Seeing Zhuang Wugou's armor arm begin to extend a probe again, Ning Yu no longer hesitated.
She activated the active effect of [Strength Conversion] she had just obtained from Wu Di.
The Blood Vulture, which had only absorbed a small amount of Sloth's blood earlier, did not provide Ning Yu with much attribute enhancement through [Embrace of Fire].
Therefore, Ning Yu decided to quickly use [Strength Conversion] to break through Zhuang Wugou's defenses in one go.
+10 Physical Strength instantly, causing the Blood Vulture striking the barrier to suddenly increase in force, and the ripple barrier was instantly bent beyond 45 degrees.
"Snap!"
Just as the tracking flying object on Zhuang Wugou's armor was about to fire, his ripple barrier finally shattered, and the Blood Vulture flashed past the exterior of his armed armor in an instant.
The two probes that had just extended were cleanly cut off!
They fell to the ground with a sizzling malfunction sound, destroyed just before they could fire.
Without the barrier protection, Zhuang Wugou could no longer attack Ning Yu recklessly; he had to use his light saber to engage in multiple clashes with Ning Yu for defense.
Unfortunately, Ning Yu's combat experience was far more extensive than his, and with a series of feints, bolstered by her enhanced physical strength, she managed to confuse Zhuang Wugou.
"Die."
Zhuang Wugou struck at Ning Yu's afterimage with a slash, while Ning Yu had already appeared behind him without anyone noticing.
The Blood Vulture turned back and stabbed into Zhuang Wugou's heart area.
Ning Yu's thoughts moved, ready to activate [Thousand Moment Slash].
[Skill Activation Failed!]
?
What? Ning Yu's pupils suddenly contracted as she noticed that there wasn't a single drop of blood at the wound she had inflicted on Zhuang Wugou's heart.
Damn it!
She hadn't expected that Zhuang Wugou, like Lacy, had already undergone partial cybernetic transformation, completely transcending the boundaries of being human.
The requirement for [Thousand Moment Slash] was "the weapon must be inserted into the interior of any biological entity to be used."
Now, it had indeed pierced Zhuang Wugou's body, but unfortunately, he was no longer a biological entity.
But since that didn't work, physical destruction would have to do!
Ning Yu swiftly drew her blade, with the active effect of [Strength Conversion] still lasting for 7 minutes, she had to finish this quickly.
However, strange changes occurred to Zhuang Wugou as well. All the mechanical lights on his body dimmed, and even the blue light screen covering Zhuang Wugou flickered a few times before disappearing, like a closed store sign.
His deeply persistent eyes, similar to when Ning Yu first met him, were revealed.
What was going on?
Ning Yu noticed that the wound at his heart hadn't healed either, revealing large arrays of transistors inside.
Was it because he had run out of power after fighting for too long?
"You are strong. This should be your limit, right?"
His calm voice spoke slowly, as if he wasn't flustered by the broken defenses or the stab wound.
"But unfortunately, it ends here."
He suddenly moved, gripping the light saber in his hand and placing it in the center.
This seemingly ordinary move surprised Ning Yu.
Because with just that simple action, Zhuang Wugou, who had been flawless moments ago, suddenly appeared to have no weaknesses, as if he had merged with the light saber.
"You are about to face the collective combat techniques of all humanity."
His enigmatic words carried an undeniable authority.
Ning Yu finally sensed his peculiarity, as if his movements weren't his own but driven by the armed armor.
"This is a rule system woven from the combat techniques of all schools, nurtured day and night in a training data set of trillions, a combat AI program."
He spoke a series of terms Ning Yu didn't understand, holding the light saber and approaching.
Ning Yu stared intently at the approaching Zhuang Wugou, not only refraining from attacking first but even starting to retreat slowly.
Because she found that her [Future Reading] had failed.
She couldn't see any possibility of dodging Zhuang Wugou's attacks, which meant: there was a 0% chance for her to avoid his attacks in any way.
At this moment, Ning Yu finally understood what Zhuang Wugou was saying.
It was as if they were both engaged in a fair gunfight, and he suddenly turned on aimbot.
Or like they were happily playing chess, and he suddenly called upon AlphaGo.
This guy... can't win so he's cheating?!
No wonder all those light-polluting components on his body had stopped; they were saving energy for computational power.
Cold sweat broke out on Ning Yu's back.
Zhuang Wugou charged forward with a diagonal slash, and Ning Yu could no longer dodge, only counterattack.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
His light saber seemed to be forging the Blood Vulture, and the two exchanged countless blows in an instant.
Ning Yu grew more and more shocked as she fought, because all her moves were blocked, and Zhuang Wugou could even inflict minor injuries by countering her attacks.
She wanted to stop and create distance, but Zhuang Wugou was like an endless machine, continuously slashing from all directions and angles, like a tidal wave of combos.
Ning Yu's body accumulated more and more bloodstains, but she couldn't stop, because stopping would surely result in being cut down.
This battle was filled with a strong sense of helplessness. Ning Yu had realized:
Every time she struck, an immeasurable amount of computation was performed within Zhuang Wugou's equipment, analyzing the possibilities of facing Ning Yu's attack, inputting them into a trained model, and then deriving the optimal solution.
This wasn't a battle, but a competition of computational power between a human brain and a von Neumann computer, and an incredibly powerful one at that.
"Pfft!"
Ning Yu finally reached her limit, striking empty air, while Zhuang Wugou's light saber, using the same method as Ning Yu, pierced through her heart.
Feeling the intense burning pain in her heart, she even smelled the scent of her own blood being scorched.
Damn... it...
"Xiaoyu!!!"
Shen Yiyue had been unable to clearly see the movements of the two during the fight, until they finally stopped, she saw Ning Yu collapse, pierced through the heart, and not getting up.
She felt the sky collapsing, because she had never imagined that Ning Yu would lose in a battle against anyone.
Could it be that Xiaoyu was dead?
Something spread from her heart, tearing and ripping, as if she was experiencing Ning Yu's pain, feeling the searing agony of being pierced by the light saber.
Her whole body began to heat up, and she uncontrollably trembled violently:
"Kill you, kill you, kill you!!! I'll kill you!!!"
"Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!!"
She set up a sniper rifle and fired wildly, emptying the magazine in no time, the barrel becoming scorching hot.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang..."
However, all the bullets were cut and blocked by Zhuang Wugou's armed armor, wielding the light saber.
Shen Yiyue showed no intention of stopping, and after running out of bullets, she picked up an RPG from the side, loaded a thermobaric warhead, and aimed it at Zhuang Wugou.
Ning Yu had warned her not to use thermobaric warheads here, but at this moment, she had lost all reason.
Her eyes were red, locking onto Zhuang Wugou, and she activated [Future Reading].
Just as she was about to press the trigger to fire, she saw Ning Yu's body, which had just fallen, float up, surrounded by an indescribable light.
Her finger, already prepared to pull the trigger, paused, and she took a few deep breaths, as if finally calming down.