At this moment,
as the referee's announcement of "Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy wins" faded, the entire Star Luo Plaza instantly erupted into a massive uproar.
Countless spectators leapt to their feet, staring at one another in disbelief, the confusion in their eyes almost tangible.
"Wait… it's over already? Can someone explain what just happened?"
"I—I just looked down to peel an orange. How did that red-haired guy fly out? Was he blown away by the wind?"
"What kind of wind can blow a four-ring Soul Ancestor dozens of meters away? Is the wind at your house that strong?"
"But I didn't even see Liu Yuan move! One second he was standing there, then whoosh—the guy was gone, and whoosh—it was already over!"
The spectator stands descended into total chaos.
For the vast majority of ordinary people—and even many low-level Spirit Masters—the scene just now was completely beyond comprehension.
Human vision has limits.
When speed reaches a certain threshold, it causes phenomena like visual lag or even total visual loss.
To them, the match felt like a film missing several frames: one moment the two stood facing each other, and the next, the battle had already ended.
This kind of "unfathomable" fight didn't bring boredom—it inspired a deep sense of awe and fear of the unknown.
…
It wasn't just the audience.
In the preparation areas, contestants from the various elite Spirit Master academies were also frozen in shock, staring as if they had seen a ghost.
"Captain… did you see Liu Yuan's movements just now?"
In one academy's rest area, a team member asked his Spirit King captain with a trembling voice.
The captain swallowed hard, cold sweat trickling down his forehead as he stiffly shook his head.
"No… I didn't."
"Too fast. It's completely unreasonable. If I'd been the one on that stage just now…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but the despair in his eyes said everything.
If you can't even see your opponent, how are you supposed to fight?
…
Shrek Academy's rest area.
The atmosphere here was equally strange.
Originally, Ma Xiaotao and the others had intended to use this match to "thoroughly understand Liu Yuan's background."
Instead, they now had even more questions.
"Elder Xuan."
Ma Xiaotao took a deep breath and turned to the scruffy old man beside her.
With Elder Xuan's terrifying cultivation as a Level 98 Super Douluo, no matter how fast Liu Yuan was, he shouldn't have been able to escape Elder Xuan's perception.
"In that instant, what Spirit Ability did Liu Yuan use?" she asked seriously.
"Was it pure speed enhancement, or some kind of special teleportation-type skill?"
Her question was exactly what Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and the rest wanted to know.
All eyes turned toward Elder Xuan, waiting for an authoritative answer.
However—
The moment he heard the question, Elder Xuan's stiff expression became even more awkward.
He was still holding a chicken leg, a wine gourd in his other hand, his weathered old face faintly flushed.
What was he supposed to say?
Should he admit that, at that exact moment, he had tilted his head back to take a big gulp of wine—and even let out a long, satisfied burp?
In that brief instant of lowering his head, drinking, and burping…
The match had already ended.
Even a Super Douluo couldn't maintain perfect focus during basic bodily reflexes like eating and drinking!
"Cough—cough!"
Elder Xuan coughed violently to cover his embarrassment and frustration.
"Well…"
"That strike just now did have some tricks to it."
"But since none of you saw it clearly, that means your cultivation is insufficient! Your observation skills are lacking!"
"If I explained it directly now, it would only harm you. You must learn to observe and analyze on your own!"
As he spoke, Elder Xuan waved his hand impatiently, as if annoyed.
"Alright, alright—stop staring at me and keep watching! Pay attention to the next match and don't zone out again!"
Ma Xiaotao and the others exchanged puzzled looks, but didn't dare question him further. They turned back to focus on the ring.
None of them knew that Elder Xuan was cursing inwardly.
"That damned brat! He didn't even give a warning before moving—made me lose face! Next time… next time I'll keep my eyes wide open like copper bells. Let's see how fast you really are then!"
…
In sharp contrast to the shock and chaos outside,
the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's rest area was calm—almost used to it.
Watching the crowd's dropped jaws, Xiao Hongchen curled his lips in disdain, leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed, and snorted.
"A bunch of country bumpkins who've seen nothing."
"This is only the beginning."
"Brother Liu Yuan has plenty more up his sleeve."
Meng Hongchen giggled beside him, covering her mouth.
"Yeah, Brother Liu Yuan hasn't even broken a sweat yet."
