Fierce Battle

The Stone-Devouring Beast Yulian had transformed into stood several meters tall, its entire body composed of grayish-white boulders whose surfaces shimmered with a layer of silver light.

The Stone-Devouring Beast's enormous fist came crashing down at Andres.

Andres shifted his feet and lightly retreated. In the blink of an eye, he had appeared several meters behind, evading the blow.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, a huge crater appeared where Andres had been standing.

"Yulian actually went all out from the very start!" Many people in the audience grew excited.

Everyone still remembered Yulian's battle against Richard. The silver light had only appeared on Yulian's body midway through that fight, yet now he had already entered the same state as before.

"Let's test your defense first."

After easily dodging the strike, Andres did not continue retreating.

He swung his sword forward, thrusting the flexible blade in his hand toward Yulian.

"Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth!"

He did not use his full strength, merely employing the realm of Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth.

Under the pressure of the surrounding space, Yulian's movements immediately slowed.

"So this is the realm of Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth used by ordinary Saint Realm experts?" Yulian's heart tightened. Beneath that immense pressure, he could only watch helplessly as Andres's sword pierced his body.

Boom!

With a single slash, Andres cleaved Yulian in two.

The bodily defense that Richard had found so difficult to breach was effortlessly split apart beneath his blade.

Countless fragments of stone flew through the air. The lower half of Yulian's body turned into ordinary rocks and shattered across the ground, while his upper body rolled away into the distance.

"Ninth Rank!"

Trevor's face filled with delight at the sight.

From that sword strike, he could tell that Andres's Battle Qi had reached the Ninth Rank.

If Andres's Battle Qi had still been at Level Eight, that strike could never have broken through Yulian's defense so easily.

The other Human Saint Realm experts were also both shocked and delighted. Andres's breakthrough had caught them by surprise.

Only Patur was forcibly suppressing the displeasure in his heart.

"No rush. Yulian hasn't used his full strength yet either. It's still too early to determine the winner." Patur thought to himself.

The strength Yulian had displayed so far was not much different from when he had fought Richard, but Patur knew that Yulian's current strength went far beyond this.

On the other side of the audience, Inori and the others were equally stunned.

"No wonder he was so confident. He'd already broken through to the Ninth Rank!" Teresa finally understood why Andres had said earlier that day that he was completely certain of victory.

Inori's feelings were far more complicated.

"Why had he cultivated so quickly?"

She could not understand it no matter how much she thought about it.

Six years ago, Andres had merely been an ordinary Level Seven Warrior, nothing remarkable, while she had already been the foremost genius of the younger generation in the Oga Kingdom.

To her, Andres had only been a reliable subordinate.

Six years later, she had reached Peak Level Eight, comprehended Treating Light as Heavy, and become a Holy Alliance Trainee. Even on the Sacred Tree Continent, she could be considered a genius, yet Andres's progress was even more astonishing.

The look in her eyes as she watched Andres could not help but grow complicated.

Andres's sword strike set off waves of astonished cries from the audience.

Yet Andres himself was completely unaffected by his surroundings. Sword in hand, he charged toward Yulian.

He knew that the Stone-Devouring Beast's true body was its heart core. Losing its lower half was not a fatal injury for Yulian, so he intended to press his advantage.

Yulian had stopped rolling. Facing the charging Andres, silver light suddenly burst from his body, so dazzling that it was nearly impossible to keep one's eyes open.

Unable to gauge his opponent's current state, Andres chose not to continue attacking. Instead, he retreated far away and observed.

The silver light soon faded. Once it had receded, Yulian's massive body had vanished, replaced by a completely silver humanoid creature.

The humanoid creature stood nearly 1.9 meters tall. Its entire body was smooth and gleamed with silver light. It had no facial features, resembling an unfinished statue cast from silver.

"Andres, I didn't expect you to force me to use my full strength."

Yulian's calm voice came from within the silver humanoid creature.

The moment his words fell, he shot toward Andres like a streak of silver light.

Andres drew his sword instantly.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out.

The tip of Andres's flexible sword struck Yulian's right fist as it swung out.

His fist was like silver metal. When the flexible sword hit it, sparks flew.

"What a tough body!"

Andres's expression changed slightly. Yulian's physical strength had risen to another level. Even the sword strike he launched with "Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth" had failed to break through his opponent's defenses.

Yulian kept throwing punches, launching attack after attack at Andres.

There was no realm insight in his attacks at all—only pure physical power.

Facing Yulian's attacks, Andres continuously swung his sword to block them.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The crisp sound of metal striking metal echoed across the arena as sparks flew in every direction.

Andres's flexible sword left countless sword marks across Yulian's body, but none of them were deep enough to pose any real threat.

Relying on his overwhelming strength, Yulian blocked Andres's sword strike after sword strike.

Even though Andres's realm was far higher than Yulian's, he could do nothing to him. That was the advantage of having an overwhelmingly powerful body.

For the Human Race, comprehending the realm of "Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth" was a necessary step toward becoming a Saint Realm expert, but it was not absolute. There were also certain special beings who could reach the Saint Realm without comprehending "Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth."

For example, the Four Ultimate Warriors from the original work.

Among Linley's ancestors, there had once been one who wielded a warhammer. When he reached the Saint Realm, he had only comprehended "lifting heavy things as though they were light," without reaching "Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth."

A Saint Realm Peak Dragonblood Warrior, even without much comprehension of Law Profundity, could contend against second-tier Saint Realm experts, second only to those at the Saint Realm limit. What they relied on was their powerful Battle Qi and physical bodies.

Yulian was in precisely that situation now.

Though he had little comprehension in terms of realm, his body was simply too powerful, making up for that weakness.

After exchanging blows for a while, neither Andres nor Yulian could do much to the other.

It was difficult for Andres to inflict any substantial injury on Yulian, while Yulian's attacks also found it hard to touch the nimble and agile Andres.

The fierce battle left many spectators staring in stunned disbelief.

"Can a Level Nine Warrior really reach this level of strength?" Many people sighed in amazement.

"Could this end in a draw?" Trevor watched the battle on the arena with some regret.

If Andres won, he would truly deserve the number one spot on the Cadet Ranking. If it ended in a draw, at most they would share the position. Naturally, he hoped Andres would win.

In contrast, Patur was practically praying for Andres to lose.

Just as everyone harbored their own thoughts, a sudden change erupted on the arena!

Clang!

With a crisp ring, the flexible sword in Andres's hand snapped!