Their palms collided, and Sato Takashi's arm skin, flesh, and bones shattered inch by inch, exploding apart.
Despite the pain, he laughed maniacally instead of raging.
"Hahahaha Lu Ding, you're finished!!!"
As he spoke, he looked at Lu Ding's arm.
His mind already envisioned the flesh corroding away to reveal bare bones.
The gray energy didn't even leave a mark, instead sliding off Lu Ding's arm as smoothly as silk.
This proved his technique wasn't ineffective.
But why didn't it stick to Lu Ding?
"We literally palm-struck each other!!!"
Sato Takashi roared unwillingly.
The imagined joy of victory had made him forget the pain in his hand.
But now victory hadn't come.
The injury in his hand, however, was all too real.
It already hurt like hell, damn it, now it hurts even more!!!
Lu Ding raised his hand again, carrying tremendous force capable of lifting rivers and uprooting mountains.
He instantly caved in Sato Takashi's chest with one strike.
Back bones protruded grotesquely.
A mouthful of blood sprayed out.
Lu Ding exerted force again, fingers piercing flesh to clamp onto bones.
Lifting the enemy with one arm, he raised Sato Takashi's hundred-meter body skyward.
Gushing blood dripped down, staining Lu Ding's arm crimson.
With a voice like thunder, he declared: "Even with the answer sheet you still copied wrong! Your Dharma Form lacks physical substance, your Manifestation lacks refined energy!"
Each had their strengths - one ruled through physical dominance, overwhelming force to break all techniques.
The other expanded energy, increasing magnitude.
Yet this guy had the physical display of Dharma Form without the quality.
Possessed the energy of Manifestation without its purity.
Truly adding stench when removing fragrance - a complete idiot, jack of all trades but master of none.
Sato Takashi struggled: "Come on, kill me if you dare! You can't kill me, you can't kill me hahahaha!!!"
"What doesn't kill me makes me stronger!!!!"
The battle situation was visible through the breach Lu Ding had created.
Watching Sato Takashi endure devastating attacks repeatedly.
Logically, enemy morale should be collapsing.
Yet they seemed utterly unconcerned about Sato Takashi losing.
On another large screen in the command center.
Heavenly Perception experts from Tai Island and other nations appeared.
"Hahaha excellent, Great Han's rising genius truly lives up to his reputation, extraordinary combat power. Pity killing Sato-san won't be so easy."
"Without reaching Earth Observation, the worst outcome is merely a draw."
The current battle looked terrible for Tai Island.
So they needed to talk big to ease their embarrassment.
Great Han's seated Heavenly Perception experts - Jiang Xue's Sword Sorrow and Zhao Jian - shifted gaze from battle screens to the Tai Island command center feed.
"You talk too much nonsense."
"Earlier when you sat smugly demanding video feed to gloat, you weren't ."
"What? Getting nervous?"
Zhao Jian knew some of Sato Takashi's methods, knew Nure-onna were hard to kill.
But he believed more in Lu Ding's capabilities.
Just needed to keep watching.
Dou Tingyu, also Heavenly Perception, leaned back with crossed arms: "A draw? Impossible. Even if Lu Ding draws, I'll just kill Sato Takashi myself."
Hearing this, Tai Island's Heavenly Perception experts truly panicked.
"Would Great Han really initiate Heavenly Perception combat so soon!?"
Dou Tingyu waved hands: "No no, I mean if Lu Ding fails to kill him, I'll do it."
"If you stop me from killing him, that's when Heavenly Perception war starts. So you'd be the instigator - don't interfere and it won't happen."
The seated Heavenly Perception experts froze momentarily.
Logical, yet strangely so.
Lu Ding's voice rang out: "Bullshitting? I don't spoil brats!"
Space rippled behind Lu Ding.
A mighty roar sounded.
A miraculous giant fish surged from spatial ripples as if breaching water's surface, revealing an inscribed stele.
Extreme suppression force swirled around it, overwhelming solidity radiating forth.
The words [Unshakable as Mountain - Stone Dang] were carved prominently.
Lu Ding swung Sato Takashi around and smashed him onto the stele.
Every bone shattered.
Under the pouring suppression force, like Mount Tai crushing down, Sato Takashi couldn't move an inch!
Just slight mechanism interaction.
Two moves - [White Snake Shakes Scales] for invincible defense, [Unshakable as Mountain] for absolute suppression.
Sato Takashi experienced a cheater's terror.
Normal methods couldn't kill him, but this suppression technique completely immobilized him.
How was this different from death?
With the stele deployed, he became utterly useless.
Alive, yet irrelevant to this battle!
Realizing this, Sato Takashi struggled desperately but couldn't budge the stele.
He resorted to psychological attacks: "Lu Ding, aren't you Great Han's brightest genius this year!?"
"Thought you'd be more impressive hahahaha"
Raising a hand, Way of the Jinche energy churned violently yet was controlled chaotically within his palm.
Originally formless, colorless slash attacks now visibly sliced space, gradually taking shape.
He pointed out: "Reverse psychology?"
Sato Takashi paused, struggling again: "So what if it is? Great Han's nothing special, neither are you!!!"
As the taunts intensified.
Lu Ding grabbed his neck, slammed him down, revealing a cruel smile: "Good reverse psychology. I'll oblige you then."
For others, Sato Takashi's Nure-onna form was hard to kill due to regeneration and technique mechanism superiority.
Way of the Jinche slashes all without exception.
Specialized against trash relying on mechanisms, quick regeneration or immunity to normal attacks.
Turning conceptual trash into literal minced meat.
Previously Lu Ding always released Way of the Jinche in slashes.
Today, he'd grip it in hand like an angle grinder!
Grinding this screaming garbage to dust!!
If you can regenerate from this.
Then you truly deserve respect!
Firmly gripping Sato Takashi.
Lu Ding pressed the Way of the Jinche down relentlessly.
Endless slashes erupted continuously.
Flesh instantly pulverized into flying mincemeat.