It must be said. The Master-level experts do not use common light sabers. The truly profound ones all have the best. Master Pang Qian uses a blue light saber because swordsmanship is not his forte.

It was only when Yang Ying was reviewing the various intelligence reports sent by David recently that he learned Master Pang Qian specialized in various forms of sorcery, and close-quarters combat with a light saber rarely appeared in his battle reports. That time during the Light of Titan incident, he probably went to extra trouble using swordsmanship to resolve the matter with Captain Yuan Cang, perhaps just to demonstrate swordsmanship to Yang Ying.

Due to the infrequency of his close combat, when Master Pang Qian reached the Master realm decades ago, he politely declined the silver light saber equipped for him by the Nian Neng Temple, citing the principle of making the best use of everything.

However, to think Master Pang Qian's swordsmanship is poor would be a colossal mistake.

The saying goes that mastery in one path leads to mastery in all paths. As a Master-level expert, he naturally approaches swordsmanship from an exceptionally high perspective, and his understanding of it is extraordinary, making it quite easy for him to deal with enemies below the Master realm.

Both Garcia and Gato are Master-level experts who excel in close-quarters combat. Judging by their respective combat records, their strengths are almost evenly matched.

The total number of Master-level experts among the humans and the Ancient Legion combined barely exceeds one hundred. They are all well acquainted with each other; even if they haven't met face-to-face, they have at least heard of one another’s reputations and know each other’s dossiers.

The moment the door opened, Gato immediately recognized Master Garcia before him.

“Garcia, you dare to plot against me.” Gato ground his teeth, convinced that Garcia had instigated this ambush. A light staff materialized in his hand. Zzzla, two silver light columns extended from both ends.

“Gato, your arrogance is precisely why you walked into this trap.” Master Garcia shrugged off his outer robe and unclipped the light saber from his waist. Zzzla, it ignited. His light saber was also a silver light column.

The three Quasi-Masters behind him performed the same action, but their light sabers were merely purple.

Gato felt a chill in his heart seeing the enemy had the advantage in numbers. If it were only three Quasi-Masters, they wouldn't be a significant concern; although it would take a bit of effort, defeating them would only take a few moves. But if he became entangled with Garcia, three Quasi-Masters would be enough to tip the scales of victory in their favor.

“To defeat Garcia, I must first eliminate these three nuisances,” Gato resolved inwardly.

He roared, and a mass of fierce fire erupted from thin air. Immediately following, a violent gust of wind swept up, merging with the flames to form a firestorm, engulfing Garcia and the others.

The air instantly heated to a scorching degree! The alloy walls and floor showed signs of melting!

This was merely a cover for Gato’s assault. Within the flames, one end of his light staff thrust toward a Quasi-Master with a speed the eye could barely track.

However, the precognitive abilities of Nian Neng practitioners granted them lightning-fast reactions. The targeted Quasi-Master swung his light saber horizontally while simultaneously retreating.

Gato’s strike was unpredictable. The light staff, initially aimed at the chest, wavered slightly before shifting toward the abdomen, then swept in a shallow arc to target the Quasi-Master’s right shoulder, giving the impression that he intended to cleave off the entire right arm.

The firestorm reached Master Garcia, where it was instantly swallowed by his light saber, leaving not a single spark behind.

Then, Master Garcia’s blade flashed, intercepting Gato’s light staff.

The other two Quasi-Masters closed in on Gato. One light saber rapidly approached his head, while the other slashed toward his thigh.

“Garcia, outnumbering me is hardly a display of skill. Have the guts to face me one-on-one!”

The two light sabers forced Gato backward. He instantly retreated ten meters with a single stride.

“Your Higher Apes far outnumber the Nian Neng practitioners. On the front lines, you constantly use numerical superiority; when have you ever adhered to a one-on-one rule?”

Master Garcia followed like a shadow, thrusting his saber toward Gato’s chest.

“Hmph!” Gato blocked the thrust with his light staff held horizontally before his chest, then spun the light staff like a windmill, deflecting Master Garcia’s light saber.

“Take this!” The three Quasi-Masters were slightly delayed. Two of them flanking Gato, forming a semi-enclosure, while the third Quasi-Master, through slightly poorer timing, was kicked forcefully in the chest by Gato and sent flying backward. He slammed heavily into the wall, causing the alloy surface to cave in by a few millimeters!

