Hearing these words, Lin Xiao’s eyes lit up brightly.
Starting the finals now meant he could rely on the lingering effects of the pills and fight Lu Mohanh or Duanmu Gaoming while still at full strength.
The crowd reacted with surprise. The final round of the competition was beginning immediately?
Ji Zhen frowned slightly. By tradition, the ultimate finals included a rest period to ensure every contestant could perform at their peak, making the decisive battles more thrilling.
But now, with Lin Xiao having just taken the explosive spirit pills and their effects still active, Ximen Haoyue’s decision to start at once raised suspicions of partiality.
The other martial saints could not help sharing the same thought.
After all, Mu Haoran possessed spiritual energy, was only in his early twenties, and represented Lingchi Island. It was understandable that Ximen Haoyue would favour him.
Yet no one objected.
For one thing, many of them bore no particular enmity towards Mu Haoran.
For another, the four finalists truly had suffered little expenditure so far.
The Wang family grand elder Wang Xizhi, for instance, wholeheartedly approved.
Since the major powers remained silent, no one else raised any protest.
The four contestants themselves said nothing, even if the immediate start benefited Lin Xiao.
The boost came from mere explosive spirit pills. If any of them demanded a delay until the effects wore off, they would hardly deserve their place in the top four.
In Lu Mohanh’s eyes, moreover, Lin Xiao posed no real threat.
Duanmu Gaoming did not believe that Lin Xiao, even enhanced by the pills, had the strength to defeat him.
And since Lin Xiao fought under Lingchi Island’s banner, he himself was the last person likely to object.
As for Dantai Wenjun, being Lin Xiao’s slave, he certainly would not speak up.
With no objections, the final round was about to begin.
In truth, even if someone had wanted to protest, they would have had to consider Ximen Haoyue’s authority. Defying him openly would bring no benefit.
Besides, the start of the finals meant the clashes between the strongest were imminent. After a brief moment of surprise, anticipation and excitement filled everyone’s hearts.
“The final round: the four contestants fight in rotation to determine the top four rankings.”
Ximen Haoyue tossed out four bamboo lots. They passed through the illuminating spirit mirror and flew into the battle platforms. “The rules remain the same as before. Contestants take the field according to their lot number and may challenge any opponent. The No. 1 platform is for observation; all others are battlefields.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the four used spiritual power to draw the lots towards themselves.
Lin Xiao and the others each pulled their lot forward.
“I hope it’s No. 1,” Lin Xiao thought silently.
With No. 1, he could choose his opponent first and avoid wasting the pill effects.
But when he opened the lot, his expression darkened. No. 4. He had drawn the very last position.
“The other two will almost certainly pick me first, as long as Dantai Wenjun doesn’t get No. 1.” Lin Xiao glanced at Dantai Wenjun nearby, hoping only that he was not No. 2.
Otherwise, a fight between Dantai Wenjun and one of the others could drag on, wasting precious time and letting the pill effects fade uselessly.
Dantai Wenjun revealed his lot. Lin Xiao’s pupils widened, then he exhaled in secret relief upon seeing it was No. 2.
As long as No. 1 was not Dantai Wenjun, it did not matter whether Duanmu Gaoming or Lu Mohanh held it.
“Hahaha, it seems luck is with me this round!” Lu Mohanh laughed loudly.
“No. 1 belongs to Lu Mohanh!” Everyone’s attention turned to him.
“He will definitely choose Mu Haoran. No question about it.”
“Exactly. Even with the boost from explosive spirit pills, it is still borrowed power with a time limit. He might withstand Lu Mohanh for a while, but he cannot hold out forever.”
“Lu Mohanh probably still has terrifying poison pills. Mu Haoran could even fall in this battle.”
“A genius rising like a comet might become a fleeting bloom. Truly something to anticipate.”
…
The atmosphere grew lively at once.
Whoosh!
Lu Mohanh flew out from the No. 1 platform and positioned himself in the void ahead. His voice rang clear. “Lin Xiao, come out and fight!”
Lin Xiao was delighted. After taking the explosive spirit pills, Lu Mohanh was precisely the opponent he had most hoped for.
He had not drawn No. 1 himself, yet Lu Mohanh had. Exactly as he wished.
At once, Lin Xiao flew forward.
“Lin Xiao, do you still remember Wen Ruo?” Lu Mohanh did not attack immediately but asked the question.
Lin Xiao instantly recalled Wen Ruo’s enslavement and said in shock, “You are the one who enslaved Wen Ruo?”
“Correct. Return the scale, and I can spare crippling you. Your vitality is of no use to me,” Lu Mohanh said coldly.
He did not utter the words “Xuanwu poison scale.” Something capable of killing even martial saints, once named aloud, might become impossible for him to retrieve.
Lin Xiao was still inwardly stunned. He had never imagined that the owner of the Xuanwu poison scale was Lu Mohanh.
The attempt on his life by Wen Ruo years ago had surely been on Lu Mohanh’s orders to protect the scale.
And besides Wen Ruo, another ninth-level martial emperor under the same master had pursued him. That too had undoubtedly been Lu Mohanh’s command.
No wonder this man had shown hostility from the beginning. It was not merely because of the Ji family; he was personally one of Lin Xiao’s greatest enemies.
“If you want it, come and take it yourself. I want to see who ends up crippled,” Lin Xiao said. A powerful seventh-grade initial spiritual power aura surged from his body.
Back then, the master who had enslaved Wen Ruo had been someone he could not provoke. Now, he could finally stand toe-to-toe with him.
“You are already poisoned,” Lu Mohanh said with disdain.
“Your poison is useless against me,” Lin Xiao replied coldly.
Lu Mohanh’s words were not mere threats. The moment he had rushed forward, he had likely already crushed a poison pill.
Lin Xiao had sensed deadly poison enter his body moments ago, seeping invisibly through his skin, as expected.
Yet the instant the poison appeared, the heavenly eye stirred like a starving ghost and absorbed it completely.
Lu Mohanh’s deadly poison had virtually no effect on him.
Even the Xuanwu poison scale, capable of killing martial saints, had only become nourishment for the heavenly eye. Poison pills refined by Lu Mohanh could do nothing to him.
“Unaffected?” Surprise flickered across Lu Mohanh’s face. The poison he had used was not lethal but extremely vicious, enough to ruin a person’s cultivation.
Yet Lin Xiao showed no signs at all.
Boom!
At that moment, a thunder dragon surged from Lin Xiao’s brow, flashing with lightning and containing vast, unparalleled thunder energy. It charged horizontally towards Lu Mohanh.
“Hmph. Before absolute strength, you cannot stir any waves,” Lu Mohanh snorted coldly. A long dragon condensed from spiritual power took shape in the void.
The dragon resembled Lin Xiao’s thunder dragon in form but was formed entirely of spiritual power, with fifty to sixty percent materialisation. Carrying the divine aura of a true dragon, it rushed straight at the thunder dragon.
Boom!
The two long dragons presented a magnificent spectacle. They collided in mid-air, erupting in thunderous roars. Torrential energy shockwaves burst outward layer upon layer, terrifying fluctuations shaking the surroundings.
