94: A dramatic turn of events leads to victory, and Cloud City's name resounds throughout the star field (Part 1)

Lin Zhou stepped onto the arena again, instantly igniting the atmosphere of the entire venue.

"It's him again! He's going to continue defending the arena!"

"He just finished fighting the ferocious Thunder Nagas, his Divine Power must be heavily depleted, yet he's not resting?"

"His opponent is Hui Guang! The Holy Light Priest Divine Domain is best at attrition and purification. Will Lin Zhou's strange Domain be countered?"

The murmurs rose like a tide. On the side of Yuncheng No. 1 High School, Zhao Hao and the others were also breaking into a cold sweat.

"Lin Zhou, can you do it? The Holy Light Priests are notoriously difficult; their endurance is too strong." Lei Huang said in a deep voice. His Thunder Divine Domain hated these iron-turtle-like opponents the most.

Su Yueyao did not speak, only silently mobilizing her meager Moonlight Divine Power, preparing to provide support to Lin Zhou at any moment. She trusted Lin Zhou's judgment, but the trace of worry in her beautiful eyes could not be completely hidden.

At the other end of the arena, the deity named Hui Guang had already descended.

He was shrouded in soft and pure Holy Light, his expression solemn, forming a sharp contrast with the previously wild Thunder.

His Divine Domain projection unfolded, revealing a peaceful and tranquil [Land of Holy Light] filled with white marble temples and prayer pools.

Enemy Divine Domain Status: [Land of Holy Light (Projection)]

Core Kin: Holy Light Priests

Light Priests (LV29 - LV32): Quantity approximately 300. Balanced attributes, with outstanding Mental Energy and Intelligence attributes (both reaching 35+). Skills: [Holy Light Heal], [Light of Purification], [Blessing of Courage]. Traits: [Devout Faith], [Light Elemental Affinity].

Temple Guards (LV27 - LV30): Quantity approximately 200. Attribute bias: Strength 33, Physique 35. Skills: [Holy Shield], [Consecration]. Traits: [Devout Faith], [Light Elemental Affinity], [Guardian Will].

Shining Spirits (LV25 - LV28): Quantity approximately 150. Special elemental units, with relatively high Agility and Mental Energy attributes. Skills: [Flash], [Holy Nova]. Traits: [Incarnation of Light Element], [Float].

Hero Unit: Archbishop (LV36) - Possesses skills [Mass Heal], [Divine Armor], [Dispel Magic].

Miracle Building Projection: [Cathedral] - Provides continuous aura effects: [Devotion Aura (slightly increases Mental resistance and Divine Power recovery speed of all kin)], [Redemption Aura (weakly heals injured kin within range continuously)].

Environmental Attribute: [Holy Land] — Weakly suppresses Dark, Undead, and Chaos type units, enhances Light-type skill effects and Divine Power recovery speed.

This was a typical "Paladin" style lineup, with solid defenses, powerful healing, numerous buffs, and the targeted ability of [Dispel Magic].

Hui Guang's strategy was clear: rely on powerful endurance and purification capabilities to wear down Lin Zhou's state, force him into a war of attrition, and finally win by virtue of more enduring Divine Power.

"Contestant Lin Zhou, your Domain is very unique, but Holy Light can purify all anomalies."

Hui Guang's voice came through the light screen, carrying a kind of certain confidence, "In the face of absolute light and Order, your tricks will have nowhere to hide."

Lin Zhou's expression did not change, but his heart was calculating rapidly.

The opponent's [Dispel Magic] was indeed a potential threat to the [Pure and Inactive Realm]. Although his Domain was essentially "principles" rather than "magic," there was still a possibility of being interfered with in terms of manifestation.

Moreover, the [Devout Faith] trait of the Holy Light Priests meant their emotions were relatively stable, so the effect of [Emotional Detachment] might be discounted.

"The battle begins!"

Hui Guang acted first, not rushing to attack, but playing it steady: "Temple Guards, form a defensive formation! Light Priests, cast [Blessing of Courage] and [Divine Armor]! Shining Spirits, ascend and prepare [Holy Nova] to interfere!"

The Temple Guards immediately raised their huge tower shields, layering them to form a solid barrier shining with Holy Light.

