You are not qualified to experience my swordsmanship.

The first thing Lu Chen saw was a major piece of old news that had happened a few days ago.
At least, it was the most conspicuous among the news related to him at least.
The pursuit of the Vincent Alliance by the Guernica Beast-Taming Corps had finally come to an end after half a month!
In the Kumusha Nebula within the Spruce Kingdom, a secondary allied star system of the Empire, the reorganized Guernica Third Fleet vessel *New Sagittarius*, combined with the Fifth Fleet vessel *Gemini*, encountered the mecha-beast fleet of the Vincent Alliance, and a fierce fleet battle erupted.
The Kumusha Nebula, where the two sides fought fiercely, was located right next to the Fang-Tooth Corporation headquarters in the Fang-Tooth Star System, less than ten light-years away.
This battle was extremely fierce, but in the end, they miraculously shook hands and made peace, and even exchanged prisoners of war.
So-Tang Tellis, captain of the Guernica Third Fleet, traded the captured Black Phoenix to retrieve the Guernica Seventeenth Fleet vessel *Stingray* and Rook, the deputy leader of the Evil Spirit Bounty Hunter Corps.
Lu Chen’s first reaction was:
"My five thousand spiritual stones are finally secured!"
The problem was that nowadays he made hundreds of thousands in minutes, giving Gloria and Allie pocket money in tens of thousands at a time; five thousand spiritual stones could barely fill a gap between his teeth.
Another noteworthy point was that the Adventurers Guild had confirmed that the mastermind behind the Z-Saddle Nebula Star Beast Rescue Operation was none other than the former Imperial Professor Vincent.
They even gave such a star-beast group a name:
The Vincent Alliance.
This meant that Vincent was not fighting alone and likely had powerful allies, otherwise it would have been very difficult to conceal so many star beasts.
According to the Adventurers Guild's speculation, the main operational ranges of both the Guernica Adventure Corps and the Vincent Alliance were ahead in the Blizzard Route.
"Five thousand spiritual stones are still money; I'll get them back sooner or later!"
Lu Chen thought to himself.
……
The second piece of news was:
As the *White Dew* was about to reach the Ice and Snow Great Wall, a large number of adventure corps from the Empire entered the Pangu Corridor from the Yuri Pass, joining the adventure corps adventuring synchronously with the *White Dew* to participate in the secondary assessment.
Most of these adventure corps were funded by capitalists from various countries, consisting of martial artists, retired military personnel, and scientists.
They were powerful, financially strong, possessed high spaceship grades and technological levels, had complete personnel rosters and reasonable configurations; not a single team was below level fifty.
They were collectively referred to as:
Noble Adventure Corps.
These noble adventure corps held themselves in high regard, constantly referring to themselves as the Seven Emperors' reserve teams, completely ignoring the Annual New Star Ranking. They directly participated in the Adventurers Guild's secondary assessment, preparing to give the amateur adventure corps on the Morning Glow Route a little taste of Imperial shock.
Currently, the strongest statistically recorded team even reached a luxury lineup of dual level-eighty: an eighty-level spaceship paired with an eighty-level captain, unmatched in prestige for a time.
There were also several level-seventy teams, while level-fifty and sixty teams were as numerous as the hairs on an ox, countless in number.
Their overall strength overshadowed the top one hundred of the Annual New Star Ranking.
Among them was a symbolic event.
The Jiangchuan Three Swordsmen, ranked third among the noble adventure corps, encountered the Chestnut Adventure Corps, ranked third on the Guild's Annual New Star Ranking, in the Junk Star Valley ahead of Lu Chen's route.
The Chestnut Adventure Corps had set off from Raider Port eight months ago and currently possessed 580,000 adventurer points, ranking third on the New Star Ranking. They excelled at stealing and running away, with bounties from the Empire, the Federation, and the Stateless Nation totaling over one million combined. They had advanced to the Hundred Thousand New Generation before the Guernica Beast-Taming Corps.
Both the Jiangchuan Three Swordsmen and the Chestnut Adventure Corps were level-seventy adventure corps; the former had just been formed not long ago, while the latter enjoyed a well-known reputation.
However, in the Junk Star Valley, after the two sides engaged in close combat, the Jiangchuan Three Swordsmen completely annihilated the Chestnut Adventure Corps, salvaging the wreckage of the *Chestnut* spaceship to claim the bounty. They simply hadn't received the reward yet because they failed to find the corpse of Chestnut Glenn himself.
