190: Chapter 191 Alluring Charm

As the thirty-two Summoners focused their minds, the summoning arrays prepared before them simultaneously erupted with brilliant light.

Massive energy fluctuations swept across the entire preparation area like a tsunami, while various elemental radiances intertwined and collided, emitting a buzzing resonance.

Figures of various forms, exuding powerful or eerie auras, rapidly solidified within the light and stepped into the massive arena, which was strictly protected by multiple magic barriers.

The first thing to catch everyone's attention was the massive figure resembling a moving hill—Wang Meng from the Northeast Division, with his summon, "Landslide Titan Giant · Rock Fury".

It stood over fifteen meters tall, its body entirely composed of grey-brown rocks shimmering with a metallic luster, its muscle contours rugged and full of power, as if carved from the earth itself.

Merely standing there, it gave people a suffocating sense of being unshakable and indestructible.

It carried no weapons, but that pair of rock fists, larger than millstones, hung loosely at its sides, exuding a heart-pounding pressure.

With its heavy breathing, the surrounding ground seemed to tremble slightly.

"Is this the Landslide Titan? The pressure is so strong!"

"I heard its talent is the SSS-Rank Talent 'Rugged Skin', which can fix-reduce a large amount of damage, and it's wearing a mythic grade defensive armor, 'Earth Barrier'!"

"Looking at this size and momentum, it feels like ordinary attacks would be like scratching an itch..."

"Is Big Brother Wang Meng planning to exhaust everyone with absolute defense?"

Exclamations and discussions erupted in the stands.

The Titan Giant didn't appear often in past tournaments, but every appearance left a deep impression.

Its terrifying HP, defense, and strength made it a nightmare that no opponent wanted to face head-on.

Lin Muyang had also summoned Su Daji to his side by this time.

After evolving, the nine fox tails of different colors swayed gently behind her, exuding a mysterious and powerful aura.

As soon as she appeared, those clear eyes, carrying a hint of natural charm, swept calmly across the field, ultimately lingering slightly on the Landslide Titan Giant in the distance.

"Master, that is the 'Landslide Titan' mentioned in the data." Su Daji's voice echoed in Lin Muyang's mind, ethereal and melodious.

"Its vitality is extraordinarily massive, its physical defense is extremely high, and both its talent and equipment are geared toward absolute defense. Its weakness is that its movement and spellcasting are relatively slow, and its resistance to magic and special status effects seems less prominent than its physical defense."

"Hmm, I see it." Lin Muyang nodded slightly.

Through the Eye of Creation, he could see more clearly than others.

The Landslide Titan's HP surprisingly exceeded 500 million, its physical defense broke through 40,000 points, and it possessed the SSS-Rank Talent "Rugged Skin"—a fixed reduction of 90% of any type of damage received!

Coupled with a mythic grade armor, "Earth Barrier", which radiated a thick earthy-yellow halo, providing massive armor, HP bonuses, and a powerful shield skill.

In terms of pure "tankiness", there was likely no equal on the field.

Moreover, its strength and constitution attributes both reached a shocking 150,000+, meaning even a normal punch would be enough to deal devastating blows to the vast majority of summons.

It certainly had the qualifications to be the "iron turtle" that no one in this melee wanted to provoke easily.

Under normal circumstances, sending such a summon that integrated offense and defense, and was particularly skilled in survival, to participate in a melee was undoubtedly an extremely wise choice.

As long as no fatal mistakes were made and it played steadily, the hope of surviving to the end was extremely high.

But Lin Muyang only observed for a moment before shifting his gaze away.

Although this Titan was strong, it was not the focus of his attention.

His gaze lingered more on Hao Qingshan's Heavy Hammer Demon and Zhao Man's Millennium Scorpion Spirit.

Hao Qingshan's Heavy Hammer Demon stood about 3.5 meters tall; although not as massive as the Titan Giant, its pressure was no weaker.

Its entire body was covered in hideous dark red armor that seemed to flow with molten lava, with curved demon horns on its head, and it held a giant war hammer burning with undying hellfire.

