This Character is Suspected of Cheating! [Unlimited Flow]

The gigantic stone guardians stood five meters tall, yet their movements were anything but clumsy. They were astonishingly agile.

Each held a pair of giant battle axes.

Every swing carried world-destroying force.

These were two stone guardians above S-rank.

And because they were made entirely of stone, their bodies were incredibly durable. Very few contestant weapons could leave marks on them.

Attacks from experts like Zhen Xing, Eugene, Gedai, Yuan Ze, and Cheng Zhao were effective.

But unless the stone guardians were completely defeated, they would never fall.

The wounds left on their bodies seemed to have little effect, making them an enormous headache.

—These were monsters that could only be dealt with through cooperation.

Standing in the inner circle were Zhen Xing, Eugene, Wanrenzhan, Gedai, Cheng Zhao, Yuan Ze, Zhante, and Ling Buchen.

Their positions had all been arranged by He Yu.

When Ling Buchen was placed in the inner circle, Team One's members all froze.

Wanrenzhan and Earlie looked as though they wanted to say something.

In the end, both endured it.

The members of Team One didn't actually understand He Yu's arrangement.

Or rather—

They had no idea what He Yu was planning!

The other teams didn't know Ling Buchen's combat power.

But Team One did.

Placing Ling Buchen in that position...

How many attacks from the stone guardians could he withstand?

Doubts filled Team One's minds.

But with the other teams watching them like tigers stalking prey, nobody dared undermine He Yu.

If He Yu fell, they were finished too.

Either way, if something went wrong, He Yu would be the first one unable to escape responsibility.

No one else would spare him.

The stone guardians' axes came crashing down toward the people directly in front of them.

Zhen Xing, Eugene, and Wanrenzhan charged forward with weapons in hand, dodging while attacking.

Bang!

Clang! Clang!

The sounds of weapons striking stone.

The sounds of weapons colliding against gigantic axes.

Above them all, He Yu stood in the sky.

At that moment, everyone below seemed to shrink.

The stone guardians shrank proportionally as well.

Countless invisible lines appeared and crossed one another, forming a vast grid.

The stone guardians became black pieces trapped in the center.

The contestants became white chess pieces.

—<Passing the Mountain Gate> had become a game of chess.

“15, 26, and 48, attack the upper-right side of the head.”

“13, 29, and 45, attack the lower-left waist.”

“68, 67, 51, and 43, attack from behind.”

The stone guardian turned.

“58, 39, and 38, strike the back of the head.”

“2, 5, 7, and 14, attack the neck of the right guardian.”

“1, 3, and 4, intercept the right guardian's weapon.”

“9, 10, and 51, attack the left guardian's rear shoulder.”

...

He Yu's reactions were incredibly fast.

His mind spun at astonishing speed.

Everything was clearer than ever before.

The consequences of moving each chess piece seemed calculated the instant he moved it.

And whenever the stone guardians acted according to his predictions—

His next arrangement was already waiting.

Dozens of people completely restrained two stone guardians.

Combat power really was an incredible thing.

In his previous life, He Yu had already been intelligent.

A fool could never have reached the heights he achieved.

Once, a famous international director had said:

“If He Yu became a scientist, businessman, or politician, he would succeed in any of those fields.”

But that intelligence was nowhere near his current level.

Since entering <Top Talent Show>, everyone else had been increasing their combat power.

So had he.

Except all of his effort had been invested in his mind.

—Combat power seemed capable of enhancing more than just combat ability.

It could enhance intelligence as well.

He Yu had just proven another one of his theories.

And now...

He was about to verify yet another.

His speaking speed increased.

“2, 7, 9, and 11, attack the left guardian from the front.”

“34, 35, 36, and 15, attack behind the right guardian.”

...

“56 through 60, retreat!”

“13 through 17, move diagonally right!”

“1 and 2, attack the left guardian's head!”

“4 and 5, attack the right guardian's head!”

...

One command after another.

His speech became so rapid that the people below had completely stopped thinking.

The instant they heard a command, they acted.

