Zheng Jia Ru muttered to himself, echoing the thoughts of most of the people on the sidelines. Although Pei Yan was very eager to face off against the Blood Fiend, the priority of this tournament was to completely cut off its chances of winning the highest prize.
"But if we lose to the Daoist Realm in the next match, according to the rules, won't we still have to fight the Blood Fiend for second place?" Zhao Yuanhu suddenly thought of something and whispered.
"Don't worry, that's not going to happen. We will definitely defeat the Daoist Realm and secure first and second place, leaving no chance for the Blood Fiend to turn the tables." Pei Yan chuckled, lightly patting his opponent on the head, and said resolutely.
"Don't make such bold claims. The key lies in how you face Lin Daozi. Don't forget, I told you that he should have more than five strands of the Power of Origin in his body! And if I'm not mistaken, the Divine Artifacts he has devoured won't be fewer than two. You don't have much of an advantage in this area!" Lin Junzhao, after saying this, seemed to feel he shouldn't give Pei Yan too much pressure. She changed her tone to a deliberately relaxed one, "But you still have hope. I dared to bet with Lin Ruxue on this match because I'm optimistic about your potential. After this tournament, we'll have fifteen days of downtime. We can study some strategic tactics and further enhance your strength."
Pei Yan nodded and shifted his gaze back to the arena. In this match, where Lin Junzhao had almost sentenced Nero to death, the course of the battle indeed went as she predicted. Lin Daozi, who had found his rhythm, completely dominated Nero, who was crushed to the ground.
At this moment, while everyone was talking, Lin Daozi had already circled back to the outside of the arena from the center, heading west. The color of the source energy on his body changed from yellow to white, while the source energy emitted by Nero went from black to blue. As a western metal mantra was chanted, twelve condensed metal spikes descended from the sky or rose from the ground. Nero, who had just been trampled down, was first pierced by the spikes from below, propping him up. Then, he was stabbed by falling spikes from above, making Nero, who was nearly paralyzed, like a scarecrow supported by a wooden frame, standing helplessly in the center of the field.
Seeing this, Pei Yan agreed with Lin Junzhao's assessment. Under the heavy blows of Saraf, enough to cleave mountains and split the earth, Nero, who could still handle himself with ease, was now completely manipulated by Lin Daozi. The outcome of this match was decided.
No! Watching Lin Daozi continue his steps, Nero's fate seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
However, Nero on the field seemed not ready to accept his fate. Pei Yan saw him, bleeding all over from the spikes piercing through his body, slowly raising a finger in a certain direction and squinting in surprise, "What's he trying to do?"
"Whatever he's trying, it's useless. The cycle of the five elements has already reached the third step, and the damage has already multiplied several times than before. Three of his five internal organs are injured. Whatever he tries now is pointless," Lin Junzhao sneered at the scene.
"But the direction he's pointing seems to be exactly the next five-element position Lin Daozi is stepping into." The intense discomfort returned to Pei Yan's heart, setting off alarms in his mind and making him stare at the field with concern.
While he was worried, Lin Daozi continued gracefully from west to north. The light on him changed from white to black, but this time he did not recite the mantra as easily as before.
"Careful!" Pei Yan, anxious and scared outside the arena, unconsciously shouted a warning as he watched a black sphere shoot from Nero's fingertip. At the same time, he could feel the intense emotional fluctuations of Lin Junzhao within him upon seeing that black sphere, knowing things were going wrong!
There was no need for Pei Yan's reminder due to his cautious nature; unlike Pei Yan, even when holding an absolute advantage, Lin Daozi treated his opponent with care. Nero's abnormal actions had long caught his attention. Therefore, when the black ball appeared, Lin Daozi's moving body reacted slightly differently than before, crouching down to narrowly dodge the fast-like-lightning black sphere, and he said, "Northern Ren Gui...".
Halfway through Lin Daozi's sentence, he was like someone frozen by the Body Fixing Technique, standing stunned in place, then looking down at his body. The mighty ocean-like source energy that had been constantly gushing out was now struggling even to maintain his protective source energy. In a daze, he spat out a mouthful of blood, knees buckling, kneeling to the ground.
"Ha ha ha, finally caught up! Cough, cough, cough! Ughโ!" Nero, pinned to the ground, let out a hoarse, triumphant laugh upon seeing this scene. His overindulgent laughter aggravated his injuries, causing a fit of dry coughs followed by a large spout of clotted blood.
After spitting out that blood, Nero seemed much better. He used his fingers and source energy to pull out one metal spike after another from his body. Pulling out twelve consecutively seemed to have consumed substantial energy from Nero, causing the newly liberated him to collapse again, kneeling and panting heavily for fresh air.
Meanwhile, Lin Daozi opposite Nero seemed no better off. Once superbly confident and in control, now he was like a fish out of water, drained of strength and spirit, lying limply like a lump of flesh, unable even to move a finger.
Lin Daozi on the field might not yet understand what had happened to him, but as onlookers, Pei Yan and the others saw it clearly. It wasn't anything else that caused the reversal in the situation but the strange black sphere that Lin Daozi had dodged. As it brushed past Lin Daozi, it didn't vanish but floated behind him. At the moment Lin Daozi tried his spell, a massive torrent of source energy, visible to the naked eye, was forcibly extracted from within him and absorbed into that black sphere.
"Whatโฆ what's going on? Wasn't it said that Lin Daozi would definitely win?" Jiang Feiyang stuttered in shock.
"Yes, what exactly is that black sphere?" Pei Yan was equally bewildered by the sudden turnaround before him, shaking his head in disbelief. He anticipated that something bad was bound to happen, but he never expected things to become so dire so quickly.
Before Pei Yan could finish his question, Lin Junzhao's icy voice echoed, her tone starkly changed from usual playful nonchalance to a profoundly serious one, commanding, "Now's not the time for questions. I'll explain what that thing is later. Everyone, be ready for battle. If that woman goes crazy, we may not even need to continue the following matches. Today is the day of battle! Prepare yourselves for the baptism of a grueling fight."
