"Watch this—Extreme Speed!"
These five short and powerful words didn't explode like thunder; instead, they were like a casual greeting, abruptly piercing through the roaring energy storm and clearly entering everyone's ears.
However, before the voice even faded, Liu Yuan's figure had already vanished.
This time, facing Ma Xiaotao's lethal strike that could cleave mountains, Liu Yuan didn't choose to retreat, didn't choose to kite, and didn't even have the slightest intention of dodging.
Under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of pairs of eyes wide with terror, he made a decision that left everyone feeling frantic and suffocated—
A direct clash!
With a body of flesh and blood, he would head-on confront the perfect Fusion strike of an eighth-rank Peak melee spirit tool and a top-tier beast Martial Soul True Body!
This was simply seeking death! This was the only thought that flashed through everyone's minds in that instant.
That was an eighth-rank soul tool! Its material was hard enough to rival the toughest bones of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast!
But Liu Yuan just charged forward like that.
"Boom—!!!"
The moment the two collided, there wasn't an immediate earth-shattering explosion; instead, it fell into an eerie momentary standstill.
There were no fancy techniques, nor any flashy light effects from Spirit Abilitys.
Liu Yuan's right fist, which didn't seem particularly robust and even appeared slightly thin, seemed to transform into the world's most indestructible Primordial Divine Weapon at this moment.
What was condensed within this punch?
It was the attack power boost from six layers of [Dragon Dance] stacked to the limit!
It was the irrational doubling of physical strength brought by the Ability [Huge Power]!
Plus the staggering kinetic energy carried by the terrifying initial velocity of [Extreme Speed] bursting over an extremely short distance!
This punch was heavy as a thousand catties, with an unstoppable momentum!
It struck with incomparable precision, one might even say with unreasonable brute force, against the descending dark red blade that radiated an Aura of destruction!
"Clang—!!!"
A metallic clash that seemed capable of piercing eardrums and shattering the Soul finally resounded through the sky.
Immediately following was a series of tooth-aching, scalp-numbing cracking sounds.
"Crack... Crack..."
Time seemed to be infinitely stretched at this moment, frozen into eternal slow motion.
In mid-air, Ma Xiaotao's dark red pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks.
The fanaticism that had originally occupied her entire gaze was instantly replaced by an indescribable shock and fear.
Because she clearly felt that what she had slashed down upon was not a human fist at all.
But an Ancient Divine Mountain that spanned across eternity, towering and immovable, capable of suppressing everything in the world!
An indescribable, terrifyingly extreme counter-shock force instantly and brutally surged through the blade of the golden crystal sword into her arm, spreading throughout her entire body.
"This... how is this possible?!"
Ma Xiaotao's heart was roaring, and her sanity was on the verge of collapse at this moment.
Under Ma Xiaotao's horrified gaze, a fine and piercing crack appeared on the golden crystal sword at the point of contact with Liu Yuan's fist!
This crack was like a flaw on perfect porcelain, instantly shattering all balance.
Immediately following.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The cracks spread rapidly like a wildly growing spiderweb, covering the entire golden-red blade in the blink of an eye.
Inside the blade, those Core Formations that represented the Peak of the Sun Moon Empire's spirit tool technology didn't even have time to fully emit a wail of collapse before they were—
Completely annihilated!
"Break for me!!"
With a low shout from Liu Yuan, the power of the punch fully erupted.
"Bang—!!!"
Countless golden-red metal fragments, carrying the yet-to-dissipate dark red flames, splashed in all directions like a gorgeous yet mournful meteor shower.
The originally incredibly powerful and terrifying sword momentum instantly disintegrated and vanished into thin air under this punch!
"How is this possible? I can't lose! I absolutely cannot lose!!"
The moment her weapon shattered, Ma Xiaotao's brain went blank for a second.
But her pride as the captain of the Shrek Team and the combat instinct engraved in her bones prevented her from choosing to give up.
Even without a sword in hand, as Shrek's Phoenix, I am the strongest weapon myself!
"Aaaaaah—!"
Ma Xiaotao let out a hysterical scream. Using the massive downward momentum of her body and ignoring the agonizing pain of her split and bleeding palm, her left hand instantly transformed into a hideous Phoenix claw burning with dark red flames.
