Chapter 236

He couldn't even be bothered to use the [ Thunder-Fire Sword ].

With just a lift of his left hand, he caught the fairy sword.

A deafening crash instantly echoed throughout the entire church.

As the blade collided with his palm, the resulting shockwave distorted the light in the air.

The fairy sword, forged by spirits, was blocked just like that by his bare hand, without even causing Qi Xing's sleeve to flutter.

"Use some strength, I can take it."

Lancelot, impressive as he was, changed expression slightly, but showed no intention of retreating.

With a low shout, he stomped his foot, flipped and rotated close to the ground, and swung his spirit sword in an arc, slashing horizontally from an even trickier angle—

The second strike was faster and fiercer than the first!

The sword light whistled like lightning, aiming straight for Qi Xing's side!

However—

Qi Xing just tilted his head slightly and, without any flair, extended two fingers toward the second strike.

Two fingers, steadily clamping onto the incoming sword.

Without the slightest dodge, without a hint of hesitation,

he caught this full-force blow with his fingertips, as if pinning down a rampaging bolt of lightning with one hand.

"Hmm, the strength is sufficient this time."

Qi Xing looked down, his tone quite sincere:

"However—the accuracy is still lacking."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Xing's left hand gripped the knight's sword, and his right fist struck out like thunder!

There were no complex moves,

no dazzling spells,

just a simple, direct, and purely ultimate [ Thunder Fist ],

a loud explosion, as if shattering a war drum.

The fist wind swept through the entire church, causing the air to ripple visibly.

Lancelot's chest was hit squarely as if by a meteor hammer, launching him instantly into the air, his armor caving in, blood uncontrollably erupting from his mouth and nose!

He was sent flying backward by this simple punch, crashing heavily into a church pillar, the sound of bones shattering like beating drums, clearly audible!

The heroes of history, those who are sung about, even those peerless demigod heroes from mythologized history (epic legends)—currently do not have the qualifications to take ten moves from Qi Xing, or to be his enemy.

Because the power of [ Rep-Man ] far exceeds their imagination.

"Come, get up quickly, all of you come up, work together to fight me."

He didn't pursue Lancelot, but just beckoned to the stunned spirits,

"Otherwise, today, you will not have the qualifications to obtain what you want."

"Absolutely no qualifications."

—————— ( = – ω – = ) ——————

Volume 6: Rep-Man · Lunar Expedition: 216: Insufficient Desire

Seven spirits besieged [ Rep-Man ].

This scene was simply too miserable to watch.

Lancelot, who charged up first, was tenacious in will, relying on an unyielding spirit, roaring and lunging at Qi Xing time after time, but each time he was caught by Qi Xing's casual defense and thrown away.

Still, a single punch shattered his armor, bones cracked, and more blood and spirit fluid spilled than before. The strongest Knight of the Round Table was truly severely injured this time.

On the other side, the great Greek hero Achilles was no longer as flamboyant as yesterday.

He no longer dared to use his sword, only guarding his chest tightly with the shield behind him, stiffly probing with his spear—each strike was cautious, as if afraid of bringing fire upon himself.

His courage had already been shattered by [ Rep-Man ] with his own hands last night. His current attack power was not even worth a scoff.

However, Achilles was, after all, holding the shield forged by the smith god Hephaestus. Even [ Rep-Man ] could not break through the defense without putting effort into his strikes. Now, playing the tank cautiously, he actually managed to block most of the punches and thunder that the energy-saving Qi Xing casually unleashed.

Boudica was even more afraid to fight [ Rep-Man ] than Achilles, driving her chariot in circles around Qi Xing, carefully probing him with her spear.

This was quite useful at first, until Qi Xing got annoyed and blasted Boudica's horse-drawn chariot to pieces with one punch, making this Queen of Britannia never dare to attack proactively again.

Mori Ranmaru and the Chevalier d'Eon—two feminine-looking men with light weapons, had quite a bit of courage, one holding a katana and the other a rapier, waiting for opportunities to attack from the side. At first, they performed quite well, but unfortunately, this coy, effeminate fighting style soon made Qi Xing feel bored.

