"Since it's real combat training, it naturally needs to be strict and practical to validate what has been learned."

Before going onto the stage, the muscular old man glanced at him, "As for Stigma, I'll trust your judgment, but you're not allowed to use any weapons created with your Soul Ability. Can you handle that?"

"Bare Hand?"

"Yes, Bare Hand," Luo Lao said coldly. "The more people you chop down with those half-baked weapon techniques of yours, the further you're just wandering down the wrong path. Against that kind of trash, basic Drummer and Yu Step are enough."

"Easy for you to say. After all, he's Third Stage."

Huai Shi took off his jacket, threw it on a chair, and stepped into the rising elevator. "I'll try my best."

"Try your best? Hmph..."

As his seat rose, the old man appeared on the top observation deck, looking down through the glass at the two figures slowly emerging onto the field.

This is no child's play, kid.

He smiled with malicious anticipation—this was an opponent he had carefully selected, one whose Stigma and combat style were a complete counter to Huai Shi.

If you face your enemy with such disdain, you could die...

As the platform with Huai Shi rose, he saw through the opening gate the dancing darkness beyond, and a middle-aged man standing with his own eyes closed amidst countless ghastly, opened eyes.

"Is it really a young man?" Walker Carroll murmured with a grin. "Why not cherish your fleeting life, young man? Wasting precious life on such a gamble in this place is unwise."

"Though I find it hard to believe that someone with a rap sheet nearly inches thick could say anything rational, I have to admit, you're quite right."

Huai Shi slowly advanced, Bare Hand, gazing at the opponent before him.

He was undeniably Third Stage. Even in a weakened state, his Source Fluctuation emitted a chilling vibe. In his prime, was he a contender who could have reached the Fourth Stage: Stellar Antimony?

Back then, the power gap would have been as vast as the Sky Gorge; a formidable opponent I could never hope to defeat, no matter how hard I tried.

Even now, he still inspired a piercing sense of crisis in Huai Shi, as if needles pricked his back.

Death Perception had been screaming frantically from the beginning, warning him of the threat posed by his opponent.

"Because life is precious, death has value, doesn't it?"

Amidst the encircling sea of eyes, Walker, his own eyes closed, began to laugh softly, "As brilliant as spring flowers, as poignant as autumn's fallen leaves—that is the beauty of life, something that must be savored with solemn appreciation."

"Yeah, I can see that."

Huai Shi lowered his eyes, avoiding the sight of the Source Substance swirling with those boiling emotions. It was a cruel spectacle, like a dark cauldron brimming with the despair and agony of countless souls, a hell woven from their suffering.

"Four hundred seventy-one people," Walker suddenly said. "In total, four hundred seventy-one."

Huai Shi didn't respond, just continued to move his body, like an athlete warming up before a competition, stretching his joints and relaxing his muscles, as if he hadn't heard him.

But Walker continued ceaselessly, "Each of them was a remarkable work; each life, as it was extinguished, possessed an indescribable, tragic beauty. Young man, surely you can appreciate it? That spectacle when consciousness shatters and Source Substance ascends.

"A person's entire life, all they pursued, turns into an ephemeral bubble, slowly rising like smoke, only to vanish... gone with the wind. Life is just such a fragile thing. What remains is merely the scene you now behold.

"If this disgusts you, I express my regret, but I do not repent. No, you should be able to perceive this beauty, just as I do. Right?"

Huai Shi raised his head, giving him a glance.

Expressionless.

In the darkness, Walker smirked, laughing softly, "That calm and lofty look in your eyes, ah, I miss it. Someone like you should be at the Border. No, you are one chosen by the world beyond the Border. Purely in terms of quality, your Soul is one of the finest I have ever encountered. No matter how I strive, I cannot achieve such purity. It truly makes one envious."

"Are you done?"

Huai Shi bent down, adopting a sprinter's stance. "Shall we get down to business then?"

"I was just trying to make you understand," Walker said with a smile, shrugging. "To encounter such a marvelous Soul as yours in this prison, I am so—"

The next instant, darkness erupted. Countless opened eyes collided and merged, congealing into a grotesque, multi-layered eyeball from which a gray light blasted towards Huai Shi.

It was like the gaze of a Demon.

Filled with an indescribable madness, chaos, and...

"—Grateful!"

And in that moment, Huai Shi had already vanished from his spot.

With a deafening CRACK as if space itself tore, his sneakers exploded, revealing rippling muscles beneath his torn pants, channeling pure and refined power into his feet.

He then leapt into the air.

He still couldn't change direction freely at will within inches; under pressure from the muscular old man, he could only focus on researching long-distance acceleration. After breaking several of his own legs in the process, he had barely reached an introductory level.

One step, ten meters, in the blink of an eye.

Yu Step truly lived up to its name of extreme speed.

