Apocalyptic Sequence

Chapter 5 One-on-One Duel

Entering the main hall!

This scene made Lei Yun feel as if he had seen a ghost, and his expression became extremely comical.

impossible!

Lei Yun's first reaction was that it was impossible. However, Lu Fan's swordsmanship and superb footwork completely shattered his denial, proving that his swordsmanship had reached a high level.

"My God... a genius!"

Lei Yun couldn't find any other adjectives to describe Lu Fan, so he could only use the word "genius."

To be able to master the Black Tiger Saber Technique to a high level in just one hour is definitely a natural-born saber-wielding talent, a martial arts prodigy that comes along only once in a century!

As for Lu Fan's initial "clumsiness," in Lei Yun's eyes, it became a characteristic of a genius who was difficult to learn but grew rapidly. After all, he was a genius, and he was bound to be different from others.

"Lu Fan, you are the most exceptional martial arts prodigy I have ever encountered!"

"I am prepared to use my authority as a renowned teacher to jointly recommend you as a formal disciple!"

Lei Yun approached Lu Fan, patted him on the shoulder, and, under the envious gazes of the crowd, made a promise to recommend him as a formal disciple.

A formal disciple?

Lu Fan's heart stirred, recalling something Hu Hong had once mentioned to him: formal disciples were qualified to learn the Fuling Knife Hall's trump card technique—the Fuling Knife Art, a knife technique even more powerful than the Black Tiger Knife Art.

The Black Tiger Blade Technique, now at Lv.4, has greatly enhanced Lu Fan's combat power, giving him the confidence to fight ordinary zombies, not to mention the even more powerful Fuling Blade Technique.

"Okay, then I'll wait for good news."

Lu Fan nodded, watching Lei Yun leave the martial arts room before hurrying to the room at the other end, which was the rest room for the headmaster and the two deputy headmasters.

Recommending someone to become a formal disciple requires the consent of at least one deputy director.

Lu Fan remained in the martial arts room, and at this moment, all the apprentices' attention was on him.

There was no way around it; Lu Fan's performance was too outstanding. He mastered swordsmanship in just one hour, something many apprentices couldn't achieve even after two or three months of training.

"Lu Fan, may I spar with you for a round?"

At this moment, a tall, burly young man approached Lu Fan, looking eager to try.

Is this a sign of being unconvinced?

Lu Fan understood this sentiment from the expression on the other person's face.

Clearly, the tall young man did not recognize Lu Fan's talent. After all, he did not have Lei Yun's discernment and could not determine the threshold for entering the inner circle. He could only rely on his personal opinion to believe that Lu Fan had not yet reached that level.

To put it bluntly, it means that if you can't do it yourself, you also think that others can't do it either.

Lu Fan was about to refuse when suddenly a notification sound came to his ear.

[Hint: You have triggered the Challenge Quest - Battle Against Elite Zombies (Lv.3)!]

Battle against elite zombies

Difficulty level: Lv.3

Mission Requirements: Accept the challenge from elite zombies and successfully defeat them.

Completion Rewards: 100 Experience Points, 1 Black Iron Treasure Chest (Guaranteed Reward)

[Mission Brief: Inside the martial arts gym, you have been attacked by an elite zombie. Defeat it head-on and nip the crisis in the bud.]

Elite...elite zombies?!

Looking at the tall young man, Lu Fan couldn't help but feel ashamed.

This stupid panel has predicted it again. Obviously, the tall young man will turn into a zombie in three days, and he will be an elite zombie, much stronger than an ordinary zombie just from his name.

Thanks to this, Lu Fan also triggered a new mission.

I wonder how strong the elite zombies are in combat?

How much stronger are they than ordinary zombies? Do they possess any special abilities?

Will they continue to evolve?

Lu Fan was filled with doubts and became increasingly curious about the apocalypse.

