Chapter 73: Fierce Battle With Long Aotian, The Power of a Silver-Level Secondary Awakening!
The tiered stands surrounding the martial arts arena filled to capacity in a matter of minutes. Nearly ninety percent of the Body Sect's disciples had abandoned their daily chores, swarming the viewing galleries. A heavy, suffocating tension hung over the crowd. Every pair of eyes locked onto the massive, pristine white jade ring situated at the very center of the coliseum.
Core disciples—Vina, Chen Lu, Gu Tong, and Wang Yanfeng—arrived shortly after, immediately claiming the prime viewing spots closest to the jade platform.
"I wonder who takes it this time?" Chen Lu rubbed his palms together, his eyes gleaming with barely contained excitement.
Gu Tong adjusted the monocle resting on the bridge of his nose. His expression remained entirely serious. "It is difficult to predict. Senior Brother Liu Yuan may have held the upper hand in their previous two encounters, both official and unofficial, but the variables have drastically shifted."
He paused, gesturing toward the ring. "Senior Brother Aotian has not merely crossed the level fifty threshold to obtain his fifth spirit ring. More crucially, he has successfully completed the Secondary Awakening of his Body Martial Soul. The qualitative leap in his base power is staggering."
A loud smack echoed as Wang Yanfeng slapped the back of Gu Tong's head. "Knock it off," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Who wants to listen to your boring lectures? If we want a real prediction, we should ask the expert."
Wang Yanfeng pivoted, flashing a mischievous, teasing grin at Vina. "So, Vina, what is the verdict? Are you cheering for Senior Brother Liu Yuan or Senior Brother Aotian today?"
The surrounding disciples immediately caught on, exchanging knowing glances and chuckling.
Unlike an ordinary, bashful young girl, Vina did not flush or look away. She simply rolled her eyes at Wang Yanfeng, her posture perfectly composed. "Do you even need to ask?" she replied, her tone entirely matter-of-fact. "I am backing Liu Yuan. Obviously."
She crossed her arms, her chin tilting up slightly. "It does not matter who the opponent is, nor how the circumstances shift. I will always support him."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Do you guys smell that? Is that the sour stench of young love?" Wang Yanfeng exaggeratedly fanned the air in front of his nose, drawing a loud burst of laughter from the nearby disciples.
"Senior Brother Aotian is truly pitiful today!" someone shouted from the back, adding to the amusement.
High above the clamor of the arena, on the elevated VIP viewing platform, Elder Chen—the man responsible for managing the Body Sect's daily affairs—stepped quietly to the side of Du Busi.
"Sect Master," Elder Chen asked softly, his gaze fixed on the two young men confronting each other on the white jade below. "In this clash between a dragon and a tiger, who do you favor?"
Du Busi did not bother to turn his head. The towering Super Douluo kept his piercing, emerald-green pupils locked entirely onto Liu Yuan's calm figure.
"Liu Yuan," Du Busi stated. Two words, delivered without a single fraction of hesitation.
Elder Chen's hand, which had been slowly stroking his white beard, froze mid-motion. Absolute shock painted his weathered features. "Sect Master... Aotian is now a rank fifty-two Spirit King. Not only does he possess the overwhelming advantage of a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, but he has also achieved a Silver-level Secondary Awakening. His raw combat power is exponentially greater than when he was at rank forty."
He shook his head, struggling to comprehend the Sect Master's absolute certainty. "Liu Yuan is a peerless prodigy, yes, but he is only a rank forty-four Spirit Ancestor. Facing such an absolute suppression in both cultivation rank and martial soul awakening... you still believe Liu Yuan will win?"
The corner of Du Busi's mouth hooked upward, forming a deep, meaningful smirk. "You doubt it? Just keep your eyes open. You will soon understand exactly why this old man says so."
He crossed his massive arms over his chest. "The depths hidden within that brat Liu Yuan... they go far beyond what your eyes can perceive."
Elder Chen swallowed his remaining doubts, his curiosity mounting as he looked back down at the arena.
Down on the white jade ring, Liu Yuan and Long Aotian stood thirty paces apart, the air between them practically crackling with unseen pressure.
A senior elder of the sect acted as the referee. He swept his gaze over both combatants, ensuring they were ready, before bringing his raised palm down in a sharp, decisive chopping motion.
"The match begins!"
Before the final syllable even faded into the wind, Long Aotian erupted.
