Inside the No. 5 battle platform, there was absolutely nothing left.
Su Dongfeng had indeed been blasted to death, reduced to ashes, with not even the tiniest fragment remaining.
Everyone involuntarily drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
The explosive power was simply too terrifying. Just how many explosive pills had Mu Haoran used?
Those who had previously hoped to see Mu Haoran severely punished, or even crippled, by Su Dongfeng now wore ugly expressions.
Once again, they were disappointed.
The other spiritual controllers inside the No. 1 battle platform all revealed wary looks.
They did not believe Mu Haoran still possessed explosive pills of the same devastating power, but if they were to face him, they absolutely could not afford to be careless. They could not give Mu Haoran any opportunity to deploy such pills.
“This fellow really is no ordinary person,” Yan Huashu could not help sighing deeply.
Now things were settled. Only the three of them remained in their group. Yan Huashu no longer needed to fight and advanced directly to third place.
One more victory would secure second place and a pending spot in the next round of the finals.
To achieve that additional victory, however, he would have to defeat Mu Haoran.
Defeating Dantai Wenjun was utterly impossible.
Yet Mu Haoran also seemed extremely difficult to overcome.
At this moment, Yan Huashu felt only that his situation was truly dire.
In the void, Lin Xiao secretly exhaled in relief. His thirty-five explosive pills had not been wasted. They had directly blasted a seventh-grade advanced spiritual controller to death.
The loss of those explosive pills, however, greatly weakened Lin Xiao’s hidden cards.
Now only one major trump card remained. It was hard to predict how far he could advance.
“Mu Haoran wins. Group two, contestant No. 3, take the field,” the referee’s voice announced, breaking the silence.
Lin Xiao flew back to the battle platform from the void, while Yan Huashu looked on with astonished admiration.
Inside the No. 1 battle platform, Murong Dian shot out, positioning himself in the void ahead and speaking indifferently: “Situ Kongchen.”
Murong Dian had already defeated Hou Zixiao, and Hou Zixiao had in turn defeated Situ Kongchen. It was obvious without thinking that Situ Kongchen stood no chance against Murong Dian.
Still, Situ Kongchen refused to accept defeat without a fight. He gave it his all, but in the end, after a short time, he proved no match and lost to Murong Dian.
The turn passed once more to group one.
In the previous round for group one, Su Dongfeng had challenged Lin Xiao. This time, it was Lin Xiao’s own turn to take the field.
“Brother Yan, shall we go up and exchange pointers?” Lin Xiao turned and asked Yan Huashu.
He could not possibly challenge Dantai Wenjun. The time had not yet come to reveal that Dantai Wenjun was his slave.
If he could avoid exposing that fact, Lin Xiao preferred not to.
After all, the Dantai clan was a hegemon-level spiritual controller family. He had no wish to be hunted across the continent by such an enormous power.
At present, only Yan Huashu remained in their group. Yan Huashu’s strength was not particularly formidable. Without additional hidden cards, defeating him should not be difficult.
“Very well,” Yan Huashu nodded. Then, together with Lin Xiao, he flew out of the No. 1 battle platform.
Their duel did not descend to the level of dirty tricks.
“Brother Mu, I still have one energy pill left. If you can withstand it, victory is yours,” Yan Huashu said candidly to Lin Xiao.
“Then I should be able to win,” Lin Xiao replied.
Yan Huashu’s face darkened. “An energy pill combined with my main spirit attack is no easy thing to block. Here it comes!”
With a low shout, Yan Huashu flicked an energy pill from his hand. Spiritual power surged, activating the pill and transforming it into a torrential flood of flame energy that surged ferociously towards Lin Xiao.
Immediately afterwards, Yan Huashu unleashed his main spirit. The rock-like main spirit appeared ordinary, yet it contained immense spiritual power. It followed the flame energy and rushed towards Lin Xiao.
“Sacred Hand Covering the Sky!”
Sensing the formidable power, Lin Xiao deployed his strongest technique, Sacred Hand Covering the Sky.
Against anyone else, he could have resorted to cunning, preparing in advance to slip into another battle platform and waste the opponent’s energy pill.
Since Yan Huashu had spoken openly, however, Lin Xiao naturally would not employ such a tactic against him.