Regardless, it was an undeniable fact that the Chestnut Adventure Corps suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a rookie team that had not yet joined the Adventurers Guild.
The Jiangchuan Three Swordsmen had been promised by the Adventurers Guild that as long as they passed the secondary assessment of the Ice and Snow Great Wall, they could directly advance to the Hundred Thousand New Generation of the Ladder Ranking.
After this battle, the Annual New Star Ranking was also subjected to widespread mockery.
The reality fell short of the grand reputation, and even the Prime Firmament Adventure Corps suffered a drop in standing along with it.
"Damn it, the Chestnut Adventure Corps is way too pathetic... They might as well be renamed the Kimchi Adventure Corps!"
Lu Chen shook his head and took a sip of tea.
However, it had to be said that the同期 (contemporaneous) powerhouses attracted by the *White Dew* and the *Black Dragon* were simply too numerous and too strong.
Lu Chen hadn't even reached level fifty yet; he could only rely on two level-fifty teammates and a level-sixty battle armor to carry him.
He didn't know whether he had stepped onto a stage that didn't belong to him ahead of time, or if he was simply keeping his eyes fixed on the powerhouses all along.
After all, powerhouses were always in the minority.
According to statistics, the average level of this batch of adventure corps about to reach the Ice and Snow Great Wall to participate in the secondary assessment had reached an unprecedented level forty-eight.
A team like Lu Chen's at level fifty was at least above the average line.
If not for the recent siphon effect of the *White Dew* and the *Black Dragon*, the average level of adventure teams participating in the secondary assessment in past years didn't even reach level forty.
From the data, the great era had arrived.
……
The third piece of noteworthy news came from the Imperial star systems along the route of the *Leonine*.
The Night Kingdom, which ranked in the top one hundred in terms of strength among the tens of thousands of member states of the Imperial Secondary Alliance.
The old name of the Night Kingdom was the Seyotan Kingdom, which was precisely the nation to which Sayan once belonged!
More than a thousand years ago, this was still a country ruled by Finalizers.
Later, the revolutionary older sister on Sayan killed Adasis, the Finalizer of the planet, and fled with the entire planet into the Pangu Corridor.
Later still, as Sayan grew increasingly famous, the people of the Enkh Kingdom awakened, and after a hundred years of underground warfare, they completely overthrew the rule of the Finalizers.
Unfortunately, the later stages of the war were secretly interfered with by the Empire, and the revolutionaries had their revolutionary fruits stolen.
Failing to form a society like Sayan's, it stepped by step evolved into today's cyberpunk wasteland.
Even the star had been extinguished; the seven planets could only rely on underground thermal veins and nuclear energy for power, becoming a world of endless night without days.
Evil bred here, gangs were entrenched, and it gradually became seven fragmented, masterless lands.
Collectively referred to as the Night Kingdom.
It literally served as a negative role model.
*Imperial Entertainment Weekly* called it:
The End Game of Sayan.
However, bizarrely, because the laws were imperfect—or rather, there were no laws at all—the nightlife of the Night Kingdom surpassed all secondary alliance countries, becoming a very famous tourist city.
All kinds of sinful entertainment prohibited by Imperial laws could be enjoyed here.
This was a holy land for the rich.
Countless disguised Imperial officials and major capitalists would come here to consume.
And this piece of news was that the Night Kingdom had developed a brand-new encrypted alias system; no matter what one's identity was, it would not be recognized here.
An encryption system that even Imperial secret agents could not crack.
Starting ten days ago, a month-long half-price carnival, unprecedented entertainment projects...
"Damn, it's an advertisement again!"
However, Lu Chen was somewhat attracted by this advertisement.
His imagination ran wild, and he felt restless.
After mulling it over, he said with a serious expression:
"I've decided, the destination for this trip to the Empire will be set in the Night Kingdom. I want to see just how thrilling the entertainment projects here really are!"
Gloria in the conference hall looked at Lu Chen's light screen through the glass wall.
Seeming somewhat unsatisfied with this destination, she curled her lip and said:
"Isn't it just a perverted world? What's so fun about it?"
On the other side, Allie advised:
"Captain, the Night Kingdom is a mixed bag of dragons and fish with powerhouses as
clouds. Going there will likely lead to complications and hinder our subsequent plan to head to the Fang-Tooth Corporation."
"That's true."
Lu Chen nodded.
