Chapter 484 Instant Defeat! The entire arena fell silent!!

Jiang Yun slowly withdrew his gaze from the entry panel.

Yet, there was not a hint of relaxation or underestimation in his eyes.

There was only a certainty that was calm to the point of being cold.

Void Shadow Mink. Amethyst Rank 6 Peak.

Six space-type skills.

Void Shuttle for infinite displacement, Space Cutting to ignore defense, Void Stealth for guaranteed critical hits, Dimensional Mirror Image to confuse truth and falsehood, Space Cage to lock enemies for combos, and Void Storm for area-of-effect bursts.

This skill configuration, on any Amethyst Rank beast, would be enough to make it an extremely troublesome existence among its peers.

The fact that Lin Xinmu could rely on it to fight his way from the sixties to the top twenty was certainly not due to luck.

But... that was all there was to it.

Compared to the Void Guardian he faced on the seventh floor of the Liu Family's Star Pavilion treasury, this Void Shadow Mink was simply like a child who wanted to run before it had learned to walk.

The Void Guardian possessed seven skills, including two Sun-Level, three Legendary, and two epic.

The sixty percent evasion from the passive Void Stealth, the defense-ignoring imprisonment of Void Anchoring, the main body switching of Dimensional Mirror Image, the area gravitational field of Void Collapse, and the single-target forced isolation of Dimensional Banishment.

Which one of those wasn't a level higher than this mink's skills before him?

In that battle, his three beasts working together almost failed; Nether Abyss was locked down by Void Anchoring, and Little Skylark was battered bloody while blocking a space rift.

It was only through a ten-minute extreme review, a completely overhauled new tactic, and the tacit cooperation between his three beasts—so refined that they didn't need individual commands—that he managed to secure a crushing victory in the second challenge.

And this Void Shadow Mink before him...

The moment Jiang Yun finished reading the entries, he had already completed the entire deduction in his mind.

No need for three beasts. No need for tactical review. Even Nether Abyss didn't need to appear.

Little Skylark alone would be enough.

He lifted his head, his gaze piercing through the morning light, landing on Lin Xinmu's Face, which was struggling to maintain a cold, arrogant expression.

The barrage of sarcastic remarks Lin Xinmu had just made were still hanging in the air, not yet dissipated.

Yet, Jiang Yun had no intention of retorting.

On the arena stage, no matter how much one said, it was all nonsense. Those who stood remained; those who fell got lost.

"Senior Lin Xinmu."

Jiang Yun finally spoke, his voice calm as water, yet carrying an unquestionable composure.

"Since you are so confident in your space-type, then let us fight."

He paused slightly, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I hope your beast is as confident as you are."

Before the words had even faded, Jiang Yun violently waved his right hand.

"Little Skylark! Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain! Activate!"

"Divine Roc True Form! Appear!"

Little Skylark looked up to the sky and let out a long cry that pierced through the clouds.

The cry was piercing enough to split metal and crack stone. Visible sound waves spread crazily in all directions with it as the center.

The clouds above the entire arena were shaken and scattered in all directions.

Amidst the cry, its thirty-meter wingspan suddenly fully unfurled.

It wasn't a normal unfurling; every single divine feather exploded with blinding cyan-purple lightning at the same instant.

The divine feathers, interwoven with azure and violet, stood straight amidst the lightning.

The power of the Wind-Thunder Law gathered at the wingtips was so dense it almost liquefied.

Ripples of cyan-purple Law, visible to the naked eye, exploded in the air, one after another.

Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain. A Legendary-level Domain Skill.

It expanded with a boom, centered on it.

It was not the loose distribution covering a hundred zhang as before, but a spherical Domain centered on the entire arena, compressed to the extreme radius.

Inside the Domain, azure wind blades and violet lightning wove into a massive, airtight net; ten thousand thunders roared in unison, and the gale was like knives.

The density of the lightning was suffocating.

Above the arena spanning dozens of zhang, every inch of space was enduring simultaneous bombardment by dozens of lightning bolts.

The edge of the Domain was like a layer of translucent cyan-purple light membrane, completely isolating the arena from the outside world.

Fine lightning patterns flowed across the surface of the light membrane. With every flicker, countless electric arcs exploded upon it.

