Chapter 19: Yinglong Steed, Second Gear!

Chu Wan was sent flying backwards for the second time.

Although she remained uninjured under the powerful second-gear mode, she was still taken aback.

She tumbled continuously through the air, keeping her undivided attention on Zhou Yan the entire time.

Zhou Yan, however, had already spurred his warhorse into a gallop, riding precisely to the spot where his spear and sword had fallen after being knocked away, and snatched them out of the air.

Then, pulling the horse's head around and gripping the spear beneath his ribs, he charged fiercely toward Chu Wan.

Just as Chu Wan touched the ground, Zhou Yan's spear tip had already lunged ferociously right before her face!

Swish!

In a flash, Chu Wan's feet crossed, her figure vanished instantly, and she burst out from the side like a teleportation, raising her flame-shaped sword to cleave downward.

Zhou Yan swept his weapon back in a horizontal slash.

Instead, Chu Wan lowered her profile, diving right through the horse's belly along with her sword.

Although the Yinglong Steed's long-distance running speed was even faster than a second-gear mecha martial artist, that was only because its physique was built for sprinting.

Once engaged in close combat, it was still hardly nimble enough to keep up with a mecha martial artist.

Take right now, for instance—it completely failed to match Chu Wan's flexible footwork.

"Hey!"

A soft cry rang out.

Chu Wan reappeared from the other side, leaping up with a horizontal slash aimed directly at Zhou Yan's neck.

This time, she was positioned at the flank of the Yinglong Steed, and having already prepared herself mentally, there was no way she would let herself be kicked by the steed again.

Little brother, time to be a good boy and admit defeat!

A smile involuntarily curled the corners of her lips.

However, a stream of light flashed.

Zhou Yan and the Yinglong Steed, who had been right in front of her, suddenly vanished from her sight.

What?!

Amidst her astonishment, Chu Wan turned her head to the side, caught the lingering trail of that streak of light, and swiftly locked onto her target, which had already reappeared a hundred meters away.

Then, her whole body froze entirely, remaining motionless even after she hit the ground.

Hum—

In the distance, amidst a massive wave of buzzing sounds, a tall mecha stood proudly, its entire body covered in white light paths infused with bizarre, colorful optical radiance.

Under the guidance of Zhou Yan—whose own armor was likewise glowing with shimmering light paths—it slowly turned and pivoted around.

At this moment, the divine machine mount beneath Zhou Yan had grown much sleeker, yet it still retained a general horse-like shape.

However, its head and neck, which had originally imitated a horse, had strikingly transformed into the likeness of a legendary creature.

Antlers like a deer, mouth like an ox, nose like a dog, whiskers like a catfish, mane like a lion—

"Dragon." Luo Xuan outside the arena involuntarily uttered a single word.

Yet the appearance was secondary.

After all, they were both mechanical creations; whatever form they took was designed and manufactured by their creator.

The crucial point was that the constantly flowing light paths across the surfaces of Zhou Yan's armor and his mount signified—

"Second gear?!" Chu Wan's voice involuntarily carried a note of astonishment.

She quickly asked in a loud voice, "Zhou Yan! Didn't you say you only learned the Pulse-Burning Method last night? You can already activate second gear today?"

Was this damn thing really a second gear?

Was this kid hacking?!

"Hehe—" Zhou Yan felt the surging power coursing through his every movement and chuckled softly.

Although his Pulse-Burning Method had only been learned last night, he had already mastered the Star-Chasing Secret Chart, which possessed a similar effect, long beforehand.

Now, even in his normal state, he could easily construct his exclusive "supernova imagery" using his thoughts, thereby accelerating his heartbeat and prompting his vital energy and blood to surge rapidly through his body.

And once this hardest first step of initiation was achieved, it meant he had simultaneously unlocked the qualification to pilot the divine machine and trigger the "second gear" mode.

Zhou Yan silently raised his spear and sword, which were now likewise encircled by light paths, and aimed them at Chu Wan. With a slightly "strained" tone, he said,

"Director Chu, this... second gear, I feel like I can only maintain it for a very short time, so this strike..."

"Please enlighten me!"

Boom!

With a soft shout, the divine steed beneath him stomped hard with its hooves—which had now transformed into sharp claws—gouging several deep claw marks into the special flooring that not even ordinary second-gear mecha martial artists could damage.

