As the muddled state in his mind vanished like a bolt of lightning, Su Xiao’s heart skipped a beat upon regaining his senses. He knew full well the price he would pay for such a lapse at this critical moment. His prediction was not wrong. With Xiao Yan’s keen eyesight, how could he possibly let such an opening slip by? So, the instant Su Xiao regained his consciousness, Xiao Yan’s foot stomped on the ground, producing a crisp energy explosion under his feet. The energy shockwave directly created a half-inch deep pit in the ground. Using this powerful recoil, Xiao Yan’s figure moved like a wraith, appearing above Su Xiao in the blink of an eye. Clenching his fist, he unleashed a mighty blow with overwhelming Dou Qi and strength, slamming it toward Su Xiao’s head without any fancy moves.
Though not a particularly large fist, it now seemed like the punch of a giant, tearing through the air with a sharp, whistling sound and a low sonic boom, causing an intense fear in anyone who heard it, making them hesitant to even raise a hand in defense. This feeling of fear lasted only a moment in Su Xiao’s heart before he forcibly pushed it aside. Facing Xiao Yan’s swift and thunderous attack, Su Xiao, in a panic, hastily mobilized the Dou Qi within his body. In a flash of light, a faint green Dou Qi armor appeared on his body. Then, with a stiff backward jerk, he managed to avoid the vital areas.
The fist, covered in green Dou Qi, grazed past Su Xiao’s face, descending heavily onto his chest. The Dou Qi slightly paused, and then, in response to Xiao Yan’s low, commanding shout, it erupted like a volcano, releasing a tremendously powerful force!
“Eight Extremes Collapse!”
The low shout, accompanied by a terrifying surge of energy, poured out like a flood, crashing against the sturdy armor on Su Xiao’s body. Instantly, a ripple of green energy surged outward from the point of contact, spreading in a circular pattern. The dense forest nearby was swept up by the energy waves, most trees being cut off mid-air, their emerald leaves raining down like a green shower, covering the entire open area.
“Crack…”
As the energy ripples spread, a sharp crackle echoed in the air. In the reflection of Su Xiao’s horrified eyes, one could see cracks rapidly spreading across the sturdy Dou Qi armor. In just a moment, the cracks had spread throughout the entire armor. Finally, unable to bear the strain, the Dou Qi armor shattered into a myriad of light points, detaching from Su Xiao’s body and dissipating into nothingness.
With the last line of defense breached, the residual power of Xiao Yan’s punch struck Su Xiao’s body. Under the assault of this still formidable energy, Su Xiao’s face flushed red, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. After a moment, unable to withstand the spreading energy, he spat out a mouthful of bright red blood, his body crumpling like a bird without wings, plummeting to the ground.
The blood spewed from Su Xiao’s mouth, evaporated into nothingness before it reached Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan lightly tapped the air, somersaulted in mid-air, and landed on one knee beside the Heavy Scale Ruler. Only after he landed did the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground come from behind him. Glancing back, he saw Su Xiao lying pale-faced in a pile of dead leaves, his eyes still filled with terror.
A Da Dou Shi of around the five or six-star level had, under Xiao Yan’s unexpected “Lion Tiger Crush Gold Chant,” revealed a fatal weakness and was thoroughly defeated by Xiao Yan’s lightning-fast attack. Shaking off his slightly numb fist, Xiao Yan gripped the Heavy Scale Ruler again. His gaze, cold and hard, swept over the other chaotic and deadlocked battlefields. A frigid shout rang out:
“Su Xiao has been defeated! Do you still want to continue?”
The sudden shout exploded in everyone’s ears like thunder. At that moment, the chaotic battlefield fell silent. The sounds of swords and blades clashing ceased abruptly, and all eyes followed the sound, finally resting on Xiao Yan, who held the Heavy Scale Ruler, and Su Xiao, who lay motionless on the ground.
“Su Xiao was actually defeated?!”
