"Then forget it. Go find someone else."
A Black Abyss spear flashed into Lu Jingming's hand. With a flick of his wrist, several razor gun-lights shot out like stars, precisely blasting apart the incoming water arrows one by one.
Lu Jingming had no interest in currying favor with Childe. That guy only had one thing on his mind—how good fighting felt. If they got friendly, he'd probably pester him for a match every day. Then where would Lu Jingming find time to dote on his girls?
"You use a spear too, brother? Perfect—I happen to know a thing or two about it!"
Childe's figure darted; the water blade in his hand shifted shape again and, in the blink of an eye, became a long spear. He heaved and hurled it hard at Lu Jingming.
Lu Jingming flipped his left hand, condensing a thunder spear that crackled with lightning. He threw without hesitation.
The two spears collided midair with a thunderous bang. In an instant, surging waves and flashing thunder interwove, and the powerful elemental forces swept a radius of dozens of meters.
At the same time, lightning crackled around Lu Jingming as he shot skyward like a hunting hawk.
Then, countless bolts of lightning crashed down on the training ground like a torrential storm, forming an all-range bombardment.
Ever since condensing his soul core, his soul power recovered at an astonishing pace—no worse than a Titled Douluo. He could squander soul power at will without any burden.
With the Stigmata of Thunder's amplification, and the true divine authority of thunder he held, his energy cost when using lightning was already minimal; add in the soul core's passive absorption of ambient energy for recovery, and every expenditure bounced back to peak in short order.
This way, even if he had to fight like this for three days and three nights, he'd feel no pressure.
Childe was much the same. Born of negative energy, he could absorb negativity to restore himself, and the Hydro Vision on him also helped him draw in water-element power—equivalent to having a Titled Douluo's soul core.
Waves surged; a massive sphere of water formed in a heartbeat, stably blocking all the descending bolts.
Afterward, Childe burst from the storm of elements unscathed.
Under his control, water condensed into several long swords, flying out like blades with biting sword intent, slashing toward Lu Jingming.
In the stands, Ji Juechen's pupils shrank sharply.
From the start, Childe had skillfully wielded multiple weapons—and each with masterful proficiency.
Now he was controlling flying swords that even carried sword intent, which meant his swordsmanship was not weak by any means.
Ji Juechen's eyes lit with interest. He loved fighting strong foes, and he had a special fondness for sword masters.
Lu Jingming naturally wasn't about to fall behind. He raised his right hand in a sword-finger; several lightning swords slowly floated up behind him, their thunderous sword intent spearing into the sky.
Lightning swords and water swords weaved and collided in midair—dozens of flying blades shuttling and clashing so fast it dazzled the eyes.
"Hahaha—now that's a thrill!" Childe laughed aloud in excitement, then hewed a high-pressure water blade tens of meters long at Lu Jingming.
"Good one!"
The fire of battle was catching in Lu Jingming as well. The black spear in his hand exuded the aura of death as he thrust sharply forward.
The instant spear met high-pressure blade, ripples spread outward from the point of contact, shaving a whole layer off the supposedly indestructible training ground.
Within the wide field, lightning and water interlaced like a dreamscape of light and shadow, flashing and crossing in madness.
The spectators bulged their eyes—but could scarcely even see the figures of Lu Jingming and Childe anymore.
Their speed had far surpassed the limit of ordinary sight. They were like two formless phantoms, hidden within the gorgeous yet violent elemental tempest.
Even the wind and waves raised by their movements alone held jaw-dropping destructive power. Marble as hard as iron was torn apart like paper under that turbulence.
Fortunately, both Lu Jingming and Childe were beings of extraordinary power. With exquisite control, they reined in their strength perfectly, not letting excess spill out. Otherwise, the destruction would have been far worse—the entire training ground might have become a ruin in an instant.
True masters' exchanges are often not the earth-shaking spectacles people imagine.
Their duels show their edge in subtlety—precise blade-on-blade contact, an all-around ultimate contest of strength, speed, reaction, and technique.
Every clash encapsulated deep understanding of combat and perfect command of their own abilities.
At this moment, Miyabi and Durandal had just finished their daily training. They came to the edge of the field, fully absorbed in the brilliant bout before them.
Compared to ordinary students, their own power and rich combat experience let them see much deeper.
In their eyes, Lu Jingming and Childe were undoubtedly master-level in martial arts and weaponry.
Childe's martial skill needed no explanation. As for Lu Jingming, he had been carefully taught by Jingliu since childhood.
One could imagine: even someone less gifted would achieve results under Jingliu's tireless, repeated, devoted instruction—let alone someone as talented as Lu Jingming.
Though in breadth of weapon familiarity Lu Jingming couldn't match Childe's versatility—freely playing every weapon at will—he was in no way inferior in the use of spear and sword.
The spear in Lu Jingming's hand moved like a living flood dragon, splitting into afterimages; cold gleams of spear-light flickered one after another.
With every motion, that black-red lightning of withering power precisely dismantled the water-condensed weapons in Childe's hands again and again.
If not for Childe's control over water allowing him to reconstruct weapons on the fly, he would have struggled under a style so specialized in breaking the opponent's arms.
In brutal battle, there is no such thing as a cheap method. Crippling the foe's weapon is a unique and effective path—it just happens to tilt the opponent's mentality.
"Brother, your power really is dangerous! Looks like I can't hold back anymore."
Childe's figure flashed, narrowly dodging a spear thrust as swift as lightning.
Even so, a shallow cut appeared on his face.
It was from being grazed by that lightning of decay. On his cheek, black cracks spread like a spiderweb, and wisps of black negative energy seeped out.
Yet he didn't seem to mind the wound at all. Instead, he showed an excited, faintly feral grin.
In a heartbeat, raging waters swept the field like a storming tide, lifting Childe steadily into the air.
"Foul Art, Whale-Devouring Annihilation!" Childe's shout boomed across the training ground like thunder.
At last, he unveiled the Foul Art he'd learned from Skirk.
That Foul Art was born of the greatest calamity in the cosmos—the Foul Knight Surtalogi, who was Skirk's teacher.
At his cry, the violent water instantly took the shape of a colossal whale, bursting up from the ground.
The water-whale came on with a savage aura, pouncing at Lu Jingming like a starving beast, as if it would swallow all creation.
"Focus to a point; at the very peak—Annihilation!"
Lu Jingming's expression tightened. One hand gripped his spear; at its tip, black-red lightning compressed and gathered, as if the world's entire power of destruction had been drawn into a single point.
Even for him, this was the first time using this self-created soul skill.