The Light Priests chanted hymns, and beams of golden light fell upon the front-row guards and themselves, increasing their attack and defense attributes and coating their armor with Holy Light.

The Shining Spirits floated into mid-air, like little suns, accumulating holy energy.

A standard defensive counterattack posture!

Lin Zhou's eyes narrowed, and he issued commands: "Elwin, cover with the Vast Righteous Qi Domain to offset the opponent's aura effects! Bronzebeard, calibrate the ballistae, probing attack! Snik, prepare the Net of Law, target the opponent's Hero unit, the Archbishop!"

The Vast Righteous Qi of the Literary Heart Elves collided with the holy aura of the Land of Holy Light in the center of the arena, making sizzling sounds as they neutralized and eroded each other.

The Tiangong Dwarves' ballistae roared, and the specially made armor-piercing bolts shot toward the shield formation of the Temple Guards. Most were deflected, leaving only shallow white marks on the Holy Light armor, but one or two luckily passed through the gaps, causing slight damage, only to be quickly repaired by the [Holy Light Heal] from the Light Priests in the rear.

Sure enough, it was tricky! Solid defense and extremely strong recovery.

A smile appeared on the corner of Hui Guang's mouth; everything was under control. "Archbishop, prepare [Dispel Magic], target the opponent's divine domain core area, find the core of that Domain!"

The Archbishop raised his scepter, and powerful Holy Light began to gather, preparing to cast a large-scale dispel divine spell.

Now is the time!

A flash of brilliance appeared in Lin Zhou's eyes; he had been waiting for the moment when the opponent actively used dispel-type skills!

"The Pure and Inactive Realm is not an anomaly, but the ultimate principle of heaven and earth!"

"Domain, expand!"

The familiar feeling of trance and silence descended once more! The [Pure and Inactive Realm] shrouded the arena!

However, this time, the effect did not seem significant!

The Temple Guards' defensive formation remained solid, their eyes firm; the Light Priests' chanting, although slightly slower, remained pure and stable; even the Archbishop, who was preparing to release [Dispel Magic], only paused slightly, and the Holy Light on his scepter remained brilliant!

"Hmph! As expected! Under the Holy Light, all laws are warded off!" Hui Guang snorted coldly, his heart settled, "Archbishop, Dispel!"

Powerful Holy Light fluctuations centered on the Archbishop swept across the entire arena like water ripples!

This [Dispel Magic] aura was intended to eliminate all negative status effects and abnormal energy fields!

The ripples swept over the [Pure and Inactive Realm]...

The halo of the Domain swayed slightly, like the surface of water into which a stone had been thrown, but... it did not dissipate!

"What?!" The smile on Hui Guang's face stiffened, "How is this possible?! My dispel is actually ineffective?!"

It wasn't ineffective; the effect was just minimal!

The essence of the [Pure and Inactive Realm] was the manifestation of Daoist thought within Lin Zhou's principles of civilization; it was the diffusion of "principles" and the temporary modification of "rules," rather than a simple energy debuff.

The [Dispel Magic] of the Holy Light was more inclined towards dispelling elemental anomalies, curses, charms, and other "magic effects." For this kind of "Domain of Principles" that involved the rule level, the dispel priority was insufficient, and the effect was greatly discounted!

Dispel Judgment: [Dispel Magic] (Cast by LV36 Archbishop) VS [Pure and Inactive Realm] (Contains principles of civilization, rule-level)

Judgment Result: Dispel failed! Domain effect was only weakened by about 15%!

More importantly, the core effect of Lin Zhou's Domain, [Emotional Detachment], was indeed not as immediate for the Holy Light Priests who had firm faith and relatively calm emotions as it was for the manic Nagas.

However, this did not mean the Domain was useless!

From the very beginning, Lin Zhou had never expected to use the Domain to make the Holy Light Priests "lay down their butcher knives"!

His target was another effect — [Energy Inertia]!

Under the influence of the Domain, the Holy Light Priests felt that their connection with the Holy Light elements seemed to be separated by a thin veil, no longer as responsive as an arm to a finger.

When releasing divine spells, they needed to spend more Mental Energy to guide and control, and the stability of the divine spell formation was also affected!

The fact that the Archbishop's [Dispel Magic] effect fell short of expectations was proof of this!

