197: Chapter 197 For the Unfinished Final Battle!

If the battle between Bai Zimo and Qiu Yunan was a magnificent collision of Supernatural Abilities, then the next match completely veered into the opposite extreme.

[Group 3: Lu Xingye VS Cong Nanshan]

Map: [Thunderstorm, Broken Sword Cliff]

Gale winds howled, and the rain poured down like a deluge.

This was a dueling arena located at the peak of a ten-thousand-foot cliff. Dark, pitch-black clouds hung low, and from time to time, pale lightning tore through the firmament, stretching the shadows of the two men, making them flicker and shift.

"Huff... huff..."

Cong Nanshan stood in the rain, his upper body bare.

Veins bulged on his granite-like muscles, and his eyes were bloodshot, looking like a trapped beast pushed to the brink.

He could not afford to lose.

If he lost this match, he, the former top student of the third year, would completely become a laughingstock and might not even make the main roster!

"Lu Xingye!!"

Cong Nanshan let out a hysterical roar, the sound waves even drowning out the thunder:

"I don't care if you're some mad dog or a lunatic!"

"In this match, I'm betting my life against you!!"

"Roar!!"

Without any probing, Cong Nanshan burned his remaining mental power right from the start.

That [Mountain-Moving Giant Ape] manifestation, which had previously been somewhat illusory, now solidified slightly in the downpour, its original golden fur stained with a layer of frenzied blood-red!

This was overdrawing his potential!

This was a desperate last stand!

Facing this desperate strike that felt like Mount Tai crushing down, Lu Xingye, standing opposite him, made a gesture that made the entire audience cringe so hard they could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment with their toes.

He was seen, even in the torrential rain, stubbornly using hair gel to hold that hairstyle that covered one of his eyes in place.

He slowly lowered his head, his right hand tightly pressing against his bandaged left arm (it wasn't actually injured; it was purely for decoration), and a repressed, painful low growl escaped his throat:

"Urgh..."

"No... it's not time yet..."

"Quiet! My Black Flame Dragon! You cannot devour this world just yet!"

Cong Nanshan: "???"

Audience: "..."

"Are you freaking sick in the head!!" Cong Nanshan broke down, controlling the giant ape palm, bringing it down with the force of world-destroying power, "Die for me!"

Boom!

The giant palm fell, and gravel flew.

...

"Bang!!"

With a muffled sound, a black figure flew out like a broken sack, slamming heavily into the rock wall and creating a human-shaped crater.

"Cough, cough..."

Lu Xingye slid to the ground, his long blade stuck into the earth, barely supporting his body.

His originally cool black trench coat was now tattered, and the eye he had intentionally left exposed had been beaten into a panda eye; he looked incredibly miserable.

Opposite him, Cong Nanshan looked like an invincible demon god.

His bare upper body shimmered with a metallic luster, and although the Mountain-Moving Giant Ape manifestation behind him was illusory, every punch it landed carried the force of a thousand jun.

This was Cong Nanshan's life-or-death match!

He held nothing back, using a desperate fighting style from the very start, completely suppressing Lu Xingye, who hadn't even finished chanting his pre-battle lines.

"Lu Xingye! Aren't you arrogant?"

Cong Nanshan's eyes were bloodshot as he stepped closer, his voice hoarse:

"Get up! Where is your Black Flame Dragon? Where is your abyss?"

"In the face of absolute power, what use are those fancy, flowery lines of yours?"

"Die!!"

Boom!

The giant ape palm fell again, obscuring the lightning above Lu Xingye's head.

In this moment of life and death, Lu Xingye's vision began to blur.

The surrounding world seemed to slow down, and the sound of the wind and rain in his ears gradually faded away.

The lantern of his life began to spin.

Flashback Level 1: Childhood Vow!

That was ten years ago, under the setting sun.

Little Lu Xingye, draped in a red bedsheet, stood on a dirt mound in the courtyard, holding a tree branch in his hand, and let out a childish yet firm roar at the big yellow dog barking wildly next door:

"Tremble! Three-headed hound of hell!"

