Team

A flash of red light suddenly swept across Evil Eye's pupil, and a reddish glow immediately lit up around Gao Yingjie in the distance.

Gao Yingjie neither moved nor showed any surprise. He merely smiled calmly. "The Eye of Truth? Your Evil Eye is only in its growth stage. It is still far from capable of probing my cultivation." Long Haochen and Han Yu exchanged a glance, then strode forward and charged Gao Yingjie at the same time. The moment they moved, every member of the team sprang into action.

Wang Yuanyuan swiftly embedded her three gems into the Giant Spirit God Shield. Sima Xian let out a roar, his aura surging as he charged alongside Long Haochen with his staff in hand. As he rushed forward, the muscles all over his body swelled dramatically as he entered a berserk state.

Meanwhile, Cai'er had vanished from where she and Long Haochen had originally stood.

Haoyue's three heads rose simultaneously. Little Light and Little Fire continuously let out low, whimper-like chants, while Little Green spat out two beams of cyan light that landed separately on Chen Yinger and Lin Xin. Their bodies lifted slightly before Haoyue carried them onto its back. Its four hooves flew as it charged after Long Haochen and the others.

The enormous crystal ball had already reappeared in Chen Yinger's hands. Her chanting was crisp and pleasant, like singing.

Lin Xin sat in front of her, raising the Fire Cloud Crystal Staff in his hand. As he rapidly chanted, nearly viscous fire element surged forth. It had to be said that Lin Xin far surpassed Huang Yi, who possessed an earth elemental spirit, in both magical control and elemental affinity. Without the assistance of an elemental spirit, his casting speed with the Fire Cloud Crystal Staff was even faster than Huang Yi's.

While Long Haochen's side launched their attacks, Gao Yingjie acted as though he had seen none of it. He remained completely still.

While charging, Long Haochen and Han Yu moved at roughly the same speed as the berserk Sima Xian. The three of them reached Gao Yingjie almost simultaneously.

Just as they came within ten meters of Gao Yingjie, Long Haochen suddenly shouted. White light shifted at his chest before bursting forth like a white streak of lightning and landing on Gao Yingjie.

The first skill of the Saint Origin Spiritual Stove: Attraction.

Gao Yingjie did not seem surprised in the slightest, but he moved. He took a step forward and planted himself firmly on the ground like a mountain. The boom of that instant shook the yellow earth throughout the Knight Trial Grounds. The ordinary Fine Iron Heavy Sword in his right hand instantly turned a dazzling gold as it slashed toward Long Haochen.

He lowered into a bow stance and raised his shield. Long Haochen's body froze instantly, canceling his charge and standing as steadily as a statue. A ball of white light lit up on the Holy Spirit Shield as he used Holy Light Infiltrating Shield and Divine Obstruction simultaneously.

At the same time, five layers of light lit up around him almost at once.

The first to shine was the Holy Light Shield attached to Long Haochen's Spiritual Light Bracers. The second was another Holy Light Shield cast on him by Han Yu beside him. Then came three magical lights.

Two fire-type and one light-type magical shields shot over from behind and landed on him simultaneously. Combined with the two Holy Light Shields, these Fifth Rank defenses instantly gave Long Haochen five layers of defensive skills.

The three magical shields had naturally been cast by Little Light, Little Fire, and Lin Xin.

Gao Yingjie's eyes lit up, and he nodded inwardly. These young people had found the key point despite cooperating for the first time. A Guardian Knight or shield warrior capable of withstanding enemy attacks was the true core of a team. What was more, this handsome young knight possessed the Saint Origin Spiritual Stove. His defensive posture appeared utterly natural. He truly deserved to be first place in this year's individual competition.

This Gao Yingjie was a decent training leader.

Brother, is this the training leader you mentioned? He's so weak. He isn't even as strong as your Mo Yi.

Gu Sheng, not Sister. Comparing him to mine—what are you even thinking?

Your restaurant is just small-time stuff. How can it compare with coming with me?

Besides, the Mo Yi I chose for you was someone I trusted—one of the most capable in both ability and cultivation methods.

If Brother hadn't helped you bring it up, you might have used the Cycle Power that was meant to be dealt with.

Then, Brother, after this training, can I go train in your space again?

Gu Sheng's answer was, "Sure."

Cai'er: "Hehe."

But was that enough?

The heavy sword continued its downward slash. Gao Yingjie seemed not to notice Sima Xian's staff smashing down from the left with a Holy Light Hammer attached, nor Han Yu's Light Slash Sword coming from the right.