A tri-coloured energy palm appeared, like the hand of a martial saint, radiating devouring, thunderous, and incinerating forces. The surrounding space dimmed and grew scorching hot. Terrifying pressure enveloped the entire battle island.
Boom!
In an instant, the two attacks collided head-on. Heaven-shaking shockwaves erupted, surging mainly in both directions, with terrifying fluctuations spreading far and wide.
Some residual waves and air currents also reached the positions of Lin Xiao and Yan Huashu. Faintly, even more of the aftermath surged towards Yan Huashu.
“With only his own strength, he is already this powerful…” Yan Huashu frowned slightly, then let out a defeated breath. “Brother Mu, you win.”
He, too, was a genius spiritual controller of his generation. Under thirty years of age and able to reach the continental top ten, he was among the very pinnacle of the younger generation.
Compared to Mu Haoran, however, he fell far short. The opponent was only twenty-two and possessed merely sixth-grade advanced spiritual power.
“Brother Yan, there is no need to feel discouraged. Among the younger generation, apart from me, you are the foremost young spiritual controller genius,” Lin Xiao said.
Yan Huashu’s face darkened further. “Apart from you, you are the foremost” – what sort of phrasing was that? Once you were included, how could it still relate to being foremost?
Was this a roundabout way of praising himself?
“Mu Haoran wins. Next match!” the referee called at that moment.
No one was surprised in the least by the outcome of this bout.
In the next match, Lu Mohanh from group two took the field. His gaze fell on Situ Kongchen. “Situ Kongchen.”
Situ Kongchen frowned. Sure enough, after a single defeat, everyone targeted him.
He had now lost two consecutive matches and had virtually no chance of reaching the top three.
Still, as one of the top spiritual controllers of his age group, he refused to surrender without fighting. He swallowed a pre-prepared anti-poison pill, entered the battlefield, and faced Lu Mohanh.
Yet Lu Mohanh defeated Situ Kongchen with a single move, sending another wave of uproar through the crowd.
Lu Mohanh’s strength was indeed extraordinarily fearsome. He was now fully acknowledged as being on the same combat level as Duanmu Gaoming and Dantai Wenjun.
The championship race had become uncertain.
The following match returned to group one: Dantai Wenjun’s turn.
Without even stepping forward, Dantai Wenjun declared, “Yan Huashu.”
“I forfeit,” Yan Huashu responded immediately.
“The first wave of battles for group one is concluded. Dantai Wenjun and Mu Haoran advance to pending finalist positions. Yan Huashu takes third place and gains one opportunity to challenge a pending spot from group two.”
The referee announced loudly, “Group two, continue!”
In group two, Duanmu Gaoming took the field and said calmly, “I choose Hou Zixiao.”
Regardless of whether Situ Kongchen hailed from Lingchi Island, he had already fought the maximum three matches, so Duanmu Gaoming could no longer select him.
Among the remaining three contestants, Hou Zixiao had lost to Murong Dian and was clearly the weakest.
Hou Zixiao frowned slightly and stepped forward to fight.
As soon as the battle began, he unleashed his main spirit.
Opposite him, Duanmu Gaoming condensed a spiritual bird from spiritual power. It slammed into Hou Zixiao’s main spirit, shattering it in one strike and sending Hou Zixiao himself flying back into the No. 1 battle platform.
The crowd exclaimed once more. Duanmu Gaoming’s combat prowess was truly formidable. Defeating Hou Zixiao with a single blow proved he was worthy of being a championship contender.
Following Duanmu Gaoming’s victory, Hou Zixiao had now completed three matches: one win, two losses.
Next came Murong Dian’s turn again.
Murong Dian could only choose between Lu Mohanh and Duanmu Gaoming.
In the end, he selected Lu Mohanh. After a prolonged battle, Lu Mohanh was defeated.
Lu Mohanh now had two wins and one loss, having completed three matches.
Murong Dian had fought only two matches, both victories.
Duanmu Gaoming had fought only one match, with one victory. To advance, he needed another fight.
Among the three remaining, Duanmu Gaoming could only select Lu Mohanh.
Duanmu Gaoming stepped forward calmly as ever. Under the gaze of the crowd, he spoke in an even tone: “Lu Mohanh, come forward for a battle.”
The crowd erupted in excitement. Both men were championship contenders. In this round, would Lu Mohanh choose to fight, or not?
