The protagonist's gaze! Ye Xuan: Did you see that, coward? Lin Yuan: Oh.

On the arena stage.

After enjoying the mountain-shaking, tsunami-like cheers for a full half-minute, Ye Xuan slowly suppressed the ecstasy and excitement in his heart.

Right then, he seemed to feel something.

In the vague unknown, an indifferent gaze seemed to fall upon him from a corner at the very top of the stadium.

That gaze held no hostility, no Killing Intent, not even any emotion.

Yet it carried a sense of scrutiny that made him extremely uncomfortable, as if watching an ant perform.

Ye Xuan abruptly raised his head.

His vision was like a sharp sword, accurately locking onto that direction—

The Supreme VIP Box!

Although separated by a vast distance and special one-way glass.

But he knew that Lin Yuan was right there!

He could almost see that man looking down on him from a high-and-mighty position!

Boom!

A more violent fury burst into flames from the bottom of Ye Xuan's heart!

Coward!

A coward who only dares to hide in a turtle shell, without even the courage to participate in the competition!

Did you see that?

This is the stage that I, Ye Xuan, deserve!

This is the glory that I, Ye Xuan, deserve!

And you, you can only be like a rat that can't see the light.

Hiding in a dark corner, watching helplessly as I, step by step, reach the Peak that you can never attain!

The corner of Ye Xuan's mouth curled into an extremely arrogant and provocative arc.

He silently mouthed words toward that direction.

“Wait—for—me!”

...Inside the VIP box.

Lin Yuan naturally saw Ye Xuan's provocative gaze and mouthing.

He didn't even bother to decipher what the other party said.

He just thought it was somewhat amusing.

A puppet controlled by strings, not even knowing if it would live or die the next second, actually dared to provoke the one controlling the game?

“Heh.”

Lin Yuan let out a light laugh of ambiguous meaning.

He withdrew his gaze and refocused his attention on the plate of spiritual fruits in front of him that he hadn't finished eating.

It was as if everything that just happened was, to him, nothing more than a monkey happening to look up at him while he was watching a monkey show.

Nothing more.

Beside him, Gu Ningxue took all of this in.

She looked at Lin Yuan's calm and composed, even slightly bored expression.

Thinking back to Ye Xuan's self-righteous provocation, a strong sense of absurdity suddenly welled up in her heart.

Was the gap between these two really... already so large that it couldn't be described in words?

One is on the first level, thinking he's on the fifth.

The other is already beyond the atmosphere, looking down at the entire chessboard.

“The competition continues!”

As the host's voice rang out again, the brief break ended.

The drawing for the third round officially began!

The light screen scrolled rapidly, and soon, a new match list was released.

And this time, Ye Xuan's name was impressively listed alongside another championship favorite!

【Capital Martial Arts Academy · Ye Xuan VS War God Academy · Shi Lei】

Whoosh!

The whole audience erupted again!

“My god! The highlight is here! Ye Xuan is up against 'Immovable Bright King' Shi Lei!”

“Now we have a show! One is a madman with off-the-charts attack power who charges forward! The other is an indestructible iron plate with abnormal defense!”

“Tell me, is Ye Xuan's spear sharper, or is Shi Lei's shield sturdier?”

“I bet on Shi Lei! His 'Bright King Glazed Body' is said to be able to withstand a full-power strike even from an expert at the Marrow Cleansing Realm Eighth Level! For Ye Xuan to break his defense will be as difficult as reaching the heavens!”

“Exactly! Shi Lei is best at wars of attrition! With Ye Xuan's explosive fighting style, once his spiritual power is exhausted, he'll be a lamb to the slaughter!”

...Amidst the almost one-sided discussion, Ye Xuan and Shi Lei, who was as sturdy as a brown bear, stepped onto the arena stage.

“Ye Xuan.”

Shi Lei spoke in a muffled voice, his voice like a great bell. “Your fists are hard; I appreciate that. However, it ends here.”