He also felt that before reaching the Fang-Tooth Corporation, it was unfavorable to stir up big news, but he still couldn't help wanting to check out what kind of entertainment projects the Night Kingdom offered.
He clicked on the advertisement link and was redirected to the entertainment introduction.
"Let me see what fun things they have: infinite-clone collective experience, micro head-game pods, daisy roulette, psychedelic paradise e-cigarettes, brain-drenching hell mercury wine..."
This was just what could be made public; there were even more entertainment projects that could not be made public.
Lu Chen felt his scalp tingle as he read it, and said with an air of righteousness:
"What kind of messy nonsense is this? We really shouldn't go. We're too famous, and besides, the livestream ship is following right behind us. If we're really caught engaging in perversion, my persona will collapse."
Gloria took off her virtual glasses and tilted her head.
Brain-drenching hell mercury wine... what kind of wine was that?
"Although the Night Kingdom doesn't seem to have anything fun, you shouldn't be cowardly either. We can go expose their sins!"
True to form, her angle was quite tricky!
Lu Chen was tempted once more.
Allie reminded him again:
"Captain, aren't we also going to the United Corporation branch?"
Lu Chen felt that the tasks for this trip were piling up.
"We'll talk about it when we pass by the Night Kingdom. Our tasks this time are increasing more and more, we can't lower our guard."
Gloria didn't insist any further either.
Lu Chen continued drinking tea and reading the news.
He tried to find some mining planets located near the route.
Unfortunately, this leg of the journey was rather barren, not a single mining planet in sight—at least none marked on the map, nor seen in the news.
After a short while, Lu Chen put down his teacup and stretched lazily.
"News-reading time is over.
I'm going to the practice cabin to practice battle armor. Allie, help me look for news about newly discovered mineral veins along the route; mined ones or unmined ones are both fine.
As long as there's relevant news, I'll grab some spiritual power superconductors on the way back."
Allie:
"Okay."
……
Lu Chen turned and went to the shower cabin.
After finishing his shower and seeing that Gloria hadn't followed, he was too lazy to even put on clothes, and entered the adjacent practice cabin.
He scanned the Glow Battle Armor, submitted the detailed parameters, and replicated it into the practice cabin.
"Welcome to the United Practice World!"
This time, he used hacking methods to seal off the Yunlan Sect's practice data.
Even when connected to the network, the United Corporation could not read the practice data of himself, Gloria, and Allie online.
He selected the category: Battle Armor and Combat Suit Practice.
He entered the micro-map for battle armor practice.
There were exploration dungeons, space fleet battle dungeon maps, insect-swarm and beast-swarm maps, and zombie maps.
However, Lu Chen felt that fighting against artificial intelligence was meaningless; he could simply hack the enemies entirely.
Without a doubt, he needed to battle real people online in order to quickly improve his actual combat level.
Of course, lasers didn't require much technique, and he had already learned sword intent in swordsmanship. What he currently lacked the most was close-quarters combat such as body arts and footwork.
Operating battle armor and operating combat suits were vastly different.
Operating combat suits was relatively less tiring.
Battle armor, however, was an extension of one's own body; operating battle armor was no different from engaging in free armed brawl.
The biggest problem with online battles was network latency.
The network on United's battle platform was the most advanced.
It was said to be able to connect all terminal practice cabins within a hundred light-years, along with dense relay stations, forming an ultra-high-speed local area network where latency could be neglected.
Even the other two civilian practice cabin giants adopted United Corporation's long-distance interconnection technology.
However, the downside of United Interconnection was that it consumed a massive amount of energy.
People usually played in fixed planetary home practice cabins or cybercafés, and very few people interlinked online aboard a spaceship.
Fortunately, Lu Chen had prepared a large reserve of spiritual pools before setting off, and directly filled two cargo holds.
After briefly looking at the basic tutorial videos, he immediately entered the United Battle Armor combat platform.
Lu Chen didn't shy away from it either, directly using his real name as his online moniker.
For his bio, he wrote: Leader of the Prime Firmament Adventure Corps, Imperial Hero Medal, Federal Freedom... a whole string of titles, very imposing.
He directly put on the Glow Battle Armor and entered the combat lobby.
The combat lobby was truly a hall, filled with players wearing battle armor or combat suits.
Everyone could pull up a small panel in front of them.
From there, they could choose battle maps and opponents.
Lu Chen flipped through the maps.
There were jungle singles, desert singles, space singles, and underwater combat micro-maps.
