Chapter 23: Second Spirit Ability! Undying and Indestructible!
A tidal wave of shocked whispers crashed through the arena, igniting the blood of every Body Sect disciple present. The sheer destructive force they had just witnessed defied all logic.
Chen Lu, Wang Yanfeng, and Gu Tong stood frozen at the edge of the viewing platform. They resembled wooden statues, their souls seemingly ripped from their bodies.
"Is... is that really Senior Brother Liu Yuan's Spirit Eyes?" Chen Lu swallowed hard, his throat bobbing. His voice cracked, hoarse from sheer disbelief. "Why is it completely different from normal Spirit Eyes?"
Wang Yanfeng stared blankly at the pierced slab of basalt. The edges of the molten hole still glowed a faint, angry red. "This destructive power is a bit too exaggerated, isn't it?"
"He isn't walking the path of a control or support Spirit Master at all," Gu Tong muttered, a bitter smile twisting his lips. He shook his head in self-mockery. "This is the purest, most violent killing technique imaginable. No wonder he possesses Gold-grade potential."
Gu Tong let out a long breath. "We only ever thought about using Spirit Eyes to disrupt opponents and support teammates. Yet he directly developed this kind of terrifying offensive ability. This kind of dimensional reduction strike in terms of combat cognition... it is simply perverted!"
High up in the spectator seating, Du Busi could not mask the shock rippling through his gaze. As a level ninety-eight Super Douluo, he had witnessed countless bizarre and heaven-defying Spirit Abilities over his long life. Yet, Liu Yuan's method—highly condensing his mental force through his Spirit Eyes and instantly erupting it outward in the form of a high-energy ray—completely shattered his expectations.
A moment later, the old man threw his head back and laughed. The booming sound echoed across the training grounds, thick with irrepressible ecstasy.
"Good! What a magnificent Spirit Ray!" Du Busi slapped his thigh so hard the stone bench beneath him cracked. The emerald light swirling in his eyes burned brighter than ever before.
"This old man originally assumed his Spirit Eyes were just like the rest, destined for the mundane path of control and support. I never expected this kid to carve out a completely new trail, walking an unmatched path of absolute strong attack!"
"Hahaha! Good! Good! Good!" Du Busi leaned forward, his massive frame trembling with excitement. "This old man cannot wait to see what else he has hidden away!"
...
Down on the arena floor, Long Aotian felt a lingering dread far surpassing that of the onlookers. He had borne the absolute brunt of that crimson beam. But in that heart-stopping fraction of a second, his rich combat experience and iron-forged psychological fortitude kicked in. He suppressed the spike of fear and instantly adjusted his breathing.
"Interesting! Junior Brother, you are indeed worthy of me going all out!" Long Aotian let out a low, rumbling shout. His heavy boots stomped violently against the stone floor, shattering the tiles beneath him. His burly figure transformed into a bronze-colored stream of light, surging rapidly toward Liu Yuan.
Across the arena, Liu Yuan's expression remained as calm as an ancient, undisturbed well. The crimson light deep within his Double Pupils bloomed once more. Without a single trace of hesitation, a second Spirit Ray tore through the air, locking straight onto Long Aotian.
This time, facing that destructive red light, Long Aotian did not attempt to dodge.
The first and third spirit rings glowing at his feet flared with blinding intensity. Accompanied by a beastly roar, his body underwent a shocking metamorphosis.
"First Spirit Ability, Demonic Ape Transformation! Third Spirit Ability, Dark Gold Power!"
Long Aotian's already massive frame swelled, growing several inches taller. His bronze-colored skin, fueled by surging spirit power, hardened rapidly. It took on the cold, heavy metallic luster of raw iron. Every inch of his bulging muscles looked as though they had been forged from tempered steel, exuding an aura of absolute indestructibility.
He intended to rely entirely on his absolute strongest defense—prior to using his Body Martial Soul Secondary Awakening—to forcefully tank Liu Yuan's Spirit Ray and close the distance.
However, he severely underestimated the sheer lethality of Liu Yuan's attack. The most terrifying aspect of the Spirit Ray was not just its piercing force, but its continuous, high-energy thermal burn.
The moment the crimson beam slammed into Long Aotian's metallic skin, a harsh, ear-piercing sizzle erupted. Sparks showered the arena floor like a grinding wheel set against solid steel. That highly condensed mental force, carrying terrifying heat, continuously scorched and eroded his defenses.
At first, Long Aotian gritted his teeth and pushed forward against the pressure. But a split second later, his eyes widened in horror. Wherever the red beam struck, his iron-hard skin actually began to soften and melt.
A violent, stinging agony pierced straight through his skull, stabbing directly into his Sea of Consciousness. The pain was so intense his vision blurred. He actually could not hold on!
