“What?”
In that instant, all the onlookers widened their eyes in shock. The seemingly unremarkable, unthreatening stone spirit form from Yan Huashu, who had even attempted a sneak attack, had actually blasted Lü Si off the platform in a single move?
Tang Dun and Yu Ge could not help rubbing their eyes, utterly incredulous.
Was Yan Huashu not supposed to be very weak? How could he defeat a mid-grade seventh-level spirit controller elder in one move during the fourth round?
This should not be possible!
“Now you all know how strong he truly is, right?” Zhao Chengmin thought to himself, unable to hold back.
He had been blasted off the platform by Yan Huashu in one move, and others had thought he was too weak.
Now, everyone finally understood. It was not that he was weak. Yan Huashu was simply too strong. What appeared to be an ordinary strike actually contained extremely formidable power.
Even Lin Xiao, standing outside the platform, felt somewhat surprised.
It seemed he had still underestimated Yan Huashu. He had even teased Yan Huashu about being defeated in one or two moves by Lü Si, saying he would avenge him by defeating Lü Si in one or two moves himself.
Now Yan Huashu had defeated Lü Si in a single move…
Di Hanqiu nearby was also a little surprised, though only mildly so.
For someone of this age to defeat an older-generation mid-grade seventh-level spirit controller, his talent was indeed impressive.
But in Di Hanqiu’s eyes, Yan Huashu’s strength was still not enough to impress him.
Lü Si, having been blasted off the platform and staggering to a halt outside it, looked dazed and could not accept the reality before him.
“How is this possible? How could you have such strength?” Lü Si said in disbelief, his face filled with intense unwillingness.
Because of the opponent’s young age and cultivation level, he had not taken him seriously at all. Moreover, the spirit form Yan Huashu had summoned did not carry much apparent power.
As a result, he had not used much of his own spiritual power.
Who would have thought that what looked like a feeble sneak attack actually contained such terrifying force, directly blasting him off the platform?
With this loss, he had now lost to two opponents and was directly eliminated.
Lü Si regretted it so much his intestines turned green. If he had known, he would not have underestimated his opponent and would have summoned his main spirit to attack right away.
Lü Si felt that second place had been just within reach. If not for his carelessness, the one standing on the platform now would be him…
“Thank you, senior, for not going all out!” At that moment, Yan Huashu respectfully cupped his hands toward Lü Si with a smile.
Lü Si was so angry he could not help spitting out another mouthful of blood.
“Lü Si is eliminated. Next match, Yan Huashu chooses an opponent!”
The referee’s voice rang out at this point. Originally the loser chose the opponent, but now that the defeated was directly eliminated, the one who remained on the platform had to choose.
“Will he choose Di Hanqiu?”
“He should choose Mu Haoran, but he already forfeited to him in the previous round. Would he really choose Mu Haoran again this time?”
“He has no other choice!”…
The crowd began discussing again.
Although he had won by luck in one match, facing someone he had not dared to fight in the previous round, the chance that he would not dare to choose him this time was also very high.
The other opponent was far stronger. Choosing him would offer even less chance.
Therefore, this was almost a situation with no real choice.
“Second place is so close. He should not give up. It just depends on who he chooses.”
“In the third round, Yan Huashu directly forfeited. It was not necessarily because he was inferior to Mu Haoran, but because he did not want to expose his strength and chose the weaker Zhao Chengmin instead. This time, he will definitely choose Mu Haoran.”
“That makes sense. We overlooked that point!”…
The crowd discussed further and concluded that Yan Huashu would surely choose Mu Haoran.
However, at that moment, Yan Huashu spoke up, “I choose Di Hanqiu. Brother Di, please!”
Hearing this, everyone was stunned. He actually chose Di Hanqiu?
Was there something wrong with his head?
Clearly, Di Hanqiu was the strongest on Battle Platform No. 6. He had even defeated a seeded player. Yet Yan Huashu still chose him?
“This guy, I really don’t know what he’s thinking!”
“Maybe he’s afraid of Mu Haoran’s skeletal palm and fears being killed in one move.”
“Di Hanqiu would not kill him in one move, but he would not hold back either. Choosing Di Hanqiu over Mu Haoran is an insult to Di Hanqiu.”
…
The crowd discussed animatedly.
“Choosing me?” Di Hanqiu’s face also showed surprise.
“In the previous round, I shared the stage with Brother Mu and knew I was no match, so I could only choose Brother Di. Please show some mercy, Brother Di.” Yan Huashu smiled.
“If you think you are no match for him, does that mean you think you are a match for me?” Di Hanqiu snorted coldly and said, “I will defeat you in one move!”