A single rider charged forward in a flash!

The distance of a hundred meters vanished in the blink of an eye.

A terrifying tremor flashed through Chu Wan's heart.

In that instant, she hurriedly raised her sword to parry, the light paths across her entire body's armor instantly spreading and erupting into blazing flames.

Third gear!

Meanwhile, Zhou Yan had already closed the distance and reached her front amidst her transformation.

The black spear and sword radiating white light pierced forward like thunder.

The black spear and the blazing sword collided with a thunderous roar.

Clang!

The exceptionally hard flooring beneath their feet shattered simultaneously.

The bombardment of sword and spear exploded into a terrifying shockwave, which then propelled the air outward into a raging gale.

Dozens of meters away, the hair of Luo Xuan and Luo Ke whipped wildly in the fierce wind, their faces written with shock.

The next instant, a crimson figure was sent flying backward out of the swirling debris kicked up into the sky.

It was Chu Wan!

This was her third time soaring horizontally through the air, and she could only feel a sweet taste rising in her throat.

Shock involuntarily surfaced on her face.

A true-realm powerhouse like her had actually been shaken and injured by this explosive second-gear strike from Zhou Yan?!

And she had been knocked flying even though she had managed to activate the third gear, albeit hurriedly?

Are you kidding me?!

She absolutely had to get back at him for this!

She quickly adjusted her posture in mid-air, twisting her body to face Zhou Yan's direction once more.

Before she even hit the ground, she saw terrifying flames erupting from the back of her armor.

The violent jet of flames spread out like butterfly wings, propelling Chu Wan forward at high speed and shooting her toward Zhou Yan, whose figure was still obscured by the distant smoke and dust.

This was the flame-manipulation ability acquired through the hyper-mental circuit in the third gear mode.

Flame Butterfly!

Chu Wan's speed at this moment reached its absolute peak, leaving behind scorching trails of fire wherever she swept past. In the blink of an eye, she had broken through the smoke and dust and arrived right before Zhou Yan.

She struck a crimson-charge posture, pointing the tip of her flame-shaped sword forward in preparation for a thrust.

The next second, her pupils contracted, she abruptly raised her blade to aim at Zhou Yan, and the flames behind her immediately extinguished.

She crashed directly into Zhou Yan's embrace, the immense momentum carrying them both flying straight out of the horse's back.

The two tumbled to the ground, rolling more than ten meters away before the armor on their bodies simultaneously deactivated.

On the ground, Chu Wan—huddled in Zhou Yan's arms with a face full of lingering fear—looked up and glared at him. "Why did you deactivate the second-gear mode?!"

Zhou Yan looked at Chu Wan with an equally speechless expression. "Director Chu, I already told you before I made my move that my second gear puts me under a huge amount of pressure and can't be maintained for long—wait a minute—"

He came to his senses, staring straight at Chu Wan's alluring face with wide eyes as he questioned, "We were just sparring! The way you were spewing fire just now—you wouldn't happen to have entered the so-called third gear, would you? Were you trying to kill me?!"

Chu Wan's expression stiffened. Her tone instantly weakened, and she evasively mumbled, "Uh..."

She could hardly admit that when she faced Zhou Yan's lightning-fast thrust just then, the thought had flashed through her mind: *If I don't open the third gear, this old lady might get seriously injured.*

That would be way too embarrassing!

However, Chu Wan had seen her fair share of the world after all, and she immediately chuckled lightly to change the subject. "Little brother Zhou Yan, it's hard to say whether I wanted to kill you or not, but if you keep holding me like this, someone else is definitely going to want to kill you."

Upon hearing her words, Zhou Yan felt his heart skip a beat, and he hurriedly released his grip before scrambling to his feet.

Just in time, he saw Luo Xuan rushing over with a look of worry on her face.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, casting a grateful glance at Chu Wan.

Only to see his female superior standing up with a smiling expression, brushing off her clothes. Fortunately, she had put on athletic wear suitable for combat beforehand today, so she didn't ruin her work attire like yesterday.

Luo Xuan had already reached the two of them by this point, and seeing that Zhou Yan was able to stand up soundly on his own, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, noticing a trace of blood at the corner of Chu Wan's mouth, she asked with astonished concern, "Sister Chu Wan, you're hurt?"