The frequency of the white light flashing from the Light Priests' [Holy Light Heal] seemed to have slowed by a fraction, and the healing amount had a negligible decrease!

The light of the Temple Guards' [Holy Shield] also seemed not as condensed as before!

Even the "Devotion Aura" and "Redemption Aura" provided by the "Cathedral" had their effective range and healing capacity slightly suppressed!

This weakening was subtle, yet in an evenly matched war of attrition, it was fatal!

"How is it possible... My Holy Light... seems to have become 'sluggish'?" A Light Priest looked at the Holy Light in her hands in confusion, feeling an unprecedented stagnation.

"Defend! Hold on! Holy Light is eternal!" Hui Guang forced himself to stay calm and commanded his troops to continue holding their ground; he believed that with his more abundant Divine Power reserves, he would be the ultimate victor.

But Lin Zhou would not give him this chance!

After the Domain was successfully deployed and it was confirmed that the opponent's dispelling effect was ineffective, Lin Zhou's tactics changed immediately!

"Elwin! Switch modes! "Subtle Influence", attack the core of their faith!"

"Bronzebeard! Tiangong Dwarves, prepare "Explosive Crossbow Bolts", focus fire on the Light Priest formation!"

"Snik! Net of Law, stop binding, switch to "Order Suppression", reduce the opponent's Divine Art resistance!"

Elwin received the Order, and the chanting of the Literary Heart Elves changed abruptly, from the grand and upright chapters of "the analects" to the sharper, heart-piercing excerpts from "Mencius"!

"Wealth cannot corrupt, poverty cannot move, and power cannot subdue; this is what is called a true gentleman!"

The golden words of the spirit language were no longer a gentle washing, but transformed into intangible sharp swords, piercing directly into the spiritual world of the Light Priests, interrogating the purity of their faith!

Skill Effect: "Subtle Influence · Heart Attack" — For units that rely on firm faith, it has a chance to cause the "Faith Shaken" effect, further reducing their Divine Art effects and continuously consuming their Mental Energy.

This move could be called vicious!

The source of the Light Priests' power largely came from their pious faith; once their faith was shaken, their power would be greatly discounted!

Suddenly, many Light Priests showed expressions of confusion and pain on their faces, the Holy Light in their hands became flickering, and their healing effects significantly decayed!

Even the Archbishop was affected; he felt as if his heart of faith had been covered by a layer of dust!

At the same time, the Tiangong Dwarves' ballista array changed ammunition types; "Explosive Crossbow Bolts" engraved with unstable explosion runes whistled out, crossing over the Temple Guards' shield wall and falling into the Light Priest formation in the rear!

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Violent explosions rang out one after another! Although the Light Priests had Holy Light protecting their bodies, the shockwaves and shrapnel from the explosions still caused effective area damage and disrupted their formation! More importantly, it interrupted their healing chants!

Snik's "Order Suppression" followed, and an intangible power of rules descended, causing the Light Priests to face stronger rule resistance when casting Divine Arts; Divine Art consumption increased, and the effects were weakened once again!

Even the most solid fortress, when shaken from within and subjected to continuous, precise strikes, will eventually have a moment of collapse!

Hui Guang's Divine Power was being consumed at an unprecedented speed. He discovered with horror that his Holy Light Legion was not only unable to effectively dispel the opponent's Domain, but on the contrary, under the opponent's continuous strikes, healing could not keep up with damage, faith was shaken, formations were destroyed, and they fell into a vicious cycle!

"No! This is impossible!" Hui Guang tried in vain to mobilize the Shining Spirits to launch a "Holy Nova" counterattack, but under "Energy Inertia" and "Order Suppression", the speed at which the Shining Spirits condensed holy energy was pitifully slow. Before the skill could even be released, they were beaten to pieces by the Literary Heart Elves' spirit language attacks and the focused attention of the dwarf crossbows.

The army collapsed like a mountain!

When the first line of defense of the Temple Guards was smashed open by the dwarf warriors personally led by Bronzebeard using warhammers, the collapse began.

The Light Priests, with their faith shaken and lacking healing, had no power to fight back under the impact of the melee dwarves and the Lawful Merman Enforcement Squad.