Gazing at Su Xiao, who was as pale as a sheet, Leng Bai and Xiu Yan, who were fighting Bai Shan and Wu Hao, their expressions suddenly changed. They knew that among the three of them, Su Xiao was the strongest. But they never expected that he would be the first to fall, and so quickly and decisively.
“Is this guy… really that strong?”
Their eyes snapped back to Xiao Yan, gripping the Heavy Scale Ruler, and both Leng Bai and Xiu Yan were filled with shock. Now, they began to understand why this young man, who seemed younger than most of the others present, had the courage to gather all the new students. Such strength wasn’t just remarkable for a new student; even some of the older students in the Inner Academy wouldn’t be able to match him.
“Captain?! Bastard, you’re too ruthless! Brothers, damn it, let’s fight them! If we get beaten by a bunch of newbies, how can we stand tall in the Inner Academy?”
An angry shout broke the silence, and three figures, covered in Dou Qi, burst out of the chaos, shooting towards Xiao Yan.
The sudden shout shattered the peace, and a ferocious gleam appeared in the eyes of the old students. Reputation was important in the Inner Academy, and they didn’t want to be disgraced. Otherwise, as the shout said, how could they ever stand tall in the Inner Academy?
Ferocity surging, more powerful Dou Qi erupted from the remaining old students, and they aggressively attacked the severely weakened new students with increased viciousness.
Using the momentum from defeating Su Xiao to cow the old students, Xiao Yan hadn’t expected to be interrupted at this critical moment. Filled with anger, he coldly watched the three approaching figures, releasing his grip on the Heavy Scale Ruler, and, instead of retreating, he leaped forward, charging into their encirclement. Invisible energy surged from his palms, scattering their formation.
“Bai Shan, Wu Hao, finish this quickly! Don’t hold back!”
Surrounding himself in green Dou Qi, Xiao Yan shouted. His figure flickered, and he appeared behind an old student of the Inner Academy, delivering a powerful palm strike to the latter’s shoulder, sending him staggering and rolling away like a gourd, crashing into a tree and losing consciousness.
Xiao Yan was now at the peak of his normal strength, free from the Heavy Scale Ruler. His speed was like a shadow, and the two remaining old students could only discern his position from the vibrations in the air. However, this skill of detecting movement by sound was not their forte. Within minutes, they had been hit by several heavy blows, and after a few more, they collapsed, temporarily losing consciousness.
These three were around the early stages of Da Dou Shi, which made them top-tier among the new students, but for a seasoned six-star Da Dou Shi like Xiao Yan, they weren’t too difficult to handle. Still, they managed to delay Xiao Yan for nearly ten minutes, which was quite impressive.
After all, although Xiao Yan was nominally a six-star Da Dou Shi, due to the years of carrying the Heavy Scale Ruler, his speed, strength, and endurance far exceeded those of an ordinary six-star Da Dou Shi. Even without using movement techniques, his speed could rival a seven or eight-star Da Dou Shi. Yet, Xiao Yan lacked the skill to dodge and weave in combat. His movement technique, while powerful in a straight line, was useless in close combat, and the Earth Class movement technique “Thunder Movement Three Thousand” was yet to be mastered. Therefore, in battles, he relied mostly on his agility.
Even so, Xiao Yan still easily defeated the three early-stage Da Dou Shi old students.
In the ten minutes Xiao Yan spent tangling with the three old students, the other three battlefields were reaching their end. Bai Shan and Leng Bai were evenly matched, but Bai Shan’s cultivation and techniques were clearly superior. Although the initial clash was evenly matched, as the battle dragged on, the advantages of Bai Shan’s higher-grade techniques became apparent. As Leng Bai’s Dou Qi began to wane, Bai Shan remained full of energy. After about ten minutes, Bai Shan unleashed the powerful attack technique he used against Xiao Yan, forcing Leng Bai to retreat, pale-faced.
As Leng Bai retreated, a silver spear shot through the air, stopping just short of his throat. Instantly, he raised his hands in surrender.
Seeing Leng Bai concede, Bai Shan’s throat convulsed, and his chest heaved with rapid breaths. Sweat dripped down his face, showing that the victory had not been easy.
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