He didn't immediately pick a map to wait for free matchmaking; instead, he strolled around the lobby to see if anyone recognized him.
Everyone inside wore battle armor or combat suits, seventy to eighty percent of them men, varying in height and build. Most were resting and chatting here after finishing a match.
Among them, combat suits were the mainstream, especially women, who were all uniformly wearing brand-name combat suits of various materials and colorings, looking quite sexy on women.
As for battle armor, original versions were relatively rare; most were heavily modified versions where it was hard to tell the brand.

Whether it was battle armor or combat suits, the levels weren't very high. Most were contestants around level thirty, and only occasionally would one see a battle armor above level fifty.
Lu Chen walked around casually, and quite a few people were startled when they saw the name above his head, finding the bio even more exaggerated. Even those who recognized him hadn't been paying constant attention to him.
However, there were people in the lobby who had watched the livestream earlier.
A person wearing earth-yellow battle armor found him.
"Captain Lu, why did you just come in? I'm your old fan. When the livestream said you were coming to the battle armor platform, I went offline to the practice cabin and came straight to the platform lobby to wait for you."
Lu Chen glanced over; this was a short young man with broad shoulders and a thick waist in battle armor, with the name Ulaanbaatar floating above his head.
His cultivation was level fifty-one, and he wore level-fifty battle armor.
His bio read: Chief Combatant of the Dayuan Adventure Corps.
The Dayuan Adventure Corps—Lu Chen seemed to have seen this name when flipping through the Annual New Star Ranking; its ranking was past the fiftieth spot, though he couldn't remember the exact details.
Lu Chen didn't expect his fan to have such a high level.
"Oh, oh, I got delayed looking at the news for a bit."
Ulaanbaatar laughed:
"There were even more people waiting for you just now. They said as long as you don't use cheats, they can tune you up."
Lu Chen shrugged.
"I'm a newbie, so it's normal to get tuned up."
Ulaanbaatar was slightly startled.
"Judging from the livestream, Captain Lu still had some idol baggage; I didn't expect you to be so humble offline."
Lu Chen hurriedly dry-coughed twice.
"Isn't this place online too?"
Ulaanbaatar scratched the back of his battle armor's head and gave an honest, foolish smile:
"Haha, I'm your super fan, though at first I was a fan of Allie and Gloria.
However, ever since I watched your mecha brawl match—the one against Black, I was right there at the competition venue—I was conquered by your combat and became your fan.
I didn't expect you to also possess one-in-a-million swordsmanship talent, and now you're stepping into the battle armor field...
I'm guessing your battle armor skills are also top-notch!
Haha, I'll step out for a moment to post a barrage in the livestream room saying you've arrived, and let those people who want to tune you up come over and get beaten."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chen hurriedly grabbed him. Having finally encountered a fan, he couldn't let him run away.
"You don't necessarily have to go out to post a barrage."
As he spoke, Lu Chen reached out and swiped, opening a small window right in front of him, which was precisely the livestream room of Chant and Sing.
"What is your account?"
"..."
Ulaanbaatar was dumbfounded, suddenly recalling the words Lu Chen used to intimidate anti-fans in the livestream room earlier.
It was actually true!
He was still too naive; right now, he could no longer look at his idol straight... he felt a little scared.
He reported his Flash-Net account with a startled expression.
Lu Chen then inputted the account, didn't even input a password, fiddled with it casually, and logged in successfully.
Frightening Ulaanbaatar so much his face turned livid, though fortunately his helmet covered his face.
"But... you didn't even use a password."
"I don't like using passwords."
Lu Chen calmly replied, then immediately asked:
"What content do you specifically want to post? Tell me, and I'll post it for you."
Doesn't like using passwords... Ulaanbaatar stared blankly for a long time before timidly saying:
"Just say that Captain Lu has logged into the United battle armor platform, and tell everyone to come watch."
Lu Chen posted the exact words.
At first.
There wasn't much reaction in the barrage.
After all, the viewers still lingering in the livestream room at this moment were fans who enjoyed the game *Starry Sky*.
Soon, however, individual viewers in the barrage repeated the matter and asked the hosts if it was true.
The two female hosts checked with the director and confirmed that this matter was true.
Thus.
Shortly after, a large crowd of livestream room viewers wearing battle armor and combat suits actually entered the lobby.
Many of them were United new accounts.
