Ch. 27
Chapter 27: A 300-Jin Iron-Cleaving Form!
Among experts, a single hint was enough.
Zhang Zhiwei ducked his head sharply.
Li Mu’s Thorn Staff came crashing down onto the giant python.
Bang!
A dull, heavy impact rang out.
The Thorn Staff actually smashed through the giant python’s scales and sank into its body.
Blood burst out.
Then the Thorn Staff was knocked back, and Zhang Zhiwei drove his true qi to its absolute limit.
Taking advantage of the instant the giant python slackened from pain and struggle, Zhang Zhiwei suddenly grabbed hold of the Thorn Staff.
Li Mu clenched the Thorn Staff tight and practically yanked Zhang Zhiwei straight out from the python’s coils. The two of them were flung backward several meters, finally pulling away from the giant python.
“Catch!”
Off to the side, Lu Chenfeng was still tangling with the other python. He had already yanked Zhang Zhiwei’s spear free.
With a shout, he threw it over. Zhang Zhiwei caught the spear in one hand.
“Can you punch through the big one?” Li Mu asked Zhang Zhiwei.
That spear had been pulled out from the weaker giant python’s vital spot, which meant Zhang Zhiwei’s attack power was enough to pierce through a giant python.
“I can!” Zhang Zhiwei shouted through gritted teeth.
“Move. I’ll lock it down. Fatso, hold the other one back!” Li Mu barked in a low voice.
Zhang Zhiwei nodded and flipped backward two meters, then kicked off a low wall twice in rapid succession.
His entire body shot high into the air!
Then he hung there briefly in midair as a torrent of golden light erupted from his body.
Zhang Zhiwei raised the spear high above his head, blazing as brightly as the sun.
Meanwhile, Li Mu swung the iron staff in his hands and charged straight toward the peak Third Grade giant python.
Lu Chenfeng answered with a grunt and used his own strength alone to hold back the other giant python from interfering.
Although it was their first time working together, under Li Mu’s command they each fell naturally into their own roles.
The peak Third Grade giant python had originally thought Li Mu charging at it was the real threat.
Because Li Mu had just smashed its scales apart.
But the moment Zhang Zhiwei rose into the air to gather power, it suddenly realized that the one in the sky was the greatest threat of all.
Its body, which had been about to crash into Li Mu, abruptly twisted as it prepared to evade that deadly strike first.
“Freeze!”
Li Mu shouted loudly.
The giant python stiffened in place in an instant.
“Die!!”
Zhang Zhiwei roared in midair and threw the spear at the same time.
Wrapped in a gigantic golden spear phantom, his spear shot down like a falling star from heaven and instantly pierced through the giant python.
It pinned the Third Grade giant python firmly to the ground.
By then, Li Mu’s attack had also arrived.
From the moment he began rushing in, Li Mu had already started building up Iron-Cleaving Form.
At that moment, the Thorn Staff raised above his head exploded with cyan light and trembled violently with a loud hum!
The Thorn Staff came crashing down with a terrifying howl of wind, as if even the air itself were crying out in grief!
Boom!!
The fully charged 300-jin Iron-Cleaving Form slammed directly into the giant python’s head.
Its skull shattered on the spot, and red and white matter burst outward.
At the same time, Li Mu’s tiger’s mouth could not withstand the backlash from that strike.
The flesh there split open, and blood sprayed out.
Meanwhile, the other giant python had already been teetering on the brink of death, growing weaker and weaker.
Lu Chenfeng seized the chance and grabbed onto one of the wounds near its tail.
He actually dragged that massive, elongated python body all over the ground by brute force!
The blood gushing from the wound at its vital spot traced an enormous circle across the earth.
Li Mu took the opportunity to chase after it and smashed its head apart with another staff strike. Only then did the battlefield finally fall silent.
Zhang Zhiwei clutched his arm and dropped to the ground in a disheveled heap.
Lu Chenfeng was so exhausted that he flopped down flat on his back, panting like an ox, not caring in the slightest that he was gulping down the dust billowing up around him.
Li Mu also crouched there, gasping for breath.
He tore off a strip of cloth and barely managed to wrap up the split flesh at the tiger’s mouth of his right hand, but his entire right arm was trembling from the intense pain.
Sure enough, his body had already reached its limit.
He was only barely able to handle a 300-jin Divine Weapon Art.
And his true qi consumption had been enormous as well.
Although the battle had not lasted long, it had still drained nearly seventy percent of Li Mu’s true qi.
For that single Iron-Cleaving Form strike used to kill the peak Third Grade beast, Li Mu had crazily poured in twenty percent of his total true qi.
And Mountain-Bearing Art was also a technique. As long as he was holding the weapon, he had to keep using Mountain-Bearing Art.
Mountain-Bearing Art consumed true qi continuously.
[Victory! Victory Points +310]
[Victory! Victory Points +167]
Yet Li Mu could hardly suppress the wild joy in his heart!
More than four hundred points in one go!?
As expected, killing ferocious beasts above one’s own level gave far more.
At the same time, on the scoreboard, Li Mu’s monster-killing points instantly shot up to first place!