Divine Roc True Form! Legendary-level Bloodline Skill! Activated at the same instant.

Little Skylark expanded into a massive Divine Roc phantom, suddenly soaring within the Domain.

Its wingspan surged from thirty meters to nearly fifty meters.

The azure and violet divine feathers became even deeper and more brilliant.

The three long purple plumes on its head stood completely upright. Three fist-sized lightning orbs condensed at the tips of the plumes.

Each lightning orb rotated at high speed, emitting a heart-palpitating, destructive Aura.

The miniature lightning storm pattern in its pupils exploded completely, turning into two rotating lightning storm vortexes.

Wherever its gaze swept, an invisible Wind-Thunder pressure crushed down like a mountain.

In that moment, the Bloodline pressure of the Ancient Wind-Thunder Divine Peng swept through the entire Colosseum in the most primitive and violent way.

It was not the natural, unintentional leakage of Bloodline Aura from when it first landed.

It was the Origin of the Ancient Divine Beast, sleeping in the deepest part of its Bloodline, released completely and unreservedly through the simultaneous activation of the two Legendary-level skills: Divine Roc True Form and Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain.

That kind of pressure had exceeded the scope of ordinary Bloodline suppression.

It was a crushing at the Origin level, the Innate rule of the Ancient Divine Beast over all living beings.

"Hum!!!"

A ring of visible cyan-purple pressure ripples exploded from Little Skylark, sweeping across the entire Colosseum.

Wherever it passed, the air solidified and light twisted.

The defensive formation patterns on the arena shook violently, emitting an unbearable humming sound.

On the stands closest to the arena, dozens of students simultaneously felt a tightness in their chests.

It was as if an invisible giant hand was pressing down on their hearts.

It was not spiritual power suppression. Spiritual power suppression could be resisted by borrowing the power of one's beast using Beast Taming Power.

This was a more fundamental pressure acting upon the Soul and Bloodline.

Their beasts simultaneously let out fearful whines from within the Beast Taming Space.

The entire arena fell into a dead silence for that instant, only to explode into chaos soon after.

"What is this!! What is this!! Is this mother-f*cking pressure something an Amethyst Rank beast can have?! My beast inside me is shaking so hard it's about to fall apart!! It's not a bird! My beast isn't a bird... but it's scared too!! What is it afraid of?! It doesn't even know what it's afraid of!!"

A student gripped the railing with both hands, his Face deathly pale, his voice cracking with a high-pitched shriek.

"Bloodline True Body!! That's a Bloodline True Body!! A Legendary-level Bloodline True Body!! I've seen it in ancient books!! A Bloodline True Body that only ancient Bloodlines can awaken!! Forcibly Awakening the Origin of the ancient Divine Beast sleeping in the Bloodline—among the entire younger generation of the provincial city, those who have awakened this kind of skill can be counted on one's fingers!! This Divine Roc of the Heavenly Saint Student isn't an ordinary Bloodline!! This is a true Ancient Bloodline!!"

"Amethyst Rank 6?! You're telling me this is Amethyst Rank 6?! This pressure is even more terrifying than the beasts of those top fifteen prodigies on the Heaven Ranking from just a moment ago!! It's practically comparable to Diamond Rank!! Who said the Heavenly Saint Student was arrogant just now? Who said Lin Xinmu had a chance of winning? Stand up!! Open your eyes and look... this is what you call arrogant?! This is what you call a chance of winning?!"

On the stand where the three members of the Jingfeng Sect were located, Feng Ziyue's Face had completely lost all color.

From the moment Little Skylark deployed the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain, he slumped against the railing as if his bones had been removed, gripping the railing tightly with both hands.

His Void-Splitting Profound Gold Eagle curled into a ball deep within the Beast Taming Space. The fear transmitted through the contract was so intense that his legs were turning to jelly.

It was a kind of absolute, thorough fear he had never felt from his own beast before.

It wasn't because of how high the opponent's Rank was. Amethyst Rank 6 was only two minor Ranks higher than his Void-Splitting Profound Gold Eagle.

It was because the opponent's Bloodline Rank was too high. So high that his Void-Splitting Profound Gold Eagle, in front of that Divine Roc, was like a chick facing a true Divine Roc.

