Everything happened too fast. The surrounding onlookers were so shocked that they had not yet reacted.
They had seen Lin Xiao’s final palm slap Lu Mohan into the ground. Then, amid the rolling waves of energy, a thin, dazzlingly bright line of light shot out, piercing straight towards where Lu Mohan had been.
The lightning moved too quickly. Lu Mohan did not even manage to shout the words “I admit defeat”.
As expected, Lu Mohan had most likely died on the spot.
When the energy finally dispersed, everyone saw a huge palm-shaped crater outside one of the battle platforms. Lu Mohan’s body lay in the pit.
His entire body was charred, with no trace of life remaining.
The crowd drew in sharp breaths of cold air. Lu Mohan had truly been killed by Lin Xiao.
“Good heavens, Lin Xiao actually killed Lu Mohan.”
“This is too outrageous. He broke through at the very last moment and turned defeat into victory?”
“Even after breaking through, he is only at seventh-grade initial spiritual force. How can his strength be so overwhelming? Is it because he possesses spiritual energy?”
“Lu Mohan died by Lin Xiao’s hand. Does that not mean he has the strength to challenge for the championship?”
“The greatest yuan cultivation genius of the Nine Provinces, reaching the top three in the continental spiritual controller tournament, and possessing the strength to contend for the title. This is simply terrifying.”
…
The crowd was shocked almost beyond words. The impact Lin Xiao delivered was far too intense.
He had shaken their hearts time and time again.
Shangguan Tong’s face was filled with disbelief. Now, relying purely on spiritual force, even their island master was no longer a match for Lin Xiao?
How had he grown to this extent?
Those who bore grudges against Lin Xiao all struggled to accept the reality.
They had originally looked forward to Lu Mohan teaching Lin Xiao a severe lesson, perhaps even killing him.
Yet as soon as the fight began, Lin Xiao held the advantage, forcing Lu Mohan into a wretched state. Later, Lu Mohan seized the upper hand and was on the verge of heavily injuring Lin Xiao.
In the end, however, Lin Xiao reversed the situation once more. The tide of battle ultimately turned in his favour.
Ximen Haoyue’s eyes brightened noticeably. The other martial saints also revealed expressions of surprise.
“Lin Xiao wins. The competition continues!” At that moment, Ximen Haoyue’s voice rang out.
Number two, Tantai Wenjun, stepped forward two paces. The crowd’s attention shifted to her once again.
With Lu Mohan dead, he was directly eliminated. Now only three remained to fight for the championship.
Lin Xiao had just erupted with extraordinary combat power. As one of the top contenders, no one knew whether Tantai Wenjun would choose Lin Xiao or Duanmu Gaoming.
“He is still no match for Wenjun!” Tantai Shuo, the eighth-grade initial spiritual controller elder of the Tantai family, thought to himself.
The other Tantai disciples stared intently ahead, all showing absolute confidence in Tantai Wenjun.
Tantai Xin, however, felt an inexplicable stirring in her heart.
“Great Elder, who do you think Elder Wenjun will choose?” Tantai Xin could not help asking Tantai Shuo.
“Lin Xiao’s combat strength is not weak, but compared to the techniques of Spirit Pool Island, it is probably still far inferior to Duanmu Gaoming. Unless something unexpected happens, Elder Wenjun should…” Before Tantai Shuo could finish, Tantai Wenjun’s voice sounded: “I choose Duanmu Gaoming!”
Tantai Shuo froze, his words still hanging in the air as Tantai Wenjun made her choice.
“Cough, cough… Elder Wenjun has her own considerations,” Tantai Shuo said awkwardly.
Tantai Xin merely smiled and said nothing.
Many others were also surprised. Had Tantai Wenjun been intimidated by Lin Xiao’s display of power?
Duanmu Gaoming frowned slightly. Together with Tantai Wenjun, he flew forward.
Lin Xiao returned to the number one battle platform, his gaze fixed firmly on the pair.
Although he could fight across two full grades, and his energy martial techniques unleashed unmatched power when driven by spiritual energy,
these two were the very pinnacle among seventh-grade advanced spiritual controllers. He still did not know the true extent of their combat strength.
One represented the strongest of this generation from the spiritual controller holy land, Spirit Pool Island. The other represented the strongest of this generation from a great spiritual controller aristocratic family.
Their confrontation was nothing less than a clash between the greatest powers in spiritual cultivation.
“Friend Duanmu, after you,” Tantai Wenjun said, gesturing.
“After you,” Duanmu Gaoming replied courteously.
“Hiss! Hiss!”
Spiritual forms appeared before both of them. Before Duanmu Gaoming materialised over a hundred spiritual birds, each one brimming with lifelike charm and possessing one or two tenths materialisation.
Before Tantai Wenjun, more than a hundred flying arrows took shape, densely arrayed in front of her.
Clearly, the clash was about to begin. The pupils of everyone watching widened involuntarily.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The spiritual forms from both sides shot towards their opponent. These spiritual birds were not real creatures; they met the arrows head-on, and strength was determined solely by the power contained within.
The strike appeared ordinary, yet it was in fact extremely powerful.
Still, it was merely a probing exchange.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Spiritual forms exploded one after another, turning into massive fluctuations that surged in all directions.
In the end, both sides’ forms cancelled each other out. The exchange ended in a draw.
“Friend Tantai, between you and me, any lesser attacks are meaningless. Let us use our trump cards directly!” As Duanmu Gaoming spoke, vast spiritual force poured from his brow.
Before him, a towering giant tree condensed, materialised to seven or eight tenths, vivid and lifelike.
The crowd gasped in shock. A spiritual form materialised to seven or eight tenths already far surpassed the level of ordinary seventh-grade advanced spiritual controllers.
One could only imagine how immense the power within it must be.
It was, without question, Duanmu Gaoming’s main spirit attack.
Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed. He had originally hoped Tantai Wenjun and Duanmu Gaoming would exhaust each other completely.
He had not expected Duanmu Gaoming to unleash his strongest attack right after a single probing strike.
“Hiss!”
Opposite him, Tantai Wenjun showed no weakness. A giant sword dozens of zhang long formed before her, materialised to eight or nine tenths, even more solid than the giant tree, almost becoming a genuine sword.
Clearly, that was Tantai Wenjun’s main spirit.
At eight or nine tenths materialisation, it already approached the spiritual forms of eighth-grade initial spiritual controllers.
A giant sword and a giant tree faced each other in the air. Terrifying pressure surged between them. One could only imagine the devastating power about to be unleashed.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
Almost simultaneously, both spiritual forms moved. With no further finesse, they smashed directly towards each other.
“Boom!” …
The moment the two spiritual forms collided, the void itself seemed to tremble. Deafening explosions resounded. Towering waves erupted from the point of impact, vast oceanic surges of energy bursting forth in succession.
The entire island, along with the surrounding islands, shook violently.
Every array barrier on the battlefield island was pushed to its limit, as though on the verge of collapse.
The destructive force of this clash was immense, not far removed from the power of a martial saint.
On the number one battle platform, Lin Xiao felt a surge of shock in his heart. The strength of these two was clearly far beyond what he, a seventh-grade initial spiritual controller, could easily overcome.