These people surrounded Lu Chen and Ulaanbaatar, watching from afar and not immediately stepping forward to strike up a conversation.
They thought the interface Lu Chen pulled up in front of him was a combat panel, but upon closer inspection, they realized it was actually the livestream room screen!
They were all scared stupid...
You had to know, this was the United local area network, not the wide-area spiritual net, and moreover, it was inside a local lobby.
"How is that possible!"
"Is it a privilege?"
"Could he be cheating? Aren't we lying in practice cabins, how did he manage to do that?"
Many people immediately left their practice cabins and ran back to the livestream room to leave messages or post barrages.
"Damn it, Captain Lu has opened the livestream room inside the United practice cabin combat platform... You can't cheat like this!"
The battle armor powerhouses who were originally prepared to tune up Lu Chen were all dumbfounded.
How are you supposed to fight someone who cheats online?
Even Ulaanbaatar reminded Lu Chen:
"Captain Lu, if you cheat like this, you won't have any opponents. Why not just livestream in the United practice cabin instead?"
Lu Chen gave it serious thought.
Doing that might attract traffic and make money, but it could broadly expose his hacking abilities, alerting enemies and prompting them to layout defenses in advance.
Besides, the United Corporation wasn't just sitting around idling; if he continued to mess around like this, the network administrators would be dispatched right away.
Thus, Lu Chen decisively closed the livestream room interface, but before closing it, he used his own account to leave a message in the livestream room.
"Oops, I've been warned by United and must close the livestream room, or my account will be banned immediately. Those who are familiar with battle armor can come to the United battle armor platform to find me for a match!"
After Lu Chen closed the livestream room interface, the number of viewers in the livestream room increased, and the crowd of onlookers in the United battle armor lobby also grew, but no one was willing to fight him.
Not only the viewers from the livestream room, but even the contestants originally in the lobby, seeing him cheat publicly, cursed the United Corporation for inaction, and no one dared to fight a cheater.
Lu Chen refused to believe it. After looking around, he randomly selected a desert map and began matchmaking for opponents.
As a result, the matched opponents rejected the battle invitation.
He tried several times in a row, and the other side rejected every single one.
Damn it, he had acted too arrogant!
Annoyed in his heart, Lu Chen had no choice but to cast his gaze toward the fan in front of him, Ulaanbaatar.
"Fine then, since others don't dare, you step up. I'll cap the battle armor's level limit at fifty, and my own cultivation is even lower than yours, so we should be about matched."
Ulaanbaatar was suddenly excited.
"Really? Oh my god, I actually get to spar and train with Captain Lu!"
He didn't care about winning or losing; the important thing was being able to spar with the legendary Captain Lu.
And without bearing the life-or-death risks of the arena.
However, considering Captain Lu's notoriously petty personality, he still asked cautiously:
"Right, if I win, will the practice cabin short-circuit and burn down?"
Lu Chen froze, his tone instantly turning cold.
"Are you an anti-fan in disguise?"
Ulaanbaatar hurriedly laughed:
"I was just joking to liven up the tense atmosphere, please don't take it seriously."
"Where is the atmosphere tense?"
"I'm nervous..."
Immediately afterward, Ulaanbaatar accepted Lu Chen's battle invitation.
They entered the desert micro-map.
In terms of battle armor combat, desert singles were the most popular, encompassing air, ground, and underground combat.
They entered a level-fifty map, where the battle armor's output spiritual pressure was strictly capped at level fifty, and endurance would not increase correspondingly.
However, there was no limit placed on the driver's cultivation.
The climate here was scorching, with yellow sand filling the sky, boundless and forming rolling waves of sand dunes.
Before the battle even began, quite a few other battle armor and combat suit contestants had successively entered the map.
Lu Chen was dumbfounded.
"What is this?"
Ulaanbaatar smiled and explained:
"These are spectators. United's VIP clients are allowed to enter micro-maps to watch battles.
However, they might get caught in the collateral damage, but they can't blame us for that.
We can hit them, but they can't hit us. It's actually quite fun."
Hearing this, the spectators hurriedly retreated, staying far, far away from the two of them.
"I don't hit spectators."
Lu Chen guaranteed this.
The ten-second countdown ended, and the battle commenced.
He and Ulaanbaatar were one hundred meters apart, positioned right on two adjacent small sand dunes, gazing at each other across the slope.
It had that vibe of the duel at the Peak of the Forbidden City.
