Chapter 378: Fierce Battle in the Second Half
“Who would have thought a mere Second-Year student could throw the situation into such chaos?”
Watching the situation spiral out of control, Ma Xuan knew they had reached the worst-case scenario.
Xiao Qingxuan and Zhang Yu alone were capable of turning the construction site upside down.
If he intervened to stop them, Shi Huaiyu, no longer restrained, would quickly lead her team to break through.
Once a full-scale battle erupted on the exposed construction site, the bunker would likely never be completed.
“But there’s no other choice now…”
Ma Xuan recalled the Minor Threefold Combination that had been suppressing Shi Huaiyu from afar. With a sweeping palm strike, he sent a torrent of mud and sand erupting from the ground like a flash flood, surging toward Zhang Yu and Xiao Qingxuan and instantly blasting them away.
Simultaneously, Shi Huaiyu seized the opportunity, leading her teammates forward on the crest of the towering mud wave.
Cong Na and Yang Yan retreated to stand guard before the bunker.
In an instant, the construction site was divided into two opposing camps.
The two forces stood facing each other, their battle-hungry gazes clashing in the air.
Ma Xuan sighed and said calmly, “Bu Ziran, come out and join us in defending with all your might.”
“Ji Susu, focus entirely on construction. Build as much as you can.”
He clasped his palms together, and waves of mud transformed into barriers, completely enveloping the bunker behind him.
In the next instant, the battle erupted violently before the bunker.
Che Yufei and Shi Yunxiang charged to the front, clashing directly with Cong Na and Bu Ziran, unleashing waves of surging Gang Qi.
Shi Huaiyu manipulated swirling sand to slam toward the bunker, but a deafening clang, like the clash of metal, echoed through the air.
“Point Earth to Steel,” Shi Huaiyu explained. “This is one of the Seven Absolutes Ma Xuan learned that I didn’t.”
“By using Point Earth to Steel, he can temporarily abandon his flexible control over the earth, converting it into rigid defense.”
Ma Xuan lightly stamped his foot, and rock pillars shot from the ground like steel spears, hurtling toward the group.
Simultaneously, Ji Yuanshu unleashed balls of Thunderfire Gang Qi from afar.
With a thought, Zhang Yu summoned several Formless Warriors, who instantly intercepted the incoming Thunderfire Gang Qi.
He then unleashed a powerful punch, sending a surging wave of Gang Qi crashing against the Barrier protecting the bunker.
Bu Ziran countered with Lung Metal Sword Qi, but Tian Yang seized the opportunity to launch another assault, engulfing the battlefield in a swirling sandstorm.
Meanwhile, Xiao Qingxuan’s Dragon-Shaped Gang Qi roared violently as he relentlessly slammed against Ma Xuan’s Barrier.
The continuous clashes shook the entire construction site, as if enduring a series of earthquakes.
Though Ma Xuan and his team fought valiantly, the battlefield’s proximity to the buildings severely restricted their movements.
In contrast, Zhang Yu’s group attacked without restraint, overwhelming Ma Xuan’s forces and forcing them into a desperate defense.
Ma Xuan’s Barrier gradually shattered. Each repair and reconstruction exposed more of the bunker behind it.
“A battle erupting within the construction site… this is the worst possible outcome,” Ma Xuan thought grimly. Yet he knew the situation was beyond his control. All he could do was hold out as long as possible and try to salvage some points from this round.
When the round ended, Ma Xuan’s team’s bunker completion rate was assessed at 42%.
Seeing this result, Bu Ziran glared at Ji Susu and snapped, “What’s going on? We blocked so many attacks, and you only managed 42%?”
Ji Susu replied calmly, “The foundation was nearly shattered. 42% is already a decent result.”
Ji Yuanshu interjected, “It’s because you let them break through in the first place. I don’t understand, with so many of you, how could Zhang Yu have put you in such a dire situation?”
Bu Ziran’s brow furrowed as he shot Ji Yuanshu a sidelong glance. “What’s your department ranking? Do you even understand competitive strategy?”
Ji Yuanshu opened his mouth to retort but found himself speechless.
Ma Xuan sighed beside them. “The attacking side naturally has the advantage. There’s no way around it.”
“The next round is where we’ll truly dominate.”
“As the attackers, our overall strength advantage will only grow.”
Ma Xuan’s gaze turned icy as he stared in Zhang Yu’s direction. “In the next round, I’ll crush their completion rate to 0%.”
“I won’t leave them a single brick.”
On the other side, Shi Huaiyu laughed heartily. “That was a brilliant performance!”
She turned to Zhang Yu. “Especially you, Zhang Yu. If you hadn’t disrupted their formation single-handedly, our attack wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”
Zhang Yu smiled modestly. “I could only harass them a little on my own. I should thank you all for the support from behind.”
Beside them, Che Yufei looked at Shi Yunxiang and asked, “How are you holding up?”
Shi Yunxiang gazed with a pang of heartache at his once-pristine Hand Bionic, now riddled with dents and scratches.
“That Yang Yan guy,” Shi Yunxiang grumbled, “he deliberately targeted my new Bionic, didn’t he?”
Che Yufei sighed. “Of course he did. He wanted to break you.”
“That’s why I never participated in competitions when I was younger,” Shi Yunxiang continued. “They’re just a waste of money, and I never stood a chance of winning.”
Xiao Qingxuan interrupted the group’s conversation. “The next round will be defending against Ma Xuan’s assault. It won’t be easy.”
Shi Huaiyu nodded. “We have to keep them out of the construction site.”
“If they get inside and unleash their full power, we might not even reach 10% completion.”