No one had time to make any judgment of their own.

The audience stared without blinking.

At that moment, even breathing seemed to stop.

They had completely suppressed the stone guardians.

The two guardians were battered into helplessness.

After dealing with attacks from the front, attacks from behind immediately followed.

This made them increasingly furious.

When contestants leaped up to attack their heads, the guardians retaliated violently.

Their movements became increasingly frenzied.

The corner of He Yu's mouth lifted.

His voice remained exactly the same as before.

Without any change in tone, he issued the next order.

“Everyone.”

“Attack the person directly in front of you.”

The viewers froze.

However, the contestants trapped inside He Yu's chessboard almost instinctively treated the command exactly like all the others.

They obeyed.

Only after their attacks had already been launched did their expressions drastically change.

Attack the person in front of them?

—What was He Yu doing?!

—Was he trying to wipe them all out?!

Above them, He Yu's voice suddenly rose.

This time, he called names.

“Wanrenzhan, strike the right guardian's neck.”

“Ling Buchen, attack the crown of the left guardian's head.”

Through countless previous commands, both men had already been positioned at the very front.

Those below couldn't see it.

But from above, the battlefield had unconsciously twisted into a familiar shape.

A Taiji diagram.

Wanrenzhan and Ling Buchen stood at the two points of the Taiji.

The two stone guardians were the two dots inside it.

Everything was wrapped within the center.

After the others launched their attacks, the two men instinctively followed He Yu's orders.

Neither knew what would happen.

Neither knew whether their strikes would accomplish anything.

But they obeyed.

Wanrenzhan swung his axe toward one guardian's neck.

Ling Buchen gripped his long blade, leaped onto the other guardian's head, and drove it downward.

Neither knew that at the moment they attacked, all the attacks behind them were flowing forward like a transmission.

Following the shape of the Taiji.

Gathering behind them.

“RAAAAH!”

Wanrenzhan roared.

His axe never reached the guardian's neck.

The guardian's weapon intercepted it midway.

Blocked again?

No.

BOOM!

Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion, the guardian's axes shattered apart.

The invisible shockwave carried by Wanrenzhan's strike continued downward.

Toward the guardian's neck.

The neck...

Split apart.

The head crashed backward.

From the neck downward, the entire stone body shattered into pieces.

RUMBLE—!

Thunderous crashes echoed endlessly.

The stone guardian exploded apart.

Collapsed.

Dust clouds surged into the sky.

Meanwhile, Ling Buchen's attack lacked the overwhelming spectacle of Wanrenzhan's axe.

But the shock it produced was no less astonishing.

His blade pierced directly into the guardian's crown.

Deeply.

The guardian froze.

Ling Buchen stood atop its head, gripping his sword.

The shockwave whipped his clothes in the wind.

Crack—

Crack—!

The sounds continued.

The guardian's head split open.

The crack traveled from the crown all the way down to its waist.

Spiderweb-like fractures spread across its body.

Beautiful.

Terrifying.

Surreal.

BOOM!

The stone guardian collapsed.

Reduced to a mountain of rubble.

Dust rolled across the battlefield.

The earth still trembled.

Everyone stood frozen in place.

Blankly staring at the scene.

Wanrenzhan held his axe aloft, eyes wide.

Ling Buchen gripped his blade, looking equally stunned.

Beneath them, the terrifying stone guardians had become nothing more than piles of ordinary rocks.

No longer threatening.

No longer alive.

Silence filled the surroundings.

Across every livestream.

The chat screens went completely blank.

—

Standing atop his broom, He Yu slowly descended.

The faint sound of landing was like a pebble falling into a calm lake.

Instantly, the stillness shattered.

“Holy shit?! What the hell just happened?!” someone cursed hoarsely.

Tang Ke stared at Wanrenzhan and Ling Buchen.

“You two... are actually that strong?”

Even trapped within the formation, those stone guardians had still been high-level S-rank opponents.

Absolute monsters.

And these two had each destroyed one with a single strike?

What kind of combat power was that?!

—Was Wanrenzhan really that strong?

