Chapter 97

In the lonely and dark void at the edge of a star system, a great battle was taking place.

Xuan, bathed in flames, resembled a flame deity. The spear in his hand transformed into dazzling beams of light, occasionally shooting out and tearing through the void for hundreds of thousands of miles.

The heavily armored giant's large shield, with each block, seemed to suppress space and time. No matter how terrifying the spear's piercing power was, it was always blocked by the large shield! The hammer in his hand distorted space and time with each strike, altering spatial distances and the flow of time, and in the collision with the spear, the hammer even had the upper hand.

But...

The spear's speed was too fast!

In the blink of an eye, thousands of spear beams appeared! One failed attack was followed by ten, a hundred, or even more. The heavily armored giant had to coordinate his shield and hammer to defend.

"Bang."

"Bang."

Each collision of their weapons caused a small-scale annihilation of space, with the aftermath spreading out, causing fluctuations even billions of miles away. However, by the time it reached such a distance, the power was negligible.

At this level of combat, Xu Jingming should have been unable to see clearly.

But after merging with Xuan, what Xuan sensed, he also sensed. He clearly perceived the subtleties of each spear technique, with no secrets hidden from him. He could even sense the enemy's shield and hammer techniques.

Of course, the shield and hammer techniques were only superficially sensed, and he didn't understand their deeper intricacies.

Unlike the spear techniques, which Xuan personally executed, leaving no secrets after the merge.

"Even though there are no secrets, and every move of the spear is in front of me, I... can't understand it!" Xu Jingming felt like a first-grade student who had just learned addition and subtraction, with a physics doctoral student explaining a problem in front of him, breaking down every detail.

But Xu Jingming's intellect struggled to comprehend.

"What should I do?"

"This level of combat... even if I merge and experience it, the gap is too large." Xu Jingming anxiously pondered.

"Then follow my instincts." Xu Jingming didn't hesitate, unsure how long the battle would last, and he couldn't waste precious time. After all, he now vaguely understood that the Xia Kingdom had contacted the virtual world network as a part of the Blue Star civilization, paying a huge price to give him this merging experience.

He had to seize every moment.

"Can't understand, then remember the feeling." Xu Jingming stopped thinking and fully immersed himself in the battle.

His consciousness completely merged with Xuan, and he was also fighting the heavily armored giant.

Attack!

Attack!

Attack!

All of Xuan's moves were offensive, and they were all the same move—thrust! But his thrusts gathered the strength of his body, the vast power of the surrounding area, and were guided by his will! His will carried the spear, even attempting to tear through space and time!

The spear was incredibly fast.

One thrust! The spear beam was just the explosion of the spear tip's power. When the heavily armored giant blocked it, the spear turned and thrust again! It seemed to require no recovery time, instantly delivering tens of thousands of thrusts! Xuan, like a star emitting countless spear beams, was enveloped in flames, freely executing his spear techniques.

The two fought for only three minutes and twenty seconds, but to Xu Jingming, it felt like a long time, as they exchanged over ten million moves, each of which he clearly perceived.

Xu Jingming could feel that as the battle progressed, Xuan's will became increasingly frenzied, as if burning himself, burning the remaining potential of his body.

Xuan's inner voice kept repeating: "Become light! Become light! Become light!!!"

Xu Jingming could hear his voice and feel that Xuan had no other thoughts, only this one idea, to transform himself into light!

Boom!

At the three-minute and twenty-second mark.

A dazzling light appeared, outshining the distant stars in that moment, instantly piercing through the heavily armored giant's body.

The light stopped in the void, transforming into Xuan's figure.

The left half of the heavily armored giant's body was directly annihilated, while the right half rapidly regrew, barely restoring his body, though most of his armor was destroyed.

"Did you break through?" The heavily armored giant, ignoring his pain, stepped up to Xuan, extremely excited.

"The final thrust, I indeed broke through my limits and reached the speed of light." Xuan's expression was complex as he nodded, "If given another ten thousand years, I could perfect my spear technique and reach the pinnacle. But I don't have that much time... This breakthrough allows me to finely control my body, and I should be able to survive for another three hundred years."

"Speed of light?" The heavily armored giant sighed, "To reach this level with your spear technique, you will be a legend in the Galactic Human Alliance."

"Legend?"

Xuan nodded.

"I must thank you for holding back at the end." The heavily armored giant smiled, "If you hadn't reduced the power at the critical moment, I would have been completely annihilated."

"You willing to fight me, I am already very grateful, how could I really kill you." Xuan said.

"Your spear technique reaching the speed of light, you are a legend among humans in the universe. The Galactic Human Alliance will certainly invite you to imprint the mental trace of this battle in the virtual world network, so future generations can study it." The heavily armored giant said.

"Then I will leave the mental trace." Xuan said.

At this moment, Xu Jingming's consciousness began to detach from Xuan's body. Xuan turned his head, his gaze looking in Xu Jingming's direction: "If anyone can also reach the speed of light with their spear technique and perfect themselves, they can step into the highest realm."

These words seemed to be directed at the heavily armored giant, but also at Xu Jingming.

The entire world then disintegrated.

Xuan, the heavily armored giant, and the endless space all disintegrated, and Xu Jingming's consciousness was expelled.

...

Xu Jingming opened his eyes, still inside the large sphere, with the door already open. Xu Jingming walked to the door and descended the stairs. After descending, the stairs retracted, and the sphere's door closed again.

"Beep." The front door opened, and Director Zhou walked in.

"How do you feel?" Director Zhou looked at Xu Jingming expectantly. He only had some intelligence reports and didn't know much about merging with a legendary cosmic expert.

"I need to go back." Xu Jingming, somewhat dazed, said, "Without any disturbance, I need to carefully comprehend."

This merge had given him much to analyze.

"Alright, I'll send you back now." Director Zhou nodded, "You've been merged for over a day, you must be hungry. Eat something on the way back."

...

In just a moment, the large aircraft flew directly above Xu Jingming's home in Mingyue City, lowering a staircase directly to the courtyard.

"Jingming is back?" Li Miaomiao immediately ran to the courtyard and saw Xu Jingming descending the stairs