The two in the back row, the cross-dressing male Emperor of Rome and the cross-dressing female Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, were both god-descendants with attributes of ancient sun gods. The beautiful boy Emperor drew his bow and shot arrows at Qi Xing, while the cross-dressing matron Pharaoh raised her staff and spat curses at Qi Xing.

Unfortunately, they lacked the ability to shoot light cannons with swords.

Even if they did, [ Rep-Man ]'s light cannons would only be thicker, harder, and longer than theirs.

Finally, perhaps because he was tired of fighting, Qi Xing raised his hand and blasted out several large electric orbs. In an instant, all seven spirits were blasted into a miserable state. Especially Lancelot and Achilles, who were close at hand, were scorched black and brittle by the electricity, collapsing on the ground, with no strength left to fight.

A complete crushing victory, without any suspense.

This wasn't a battle at all; it was even easier than grinding flour.

…However, after surveying all this, Qi Xing only showed an expression of boredom, his demeanor becoming increasingly cold as he turned to look at the seven candidates.

Seeing their spirits completely defeated and clearly having no chance of winning, most of them were trembling and at a loss.

That was why Qi Xing felt bored.

What were they here for?

They were the most outstanding candidates of this year from the seven academies of the Hermes Society.

Although this title wasn't actually worth much, as they were only outer-ring mages after all—but at least they were the most outstanding candidates, and this was an exam.

An exam, and their approach was to summon seven spirits, let the seven spirits fight each other, or come up and gang up on [ The Strongest Man on Earth ], attempting to win the laurel of promotion. What kind of exam was this? Just a summoning contest?

If they wanted to test summoning, they could have just found an open space indoors to do it. Why go through the trouble of a nighttime urban encounter simulation?

Is this called real combat?

Turning around listlessly, Qi Xing prepared to return to his throne.

"[ Master Leipu ], you seem unhappy."

Xue Ning stood beside the throne, her tone light, with a smile that wasn't quite a smile—she hadn't participated in the battle, only responsible for using Alchemy to repair the church building, lest the church be completely demolished.

"Hmm."

Qi Xing didn't elaborate, only keeping a composed expression, simply because these candidates had thoroughly disappointed him.

Originally, in his mind, this [ Battle Royale ] that he had gone to such trouble to organize should have been the seven candidates gritting their teeth and joining forces, summoning the courage to challenge him to the death, fighting him to their hearts' content, in order to fight for a path of advancement with flesh, blood, and will in a desperate situation where they burned their lives.

Only by standing in a desperate situation can one seek a glimmer of survival.

But now? They had neither the bravery to burn their lives nor the intention to unite, not even daring to participate in the battle, only watching from behind in fear.

No fighting spirit, no conviction, no tactics, no passion. Not even daring to get close, only letting the summoned spirits fight while they watched from behind—what was this supposed to be?

What is the point of this kind of exam?

Originally, Qi Xing had some expectations for Vike, but now she was just standing there stiffly.

If Qi Xing were a bit more like a Demon King, he would probably be unable to resist saying to Xue Ning: "Finish them all off."

Unfortunately, Qi Xing wasn't cruel to that extent.

"I don't want to let these trash waste my time anymore."

He said irritably,

"Throw them out."

Xue Ning smiled bitterly and waved her hand; immediately, a dozen snow-white muscular homunculi appeared from behind the walls, quietly yet efficiently stepping forward, preparing to drag all the fallen, half-dead spirits out of the church.

These snow-white muscular homunculi were actually not very strong in combat power. But when they went to drag those spirits away, most of the candidates didn't dare to stop them at all. After all, [ Rep-Man ] was still right in front of them, and the famous Count of St. Germain was not someone to be trifled with.

——However, just at this moment, something unexpected to Qi Xing finally happened.

Not everyone was terrified into silence.

When those muscular homunculi stepped forward, two candidates still came forward, shielding their spirits behind them.

Vike's face was still pale, but there was a kind of stubborn determination in her eyes. She drew a witchcraft dagger, gripping it tightly in her right hand, blocking the homunculi.

Was she going to use this small dagger to stab the homunculi? ——Of course not.