With that, Di Hanqiu moved and charged onto the battle platform.
A full-moon-like spirit form was immediately summoned by Di Hanqiu. It carried three to four tenths solidification and surged with terrifying fluctuations as it bombarded toward Yan Huashu.
Yan Huashu frowned slightly and summoned his main spirit. It was still a large stone, appearing unimpressive, only carrying one more tenth of solidification than before.
Di Hanqiu’s face showed disdain. In the previous strike, Yan Huashu had defeated Lü Si with this unremarkable spirit form. Did he really think he could block this attack?
He was not Lü Si. Even if this was not his strongest strike, its power far surpassed Lü Si’s.
At this moment, not only Di Hanqiu but everyone else seemed to already envision Yan Huashu being blasted off the platform.
“Boom rumble rumble!”…
A deafening roar sounded. To everyone’s astonishment, Di Hanqiu’s spirit form shattered apart, turning into overwhelming waves that surged in both directions.
Yet the stone spirit form did not fully dissipate. Instead, it carried rolling spiritual power fluctuations and smashed toward Di Hanqiu.
“What?” Di Hanqiu was stunned. He instinctively summoned a spiritual power barrier in front of himself to block the stone spirit form.
Boom!
Another massive explosion rang out. Di Hanqiu’s defensive spirit form collapsed. The stone spirit form also shattered instantly, transforming into overwhelming spiritual power fluctuations that erupted right in front of Di Hanqiu.
Di Hanqiu was shaken and slid backward through the air as if flying outward.
Di Hanqiu gritted his teeth and tried to use spiritual power to halt himself. However, the spiritual power fluctuations were too strong. By the time he stopped, his body had just reached the edge of the array barrier outside the battle platform.
“I…” Di Hanqiu felt an urge to spit blood.
So close, just a tiny bit short!
He, a mighty figure who had defeated a seeded player, had actually been eliminated by an unknown junior at primary-grade seventh-level spiritual control…
And this was due to his own carelessness. If he had summoned his main spirit to attack from the start, the opponent would have had no power to push him out.
The more Di Hanqiu thought about it, the angrier he became.
“This, how is this possible? He actually defeated Di Hanqiu?”
“My god, that guy is actually this strong?”…
The crowd was stunned, their faces filled with sheer disbelief.
Defeating Lü Si had already surprised them greatly. Now, he had defeated Di Hanqiu as well.
Although Di Hanqiu’s underestimation played a part, being able to directly blast Di Hanqiu off the platform already proved Yan Huashu’s strength.
Even though the stone spirit form lacked visible momentum, the explosive power it unleashed was absolutely formidable.
Otherwise, even after Di Hanqiu summoned a defensive spirit form again, he would not have been defeated.
“This… this…” Lü Si was dumbfounded.
If his own defeat earlier was due to underestimating the opponent, the one who just lost was Di Hanqiu. Even if Di Hanqiu underestimated him, his power was undoubtedly far greater than Lü Si’s.
In other words, Yan Huashu possessed absolute strength that completely surpassed his own.
Now, Lü Si no longer regretted not going all out earlier, but this realisation made him feel even worse.
Thinking back to how he had entered and boasted to the two youths about being lucky to draw young opponents, it now seemed utterly laughable. This youth, even if not yet thirty, was not someone he could contend with.
“The Spirit Controller Grand Competition truly hides dragons and crouching tigers!” In the end, Lü Si could not help but sigh in defeat, his aura wilting considerably.
Lin Xiao was also full of astonishment. In the previous round, he had already felt he had underestimated Yan Huashu. This time, he had raised his estimation, yet he had still underestimated Yan Huashu’s strength.
“It seems this guy is another dark horse!” Lin Xiao could not help but exclaim.
Fortunately, the opponent had not chosen him in the previous round. Otherwise, he would probably have had to reveal quite a few trump cards to defeat Yan Huashu.
“Di Hanqiu is defeated. Next match, Di Hanqiu versus Mu Haoran!” At that moment, the referee’s voice rang out.
Since the loser chooses, on Battle Platform No. 6, Lin Xiao was the only one left for Di Hanqiu to choose.
Di Hanqiu was so angry he wanted to spit blood. In this round, he had not drawn a powerful seeded player, yet he had lost like this and already lost his chance at direct advancement…
“Even if I get second place and enter the second wave screening, the advancement spot will still be mine!” Di Hanqiu clenched his fist, a fierce glint appearing in his eyes.
Then he looked toward Lin Xiao and said, “Do you still want to fight?”
Flames of anger flickered in Di Hanqiu’s eyes. Clearly, if he had to act again, he would definitely not show any mercy.