Boom— An almost crushing force made Long Haochen's entire body tremble violently. The five layers of defense before him were as fragile as paper to Gao Yingjie. They merely weakened the golden light on his sword slightly. The strike then slammed heavily into Long Haochen's Holy Spirit Shield.

At that very moment, Evil Eye above Han Yu's head suddenly erupted with a powerful white light. Even with Gao Yingjie's cultivation, his body stalled slightly, and he fell into a brief daze. Only then did his heavy sword strike Long Haochen's shield.

The terrifying impact instantly traveled from the Holy Spirit Shield through every limb and bone. At that moment, Long Haochen felt as though his body no longer belonged to him. That vast, terrifying spiritual power and utterly overwhelming impact sent him flying backward almost while skimming the ground. The golden light of Vengeance of Light flashed rapidly over his body, while an aching numbness spread through him as if he had exhausted all his strength.

Although Long Haochen had already estimated the strength of a Seventh-rank powerhouse highly, only after truly exchanging blows did he deeply understand the enormous gap between them. Even after gathering nearly the entire team's strength, they had only barely managed to block that strike.

A pair of enormous golden wings spread from Gao Yingjie's back at that moment. Han Yu's Light Slash Sword landed on the wings and instantly vanished. Sima Xian's full-force berserk attack struck the other wing with only a bang. The Holy Light Hammer attached to it was instantly assimilated by the powerful, terrifying light element, and his muscular body bounced away as though he had crashed into a mammoth, flying far off before hitting the ground.

Long Haochen did not interrupt the Saint Origin Spiritual Stove. He was the captain and the core of the team. At a time like this, the responsibility of holding back Gao Yingjie naturally fell to him.

Four more lights landed on him, this time forming four full layers of Elemental Shield. Though it was one layer fewer than before, how could a Third Rank Holy Light Shield compare to a Fifth Rank Elemental Shield? His defense was actually several degrees stronger than before.

Long Haochen took a deep breath and desperately urged his Inner Spiritual Power to dispel the numbness in his body. At that moment, the advantage of his External Spiritual Power surpassing that of knights of the same rank became apparent. With a single breath, more than half of the aching numbness had already faded.

After knocking Long Haochen back with one strike, Gao Yingjie could only attack Long Haochen under the Attraction of the Saint Origin Spiritual Stove unless he turned and ran out of the stove's range. With a sliding step, he charged toward Long Haochen. He paid no attention whatsoever to Han Yu's renewed attack, merely giving his wings a slight flutter to block it effortlessly.

Holy Light Infiltrating Shield, Holy Light Shield, Divine Obstruction.

Long Haochen once again activated all his defensive abilities. At that very moment, another layer of red light fell upon him, unexpectedly adding another Elemental Shield.

It was Lin Xin. His casting speed with Fire Cloud Crystal was far faster than Haoyue's. In such a brief interval, he had actually cast two Elemental Shields to assist Long Haochen's defense. Boom— Long Haochen once more met Gao Yingjie's attack head-on. Amid the violent roar, he staggered back seven or eight steps before stabilizing himself. Every defensive barrier around him shattered again. However, compared to the first blow, the greater number of defensive layers meant he handled it much better. At least he no longer felt numb all over.

At the same time, Long Haochen pointed the Holy Spirit Sword forward. A Light Slash Sword enhanced by Vengeance of Light slashed toward Gao Yingjie.

Gao Yingjie was somewhat surprised. This young man, only at the Fifth Rank, had actually completely blocked his attacks twice in a row with his teammates' help. Though Gao Yingjie had not used his full strength, he was still greatly shocked. This team had managed to complete a defense of five Elemental Shields in such a short time. If it had been another newly formed Demon Hunt Squad, they probably could not even cast three in time. Moreover, this young man's Divine Obstruction gave him a sense of perfection. It was not merely skillful; he had grasped the essence of Divine Obstruction's force-dispersing technique.

However, Gao Yingjie clearly did not intend to waste too much time here. After knocking Long Haochen back with a slash, he took a sliding step, intending to immediately follow with a Shield Block Charge. He would not injure these young people, but he would send Long Haochen flying completely and render the Saint Origin Spiritual Stove ineffective. Without the Guardian Knight's primary defense, the others would not even be able to withstand a single blow from him.

But at that very moment, his mind fell into another brief daze, preventing the Shield Block Charge from connecting. Evil Eye swayed its head maliciously above Han Yu's head. Yet Han Yu did not continue attacking. Instead, he stood there like a towering mountain as dense golden mist rose around him. It was Accumulating Power, a skill Long Haochen frequently used.

