697: Chapter 697 I actually lost.

A moment later, the power of darkness began to subside.

The black mist permeating the Fighting Arena receded like a tide, dispersing in all directions.

The dark ripples in the Void Realm weakened circle by circle before finally disappearing completely.

Space also stabilized from the upheaval, no longer trembling.

A wisp of black flame floated out from that area, drifted through the Void Realm, and then leisurely landed upon the Dark Altar.

The flame danced on the altar for a bit, then quieted down, returning to its original form.

Qin Yan didn't pay much attention to the flame, immediately extending his Mental Energy toward that area to carefully sense Xiao Han's condition.

Then, he was somewhat stunned.

Xiao Han was standing right there.

He stood on the Fighting Arena, his posture upright and his expression calm, completely unharmed.

His robes were intact, not torn; his hair was not messy or scorched; his skin was smooth, without burns.

Even his arm, which had previously been burned to the bone by the black flames, was gradually recovering at this moment.

The only difference was that he was now covered in a layer of faint golden radiance.

How is this possible!

Qin Yan could not understand it.

He knew the power of his Abyss Fire Lotus.

Little Black had personally commented on it—"not inferior to the full-strength strike of an average Grandmaster."

But Xiao Han was actually unharmed?

He understood his Dark Altar.

Even among Spirit Manifestations, it reached the very highest level.

For ordinary Spiritual Power Cultivators, a Spirit Manifestation was just a phantom capable of simple skills.

But his Dark Altar not only provided a boost but also came with an Innate Skill!

Innate Skill—this was an ability possessed only by particularly powerful Spirit Manifestations.

Not all Spirit Manifestations had Innate Skills.

Most Spirit Manifestations were merely "manifestations" without special abilities.

Only those that reached the top tier, with high enough grade and deep enough foundation, could trigger Awakening for an Innate Skill.

And the Dark Altar was one of them.

Its Innate Skill was the Abyss Fire Lotus.

Consuming a large amount of darkness power, it condensed an Abyss Fire Lotus.

Furthermore, the power of the Abyss Fire Lotus would grow along with the growth of the Dark Altar.

Actually, not just Spirit Manifestations, but Spirit Beast Phantoms and Acupoint Externalizations also possessed Innate Skills.

But they also needed to reach the top tier to have them.

Even top-tier Cultivation Techniques didn't possess such an ability.

At the very least, a Supreme-level Cultivation Technique was required to nurture an Innate Skill within a Spirit Beast Phantom or Acupoint Externalization.

Just like the Five Elements Wonderful Tree that Qin Yan would condense in the future; after the Fusion of the five trees, it would likely possess an Innate Skill.

Five trees merging, the Five Elements becoming one.

Once achieved, the Wondrous Tree would undergo a qualitative transformation.

By then, it would likely awaken a powerful Innate Skill.

As for what the skill would be or if it would even exist, Qin Yan didn't know yet.

Because even Supreme-level Cultivation Techniques weren't 100% guaranteed to have one.

Similarly, the Fusion of his Indestructible Black Hole and Undying Blood River would also likely possess an Innate Skill.

The Undying Blood River was a blood aperture externalization, and the Indestructible Black Hole was a darkness Acupoint Externalization.

One red and one black, one positive and one negative.

If they could merge, their power would far exceed a single blood river or black hole.

It was very likely that an Innate Skill would also be awakened.

However, due to the Devilish Qi, Qin Yan had never experimented with it.

Darkness Profundity could lock away the Devilish Qi in his body, but that was a passive seal that didn't require his active effort.

But if he actively exposed or used Devilish Qi methods, that wouldn't be something a Profundity could cover up.

Once the fluctuations of Devilish Qi and the characteristics of the Demonic Path were revealed, the True Emperor and True King powerhouses present would see through it at a glance.

Therefore, Qin Yan had never attempted the Fusion of the Indestructible Black Hole and Undying Blood River.

That was playing with fire, and one could easily get burned.

In short, Innate Skills were very powerful and could grow as the strength of the Spirit Beast Phantom increased.

They weren't fixed but grew dynamically.

The stronger the Spirit Beast Phantom, the stronger the Innate Skill, with no upper limit.

As for his current Abyss Fire Lotus, back in the Blood Demon Nest, Little Black, the Mental Energy Great Master, had once commented—"not inferior to the full-strength strike of an average Grandmaster."

Not inferior to the full-strength strike of an average Grandmaster.

This was why, in the previous battle, even when he was beaten to the point of spitting blood, sent flying, and having his internal organs displaced by Xiao Han, he remained full of confidence.

Because he knew that as long as the Abyss Fire Lotus was condensed, the scales of victory would tip in his favor.

The power of that black lotus was enough to change the course of the battle.

The Abyss Fire Lotus was his source of confidence.

And this Innate Skill was not without its drawbacks.

Its biggest and only drawback was the casting wind-up.

The casting was too slow.

From stimulating the Dark Altar to condense the flame to the flame slowly maturing into form—this process took a long time.

This was why he had been stalling and hadn't used it earlier.

It wasn't that he didn't want to use it, but that he couldn't.

He needed time, he needed an opportunity, he needed Xiao Han to give him enough time to condense it.

The stalling by the four phantoms, the maneuvering of his main body—everything was to buy time for the Abyss Fire Lotus.

But now, Xiao Han had actually blocked this strike.

This was why Qin Yan was so shocked!

In the distance, Xiao Han's expression was dazed as he murmured, "I actually lost."

Then, Xiao Han's palm opened, face up.

In his palm, a golden Talisman was slowly burning.

Golden flames rose from the edges of the Talisman, enveloping the entire paper.

The runes on the paper twisted, deformed, and dissipated in the flames, turning into wisps of golden dust that drifted from between his fingers.

A moment later, the Talisman burned out completely, turning into a cloud of golden dust that floated in the Void Realm for a few breaths before disappearing entirely.

Xiao Han looked at the ashes, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

This golden Talisman was called the Golden Armor Spirit Talisman, a seventh-grade Low Grade defensive spirit Talisman.

Seventh-grade Low Grade—corresponding to the full-strength strike of an Early Seventh-rank Grandmaster.

And this Talisman of his could withstand one Grandmaster-level attack, making it an excellent life-saving measure.

This Talisman was given to him by the clan Elders for life-saving purposes.

In a critical moment, activating the Talisman could form a layer of golden defensive shield on the body's surface.

And in the rules of this competition, there was an ironclad law—one must not use items beyond their own capabilities.

Talismans were one such item.

Medicinal Pills, Talismans, one-time use spirit weapons, and externally infused True Qi—these powers that relied on external objects were all prohibited.

The competition was meant to compare one's own strength, not who carried more Talismans or whose life-saving trump cards were thicker.

Rules were rules, without exception.

Just now, when he faced a fatal threat, he had instinctively, subconsciously, and involuntarily used this Talisman.

Not because he wanted to win, but because he was afraid to die.

(The fight should be considered over.)