Under the combined attack of Elwin and Snik, the Archbishop let out a cry of unwillingness and dissipated into Holy Light.

【The second match of the Arena Tournament has ended! Winner: Yuncheng No. 1 High School, Lin Zhou! Completed a double kill!】

Silence! The entire venue was deathly silent!

If defeating the Thunder Naga was a trick or an attribute counter, then now, defeating the Light Priests, who theoretically should have countered him, with almost the same crushing posture, could no longer be explained by simple coincidence!

Lin Zhou's "Hundred Schools Divine Domain", as well as that mysterious "Pure and Inactive Realm", displayed terrifying adaptability and power! It seemed not to be aimed purely at emotions, but was a higher-level interference with "rules" and "energy" themselves!

"Even Hui Guang was defeated... His dispelling was actually useless?"

"What exactly is the origin of this Domain? It can even affect Holy Light?"

"Double kill! Lin Zhou completed a double kill! Yuncheng No. 1 High School is going to turn this around!"

After a brief silence, there was an even more surging wave of sound! The consciousnesses of countless spectators were deeply shocked by this duel.

In the Yuncheng No. 1 High School team channel, it was already a scene of jubilation!

"Hahaha! Double kill! Lin Zhou, you are too fierce!" Zhao Hao danced with excitement.

Lei Huang let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes filled with admiration: "Awesome! Truly awesome! I thought the Light Priests would be very difficult to deal with, I didn't expect..."

Yan Li and Zhou Feng also showed excited smiles. Su Yueyao looked at the figure on the arena who, although his face looked paler, still stood tall, and the corners of her mouth curled into a moving arc; the worry in her heart turned into pride and a hint of tenderness that she herself had not noticed.

Lin Zhou returned to the team again; this time, his footsteps were visibly unsteady. Maintaining the Domain at high intensity continuously, especially against a tough nut like the Light Priests, was a huge test for his spirit and Divine Power.

Su Yueyao immediately stepped forward, and the pure Moonlight Power sprinkled down like sweet dew, nourishing his dried-up Sea of Consciousness and Divine Fire.

"Thank you." Lin Zhou felt the familiar coolness and comfort and thanked her sincerely.

"You did well." Su Yueyao said softly, the approval in her tone self-evident.

On the Dome Academy side, the atmosphere had dropped to freezing point. Two major generals lost to Lin Zhou in a row, and in such a way that they were completely countered; this blow to morale was devastating.

Star Meteor's face was so gloomy that it was almost dripping water; he stared fixedly at Lin Zhou, who was receiving treatment in the light screen, his fists clenched tightly.

Lin Zhou's Domain was even more troublesome and powerful than he had imagined! This had already seriously threatened his plan to win the championship.

"Captain, I'll go!" A figure stood out; it was the vice-captain, second only to Star Meteor in the team, You Ye, who possessed the "Shadow Assassin Divine Domain". His kin were good at stealth, burst damage, and assassination; perhaps they could bypass that eerie Domain and directly decapitate!

Star Meteor pondered for a moment and shook his head: "No, he has been fighting continuously and his consumption is huge; the Domain cannot be maintained indefinitely. We don't need to take any more risks. Our goal is the championship; we cannot afford to lose too much here."

His gaze swept across the remaining team members and finally settled on the light screen.

"Yuncheng No. 1 High School, being able to reach this step, especially this Lin Zhou, indeed exceeded my expectations. But, this is where it ends."

Star Meteor took a deep breath and made a decision that surprised everyone.

【Dome Academy representative team abandons subsequent Arena Tournament challenges! The remaining time for the team offensive and defensive battle continues!】

They forfeited?! Dome Academy actually forfeited directly in the Arena Tournament phase?!

This meant that Yuncheng No. 1 High School, relying on Lin Zhou's two victories, had directly won the Arena Tournament! They obtained the corresponding resource point bonus and a valuable morale buff!

The announcement sound of the virtual battlefield, like the final horn of victory, rang in the ears of everyone in Yuncheng No. 1 High School:

【Team Arena Tournament ended! Winner: Yuncheng No. 1 High School! Obtained resource points +5000, all members obtained the High Morale status (all attributes temporarily increased by 5%)! Team offensive and defensive battle remaining time: 3 hours 28 minutes!】