She suddenly gritted her teeth and slashed fiercely, the blade sweeping across the back of her left hand, blood gushing out. Instantly, the homunculus standing in front of her had its left arm severed, cut off by some invisible force.

It was a curse.

The Hermes Society tended to look down on this kind of witchcraft; The Society's combat magic was generally pure elemental conversion and mana manipulation. Curses were quite unorthodox.

But Vike was from the Unification Academy, the most "accepting of all" miscellaneous faction in the Hermes Society—they really dared to offer all sorts of miscellaneous, unorthodox courses. Folk sorcery, sacrificial dark arts, all could be taken as course content to be taught.

What surprised Qi Xing even more was Devika, who had always been smiling and full of coquettish charm.

She didn't use any magic, nor did she borrow the power of her spirit. She just naturally raised her hand, dropped her shoulder, turned her waist, and delivered a clean, sharp high kick, accurately slamming into the homunculus's temple, knocking it to the ground!

Her posture was calm, her movements refined, with no unnecessary tricks. That was genuine combat technique.

"[ Rep-Man ], we haven't been defeated yet!"

She shielded her beautiful boy Emperor spirit behind her and declared loudly.

This clear voice and firm tone actually had a hint of righteousness.

This behavior finally made Qi Xing feel a bit amused.

"Just now you were watching blankly, and only now you bravely step forward? Isn't it too late?"

Of course, regardless of what is said, this was still much better than watching blankly from beginning to end.

As the saying goes, good and bad are determined by comparison. Having the courage to stand up is always better than just trembling in fear behind, right?

Thinking of this, Qi Xing spoke to Xue Ning: "Drive the other five groups out, eliminate them, and keeping these two teams to continue the exam is enough."

This remark, he had originally just said casually, simply wanting to handle the endgame simply and cleanly.

…However, unexpectedly, it immediately caused a huge reaction, and even an uproar.

Originally, the other five candidates, including even that combat mage from the Blazing Flame Academy, were now in a "win if I can, forget it if I can't" state of lying flat… However, upon hearing [ Rep-Man ]'s words, they were immediately shocked, and their expressions of resignation changed almost entirely.

"Wait a minute! On what grounds are you eliminating us?"

"[ Rep-Man ], you are certainly powerful, but this is the promotion exam venue of the Hermes Society, not a gladiator arena where you alone have the final say, right?"

"We are candidates, not gladiators in a beast arena! Where is it decided that just because we had a fight with the examiner, the exam pass or fail is determined so casually?"

"The Society's promotion quotas are not determined by 'who dares to charge up'; at least there must be rules!"

It was truly strange, quite unbelievable,

the few candidates who were just lying flat waiting for the exam to fail immediately started to protest and object as if they had been injected with chicken blood, their voices rising one after another, almost drowning out all the previous silence.

Those candidates who were originally in a state of "just accept it, whatever" were now instead incredibly agitated.

Qi Xing glanced at them, unable to help but feel a bit amused—what was wrong? It didn't matter if seven candidates were eliminated together, but because two people were to be kept to continue the test, the others who were eliminated were unhappy?

Saying that the examiner couldn't make decisions arbitrarily, but the Hermes Society was, after all, an old-school organization that retained a medieval atmosphere. Whatever the mentor said to do, or how to evaluate and score, the apprentices had absolutely no right to argue.

When seven people were eliminated together, they seemed to understand this principle; why was it that when only two people were not eliminated, everyone's reaction was immediately different?

Qi Xing raised an eyebrow, revealing an expression of both surprise and amusement. But in the end, he couldn't be bothered to complain in detail, only saying:

"The examination qualification for your exam this time has already been sold to me by The Society for the price of five hundred tons of silver."

"Whether I say who passes, or that none of you pass, it is all within my power, legal and compliant."

Two sentences, simple and easy to understand, immediately left the five candidates dumbfounded.

"I didn't see you so energetic just now,"

Qi Xing turned half around, looking around at the five candidates.

"So you weren't afraid of failing the exam; you were afraid that only you would fail?"

This sentence, like a hammer striking the heart, pierced through everyone's disguise.

The atmosphere at the scene instantly became bizarre.