Chapter 212.2: Lu Changsheng Unleashes His Divine Might, Annihilating All in a Single Strike; All Seventeen Powers Tremble in Fear! (II)
All gazes converged on Lu Changsheng, yet he stood firm and completely composed, seemingly unfazed by the coordinated assault against himself.
Hum...
The Four Symbols Prison emerged, enveloping the four experts at once.
"What the...?"
Their attack was stopped dead in its tracks, as they found themselves unable to approach Lu Changsheng any further.
"Mental Black Hole!" Lu Changsheng made his next move almost instantly.
The enormous black hole proceeded to devour the four experts—or rather, to devour their minds. As long as the target possessed a powerful mind, or deployed some sort of treasure capable of defending against mental attacks, they could hold out for a little while.
But that was it; one could only withstand the Mental Black Hole for a little while. In truth, there were very few Dao Foundation martial artists or Dao Lords out there who could actually withstand Lu Changsheng's Mental Black Hole at all.
Thud!
And Lu Changsheng's four assailants were not among those people. The two Dao Lords collapsed instantly, their bodies rigid, faces frozen, and lifeless eyes wide open. They had died just like that, likely without even registering what had killed them.
The other two assailants—the Dao Foundation martial artists—were still alive, but they were shaking all over, their expressions twisted with agony, as though they were straining as hard as they could to stay alive. But unbeknownst to them, they were already dead.
"Flame Current." Lu Changsheng waved his hand.
With that, the two Dao Foundation martial artists were engulfed by the raging Flame Current, powerless to resist.
Everyone else stared with mouths agape at the scattering ashes.
What just happened?
Just a few moments prior, those four individuals had been moving with great momentum, trying to surround and slay Lu Changsheng. However, their target retaliated and killed them in the blink of an eye.
"How is that possible? Those were not ordinary individuals. They were at the peak of the Dao Foundation and Foundation Establishment Realms. Yet one man managed to kill them in the blink of an eye, seemingly with no effort..."
"Was that... a mental divine technique? Given how the Dao Lords collapsed instantly, that must've been a Perfection-level supreme technique. But even so, how could its power be so devastating...?"
"I've never seen or heard of a mental divine technique that can do something like that."
"This Lu Changsheng... where did Li Guang even find him? This is insane..."
There were only nine combatants left. Some of the spectators saw this as eight against Lu Changsheng. And sure enough, those eight experts were starting to fear for their lives.
"He's strong..."
"We have to join forces, or we're all dead!"
The eight experts had been under the impression that everyone in this Treasure Contest was more or less evenly matched. But now, it became apparent that Lu Changsheng was in a league of his own. They stared at this monster with fearful eyes, and they instinctively understood that unless they joined forces, he would devour them all.
But could they really do that? At the moment, only the four people ranking last were seriously considering joining forces. And yet, when they recalled the terrible fate those four combatants from before had suffered, they decided against it. They were convinced that charging at Lu Changsheng just with the four of them would only doom them.
"Screw this!"
In the end, the eight experts neither joined forces nor attacked Lu Changsheng individually. Instead, they went for door number three: running away in an attempt to stall.
Each of them was hoping that Lu Changsheng would simply target someone else and that they would be fortunate enough to be among the three survivors along with Lu Changsheng. If they could just escape Lu Changsheng, they could advance to the third round.
However, some of them realized that this strategy was also flawed.
"Hmph, our goal is all the same, to seize first place in the Treasure Contest."
"So what if you make it into the third round? The third round is even worse. There you must fight one-on-one to claim victory in the end. Does anyone here really have the confidence to fight Lu Changsheng one-on-one?"
"That's right. If we don't join forces now, then come the third round, we may as well hand the first place over to Lu Changsheng on a platter!"
"Joining forces is our only hope of contending for first place. Once Lu Changsheng is eliminated, the rest of us are all evenly matched. Any of us could become the Treasure Contest's first, and we can settle it in the third round."
The remaining eight experts were deliberating among themselves. None of them was a fool. They were all veterans of countless battles, capable of assessing someone's power after a single exchange.
