If it had been an ordinary D-rank Transcendent, encountering this punch that came with a numerical check, they would most likely have already turned into a puddle of remains.
As an S-rank creation, the Metal Knight took the punch directly to its face, yet no scar was left behind.
On the contrary, as its momentum surged, the electric current across its body quickly dissipated. Beads of water seeped from its metallic shell, and the surrounding air grew damp.
In the blink of an eye, a surge of water swept away the flames clinging to its body. At the same time, its right hand became enveloped in flowing water, forming into a sharp spike that stabbed upward!
Fortunately, Jiang He sensed the danger and swiftly dodged backward to avoid the strike.
He retreated several meters and saw the Metal Knight stand up again, now with water flowing across its body, surrounded by a misty haze. It had already transformed into a "Flowing-Water Knight."
"So it really can just change anywhere, anytime…"
No wonder Yunyang was so confident. In the end, the combat ratio only rose by a little more than a dozen points compared to before.
The Metal Knight on Hard difficulty had indeed become more troublesome.
Especially with this kind of attribute-countering ability—it was simply too effective against Transcendents with "single abilities."
The extraordinary flames Jiang He released, when falling upon the Metal Knight's flowing water, could only unleash one or two tenths of their true power, maybe even less!
With such an exaggerated degree of countering, Jiang He had reason to suspect that even if he had been a physical-type Transcendent, the Metal Knight might still transform into some element-like state to weaken his power by eighty to ninety percent.
It had no weak points and could maintain an absolute advantage!
Unless—
"The challenger must possess abundant combat methods to crack the Metal Knight's 'attribute advantage.'"
"For example, first use one ability to turn the Metal Knight into a countering element, then follow with another ability to bypass or even reverse the counter…"
In theory, the Word-Spirit talent could accomplish such an effect.
It was an all-rounder talent. Usually, it only countered others—few could counter it.
However, Jiang He had already lost his Word-Spirit talent. He could only use pre-stored Spell Words and fixed Word-Spirits.
Moreover, relying solely on Word-Spirit abilities meant he had to give up his fire-related profession bonuses. That in itself was also a form of self-weakening, leaving him still restrained.
Fortunately—
Jiang He had another way to bypass the Metal Knight's "attribute suppression."
"Congratulations, you've passed the numerical check."
"Next, it's time for me to show the real operation!"
Flames ignited from the roots of his hair.
Jiang He activated the Flame Body specialty, transforming into a flame form, clashing directly with the onrushing Metal Knight.
When the Metal Knight manipulated the water into a whip-like lash, he triggered his [Intuition] talent, predicting the attack trajectory and easily able to dodge it.
But he did not.
Instead, he activated the Eraser talent, deliberately letting the water whip strike his body.
As the Eraser took effect, the extraordinary water was erased, but his body also began to corrode, wounds appearing across his skin.
"Hiss…"
Jiang He sucked in a sharp breath. Despite the pain wracking his body, his face revealed an excited expression—
It had begun!
The Eraser talent could nullify attacks, but at the cost of self-inflicted injury.
This was real damage. While it was not fatal at first, once accumulated, it could drive him into a "seriously injured" or even "near-death" state!
This negative condition just happened to trigger the Flame Envoy profession's new skill—
[Self-Immolation lv3 — Passive. When Flame Body is active, the heavier the bodily injury, the stronger the flames.]
As the skill took effect, Jiang He's flames blazed fiercer!
Then, another new Flame Envoy skill was triggered.
[Flame Bloodline lv6 — Passive. When Flame Body is active, bodily strength is enhanced proportionally to flame strength.]
As the fire raged, Jiang He's speed grew faster and his power stronger!
And as his physique strengthened, he could withstand even more damage!
Then.
Jiang He employed the Word Keeper profession's new skill.
[Words Carved into Bone lv6 — Limited skill. Consumes a large amount of spirit, causing the next Word-Spirit to take the form of a scar branded upon the target, exerting long-term effects. (Up to six may exist simultaneously)]
He spoke to himself.
「Spirit Heal」「Spirit Heal」「Spirit Heal」…
This healing-type Spell Word could rapidly mend injuries, though usually its effect was brief.