As soon as the battle started, Ulaanbaatar was extremely excited, directly charging at Lu Chen with a bull rush.
Lu Chen tested his palm lasers, laser projectiles, laser gun beams, and shotguns, greeting him with a flurry of all three modes.
However, the same level could not directly break through defenses; it required sustained irradiation to have an effect.
Yet Ulaanbaatar's footwork was excellent, making him hard to target. After being continuously irradiated, he could even burrow underground and vanish from the world.
Soon, it came down to close-quarters combat.
Although this kid was short, he was built like a tank in heavy armor, possessed extremely strong defensive capabilities, and had extremely agile footwork. Burrowing into the ground, close-quarters wrestling, and heavy-fist interceptions—he was slick as hell.
His only shortcoming was that he wasn't good at flying.
Lu Chen's close-quarters combat was tightly suppressed, unable to even draw his sword, so he had no choice but to leap into the sky and kite the opponent.
Lu Chen kited for a while, improved his shooting accuracy, and continuously irradiated Ulaanbaatar, forcing him to burrow underground and hide again.
The two of them dragged it out like this.
Ulaanbaatar said:
"Captain Lu, you're in the sky firing lasers, your energy consumption is too high. Dragging it out like this means you'll definitely lose in the end, and besides, this is a practice match, this has no effect!"
"That's true."
Lu Chen thought to himself that he had to drop his idol baggage; losing to his fan didn't count as a loss.
The win or loss of a practice match didn't matter at all either.
Thus, he dropped to the ground to engage in close-quarters combat with Ulaanbaatar.
Next came the process of getting one-sidedly beaten up.
The scene was somewhat unsightly...
Since it was a virtual world, the hazard warning guide didn't prompt anything.
And it wouldn't be convenient for him to expose his resonance force and critical strike force.
He could only accept a barrage of beatings from Ulaanbaatar, getting beaten dizzy while learning close-quarters combat techniques amidst the thrashing.
Lu Chen was beaten so badly that he couldn't help muttering:
"You're the kid who wanted to tune me up, aren't you?"
Ulaanbaatar shivered in fright.
"No, no, I did it for Captain Lu's improvement. Look, isn't your footwork adapting more and more?"
It had to be said that Lu Chen was indeed learning through beatings.
The opponent was the chief combatant of an adventure corps in the top one hundred of the Annual New Star Ranking; he was no rookie, but possessed genuine skills and was clearly an expert in battle armor combat.
His body-art techniques were nothing short of perfection, his close-quarters gun-fu was also breathtaking, and his tactical cunning was extreme—he was very energy-efficient, and his combat endurance was ridiculously long.
Moreover, the opponent also intentionally showed off his techniques to him, beating him in various fancy ways and giving him an up-close opportunity for observation.
While taking a beating, Lu Chen carefully observed and gradually adapted to the battle armor's combat style.
Yet he was still getting beaten.
Lu Chen figured someone must be laughing at his expense in the livestream room at this moment.
So he secretly opened the livestream room once more.
Of course, this time, it was only visible to himself.
He glanced at the barrage, and sure enough, they were.
They were all laughing at him, but the phrasing was extremely polite and cautious.
Some even suggested that the two hosts stop broadcasting games and directly broadcast the real-life combat inside the practice cabin—wasn't that more entertaining than playing games?
Chant and Sing had no choice but to urge the director to enter the practice cabin to watch the battle and export the video so they could livestream Lu Chen getting beaten.
Lu Chen understood; this was a way to lower his posture as much as possible and also a means to attract popularity.
After all, his hacking ability was too terrifying, so viewers would only feel scared and naturally wouldn't send tips.
Soon, the director on the livestream ship went online.
Opening a VIP client, they exported the battle footage of Lu Chen and Ulaanbaatar inside the practice cabin onto the main screen of the livestream room.
Not only the director, but in Lu Chen's battle map, an audience scale of over a thousand people had successively gathered.
Among them, there was no shortage of powerhouses.
And it wasn't just Chant and Sing's livestream room; there were even more livestream rooms broadcasting the footage of Lu Chen getting beaten from start to finish.
"Damn, what's so good about battle armor practice... Am I really that punch-worthy?"
Ulaanbaatar laughed:
"There is! However, the application volume for United's new clients and new VIP clients has surged crazily—you've made a great contribution!"
Battle armor players within a hundred light-years radius were practically all attracted here.
The map server was lagging slightly due to the heavy traffic.