Most eye-catching were the nine faintly burning black flames circling its body; that was the effect of the mythic grade defensive gear "Netherflame Amulet", and each flame could block massive damage for it.

Combined with its SSS-Rank Talent "Hell Furnace", this Heavy Hammer Demon could be called a killing machine that integrated offense and defense, a style completely different from the Titan's "absolute defense".

Zhao Man's Millennium Scorpion Spirit · Scarlet Serpent, on the other hand, followed a weird and deadly path.

Her upper body was that of a woman with snow-white skin and enchanting charm, wearing tight black leather armor, while her lower body was a huge scorpion body covered in deep purple carapace that flashed with cold light, with a scorpion tail carrying a dark blue barb swaying flexibly behind her.

She did not exude a very massive aura, but the cold poisonous glint that flashed from time to time in those vertical pupils, and the faint purple poison mist around her, made everyone who saw her feel cold.

This was a typical "assassin" or "damage-over-time" type summon, skilled in using poison and devious means to weaken and kill opponents, especially countering targets with high defense and low HP or weak recovery abilities.

In addition to these three favorites to win, the summons sent by other Summoners also had their own characteristics, and there was no lack of existences with powerful auras, fierce or weird appearances.

There were steel knights clad in heavy armor holding giant shields; shadow assassins hiding in the shadows, looming; firebirds circling in the low altitude with wings burning with flames; ancient treants rooted in the ground with vines dancing...

Thirty-two summons, almost covering all types of combat styles, decorated the entire huge arena in a bizarre way, with mixed auras.

However, in this scene gathering heroes and experts, there was a small figure that was out of place with the surroundings, appearing particularly eye-catching, and even somewhat comical.

That was the "Little Grass Spirit · Jiumi" sent by Gu Shuanglin.

It was less than half a meter tall, entirely emerald green, with two tender leaves on top of its head, a round body, and a pair of watery big eyes and short hands and feet.

It looked harmless to humans and animals, even somewhat cute, but the energy fluctuations it emitted were pitifully weak, only below level 50, and its talent was only the C-Rank "Nature Affinity" (slightly increases the effect of surrounding friendly nature-attribute skills and HP recovery speed).

Among those behemoths that were at least level 140 or higher, with s-rank talent at the start, and filled with murderous intent, it was like a little white rabbit that had strayed into a pack of wolves, shivering, pitiful and helpless.

"Jiu... Jiumi..." The Little Grass Spirit emitted a faint, trembling cry, its big eyes filled with fear.

It didn't even dare to look at those terrifying neighbors around it, just following the extremely clear instructions transmitted by its master Gu Shuanglin through the contract, moving its short legs, desperately running toward the direction where Su Daji was on the other side of the arena.

This scene was clearly magnified and displayed on the huge screen through magic projection, and also spread across the country through the live broadcast signal.

After a brief silence, the whole stadium erupted with more exaggerated uproar, laughter, and questioning than before.

"I... I didn't see wrong, right? What is that? A Little Grass Spirit? C-Rank?"

"A logistics summon? This thing can also be on the stage of the National Finals? What kind of international joke is this!"

"Is Gu Shuanglin crazy? Or is Jiangnan Province out of people? Sending something like this up to give away points?"

"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! This is definitely the biggest joke of this tournament! Is she here to be funny?"

"Look! It's running! It's running toward Lin Muyang's summon! They really are in cahoots!"

"Want to seek protection? But can that Nine-Tailed Fox even protect itself? Bringing such a burden, isn't that courting death?"

"I think Gu Shuanglin wants to give up, but doesn't want to lose face, so she deliberately sent the weakest one up, pretending to be instantly killed, not that her own strength is insufficient?"

"Makes sense! Such deep scheming!"

The audience was discussing spiritedly, saying all sorts of things.

In the VIP seats, several Nation-Guarding Level Experts also showed surprise, exchanging glances with each other.