Seeing Lu Fan standing motionless, the tall young man named Jia Fei was somewhat displeased and scolded, "Hey, are you going to accept my challenge or not? If you're a coward, you can choose to refuse!"

I accept.

Lu Fan had no reason to refuse. With a challenging mission offered to him, along with a full 100 experience points and a black iron treasure chest as bait, it was impossible for him to turn down the offer.

"good!"

Jia Fei's face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly went to the dueling platform.

Seeing this, the crowd made way and gathered around the edge of the dueling platform to watch the two fight.

Lu Fan drew his long sword and silently walked to the center of the dueling platform.

Seeing Lu Fan take his place, Jia Fei's lips curled up into a sinister smile.

He had been with the Fuling Knife School for over a month and a half, but he still couldn't master the Black Tiger Knife Technique and become a formal disciple.

Lu Fan, who had just arrived, only practiced for an hour before Lei Yun took notice of him and jointly recommended him.

This filled Jia Fei with jealousy, and he wanted to prove that he was no less than Lu Fan and was also qualified to learn the Fuling Blade Technique by defeating Lu Fan.

Now, the opportunity is right in front of you.

As soon as the apprentice acting as the temporary referee shouted "Start!", Jia Fei yelled and rushed towards Lu Fan.

— Clang!

Jia Fei brandished his long sword, slashing at Lu Fan with the force of Mount Tai crashing down.

Lu Fan remained calm in the face of danger, took a step forward, and his long sword, like a swift whip, instantly struck the weak point in the opponent's sword.

boom!

Jia Fei felt a powerful force coming from him, and he couldn't even hold onto the long sword in his hand.

In the next instant, the long sword flew out of Jia Fei's hand.

Such incredible power!

Jia Fei's pupils contracted, completely unprepared for the opponent's formidable strength and exquisite swordsmanship, instantly seizing upon his weak point in exertion—he was practically a monster.

Lu Fan didn't give his opponent a chance to react. The next second, he swung his long sword and struck his opponent in the abdomen.

--boom!

Jia Fei was so badly beaten that he felt acid reflux and couldn't help but kneel down and vomit. With a loud "waaaah," he completely lost face.

"Lu Fan wins!"

The apprentice, acting as the temporary referee, quickly stopped both sides and announced Lu Fan's victory.

Wow!

The entire audience was in an uproar. Jia Fei was one of the best among them, at least ranking in the top three.

As a result, Jia Fei couldn't even last two moves against Lu Fan, and was beaten to his knees, spitting water, and losing all face.

When Lei Yun said that Lu Fan's swordsmanship had reached a high level, no one had a direct understanding of it until he defeated Jia Fei. Only then did everyone have a clear understanding that this was swordsmanship that had reached a high level.

Lu Fan put down the long sword in his hand, but in his mind he was reviewing the duel.

Jia Fei underestimated his opponent and exposed his weakness in the very first move. It should be noted that Lu Fan's strength was not as small as he looked. After being enhanced by the Z-virus antibody drug, his strength attribute was 6 points.

With 6 attribute points, it's higher than the average adult's 5 points of strength.

So despite Jia Fei's tall stature, the two are on the same level in terms of strength.

With no advantage in strength, coupled with Lu Fan's superb swordsmanship, Jia Fei's defeat was inevitable.

Next, Lu Fan turned his attention to the player panel and focused on the task section.

[Hint: The current task progress is 102%, which meets the completion requirement (greater than 50% task progress). Do you want to submit the task?]

Sure enough, every task has a progress bar, and the progress cap can exceed 100%.

Lu Fan looked at Jia Fei, who was kneeling on the ground spitting water and unable to get up for a while, and suddenly understood something.

If he can kill Jia Fei, the mission progress should increase to 200%, which is the maximum value.

Unfortunately, Lu Fan couldn't bring himself to harm a living person, even if that person would turn into an elite zombie in three days.