Now, through the skill, they became six scars engraved upon his body, transforming into "permanent techniques."
Endless restorative power spread from the six branded words throughout his body, constantly healing his injuries.
At the same time, the Eraser talent continually erased the Metal Knight's attacks, generating new wounds, which in turn ignited stronger flames, reinforcing his body further…
Thus, the cycle was complete!
Jiang He's Flame Body burned ever brighter, his speed ever faster!
He actually grew stronger in tandem with the Metal Knight, his aura surging wildly!
His heightened physical strength, combined with the Eraser ability, directly ignored the water's counter, dealing real damage!
Amid the ceaseless explosions of fire and booming collisions across the arena, the platform's display screen showed the combat ratio soaring—
60… 80… 100… 120… 150…
The students on the platform gasped in shock.
Yunyang, with a stronger physique, could see the battle more clearly. His heart pounded even harder, his eyes nearly bulging out.
What the hell.
The Metal Knight was an S-rank creation. Its battles were essentially fights of suppression—that was why it could grow stronger the longer it fought…
Then what was this about you?!
Was the Word-Spirit talent really this strong?!
Or was it…
This flame?
Looking down at the fire below, Yunyang recalled the first test, when he had seen something similar—the fire lotus of Du Lingwei.
She had been the same. Though her injuries grew worse, she only fought stronger…
Though an A-rank talent, she had clawed her way to a combat ratio of 100.
Could it be that Jiang He, like her, had chosen the same profession?
But this wasn't an S-rank Path—so how could it be this strong?!
Hmm…
If Jiang He had known his thoughts, he would have laughed.
Compared to A-rank Paths, an S-rank Path merely gained an additional S-rank advancement that raised the upper limit. Low-level professions weren't necessarily that different.
Besides, who said the "Sunflame Wielder" wasn't an S-rank Path?
By leveraging the [Ferryman of Time] talent, Jiang He had already turned it into an S-rank Path, even with two separate S-rank advancements!
It crushed most S-rank Paths in quality, second only to the Prophet!
"The Sunflame Wielder's Path—before burning heaven and sun, it first burns itself."
"The skill tree this Path provides allows a Transcendent to grow stronger the more wounded they are, erupting with power at the brink of despair."
"No wonder White Crane and Old Jiang, when speaking of the future, saw Du Lingwei either gravely injured or dead…"
"Dancing daily at the edge of the cliff, fighting on the brink of death—sooner or later, she really will fall."
Fighting against the Metal Knight, Jiang He's body burned with pain, yet his power only grew stronger. A strange thrill of self-destruction coursed through him.
Inside the Twisted Time Domain, he had madly invested points, finally mastering one of the Sunflame Wielder Path's core abilities.
And because every Transcendent's profession structure differed—
Even the same profession could shine differently in different hands.
Jiang He's "Flame Body" was utterly unlike Du Lingwei's—
The combination of [Eraser] + [Word-Spirit] + [Intuition] gave him stable control over his injuries.
He could even keep "100 HP" pinned at the critical "1 HP" line—seeming always on the verge of death, but in reality steady as a rock.
Unlike Du Lingwei, who relied on flame protection to gradually chip away and burst forth.
And the immense healing from [Word-Spirit: Spirit Heal] let Jiang He wield the Eraser's effect without restraint—
Forcing himself to take damage was merely the most basic use.
He could also erase the water enveloping the Metal Knight to deal real damage; or erase the Metal Knight's elemental clashes, forcibly altering the "attribute counter"…
All these factors compounded together.
Allowing Jiang He to erupt with power beyond imagination!
When he finally reached his limit and the Metal Knight caught an opening, sending him flying from the battle stage—
The platform's screen gave the final evaluation.
[Difficulty: Hard]
[Final Combat Ratio: 202.5]
[Evaluation: Outstanding talent, outstanding profession combination, combat experience acceptable.]
Jiang He had relied solely on his own strength to push his combat ratio to 200!!
This meant the Metal Knight's power had reached nearly 100,000!
And he was still just an E-rank Transcendent!
"Not bad." Watching from the side, Old Jiang revealed a satisfied smile. "Seems you've really learned quite a bit from the last training."