"It's... it's over..."

Feng Ziyue's lips trembled violently. The voice was almost squeezed out from his throat.

"How... how can he be this strong? Is this still Amethyst Rank? Is this really still Amethyst Rank? Big Brother!!! Big Brother, you said you would take action!! He's coming for me; after he's done with Lin Xinmu, I'm definitely next... How could I possibly beat him? My Void-Splitting Profound Gold Eagle probably can't even take a single skill from his Divine Roc! It's over! It's really over! What do I do! What do I do!!"

Feng Yu stood beside him, his previously expressionless Face finally unable to hold its composure.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

He was stronger than Feng Ziyue, and precisely because of that, he understood better than Feng Ziyue what the combat power this Divine Roc was currently displaying meant.

"Amethyst Rank 6... no, this sense of oppression has definitely reached Diamond Rank."

Feng Yu's voice was low and suppressed. It was as if he were talking to himself, or as if he were forcing himself to accept a reality he didn't want to Face.

"No wonder he dared to be so arrogant. No wonder he dared to go find Lin Xinmu alone. It wasn't that he was arrogant... it was that we had been underestimating him from the very beginning. A Heaven-Defying Domain skill combined with a Bloodline True Body skill—this is no longer combat power that any Amethyst Rank should have. Now that a grudge has been formed... this kind of person must not be left alive. If he is allowed to continue growing, I fear it will not be good for them... I wonder if Big Brother can suppress him?"

He turned his head to look at Sect Master Feng Tianyang beside him. A trace of earnestness flashed in his eyes.

"Big Brother, if this child is not eliminated, he will surely become a great disaster."

Sect Master Feng Tianyang, however, laughed. He crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze piercing through the light membrane of the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain, firmly locked onto the incomparably magnificent Divine Roc above the arena.

A smile, completely different from before, hung at the corner of his mouth.

It was no longer mockery and contempt, but a sense of playfulness and appreciation, as if he had seen interesting prey.

"Heh! Interesting."

His voice was unhurried, carrying a touch of casual composure.

"Domain skill, Bloodline True Body. Activating two top-tier skills simultaneously while maintaining such stable Domain compression... the training level and combat experience of this beast are indeed not just for show. To be able to release suppression power approaching Diamond Rank at Amethyst Rank 6—such a trump card is indeed qualified to make me look at him squarely."

He paused, turning his head to glance at Feng Ziyue, who was already trembling all over from fear.

A flash of undisguised disgust flickered in his eyes.

"Feng Ziyue, put away that cowardly look of yours. To be so scared by someone else's beast in the arena that your legs can't even stand steady... you are not only losing your own Face, but also the Face of the Feng Family and the Jingfeng Sect. My, Sect Master Feng Tianyang's, younger brother can lose, but he cannot be a coward."

Feng Ziyue shrank back from that glare.

His lips moved, wanting to say something, but not a single word could come out.

Sect Master Feng Tianyang withdrew his gaze and looked back at the arena, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepening a little more.

"Little Yu, don't be too nervous. Indeed, this Divine Roc is very strong; even a low-Rank Diamond Rank opponent might not be able to withstand it. However…"

He shifted his tone.

His voice carried a hint of arrogance.

"It is merely Amethyst Rank Six. Both the Domain skill and the Divine Roc True Form require consuming a large amount of spiritual power, so it cannot last long. Moreover, the Void-Rending Golden Roc is at the Purple Crystal Ninth Rank Peak; the Realm difference is three minor tiers. In the Face of an absolute disparity in power, even the strongest Bloodline must bow. I will make my move in a moment. Rest assured, I said I would not let him touch you, and I will not give him that chance."

Once these words were spoken.

Feng Ziyue let out a long sigh of relief, and a trace of color finally returned to his Face.

Feng Yu also nodded slowly, but the heaviness in his eyes did not completely fade.

Because he noticed.

Although Sect Master Feng Tianyang spoke lightly, from beginning to end.

His eyes had never left Jiang Yun.

Someone who truly does not take their opponent seriously.

Would not stare at the other person for so long with that look of evaluating prey.

In the Longxiang Pavilion camp.