With so many people watching, Ulaanbaatar found it hard to throw heavy punches with a clear conscience.
After all, he was just a little-known minor adventurer, merely happened to excel at battle armor combat.
"Captain Lu, why don't we end it here? Too many people are watching, continuing like this won't do your reputation any good."
Yet Lu Chen shook his head and said:
"Watch all they want, this is my fan-growth stage. I scared the audience earlier, and now I need to show my approachable side. You'd better use your real skills and beat me even more miserably so that I can gain even more followers."
"Alright then..."
Ulaanbaatar actually went ahead and did it.
Fighting at full strength, throwing heavy punches.
Lu Chen suffered armor breaches in multiple places...
Bursts of cheers erupted from the spectator stands.
Lu Chen continued learning, striving to master the basic tactics of battle armor combat proficiently within a single practice session.
Half an hour later.
Seeing that Lu Chen was exhausted, Ulaanbaatar resolutely drew a light sword in which he was not particularly skilled.
"Captain Lu, let's decide the victory or defeat through swordsmanship."
Lu Chen thought to himself that he really...
Actually, one could tell from the opponent's sword-drawing posture that his swordsmanship was quite mediocre.
Drawing a sword to decide the outcome before ending it was presumably to leave him some face, letting him easily win through swordsmanship to turn the tables so he wouldn't lose too ignominiously.
Lu Chen pondered for a moment and decided to accept his goodwill.
As a result, the moment Lu Chen drew his sword, a wave of dizziness washed over him.
Lacking physical strength, he collapsed in the desert.
One had to admit that operating battle armor consumed far too much spiritual power and physical stamina for the driver, far surpassing operating a combat suit.
Even though Lu Chen capped the battle armor's output spiritual power at level fifty, he was thoroughly exhausted at this moment, with no strength left to continue fighting, and was directly ruled to have lost.
During a match, one could also consume spirit-healing pills to restore stamina, but spirit-healing pills had to be bought within United's system, and they cost money...
The spirit-healing pills he had replicated and brought in himself could only be used under disconnected network conditions, and couldn't be used during battles.
Helped up by Ulaanbaatar, Lu Chen struggled to his feet and managed to stagger back to the combat lobby.
The barrage in the livestream room was laughing at him wholesale, though their wording remained quite restrained, maintaining basic politeness.
However, the other livestream rooms weren't being nearly as polite.
Lu Chen sat on a lobby bench, panting heavily.
Ulaanbaatar beside him looked as if nothing had happened, yet he only dared to stand and didn't dare to sit.
"Captain Lu, please don't mind it. Your cultivation is below level fifty, so even if you capped a level-sixty battle armor to level fifty, the consumption level for you was far greater than it was for me, which is why..."
"Never mind that, I came here to learn from you, losing is completely normal. Winning instead would mean you were holding back."
Lu Chen drank water in large gulps to rest for a moment.
"I didn't expect spirit-healing pills to cost money too. I didn't top up any cash, I'll rest for a bit and continue."
Ulaanbaatar had thought Lu Chen would cheat to conjure spirit-healing pills, but he didn't. It seemed he was maintaining his image.
"Then I'll go outside to top up and buy some spirit-healing pills."
Lu Chen didn't stop him, because he truly had no strength left.
Most of the spectators hadn't dispersed yet, wanting to see the follow-up.
Right at this moment!
A tall battle armor walked up to Lu Chen.
"The future Sword Saint of the arena is nothing much after huh."
"Huh?"
Lu Chen raised his head and glanced.
This was an old-model level-sixty Glow Battle Armor, its size noticeably a head taller than Lu Chen's.
Moreover, it was heavily modified, carrying a large sword on its back and equipped with a laser cannon on its forehead.
Inside the bowl-thick barrel, pitch-black and bottomless, red light flashed intermittently like a sighting reticle, looking quite terrifying.
"If you still have the stamina, Captain Lu, could you grace me with a match?"
Lu Chen asked, panting:
"Are you my fan?"
"No."
"If you're not my fan, I don't fight nobodies."
The person then opened their visor, revealing the face of a middle-aged man, weathered yet sharp.
"I am Wang Jian, the third combatant of the Wei-Wu Adventure Corps. The Wei-Wu Adventure Corps ranks fifth on the Annual New Star Ranking. I wonder if I can exchange blows with Captain Lu, who ranks twelfth on the Annual New Star Ranking?"
