The situation on the field became bizarre. Ivan merely twisted his wrist lightly to reconnect the broken scepter, making it as good as new. Facing Lin Xunrou, who fell into madness, unable to judge her opponent, and once again engaged in battle with the vicious dogs around her, Ivan smiled and lifted the scepter, aiming it at her head and smashing it down fiercely.
Bang! The golden lion head decoration on the grip of the scepter smashed firmly into Lin Xunrou's occiput, and with a dull thud, she fell in response. Blood flowed from her black hair, soaking onto her white collar.
Seeing this, the surrounding vicious dogs were about to pounce to continue biting, but Ivan waved his scepter to drive them aside. Coming to the center of the field, he pointed the scepter at Lin Xunrou's back, keeping her down as she tried to get up again, mocking, "I told you! Our abilities are very similar! Our divine artifacts are also similar! I can't tell you what my power of origin is, but I don't mind telling you about the ability of my merged divine artifact."
As Ivan spoke, he lightly moved the scepter back and forth on Lin Xunrou's spine, with a face of pride and madness, ridiculing, "The Thunder Emperor's scepter, its control over lightning is just part of its ability. Its true ability is very ordinary, even insignificant."
At this point, he bent down and whispered close to Lin Xunrou, "And that is to ignore all defenses."
Before he finished speaking, Lin Xunrou suddenly sprang up from the ground, swept with a roundhouse kick, then leaped up. However, her consciousness was eroded by the madness source qi, the chaos in her mind making her movements no longer as agile and flawless as before, allowing Ivan to easily counter her attacks and find their weaknesses.
Dodging Lin Xunrou's roundhouse kick, taking advantage of her momentary disorientation before she could attack, Ivan swung the scepter sideways at her shinbone.
"Ah!" Always resilient and only groaning under pain on stage, Lin Xunrou finally let out a painful scream under this blow, her newly stood body tilted again and knelt down,
Bang! Another heavy scepter strike smashed into Lin Xunrou's back, spraying out fresh blood as she fell down, Ivan wiped the little sweat on his forehead in an exaggerated manner, went forward and pressed her back with the scepter, discontentedly said, "Didn't your teacher teach you not to interrupt the speaker above you!"
With every pause in his speech, Ivan raised the scepter high in his hand, delivering a barrage of blows to the already fallen Lin Xunrou, as each strike landed on her body with a crisp sound of snapping bones and tendons, the platform beneath Lin Daozi's feet outside the ring cracked slightly.
After doing all this, Ivan exhaled a long breath, his face showing a pleasant expression, pointing the scepter at the back of his unconscious opponent's head, like a salesman, boasting, "Now it's okay! You can't hear me anymore. If you survive, let your brothers tell you the answer. My divine artifact ignores all defenses, no matter if you are protected by source qi, body enhancement, mutation, spell strengthening, personal physical qualities, all are ignored."
After saying this, he lifted the scepter and gently stroked the scepter spirit, finally leaning his face against it, entranced, "Under this scepter, all beings are equal, the damage it inflicts on mortals is the same as on cultivators! This is the fairness granted to you by the ruler!"
While speaking in madness, Ivan once again raised the scepter high against Lin Xunrou's head, laughing wildly, "Still not announcing the victory in this match? I don't have much patience left. Well, patience was never something I possessed."
Ivan's words were incoherent, threatening one moment, then immediately dropping the scepter the next second. At this point, the arena's protective barrier disappeared, and the self-healing array activated.
However, Ivan's scepter did not stop, continuing to descend!
Two figures darted out from outside the platform, even faster than their own source qi slashes attacking the descending scepter via the spatial teleportation technique.
Bang! Bang! The two slashes were broken by the attacks from another two figures emerging from the other side of the arena, and Ivan's scepter continued to fall.
At the critical moment, another figure arrived first, rushing to shield Lin Xunrou's body before the scepter fell. A crisp metallic clink announced the end of the match.
"Phew! Tsk tsk tsk, after saying such a long string of words, I thought this broken thing was so powerful. Taking a hit isn't that big a deal!" Pei Yan, who protected Lin Xunrou with his body, pressed her forehead, using Lin Junzhao's power to slowly input source qi to dispel the madness source qi's influence on her consciousness, then stood up with the scepter pressing against his back, pushing the furious Ivan aside and mocking with a disdainful tone.
Just before the match was about to end, Lin Junzhao had already prepared Pei Yan to come up and rescue. Her intention was to restore Lin Xunrou's injuries after the match, but the chaos in her consciousness might still persist in her brain. Thus, to prevent her from harming others while in confusion, and also to return a favor to the Daoist Realm, she let Pei Yan take action at the right moment. Unexpectedly, Ivan was so mad that Pei Yan had a chance to heroically rescue her.
"Brother Pei, my sister!" Naturally, the ones who rushed up first were Lin Daozi and Ning Quanchen of the Daoist Realm, who were momentarily held back by Blood Slaughter Nero and Di Xin. Lin Daozi managed to escape and dashed forward concernedly.
"Her physical wounds have been healed by the platform, no major issues! I'm dealing with her chaotic consciousness, it'll be resolved soon." Pei Yan laid Lin Xunrou back flat on the platform, clearing the source qi while responding.
Regardless of Ivan's fierce beating, as he said, the scepter ignores everything; what hits mortals is the same as what hits cultivators, so even severe injuries are mainly internal and external trauma caused by impact. Such injuries are much lighter compared to the lingering damages of previous matches' team members and were almost instantly healed under the platform's treatment.
"Thank you, Brother Pei, for the act of rescue." Seeing Lin Xunrou breathe steadily, Lin Daozi and Ning Quanchen's hanging hearts finally eased, they clasped their fists and expressed gratitude in unison.
Pei Yan waved his hand, indicating that this matter was trivial. With people of this level on both sides, they would certainly repay the favor richly someday, there's no need for polite words like gratitude. Lin Daozi didn't say it, Pei Yan didn't ask for it, and afterwards, Lin Ruxue would naturally give Pei Yan a corresponding gesture of thanks for his rescue.
Amidst all this unspoken gratitude and response, an untimely voice accompanied by a sneer drifted into their ears.