Having experienced Liu Yuan's terrifying combat prowess firsthand, he abandoned all thoughts of a slow, measured start. He needed the absolute initiative.
"First Spirit Ability, Demon Ape Transformation! Third Spirit Ability, Dark Gold Power!" Long Aotian let out a low, guttural roar.
His already burly physique violently expanded, muscles bulging as he grew a full size larger in an instant. A heavy, dark metallic luster rapidly spread across his exposed skin, hardening his flesh until he resembled a ruthless demon god cast entirely from solid dark gold.
Without losing a fraction of a second, the second yellow spirit ring beneath his feet flared to life.
"Second Spirit Ability, Golden God's Fury!"
Under the massive infusion of spirit power, Long Aotian's right arm underwent a grotesque, violent mutation. The flesh and bone distorted, flattening and elongating until his entire forearm transformed into a massive, ink-black scythe. The curved blade gleamed with a chilling, murderous light.
Moving with the speed of a thunderbolt, Long Aotian tore across the jade platform, dragging a violent gale in his wake. The black scythe ripped through the air, screaming as it slashed viciously toward Liu Yuan's chest.
Facing the lethal strike, Liu Yuan's expression remained entirely placid. The crimson light swirling deep within his Double Pupils condensed into sharp, focused pinpricks.
'Qilin Precious Technique.'
A brilliant, ice-blue radiance instantly cascaded over his entire body. Executing the Qilin Step, Liu Yuan's footwork blurred. His upper body folded backward at a terrifying, unnatural angle that completely defied the laws of physics. The razor-sharp edge of the black scythe whistled mere millimeters above his nose, the sheer wind pressure cutting a few stray hairs from his head.
But Liu Yuan was not one to merely defend. The very instant the scythe passed over him, he seized the minuscule window created by Long Aotian's follow-through.
His left Double Pupil contracted sharply.
'Spirit Ray!'
Two concentrated, dark red beams of destructive spiritual energy erupted from his eyes at point-blank range, slamming with pinpoint accuracy directly into the dead center of Long Aotian's broad chest.
Yet, the result left the audience gasping.
The Spirit Ray—an attack packing enough concentrated lethality to effortlessly pierce the defenses of an ordinary Spirit King—struck Long Aotian's dark gold metallic skin and produced a harsh, ear-piercing grinding screech. Sparks showered across the arena.
When the red light faded, there was only a slightly charred scorch mark on the surface of Long Aotian's chest. The burly youth had not even been pushed back a single step.
Long Aotian let out a cold, arrogant sneer. Twisting his waist, he brought the scythe-arm crashing down in a brutal vertical cleave, forcing Liu Yuan to trigger the Qilin Step once more to rapidly retreat.
The two figures blurred, engaging in a hyper-dense, high-speed clash across the white jade ring.
Liu Yuan used the phantom-like agility of the Qilin Precious Technique, his footwork leaving afterimages as he glided across the stage. Conversely, Long Aotian leaned entirely on the monstrous physical resistance granted by his Silver-level Secondary Awakening. He completely abandoned all forms of defense, transforming into a frenzied, unstoppable juggernaut that unleashed a storm of suppressive, heavy-handed strikes.
As Liu Yuan ducked, weaved, and deflected, the terrifying insight of his Double Pupils was pushed to its absolute limit. The world around him slowed. He tracked the surging currents of spirit power flowing beneath Long Aotian's metallic skin, his analytical mind rapidly processing the data and forming a tactical assessment.
Forcing a thirty-meter gap between them with a final, explosive burst of the Qilin Step, Liu Yuan slid to a halt. His boots scraped against the jade tiles. He took a short, slightly rapid breath, stabilizing his internal energy.
'So that is how it works,'Liu Yuan murmured under his breath, a flash of deep realization passing through his crimson eyes.'Is this the true nature of a Silver-level Secondary Awakening?''The external manifestation of his spirit abilities remains largely the same, but the multiplier applied to his base physical stats has reached an utterly exaggerated level.'He stared at the completely unscathed Long Aotian. Prior to this, his senior brother had been formidable, but his physical limitations still operated within the world of common sense. Now, under the effects of the Secondary Awakening, it was not merely his raw strength and explosive speed that had skyrocketed. Even his innate spiritual defense had undergone a massive qualitative evolution.'That metallic skin is not just physical armor. It actually vibrates, offsetting a significant portion of spiritual impact through frequency resonance,'Liu Yuan deduced coldly.'This means that without activating my own amplification, a standard Spirit Ray and the baseline Qilin Precious Technique are no longer enough to pose a lethal threat.'
