79: Chapter 79 The Deal

This proposal precisely struck the core needs of both parties, without a shred of scheming or trickery, open and straightforward.

A flash of brilliance swept across Lin Ye's eyes, and he nodded in agreement without the slightest hesitation: "Yes!"

This was also what Lin Ye had in mind.

He knew better than anyone that if the Soul-Devouring Owl wanted to continuously purify its bloodline and enhance its combat power, soul fire was the most compatible top-tier nourishment, while Zhou Mingzhi's divine kingdom could produce endless undead soul fire, making him the most perfect cooperative partner.

As his voice fell, Lin Ye's palm moved slightly, and a crystal completely dark red in color, with a dense malignant aura and not a single trace of impurity, quietly emerged. It felt slightly cool to the touch, and a fierce, biting aura of slaughter was restrained within it, possessing an exceptional texture.

"Grade-C malignant aura crystal, inspect it."

Zhou Mingzhi reached out and took it. The moment his fingertips touched it, he perceived the ultimate purity of the high-grade malignant aura within the crystal, which was several times richer than the ordinary malignant aura essences circulating on the market, completely crushing others of the same tier in level.

He couldn't help but sigh in heartfelt praise: "Such a pure malignant aura! Its quality of the same tier far surpasses all the malignant aura resources I have ever seen. Your foundation is indeed unfathomable."

After speaking, black mist surged in his palm, and a cluster of faint cyan light floated out. The firelight was condensed and gentle, with a pure origin and not a shred of messy resentment, making it a Grade-C pure soul fire most suitable for the Soul-Devouring Owl to swallow and temper.

"Grade-C pure soul fire, no impurities, no backlash, inspect it."

Lin Ye concentrated his senses, clearly feeling the rich soul origin within the soul fire. It was gentle and mellow, with maximum compatibility, instantly revealing a look of satisfaction in the depths of his eyes.

Both parties confirmed that the quality of the resources was correct, and the transaction was immediately finalized. The rules were simple and fair—a one-to-one equivalent exchange.

The two of them were decisive throughout the entire process without any haggling. Within a mere few minutes, they completed the two-way transaction of a full two thousand malignant aura crystals and two thousand clusters of pure soul fire on the spot.

With the massive amount of resources secured, the Soul-Devouring Owl within Lin Ye's divine kingdom instantly grew restless, unable to wait to devour the soul fire. Lin Ye did not hesitate either, directly scattering the soul fire into his divine kingdom.

Meanwhile, Zhou Mingzhi also sensed the majestic energy of the malignant aura crystals in his hand, his eyes filled with joy.

This covert transaction allowed both of them to reap huge profits. The combat power of their respective kindreds now had a channel for continuous advancement, leaving both of them thoroughly satisfied.

"When the subsequent resources are exhausted, I will contact you again," Zhou Mingzhi said.

Lin Ye nodded slightly, and the two exchanged private contact information, tacitly reaching a long-term cooperation agreement.

As the transaction concluded and the atmosphere relaxed, Zhou Mingzhi looked at the two figures engaged in fierce battle on the arena and smiled casually: "Next, I'll just watch the two of them decide the winner and loser, and then I'll fight my final ranking match to strive for a good ranking."

As soon as his voice fell, Lin Ye beside him spoke indifferently, laying bare the outcome with a single sentence: "In this match, I'm afraid you can only end up taking fourth place."

Zhou Mingzhi's body stiffened, his face full of bewilderment as he instinctively turned to look at Lin Ye: "How so?"

Although he knew his combat power was slightly inferior to Bai Ruoxue and Xiao Qingwu, it was not that he was completely incapable of putting up a fight, and he might not necessarily be the bottom fourth.

Lin Ye's gaze fell calmly on the arena, clear and methodical as he spoke at length, every single word precisely piercing all his shortcomings and restraint chains:

"Your Undead Legion is inherently perfectly restrained by Bai Ruoxue."

"Her natal kindred is the Six-Winged Angel, possessing the holy divine light attribute, which is the natural nemesis of all dark and evil undead. Divine light cleanses all things and purifies filth. In the face of divine majesty, your undead and soul fire will be continuously suppressed and dissolved, completely unable to stir up any waves. Your combat power will be directly halved, leaving you with zero chance of winning."

