29: After one punch, what cards do you have left?

On the arena, time seemed to split into two distinct worlds the moment Lin Tian threw his punch.

One was the world behind Lin Tian, calm and serene. He even had the leisure to cast a reassuring, faintly smiling glance at his cousin Jiang Luoling, who was nervously clenching her small fists and looking worriedly from below the stage.

The other was the world before his fist, where the sky collapsed and the earth shattered, and the cosmos inverted!

Ye Star felt that what he was facing was not just a fist.

It was a collapsing star! It was a perishing galaxy! It was a pure, brutal, unreasonable… absolute power, capable of grinding all things in the world into their most primitive particles!

Before the punch even arrived, the terrifying atmospheric pressure had already caused the Protective Aura around him, condensed from the Power of the Stars, to emit a "cracking" wail of unbearable strain!

His handsome face, full of confidence and arrogance, was finally replaced by endless shock and fear at this moment!

"Not good!"

A warning bell rang wildly in his heart, and he no longer cared about any ridiculous promise of "letting you use one hand and only five-tenths of my strength"! The instinct for survival made him subconsciously pull out his left hand, which had been behind his back, cross his arms over his chest, and activate his S-rank Talent, the Star Physique, to its extreme!

Brilliant starlight erupted from his body, instantly condensing into an indestructible starlight barrier several meters thick, as if compressed from countless stellar fragments, in front of him!

This was his strongest defense!

However, all of this seemed so… futile in the face of Lin Tian's seemingly casual punch.

Boom!!!

The punch fiercely collided with the starlight barrier!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a muffled, extreme roar that seemed to shatter one's Soul!

The starlight barrier, capable of withstanding a direct hit from a cruise missile, shattered like glass struck by a hammer the moment it made contact with the punch, unable to hold on for even a moment! It transformed into countless brilliant specks of light filling the sky!

Immediately after, the fair, small fist, its momentum undiminished, landed squarely on Ye Star's hastily crossed defensive arms!

Crack! Crack!

The bones in both arms snapped in response!

A terrifying, indescribable force, like a bursting river of stars, poured fiercely into his body through his broken arms!

Pfft!

Ye Star spat out a mouthful of blood, and his entire body, like a cannonball, was sent flying backward in an extremely disheveled manner, slamming heavily into the arena's railing, which was made of A-grade memory alloy and boasted of being indestructible!

Clang—!!!

The sturdy railing was dented outwards into a huge human-shaped impression by his impact, almost breaking!

The entire venue fell silent.

Tens of thousands of top Prodigies, Martial Grandmasters, and consortium leaders from all over the world were now as if petrified, staring blankly at the white figure on the arena who still stood with his hands behind his back, not even a corner of his clothes disheveled, their minds blank.

One punch!

Just one punch!

Ye Star, who was hailed as one of the favorites to win this competition, an S-rank Talent holder, and the sole heir of the Star Group, was defeated… just like that?

Defeated so cleanly! So thoroughly! So… without suspense!

In the VIP section, the leaders of various major forces, after the initial shock, finally recovered from the terrifying punch pressure. They exchanged glances, seeing deep shock and a hint of… greed in each other's eyes!

"This… this is… pure Physical Body strength!" an old Martial God from the European "Knights of the Round Table," clad in heavy armor, said with a dry voice, "There are no internal Qi fluctuations, no combat technique enhancements! Just a single punch from the Physical Body achieved such terrifying power!"

"That's right!" The High Priest of the Egyptian "Pharaoh's Society," his cloudy eyes gleaming with wisdom, said, "According to ancient texts passed down for thousands of years in our Pharaoh's Society, only one type of Physique can possess such an unreasonable, all-crushing Physical Body power even in its infancy!"

He enunciated, word by word, the name that was enough to drive all informed people present into a frenzy.

"SSS-rank Mythical Gene—the Pangu Body!"

This judgment was like a bomb that ignited everyone's thoughts!

"Pangu Body… the strongest Body Refining sacred body of the Human Race in legends! I didn't expect it to actually exist!"

"No wonder! No wonder the Dragon Family would revere him as 'Number Zero'! With such a Physique, as long as he can grow smoothly, he will surely rule the world in the future!"

However, just as everyone was shocked by the appearance of the Pangu Body, a leading gene expert from the Federal Martial Dao Academy of Sciences pushed up his glasses and added in a tone full of "reason" and "regret":

"Everyone, there's no need to panic too much. According to our academy's analysis of the growth curves of all historical super S-rank gene sequences, although the Pangu Body possesses an unparalleled Physical Body advantage in the early stages, its growth is also far slower and more demanding than any other Physique!"

