BATTLE FOR STARS

Both mechs were equipped with high-frequency blades, and neither machine had particularly strong armor. A direct hit from the opponent would cause devastating damage, which meant every single attack had to be blocked or avoided.

The intensity of the match sent adrenaline surging through the audience.

Even Emperor Hogan watched the arena with complete focus, because at this level, victory or defeat could be decided in a single instant.

Under Julia’s relentless assault, Lina soon began struggling to keep up.

She barely avoided another attack and used a powerful engine burst to create distance between them.

To Lina’s surprise, she was actually starting to feel tired.

Her breathing had become uneven.

That was extremely rare for her in a match.

And the battle had only lasted less than three minutes.

Honestly, Lina found it hard to believe Julia truly possessed this level of strength.

Julia had never displayed this kind of speed or power before. Even if everyone had hidden some of their abilities in the past, there were still limits. In high-level matches, it was impossible to conceal everything intentionally.

The Central Computer had analyzed every one of Julia’s matches.

The conclusion had always been the same—

Julia was strong, but not stronger than Lina.

At the very least, she should not have reached this level.

But Lina had no time to think about what was happening.

Right now, surviving the match came first.

Julia clearly had no intention of giving her time to recover. Although Lina had created some distance with her engine burst, Julia immediately followed with two rapid leaps and charged in again.

She intended to completely crush Lina through nonstop offense and end the battle outright.

Facing the rapidly approaching mech, Lina took a deep breath.

Her legs bent slightly.

Both hands rose before her chest.

Then she assumed a stance she had never once used in competition before.

It was the opening stance of Tai Chi.

Originally, Lina had not planned to use it this early.

Her fighting style had always relied on agile movement and offensive pressure, while Tai Chi was fundamentally different from the style she specialized in.

Besides, Ding Yufei had achieved excellent results using it, but Lina herself had only practiced it for a short time. Although she trained diligently every day, she still wasn’t fully confident about its actual effectiveness in battle.

That was why she had continued using her original combat style since the start of the match.

But now she had no other choice.

If this continued, she wouldn’t last much longer.

So during the brief few seconds after creating distance, she switched into an entirely new defensive posture.

Julia was slightly surprised as she rushed forward at high speed.

She had never seen Lina use this stance before, but it clearly looked defensive in nature.

Julia had no interest in figuring out exactly what the posture meant.

During the previous exchanges, she had already sensed Lina’s growing fatigue.

And when people became tired, their reactions slowed.

Lina’s mech was no longer as fast as it had been at the beginning of the match.

Julia could not allow this opportunity to slip away.

After all, she only had ten minutes.

She decided to end the battle with her ultimate technique.

This time, Julia didn’t use engine bursts to pursue immediately, since they consumed too much energy. Instead, she slowed for only three seconds before closing in once more.

Her high-frequency blade slashed toward Lina’s shoulder.

Lina raised her own blade to intercept—

But in that instant, Julia activated an engine burst.

Her direction changed instantly.

So did the trajectory of her blade.

The attack suddenly shifted toward Lina’s waist.

Lina immediately triggered an engine burst herself, barely widening the gap between them as her blade blocked Julia’s strike.

But the moment the blades collided—

Julia activated another engine burst.

Her mech twisted sideways, and the blade stabbed toward Lina’s leg.

Lina dodged again.

Blocked again.

The two mechs exchanged dozens of rapid clashes in succession.

Watching from the VIP room, Ding Yufei stared with his mouth wide open.

Not because Lina had blocked the attacks—

But because the technique Julia was using was actually Lina’s signature move:

Phoenix Dance Across the Heavens.

Only this time, the one using it was Julia instead of Lina.

Lina’s Phoenix Dance Across the Heavens relied on continuous engine bursts, allowing her to move rapidly around an opponent while attacking from every angle and searching for a fatal opening.

Ding Yufei had understood this long ago.

Engine bursts themselves weren’t difficult.

What was truly difficult was chaining them together continuously while still identifying attack opportunities during the high-speed movement.

Without incredible reaction speed and control, it was impossible to attack effectively under repeated engine bursts.

Lina herself was equally shocked.

She had never imagined Julia would master her greatest combat technique.

In previous matches, Julia had used engine bursts frequently as well, but usually no more than three or four times consecutively.

This kind of continuous chain lasting more than ten bursts had never appeared before.

Yet Julia was even more shocked than Lina.

She had witnessed Phoenix Dance Across the Heavens long ago.

Over the past year, she had secretly practiced the technique in private until she finally mastered it completely.

She had simply never used it in an official match before.

Her plan had always been to unveil it against Lina and win through surprise.

But now—

Every single one of her attacks had been blocked by Lina.

If that were the only issue, Julia wouldn’t have been too shocked. That would merely prove the two were evenly matched.

But today, she had the enhancement of the pill.

And even with that advantage, she still couldn’t break through.

That was a serious problem.

Not only could Phoenix Dance Across the Heavens only be used twice in a match, but her actual combat time was limited to ten minutes.

After that, she would fall completely into a disadvantage.

Julia had no time for a slow battle of attrition.

At this point, the fight had become a true life-and-death struggle.

Every strike Julia launched targeted Lina’s vital points.

One mistake—

That was all it would take to end the match.

And yet, unbelievably, Lina endured the entire assault.

After more than twenty violent blade clashes, the two mechs finally separated once again.

Only then did Lina finally calm down.

Tai Chi blade techniques had completely fused into her mech combat style.

Even Lina herself hadn’t expected to survive Julia’s assault so successfully.

The defensive power of Tai Chi was astonishing.

Although her reaction speed was slightly inferior to Julia’s, Tai Chi defense didn’t require large movements. She only needed proper spacing and precise angles to redirect and block the attacks.

Which meant—

Even with the pill’s enhancement, Julia’s speed advantage no longer guaranteed victory.

Lina’s heart gradually settled.

As long as Julia had no other special techniques remaining, the balance of victory would slowly begin tilting in her favor.

Not because Julia’s attacks had weakened—

But because Julia’s mech would run out of energy before hers did.

Of course, Julia understood the energy problem even more clearly than Lina.

In her previous matches, she had rarely needed to consider energy consumption at all.

Because she always finished the battle before the energy ran out.