Lu Chen glanced at this person's cultivation: level fifty-eight, the same as Gloria's.
He looked around; the onlookers had grown in number.
A level-ninety battle armor had even appeared at the highest end!
There were also more than a dozen level-seventy and level-eighty battle armors and combat suits.
Lu Chen hadn't expected that by livestreaming like this, he would attract all the battle armor powerhouses in the vicinity.
There were even news media present...
Regrettably, he was truly a bit too exhausted to fight. If Ulaanbaatar hadn't kindly gone to buy spirit-healing pills for him, he would have already gone offline.
"The recent market conditions on the Annual New Star Ranking haven't been too great. Even Chestnut, who ranked third, got beaten to a pulp, so what kind of tricks can the fifth place pull? Let alone the third combatant."
The armorist named Wang Jian shook his head and smiled.
"We are a major adventure corps that strikes with frontal bombardment, not weaklings like Chestnut who built their fame on stealing and running away. I heard Captain Lu's swordsmanship is god-like, so I've specially come to seek enlightenment."
As he spoke, he actually handed a spirit-healing pill to Lu Chen.
Lu Chen accepted the spirit-healing pill, didn't swallow it, but quietly lowered his waist.
He glanced at the barrage in the livestream room, which strongly demanded that he accept the challenge, probably because they still wanted to watch him get beaten.
This guy wasn't his fan, so if they really started beating each other, he certainly wouldn't show any mercy.
However, since the fans in the livestream room strongly demanded it, he—who had always doted on his fans—couldn't very well refuse.
"Since the viewers in the livestream room all want me to accept, for the sake of gaining followers and doting on my fans, let's have a match... But, no restrictions on swordsmanship, this is indiscriminate battle armor combat, I'm here to practice."
Wang Jian closed his visor, his voice turning extremely deep.
"Doesn't matter, I'll force you to use your sword."
The match was about to begin.
Ulaanbaatar hadn't returned yet with the purchased spirit-healing pills.
Over two thousand spectators had gathered inside the desert map.
Yellow sand drifted endlessly, and the howling wind sounded like a cutting blade.
The starting positions were a hundred meters apart; Lu Chen could barely make out the opponent's complete appearance, seeing only a blurry, imposing figure.
The chilling, killing atmosphere far surpassed the scenario when he fought Ulaanbaatar earlier.
Countdown!
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Battle begins!
Almost the exact instant the battle started, a bowl-thick laser beam shot ferociously toward Lu Chen's forehead.
This was a tactic identical to that of Xikolobia.
Wang's laser cannon had also been heavily modified, not striving for continuity, but solely seeking a one-hit kill.
Even if a single shot would drain the entire battle armor's energy.
Afterwards, he would manually pilot the battle armor and use the great sword to face the enemy.
This shot clanged and crackled furiously, tearing through the scorching air of the desert in an instant, emitting a thunder-like roar.
Lu Chen was certain that this shot could break through his defense one hundred percent!
Yet, almost at the same time.
Or rather, an even earlier fraction of a second...
Lu Chen slowly raised his right hand.
This time, he didn't draw his sword.
The laser, however, froze halfway.
Lu Chen twisted his right hand in mid-air.
The bowl-thick, raging laser was twisted into a pretzel.
A terrifying force followed the laser, applied directly to the outer shell of the opposing battle armor.
Lu Chen jerked his right arm upward.
Instantly suspending the opposing battle armor in mid-air.
The thumbs and forefingers of his hands clamped together.
Crack!
Wang Jian's pupils stagnated, too late to even feel shocked.
The black battle armor was already twisting and being squeezed to the point of explosion.
The bowl-thick laser cannon muzzle was twisted directly into a pretzel.
The beam subsequently dissipated.
The spiritual pattern system completely collapsed, and electric arcs and heat spewed out from the cracks on the crown of the battle armor.
Followed by blood spraying out like pillars...
Lu Chen let go.
The unrecognizable black-gold battle armor crashed heavily to the ground.
The leaking helmet armor cracked with a *crack*, revealing Wang Jian's horrified, stagnant, blood-soaked dying visage.
This was an orthopedics technique integrating the Primordial Force of Critical Strike!
Amidst the astonished, bated breath of the entire arena, Lu Chen let go of his hand, shrugged, and walked out of the desert with weary footsteps.
Without taking more than a few steps, he turned his head and glanced sideways at Wang Jian.
"You don't even have the qualifications to experience my swordsmanship."