"It's like a gold-devouring beast; the energy and resources required to advance even a small Realm are more than a hundred times that of an ordinary S-rank Genius! Moreover, according to ancient records, this Physique weakens in the Late Stage, and breaking through to the Martial God Realm is as difficult as ascending to the heavens!"

"Therefore, what we are seeing now is very likely… his most glorious moment."

This "scientific" and "authoritative" analysis made many of the leaders present who had already felt apprehension secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

So… he was just an early-game hero.

On the arena, Ye Star struggled to climb out of the deformed railing wreckage.

His hair was disheveled, blood stained the corner of his mouth, and his magnificent Star Battle Armor was now dull and covered in cracks.

He looked at Lin Tian, his eyes filled with disbelief and endless shame and anger.

He was defeated, defeated by one punch, defeated in the very strength he prided himself on the most!

"No! I haven't lost yet!"

He roared, no longer holding anything back!

"S-rank Talent—Star Physique, activate!"

In an instant, dazzling starlight erupted from his body again! This time, it was no longer just a simple Protective Aura, but like liquid stars, it covered his entire body, making him seem to transform into a ten-meter-tall starlight giant constructed from starlight!

A pressure far exceeding before, filled with destruction and violent aura, swept across the entire venue!

"Now that's more like it."

Lin Tian looked at him in his "transformed" state, merely shaking his head indifferently.

Then, he no longer held back.

"Since you like to play with energy, I'll play with you."

With a thought, the two S-rank Cultivation Techniques, Myriad Weapons Returning to the Stream and Nine Transformations of the Divine Dragon, simultaneously operated!

Om—!

An energy halberd, even larger and more solid than the starlight giant, burning with golden Dragon flames, condensed out of thin air behind him!

Immediately after, his figure left a faint afterimage in place, activating Dragon Blood Boiling, and with a ghostly speed, instantly closed in on the starlight giant!

"What?!"

Ye Star was greatly alarmed; his massive body simply couldn't keep up with Lin Tian's teleportation-like speed!

"Too slow."

Lin Tian shook his head, and the energy halberd in his hand, carrying the terrifying might to tear apart the sky, fiercely struck the starlight giant's chest!

Boom!!!

The seemingly indestructible body of the starlight giant was split in half by the halberd, like butter cut by a hot knife!

Ye Star's true body fell out from the shattered starlight, spitting blood again, his Qi extremely weak.

"Physical Body… combat technique… you…"

He lay on the ground, looking at the god-like figure slowly walking towards him, and despair finally appeared in his eyes.

All his trump cards, all his pride, seemed so ridiculous and vulnerable before this young man!

However, just as he thought everything was over, Lin Tian stopped.

He looked at Ye Star and slowly spoke in a tone full of "disappointment."

"In Physical Body, you are inferior to me."

"In combat techniques, you are still inferior to me."

"So now, do you have any other trump cards you can show me?"

These words were like a merciless heavy hammer, striking Ye Star's heart!

He felt his dignity being pressed to the ground and mercilessly rubbed repeatedly by the other party!

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

Under extreme humiliation, Ye Star went completely mad! He no longer cared about any consequences, pouring all his life potential into one final attack!

"Lin Tian! You forced me to do this! Even if I die, I'll drag you down with me!"

He unleashed his strongest trump card, and a terrifying aura belonging to the Martial King Rank, far exceeding his own Realm, erupted!

However, facing his final, desperate struggle, Lin Tian merely… smiled.

He no longer concealed himself.

A true pressure belonging to the Peak of the Martial King Rank, a hundred times more solid, vast, and terrifying than Ye Star's superficial Martial King Rank aura, swept out from his body like an awakened primordial Universe!

With an absolute, crushing Realm advantage, he pointed a finger.

Heaven and earth fell silent.

All of Ye Star's attacks, all his hopes, vanished under that single finger.

He collapsed to the ground as if struck by lightning, completely losing consciousness.

The victor was decided.

Just then, the Star Jade Pendant worn on Ye Star's chest, passed down through his Family for generations, suddenly emitted an extremely faint yet incredibly pure starlight.

A stream of Cultivation Legacy information about the "Ancient Star God," filled with antiquity and majesty, flowed silently like a trickle into the depths of his already unconscious mind…