112: After that punch, there was no more noise!
Under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes, the ferocious expression on Fierce Axe's face froze instantly, replaced by boundless shock and fear.
He watched helplessly as a fine crack appeared on his indestructible giant axe, forged from Thousand-year Profound Iron, starting from the point where it touched Li Qing's fist.
Immediately after, this crack spread across the entire axe head like a spider web at an incredible speed!
"No..."
He wanted to pull back the axe; he wanted to retreat.
However, an invisible force pinned him firmly to the spot, making him unable to move.
That force did not come from Li Qing's fist, but rather from... all directions!
It was the air!
It was Li Qing's punch that had detonated the air!
Before the punch's power arrived, the punch's pressure had already reached him!
"Bang—!!!"
A muffled explosion of extreme intensity finally erupted in everyone's ears.
The giant axe in Fierce Axe's hands disintegrated with a bang, turning into countless shards that shot out in all directions.
As for himself, a terrifying, visible indentation appeared on his chest. His entire body felt as if it had been struck violently by an invisible Primeval Ferocious Beast.
"Pfft!"
A spray of blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs, burst wildly from his mouth.
His burly body, like a pebble being struck, flew backward at a speed even faster than he had come. He traced a tragic arc in the air before finally slamming into the arena Barrier a hundred meters away with a "boom!"
The Barrier's light curtain shook violently.
Fierce Axe's body slid down the light curtain like limp mud and fell to the ground. After twitching twice, there was no more sound.
Dead.
Another single punch.
In fact, the fist hadn't even truly touched the opponent's body.
Just the wind from the punch had killed a Peak of Condensing Essence Realm Genius on the spot—one whose formidable strength was enough to contend with an Initial Stage of Meridian Connecting Realm expert!
"..."
If many people still didn't believe Li Qing had defeated Wang Teng before...
After all, people only believe what they see with their own eyes.
Not to mention this group of proud Geniuses!
But now, what they felt was fear coming from the depths of their Souls!
Within a hundred-meter radius of the battlefield, a deathly silence fell.
The wind blew across the arena, carrying a faint scent of blood.
Everyone's gaze was frozen on the youth who was slowly retracting his fist.
He still stood there with an indifferent expression, as if he had just casually swatted a buzzing fly to death.
"Monster..."
Someone, with a trembling voice, spat out those two words.
This term quickly gained everyone's agreement.
Yes, a monster!
Only a monster could do something so unreasonable and cognition-shattering!
On the arena, those Geniuses who were still fighting frantically all stopped their movements at this moment.
They looked at Li Qing as if they were looking at a young demon god who had walked out of Hell.
Fear grew wildly in their hearts.
In unison, they began to slowly retreat, moving away from that area.
The vacuum zone around Li Qing became even larger.
High up on the viewing platform.
The atmosphere was equally heavy to the extreme.
For the first time, the playful smile on Grand Princess Xia Qingyue's beautiful face vanished, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.
"Old Chen."
Her voice was somewhat dry.
"Is this boy... truly gifted with Innate Divine Strength?"
"In response to Your Highness."
The old man called Old Chen was also filled with shock at this moment. He took a deep breath and said slowly.
"I have seen many with Innate Divine Strength. They possess immense strength and can indeed challenge those of higher Ranks."
"However, Innate Divine Strength also has Ranks."
"Fierce Axe, who fought him, also possesses Innate Divine Strength."
"But the difference between the two is immense!"
"To reach such an unpredictable level, I have seen it only once in my life!"
"That punch of his seemed simple, but in fact, he has pushed the application of power to an extreme."
"Detonating the air and harming people from a distance! This is no longer pure strength; this is a kind of 'Momentum'!"
"A domineering and peerless 'Punch Momentum' that belongs solely to him!"
"If this boy does not die young, his future achievements will be limitless!"
Old Chen's evaluation was extremely high!
So high that all the important figures present were heart-shaken.
Splendor flickered repeatedly within Xia Qingyue's Phoenix eyes.
Looking at the youth standing solitary and proud below, for the first time, a strong urge to recruit him to her side arose in her heart.
Such a person must be held in one's own hands!
On the arena.
Li Qing didn't care at all about the discussions and shock from the outside world.
He just felt a bit bored.
He had thought he might encounter one or two who could actually fight.
As it turned out, they were all fragile trash.
He shook his head, feeling somewhat dispirited.
Then, he made a move that made everyone's eyes almost pop out.
He actually walked over to a corner of the arena in such a swaggering manner.
Then, he sat down cross-legged.
He actually intended to meditate and watch the show here?!
"Crazy! This guy is absolutely crazy!"
"Too arrogant! He completely disregards all of us!"
"But... do you dare to provoke him?"
"...I don't dare."
Everyone was bewildered by Li Qing's actions.
But no one dared to step forward and disturb him.
No joke, Fierce Axe's body hadn't even cooled down yet.
Thus, an extremely bizarre scene appeared before everyone's eyes.
In most areas of the arena, the sounds of fighting still shook the heavens, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.
But in a corner of the arena, a youth in black sat cross-legged, eyes closed in rest, as if he were completely uninvolved. Within three zhang of him, there was not a single Soul.
With his own strength, he had forcibly carved out an absolute "pure land" for himself amidst this melee of ten thousand people.
This kind of dominance and deterrence was even more heart-shaking than his punch from earlier!
Time passed minute by minute in this bizarre atmosphere.
The number of people on the arena grew fewer and fewer.
From ten thousand to five thousand, then to two thousand... Finally, when fewer than fifteen hundred people remained on the arena.
The slaughter gradually subsided.
Everyone stopped their hands in a tacit understanding.
Because they knew that continuing to fight was meaningless.
Those who remained were all tough nuts to crack.
No one wanted to fight to a mutual destruction in the first round.
"Dong—!"
A melodious chime of a bell resounded throughout the field.
High in the sky, the voice of the Golden-Armored General rang out again.
"The first stage, the Elimination Round, is over!"
"To all those still standing on the arena, congratulations, you have successfully advanced!"
"Next, there will be a three-day period for rest and reorganization."
"Three days later, the second stage, the Arena Matches, will take place here!"