He had four hundred more points than Zhang Zhiwei.
He had a thousand more points than Lu Chenfeng.
Points did not lie. The watch would detect each team member’s contribution to a kill and assign the corresponding points.
The points Li Mu received from the peak Third Grade giant python were overwhelmingly higher than anyone else’s.
For the other Third Grade giant python, however, he received slightly fewer points than Zhang Zhiwei.
Boom!!
Inside and outside the Multimedia Hall, the entire place instantly exploded into chaos.
The Blackwater High School, Chongming High School, and Holy Saint Dragon Martial Academy camps all erupted with earth-shaking cheers.
Blackwater High School in particular became a sea of voice-cracking screams yelling “Badass!”
Inside the hall, “Cousin is badass!!”
Chen Jiafeng nearly jumped straight onto the roof, wildly pumping his fist overhead.
Yang Suying also covered her mouth with her hand, crying tears of joy.
Just moments ago, when Li Mu had been galloping across the screen on horseback, they had thought he was retreating away from the red zone.
They had never imagined that Li Mu would actually appear on the battlefield with the Third Grade giant pythons.
Yang Suying had immediately become so tense she could barely breathe.
But Li Mu very quickly became the focal point of the battlefield. Not only had he saved an S-grade talent user, but together, the three of them had somehow killed two Third Grade giant pythons in succession.
It was beyond everyone’s expectations.
Just then, for some reason, no one knew exactly who was controlling the drone feed.
The main screen remained fixed on Li Mu and the other two.
But the secondary screen right after it was actually focused on Li Xiaohao, who had already teleported back to the safe zone.
At that moment, Li Xiaohao was sitting there smugly, using his technology watch to check the scoreboard.
Although he could not see the drone footage, he could still see his rank on the scoreboard.
In the team rankings, they were in seventh place.
And in the individual rankings, he was actually in thirty-first place!
The moment he saw that, his expression immediately turned ugly.
But then he saw that both the team ranking and the first place in the individual ranking belonged to one familiar name.
Li Mu!!
Li Xiaohao jumped to his feet at once.
From the footage in the Multimedia Hall, everyone could see him cursing furiously about something.
He looked completely mad with rage.
Everyone saw that scene clearly.
Not a single person there did not shake their head.
This Li Xiaohao, with his S-grade talent, looked utterly inferior when compared to those top three.
From cultivation, to courage, to real combat ability, to character, there was not a single thing he could bring out with confidence.
For a moment, every member of the Li Family looked as black-faced as the bottom of a pot!
This time, the Li Family had truly embarrassed themselves beyond redemption.
When the Third Grade monsters suddenly appeared, Zhang Zhiwei, the descended prodigy, disregarded his own safety and rescued eight classmates, ensuring their safe retreat.
Then he faced a Third Grade monster alone.
Lu Chenfeng, fierce and hot-blooded, rushed in at the critical moment to support Zhang Zhiwei, and the two prodigies together fought two Third Grade ferocious beasts.
Li Mu, descending like a god, saved Zhang Zhiwei’s life. Then, as the core of the team, he killed two Third Grade ferocious beasts!
Three young men.
The top three of the Abyss opening battle.
Each displayed astonishing might.
How dazzling they were!!
If only all of that belonged to their family’s precious Li Xiaohao, how wonderful that would have been.
Three S-grade talents!
Sweeping the top three places between them.
That would have been a story for the ages!
But now?
First place! F-grade talent!
Fighting shoulder to shoulder with two S-grade talents, sweeping the top three places, and even making both of them owe him an enormous favor.
And Li Xiaohao?
Thirty-first place. What a glaringly ridiculous S-grade talent.
Set against Li Mu’s first place with an F-grade talent, and amplified by the news from two days ago about Li Mu having his talent stolen, Li Xiaohao was nothing more than a complete joke.
“Damn it! Damn it! Why isn't our Xiaohao in first place!?”
Second Aunt smashed the back of her chair furiously.
“That damn Li Mu, stealing Xiaohao’s first place! Shameless! Shameless!!”
Old Madam Ma’s face was even darker, almost frighteningly so.
How could she possibly have imagined that even with an S-grade talent, Li Xiaohao would only be able to reach thirty-first place?
With a performance like that, he still wanted to earn the military’s attention? Still wanted to build ties with the military?
What nonsense was that? They would not even spare him a second glance!
On the contrary, Li Mu’s performance—forcefully seizing first place—would absolutely attract the military’s attention!
At that thought, she slammed her cane down hard.
“Dayong! Find a chance later to stop Li Mu. I will personally invite him back to the Li Family!”
Li Mu’s Eldest Uncle immediately said, “Mom! You mustn’t! How could someone of your standing personally invite Li Mu back to the Li Family? What has he done to deserve that?”
“Shut up! Xiaohong and the others invited him, and he refused to come back. Other than me stepping in personally, who in this Li Family do you think still has any use?”
Old Madam Ma snapped irritably, then let out a long sigh.
She had never imagined that one day she would need to lower herself and personally speak to Li Mu.
So be it.
After all, she had to put the greater good first.