—Was this unknown man with almost no presence really that strong?!

Not just them.

Even Wanrenzhan looked down at the hand gripping his axe and muttered blankly:

“I'm... that powerful?”

No.

Something was wrong.

Even if he really was that strong—

What about Ling Buchen?

Ninety-nine combat power.

How was that possible?!

The members of Team One recovered first.

Zhen Xing, Eugene, Gedai, and the others quickly followed.

They knew Wanrenzhan's strength from the previous instance.

Because of his lack of equipment, he wasn't particularly powerful.

Even with the combat-power ore he had acquired afterward, he shouldn't have reached S-rank.

Something even S-ranks like Zhen Xing and Eugene couldn't accomplish—

Wanrenzhan definitely shouldn't have been able to.

Eugene suddenly turned toward He Yu.

“What exactly did you do?!”

Zhen Xing took a deep breath.

“The people behind attacked the people in front, but I didn't feel anything. The damage never seemed to reach me.”

“And I attacked Ling Buchen, but he wasn't injured either.”

“He Yu.”

“What did you do?”

Everyone immediately understood.

Before his final command, He Yu had ordered them to attack the person directly in front of them.

At the time, they had obeyed instinctively.

Only after attacking did panic set in.

Yet somehow, the people in front weren't harmed.

And then Wanrenzhan and Ling Buchen each destroyed a stone guardian with a single strike.

The shock had been so overwhelming that everyone had forgotten that detail.

Now everything connected together.

—They didn't understand how.

—But He Yu was definitely responsible.

Everyone stared at him.

Their eyes blazed with shock and suspicion.

The livestream chat had already exploded.

“WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“What just happened?!”

“Do my eyes not work anymore?!”

“He Yu! It has to be He Yu! Wanrenzhan and Ling Buchen don't have the strength to do that!”

“This guy is unreal! How did he do it?!”

“I just want to know HOW!”

“Mom asked why I'm kneeling while watching a livestream again.”

“My worldview has been destroyed. Can someone explain?!”

“He Yu! He Yu! Please tell me what you did!”

...

Everyone was curious.

Everyone was screaming internally.

At the center of all those gazes, He Yu smiled slightly.

He dusted off his clothes.

Put away his broom.

And revealed a profound smile.

“It was nothing.”

“Just a formation.”

A formation again.

What the hell even was that?

The contestants and viewers alike nearly clawed at their own heads.

They wanted to grab He Yu and shake him until he explained everything.

“He Yu, explain it.” Eugene grabbed him, his eyes filled with desire.

If he didn't find out—

He'd go crazy from curiosity.

Anyone could tell how terrifying the power displayed by Wanrenzhan and Ling Buchen had been.

Whether or not that power truly belonged to them, it represented an overwhelming threat.

People who pursued strength—

How could they not be curious?

He Yu's rimless glasses rested on his nose.

His skin was still several shades paler than everyone else's.

Combined with his shorter stature and slender build, he looked harmless.

Weak.

Innocent.

When Eugene tugged him slightly, his body swayed.

He appeared utterly non-threatening.

Yet at this moment—

Nobody dared underestimate him.

He Yu raised his hand and brushed Eugene's mechanical arm aside.

Smiling faintly, he said:

“Fine.”

“Since you're so interested, I'll give a simple explanation.”

Every eye immediately locked onto him.

He Yu adjusted his glasses.

“You can think of yourselves as batteries connected in series.”

“Your attacks weren't attacks.”

“They were energy transmission.”

He paused before emphasizing:

“I'm still working from the same theory.”

“Combat power isn't combat ability.”

“It's energy.”

“A type of energy with countless possible applications.”

“The martial arts system can use it.”

Eugene immediately asked,

“And then?”

He Yu spread his hands helplessly.

“And then... that's all.”

Everyone: “???”

That's it?

A battery analogy?

What happened after that?!

How did it actually work?!

Eugene nearly lost his mind.

“AAAAAH! Can't you be more specific?!”

He Yu remained calm.

His beautiful star-like eyes looked innocent and pure.