Fortunately, he had maintained mental energy defenses around himself. After falling from the wall, he shook his head and charged forward again.

It wasn't just the walls that suffered the damage. In the area where the skirmish had just taken place, the alloy floor was imprinted with more than a dozen foot marks—some shallow, only a few millimeters deep, others as deep as the outline of a footprint!

Every time the light weapons clashed head-on, the scattered kinetic energy stirred up bursts of wind, turning the corridor into a wind tunnel. An ordinary person standing there would not only be unable to maintain balance but could also be instantly blown away by the shockwaves!

Master Garcia’s swordsmanship was calm and composed, pressing forward relentlessly. His light saber darted around, pointing east and striking west, unpredictable, placing immense pressure on Gato. If not for the wide defensive coverage offered by his two-ended light staff, Gato would surely have been forced onto the defensive already.

After dozens of exchanges, Gato saw himself increasingly cornered. He instantly dissolved his form and fled into the distance, intending to trade space for opportunity.

“Chase!”

Master Garcia shouted, his form blurring as he followed. When he caught up, he exchanged a few moves with Gato, and then Gato would flee again.

The two sides shifted the battlefield continuously within the platform, moving from one room to another, ensuring they could always find new surveillance cameras.

However, once both sides activated their psychic powers, filling the surrounding area with lightning, ice, and fire, nearly every camera could only function for half a second to a second before being destroyed.

Bang!

Yang Ying slammed his fist onto the control panel: “I knew I should have used more durable cameras or protected them with super-tempered glass. Such a rare battle between Masters, and I can't watch it completely!”

Alas, there are no "if onlys" in this world.

With the assistance of the three Quasi-Masters, Master Garcia could exert his full strength, forcing Gato into a defensive scramble.

Although the Quasi-Masters couldn't pose a direct threat to Gato, they could create openings that allowed Garcia to threaten him, and these Quasi-Masters could also barely protect themselves from Gato’s attacks.

A few times, Gato came within a hair's breadth of killing a Quasi-Master, only to have the attempt ruined by Master Garcia.

The sound of their weapons meeting was like the patter of rain on banana leaves. Hundreds of moves had passed in less than fifteen minutes.

Gato was now completely surrounded and besieged.

Yet, as time passed, Gato grew less frustrated and more aggressive. He spun his light staff wildly, warding off the light sabers slashing in from all directions.

Despite holding a significant advantage, Master Garcia showed no hint of pleasure. Gato’s light staff was overwhelmingly superior in defense. Even after hundreds of defensive exchanges, he maintained his composure, meaning they still hadn't managed to land a decisive blow.

The purple light sabers colliding with Gato’s silver light staff were beginning to show signs of overheating. If they didn't do something soon, the hilts would likely become painfully hot, or even explode due to overload.

“Two of you, fall back and rest.” Garcia immediately ordered two Quasi-Masters to withdraw so their light sabers could cool down.

“Haha!”

Gato laughed loudly, whirling his light staff with even greater impenetrability, and began to press the offensive. With his stamina as a Master-level expert, he could engage in fierce combat for an entire day and night without tiring. The reason he chose a war of attrition over fleeing while at a disadvantage was precisely to wait for this moment.

As a battle-hardened Master-level expert, he was acutely aware that the purple light sabers could not compare to the silver one; they would overload after a thousand strikes at best.

Therefore, right from the start of the battle, he had aimed at the light sabers of the three Quasi-Masters.

Simultaneously, Blade piloted his Ghost fighter to a stop on the platform. He donned his space suit, retrieved his silver light saber from the storage compartment, and clipped it to his belt, then set the auto-pilot system to link with the wrist-mounted computer on his arm.

Inside the base, Kalia was speaking to Yang Ying: “Commander, you really intend to let Colonel Blade enter the platform to observe a Master-level battle? The residual shockwaves alone could kill Colonel Blade!”

Yang Ying replied with conviction, “Before Blade, I was running around aimlessly. Now that I have Blade, what is there to fear? Even if he dies, it only costs us two days to fabricate a new body. To witness this battle, sacrificing a body is worth it!”

In the distance, Blade smiled faintly, jumped down from the cockpit, and tapped his wrist, activating the auto-pilot. The Ghost fighter departed the platform and flew toward the stars.

Then Blade turned, took a deep breath, and walked toward the interior of the platform.