Liu Qingshuang, Xiao Chen, and Lei Qing all looked up simultaneously at the battle stage in the sky, which was completely enveloped by blue-purple lightning.

The shock on the three people's Faces.

Was deeper than that of any ordinary student present.

"Is… is this the true strength of Little Skylark?"

Liu Qingshuang's voice remained cold.

But those who knew her could hear the uncontrollable trembling in that voice.

"The Storm Thunder Sparrow we saw in Ash Town simply does not seem like the same species compared to this one. The pressure it exerted when it descended earlier—I already thought that was its full strength. But now it seems… that was just its normal state, and the current Divine Roc True Form is its real combat form. The gap between us and Jiang Yun now… is even larger than we imagined."

"Too fast."

Xiao Chen said in a low voice.

Even as composed as he was, he could hardly conceal the turbulent waves in his heart.

"I know Jiang Yun makes progress quickly, and his Realm was weaker than ours before… I always thought he was chasing closely… We also broke through in the Bone Burial Area, had great Opportunities, and jumped from Gold Rank to Amethyst. But now it seems, we are running, while he is flying. We are still climbing stairs, and he is already riding a rocket beast… Just a moment ago, I was still worrying about whether he could beat Lin Xinmu… Now I think, what I should be worried about is whether Lin Xinmu can make it off the battle stage alive."

Lei Qing slapped his thigh.

His rugged Face was full of undisguised excitement and pride.

"Hahaha! Did you see that! This is the Sacred Student I know! He was like this in the Bone Burial Area… You think you've seen his trump card? In the blink of an eye, he pulls out an even bigger one. You're still worried about whether he can do it? I've said it before, he never fights a battle he isn't sure of! Lin Xinmu? A dark horse? In front of Jiang Yun, any dark horse must become a dead horse!"

On the main viewing platform.

The reactions of the Eclipsing Moon Rank deans were deeper than those of the students, yet they were also more shocked.

Zhan Qiong gripped the railing tightly with both hands.

In those old eyes that had seen ten thousand beasts, undisguised astonishment and admiration surged.

"Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain!"

"A Legendary Domain skill! And the Divine Roc True Form… A Legendary Bloodline True Body! Two major Legendary skills activated simultaneously! And look closely… he is compressing the Domain! The range of the Domain is shrinking, but the density of the Domain is increasing! This level of precision in controlling a Domain skill is definitely not something that can be achieved just after Awakening… This kid must have experienced combat tempering far beyond our imagination during these seven days outside! The combat power of this beast… I, in my capacity as the Dean of the Beast Taming Institute, assert that it is definitely at the Diamond Rank low-tier, or even higher!"

"More than that."

Vice Dean Yan Lie took a deep breath.

His voice was full of uncontrollable shock.

"Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain has a natural interference effect on the spatial structure, and the Divine Roc True Form can elevate Bloodline suppression to the level of Law. Under this double suppression, Lin Xinmu's space-type beast likely cannot even normally activate Void Shuttle. This is not a matter of elemental restraint… This is a dimensional crushing. I finally understand now why the Dean decided to break the rules and designate him as a Heavenly Saint Student back then."

Medicine Dust Son stroked his beard.

A complex light flashed in his eyes.

"It's no wonder this kid dared to go find Lin Xinmu with such confidence… He wasn't going to challenge him at all. He was going to crush him. Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain plus Divine Roc True Form—this configuration would not be inferior even if placed in the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking. We were just worrying about whether he would lose… Now it seems, it is the student Lin Xinmu who should be worried."

Tie Kuang added in a muffled voice.

"This kid, the Heavenly Saint Student, every time we think we have seen everything he has, he immediately pulls out a new trump card that smashes our imagination to pieces. It was like that when he tested his talent too; this kid's trump cards always give one the feeling that they are inexhaustible…"

Dean of Array Department Xuan Jizi and Dean Wen Yuan exchanged glances.

Both saw the same sentiment in each other's eyes.

Vice Dean Ming Jing still sat upright in the main seat.

He watched the battle stage in the distance, which was enveloped by blue-purple lightning, with a calm expression.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile still hung on the corners of his mouth, but observant people could notice that the fingers he had resting on the armrest had stopped tapping at some point and were now gripping the edge of the armrest tightly.

