Chapter 52: One-Versus-Many Combat

Solo combat had not fully satisfied Su Hao, so he turned his attention to the multi-person mode rooms.

As he approached the door, a prompt sounded: [Candidate Cleaner, one-to-many combat rooms cost 15,000 Cosmic Coins per fifteen minutes based on your destructive power. Do you wish to continue combat?]

What was going on? The price had increased significantly.

Su Hao returned to the solo combat mode room: [Candidate Cleaner, solo combat rooms cost 15,000 Cosmic Coins per fifteen minutes. Do you wish to continue combat?]

So that was it. The prices here had gone up as well.

With no other choice, Su Hao returned to the multi-person combat mode room and selected start.

[Candidate Cleaner, you may choose continuous combat mode. During combat, the room will not interrupt you and will automatically deduct your Cosmic Coins until you lose combat capability, at which point billing will cease.]

Su Hao selected the continuous combat mode.

After 15,000 Cosmic Coins were deducted, the room door opened.

A sword-wielder rushed toward him, his eyes filled with a murderous glow, as if the person before him was a deep-seated enemy from past lives.

Without pausing, the sword-wielder swung his blade straight at Su Hao.

Su Hao did not hesitate either, raising his sword to engage his opponent in battle.

Within the tense and fiercely murderous combat arena, time seemed to freeze, and every passing second was accompanied by a suffocating sense of oppression.

Five minutes later, two crisp sounds of metal clashing rang out abruptly in the silent air, echoing through the small space like the death knell of the Grim Reaper, exceptionally piercing.

Following this fierce collision, the bodies of the two sword-wielding figures fell to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut. The longswords in their hands dropped to the floor with a heavy clang, kicking up a light mist of dust.

In their eyes at that moment remained only unwillingness and despair, as if recounting bitter resentment over their failure and deep regret for not being able to defeat the person before them. Thus they stared blankly at the ceiling, seemingly still immersed in the lingering echoes of the battle, unable to let go for a long time.

Immediately afterward, before Su Hao even had a chance to catch his breath, the faint sound of footsteps came from all four directions almost simultaneously, and four sword-wielders materialized like phantoms.

Their speed was noticeably faster than the previous two. Their figures left trails of afterimages in the air, stirring up a howling wind like ghosts of the night, as they lunged rapidly toward Su Hao.

Their attacks were as fierce as a rainstorm, with the longswords in their hands creating overlapping layers of sword shadows. Every beam of sword light carried a biting intent to kill, and the assault was so airtight that it seemed intended to completely seal off the space Su Hao occupied, leaving him nowhere to run.

Yet, facing such a menacing and aggressive attack, Su Hao showed no trace of fear. His gaze radiated determination and boldness, resembling a peerless swordsman seasoned through countless battles.

His figure moved like the wind, his feet lightly touching the ground as he transformed into an elusive shadow, nimbly weaving through the gaps of the intertwined sword webs, making his whereabouts impossible to predict.

At the same time, his swordsmanship was unleashed as freely as falling rain. Every sword strike was executed with absolute precision, the transitions between moves flowing as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water without a single flaw.

During those eight minutes of intense exchange, Su Hao relied on his superb swordsmanship and agile footwork to relentlessly beat these four opponents into submission, defeating them one after another beneath his fiercely lethal blade.

In an instant, a few more "corpses" lay upon the ground, while Su Hao still stood firmly in the center of the arena, the hem of his robe fluttering in the wind. Though he was breathing slightly heavily, his heroic and domineering aura remained entirely undiminished.

However, the cruelty of the combat did not stop there. As if determined to test Su Hao's limits to the absolute breaking point, eight sword-wielders surged forth from all directions like a turbulent, overwhelming tide.

Each of them radiated an aggressive momentum, their eyes filled with a desperate resolve as if famous wolves catching sight of their prey, or towering waves threatening to completely submerge the coastal reefs, vowing to swallow Su Hao whole within this merciless, desert-like combat arena.

The sound of their footsteps converged, exploding in Su Hao's ears like rolling thunder. Just watching from a distance was enough to evoke a profound and overwhelming pressure.

Seeing this, Su Hao took a deep breath, trying to calm his slightly surging mind caused by continuous combat.

He slowly closed his eyes, gathering all his strength into the tip of his sword as a hundred rivers flow into the sea. The sword tip instantly blazed with brilliant light, faintly radiating a terrifying aura that made one's heart palpitate.

Following that, he snapped his eyes open, a flash of cold light cutting through them, and charged toward the eight sword-wielders like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

At this moment, every strike of his sword seemed imbued with the force of a thousand jun. As the blade cleaved through the air, it actually produced a deafening roar as if tearing the invisible atmosphere apart.

The sound resonated through the entire arena like beating war drums, sounding the tragic and heroic battle anthem for this fierce conflict.

During those ten minutes of extreme tension, Su Hao engaged in a heart-pounding battle of life and death with the eight sword-wielders.

His figure darted freely amidst the sword shadows, and every single strike resulted in an opponent being injured and falling. The scene could only be described as unimaginably tragic and fierce.

Finally, as the last sword-wielding figure collapsed heavily to the ground, Su Hao successfully beat back this wave of attacks.

