Blood spilled from Xiao Hongchen’s nose and mouth, his once handsome cheeks sunken in, and his golden spirit power shield shattered into pieces like broken glass.
The radiance of his Three-legged Golden Toad Spirit dimmed abruptly, its three legs twitching uncontrollably, while the four spirit rings hovering around him lost their luster, no longer able to maintain the Spirit form.
The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.
The audience, who a second ago had been gasping in awe at Xiao Hongchen’s one hundred and twenty-eight spirit tools, now stood with mouths agape, having forgotten even to breathe.
Those hundred-plus fourth-Rank spirit tools that had been so highly anticipated were like fragile toys before Lu Ren, easily sliced in two by invisible slashes.
Metal fragments lay scattered across the ground, reflecting the blinding sunlight as if silently mocking something.
“Th-that, what kind of Spirit Ability was that?” someone whispered with a dry throat.
“He beat Xiao Hongchen into this state with a single punch?”
“What was that black light just now?
A Spirit Ability?
But he didn’t even activate his spirit rings!”
On the referee’s stand, Xuan Ziwen stood up abruptly.
His messy hair stood on end, and the dark circles under his eyes seemed to have faded slightly.
He stared fixedly at Lu Ren’s fist, his eyes filled with fanatical curiosity, like a starving man who had suddenly laid eyes on a feast.
“The invisible slash is one thing, but what is this black light?” he muttered to himself, his voice carrying the excitement peculiar to a researcher.
“The speed was fast enough to break the limit of spirit power, and the strength far exceeded that of a Spirit Ancestor of the same Rank.
The power of that punch just now wasn’t so simple; at that instant, it seemed to distort space…
What on earth is this thing!”
Now, Xuan Ziwen finally understood why the Hall Master had wanted him to observe this little guy up close to see what made him so special.
That black light capable of distorting space was undoubtedly not a Spirit Ability; it was a technique Lu Ren had executed purely by coordinating his spirit power with his fist, resulting in a critical hit.
If this could also be applied to the field of spirit tools…
On the VIP stand, the loudspeaker spirit tool in Lin Jiayi’s hand nearly dropped to the ground.
He looked at Xiao Hongchen, who had been smashed into the audience stands and whose life was unknown, then looked at Lu Ren, who still stood calmly in the arena, his brain going completely blank.
That was Xiao Hongchen.
The grandson of the Mingde Hall master, the greatest Genius in the history of the Sun Moon Empire, a Rank 49 Spirit Ancestor.
Yet what was the result?
He hadn’t even touched the hem of Lu Ren’s clothes.
In the stands, Meng Hongchen rose abruptly.
Her large, water-blue eyes were filled with disbelief, and her hands were clenched into tight fists, her knuckles turning white.
She knew her brother’s strength best; with his Rank 49 spirit power combined with the metal control of his Three-legged Golden Toad, even an ordinary Rank 5 Soul Engineer Spirit King would not be his match.
Yet, before Lu Ren, he hadn’t even lasted a single move?
“Brother!”
Meng Hongchen cried out, about to rush into the arena.
“Wait.”
Hall Master Jing Hongchen had appeared beside her at some point, standing with his hands behind his back.
His gaze was fixed on the youth in the arena, and while a storm surged in his eyes, he forced himself to remain calm.
He could clearly feel that the power contained in Lu Ren’s punch just now belonged neither to spirit power nor to any known Spirit talent.
It was something domineering and pure, yet possessed a destructive force capable of crushing anything in its path.
“He is fine,” Hall Master Jing Hongchen said calmly.
“He just fainted; no bones were broken, just a spirit power concussion.
The opponent has already shown mercy.”
As soon as he finished speaking, medical personnel rushed over with a stretcher and carefully carried the unconscious Xiao Hongchen away.
As they passed by Lu Ren, the medical staff subconsciously quickened their pace, their eyes filled with awe.
“Grandfather,” Meng Hongchen said tentatively, “Since even Brother ended up like this, I don’t have to go on, do I?