That was an unconscious action that only appeared when he was extremely satisfied inside.

He sighed inwardly, and the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened a little more.

The Dean's eye for talent was truly sharp.

When he broke the rules to designate this youth as a Heavenly Saint Student back then.

It was not as if there were no voices of opposition in the academy.

Although those Elders and deacons did not say anything, they were all grumbling in their hearts.

A freshman from a small place like C City, not even Amethyst Rank, why should he ascend to the heavens in one step and become a Heavenly Saint Student?

Just relying on his SSS-level talent?

But talent cannot represent the ability to cultivate beasts…

Now.

No one would ever question this decision again.

The Dean had never shown his Face, but every move he made was placed in the most accurate spot.

On the battle stage.

Lin Xinmu stood in the very center of the arena.

The expression on his cold and arrogant Face froze completely the moment the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain unfolded.

He had thought this Divine Roc would be very troublesome.

He had even prepared for a bitter battle.

Using Void Stealth to create distance, using Void Shuttle to circle to blind spots, using Space Cutting to precisely break defenses, and using Space Cage combined with Void Storm to deliver a burst of damage.

He was space-type, and he possessed the most bizarre movement abilities and the most unexpected surprise attack methods among his peers.

Even if the opponent had a Bloodline stronger than his own beast.

He might not necessarily lack the power to fight.

But the moment the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain unfolded.

The moment the Aura of the Divine Roc True Form was completely released.

All the tactical plans he had meticulously constructed.

Shattered in his mind simultaneously.

Because he could clearly feel.

His Void Shadow Mink was afraid.

It was not the brief timidity caused by being suppressed by the opponent's Aura during battle, but a deeper, instinctual fear originating from the Bloodline.

Within the Divine Roc's Domain, the thunder of ten thousand bolts was continuously impacting the spatial structure of the battle stage.

Spatial nodes were trembling, spatial rifts were oscillating, and even the remnants of Space Law permeating the air were being torn apart by the lightning.

The spatial stability that the Void Shadow Mink relied on most simply did not exist within this Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain.

What was even more fatal was that his beast was afraid.

He himself was also afraid.

That wave of fearful emotion transmitted through the contract.

Was washing over his Sea of Consciousness again and again like ice water.

Causing his mind to uncontrollably waver.

But Lin Xinmu was, after all, Lin Xinmu.

He was ranked 68th on the Heavenly Ranking, the dark horse that had fought his way out from countless Prodigies in this Molten Cavern quota competition.

The strength that allowed him to rush from the sixties all the way to the top twenty was not piled up by luck.

After a brief moment of distraction.

He bit the tip of his tongue hard.

The sharp pain forcibly suppressed that fear.

"Void Shadow Mink!"

His voice was hoarse but resolute.

Every word sounded as if it were squeezed out from the depths of his throat.

"Do not be afraid! Its Aura is indeed terrifying, and its Bloodline is indeed higher than ours… But so what! We are space-type! What space-type is best at is not head-on confrontation, but being unexpected! No matter how strong its pressure is, if it cannot hit you, it is equal to zero! Use Void Stealth to get close… then Void Shuttle to get in its Face, Space Cutting followed by Space Cage, do not give it a chance to react, and finally, take it out with Void Storm! Your speed is faster than it, your movement is more bizarre than it… As long as we get close, even an Ancient Bloodline must die!!"

The Void Shadow Mink let out a low hiss.

Spatial ripples accelerated across its translucent silver-gray fur.

Its four limbs crouched slightly, and its claws pierced into the void.

After all, it was an adult space-type beast.

It forcibly suppressed its fear under its master's forced command.

Its figure flashed suddenly in the void.

Instantly merging into the spatial rift, disappearing without a trace.

Void Stealth.

Completely merging into the spatial rift, body and Aura disappearing simultaneously, lasting for ten breaths.

On the battle stage, apart from the roaring of the ten thousand thunderbolts of the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain.

Not a single trace of the Void Shadow Mink could be seen anymore.

Someone off the stage exclaimed.

