Chapter 78: Rising Dragon Fist

“Wake up, weakling!” Shangguan Chaoyue’s entire body moved at lightning speed, and with the force of her downward plunge, her twin blades became like a gigantic cleaver, slashing fiercely at Chen Mo’s head.

Ha!

A sinister smile curled at the corner of Chen Mo’s lips.

“Farewell, my dear roommate! Energy Burst! Detonate!”

Boom!

A thunderous explosion erupted, and blinding flames engulfed the entire gymnasium, forcing everyone to squint against the glare.

It turned out that even before Chen Mo unleashed his Double Flame Fist, he had already activated a D-rank skill, Energy Burst. But unlike usual, he hadn’t applied it to his whole body; instead, he compressed it into his magic gauntlets. Because Energy Burst could be charged for a maximum of ten seconds, every action, every word, every moment Chen Mo had delayed was meticulously calculated for this very instant.

Ten seconds of charged Energy Burst. One thousand percent fire damage! Though the magic gauntlets reduced the damage by half, there was still five hundred percent fire damage concentrated in Chen Mo’s Rising Dragon Fist.

Detonate!

Boom!

The moment Shangguan Chaoyue’s blades touched Chen Mo’s gauntlets, they were shattered by an overwhelming, explosive force. Her shield of one thousand life points cracked completely, -999 HP!

By pure chance, only a single point of armor remained.

Shangguan Chaoyue was blasted away by the Energy Burst, crashing heavily to the ground.

Just as everyone thought she was about to lose, she suddenly vanished from the arena floor—right before their eyes, more stealthily than the Disguise Technique used by Class D earlier.

The entire audience held their breath, tense as if they themselves were fighting.

Chen Mo focused his mind, extending his senses, probing the surroundings.

Yet he found nothing. Shangguan Chaoyue seemed to have vanished from the world, without a trace, silent as a shadow.

Lord Wei snapped shut his folding fan and slapped his thigh in excitement. “Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Sheng Mo, this is the teammate we’ve been waiting for! No matter what, we must recruit Shangguan Chaoyue for our squad. She’s the perfect assassin—charge, speed, reflexes, stealth—everything, flawless!”

In the future, whether for missions or competitions, every team needed a fixed group. The farsighted had already begun forming alliances and seeking their own squads.

Zhang Sheng Mo rarely saw Lord Wei so excited and happy. Seeing Lord Wei’s joy, Zhang Sheng Mo was pleased as well. “Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to recruit Shangguan Chaoyue. She’s exactly the kind of assassin that terrifies mages. Chen Mo is in real trouble now!”

Lord Wei nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Even with over ten years of battle experience, I can’t detect Shangguan Chaoyue at all. Chen Mo is likely to be killed in a single blow!”

Thump-thump! Thump-thump!

From the stands, many hearts beat in nervous rhythm.

Ning Xuan was perhaps the most anxious of all; her palms were damp with sweat. She longed to shout out a warning to her brother, but she knew this was the decisive moment and dared not distract him.

On the battlefield, it was so quiet one could hear their own breathing, but not a single sound from the opponent.

Chen Mo remembered—Shangguan Chaoyue had a skill called Shadow Spy, a technique that concealed her form.

An assassin! He hadn’t expected Shangguan Chaoyue to truly be one.

Heh.

Chen Mo shook his head with a wry smile. If it were anyone else, facing an invisible enemy, their nerves would have shattered long ago. They’d either attack wildly into the air or dodge frantically to avoid being assassinated.

But Chen Mo remained utterly still, like an ancient tree rooted in the earth, unyielding through the ages.

He struggled to suppress a laugh, afraid he might let it slip, because he had activated his Intelligence Module—Map.

Through the map, he could see everything clearly: a red dot creeping around behind him, inching closer step by step.

The red dot moved to his left, then quickly to his right, testing whether Chen Mo could see her.

The red dot hesitated, seeing Chen Mo unmoved and completely ignoring her. Was his calmness because he had discovered her, or had he simply resigned himself?

With her minute of stealth about to expire, the red dot knew she had to act, or else she’d be forced to reveal herself.

Bit by bit, the red dot circled behind Chen Mo, stopping two meters away—a perfect distance for a sudden attack. Even the strongest would not react in time!

This was the moment! Chen Mo, forgive me!

Shangguan Chaoyue was utterly confident in her Shadow Spy. When she struck while stealthed, all physical attacks were guaranteed to crit.

Die!

Her twin blades plunged left and right toward Chen Mo’s neck, the most vulnerable spot. Of course, she wasn’t trying to kill him; she had calculated that a critical strike to this location would deplete his shield entirely—a decisive blow!

A grin was already spreading across Shangguan Chaoyue’s face; she could almost hear Instructor Yuehu declaring her victory.

Suddenly—yes, suddenly!

Chen Mo’s head turned, and even more bizarre, his eyes stared straight at her.

No!

Shangguan Chaoyue’s heart sank, a sense of impending doom washing over her.

Chen Mo shouted, “Double Flame Fist!”

Boom! Boom!

Fists and blades collided!

Though Chen Mo’s fists had far less power than Shangguan Chaoyue’s stealth crit, her armor was down to just one point. So, the instant Chen Mo’s Double Flame Fist touched her, sparks burst forth, breaking through her last bit of armor. The lingering flames were about to strike her body.

“Oh no! Stop!”

“Shangguan Chaoyue is going to be disfigured! It’s over!”

According to the rules, unless the opponent surrendered, the final blow did not have to be held back. If Chen Mo finished his strike, Shangguan Chaoyue would be seriously injured, if not dead.

Whoosh!

The flames vanished abruptly, Chen Mo’s fist stopping a mere fraction from Shangguan Chaoyue’s handsome face.

Thump, thump.

Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground, gazing at Chen Mo with unwillingness and confusion, her voice trembling. “How—how did you find me?”

Chen Mo certainly wouldn’t reveal he had a map.

He replied solemnly, “Because we’ve shared the same dormitory for a month, I recognize your scent. When you tried to ambush me, I smelled that familiar fragrance!”

Shangguan Chaoyue seemed to recall something embarrassing, blushing with anger, shame, and regret. “You—you—you freak!”