Across the arena, Long Aotian clearly recognized the passive, analytical nature of Liu Yuan's evasive maneuvers.
The dark gold scythe on his right arm rippled, dissolving back into the shape of a massive, metallic fist. He rolled his shoulders, locking his gaze onto his junior brother.
"Junior Brother Liu Yuan," Long Aotian called out, his voice a deep, rumbling baritone that echoed across the silent arena. "I have no interest in continuing this little cat-and-mouse game of yours."
He raised a heavy fist, the dark gold metal glinting under the sunlight. "As I am right now, even a six-ring Spirit Emperor would struggle to leave a scratch on my body. If you are still planning on holding back your fourth spirit ability, you had better brace yourself. Because you will not survive my next strike."
The moment the warning left his lips, Long Aotian's spirit power boiled over like an erupting volcano. The black, ten-thousand-year spirit ring hovering around him flared with an oppressive, suffocating light.
"Fifth Spirit Ability, Heaven and Earth Change!"
The sheer authority of a ten-thousand-year spirit ability instantly warped the environment. The moment Heaven and Earth Change activated, the gravitational field across the entire white jade arena descended into absolute chaos.
Long Aotian launched himself from the ground, the stone beneath his boots spider-webbing with deep cracks as he rocketed into the air.
Drawing his right arm back, he punched forward, violently compressing the very air in front of him. The sheer kinetic force twisted the void, forming a massive, visible vortex of hyper-pressurized air. With the momentum of a falling meteor, he smashed the vortex directly toward Liu Yuan's position.
Liu Yuan immediately triggered the Qilin Precious Technique, intending to slip out of the blast radius. However, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. Under the absolute lock of Heaven and Earth Change, the surrounding space had thickened, creating a layer of viscous, swamp-like resistance that dragged at his limbs.
That microscopic fraction of a second of sluggishness was all it took.
Long Aotian's meteor-like descent closed the distance instantly. His dark gold fist crashed with devastating, unmitigated fury directly into Liu Yuan's left shoulder.
BANG!
A sickening crunch of shattering bone echoed across the silent coliseum. The sheer kinetic impact nearly caved in the entire left half of Liu Yuan's torso. His body was launched backward like a broken ragdoll, skipping violently across the solid granite floor and carving a trench dozens of meters long before finally skidding to a halt in a cloud of dust and debris.
A collective gasp ripped through the audience. Up in the stands, Vina subconsciously shot to her feet, her hands gripping the railing tight enough to turn her knuckles white.
But the panic was short-lived. Under the stunned gaze of thousands, Liu Yuan slowly stood up from the rubble.
Around the terrifying, concave wound on his shoulder, threads of pure, ice-blue spirit power were already weaving together in a frantic, captivating dance. The Undying Body activated. Shattered bone, torn muscle fibers, severed blood vessels, and crushed nerves were forcibly restructured and knitted back together in the blink of an eye.
In mere seconds, the catastrophic damage was completely erased, leaving his body as pristine and functional as it had been before the match began.
"Alright," Liu Yuan said, his voice calm, steady, and entirely devoid of pain. "I believe I understand the general parameters now."
He casually brushed the pulverized stone dust from his newly reconstructed shoulder. Within his Double Pupils, the complex, pale gold patterns began to spin and flow with a frantic, blinding intensity.
His gaze locked onto Long Aotian, piercing through the oppressive silver-colored energy radiating from the older youth's body.
"A Silver-level Secondary Awakening is indeed incredibly durable and overwhelmingly strong," Liu Yuan stated, his tone carrying a chilling edge of anticipation. "Since Senior Brother is so eager to see the real deal... then please, watch very carefully."
Liu Yuan took a slow, deep breath.
Beneath his feet, the deep, abyssal black of his fourth spirit ring finally ignited. It erupted with a thick, ink-like brilliance that surged upward, completely swallowing his figure in a pillar of dark light.
"Fourth Spirit Ability!"
Liu Yuan's voice cut through the roaring wind.
"Ultimate Sublimation, activate!"
An aura of absolute, suffocating terror exploded outward from Liu Yuan's position, sweeping over the arena like a physical tidal wave.
Sensing the sheer, world-ending pressure radiating from the young Spirit Ancestor, every single person in the audience felt their breath catch in their throats, paralyzed by a deep and overwhelming shock!
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