What on earth was going on here?

Zhou Yan had actually managed to inflict minor injuries on Chu Wan—who had opened her third-gear mode—while fighting her in second gear?

You couldn't even write this in a novel!

Chu Wan coughed and stubbornly insisted, "I'm not hurt. I just got startled by the explosive power this guy unleashed and accidentally bit my tongue."

As she spoke, she glanced at Zhou Yan with a subtle warning in her eyes.

Naturally, Zhou Yan wouldn't intentionally make her lose face, so he just smiled and stayed silent.

Luo Xuan looked at Chu Wan skeptically for a few moments, as if confirming whether she was truly alright.

Then she switched to scolding mode: "Sister Chu Wan, when you sparred with Zhou Yan, why did you open the third gear mode? Didn't you know he's just a novice who hasn't even reached the Miao grade?"

A novice?

Chu Wan clutched her forehead, laughing in sheer exasperation. "Have you ever seen a novice mecha martial artist who could charge forward at the speed he just used, and almost sent a true-realm expert like me to meet the King of Hell with a single spear strike?"

Luo Xuan was completely dumbfounded. When she thought about it carefully, it really did sound absurd beyond belief, leaving her stammering and speechless.

After venting her frustration, Chu Wan quickly snapped back to reality.

She immediately stared intently at Zhou Yan, who was standing to the side watching the show, her gaze looking as if she wanted to devour him alive. "Zhou Yan, this is too outrageous. The performance of this divine machine of yours is exaggerated to an absurd degree. With this set of equipment, not only can you sweep through everything at your own tier, but even someone who has just properly stepped into the true realm will suffer a crushing defeat at your hands if they let their guard down. What on earth is the origin of this divine machine?"

Zhou Yan could only spread his hands. "If you ask me, I don't know who to ask either. I only know this divine machine was made by a divine machinist named A-Guang, and both Pavilion Master Cong and Elder Zhang hold him in high regard."

"A-Guang?!" Hearing this name, Chu Wan paused slightly, her expression softening a great deal.

Then she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Even for something made by that eccentric master A-Guang, powerful is powerful, but I've never seen anything this absurd."

After thinking for a moment, she shook her head with a helpless bitter smile. "Now we can only pray that this divine machine of yours truly is a one-of-a-kind piece that cannot be mass-produced... If it's not a unique item, but rather a new-generation divine machine capable of mass production, then the rest of us who only bound our divine machines in recent years are going to cry our eyes out."

You train hard and finally get the divine machine you've been dreaming of, only for headquarters to drop the news: *The version has updated, new equipment is out.*

Who wouldn't vomit blood at hearing that?

Zhou Yan, however, smiled faintly, shook his head, and reassured her, "Rest assured, Director Chu, I know my own limits when using this divine machine. If ordinary people tried to use this, I'm afraid they really wouldn't even compare to a conventional divine machine."

A thought stirred in Chu Wan's mind. Looking at Zhou Yan's sincere expression, she couldn't help but recall how the two of them had interacted during the combat.

The truly powerful aspect of this divine machine was that extra mount, the dragon steed.

Given that the dragon steed possessed considerable size and weight, trying to spare the mental capacity to supply it with spiritual energy while simultaneously controlling one's own armor—

For a normal mecha martial artist, that was practically an Arabian night fantasy.

The fact that Zhou Yan could only enter that overwhelmingly powerful second-gear state for less than three seconds had already proven this point.

If even an extraordinary person like him, whose mental power was ten times that of an ordinary person, found it that grueling, then if an ordinary true-realm powerhouse were to try it, their performance probably wouldn't even match his...

Whereas someone of her caliber, who activated the third gear and engaged the hyper-mental circuit to use supernatural abilities, clearly still had the combat power to suppress Zhou Yan's second-gear mode.

Putting it that way, Zhou Yan's divine machine was indeed somewhat of a white elephant in a certain sense, and for ordinary people, it was purely a deadweight burden.

It just happened to be a match made in heaven, perfectly attuned to Zhou Yan...

Thinking of this, the look Chu Wan gave Zhou Yan turned quite peculiar.

Could this guy possibly be some legendary Son of Destiny?

Why did all the good things happen to him?

It was simply outrageous!