“My theory is still in the experimental phase.”

“I still need data and supporting conclusions.”

“It's not mature enough yet.”

He had always believed in one principle—

Never speak unless you're at least eighty percent certain.

Eugene and the others had already learned that lesson in the previous instance.

It was incredibly frustrating.

He Yu's ability to annoy people was just as powerful as his ability to create miracles and reversals.

Eugene still wanted answers.

But He Yu suddenly interrupted.

“We should pass through the gate now.”

“Once we cross it, the first stage should officially end.”

“The equipment rewards should also arrive.”

“According to my calculations, the reward for clearing the stage should be one item per first-clear participant.”

The planners of <Top Talent Show> were exceptionally competent.

But even they had never imagined—

That there would be someone capable of uniting every surviving contestant in a battle royale stage and making them all first-clear participants together.

Not only had they defeated the stone guardians.

They had completely destroyed them.

Brutally.

He Yu stepped toward the mountain gate.

Everyone immediately stopped thinking about theories.

If He Yu refused to explain, what could they do?

The immediate rewards were far more important.

What if the equipment rewards weren't one per person?

What if only a few were distributed?

Then those at the back would be at a huge disadvantage.

Everyone rushed toward the gate.

The towering gate stood magnificently.

The two stone guardians that had once blocked the path were now nothing more than piles of rubble.

As they passed, almost everyone glanced at them.

—None of them would ever forget what they had just witnessed.

—It had been too shocking.

Only a little over seventy contestants remained in this battlefield.

And together, they crossed the giant mountain gate.

The moment they stepped through, a familiar voice sounded.

【Congratulations, contestants. The first stage of the second elimination round, <Passing the Mountain Gate>, has been completed!】

【All contestants will now receive random equipment rewards.】

Countless points of light appeared before them.

Each floated randomly toward a nearby contestant.

Sure enough.

One item per person.

Excitement flashed across their faces as they grabbed the lights.

The equipment hidden inside materialized in their hands.

Only the owner knew immediately what they had received.

Some were delighted.

Some stared in shock.

Some looked disappointed.

Eugene's excitement was especially obvious.

Gedai asked,

“What did you get?”

Eugene had nothing to hide.

Once equipment entered a contestant's hands, it belonged to them.

He grinned and opened his palm.

“High-grade defensive equipment.”

Envy flashed through Gedai's eyes.

He quickly snorted.

“So what?”

Opening his own hand, he said:

“Mechanical arm enhancement equipment.”

Also high-grade.

Different items.

Equally useful.

Both were extremely satisfied.

After asking about Eugene's reward, Eugene immediately turned to the person he cared more about.

“Zhen Xing, what did you get?”

“Combat power enhancement equipment.”

—Good stuff.

Yuan Ze, Cheng Zhao, Annie, Tang Ke, and the others all received combat-power-related equipment as well.

Wanrenzhan nodded.

“Mine too.”

“Looks like the rewards for this stage are very generous. They're either combat-power-related or high-grade useful equipment.”

“Not me.”

Although Duan Yuchen said so, he was smiling.

“I got a special ore for forging. I can turn it into an even better weapon.”

For a master craftsman—

That was an excellent reward.

Earlie's expression darkened.

“Damn it. Am I the only one who got a potion?”

“And it's only a Level Six potion.”

Siya comforted him.

“Level Six is already very good. It's valuable even outside.”

Earlie rolled his eyes.

“Then trade your high-grade equipment for it.”

“Would you?”

“You all got combat-power-related rewards. Mine's an entire tier lower!”

Zhen Xing looked at He Yu.

“What did you get?”

Clearly, he was especially curious about He Yu.

The moment Zhen Xing asked, everyone turned toward him.

They were all curious.

What had He Yu received?

A high-grade item?

A combat-power enhancement?

The members of Team One looked particularly hopeful.

They desperately wanted He Yu to receive something that increased combat power.

Anything that made him less of a burden.

Even though the formation had been incredible, combat power was still the metric they instinctively trusted.

He Yu calmly took out the reward he had just stored away.