His current attack could not break Gao Yingjie's defenses. Only by using Accumulating Power to compress his own spiritual power would he have a greater chance.

At that instant, endless majesty and pride appeared, like that of an emperor commanding all beneath heaven.

A massive ball of golden light rose from behind Long Haochen's side, descending from the sky like an enormous crimson-gold meteor and smashing viciously toward Gao Yingjie.

Even Gao Yingjie's expression changed beneath that savage, ancient pressure. For the first time, his gaze grew solemn.

The one soaring into the air was undoubtedly Wang Yuanyuan, and she was in her strongest state after embedding all three gems into the Giant Spirit God Shield.

Radiating dazzling crimson-gold light and flashing with red, yellow, white, blue, and gray patterns, the Giant Spirit God Shield descended upon Gao Yingjie like Mount Tai crushing down from above.

Gao Yingjie no longer pursued Long Haochen. His feet steadied, and in the instant he paused, Long Haochen did not remain idle. Three halos spread out in succession, while an angelic radiance gradually formed above his head as he rapidly chanted.

Faith Aura, Guardian's Grace, Strength Aura. These were the Guardian Knight's three most fundamental auras. Long Haochen had used them so often that, as long as he had a moment to catch his breath, he could cast them instantly without even chanting.

Bolstered by the three great auras and Holy Spirit Protection, the radiance around Wang Yuanyuan became even more dazzling.

Back then, Long Haochen had nearly suffered defeat before the Giant Spirit God Shield. Only with Haoyue's help, combined with Wang Yuanyuan's excessive exhaustion preventing her from unleashing the shield's full power, had he managed to win. If he had not defeated Wang Yuanyuan in that match and allowed her to enter the top sixteen, who knew what the final rankings would have been?

As the true strongest warrior of this year's Warrior Temple, Wang Yuanyuan completely unleashed her combat power at this moment.

He raised his shield and froze in place. It was Divine Obstruction. Gao Yingjie naturally knew how to use this signature skill of high-level knights as well.

Faced with the pressure of the Giant Spirit God Shield, he had no choice but to focus fully on dealing with it.

But at that very moment, a black figure silently appeared behind him, and a dark-golden flash arrived in an instant.

Cai'er, who had been concealed in the darkness, finally moved at this critical moment.

When Long Haochen endured the first attack, Cai'er had already changed positions. Even someone as capable as Gao Yingjie had failed to notice her move from behind Long Haochen to behind Han Yu.

As Gao Yingjie pursued Long Haochen, he naturally passed Han Yu's position. Han Yu was building up power, and Cai'er had arrived behind him as well.

Cai'er had chosen her strike point with extreme precision. It was directly at the center of Gao Yingjie's spiritual power wings—his back. This was the weakest point in his wing defenses.

That was right. Divine Obstruction was indeed powerful, but its greatest flaw was that the body had to remain motionless in the instant of defense. It relied on dispersing force through the entire body to neutralize the enemy's attack. The moment Cai'er chose was precisely the instant his body froze—the instant before the Giant Spirit God Shield collided with his defense.

Cai'er was not the kind of assassin skilled at disguising herself and misleading others through various performances. What she excelled at was concealment, finding opportunities, and delivering a killing blow. Though she could not see, her ability to locate an enemy's weakness was more accurate than anyone's.

Not good. Gao Yingjie's expression changed the instant Cai'er attacked. He was, after all, a Seventh-rank Temple Knight. Although Cai'er's movements were silent, his own senses had already judged the danger.

Years of battling demons had long cultivated an almost beast-like instinct in him. Without the slightest hesitation, he dispersed Divine Obstruction and flashed his heavy sword behind him in a blocking motion. At the same time, his body instantly shone with transparent golden light.

Clang—boom! The two sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

Wang Yuanyuan felt as though she had crashed into a mountain. The violent rebounding force sent her flying backward, even knocking the Giant Spirit God Shield from her grip.

Yet her savage full-force attack also made Gao Yingjie's body sway. A slight dent appeared in the center of the shield in his hand.

Still in the midst of Accumulating Power, Han Yu saw clearly that the heavy sword Gao Yingjie had held behind his back to block Cai'er's attack had actually been pierced through. Cai'er had retreated immediately after landing the blow instead of clashing head-on. He could vaguely see a dark-golden gleam pierce through the heavy sword before being extinguished within the golden radiance rising from Gao Yingjie's body.

The signature skill of a Seventh-rank Temple Knight: Radiant Body.