"But looking at it this way, maybe he really can pull off a one-vs-seven sweep."
"I wonder what their expressions will look like then…"
…
On the city walls of Star Luo Imperial City,
Emperor Xu Jiawei had already recovered from his initial shock.
As a ruler, his composure far exceeded that of ordinary people.
Though shaken, he quickly made a decision.
"Prime Minister," Xu Jiawei said in a deep voice.
"I am here," the Prime Minister hurried forward.
"Relay my decree."
Xu Jiawei pointed toward the massive soul-tool screen above the arena—a high-end device the Star Luo Empire had invested heavily in, capable of recording and playback.
"Have the referee immediately play a slow-motion replay of that match."
"I want to see exactly what that kid did."
"And let the entire audience see it clearly, so no one can claim there was cheating in a tournament hosted by my Star Luo Empire."
"As you command!"
The Prime Minister withdrew at once.
…
A moment later, the referee's voice rang out again, cutting through the discussions.
"Silence!"
"By His Majesty's decree, to help everyone better understand the battle, a slow-motion replay of the first match will now be shown!"
"Please direct your attention to the big screen!"
At once, hundreds of thousands of gazes shifted upward.
The plaza fell silent once more.
The screen flickered, freezing on the moment the referee swung his arm and shouted "Start."
Then, the footage began to play.
But not at normal speed—
It was slowed down sixteen times.
Under this extreme slow motion, everyone finally saw it clearly.
On the screen, the referee's arm slowly descended.
Huo Lie wore a ferocious grin, his mouth just beginning to form the first syllable of a Spirit incantation. A pale red halo had barely started to glow beneath his feet.
At that exact moment—
Liu Yuan moved.
The granite beneath his feet shattered into spiderweb-like cracks from the explosive force.
Then he vanished, leaving behind a long, ghostly white afterimage.
Huo Lie's expression remained frozen in that savage grin, his eyes still fixed on where Liu Yuan had been standing, utterly unaware of the danger.
Then—
Liu Yuan raised his right shoulder and slammed it brutally into Huo Lie's chest.
Boom—
Even without sound, everyone instinctively heard the impact in their minds.
Huo Lie lost all balance and was blasted backward.
And Liu Yuan?
Using the recoil, he executed a clean backflip in midair, landing steadily at the edge of the ring.
He calmly brushed his sleeve.
The screen froze.
Playback ended.
…
Silence gripped the entire venue.
If people had been confused before because they "couldn't see,"
now that they had seen clearly, a chill ran through their very Souls.
No fancy techniques.
No spatial tricks.
Just pure, overwhelming speed.
"Who could possibly react to that?"
After a long moment, a trembling voice rang out from the crowd.
That voice shattered the silence.
Gasps and exclamations erupted one after another.
"Too fast—even slowed sixteen times it's terrifying! Watching it live was basically teleportation!"
"And look at the ground under his feet—how horrifying must that explosive force be?"
"So he did use a Spirit Ability—he just rammed straight through! That 'Extreme Speed'…"
"No wonder… no wonder he dared to go first!"
"No wonder he didn't even use a soul tool!"
"This is absolute, crushing strength!"
When people looked at the youth standing calmly on the stage again, all contempt had vanished.
What replaced it was deep awe—and an unspoken fear.
At Shrek Academy, Ma Xiaotao's expression grew more solemn than ever.
"This kind of speed…"
She murmured softly.
"Even with my Phoenix Flame enhancement, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up."
"And the most troublesome part is… this is only his First Spirit Skill."
Elder Xuan stopped pretending.
He stared fixedly at the frozen image on the screen, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"Good kid."
"This speed is practically on par with a Titled Douluo."
"It seems we underestimated him."
"This one… is a real tough nut to crack."
…
While the entire venue was still reeling from Liu Yuan's strength,
some sharp-minded spectators suddenly realized an even more terrifying possibility.
In the stands, an elderly Spirit Master pointed at Liu Yuan on the stage, his voice shaking.
"Wait…"
"Since he has such terrifying speed…"
"Since he can defeat an opponent in under a second while barely consuming any spirit power…"
"And since he's the first one up…"
Faces around him changed one after another.
"Hiss—"
"No way…"
"Is his plan…"
"To wipe out the entire Chiyan Academy team by himself?!"
"A one-vs-seven sweep?!"