The fact that Lu Changsheng had slain four great experts in the blink of an eye left no doubt: he was far too powerful for anyone here. Who could actually oppose him? If the Treasure Contest continued this way, Lu Changsheng was guaranteed to take first place.
But strangely enough, Lu Changsheng seemed to have no intention of actually pursuing the eight other contestants. He simply stood there, his gaze sweeping over the eight of them one by one.
Unbeknownst to them, Lu Changsheng was formulating a plan. He felt that having to go through a third round would be far too troublesome.
Might as well settle the contest now!
The second round was meant to narrow the field to just four participants, but what if only one remained at the end? If everyone but one contestant died in the second round, there would naturally be no third round.
Realizing that, Lu Changsheng simply waited for his eight opponents to join forces. In fact, he was hoping that they would join forces and attack him together so that he could wipe them all out in one strike. Otherwise, if he hunted them down one by one, Wu Shun would stop the round once there were only four contestants left. At that point, Lu Changsheng couldn't just ignore the rules and kill everyone anyway.
And so, he just waited, letting the eight experts confer among themselves and join forces. He was not the least bit worried. With his current strength, the possibility of defeat was simply nonexistent.
Sure enough, the eight experts eventually reached an agreement, all of them arriving at the same conclusion: if Lu Changsheng survived this second round, then anyone left would face defeat against him in the third round. If anyone wanted a real shot at winning the Treasure Contest, they all had to team up and deal with Lu Changsheng right then and there.
"Kill him!" someone roared.
With that, the eight contestants threw everything they had at Lu Changsheng: Mind Spaces, divine techniques, spells, formations, and even enchanted treasures.
Lu Changsheng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a glint of sharp light flashing through his eyes.
Great. This is the perfect chance to test just how resilient the Four Symbols Prison really is.
Four beams of light flickered once more with a hum, and the Four Symbols Prison was released, radiating a dazzling brilliance as it descended in an instant, like a true prison made manifest.
Boom!
Lu Changsheng's Four Symbols Prison enveloped all eight experts firmly, and the binding force took effect at once. The eight experts' attacks now landed within the Four Symbols Prison, colliding head-on with it.
The Four Symbols Prison shook violently from the tremendous force. Naturally, eight supreme experts attacking at once was not a trifling thing. However, this was precisely the kind of situation that revealed the true might of the Four Symbols Prison.
Even faced with such tremendous power, the Four Symbols Prison still held. Although it could likely not hold out for much longer, blocking a single combined assault from eight great experts was already enough.
Here we go!
Lu Changsheng did not hesitate to make his move. This was the chance he had been waiting for, the perfect moment to strike and wipe everyone out in one blow!
"Five Elements Decomposition! Lesser Five Elements Annihilation! Flame Current..."
With utmost composure and grace, Lu Changsheng activated multiple divine techniques.
The enchanted treasures deployed by the Dao Lords crumbled one after another. At its core, any enchanted treasure was composed of materials derived from the five elements, and Lu Changsheng's Five Elements Decomposition destroyed anything connected to the five elements without fail.
Dao Lords were significantly weaker without enchanted treasures, their strength cut in half. And now, the ones attacking Lu Changsheng had to deal with the Lesser Five Elements Annihilation and the Flame Current.
In that moment, boundless terror gripped the hearts of the eight combatants. They felt like death itself was breathing down their necks.
"N-No way..."
It was over for them. They could not break the Four Symbols Prison, and they could only watch as Lu Changsheng's divine techniques were closing in. In the end, the auras of all eight slowly weakened until they faded completely.
With that, the entire manor was plunged into a deathly silence. Every single individual from the eighteen forces stared in horror at Lu Changsheng and the divine techniques raging through the air. They simply could not believe what had just happened.
Lu Changsheng stood tall, encircled by his own divine techniques, only his aura still perceptible amidst the carnage. There was no mistake about it: Lu Changsheng had just slain all eight experts by himself.
"What the..." Wu Shun's composure cracked, realizing that the second round had just ended with only one contestant alive.
The Treasure Contest was meant to conclude with a third round, but now it seemed like there was no need for that, for the victor had already been decided.
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