You Are Really Smart

At that moment, the armored man, who had originally fallen to the ground, rose to his feet once more. The battle helmet on his head had shattered, revealing a skull-like face beneath it, with only a few strands of long hair scattered around it.

“Seriously? There’s a second phase?”

Xu Mu stared at the armored man in shock.

Boom!

The armored man suddenly threw his head back, and an incredibly terrifying force erupted from his body.

The storm generated by his qi instantly filled the cramped space.

Xu Mu’s body was sent flying uncontrollably, slamming into the window behind him.

Yet the impact felt no different from crashing into a stone wall.

Seeing this, Hathaway immediately spread her arms. A golden greatsword began to materialize in front of her.

She gripped the greatsword with one hand and leaped forward. “You’re quite interesting for a monster!”

Boom!

The greatsword in her hand collided with the armored man’s longsword.

The clash of their strength once again sent Xu Mu hurtling into the wall. He had not exerted any force, yet his body remained stuck against it, enough to demonstrate how powerful the two combatants were.

Of course, the main reason was that the space was far too cramped.

It was a square room roughly thirty meters long. At the level of the two fighters before him, even a slight release of power was enough to fill the entire space.

Fortunately, Xu Mu’s physique was extraordinarily strong. If an ordinary Transcendent had been trapped in such a small area, they would certainly have been killed by the shock waves from the battle.

Bang, bang, bang…

The two fought fiercely, but Hathaway was still at a disadvantage.

Every attack from the armored man sent her staggering backward.

“Holy Light Baptism!”

After being knocked back, Hathaway suddenly raised her hand. A golden cloud appeared above her head.

The cloud almost covered the entire room.

“Wait! There’s someone else in here!”

Xu Mu immediately moved along the wall, climbing toward a corner. From that position, the lightning raining down could not reach him.

At that moment, countless bolts of lightning descended upon the armored man, sending sparks flying from his body.

Hathaway seized the opportunity to attack. In the blink of an eye, the golden greatsword flashed, cleaving the armored man apart and reducing him to fragments.

Xu Mu clapped from the side. “As expected of the Second Captain of the Holy Knights. That was incredible! That guy’s realm just now felt like it was around the fourth or fifth stage.”

“He was too stiff. He didn’t even know how to dodge.”

Hathaway had barely finished speaking when the shattered armored man reassembled before them, returning to his original form.

Swish!

With the longsword in hand, he once again slashed at Hathaway.

“What’s going on?”

Hathaway’s expression changed, and she immediately raised her greatsword to block the attack.

Seeing this, Xu Mu first closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings, but he could not detect the man’s presence.

He then tried using his technique for transferring forces between objects, but it had no effect on the armored man either.

Xu Mu crouched down and carefully examined the ground. He then stood up and pressed one hand against the wall.

Suddenly, he darted behind the armored man and placed a hand on the back of his head.

Whoosh!

The man immediately turned and swung his sword, but Hathaway blocked the blow.

After completing his examination, Xu Mu revealed a faint smile. “This formation is truly fascinating. It’s at least a ninth-grade formation.”

“What did you discover?”

Hathaway immediately asked.

“I don’t know the formation’s exact workings, but I do have a way to deal with it.”

As he spoke, Xu Mu turned to Hathaway. “Stand back. I’ll handle this guy.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be right beside me. I’ll call for you if I can’t handle it.”

Xu Mu drew his black longsword.

“Fine!”

Hathaway instantly retreated to the edge of the room.

Xu Mu then engaged the armored man in battle.

Bang, bang, bang…

The two clashed almost immediately. The first strike easily sent Xu Mu flying into the wall on the other side.

But the second strike was clearly weaker.

Then came the third, the fourth…

Hathaway stared at the armored man in disbelief. Every time he exchanged blows with Xu Mu, his attacks weakened considerably.

During the first exchange, he had unleashed terrifying shock waves. But now, the two of them seemed to be merely sparring. The armored man was no longer even using qi.

“Xu Mu, what’s happening?”

Hathaway asked.

“It’s simple. The formation’s original entity isn’t particularly powerful, but sufficiently abundant qi allows the formation to absorb it and use it to recharge this monster. Combined with the strength of the underlying formation, it will always be stronger than you.”

Xu Mu continued, “And against this monster, there’s no such thing as fighting above your level. The qi it uses is your own. No matter how talented you are, it will still be stronger than you.”

“I see.”

Hathaway nodded thoughtfully, carefully recalling their previous exchange. It had indeed been exactly as Xu Mu described.

The armored man’s realm could not be identified, but the qi he released had clearly suppressed her.

The qi Xu Mu was currently using was only Dark Force, while the armored man possessed Astral Force—a difference of an entire major realm.

However, the armored man could not replicate Xu Mu’s powerful physique, which was why Xu Mu could deal with him so easily.

“Then how do we defeat it?” Hathaway asked.

“That is precisely what makes this formation so fascinating.”

Xu Mu suddenly flashed to the armored man’s side and thrust his sword through the man’s neck. He then lifted him high into the air.

At first, the armored man struggled violently, repeatedly hacking at Xu Mu’s arm with the sword in his hand.

But he currently possessed only the strength of Astral Force. His longsword could not harm Xu Mu at all, merely slicing a few gashes into Xu Mu’s sleeve.

After struggling for nearly a minute, the armored man finally became completely still. His body transformed into a mass of black mist and slowly dissipated.

Once he vanished, a staircase appeared in the distance.

[Affection +6]

Hathaway’s eyes were filled with astonishment. “What happened this time?”

“To put it simply, the armored man, the floor beneath us, and the formation carved into the walls are all one entity. He can separate from them for only a short time. Once the connection is severed for too long, he will be destroyed.”

After finishing his explanation, Xu Mu walked toward the staircase in the distance. “This formation is pretty impressive. It should be able to trap quite a few people.”

Hathaway nodded to herself. “You’re really clever.”

The two of them climbed the stairs together. Before long, they saw white light shining above them.

Xu Mu and Hathaway quickened their pace and eventually emerged from the light.

They found themselves standing on the roof of a square building.

Another desert stretched out before them. Xu Mu jumped down from the roof and turned back to examine the building behind him. It was only two stories tall.

The building they had entered earlier had also been two stories.

The first floor had been filled with cannon fodder, while the second floor had contained the armored man. After that, they had appeared on the roof.

“How strange. I can’t even tell whether we’ve entered another formation or returned to the one from before.”

Hathaway asked.

“I think it’s probably the next formation. The scenery around us looks the same as before, but don’t you feel that the temperature is much hotter?”

Xu Mu raised a hand and looked up into the sky. There was clearly no sun, yet the light was dazzlingly bright.

Suddenly, Xu Mu sensed several people nearby. They were Xiao Gui and the two masked men accompanying him.

Hathaway was still standing on the roof, so the people over there noticed her as well and flew toward them.