'This kind of continuous damage... it is too cheap!' Long Aotian cursed inwardly, his heart racing with shock.
He no longer dared to take the beam head-on. Forcibly twisting his waist, he deployed agile movement techniques, weaving erratically between the crimson blasts. He darted left and right, using visual blind spots to inch closer to Liu Yuan without taking the full brunt of the heat.
As long as he avoided a direct, sustained hit, the deep foundation of a forty-something level Spirit Ancestor finally manifested.
After enduring several agonizing surface burns across his arms and chest, Long Aotian successfully closed the gap, arriving directly in front of Liu Yuan.
"It ends here! Fourth Spirit Ability, Mad God Slash!"
Long Aotian's eyes burned with absolute fanaticism. He let out a thunderous roar, his arms expanding violently under a massive infusion of spirit power. The metallic luster on his skin thickened to an extreme degree, the flesh and bone actually distorting and deforming. In the blink of an eye, his arms transformed into two pitch-black giant axes, each the size of a heavy wooden door!
He leaped high into the air, the two massive blades merging into one singular, devastating weapon. Carrying the momentum of splitting heaven and earth, he slashed violently down toward Liu Yuan's head!
The Body Sect disciples below the arena gasped, many subconsciously retreating a few steps as the terrifying pressure of the axe light swept over the crowd.
"Senior Brother Long Aotian's strength is simply too overbearing. This move completely seals off all of Senior Brother Liu Yuan's escape routes. He might not be able to hold on!"
Someone else shook their head, sighing heavily. "It is completely normal for him to lose here. After all, Senior Brother Long is two whole spirit rings higher than him!"
"Exactly. A twenty-something level fighting a forty-something level, yet he forced him to use a trump card like his Fourth Spirit Ability. In a sense, Senior Brother Liu Yuan has already won this fight!"
The battle on the arena stage reached its absolute boiling point.
Watching Liu Yuan's thin, solitary figure standing so small beneath the massive shadow of the descending giant axe, nearly every disciple assumed the sparring match was over.
In truth, Long Aotian thought the exact same thing.
He had already calculated the trajectory. He planned to halt his giant axe a mere inch above Liu Yuan's shoulder, using the sheer wind pressure to suppress his opponent and declare victory. He had no intention of actually injuring a junior brother possessing such peerless talent.
But what happened next shattered every expectation in Long Aotian's mind.
Facing that fatal, overwhelming blow, Liu Yuan did not retreat. He did not dodge. Instead, a look of absolute, cold-blooded ruthlessness flashed across his face. He actively lunged forward!
He chose the most primitive, brutal method of combat imaginable—trading injury for injury!
In that split second, Liu Yuan completely abandoned all long-range suppression. He raised both of his arms, coating them in a thin, fragile layer of spirit power, and reached out with his bare hands to grab the descending pitch-black giant axe!
Puchi!
The cultivation gap between them was simply an impossible chasm. The very instant Liu Yuan's hands made contact with the razor-sharp axe blade, his arms were sheared off as easily as wet paper.
Blood sprayed into the air in a gruesome crimson arc.
Long Aotian froze. His mind went entirely blank at the sight of the severed limbs. The instinctive urge to pull back his strength caused his downward momentum to halt for a single, fatal instant.
And in that one-thousandth of a second, the crimson light within Liu Yuan's Double Pupils erupted at point-blank range.
Two thick, pillar-like Spirit Rays blasted outward, crashing directly into the center of Long Aotian's chest!
Boom—!!!
The violent, highly condensed energy detonated instantly within the narrow space.
Long Aotian was struck as if by a falling meteor. He let out a muffled groan, the sheer kinetic force blasting him directly off his feet. He flew backward through the air like a broken kite, crashing heavily into the distant protective wall of the arena with a deafening thud.
A deathly, suffocating silence fell over the entire arena.
Long Aotian... lost?
But in that moment, not a single person cared about the outcome of the match. Every pair of eyes in the training grounds was locked in absolute horror on the blood-soaked youth standing in the center of the ruined stage.
Liu Yuan stood there, his arms neatly severed just below the elbows. Jagged white bone jutted out from the ruined flesh, and a massive pool of dark red blood was rapidly spreading across the cracked stone beneath his feet.
"Liu Yuan!!!"
The ecstatic smile on Du Busi's face vanished instantly. It was replaced by a twisted mask of extreme shock and towering rage. His massive figure blurred, turning into a streak of emerald light that tore through the air, rushing straight onto the arena stage.
The surrounding disciples were scared out of their wits, their brains short-circuiting as panic set in.
What were they supposed to do now?
Could a top-tier genius of the Body Sect really be ruined just like this?
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