A minute before, just when Kaunitz and the others had dashed out of the grounds, Fang Xingjian had also made his move.
He had tightened the belt holding the sword hung at his waist, squatted slightly, and then sent a burst of energy from the top of his body to the bottom, exploding towards his legs.
With a loud bang! Fang Xingjian’s legs seemed to suddenly swell up. The ground under his legs caved in lightly as if it were flour, and he shot into the air like a rocket, flying a distance of over twenty meters over a hundred people.
With another two loud bangs, he had already made two consecutive leaps and was standing outside the gate.
He did not have the necessary skill to run with a body as light as a swallow’s, just like Kaunitz. However, he could forcefully rely on his attributes to achieve a similar effect.
“What?” The Eldest Martial Brother Ogden stared with his eyes wide open, his mouth agape so wide that he could swallow a duck’s egg. His gaze was fixed on Fang Xingjian’s figure.
‘Such spring, such explosive energy… How could his attributes be so high? Even Kaunitz wouldn’t be able to do this!’
Besides him, a few other juniors from The School of Sword Arts also had their mouths agape. They shouted out in disbelief, “Eldest Martial Brother, is that Fang Xingjian?
“That Fang Xingjian who had been hiding for a few months, not daring to show his face?”
Second Martial Brother Lambert’s eyes gleamed as he smiled to himself. ‘Good chap, you’re just like I thought you were. You didn’t give up.
‘I must put in effort as well.’
The next moment, Lambert released a burst, the muscles all over his body swelling up like armor. He squeezed through the other participants beside him with ease as he dashed for the gate.
Ogden had also regained his senses, his face paling as he recalled how foolishly he had acted in front of Fang Xingjian.
But although he regretted offending Fang Xingjian, he still channeled all his strength and dashed for the door.
‘Drat, how could Fang Xingjian have improved so much? What happened?
‘This isn’t good. I must have been too conceited after picking up the Nine Yang Divine Sword Technique.
‘I’d better get Young Master Kaunitz to help me out later. Fang Xingjian can’t shake off Kaunitz. So long as Young Master Kaunitz is around, he wouldn’t dare to do anything to me.’
From his conjectures, even though Fang Xingjian had surpassed him, no matter how strong he had gotten, he would still not be able to surpass Kaunitz.
On the other hand, Fang Xingjian did not care at all about what others thought. He had only one goal in the Prefectural Selection, namely to get first place, entering the Kirst Royal Academy as a Prefectural Champion. Only then would he be able to enjoy the best treatment, the best resources, and thus become even stronger.
With this outburst, he became filled to the brim with energy, power surging through him like the fierce neighs of stampeding horses. As he took one step after another, each of his steps made a hole in the ground. He propelled himself by slanting his heel and the tip of his toes in the holes, pushing forth at a crazy speed.
In the blink of an eye, he had overtaken Kaunitz and the others, already heading for Robert, who was in the lead.
Seeing that they had been overtaken, Barbara and the others’ their faces turned pale. They had initially been saving some energy, but now they decided to channel it as well, and burst forth at full speed.
All four of them pushed forward, soon running two times faster than before.
The four’s full speed charge was completely different from them holding back. The energy in Kaunitz’s muscles from his four limbs exploded at full capacity, his lungs contracting fiercely, and his heart pounding hard like a drum, constantly providing his whole body its required amount of energy.
They had initially thought that their energy explosion would allow them to easily overtake their opponent. However, although Kaunitz was exerting every single ounce of his strength, he stared in disbelief as he saw Fang Xingjian’s figure getting further and further away.
‘How is this possible?’ Kaunitz thought to himself in astonishment, all the time staring in disbelief at Fang Xingjian who was getting further away. ‘My agility and strength have already reached 30 points, but to think that he could still shake me off! How high are his attributes?’
Barbara felt her lungs constantly contracting. Her heart was pounding so fast that she felt as if it would push through her chest. Out of the four, her endurance attribute was the weakest, and she was also the first to feel exhausted.
‘Drat, if this goes on, my physical strength will be completely exhausted.’
Thinking of this, although still unwilling, she gradually slowed down, watching Kaunitz and the others leave her behind.
Kaunitz and the others did not say anything about Barbara being left behind. Whether it was Kaunitz, the wild man Boris, or even Ferdinand dressed in white, their faces were flushed red as they pushed all their vital energy, blood and muscles to their highest capacity. A large amount of sweat and steam kept coming up from their bodies, as if they were three engines running crazily.
They did not even have the spare strength to speak. But even so, the gap in attributes between two people was not something that could be reduced by relying on short bursts.
Fang Xingjian had long gone out of their sight.
Fang Xingjian overtook Kaunitz and the others, gradually heading for Robert, who was taking the lead. This burly man with a height of over 2.5 meters, who had gone through the first job transition and was level 15 did not display any special techniques. He had merely taken large steps while advancing, each of his steps allowing him to progress by ten meters. He was even faster than a car on an expressway.
Just when the gap had been reduced and Fang Xingjian was about one hundred meters away from him, Robert turned his head around a little, throwing a glance to the back.
‘Oh? There’s still someone who can catch up?’
Seeing Fang Xingjian, Robert’s stone face revealed a slight provoking smile. He challengingly signaled with his finger to Fang Xingjian, starting to reduce his speed.
‘Hmm?’ Seeing the other party’s actions, Fang Xingjian frowned but still headed towards him. He reduced his speed, all the while keeping his guard up.
The two of them got closer, and just when they were only ten meters away from each other, Robert suddenly paused, his legs put together. The muscles from his lower thighs exploded, and with a loud bang, he became like a fired missile charging backwards towards Fang Xingjian.
With 2.5 meters in height, and with a strength burst of 40 points, Robert had been able to quickly bring along strong gusts of wind, making Fang Xingjian feel difficulty in breathing. It was as if even the air had thinned from the pressure of this energy.
But Fang Xingjian had been preparing for a long time. Drawing the sword from his waist, still sheathed, he pointed straight at Robert’s vest.
At that moment, he was the one charging forth, while Robert was retreating. A spear-thrust at such a speed was enough to even create a hole in a metal sheet.
Even if Fang Xingjian had not drawn his sword from its sheath, the blow had been sufficient to make a Warrior of Kaunitz’s level suffer from fractures and internal bleeding.
In fact, Fang Xingjian had wanted to fend off the other party with this one blow, but he had not expected that Robert would not dodge, and instead just come crashing towards him.
However, when Fang Xingjian’s sword pierced the other party’s back, he felt as if his sword had come into contact with the armor plate of a tank. Not only did his opponent’s charging force not lessen, his arm felt numb and aching, and the sword had flown out of his hands when he had been sent tumbling.
‘It’s just like being hit by a train.’ Fang Xingjian made over ten tumbles before he stopped on the ground and stared at Robert. He only felt a tearing pain in the muscles of his right arm, and his palm was trembling so hard that he could almost not lift it up.
The other party revealed a challenging smile, signalling with his fingers towards him, and once again went on ahead.
‘This fellow…’ Fang Xingjian’s brows furrowed. He picked up the sword with his left hand, stood up, and chased after him.