A long spear with a purple tip suddenly emerged from the mist, causing much of the mist to dissipate along with it. A giant figure, holding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, was revealed. It had a thick white carapace, with surging Honkai Energy flowing through its purple stripes. A pair of small purple eyes were set deep within its white faceplate, faintly exuding a dangerous aura.
The Templar-class Honkai Beast had appeared!
Only when truly facing a Templar-class Honkai Beast did Ming Yu realize how terrifying it was. Even though this was just a simulation, thanks to Schicksal's black technology, apart from its behavior being programmed, its destructive power was no different from a real Templar-class Honkai Beast.
If I'm not careful, I could really die! This thought suddenly occurred to Ming Yu. If Himeko couldn't stop the program in time, or if Fu Hua couldn't rescue him, his life would really be forfeit here. Ming Yu recognized this with absolute clarity.
The Templar-class Honkai Beast unleashed its full aura. Ming Yu felt every cell in his body tremble—with excitement, or fear, or both. A large amount of adrenaline was rapidly secreted, heightening Ming Yu's concentration and excitement, and relieving his body from the tension. Even though he had encountered a Thunder God-class Honkai Beast, which was a level higher than the Templar-class, back in Nagazora, that was just a fleeting glimpse. Even though Ming Yu had anticipated the arrival of the Thunder God-class Honkai Beast, the huge gap in strength had made him leave the scene early, with no opportunity to experience its power.
The air in front of him suddenly warped. The Templar-class Honkai Beast, which had been dozens of meters away just a moment ago, suddenly appeared in front of Ming Yu, the purple tip of its spear piercing through the air towards him.
Ming Yu, on high alert, sensed it the moment the Honkai Beast disappeared. He dodged with a sideways roll, just barely avoiding the attack. As he dodged, he didn't forget to slash at the Honkai Beast's spear with his tachi. The tachi, which could easily split granite, only managed to leave a white scratch on the Honkai Beast's spear. The rebound force transmitted from the tachi made Ming Yu's hand slightly numb.
I have to find its weak point. A head-on clash is hopeless. Only by attacking its weaknesses do I have a chance to win. After one failed attack, Ming Yu concluded that he could not fight it with brute force.
The thick spear struck the floor made of some unknown alloy, creating a heart-stoppingly loud bang. Even outside the simulation device, one could faintly feel the ground tremble.
Watching the battered Ming Yu inside the device, Himeko looked at the impassive Fu Hua beside her and asked with confusion, "Why did you agree to let him challenge a Templar-class Honkai Beast? Do you really think he can defeat such an enemy?" In terms of Valkyrie rank, Fu Hua and Himeko were the same, both belonging to A-rank. Except that Fu Hua was just a trainee with lower command authority, her rank was the same as Himeko's. Plus, Ming Yu had been training with Fu Hua during this period, so Himeko was genuinely asking for her opinion.
"I don't know," Fu Hua said, her expression unchanging, as if Himeko were just asking what was for lunch today.
"Huh?" Himeko was a bit stunned. "You don't know, and you still let him go to his death?"
"He seemed confident, and I also want to see how far he can go," Fu Hua stated frankly, her tone as calm as ever, without any fluctuation.
Himeko was even more speechless. So you basically knew nothing and just let him go in like a fool?
On the other side, watching Ming Yu's desperate struggle against the Templar-class Honkai Beast, Kiana cried out, "Mei, look! That guy Ming Yu is about to be done for! That Honkai Beast he chose is so strong! Let's go tell Auntie Himeko to stop it!"
"Kiana, that's a Templar-class Honkai Beast. We just talked about it the day before yesterday," Mei rolled her eyes at the ever-panicking Kiana. "Ming Yu talked with Ms. Himeko for so long before choosing an enemy of this level. He probably has his own considerations, maybe a way to deal with it."
The next moment, Ming Yu was hit by the Honkai Beast's spear. He only had time to hold his tachi horizontally in front of his chest to protect his vitals before he was sent flying. His body tumbled in the air for a good while before he landed steadily, but the Honkai Beast's follow-up attacks put him in an even more desperate situation.
Seeing this, Mei's face twitched almost imperceptibly. Maybe they really should ask Ms. Himeko to stop Ming Yu's exam.
Inside the training device, Ming Yu was gradually being pushed into a corner by the Templar-class Honkai Beast's increasingly intense attacks. The soreness and numbness in his arms grew heavier, to the point where he could barely hold his tachi. His counter-attacks became fewer and fewer, and he was completely on the defensive. Defeat was only a matter of time.
Frowning, Himeko said with some impatience, "Still not stopping? What is he waiting for? The outcome is already clear no matter how you look at it."
Fu Hua also sighed. From Ming Yu's training situation over the past period, she had a vague idea of what he wanted to do, so even though she wasn't optimistic about him defeating the Templar-class Honkai Beast, she still supported him. *Don't disappoint me. Let me see just how far you can go.*
Ming Yu looked at the seven-meter-tall, massive body of the Templar-class Honkai Beast rapidly approaching him, its spear already poised to strike. A sense of powerlessness washed over him. He gripped the weapon in his hand, the excessive force turning his knuckles white. He then looked at the series of slashes on the Honkai Beast's lower leg. They had only managed to break through its carapace, and that was almost the entirety of his achievement, paid for with his still-numb hands and nearly exhausted stamina.
Is this really as far as I can go? Ming Yu was unwilling to accept it! He didn't care about this so-called test at St. Freya; he just couldn't accept his own weakness. It was one thing to be no match for the Thunder God-class Honkai Beast back in Nagazora, but after all this time, he was still struggling so miserably against a single Templar-class Honkai Beast, unable to even inflict a decent wound. Was this the result of all his hard work?
He was so unwilling. Ming Yu also wanted to become stronger by adding points, but a voice deep inside stopped him. This was not the way he wanted. The Honkai Beast's steps drew closer. What should he do?
Suddenly, an image of his first time seeing Fu Hua in the training grounds flashed through Ming Yu's mind. Every punch, every step, every turn, even every breath the girl took came alive in his mind, overlapping with the figure that had been training him for over a month. It was as if a voice was saying, *Just like this, exactly like this, just follow this!*
Ming Yu suddenly understood. He fiercely threw the tachi in his hand towards the Honkai Beast's head.
The Honkai Beast's shield lightly deflected the incoming tachi. Although it didn't understand why the human before it had thrown away its weapon, it wouldn't let this opportunity pass. It thrust its spear viciously towards the tiny human in front of it.
"Danger!" Himeko couldn't help but cry out, her hand moving to shut down the device. Fu Hua immediately stopped her, saying, "Wait a little longer. It's almost time."
Himeko glared at her usually well-behaved student and said, word by word, "What are we waiting for! He's going to die at this rate!"
Fu Hua didn't retort, but simply pointed inside the device.
Ming Yu pushed off with both feet, his body lunging forward to dodge the Templar-class Honkai Beast's charged strike, slipping to the side of the Honkai Beast's leg. Taking a deep breath, and thinking of Fu Hua's movements, Ming Yu mobilized the Honkai Energy within him. A faint yellow glow began to emanate from his hands.
"Inch Strike: Rock Break!" Ming Yu roared, throwing a punch forward.
The small fist collided with the Honkai Beast's thick leg armor. With a loud "BANG," the heavy leg armor actually shattered, and the Honkai Beast's massive body lost its balance and fell.
Ming Yu felt as if his arms were about to break. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness. But before he fainted, he saw on his status panel that the original "Basic Close-Quarters Combat" had changed to "Inch-Heart Fist Technique." Ming Yu smiled. At least this wasn't a loss.