"It disappeared!! The Void Shadow Mink disappeared!! Lin Xinmu is going to use that move… First hide, then shuttle; last time he used this combo to beat a defensive-type beast in the top twenty of the Heavenly Ranking before it could even react!!"

However, Jiang Yun stood on the back of the Little Skylark.

The expression on his Face had not changed at all from beginning to end.

His Falling Star Rank Mental Energy.

Was currently spreading across the entire battle stage like an invisible tide.

The Void Shadow Mink's Void Stealth could indeed evade the naked eye.

It could evade the Little Skylark's spiritual power perception.

And even evade most Divine Sense detection.

But the perception of spatial fluctuations by Falling Star Rank Mental Energy was a level that Diamond Rank Divine Sense could not reach.

In his perception, in the void three feet above the ground in the southeast corner of the battle stage, there was an extremely faint spatial distortion moving at an extremely slow speed in his direction.

That distortion was very hidden, but under the gaze of his Falling Star Rank Mental Energy.

It was like lighting a candle in a dark room.

Jiang Yun expressionlessly transmitted the coordinates to the Little Skylark through the Soul link.

"Little Skylark, southeast corner, three feet off the ground, concentrate the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain bombardment. Force it out of the spatial rift."

The Little Skylark let out a clear, melodious cry.

The ten thousand thunderbolts of the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain were no longer evenly distributed at that moment.

The thunder in the entire Domain seemed to have received a unified command.

All turned in the same instant, crazily pouring toward that spatial node three feet off the ground in the southeast corner.

Hundreds of blue-purple thunderbolts struck the same point simultaneously, the spatial structure vibrated violently, and a translucent silver-gray figure was blasted directly out of the spatial rift by the violent lightning.

The Void Shadow Mink's figure stumbled out from the lightning, its Void Stealth forcibly interrupted.

"Now! Space Cutting!!"

Lin Xinmu sensed through the contract that the Void Shadow Mink's position had been exposed.

Almost instinctively, he issued the next command.

The moment the Void Shadow Mink was blasted out of the rift,

enduring the intense pain of the lightning's scorching, it violently swung its front claws.

Three silver-gray space blades tore through the air, slashing toward Little Skylark in a triangular formation.

That was its most prideful single-target burst skill, ignoring thirty percent of defense and carrying a space-tearing effect.

However,

Jiang Yun didn't even blink.

"Divine Roc True Form!! Pressure, crush."

Little Skylark let out an even more piercing cry toward the sky.

The Bloodline Power pressure in the Divine Roc True Form state was pushed to the extreme at this moment.

It was not an indiscriminate area-of-effect suppression, but rather, it condensed into an invisible torrent of Law, aimed with extreme precision, and crashed down upon those three space blades.

The moment those three space blades entered the ten-zhang radius around Little Skylark,

they were like three thin sheets of ice colliding with a red-hot iron plate.

The gap in combat power between the two was simply too large.

There was no collision, no explosion in the process.

Instead, they were crushed into nothingness amidst the absolute power pressure of the Ancient Divine Beast.

The silver-gray Law patterns on the space blades shattered inch by inch.

The shattered silver light drifted in the air for a moment before being completely annihilated within the lightning of the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain.

"Impossible!!!"

Lin Xinmu's eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.

His pupils contracted violently, and the first crack finally appeared on his cold, arrogant Face.

It was not surprise, nor was it shock, but the collapse of seeing his most prideful attack fail to even create a ripple in front of his opponent.

The Space Cutting had been forcibly crushed.

It wasn't blocked by defense, nor was it canceled out by a skill; it was crushed by pure pressure.

Before he could recover from his shock,

Jiang Yun's voice resounded across the entire battle stage once more.

Cold, calm, and carrying an unquestionable judgment.

"Little Skylark, Ancient Wind-Thunder Wing Slash."

Little Skylark's wings, in the Divine Roc True Form state, suddenly crossed in front of it.

At the wingtips,

the blue-purple Wind-Thunder Law power condensed to the extreme in that instant.

It was not ordinary Wind-Thunder blade light, but a double overlay containing the Bloodline Power of the Ancient Wind-Thunder Divine Peng and a trace of space-tearing power.

Under the enhancement of the Divine Roc True Form, the power of that blade light doubled.

