Caesar's long sword suddenly swung behind him, and a piercing clash resounded.
Chu Tian's Death Reaper Scythe was easily blocked by Caesar.
Everyone's ears were filled with a deafening metallic impact.
The impact was so loud that everyone present instinctively covered their ears and opened their mouths in surprise.
The collision of the two weapons caused everyone to experience tinnitus.
Chu Tian quickly retreated after his attack.
With his Rapid skill activated, he had already demonstrated his speed to the extreme, continuously attacking Caesar.
However, Caesar, who excelled in both offense and defense, seemed to move slowly but managed to perfectly defend against Chu Tian's attacks every time, creating a mysterious atmosphere.
Chu Tian swung his scythe vigorously, and the handle of the scythe disintegrated to form a long chain with a sickle attached, which he sent flying toward Caesar.
Caesar, however, remained calm and collected. She held a large sword and a shield, confidently approaching Chu Tian.
Each of Chu Tian's attacks seemed to be effortlessly repelled by an invisible force, missing their target, which was extremely eerie.
As Chu Tian retracted his scythe, he suddenly activated Blink and disappeared from Caesar's view.
But Caesar stood firm and suddenly turned around. She thrust her shield forward with force.
Everyone watching the battle saw that Chu Tian had just arrived behind Caesar in a Blink, but he was sent flying by Caesar's shield, landing at the edge of the stage.
Chu Tian felt as though he had slammed into an immensely thick steel wall. His chest ached.
Before Chu Tian could recover, Caesar, like a heavy tank, charged toward him.
With her shield in front and her sword at her side, she adopted the offensive posture of a Western knight.
Although Caesar had yet to use her own martial skill, it was clear that she was holding back.
Chu Tian took a deep breath and gathered icy energy, causing the air around him to freeze.
He then released a frozen plum blossom on the ground, which shattered into pieces upon impact.
These ice shards were filled with the aura of frost and began sweeping in all directions.
Realizing that defeating the S-ranked Caesar was impossible, Chu Tian used this opportunity to test his limits against her.
The icy air filled the entire arena, causing the scythe in Chu Tian's hand to emit a chilling mist.
Ice Talent—this was one of Chu Tian's registered talents. Frost began spreading from beneath Caesar's feet as she approached him.
In just a split second, Caesar was encased in ice, forming an ice sculpture.
Chu Tian knew that this attack was not enough to cause any harm to Caesar, so he retracted his Death Reaper Scythe.
He raised his fist and activated Blink, appearing right in front of Caesar from several meters away.
A punch—this punch contained all of Chu Tian's strength, swift as lightning. Everyone saw a blur of fists heading towards Caesar, who was now an ice sculpture.
However, within the ice sculpture, Caesar suddenly revealed a sly smile. The next moment, the ice shattered, and a shield was thrust out from the ice.
Bang!
Chu Tian's fist collided with Caesar's shield, creating a shockwave. The recoil force from the collision pushed Chu Tian back five or six steps.
In contrast, Caesar, standing within the shattered ice, did not show the slightest sign of retreating.
She glanced at Chu Tian, nodded, and seemed to express her approval.
Then, she put away her sword and shield, removed her armor, and addressed Chu Tian with a smile, "Not bad, you managed to make me take a step back. Go rest up for now, and tomorrow morning, you'll be competing in the B+ grade top eight showdown as the Number Zero participant."
After saying this, the host jumped down from the stage and returned to her hosting platform.
Chu Tian, however, was puzzled. He felt that this match had ended somewhat anticlimactically.
Just as Chu Tian was about to leave the stage, he noticed a set of footprints on the ground where Caesar had stood earlier.
These footprints were barely three centimeters apart, indicating that someone had taken short steps.
Chu Tian recalled the match and realized that Caesar had never taken a single step back throughout the entire battle.
Once he left the stage, another B-grade talented martial artist came up to participate in the competition, engaging in a series of matches.
Chu Tian didn't pay much attention to the later matches. Instead, he left the arena with Noa and headed to the private floor of Clesa's Golden Palace.
Upon entering, he saw Ning Wan gorging herself, Professor Ayah applying makeup, and Clesa herself reclining on the sofa, holding a bottle of red wine while watching the live holographic broadcast of the arena.
"Chu Tian, not bad at all. You actually managed to make Caesar take a step back. Your Ant talent is indeed formidable. Now, you can rightfully claim to be unbeatable below S-rank," Clesa teased.
Chu Tian was puzzled and asked, "How did you know?"
"Of course, I watched the live broadcast," Clesa replied, taking out her controller and switching the holographic projection to replay the final scene of Chu Tian's battle with Caesar.
Now Chu Tian understood. Although Caesar was over a hundred meters away, she had managed to deliver a sneak kick to Noa.
Thinking about it, an S-rank talented martial artist like her must have used a martial skill to sneakily deliver that kick, explaining how she could kick Noa without anyone noticing.
The later matches didn't hold much interest for Chu Tian. He and Noa left the arena and went to Clesa's private floor. As Chu Tian thought about the battle, he realized that his incredible strength had not yet been fully explored.
With over 240 points in strength and the additional boost from his Ant talent, he had an astonishing total of over 70,000 points in strength. This level of power was capable of defeating most humans and beasts with a single punch.
Chu Tian couldn't help but recall the days when he pursued One Punch Man and envied his ability to defeat enemies with a single punch. He just hoped that he would become stronger without losing his hair.
Thinking about it, Chu Tian subconsciously touched his own hair.