Moments later, as the break ended, the second half of the battle officially began.
Ma Xuan glanced toward the construction site and said flatly, “Annihilate them all.”
Leveraging their numerical superiority and overall strength, they would systematically eliminate their opponents one by one, then crush all the building materials into dust. This was Ma Xuan’s chosen strategy.
In his view, when one’s strength far surpassed the enemy’s, this was the safest, most efficient, and least likely to be overturned tactic.
“Crush them all.”
Moments later, the battlefield erupted in twin tidal waves of sand and dust, surging from opposite directions and colliding violently in the center.
Amidst this swirling chaos, the combatants clashed fiercely.
Through the shared vision of his team’s Bionic Eyes, Ma Xuan maintained a clear overview of the entire battlefield.
He saw Zhang Yu, his body wreathed in swirling Gang Qi, charging toward Cong Na.
He saw Xiao Qingxuan manipulating nine Dragon-Shaped Gang Qi, tearing through the sand and dust as they surged toward him.
He saw Shi Huaiyu activating the Minor Threefold Combination, constantly engaging him while supporting her teammates.
Finally, his gaze locked onto Che Yufei.
“Ignoring Shi Yunxiang, who’s still at the construction site, you’re the weakest link here.”
“Let’s start with you.”
Under Ma Xuan’s command, Cong Na and the others began focusing their attacks on Che Yufei, aiming to eliminate him first.
Shi Huaiyu and the others immediately reacted to this.
Watching their movements, Ma Xuan murmured, “Trying to support Che Yufei?”
“It’s futile. With their numerical and strategic disadvantages, continuing to reinforce like this will only lead to their gradual defeat.”
But Ma Xuan soon noticed a shift in their tactics, his eyebrows rising slightly. “Oh? They’re converging on Cong Na now?”
“Trying to force us to defend her, turning the tables from defense to offense?”
“Thinking that if they repel Che Yufei, they can then repel Cong Na, forcing us to retreat and reinforce?”
Observing Shi Huaiyu’s strategy, Ma Xuan let out a cold laugh, calmly stirring up the swirling sand and directing his team to continue stretching the battle lines.
As the two sides clashed and the battle lines stretched further, Ma Xuan’s gaze suddenly sharpened. “This is it.”
With a swift motion, he unleashed a massive wave of sand, forming an inverted bowl that crashed down like a lid. Then, activating Point Earth to Steel, he rapidly solidified and reinforced the structure.
Within the inverted bowl, besides Che Yufei, were Ma Xuan, Yang Yan, Bu Ziran, and Ji Susu.
Throughout the earlier maneuvering, Ma Xuan had been searching for an opportunity — a chance to temporarily isolate the battlefield with Point Earth to Steel, leaving his opponents cut off from reinforcements.
Within the Barrier, Ma Xuan, Yang Yan, Bu Ziran, and Ji Susu were jointly attacking Che Yufei.
Outside the Barrier, Ji Yuanshu would lead Cong Na in a high-speed retreat, denying Shi Huaiyu and her group the chance to encircle them.
As for breaking the Barrier…
“Even if Shi Huaiyu and her group attacked with all their might, it would take them at least 20 seconds to break through this Barrier I’m maintaining.”
“And 20 seconds…”
Looking at Che Yufei, Ma Xuan thought to himself, “That’s more than enough time for us to defeat this pauper countless times.”
However, Ma Xuan knew that killing opponents was forbidden in the competition.
So he simply ordered, “Crush his hands and feet.”
At the same time, he glared at Che Yufei and said, “Surrender now if you don’t want every bone in your body shattered.”
If Che Yufei surrendered immediately, they could save time and Magic Power.
But facing Ma Xuan’s threat, Che Yufei merely smiled faintly and charged forward.
Bu Ziran snorted coldly at this sight and lunged ahead, opening his mouth to unleash waves of Lung Metal Sword Qi in horizontal slashes.
“A pauper on the verge of death dares to participate in this competition?”
Simultaneously, the other three members attacked, converging on Che Yufei.
In the next moment, as sword qi and Gang Qi clashed, Bu Ziran felt an unsettling familiarity emanating from his opponent’s Gang Qi.
“It’s you!”
Under the combined assault, Che Yufei’s physical body twisted and deformed under the immense pressure, revealing Zhang Yu’s true appearance.
Zhang Yu glanced at the four figures before him and said calmly, “Your clumsy attempts at deception were obvious from the start. Did you really think we wouldn’t see through them?”
Ma Xuan frowned, thinking, “Did Shi Huaiyu deliberately position ‘Che Yufei’ to provoke this situation, knowing my true target?”
“They must have used sand and earth to conceal Zhang Yu and Che Yufei’s forms, allowing Zhang Yu to transform into the latter…”
Meanwhile, as the Barrier rose, isolating the interior, the “Zhang Yu” standing outside watched the Formless Cloud Gang enveloping him suddenly collapse, revealing Che Yufei’s true form.
To conceal their identities during the battle, both sides had deactivated their ranking displays and Foundation Establishment Domains before the fighting began.
Having pieced together the situation, Ma Xuan stared at Zhang Yu, his mind racing with possibilities.
“During the first half of the match, I had to maintain the Minor Threefold Combination from afar, making it difficult to fully engage Zhang Yu up close.”
“But now, with the Minor Threefold Combination controlling the earth beneath my feet, I can maintain the barrier while attacking Zhang Yu without restraint.”
“Zhang Yu isn’t at his peak either. How much Magic Power has he recovered, and how much has his body healed during this limited rest period?”
“So… should we seize this opportunity? The four of us could unleash our full power and see if we can shatter Zhang Yu.”