At that very moment, he suddenly felt a powerful surge of energy converging from all directions, flowing endlessly into his body like small streams merging into a majestic river.

That energy circulated within him, instantly infusing his slightly fatigued body with fresh vitality. It felt as though the arena itself was cheering for his heroic victory, or perhaps bestowing a mysterious reward in recognition of his strength and tenacity.

Having undergone the baptism of these three fierce battles and absorbed the resulting energy, Su Hao clearly sensed that the power within him had reached an unprecedented state of fullness.

That strength surged and churned through his meridians, seemingly ready to burst forth at any second, filling him with towering confidence and the belief that he now possessed the capability to face even greater challenges.

Even so, he had still underestimated the cruelty and ruthlessness of this combat arena.

When sixteen sword-wielders surrounded him like evil spirits emerging from a dark abyss, launching a coordinated siege, Su Hao truly and deeply experienced the crushing pressure and difficulty of the battle.

These sword-wielders showed no fear of death, their eyes filled with madness and resolute determination. Their attacks were as dense and fierce as a rainstorm, simultaneously descending upon Su Hao from all directions—front, back, left, right, southeast, northwest, and the intermediate angles.

The intertwined beams of sword light wove together into an airtight net of blades, trapping Su Hao within and leaving him virtually no gaps to evade.

Although Su Hao fought back with all his might, spinning his longsword into a protective barrier in a desperate attempt to block the torrential rain of blows, he ultimately found it difficult to withstand such a violent and unbroken assault.

After a bitter struggle, he managed to eliminate five enemies with great difficulty, but he could not escape scot-free himself. A chilling beam of sword light like a venomous snake seized an opening and instantly sliced through his skin.

Fresh blood gushed forth immediately, staining his pristine battle robe. That vivid red contrasted sharply against the white fabric, appearing exceptionally glaring and telling the cruel and bloody tale of the battle.

Yet Su Hao refused to give up. Clenching his teeth and enduring the piercing agony from his wound, he continued to wield his longsword, relying on stubborn perseverance and unyielding fighting spirit to take down two more enemies.

By this point, however, he was utterly exhausted. Every swing of his sword felt as though it drained every ounce of his remaining strength, his arms felt as heavy as if filled with lead, and his movements grew sluggish.

In the fraction of a second his focus wavered, a fatal beam of sword light struck like lightning. Its speed was so terrifyingly fast that he had no time to dodge, and the blade pierced straight through his heart.

In an instant, an overwhelming wave of agony swept through his entire body, and his vision went completely black.

He then completely lost consciousness, his body slowly tipping backward and crashing heavily onto the ground with a dull thud.

How much time had passed, Su Hao slowly opened his eyes, feeling his head heavy and groggy. As the scene before him gradually cleared into focus, he realized he had returned to the area just outside the entrance of the combat room.

The familiar surroundings greeted him—contractors walking back and forth were either chatting about something or preparing to enter the combat rooms to try their skills, as if nothing had changed at all. Only Su Hao himself knew just how heart-pounding the battle inside that room had truly been.

Although the death in there was purely virtual and would not actually claim his life, the pain of having his heart pierced was so agonizingly real that it felt branded deep into his soul, causing him to involuntarily draw in a sharp breath of cold air while a thin layer of sweat beaded on his forehead.

He instinctively checked his wealth balance. Not looking was fine, but a glance instantly chilled his heart by half; his previously decent wealth balance was now reduced to almost nothing.

Recalling the fierce battles inside the combat room and how he had lost track of time and fought recklessly in his pursuit of increasing strength and overcoming challenges, a wave of regret washed over him.

Su Hao's expression shifted slightly, the figure of twenty thousand Cosmic Coins flashing rapidly across his mind. Then, he gritted his teeth fiercely and muttered to himself inwardly:

"Hmph! Though twenty thousand Cosmic Coins is no small sum, compared to my life, it's merely a drop in the bucket. As long as the green mountains remain, there's no need to worry about firewood. As long as I'm still alive, am I afraid I won't be able to earn this money back in the future?"

Thinking this, he instinctively clenched his fists, feeling the surging strength that had just been upgraded flowing through his body. A searing flame seemed to burn within his meridians, filling him with an unprecedented level of self-confidence.

Su Hao lifted his chin slightly, his gaze carrying a resolute edge. He recalled how, when he had crossed paths with Ji Yuchen's avatar earlier, the overwhelming pressure emitted by that expert had left him virtually powerless to resist, and the humiliation and helplessness of that moment still lingered in his mind.

But things were different now. A faint, arrogant arc tugged at the corner of his lips, and he vowed silently in his heart:

"Things are different this time! With this boost in strength, even if I were to run into that fellow Ji Yuchen's avatar again, I would never let myself be slaughtered at will like last time. At the very least, I could trade blows with him for several rounds and let him know that I, Su Hao, am not someone to be trifled with!"

With that, Su Hao stamped his foot fiercely, his figure flashing like lightning in place and stirring up a light wind as if mentally rehearsing a scenario of exchanging moves with a master. His movements exuded sharpness, completely stripped of any timidity when facing powerful foes before.