Brother’s strength is above mine…”
“Do you know why I insist that you both compete?” Hall Master Jing Hongchen looked at Lu Ren on the stage, a slight smile curling the corner of his lips.
This result was even better than he had anticipated.
“You and your brother have had it too easy since you were young, which has led to your brother being so arrogant that he doesn’t take anyone seriously.”
“Now that he has finally encountered some obstacles and suffered a bit, it will be of great benefit to him.”
He paused and continued:
“The Continental Spirit Master Competition is about to begin.
I hope that when you face Shrek, you can see for yourselves, through him, how a powerful Spirit Master fights and defeats their opponents.”
Meng Hongchen’s mouth twitched:
“I have to fight Lu Ren?
Is that for real?”
She looked at the youth in the arena who hadn’t even activated his Spirit from start to finish, then looked at her brother being carried away, her tone filled with a trace of despair.
“The gap is just too big; it’s impossible to defeat him!”
“How to defeat him is for you to figure out, not me.”
Hall Master Jing Hongchen smiled and reached out to pat his granddaughter’s head, his eyes filled with doting affection.
“Just do your best.”
Meng Hongchen took a deep breath and, looking at her grandfather’s encouraging gaze, nodded slowly.
“Yes, Grandfather.”
…
On the stage.
Lu Ren withdrew his fist, and the black light at his fingertips quietly dissipated.
He glanced at the carried-away Xiao Hongchen, his expression unchanged.
Then he looked up, his gaze sweeping across the audience in the stands who were still in shock, before finally landing on the figure walking toward him.
Meng Hongchen walked slowly onto the competition stage.
Even dressed in the loose academy uniform, it was hard to hide her already well-developed, curvaceous figure.
Meng Hongchen’s appearance could be described as extremely beautiful, but at this moment, her pretty little face was filled with nervousness.
She reached the opposite side of Lu Ren, stopped, and took a deep breath:
“My name is Meng Hongchen, please advise me.”
“Lu Ren.”
Even when facing a beautiful girl, Lu Ren maintained his extremely concise self-introduction.
“Both sides, retreat to the waiting area.” Xuan Ziwen’s voice came from the referee’s stand, carrying a hint of impatience.
“The match begins!”
The moment the match began, Meng Hongchen raised her palms.
The next instant, all her exposed skin, including her face and palms, turned snow-white.
White as jade and crystal clear, only that pair of eyes abruptly turned blood-red, looking eerie and bewitching.
Within the palms of her hands, a faint cyan light flickered slightly.
Only now did the radiance of spirit rings appear on her body.
Two yellow, two purple—the standard optimal spirit ring configuration.
At the same time, a light image slowly emerged behind her.
It was a toad as white as jade, its eyes blood-red just like hers at this moment.
This was Meng Hongchen’s Spirit, the Vermillion Azure Ice Toad, which possessed both ice and fire attributes and poisonous abilities, making it extremely unique.
Furthermore, there was cold poison within her body, and this cold poison could backfire on the host.
If something went wrong, a Spirit Master would die from the cold poison attacking their heart, so there were rarely any who possessed this type of Spirit and managed to Cultivate into a powerhouse.
Meng Hongchen faced Lu Ren and immediately struck out with a palm.
A stream of white air, one foot in diameter, surged from this palm and headed straight for Lu Ren, while her first spirit ring lit up accordingly.
The airflow was not fast, faintly tinged with cyan amidst the white, like a cloud of mist, drifting slowly toward Lu Ren.
Lu Ren stood where he was, not moving an inch.
Just kidding, it would be a miracle if he could be poisoned.
After all, the System had given him the Itadori Yuji template, and his physical constitution also possessed the abilities of the Nine Phases Diagram, with his blood containing intense toxins.
Therefore, he could be said to completely counter Meng Hongchen.
The poisonous mist enveloped Lu Ren’s body.
One second.
Two seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
The white mist dissipated, and Lu Ren remained the same Lu Ren; his expression hadn’t changed, his breathing hadn’t changed, and even his stance hadn’t changed.
Meng Hongchen’s pupils contracted slightly.
Her poison was completely ineffective against him?