As dawn approached, two figures darted through the forest.
"What's wrong? Afraid to get close?" Liang Xing taunted as he accelerated, with Li Yi maneuvering skillfully to maintain distance by utilizing the dense tree canopy.
Their speeds increased, and suddenly, Li Yi halted, hurling two stones.
Whizz!
The stones flew in parabolic arcs toward Liang Xing.
Liang Xing raised his hand to deflect them, but more stones followed. The force and tricky angles of the stones forced him to slow down to dodge. He had to keep some focus on maintaining his untriggered genetic technique, which prevented him from utilizing his full speed.
Whizz!
A shadow flashed in Liang Xing's peripheral vision, heightening his senses.
"He's closing in? How did his speed increase so much?"
In the next moment, Li Yi emerged from the trees behind Liang Xing, leaping and kicking him. Liang Xing, sensing the attack at the last moment, rolled forward, dissipating much of the impact, yet he still felt a painful burn across his back, realizing he'd been seriously hit.
Gritting his teeth, Liang Xing steadied himself, preparing to unleash his power. He had a better opportunity earlier, but Li Yi's anticipation and evasion nullified it. Now, to prevent Li Yi from gaining the upper hand with a combo attack, he hastily activated his first genetic technique.
"Electricity!"
In an instant, the night lit up with a burst of blue arc lightning shooting forth.
However, what Liang Xing saw next left him both disappointed and questioning his decision.
Li Yi was nowhere in the path of the arc. Liang Xing knew that although the arc was fast, if its activation was detected, a skilled opponent could evade it by a hair's breadth. Li Yi had not only done this but had anticipated the move, leaving before Liang Xing could unleash his technique.
This was a level above mere reaction.
"Was his series of counterattacks all a ruse to make me reveal my first genetic technique?" Liang Xing gritted his teeth, reluctantly acknowledging that he only had one more chance to fight back.
He could use his genetic technique a second time! While ordinary non-evolved individuals could only use it once in a short period, his unique physique allowed for two uses. This was his trump card.
"Li Yi, you're impressive. You've forced out my genetic technique. Now that your goal is achieved, why not show yourself and fight me fairly?"
Silence.
"Li Yi, what? Still not daring to face me openly, afraid of losing now?"
His voice echoed, but the tree canopy grew even more silent.
Liang Xing felt a chill. Li Yi's patience was unnerving.
What kind of training allowed him to make no mistakes?
And why was he so adept in the tree canopy?
Was this the advantage of the underprivileged? Liang Xing regretted choosing the tree canopy for their showdown.
Whizz!
Suddenly, more stones flew in from the side, forcing Liang Xing to dodge.
Damn it! The same trick again? Liang Xing cursed internally, retreating to avoid being kicked from behind in the tree canopy again. But as he stepped back, he noticed a shadow again in his peripheral vision.
Preempted again?
Damn it!
Liang Xing raised his arms to barely block the side attack, unable to activate his genetic technique in time.
Boom!
A massive force struck, numbing his body and rendering his arms senseless.
How is he so strong?
In shock, Li Yi punched, hitting Liang Xing in the nose.
Crack!
His nose broke, blood streaming down.
Li Yi followed up with a two-handed strike to Liang Xing's temple.
Liang Xing was defeated, dissolving into particles of light.
...
In front of the screen, countless viewers held their breath, silently witnessing Li Yi's swift defeat of Liang Xing.
"So strong."
"Perfect, every move was handled perfectly."
"Liang Xing's traps couldn't deceive Li Yi, who easily neutralized them."
"He's undoubtedly one of the rare combat geniuses of the past decade."
"Now, no matter what Liang Shaocong does, he can't catch up to Li Yi, right?"
There was no suspense left. Li Yi had secured the top spot, having absorbed the majority of the top ten teams' points from Liang Xing's group.
"Wow, he has 253 points!"
One person scored so many points?
Considering the total was only 1,000, Li Yi alone held a quarter!
"Liang Shaocong would need to claim all his team's points and aggressively hunt other scattered teams to catch up."
"That's unlikely. Even if Li Yi rests every other day, Liang Shaocong might not catch up."
"Unless Liang Shaocong directly defeats Li Yi and takes his points."
"That's too difficult. Li Yi has already countered the Liang family's genetic technique. Unless facing an evolved individual, once activated, it gets interrupted by Li Yi."
"And in terms of combat, Liang Shaocong is at most on par with Liang Xing."
"I'm already excited to see what kind of divine mech Li Yi will choose."
"With his combat skills, operating a divine mech would increase his combat power by at least 1.5 times."
"Maybe more, 1.2 times feels more accurate."
Many viewers began predicting the boost Li Yi would gain from piloting a divine mech.
As for the compatibility rate, no one seemed to consider it.
Li Yi would still face a challenge: though he could choose first, if he didn't pick a suitable mech due to bad luck, or didn't get the best mech, the outcome might not be favorable.
...
The next day.
Mech team's exclusive Ship No. 3.
Commander's Office.
"Commander Lin Guotao requests a meeting."
"Connect."
"Okay."
The white cabin door opened automatically, and Lin Guotao walked in.
"Good morning, Commander!"
Lin Guotao stood at attention, saluting.
"It's not early. According to fleet standard time, it's quite late."
Commander Teng Baixin sipped his warm tea, smiling like an amiable elder, lacking the imposing presence of a high-ranking leader.
"Sit, Little Lin. You're here about the restart of the Godly Mech Plan today, aren't you?"
"Can't hide anything from you, Commander. I recruited talents like Li Yi from the underprivileged to initiate reforms. However, with Li Yi's recent prominence, some complications might arise."
"What complications? Tell me in detail."