“This.”

Resting in his elegant, slender hand—

Was a ball.

A crystal ball.

A completely ordinary-looking crystal ball.

He Yu explained:

“A high-grade decorative item.”

“It can transform into any decorative object.”

The crystal ball immediately became a picture frame.

Then a vase.

Then returned to being a crystal ball.

Everyone: “?”

A...

Decorative item?

Who cared how high-grade it was?

It was still a decoration!

Eugene stared blankly.

“We actually have equipment like this in the show?”

Something so useless and ridiculous actually existed in <Top Talent Show>?!

Everyone looked at He Yu with sympathy.

This guy was unbelievably unlucky.

Instantly, Earlie and everyone else who had complained about their rewards felt much better.

After all—

Comparison created happiness.

No matter how bad their rewards were, they were more useful than He Yu's.

“Hahahaha!”

“He Yu has literally never received a useful piece of equipment!”

“With eight combat power, how long will it take him to reach double digits? Hahaha!”

“He really has never gotten a decent reward!”

“Poor bastard!”

...

The “poor bastard” himself felt no misfortune whatsoever.

On the contrary.

He Yu was extremely satisfied.

Even if Zhen Xing or Eugene offered to trade, he wouldn't agree.

It was merely a decorative item.

But in his eyes, it was highly practical.

—There were no useless items.

Only items used incorrectly.

Wanrenzhan looked utterly disappointed.

He Yu hadn't received combat-power equipment.

His combat power remained an anchor dragging them down.

Duan Yuchen turned toward Ling Buchen.

“What about you?”

“What did you get?”

Wanrenzhan immediately looked over.

—Forget He Yu.

What about this one?

Could he at least receive something useful?

Could his precarious two-digit combat power finally become three digits?

Ling Buchen scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“I... I didn't get combat-power equipment either.”

“I only got a card.”

Everyone: “...”

—There was another unlucky bastard.

“Pfft—”

Gedai burst out laughing.

He couldn't help it.

This was too funny.

Wanrenzhan and Duan Yuchen were on the verge of collapse.

Why were the two weakest members of their team so unbelievably unlucky?

But Zhante felt something different.

Having spent two entire instances with Ling Buchen—

He didn't believe Ling Buchen was unlucky.

Narrowing his eyes, he asked suspiciously:

“What kind of card?”

Ling Buchen scratched his head again.

A black card appeared in his hand.

In his usual honest tone, he said:

“I think it's called... an Advancement Card?”

Three brilliant words were written across the card:

Advancement Card

Below them, in small text:

Single-use item. Upon activation, immediately advances the user to the next round.

In the lower-right corner:

Owner: Ling Buchen

Everyone: “???”

Everyone: “!!!”

Their eyes widened even further than before.

They stared at the card.

“???”

“HOLY SHIT!! <Top Talent Show> has something like that?!”

The audience's reaction carried shock.

The contestants' reaction carried naked envy.

An eerie silence descended.

Two minutes later, Eugene spoke quietly.

“Equipment belongs entirely to its owner...”

“But that doesn't mean others can't take it.”

“For example...”

“If the owner dies.”

Gedai's eyes turned blood-red.

His voice became hoarse.

“The first stage is over too...”

Annie and Tang Ke exchanged a glance.

Then Annie roared:

“Attack!”

Other than Team One—

All seven remaining teams attacked simultaneously.

Over sixty contestants lunged at Team One together.

—The alliance had shattered.

The moment He Yu first proposed cooperation, the leaders of the other teams had already communicated through exchanged glances.

Their plan had been decided long ago.

They needed He Yu for the first stage.

So they wouldn't attack.

But their determination to eliminate Team One had never changed.

Destroying Team One was the only thing capable of truly uniting them.

After all—

He Yu was merely the excuse.

They wanted to understand the formation.

But compared to eliminating a dangerous threat—

That curiosity was secondary.

If He Yu died, the threat disappeared.

Seven teams.

Over sixty people.

Against Team One's ten.

Six attackers for every defender.

Team One—

Had no chance of escaping.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!