The blade light, interwoven with azure and violet, was like an ancient heavenly saber slashing down from the Nine Heavens.

Where the blade edge passed, even the Void Realm itself was torn, leaving a straight, fine crack.

The Void Shadow Mink had just broken free from the lightning, its body still trembling.

Its pupils reflected that approaching Wind-Thunder blade light.

That was the last image it saw.

It wasn't that the blade light's speed was too fast to react to.

Its Void Shuttle instinct had already activated, and the space rift had been torn open halfway.

But the myriad lightning bolts of the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain, at the same moment the blade light descended, blasted all the spatial nodes within a radius of dozens of zhang, causing them to vibrate violently, and the space rift twisted and shattered the moment it was torn open halfway.

The Void Shuttle, was forcibly interrupted.

It could only watch helplessly as the blade light descended.

Boom!!!

The Ancient Wind-Thunder Wing Slash landed solidly on the Void Shadow Mink.

The space-tearing power contained within the blade light tore open its semi-transparent fur, while the contained Wind-Thunder Law power pierced through its internal organs.

The piercing effect, which ignored thirty percent of defense, allowed the damage of this strike to directly break through the limits of all its defensive skills.

The Void Shadow Mink let out a sharp, short screech, its slender body flying backward like a rag thrown away.

It tumbled in the air a dozen times before crashing heavily against the protective array patterns at the edge of the battle stage.

The semi-transparent protective array patterns vibrated violently from the impact, and the Void Shadow Mink's body slowly slid off the array patterns, falling onto the cold stone floor of the battle stage, motionless.

On its body,

a bone-deep saber mark ran diagonally from its shoulder to its waist and abdomen.

Residual blue-purple Wind-Thunder Law fragments continued to erode the edges of the wound, and the fine spatial ripples on its fur had completely dimmed.

The body, which had originally been constantly shifting between semi-transparent and solid, was now left as only a death-gray solid form.

The entire arena went silent.

That silence was not just quiet; it was as if everyone had stopped breathing at the same time.

Thousands of gazes fell simultaneously onto the Void Shadow Mink lying at the edge of the battle stage, its Aura so weak it was barely perceptible; onto that terrifying saber mark running from its shoulder to its waist and abdomen; and onto the bloodstain slowly spreading on the ground.

No one spoke.

No one dared to speak.

Because from the beginning to the end,

the battle was too fast.

It was so fast that those who had been analyzing how the Space Element counters the Wind-Thunder Element closed their mouths before they could finish their sentences.

It was so fast that those who had bet on Lin Xinmu lasting for half an incense stick of time saw it end before the timer had even started.

It was so fast that those who were still debating the Heavenly Saint Student's odds of winning hadn't even reached a conclusion before the answer was smashed into their Faces.

From the shocking opening of the Wind-Thunder Calamity Domain and the arrival of the Divine Roc True Form,

to the Void Shadow Mink being precisely blasted out after using Void Stealth, to the Space Cutting being crushed by pressure, and the Ancient Wind-Thunder Wing Slash settling the outcome in one strike,

it all took no more than a few breaths of time.

Ranked sixty-eighth on the Heavenly Ranking, Purple Crystal Ninth Rank Peak, the dark horse of the Space Element.

Lin Xinmu.

He didn't take a single move, didn't release a single complete skill, and even his most prideful Void Shuttle was forcibly interrupted.

His Void Shadow Mink, which had crushed opponents all the way through this qualification tournament,

was now curled up on the ground like a rag with its Soul drained away, its life or death unknown.

On the battle stage,

Lin Xinmu stood dazed on the spot.

His body still maintained the posture he had held when ordering the Void Shadow Mink to attack.

His right hand was extended forward, fingers splayed, and the unfinished command still lingered in his mouth.

But his eyes, those habitually cold and arrogant eyes, were now filled with nothing but emptiness.

He looked at the motionless Void Shadow Mink lying at the edge of the battle stage.

His lips trembled violently, yet he couldn't utter a single word.

"A-Xu!!"

A shrill roar tore through the deathly silence of the battle stage.

Lin Xinmu, as if all his strength had been drained, stumbled toward his Beast, tripping several times on the stone slabs, and almost crawling as he lunged to the side of the Void Shadow Mink.