"I am the sealed Demon King; when I unwrap this bandage, it shall be the day the world ends!"

In reality, Lu Xingye snapped his eyes open, a wicked, charming smile curling at the corners of his mouth:

"Heh... I remember now."

"That forgotten... original throb."

"That was a strike swung by the child I was, aimed at the future!"

"For the sake of the promise I made to myself back then, I cannot fall yet!"

Boom!

A burst of Black Flames exploded from his body, actually managing to hold back Cong Nanshan's giant palm!

Cong Nanshan was stunned: "What the hell? A final burst of energy before death?"

"And it's actually a bit stronger than before?"

He snorted coldly and increased his force again: "Get down!"

"Bang!"

Without any suspense, the little flame Lu Xingye had just ignited was extinguished by Cong Nanshan with one slap, and he was smashed into the dirt again.

"..."

Lu Xingye lay in the muddy water, his fingers twitching.

No... the power of childhood is not enough...

I must... have a stronger bond!

Flashback Level 2: The Goddess's Summoning!

In the darkness, a figure surrounded by a soft-focus filter slowly walked over.

It was Qiu Yunan.

In Lu Xingye's imagined filter, the usually aloof Qiu Yunan was now wearing a holy white dress, with angel wings behind her back, gently crouching in front of him, reaching out her slender, delicate hand to stroke his cheek:

"Xingye..."

"Stand up."

"In this world, only you can stand by my side."

"I am waiting for you... to reach the pinnacle of the world together and see a different kind of scenery."

"You are the strongest... my... Demon King."

"Yu... Senior Sister Yunan..."

In reality, Lu Xingye, lying on the ground, suddenly blew a bubble of snot out of emotion, his whole body trembling violently as if he'd been injected with ten pounds of adrenaline.

"Ahhhhh!!"

"For the sake of Senior Sister's expectations! This seat... can still fight!!"

Lu Xingye roared as he catapulted out of the crater, the Black Flame on his long blade surging tenfold, and he unleashed a mad-dog-like slash at Cong Nanshan!

"This is... the power of love!!"

Cong Nanshan looked at this guy who had suddenly gone crazy, wearing a lecherous grin, and felt completely baffled:

"What the hell is he going crazy about now?"

"Love? Love my ass!"

"Wake up for me!!"

Boom!

Cong Nanshan controlled the manifestation, clasped his fists together, and delivered a "Double Peak Piercing Ears" strike, almost smashing Lu Xingye, along with his blade, into a sandwich cookie.

"Pfft—"

Lu Xingye spat out blood and flew backward again, falling to the edge of the cliff like a dead dog, with half his body hanging over the edge.

Cong Nanshan panted heavily, walked forward, stepped on Lu Xingye's chest, and looked down at him:

"Have you had enough?"

"Your delusions can't save you; just admit defeat."

Lu Xingye lay on the edge of the cliff, looking at the pitch-black sky.

"Is it... really over?"

"No..."

"I cannot lose."

"Because... that man is still watching me."

Flashback Level 3: The Rival's Vow!

The image in his mind shifted again.

This time, there was no sunset, no soft light.

Only a vast, boundless void.

A man wearing spongebob pajamas, yet with a back as majestic as a god, stood with his back to him.

It was Jiang You.

Of course, it was Jiang You after being enhanced by Lu Xingye's Brain with ten-level beauty and filters.

That "Jiang You" slowly turned around, his eyes as deep as the stars, and with a magnetic yet chuunibyou voice, he reached out his hand toward Lu Xingye:

"Lu Xingye..."

"My rival."

"Have you forgotten?"

"In that distant, ancient past, we made a vow."

"You are to accompany me... to overthrow this corrupt world and reshape the supreme order!"

"If you fall here... then at that lonely peak where it is cold, who will take my punch?"

"Stand up! For the sake of our bond! For the Unfinished Final Battle!"