Starforce Warriors

Chapter 130: What Was Meant To Happen Had Finally Happened

"Hehe..." Xiong Zhigang let out a cold chuckle.

He didn’t bother speaking again as he attacked again. His battlefield discipline was rather astonishing. There was no unnecessary talk and no taunting. He always attacked directly.

Xiong Zhigang accelerated, the cyan starforce qi around him forming a vortex and making it seem like he was gliding just above the ground.

But Li Xiaofei remained motionless. His eyes were bright and focused as his grip tightened on the knife. The distance between them grew shorter and shorter.

Thirty meters... Fifteen meters... Ten meters... Three meters!

Just as Xiong Zhigang was about to enter the two-meter range, Li Xiaofei moved. His figure seemed to blur slightly in place. Xiong Zhigang's hand thrust into Li Xiaofei’s chest like a divine blade, but he didn’t feel like he had struck something solid.

Not good!

Xiong Zhigang realized something was wrong in an instant. He had hit an afterimage. But his combat experience and reaction speed were remarkably fast. The moment he realized what he had struck, he immediately accelerated and tried to charge out of Li Xiaofei’s range.

This was undoubtedly the wisest choice. Xiong Zhigang dashed forward ten meters and turned around instantly. Opposite him, Li Xiaofei was still standing in his original position. But the rusty kitchen knife in Li Xiaofei's hand now had a faint trace of red on it.

Plop.

Fresh blood trickled down the rough spine of the knife, dripping onto the dusty stone pavement.

"You... " Xiong Zhigang tried to speak but suddenly found breathing and speaking extremely difficult.

He felt a chill on his neck. Instinctively, he raised his hand and it came away covered in blood. His throat had been cut. A look of bewilderment appeared on Xiong Zhigang's face, but in the next moment, his figure dissolved into a stream of blue data and vanished from the battlefield.

Li Xiaofei casually tossed the rusty kitchen knife away. He, too, did not utter another word as he summoned the system and transported himself away. The battle was over just like that.

***

The large hall erupted with uncontrollable exclamations. Many people did not understand what had just happened.

How did Xiong Zhigang, who was initially in an overwhelmingly advantageous position, suddenly get critically injured without realizing in the moment they collided?

Of course, some experts grasped the secret behind it. It was simple. Speed. Xiong Zhigang had been fast, but Li Xiaofei had just been faster. In that brief moment where their figures had met, Li Xiaofei had used a movement technique so elusive that it defied description to evade the attack and leave an afterimage. He had then simply raised his hand and used Xiong Zhigang's own speed to slice his neck with the rusty kitchen knife.

Both of them were extremely fast. At that speed, even a rusty kitchen knife could cut through the throat of a fourth-stage Limit Breaking Realm martial artist. That was why Xiong Zhigang did not realize he had been stabbed. It had all happened too fast.

What made it even more ironic was that Xiong Zhigang seemed to have willingly offered his neck to the rusty kitchen knife. Li Xiaofei had effortlessly executed a counter strike. It sounded simple but the underlying principles were something ordinary people could not achieve. Every movement involved in dodging and counter attacking required perfect calculation. The slightest mistake would have been death.

Yet, Li Xiaofei accomplished it. It seemed that this young man's combat experience and skill were on par with Xiong Zhigang. It was a truly outstanding performance.

Clap, clap.

Li Zhoumin, the inspector of the Star Council stationed at Liuhe Base City, started applauding. The scholarly middle-aged man stood up, smiling broadly, and gently clapped his hands. Everyone else finally snapped out of their daze. In the next instant, the hall erupted with thunderous applause.

"Fantastic!" shouted Tan Qingying as she jumped up excitedly.

If the occasion had been more appropriate, she might have rushed to the main stage to give Li Xiaofei a big hug. She turned to look at the distance. Her father and Commander Ding Longao were still seated, but both had smiles on their faces.

Tan Qingying had rarely seen that kind of smile on her father’s face in the last three or four years. It was a relaxed, heartfelt, and comforting smile. Tan Qingying sensed that her father seemed to feel a great weight lifted off his shoulders when Li Xiaofei won.

She looked at the two Jiepeng people at the same table. Mizutani Hikaru's mouth was wide open, her tiny cherry-like mouth now wide enough to fit not just a thick sausage but probably two eggs as well.

Tsukiha Yaiba, on the other hand, was slightly frowning, seemingly deep in thought. But in the next moment, she suddenly seemed to understand something. Her elegant, delicate face lit up with a look of realization, and she even started to smile excitedly.

This Jiepeng woman is hiding something.

Tan Qingying immediately became wary.

Both contestants had already stepped out of the light core cabins on the main stage. Xiong Zhigang's expression was somewhat dazed. He seemed still immersed in the memory of that fatal strike.

In truth, at the moment the light core deemed him dead and transported him out, Xiong Zhigang had already understood how he had been defeated. But he couldn't comprehend how Li Xiaofei had managed to pull it off.

A movement technique capable of leaving an afterimage like that was absolutely beyond the capabilities of a Qi Refining Realm martial artist. But it didn’t make sense for Li Xiaofei to hide his strength.

The light core scan had definitively determined that Li Xiaofei was in the Qi Refining Realm. The light core could not possibly make a mistake.

The more he thought about it, the more dissatisfied Xiong Zhigang felt.

He looked at Li Xiaofei and asked hoarsely, "Did you master some secret movement technique? What kind of combat skill is it?"

But Li Xiaofei ignored him. Instead, he looked at Kuramaki Kazuki, who was equally shocked and silent on the side.

"The effectiveness of your country's surgery doesn't seem as miraculous as you boasted. It seems our Great Xia martial lineage can still overcome it in battle," Li Xiaofei said in a clear and confident voice.

Kuramaki Kazuki frowned, "Xiong Zhigang lost simply because his skills were inferior, not because our Jiepeng's new martial arts surgery is ineffective. How can you judge our surgery based on a single loss?"

"We have an ancient saying in Great Xia. The winner becomes the king, and the loser the bandit." Li Xiaofei replied calmly, "A loss is a loss, and any explanation is an excuse. My ability to defeat your Jiepeng's fourth stage Limit Breaking Realm modified martial artist with my Qi Refining Realm cultivation shows that the Great Xia's martial lineage is not inferior."

He didn't bother to argue any further and walked down the stage at a leisurely pace. Kuramaki Kazuki watched Li Xiaofei with a dark expression, but the boy's demeanor remained composed and graceful.

Applause once again filled the venue.

"Please stay, Li Xiaofei."

An elegant and authoritative voice spoke up, and Li Xiaofei paused. Inspector Li Zhoumin slowly rose from his seat.

He smiled broadly. "This is the first time I've seen such an extraordinary high school student in all my years stationed in Liuhe Base City, especially one from the Great Xia martial lineage. It truly brings me great comfort. Li Xiaofei, would you be willing to speak with me after the event?"

Li Xiaofei was taken aback. The hall erupted in astonished murmurs. It had finally come. What was meant to happen had finally happened.