And Huai Shi, already descending from above, thrust his palm towards Walker's face, then clenched his hand abruptly. On his arm, the vibration of his muscles sounded like the sharp twang of a taut instrument string.

"He's already at the entry level for Drummer? So fast?" Watching from the sidelines, Older Cousin exclaimed in astonishment. "I haven't even touched the threshold yet!"

"It's still far too early." Luo Lao's eyelids drooped, so bored he was on the verge of sleep. "In terms of manifestation, only when the sound is like thunder can one be said to have fully tapped into the basic potential. Right now, it's mere mimicry of the form; he can't even be called a Drummer yet."

"That's still more talented than me."

"Anyone is more talented than you," Luo Lao said mercilessly. "In all my years, I've truly never seen anyone more useless than you."

"Isn't being bad at killing people a good thing?" Older Cousin gestured nonchalantly, looking at the scene. "But, he's in danger now."

BOOM!

As Huai Shi's fingers clenched, an explosive sound erupted.

But Walker's smiling face, which should have been in his grasp, had vanished without a trace.

I was sure I had him...

"Are you looking for me?"

In that instant, a hoarse whisper came from behind him. A hand rested gently on Huai Shi's shoulder. Instantly, a bone-chilling cold spread through him as immense life force was drawn from him by that hand, transforming into illusory heat.

Huai Shi spun around instantly, lashing out with a kick, but he struck only empty air, his foot passing through the desolate darkness.

Like a ghost, Walker maintained a distance of mere inches, smiling in admiration, "Such speed."

Huai Shi didn't answer. He silently advanced, launching an "Offensive," but instantly lost sight of his enemy. A hoarse whisper sounded by his ear, "A pity. I'm faster than you."

When Huai Shi turned around, all he saw was an enlarged palm in front of his face.

It grabbed his face, suddenly lifted him, and then slammed him into the ground.

BOOM!

Huai Shi's vision blackened. However, instincts honed by Luo Lao's relentless torment these past days drove him to strike at Walker's neck. His hand-edge strike cut through the air, creating a sharp whistling sound, yet it missed.

Walker retreated, like invisible smoke.

The areas where Huai Shi had been hit—his face and shoulder—were completely numb. Indeed, an ordinary person would likely have been instantly drained by the nightmare.

For Huai Shi, merely losing sensation was a blessing in disguise.

The Mountain Ghost's vitality surged rapidly within him, like sweet rain falling on parched land after a long drought. His withered flesh quickly recovered, its deep-rooted life force unerased.

He rallied.

Huai Shi panted heavily, sweat drenching his back, as he stared at Walker slowly drifting nearby. He had finally begun to understand the nature of his opponent's Soul Ability.

Like his own, it was a transformation-type Ability, though limited to Walker himself.

It appeared to have achieved a high degree of fusion with his Stigma and was in a state of Metamorphosis.

In short, it was dreamlike and illusory.

Currently, Walker couldn't interfere with the external physical environment or manipulate the laws established by the Creators. However, he could still envelop his own body, allowing him to freely shift between material and illusory states... This should have been the type of enemy Huai Shi was best equipped to handle, as his Axe of Anger excelled at striking both Source Substance and physical forms simultaneously.

Regardless of an enemy's state, whether material or composed of Source Substance, a single blow from the axe would be devastating.

But now, restricted by Coach Luo's rules, he couldn't use this straightforward method. He had to use the techniques he had recently learned to defeat his opponent.

Yet the enemy was precisely the type that most countered him.

Huai Shi excelled at swift, powerful assaults, seizing the initiative to overwhelm enemies with explosive damage output. But when an opponent's speed surpassed his own, he would be at a disadvantage.

When a speed-type Sublimator faced an even faster one, relying on old methods offered no advantage.

Is this what you mean, old man? Huai Shi glanced back at the suspended room high above, at the old man behind the floor-to-ceiling glass. Abandon past notions, confront my own shortcomings, and solve the problem from a new perspective?

But the muscular old man, noticing Huai Shi's gaze, merely picked up a black, heavy-duty grip strengthener and began flexing his chest and biceps.

"..."

Huai Shi's expression twitched. I must be delusional to expect this muscle-bound oaf to be so considerate.

But no matter what, he had to win.

Since he couldn't consult the Magic Conch, he'd have to rely on his own unbeatable talent for trash-talking to find a way.

"Judging by your virginal demeanor—"

In the midst of the tense standoff, Huai Shi suddenly spoke up, asking sternly, "You must not have a girlfriend, do you?"

Walker's expression stiffened for a moment.

Opportunity!

Instantly, Huai Shi lunged forward, charging again. Crossing thirteen meters in a flash, the muscles in his arm bulged abruptly, swelling to a purplish-red as they engorged with blood. He threw a punch at Walker's momentarily stunned face.

Still the Drummer!

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