Qin Shuang didn't take Sun Qianqian seriously. She simply moved to a different rare ore and reached for it. Sun Qianqian immediately raised the Sea-Calming Staff and aimed it at her, this time targeting Qin Shuang herself rather than the ore.

The staff shot forward at incredible speed. Han Wu saw it and lunged forward, his Giant Locust Blade appearing in his hand as he activated Tenfold. The twenty-meter blade swept upward and knocked the staff off course.

Qin Shuang successfully touched the rare ore, and her trial commenced.

On the other side, Sun Qianqian fixed her large, round eyes on Han Wu. “Everlight team leader, you actually dared to block me. You must be tired of living!”

Han Wu let out a cold laugh. “Is that so? Then come and kill me.”

“Gladly!” Sun Qianqian didn't waste any more words and swung the Sea-Calming Staff. With each swing, a flurry of staff illusions flew toward Han Wu. He took every hit head-on, relying on the Abyss Armor, and felt nothing.

“You dare to call others irrelevant when you are this weak? Looks like you're the irrelevant one,” Han Wu jeered.

His taunt enraged her. As the daughter of Wanyao City's city lord, she was admired wherever she went. She had always had everything she wanted. Yet now, a team leader from a city on the verge of falling out of the top four spoke to her like this.

Did he think Wanyao City was a joke? Did he think Sun Qianqian was just a pretty face?

“You asked for it!” she snapped. Her staff technique shifted. Instead of overlapping staff illusions, golden figures emerged from her one by one. Each gripped a golden staff and rushed toward Han Wu.

He still didn't dodge, deciding to test how much force these golden figures carried. The first one connected, slamming him. He felt no pain at all, but the Abyss Armor lost a small amount of durability. That blow had pierced his defense, only to be absorbed by the armor.

The Abyss Armor was a powerful 9-Star God-grade defensive Divine Weapon with the Invulnerable effect and exceptionally high defense. For a single blow to chip its durability meant the strike had already exceeded the limits of a 9-Star God-grade Divine Weapon.

Meanwhile, dozens more golden figures surrounded him.

Han Wu watched them close in and finally turned serious. “That's more like it. I don't like taking losses. Since you landed one hit on me, I'll return the favor. You don't mind, do you?”

He summoned one Small Locust Blade and sent it toward Sun Qianqian. She snorted, unimpressed by its faint pressure.

Just before the blade reached her, however, it split into 147 blades under the Triplicate and Seven Killings effects. They all shot toward her with a sudden burst of speed.

She tried to summon a Divine Weapon to block them, but it was too late. The blades struck her.

Monsters like her placed great emphasis on physical conditioning, and Sun Qianqian was among the strongest. The blades only managed to pierce her skin before the muscle beneath stopped them. Even as Han Wu drove them forward, they couldn't penetrate any deeper.

Sun Qianqian then flexed her muscles, snapping all the blades off through sheer physical strength. The wounds bled briefly, then healed almost instantly, as though they had never existed.

She felt no pride in that. Instead, humiliation rose within her. She was the young mistress of Wanyao City, yet these little things had managed to wound her. They were light wounds, but a wound was still a wound!

“You will pay for hurting me. Golden Monkey Staff Art, crush him!” Sun Qianqian ordered. The golden clones raised their staves and charged at Han Wu together.

Han Wu didn’t stand idle. He drew the Explosive Locust Blade, now with its new Armament Spirit, and detonated it in his hand.

Flames burst outward and split into more than 1,000 fireballs shaped like Vermilion Birds. They shot in all directions and struck every clone Han Wu had marked as an enemy.

Sun Qianqian drew the brunt of the assault as over 100 Vermilion Bird fireballs detonated around her, their flying sparks burning holes through her clothes. Meanwhile, the clones melted under the flames, dissolving into energy that scattered through the air.

Han Wu stepped out of the fire unscathed, looking as composed as ever.

After two losses, Sun Qianqian stopped holding back and equipped all her 9-Star God-grade Divine Weapons: the Phoenix Tail Iridium Crown on her head, the Golden Chainmail over her body, the Lotus Silk Runners on her feet, and the Sea-Calming Staff in her hand. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

With them, her monster Combat Bloodline was awakened. She moved like lightning, leaving afterimages as she closed in on Han Wu and brought the Sea-Calming Staff down with force.

Han Wu refused to be pushed back. He activated Freespirited Ape God and matched her speed with his Giant Locust Blade.

They traded several blows, and Han Wu held his ground without falling behind. Still, that wasn't his full strength. During their exchanges, he summoned numerous Small Locust Blades and spread them out. He waited for an opening, forced Sun Qianqian back with the Giant Locust Blade, and commanded the tens of millions of blades hovering in the air to pour down on her from all directions.

The blades came from every angle. Although they couldn't pierce through Sun Qianqian's armor, they could wear it down through constant impact, steadily draining its durability, much like water carving through stone.

Her armor was strong, but it didn't have anything like the Invulnerable effect. Once it shattered, it would enter a reformation phase that would take a very long time for armor of that caliber. Thus, she had to ensure that wouldn't happen.

Sun Qianqian spun the Sea-Calming Staff in wide arcs, furiously striking away every blade that got close to her.

Han Wu seized the opening, summoned Locust-V, and unleashed a continuous barrage of suppressive fire on her. At the same time, the Heavenly Demon Spike spiralled toward her with Spiral Pierce. Lastly, the Dark Curse Nail waited in Han Wu's other hand for the right moment.

They wore each other down in that manner for an hour, until Sun Qianqian was the first to falter.

Han Wu simply had too many ranged options. She had to manage the endless Small Locust Blades and Locust-V's suppressive fire simultaneously. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Demon Spike's Spiral Pierce was the most punishing, specifically designed to tear through durability. The Sea-Calming Staff shattering in her hand was proof enough.

Without her most powerful Divine Weapon, Sun Qianqian had to fall back on a spare, a 9-Star God-grade longsword with no particularly strong effects. She used it to fend off Han Wu's attacks while trying to find a way out of his range.

"Don't bother. You can't escape my range. You're finished," Han Wu said, his tone final.

"Monsters never lose!" Sun Qianqian roared, slashing aside the incoming Small Locust Blades.

She knew she was running on fumes, but she wouldn't admit it out loud. Is this really where I die?

She rejected the thought. The moment she found her answer, her mind cleared. A golden armored ape figure rose behind her, beat its chest with a thunderous roar, and sent every Small Locust Blade flying. At the brink of death, Sun Qianqian's Combat Bloodline fully awakened!