"As for Xiao Qingwu, you are equally helpless against her."

"Her natal Ice Luan controls the ultimate ice Dao, excelling in area-wide freezing and targeted crowd control. Your Undead Legion's bodies are already stiff and their movement speed is rather slow. Once locked down by the ice field and frozen layer by layer, your mobility will be completely rendered useless, and you can only passively stand in place and take hits, being endlessly consumed and ground to death."

Speaking up to this point, Lin Ye glanced sideways at the solemn-faced Zhou Mingzhi, adding the final conclusion:

"You have trump cards, but the two of them also conceal their own ultimate means and won't give you a chance to turn the tables against the wind. In the three round-robin matches, at most you can only win against me in this match, but you've also lost; facing either of them, you likewise have no chance of winning at all."

This thorough analysis struck the vital points with every sentence, without a shred of falsehood.

Zhou Mingzhi fell completely silent, the relaxed smile on his face fading entirely as his heart instantly became crystal clear.

He had always known that the three of them possessed formidable combat power, but never had he recognized as clearly as he did at this moment the desperate predicament of being perfectly restrained in both directions by the two top prodigies.

Fourth place was already his destined final destination.

Meanwhile, on the arena, Bai Ruoxue's Six-Winged Angel filled the sky with divine light, while Xiao Qingwu's Ice Luan blanketed the field with cold mist. The peak showdown between the sacred and the extreme cold had already entered its most white-hot stage.

The entire battle zone was completely split into two halves by the two extreme powers, drawing a clear boundary with a visual impact that blew away the entire audience.

On the left, divine light illuminated the heavens, and dazzling golden divine light spread across the horizon. Every single Six-Winged Angel had its body wreathed in a holy halo capable of purifying all things. As their wings fluttered, specks of golden radiance sprinkled down, and the scorching aura of divine light dispelled all cold and baleful energies, filling the heaven and earth with solemn and holy majesty.

On the right, a thousand miles were frozen solid. The biting, bitter cold ice mist swept in all directions, and vast expanses of snowy white froze ten thousand miles of airspace over the arena. The Xueli Ice Luan under Xiao Qingwu's command was as translucent as carved crystal throughout its body. Wherever its wings swept past, the air condensed and frost hung in the void; the outer layer of the arena's barrier was even covered with a thick, crystalline armor of ice, and the chill spread from the arena to the entire spectator seats, making all the spectators shudder involuntarily with cold.

The two supreme Daos of sacred purification and extreme ice-freezing collided crazily. Torrents of gold and white dual-colored energy constantly clashed, exploded, and annihilated each other, with deafening roars ringing endlessly in the ears. The arena barrier trembled incessantly, and the colorful duel scene could be called the most magnificent yet most perilous battle of this tournament.

Everyone in the arena held their breath and concentrated, staring fixedly at this top-tier game of chess.

Everyone could clearly see that Bai Ruoxue only had five hundred Six-Winged Angels in the field—the quantity was not crushing, but every single one of them possessed a pure bloodline and explosive combat power, coming with built-in divine light purification and sacred suppression, integrating offense and defense with zero shortcomings.

On the other hand, Xiao Qingwu had more than six hundred Xueli Ice Luans poured out in full force, holding a steady advantage in numbers over her opponent. Yet, after a bitter battle up to this point, they could barely manage to fight to a draw and remain deadlocked with the five hundred Six-Winged Angels, perpetually unable to break through the divine light defense line or crush the opponent with a numerical advantage.

The Ice Luan's extreme freezing, area-locking, and erosion methods, when falling upon the holy divine light, would all be purified layer by layer and continuously dissolved. Its combat power was naturally restrained, and the numerical advantage was completely neutralized by talent and bloodline suppression.

Just at the moment of stalemate, Bai Ruoxue's eyes were cold and clear, and her expression was calm without a trace of anxiety. With a slight movement of her mind, her divine kingdom opened once more!

Hum—!

Another hundred divine-light-shining Six-Winged Angels broke through the air, lined up neatly, and merged into the battlefield!