Moreover, even if Lu Fan killed the other party, this is a society governed by law. In less than half an hour, the police would arrive and arrest Lu Fan and put him in jail. At that time, he would face a zombie outbreak in prison.

Imagine the confined environment of a prison; if a zombie outbreak were to occur, there would be no chance of survival.

Therefore, Lu Fan had no intention of killing Jia Fei.

There was no irreconcilable hatred between the two sides, so there was absolutely no need for them to kill each other.

"Submit the task!"

Lu Fan no longer hesitated and chose to hand in the task.

[Hint: You have gained 100 experience points and 1 Black Iron Treasure Chest!]

After receiving the reward, Lu Fan closed the player panel. At that moment, he saw Lei Yun hurriedly return.

However, what Lei Yun said made Lu Fan pause in surprise:

"I'm sorry, the curator said he doesn't want to take on any apprentices in the near future."

"No matter who it is, they cannot be promoted to a formal disciple."

"I have reported your situation in detail, but the curator said she has her own plans..."

Lei Yun looked ashamed and regretfully explained the situation to Lu Fan.

The curator refused?

I don't want to take on any apprentices anytime soon...

Considering the strange behavior of the First Military Academy, which led to Tang Rou's participation in the field exercise, and the curator's reasons for refusing,

Lu Fan's heart stirred, and a terrifying suspicion began to form in his mind.

The higher echelons of humanity may be aware that the apocalypse is coming!

Could it be that the curator knows the end of the world is coming, and therefore doesn't plan to take on any more apprentices?

This is just speculation and shouldn't be taken as fact for now.

Regardless, it seems to me that I will not be able to become a formal disciple and will not be able to learn the Fuling Blade Technique.

"It's alright, I have something to do tonight, so I'll leave now."

Lu Fan said goodbye to Lei Yun and turned to take off his martial arts uniform.

"Lu Fan, I'll see you off!"

Lei Yun hurriedly caught up with Lu Fan, mistakenly thinking that the other party was angry, and quickly explained, "Don't worry, I will pester the headmaster for the next few days and make sure she accepts you as a martial arts genius."

"it is good."

Lu Fan didn't take it seriously. If the curator really knew about the apocalypse, then taking on disciples would be almost impossible.

However, Lu Fan didn't have too many regrets. Although the Black Tiger Blade Technique might not be as good as the Fortune Spirit Blade Technique, the problem was that he had a player panel, which allowed him to continuously upgrade his skills.

If the Black Tiger Blade Technique breaks through to Lv.5, or even Lv.10, or Lv.20!

At that time, would the Black Tiger Blade Technique still be inferior to the Fortune Spirit Blade Technique?

Breaking through the mortal realm with ordinary skills is the biggest advantage of the player panel. As the saying goes, great strength makes bricks fly. Lu Fan believes that with the Black Tiger Blade Technique, he will definitely be able to overpower other people who learn the Fortune Spirit Blade Technique in the future.

This is the player panel, which gives him confidence.

Lei Yun escorted Lu Fan all the way, and the two left through the gate of the martial arts school.

What they didn't see was that directly above the entrance to the martial arts school was the headmaster's lounge.

A mature woman with long black hair was watching the two people below the martial arts hall leave.

She is very beautiful; even without makeup, she would be rated eight out of ten.

Just then, a voice came from behind her:

"Master Fu, are you really not planning to take on any apprentices? According to Master Lei Yun, this is a martial arts genius who can master swordsmanship in a short time!"

"A martial arts genius? Even if he is, so what?"

Director Fu sighed, his gaze turning deep: "If he had appeared a month earlier, I would have had the resources to teach him, but now, time is running out..."

After saying this, Director Fu turned to face the mysterious man and sighed:

"The rulers of the old are about to rise again, and a great and mysterious being will bring calamity."

"Whether one can survive the disaster, or even seize that sliver of opportunity to transcend the ordinary and attain sainthood."

"That's our goal, isn't it?"