cast on oneself too!

If repulsion Magic couldn’t push him away, then pushing oneself away could also create distance!

With every exchange, he comprehended countless new Skills.

These Skills were put into action in an instant, deployed in the heat of battle!

In just a few dozen exchanges, he had died and his body had exploded dozens of times.

Lu Cang was gradually grasping the rhythm of the fight. The opponent’s attacks, which had previously been unspeakably fast, now seemed no different from an ordinary person’s.

’My own thoughts have gotten faster!’

But it was true, his Speed had never been so fast that it was impossible to react to.

’My Casting Speed is no slower than his!’

"You!!"

"You’re getting stronger!!!"

"Interesting!!!!"

BOOM!

Another strike!

The two clashed.

But this time, it wasn’t just Kai Jia attacking Lu Cang. As Lu Cang successfully defended, a small patch of colorful Light appeared on his opponent’s abdomen.

’Just as I thought.’

’His defense doesn’t rely purely on his Physique.’

’The moment he realizes an attack is coming, he condenses an instantaneous Qi Shield on the surface of his body to defend.’

This small, colorful point of "Source" lit up on his body!

His sharp Intuition immediately sent a warning. The instant he sensed Lu Cang was about to unleash an attack—

a Qi Shield for defense immediately condensed on his body.

It was like a thin, invisible layer of Qi covering his body, but in reality, this layer of Qi’s Defense Power was extremely difficult to break through...

A defensive method that only forms for a split second, at the very moment of impact.

’The margin for error is incredibly low...’

’But its Defense Strength is also absurdly high.’

"Source·Inner Stabbing Void Crystal."

PFFT!

However, Lu Cang didn’t use some incredibly powerful Magic!

Instead, he used an Inner Stabbing Void Crystal that formed directly *inside* the Shield.

PFFT!

This time, the attack had an absurdly miraculous Effect compared to before!

The Void Crystal pierced directly into his body!

Before this, even a Convergence Burst from the Sacrifice of 500,000 souls had barely managed to scratch his skin.

The instant the Void Crystal appeared, it transformed again!

"Source·Convergence Burst—Sacrifice: 500,000 souls."

BOOM!

The Soul Light soared into the sky!

The Convergence Burst detonated!

But at the same time, a fist came flying toward his face, and Lu Cang defended!

BOOM!

Fist met Magic!

A brilliant firework of Elements exploded!

Lu Cang failed to block it. His body exploded, and he had already reappeared at a distance.

His Perception reached toward the War God, and he saw him dripping with blood.

"He’s really... tough."

’To think he took a 500,000-soul Convergence Burst and didn’t die. And this time, it detonated directly inside his Shield.’

"It seems you’re not truly invincible after all."

If he hadn’t figured out his opponent’s defensive method, Lu Cang would have truly thought he was an unkillable monster.

Even so, his Defense Power was still freakishly high.

And that instantaneous external Qi Shield.

It was just too perfectly timed.

’He defended against attacks as if he had foreseen them, with nearly all his defenses perfectly overlapping with my own attacks.’

’It seems like it can only defend for an instant, but in reality, it blocks absolutely everything.’

’Because the defense’s Duration is terrifyingly short and it’s completely flush with his skin, it looks like he’s just taking the hits with his body.’

’If I didn’t have such high Spirituality and hadn’t comprehended Extreme Battle Intent, I really wouldn’t have discovered this secret.’

But... now that he’d discovered this secret, it proved the man could still be injured.

As long as he could find a way to break his Shield, his body wasn’t strong enough to completely ignore all attacks.

"Haha!! Hahahahaha!!!!"

"Interesting!! This is how it should be!! This is a truly exhilarating battle!!"

Lu Cang: "What a coincidence."

"I was just thinking the same thing."

That Qi Shield was really something special. ’It would be great if I could learn such a strong defense myself.’

Lu Cang thought to himself.

He also began secretly trying to adjust the structure of his own Shield.

Reduce the Duration, increase the strength... In other words, Weaken everything else and focus it all on a single point.

It was just like what he’d said about putting his all into every single strike.

But no matter how he adjusted his Shield, for now, he couldn’t make it as strong as his opponent’s.