Was That Something Effort Could Achieve?

Just moments ago, they were close friends sharing their profound understanding of the path to enlightenment; now, they have returned to the brutal arena of competing for points, a fight to the death.

Tuo Bashan, Shen Xuan, and Su Qingyue exchanged a glance.

There was no resentment, no bitterness.

In the depths of each other's eyes, they saw only relief and a resolute determination.

The three no longer intended to attack. Instead, they retreated back to their own positions with perfect understanding. A single glance was enough to quiet down the equally shaken team members behind them, preparing them for the final assault.

Outside, in the Floating Martial Arena.

Ten Thousand Dao gazes were fixed on the Light Screen of the laws, and the entire world seemed to have been silenced.

On the high platform, the instructor leading the team from the Heavenly Sword Martial Academy was no longer as calm and collected as before. He subconsciously tugged at his beard and muttered to himself absentmindedly.

"It's over... But what will he do? With such a huge disparity in strength, if his methods are too ruthless, it might destroy the three children, and even everyone's Dao Heart..."

His words were filled with both affection and concern for these exceptionally talented individuals.

In the seats of the Star River Martial Academy, Old Freak Wang's face, flushed with elation, also showed a rare hint of seriousness. He had also thought about this problem.

Crushing and destroying are separated by a single thought.

Within the Shattered Ancient Battlefield.

Chen Fan ignored the complicated gazes. He turned around and looked at the more than twenty fellow disciples of the Star River Martial Academy behind him, who were already dumbfounded and had even forgotten to breathe.

He gave a reassuring smile; his voice was soft, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Dear Senior Fellow Apprentice and sisters, hold on tight!"

"Next, it might get a little... windy."

Before he could finish speaking...

Chen Fan stepped forward, taking a small step.

This step did not crack the earth, nor did it stir up wind and thunder.

But as his foot landed, the core laws of the entire Shattered Ancient Battlefield seemed to bow down to him at that moment.

The Primordial Era, malevolent energy in the air, capable of eroding one's Divine Soul, flowed around him obediently, like a group of docile pets seeing their master, not daring to approach him even slightly.

All was silent.

Chen Fan raised his hand, without forming any hand seals, circulating any internal energy, or unleashing any earth-shattering moves.

He simply faced the three well-defined, heavily fortified teams, and with a light, airborne press, he made a virtual press.

A calm and gentle voice, resonating through the laws, spread to every corner of the battlefield.

"I apologize for the inconvenience caused by the rules."

"I will... be very gentle."

The next breath.

An invisible and intangible yet omnipresent Dao Rhythm, like the gentlest spring breeze, swept across the entire battlefield.

The Dao Rhythm swept over the Nine Provinces Martial Academy on the west side first.

Those disciples, with their bulging muscles and Qi and Blood surging like furnaces, felt as if a clear spring had been poured into their bodies, instantly cooling them down and bringing them back to calm.

His brute strength, enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, seemed to be completely sealed away by an invisible lock.

A barely perceptible crack quietly appeared on the student tokens at their waists.

"Snap!"

Amidst a crisp cracking sound, all the disciples of Nine Provinces transformed into countless specks of light and were teleported out of the arena.

Tuo Bashan stood at the back of the group. He did not resist, but instead closed his eyes and carefully comprehended the Annihilation Dao Rhythm that soothed all restlessness.

Just before his body turned into specks of light, he let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh, and his figure vanished with a roar.

Immediately afterwards, the Dao Rhythm flowed northward to the Heavenly Sword Martial Academy.

The longswords that Shen Xuan and the hundreds of disciples behind him had once displayed their sharpness and resonated with a constant clatter, suddenly fell silent.

All the sharp, unstoppable Sword Intent seemed to have been gently washed away by the River of Time for billions of years, smoothing out all the edges and washing away all the sharpness, ultimately returning to the ordinariness of a piece of ordinary iron.

"Snap! Snap!"

Then came another series of sounds as tokens shattered.

In his final moments before disappearing, Shen Xuan solemnly performed a sword salute in the direction of Chen Fan.

That is the younger generation's respect for their elders, and also the seeker's respect for the Great Dao.

Finally, Dao Rhythm arrived in front of the Canghai Martial Academy on the east side.

The immense mental power surrounding Su Qingyue and her fellow disciples, which was enough to stir up Mental Storm, was soothed and calmed by a greater and deeper will, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea.

They couldn't even put up any resistance, not even a single thought could arise.

"Click..."

The token shattered.

Su Qingyue's clear, cold eyes gazed deeply at Chen Fan, as if she wanted to etch this childlike figure, along with his godlike abilities, completely into the depths of her soul.

Then, it vanished in a flash of light.

In just a dozen or so breaths.

Nine Provinces, Heavenly Sword, Canghai —three prestigious universities with nearly a thousand Prodigies.

Clear the area.

The only sounds on the Shattered Ancient Battlefield, besides the howling wind, were the heavy breathing of the twenty-odd members of the Star River Martial Academy and their blank, vacant eyes.

Chen Fan slowly withdrew his hand, as if he had only done a trivial thing like brushing dust off his clothes.

He turned around, looked at his fellow disciples who were still Petrification in shock, scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, and revealed a mischievous smile unique to his age.

"Alright, the main force has all left."

He glanced around the empty battlefield, blinked, and asked curiously:

"Now, shouldn't we go and sweep through this battlefield and collect all the points?"

His voice broke the deathly silence.

Among the group, a tall female disciple with the gentle aura unique to the Life School was the first to recover from the shock. She looked at Chen Fan, her pretty face slightly flushed with excitement, and stammered in response.

"Junior Fellow Apprentice... I'll... I'll listen to you."

That sound seemed to awaken everyone.

The other team members seemed to wake from a dream, and their gazes towards Chen Fan had completely transformed from initial curiosity to a near-fanatical worship.

Meanwhile, outside the Shattered Ancient Battlefield.

On the Floating Martial Arena, Ten Thousand Dao gazes were fixed on the Light Screen of laws, and the entire world seemed to have lost its sound.

On the high platform, the hot-tempered instructor of the Nine Provinces Martial Academy twitched at the corner of his mouth. In the end, all his emotions turned into a bitter laugh filled with helplessness.

"What's the point of this competition?" He shook his head, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to his colleagues, "This kid... he's here to teach us all a lesson, to give us all a public lecture."

Beside them, the instructors from the Heavenly Sword Martial Academy and Canghai Martial Academy nodded in deep agreement. Their gazes toward the Star River Martial Academy seats held no longer any competitive spirit, only pure envy and a hint of relief.

Fortunately, his own Qilin Prodigy was not completely Dao Heart by this battle; on the contrary, he gained some insights.

"Old Wang, your Star River Martial Academy has really... struck gold this time."

In the seats of the Star River Martial Academy, Old Freak Wang listened to the sycophantic compliments around him, his old face beaming like a blooming chrysanthemum, but he feigned modesty, saying, "Not at all, not at all, it's all thanks to the children's own hard work."

But he was secretly overjoyed.

Effort?

Is this a level of achievement that can be attained through hard work?