A slight shift in thinking.
By changing the operation from unconsciously controlling Honkai energy to "reduce leakage" to "increase output," the body could gain reverse thrust.
It sounded very difficult.
But on careful consideration, it was quite simple—when a person has diarrhea, the sphincter muscle will automatically clamp down during intervals when the rectoanal canal relaxes, preventing embarrassing situations.
Honkai energy worked on the same principle.
Simply put, it was like performing a "butt clench"—this was the not-quite-passive ability Lu Xing gained after leveling up.
The opposite operation was the so-called "active release of a certain flammable, irritating gas from the rectum," or "O-fart" for short.
Forces interact.
Now a Honkai Beast, if Lu Xing released a large amount of Honkai energy along the gaps in his body, his body would receive a powerful reverse acceleration.
Although the wind-up time was a lengthy 15 seconds, the effect would definitely not disappoint.
Therefore!
The light gradually intensified.
Visible Honkai energy particles began to surge out in an avalanche, and after Lu Xing's wings and the entire rear half of his body were dyed purple—
"Swoosh!"
A flash of lightning!
"Bang!!"
————
It was truly fast.
The accuracy, however, was hard to compliment.
Manipulating Honkai energy was actually quite troublesome. With Lu Xing's current half-baked proficiency, he couldn't control his ramming trajectory at all.
After leaving a beautiful trail of light in the air, Lu Xing successfully crashed into a load-bearing pillar of a building next to the plaza.
The pillar, already broken and dilapidated with only half remaining, was shattered into a sky full of flying debris by his impact.
As luck would have it.
If this move's accuracy was truly terrible and couldn't touch the Ranger-class at all, then there wouldn't be much of a problem—after all, the Ranger-class's principle was "if you don't mess with me, I won't mess with you."
But Lu Xing just had to have that tiny bit of accuracy.
His ramming trajectory happened to graze the Ranger-class's body, yet it still missed—the opponent simply sidestepped to dodge the attack (it was actually the pre-cast animation for [Dash]), then turned its body and locked onto a direction—
"Swoosh!"
"Bang!!"
Accompanied by a loud collision.
The building, with half its roof remaining and already teetering from Lu Xing's impact, completely collapsed after taking a [Dash] from the Ranger-class.
"My fluids are leaking every—"
"Ehehe~"
"Not leaking yet!"
The Ranger-class's move was as powerful as ever.
But Lu Xing was no longer the same him from three days ago!
Lu Xing, whose shell had been doubly reinforced, now had enough constitution to tank a [Dash] without collapsing.
A small shockwave rippled out in front of the two Honkai Beasts, and Honkai energy, like wisps of smoke, slowly dispersed from the point of impact.
A crack, a full 35 centimeters long, had been blasted across the front of Lu Xing's body by the [Dash].
But it didn't matter!
Compared to the initial injury where he was almost shattered into pieces, this small wound was nothing more than a sprinkle of water to Lu Xing now.
Of course, it would still hurt...
But it didn't matter!
[Dash] could not be used consecutively; this was precious experience Lu Xing had gained from battle—the cooldown time between two uses was between 6 to 12 seconds.
The data wasn't precise.
But it at least provided Lu Xing with a full 5 seconds of reaction time.
His right wing lifted high above his head.
Suppressing the discomfort of leaking Honkai energy and the pain from the front of his body, Lu Xing concentrated all the Honkai energy within him at the tip of his wing.
A scimitar, like a crescent moon, slashed straight down—
"Zing!"
"Clang!!"
————
People tend to overestimate themselves.
For example, regarding looks—whenever one brings their face close to a mirror, they unconsciously raise their self-assessment standards.
This is human nature.
But when this "overestimation" appears in battle...
The wing, transformed into a blade, slashed down fiercely. Amidst the sharp screech of metal friction, orange sparks flew wantonly in mid-air.
"We didn't penetrate their armor!"
If this were World of Tanks, Lu Xing would definitely shout this for the tank commander.
He failed to break through its defense.
Without using skills, the hardness of Lu Xing's body was completely inferior to his opponent's—the result of his slash wasn't cutting the opponent, but his wing being violently repelled by the Ranger-class.
"Run!"
Without a doubt.
This word was absolutely the culmination of all Lu Xing's current thoughts.
Just as he was preparing to retract his wings and use his "Honkai Jet Thruster" at one-third rated power to flee the scene, an unforeseen situation occurred.
"Vwoom!"
It sounded extremely similar to, no, it was exactly the same sound as a Jedi Knight's lightsaber "unsheathing" in Star Wars, emanating from the wings of the Ranger-class Honkai Beast.
Vibrantly colored Honkai energy rapidly condensed.
The speed was countless times faster than when Lu Xing used his ram—it probably took only half a second for the arc-shaped, pure white wingtips to ripple with a bright purple halo.
To be precise.
This thing could even be called a "lightsaber."
"VWOOM!!"
A slender crescent of light streaked across the mid-air—
"My fluids are leaking everywhere!"
————
"This Ranger-class is really too strong."
Lu Xing docked at his old spot to heal his injuries.
Although he didn't want to admit it, in reality, rather than the opponent being too strong, the reason "Lu Xing is too weak" was more in line with the current truth.
The attack just now was called [Spinning Slash], the other of the Ranger-class Honkai Beast's only two skills.
This move didn't require a wind-up like [Dash]. Instead, by tilting its body slightly less than 30 degrees, it would spin rapidly on the spot, using its sharp wingtips combined with Honkai energy to cut the opponent.
Compared to [Dash], which focused on impact force, [Spinning Slash] had less overall destructive power but could more accurately strike the target's vitals—the vital spot Lu Xing had long since marked on the Ranger-class... was successfully used by the opponent to deliver a blow to him.
Lu Xing, nearly cut in half, began to reflect on the flaws in his plan.
He still hadn't mastered [Dash]. As a substitute, he had to practice his "jet propulsion" to perfection no matter what—whether for actively launching sneak attacks or passively escaping, "jet propulsion" was fundamental to his survival.
Secondly, he needed to strengthen his shell's hardness.
As a Ranger-class Honkai Beast, both offensive and defensive capabilities were directly related to shell hardness... and of course, Honkai energy.
There were really no shortcuts for this.
All Lu Xing could do was to roam as many places in the city as possible, striving to absorb more Honkai energy for reinforcement.
But to be honest.
The free-floating Honkai energy in this city was still a bit too scarce.
Except for the area near the fissure beside him.
And Lu Xing could feel that the Honkai energy overflowing from the fissure was gradually decreasing; even its length seemed to have shortened somewhat.
Apart from these two aspects, there were no other methods for now.
No, fighting more would still increase his level—that simple ram and slash just now had once again changed Lu Xing's strength, bringing him to Level 6, with all his attributes perfectly matching his level.