Xu Ruohan even frowned slightly; she really couldn't understand the intention behind Gu Shuanglin's move.

Could it be that she really pinned all her hopes on Lin Muyang's seemingly unreliable promise of protection? This bet was too big.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

In the contestant area, the other participants were stunned the moment they saw the Little Grass Spirit, and their gazes quickly became subtle. Surprise, disdain, pity, indifference... but soon, almost everyone had the same thought: kill that Little Grass Spirit first! One point might be small, but even a mosquito's leg is meat, and since it’s a freebie, it would be a waste not to take it! More importantly, whoever could get the first kill would be demonstrating their strength and luck, which would significantly boost morale.

Hao Qingshan's brow furrowed slightly before relaxing; he stopped paying attention. A Little Grass Spirit was inconsequential; his goals were his real opponents. Zhao Man’s lips curled into a mocking arc, finding it somewhat boring. Wang Meng didn't even bother to look that way; his attention was entirely on the Heavy Hammer Demon and several other summons that seemed like major threats.

However, those contestants who felt they had no hope of winning the championship and only sought to grab a few more points in the melee for a better ranking had already secretly locked onto that little green speck. They began to adjust their positions surreptitiously or gave their summons orders to prioritize attacking it. Two assassin-type summons known for their speed had even quietly vanished, closing in on the Little Grass Spirit's path like ghosts.

Su Daji naturally saw the little green fellow running towards her on its short legs in a panic. She had received a clear command from Lin Muyang—protect it. Though a bit surprised, she didn't hesitate. Her fox ears twitched slightly, capturing the subtle energy flows and killing intent in the air. Her beautiful fox eyes remained calm and rippleless, as if the impending life-and-death struggle wasn't a chaotic battle, but a play about to be performed.

"Protect that little fellow? It seems... it might be interesting," Su Daji whispered in her heart. Her nine fox tails moved without any wind, beginning to emit an extremely faint, almost invisible colored halo—a sign that she was mobilizing the vast power within her body.

Finally, once all the summons were in position and that poor Little Grass Spirit, Jiumi, had finally managed to run to within ten meters of Su Daji with its short legs after much hardship—

"Chaos Arena, the first melee, officially begins!"

The cold and grand system notification voice exploded in the minds of all contestants and spectators like a clap of thunder!

Almost at the exact moment the word "begins" fell!

Boom!!!

The atmosphere of the entire martial arena changed instantly! The previous illusion of a calm standoff was torn to shreds, and violent energy erupted from every corner like a volcanic explosion!

"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"

Seven or eight of the fastest magic missiles, energy arrows, and wind blades tore through the air from different directions, aimed directly at the shivering Little Grass Spirit! These attacks might not have been the most powerful, but they were launched and traveled quickly, aimed at snatching this "First Blood"!

Simultaneously, two blurred shadows suddenly appeared less than three meters to the left and right of the Little Grass Spirit! They were two assassin-type summons that had long been lying in wait—one was a Night Elf holding a poisoned dagger, and the other was a Ghost Thief with a flickering form! Cold light flashed in their eyes as the poisoned dagger and claws wreathed in death energy struck at the Little Grass Spirit's seemingly defenseless, round body from tricky and ruthless angles!

From front, back, left, right, above, and below, more than ten attacks were about to completely submerge and tear apart this poor Little Grass Spirit in less than half a second! To the vast majority of the audience, the Little Grass Spirit's fate was sealed the moment the match started—it would turn into white light, be teleported out, and contribute a precious 1 point.

In the contestant area, Gu Shuanglin closed her eyes in tension, her fingers digging deep into her palms. She could already foresee the scene of Jiumi being instantly killed.

However—

In that split second, at the very moment those numerous attacks were about to hit!

An ethereal and pleasant sigh, seemingly carrying a strange magic, rang out softly in the arena. It was clearly heard by every "person," even drowning out the sound of the incoming attacks.

"So noisy."

It was Su Daji.