His hands trembled as he caressed that shocking saber mark.

His fingertips were stained with the pale silver blood of his Beast.

His entire body was shaking violently.

It was not because of fear, but because of disbelief.

He could not believe that his most prideful Void Shadow Mink, in his most confident field of the Space Element, had been beaten by a freshman who was only Gold Rank Eight seven days ago, within a single encounter, without even a chance to fight back.

He raised his head, his hollow eyes staring fixedly at Jiang Yun.

His eye sockets were red but tearless, filled only with the confusion and despair of being completely crushed.

His lips moved for a long time before he squeezed out a sentence from his throat, hoarse to the point of being unrecognizable.

"You... you..."

He couldn't continue.

Because he didn't know what else to say.

To say he didn't expect to lose?

To say he underestimated Jiang Yun?

To say he shouldn't have targeted Longxiang Pavilion?

It was too late to say anything.

If he had known today would come... he wouldn't have provoked such a star of misfortune because of a little arrogance and Face...

Jiang Yun stood on the back of Little Skylark.

He looked down from above at Lin Xinmu, who was kneeling beside his Beast.

The morning light spilled from behind him, casting his figure onto the stone slabs of the battle stage, drawing out a long and cold silhouette.

His expression was calm as water.

There was no ecstasy of victory, no pity for the loser, only an indifference that came from understanding the cycle of Karma.

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet it clearly reached the eardrums of everyone present in the dead silence.

"Lin Xinmu."

Lin Xinmu's shoulders trembled violently.

"Seven days ago, you publicly challenged me to a duel at the Colosseum, relying on an Amethyst Rank Beast to bully me, a Gold Rank. You were arrogant, conceited, and provocatively looked down upon me. Did you ever think of today back then?"

Lin Xinmu's lips trembled violently.

He couldn't say a single word.

"Today's matter, while seemingly under the name of a duel, is in reality... you know it in your heart, I know it in my heart, and everyone present knows it as well."

Jiang Yun's voice was calm and cold, like a blade sliding across an ice surface.

"You targeted the people of my Longxiang Pavilion during the qualification tournament. As the Pavilion Master of Longxiang Pavilion, I will naturally collect the debt from you!!"

He paused.

His gaze slowly moved away from Lin Xinmu, sweeping across the direction of the Jingfeng Sect in the distance, passing over Lin Feng's direction, and finally landing back on Lin Xinmu.

"I, Jiang, do not like to initiate trouble. If others do not offend me, I do not offend them. But if others offend me..."

His voice suddenly turned several degrees colder.

"If others offend my Longxiang Pavilion... then do not blame this Heavenly Saint Student for not showing mercy. Today's matter, Lin Xinmu, is entirely of your own doing; you brought this upon yourself."

These words were like a heavy hammer striking Lin Xinmu's chest.

He knelt on the ground, his hands still resting on the cold fur of the Void Shadow Mink, his whole body hunched over as if his Soul had been drained.

He wanted to retort, wanted to say something to salvage even a shred of dignity, but he opened his mouth, and only a dry, broken whimper came from his throat.

You brought this upon yourself.

You asked for it.

Each of these characters burned like a brand on his chest.

Because he knew better than anyone else that not a single word of these statements was false.

Below the stage,

thousands of gazes froze at that moment.

Those gazes fell upon the youth standing with his hands behind his back on the battle stage, upon the Divine Roc slowly retracting its wings, and upon Lin Xinmu, who was trembling all over while kneeling beside his Beast.

A single thought echoed in everyone's mind:

Fast!

Too fast!

In their predictions, this battle should have at least been evenly matched.

The Heavenly Saint Student is strong, and Lin Xinmu is not weak either; Space Element versus Wind-Thunder Element.

Even if the Heavenly Saint Student were to win in the end, it should have been a hard-fought battle of dozens of rounds, lasting for nearly half an hour.

And the result?

One encounter... in just a few breaths... Lin Xinmu's Void Shadow Mink was already heavily injured and lying on the ground.

Lin Xinmu knelt beside his Beast, unable to even speak a complete sentence.

Is this damn thing still called a tournament match?

This is a damn one-sided crushing!!

This is an execution!!