He slammed his feet onto the ground!

“Bright King Glazed Body, open!”

Buzz—!

A layer of golden light, translucent like glaze yet emitting an aura of diamond-like indestructibility, instantly enveloped his entire body!

He seemed to have transformed into an unshakable Wrathful Vajra; just standing there, he gave off a sense of insurmountable despair!

“Is that so?”

In Ye Xuan's crimson eyes, the look of madness grew even more intense!

Strong defense?

Then I'll blow you and your shell apart together!

“Blood-Burning Dragon Transformation, Second Stage!”

He roared, and the blood in his body began to boil at an unprecedented speed!

An aura more violent and bloodier than before erupted from him!

Beads of blood even began to seep from the surface of his skin, and he looked like an Asura crawling out of Hell!

“Die!”

“Dragon Fights in the Wild!”

Ye Xuan's figure turned into a bolt of blood-colored lightning, instantly rushing in front of Shi Lei!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

In an instant, he threw dozens of punches!

Each punch contained terrifying power sufficient to shatter stone tablets!

The fists, dense as raindrops, slammed hard against Shi Lei's golden glazed shield, erupting in bursts of deafening roars!

The entire arena stage was trembling violently!

However, Shi Lei's “Bright King Glazed Body” indeed lived up to its reputation!

Under that tempestuous attack, although the golden shield flashed wildly with light and ripples, it remained firm without any sign of breaking!

“It's useless!”

“Your attacks can't break my defense at all!”

Shi Lei sneered from within the shield.

“Is that so?!”

Ye Xuan's gaze became even more crazed!

“Then let me show you what true power is!”

“Dra—gon—Roars—in—the—Nine—Hea—vens!”

He abruptly took a step back, clasped his fists together, and raised them high above his head!

All the spiritual power in his body, along with his burning life essence, converged unreservedly onto his fists at this moment!

A ferocious dragon shadow formed of blood-colored energy slowly emerged behind him, letting out a silent roar that shook the soul!

“Shatter... for me!!!”

Rumble—!!!

This punch seemed to detonate the void!

The blood-colored fist qi turned into a destructive meteor, slamming hard onto that golden glazed shield!

Crack—!

A crisp sound, like glass shattering, spread clearly throughout the venue!

Under everyone's horrified and despairing gazes.

Shi Lei's pride, the “Bright King Glazed Body” known as the absolute defense, shattered with a bang before that ferocious blood dragon!

“Pfft!”

Shi Lei was struck as if by lightning, violently coughing up a large mouthful of blood.

His tall body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, falling heavily off the arena stage.

Ye Xuan wins again!

...One punch!

Still just one punch!

The entire “Dragons Nest” stadium fell into a deathly silence!

A hundred thousand spectators, countless media reporters, all the contestants... at this moment, they all seemed to have been collectively hit by a freezing spell, each with their mouths wide open and expressions as if they had seen a ghost!

After the brief dead silence came screams and shouts that were completely out of control, like a volcanic eruption!

“Holy shit!!! Is this fucking real?! My eyes aren't playing tricks on me, are they?!”

“One punch! Another single punch! The Diamond Glazed Body was smashed by one punch?!”

“This... is this the kind of damage a Marrow Cleansing Realm Fourth Level can deal?! I'd believe you if you told me he was in the Qi Sea Realm!”

“Monster! He's a monster! This year's championship is definitely his!”

On the contestant seats on both sides of the arena.

On Qin Zhan's eternally unchanging icy face, a solemn expression appeared for the first time.

Liu Ruyan's charming smile also completely vanished.

Replaced by an unprecedented wariness.

Meanwhile, Ye Xuan only slowly withdrew his fist.

He didn't even spare another look at Shi Lei on the ground.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over Qin Zhan and Liu Ruyan, finally landing on Gu Ningxue... his mouth curling into an arrogant smile.

He slowly raised his hand and extended one finger.

Everyone understood that mouthing.

Next!