She didn't even look at the Little Grass Spirit that was about to be hit, nor did she look at the incoming attacks. She simply raised a fair and slender hand and, as if picking a flower, elegantly tapped the air in front of her.

There was no earth-shattering explosion of energy, nor any dazzling brilliance.

There was only a faint, dreamlike pink halo that rippled out from her like a water wave. It was silent yet incredibly swift, instantly sweeping across the entire massive martial arena, and even... passing through the top-tier magic barrier that theoretically could isolate all energy and spirit without any resistance. It spread to the spectator stands, covering the hundreds of thousands of audience members, and indiscriminately enveloped the seven Nation-Guarding Level Experts in the VIP seats, who possessed a presence as deep as a pool and as tall as a mountain!

Talent skill—Innate Charm!

No, enhanced by the effect of the Overthrowing Cities and Nations Demigod Level talent, what Su Daji released at this moment was no longer a simple charm skill, but an absolute control over "attention" and "hostility" on a near-law level!

Buzz—!

It was as if the pause button had been pressed on time itself at this moment.

The magic missiles, energy arrows, and wind blades shot towards the Little Grass Spirit hit an invisible wall less than a meter from their target, their speed dropping sharply before they dissipated powerlessly in the air.

The two assassins, who were already within reach, had the sharp killing intent in their eyes instantly replaced by blankness and infatuation. Their raised daggers and claws froze in mid-air and then went limp. They turned their heads, and like all the other summons, their gazes were uncontrollably and simultaneously cast toward the solitary, peerless figure of the fox woman in the center of the arena.

The Netherflame around the Heavy Hammer Demon Trixis flickered. In his crimson demonic eyes, the violent battle intent receded like a tide, replaced by a dull stare.

The icy poisonous light in the vertical pupils of the Thousand-Year Scorpion Spirit Scarlet Serpent disappeared. A dazed expression appeared on her seductive face, and she even forgot to swing the dangerous scorpion tail behind her.

Even the mountain-like Landslide Titan Giant Rock Rage, whose will seemed the most resolute, saw the soul fire flickering in its stone eye sockets—which should have been emotionless—stagnate for a moment, and its massive body paused slightly.

In the contestant area, the expressions on the faces of Hao Qingshan, Zhao Man, Wang Meng... and all the participating Summoners froze in an instant. Their eyes lost focus, and their minds went blank, with only that peerless figure etched deep in their consciousness.

The seven Nation-Guarding Level Experts, at this moment, actually failed to completely escape the influence of this terrifying charm and experienced a brief lapse in concentration! Although with their strength and mental resistance, this lapse might have only lasted a fraction of a second or even less, it indeed happened!

The entire Jingdu City Center Martial Arts Hall fell into a strange, dead silence. Hundreds of thousands of spectators, regardless of age or gender, regardless of strength, were all as if under an immobilization spell, staring blankly and infatuatedly at the Nine-Tailed Fox woman in the arena who had lightly tapped her finger. The cheers, shouts, and discussions all vanished. There was only the low hum of the magic barrier operating and the subtle sound of the projection formation's light screen flowing.

Around the world, the hundreds of millions of viewers watching the match via live broadcast also collectively lost their voices for several seconds. Although they were not directly affected by the skill, seeing the strange scene in the arena through the screen—all the aggressive summons collectively going on strike, all the contestants standing like wooden chickens, and even the big shots in the VIP seats seemingly frozen—brought a shock that was beyond words!

Immediately following that was a mountain-shaking wave of exclamations and uproar that almost burst through the screens!

"I... what did I just see? The... the whole field was controlled?"

"One skill! Just one skill! It controlled the summons of all thirty-one opponents?! Even the contestants and... and the Nation-Guarding Lords?!"

"How is this possible?! What kind of skill is this? Such a huge range? Such a strong effect? Even mental resistance and Super Armor were useless?"

"Invincible! This is simply invincible! Everyone was forced to stand still at the start? How can they even fight?"

"Lin Muyang! Lin Muyang's summon! I knew it! He can always create miracles!"