At this moment, she was no longer thinking about defense or tactics.
There was only one thought in her mind—even if she took him down with her and got eliminated together, it would be a huge gain!
This Phoenix claw, carrying a resolve for death and an Aura of mutual destruction, clawed fiercely toward Liu Yuan's face, which was within arm's reach.
This strike was full of tragic heroism and grimness.
However.
Reality is often much, much harsher than ideals.
In Liu Yuan's eyes at this moment, Ma Xiaotao's full-force final struggle was so slow it was like a rusty gear turning, slow enough that he even had time to think about how much force to use for the next move.
"Too slow."
Liu Yuan's indifferent voice, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, rang in Ma Xiaotao's ear once again.
These three short words were like a bucket of ice water, ruthlessly extinguishing the last shred of fantasy in Ma Xiaotao's heart.
Just as Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix claw was raised, still a full foot away from Liu Yuan's face,
Liu Yuan's second attack had already arrived!
"Extreme Speed!"
Swish—!
That white figure swayed slightly in the air in a way that extremely defied physical common sense, as if space itself had folded, directly avoiding Ma Xiaotao's lethal claw and appearing like a ghost by her side.
Immediately following.
There was no showing of mercy to the fairer sex, nor any hesitation.
That fist, which had just shattered an eighth-rank soul tool and remained completely unscathed, gathered power once more.
Carrying terrifying kinetic energy, it ruthlessly struck Ma Xiaotao's most vulnerable spot under her ribs, which wasn't fully covered by the Phoenix flames.
"Bang—!!!"
A dull thud that made the heart palpitate, like a heavy hammer striking worn-out leather, exploded above the arena.
Ma Xiaotao's figure, which was originally charging forward with massive inertia, came to an instantaneous halt under this punch!
Immediately following.
That overwhelming force erupted within her body.
"Crack..."
That was the sound of ribs breaking.
The massive force directly shattered the already tottering Martial Soul True Body on the surface of her body.
"Chirp—"
That originally majestic and overbearing dark red Fire Phoenix phantom let out a mournful cry full of unwilling and sorrow, then instantly shattered into countless crimson points of light, dissipating into the air.
"Pfft—"
Ma Xiaotao sprayed a mouthful of blood toward the sky.
Like a kite with a broken string, she drew a long, tragic, and beautiful straight line through the air, finally crashing heavily outside the boundaries of the competition platform.
"Thud!!!"
She slammed hard onto the tough granite ground at the edge of the protective barrier.
The ground trembled violently, stones flew, and dust rose everywhere.
Ma Xiaotao was covered in blood, lying in the pile of rubble with her limbs twisted and eyes rolled back, having completely lost consciousness.
And with her fainting and the deactivation of the Martial Soul True Body,
the Phoenix Evil Fire that had been shrouding half the arena, dividing the field into a burning Hell for so long, also completely lost the support of spirit power.
"Whoosh—"
A gentle breeze blew past.
The dark red flames filling the sky were completely extinguished!
Quiet.
A deathly silence.
At this moment, time seemed to have stopped flowing once again.
The entire Star Luo Plaza, hundreds of thousands of spectators, whether they were commoners of the Star Luo Empire, elite students from various high-level Spirit Master academies, or even the Titled Douluos on the rostrum who had seen many great storms,
at this moment, it was as if they had all been placed under a paralysis spell, losing all Ability to speak.
There were no cheers, no screams, not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Everyone's mouths were wide open, staring blankly at the center of the arena as if watching a miracle.
There.
A black-haired youth floated quietly in mid-air, slowly withdrawing his right fist before landing lightly on the ground.
The breeze brushed against the corners of his clothes; there wasn't a single scar on his body, and not even a single tear in his clothing.
He just stood there quietly, his expression as calm as water, as if what he had just done was merely a trivial matter.
And on the ground behind him, the scattered fragments of the eighth-rank soul tool, shimmering with golden-red light, were reflecting the piercing sunlight.
They were like medals, silently telling of the terror and invincibility of that punch just now.
One punch to shatter an eighth-rank soul tool!
One punch to instant-kill a Spirit Saint in the Martial Soul True Body state!
This is...
The captain of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy Team, Liu Yuan!
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