Peak Duel, A Battle to Seal the Gods!

On the Life and Death Stage, the obsidian-cast ground reflected a cold, deep luster under the sunlight, as if it could absorb all the heat of life.

The air at this moment became thick and heavy.

Tens of thousands of students held their breath, their gazes like searchlights focused on the two figures in the center of the battle platform.

One was domineering like fire, his battle saber pointed diagonally, exuding an invincible scorching aura of Body Refinement Eighth Level peak, like a war god emerging from flames.

One was tranquil as an abyss, unarmed, his green robes swaying slightly in the wind, his eyes as calm as a reef that had endured millennia of wind and frost, battered by waves.

The stark contrast created a huge visual impact, causing everyone's hearts to tighten subconsciously.

"Silence!"

A sharp shout, imbued with powerful spiritual energy, came from the referee's stand. An old man in the academy's elder attire, with a stern face, slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the crowd like lightning.

"The Life and Death Stage duel determines both victory and death! Once you step onto this stage, life and death are fated, and no one is allowed to interfere!" His voice echoed in everyone's ears. "According to the Merit Monument wager, in this battle, Yellow Class Nine's Lin Xiao challenges Heaven Class Three's Li Tianyi with all his personal Heavenly Class monthly stipend resources as the stake! I now announce, the duel--"

"Begin!"

The moment the last word fell!

"Boom--!"

An extremely violent crimson energy wave erupted from Li Tianyi's body! The obsidian ground beneath his feet was actually cracked by this energy wave, forming a dense spiderweb of fine fissures!

"Trash! Die for me!"

Li Tianyi let out a deafening roar, his tall body like a cannonball shot from a bow, instantly crossing dozens of meters to appear before Lin Xiao! The crimson battle saber in his hand whipped up a scorching gale, descending with the terrifying might of burning all directions!

Blazing Blade First Style - Mountain Splitting Chop!

He showed no intention of probing, unleashing his strongest, most overbearing killing move right from the start! He wanted to use this invincible saber strike to cleave this ignorant trash, along with his laughable dignity, into two! He wanted to show everyone the tragic consequences of provoking the majesty of his Heavenly Class!

Before the saber even arrived, the scorching blade wind had already distorted the air, and a strong sense of death enveloped the entire battle platform!

Countless students with lower cultivation bases below the stage turned pale before this terrifying saber momentum, instinctively closing their eyes, unable to bear witnessing the bloody scene that was about to unfold!

The members of Yellow Class Nine had their hearts in their throats, their fists clenched so tightly that their fingernails dug deep into their flesh!

However, just as the battle saber, capable of splitting mountains and cleaving peaks, was about to land on Lin Xiao's head.

Lin Xiao moved.

He didn't meet the attack head-on, nor did he retreat.

He simply shifted one step to the left.

Just such a simple step.

It was as if it had undergone millions of calculations, reaching the pinnacle of subtlety!

"Whoosh--!"

The battle saber, burning with fierce flames, grazed past the tip of his nose, and with destructive power, it heavily chopped down on the spot where he had just stood!

"Rumble!"

A deafening sound!

The incomparably hard obsidian battle stage was actually cleaved by this saber strike, creating a terrifying saber mark several meters long and half a foot deep! Debris flew everywhere, and dust billowed!

The power of a single saber strike was truly this immense!

A collective gasp of cold air rose from below the stage!

Everyone was stunned by Li Tianyi's domineering and unparalleled saber strike!

But then they fell into even deeper shock!

Because they saw that in the swirling dust, the figure in green was still standing there, completely unharmed!

He... he actually dodged it?!

"Impossible!"

Li Tianyi's pupils contracted sharply! He knew better than anyone the power and speed of his saber strike; even opponents of the same level would not dare to meet or dodge it so casually! How did this trash do it?!

"It must be a coincidence! It has to be a coincidence!"

A trace of shame and anger surged in his heart. Li Tianyi roared and raised his saber again!

"Sweep the Army!"

The crimson battle saber transformed into a scorching streak, tearing through everything with its might as it swept horizontally towards Lin Xiao's waist! The air let out a mournful cry of being unable to bear the burden as the blade passed!

However, facing this saber strike, which had a wider range and faster speed.

Lin Xiao's response was still as simple as ever.

He simply bent his knees slightly and leaned his body back, forming a "bridge" at an incredible angle.

"Swish!"

The deadly blade edge once again grazed his chest by the narrowest of margins! The scorching blade energy had even scorched a mark on his collar!

"What?!"

Li Tianyi's eyes instantly turned red!

If the first time was a coincidence, what about the second time?

This was no longer a coincidence! This was blatant humiliation! The opponent had dodged his full-power attacks twice in a row in such a mocking manner!

"Aaaargh--! I'll kill you!"

Li Tianyi was completely consumed by rage! The spiritual energy within his body surged madly, and the battle saber in his hand transformed into countless crimson afterimages, enveloping Lin Xiao like a deadly storm.

"Blazing Blade!" "Wildfire!" "Burning Heaven and Boiling Seas!"

One strike! Ten strikes! A hundred strikes!

Each strike contained the terrifying power of a peak Body Refinement Eighth Level! Each strike was enough to shatter mountains and rocks!

The entire Life and Death Stage was filled with crisscrossing blade light and splashing sparks! The violent blade energy gouged the hard ground, leaving it riddled with holes!

The audience below was already stunned speechless, their hearts on the verge of shattering!

However, no matter how violent or dense the storm of blade light was.

The cyan figure at the center of the storm remained like a small boat navigating through towering waves, seemingly on the verge of being swallowed at any moment, yet always finding a sliver of life in the most perilous instants to gracefully evade.

Not a single step he took was wasted. Not a single movement of his body was superfluous.

He was like the most masterful dancer, performing a heart-stopping dance of death on the edge of a blade!

What he was performing was the Basic Movement Technique, long dismissed by everyone as mere introductory material, something to be disdained! But under his feet, this most ordinary movement technique seemed to have been imbued with a soul, evolving into infinite profundity!

The members of Yellow Class Nine below watched with burning passion!

"The Chief taught us! 'Exchange the smallest price for the greatest evasive space'! He did it! He really did it!" Zhou Xiaoshu shouted excitedly.

And on the high platform, Vice Principal Chu Tianxing's eyes flashed with unprecedented brilliance!

"Returning to simplicity... The Great Dao is simple..." he murmured, his cloudy old eyes filled with shock. "This kid isn't fighting... he's comprehending the Dao! He has actually elevated a most basic movement technique to the realm of 'Dao'! This child... what kind of monstrous talent is this child?!"

Only Lin Xiao himself knew that he wasn't relying on just the "Dao".

He was also relying on the System, which was as precise as a supercomputer!

[System Notification: Target's right arm downward slash, speed 32, angle 75, estimated arrival in 0.2 seconds...]

[System Notification: Turn left 15 degrees, step back half a pace, perfect evasion possible!]

[System Notification: Target's horizontal slash, blade trajectory covers a radius of three meters, weakness located at its rear left...]

With the System's assistance, Li Tianyi's seemingly storm-like attacks appeared like slow-motion replays in Lin Xiao's eyes, filled with flaws and openings!

He wasn't just dodging; he was observing and verifying!

He was using Li Tianyi, this perfect "whetstone," to hone his own nascent martial path of simplifying complexity!

"Enough! You useless trash who can only hide and scurry like a rat!"

After hundreds of continuous fierce attacks that failed to even scratch Lin Xiao, Li Tianyi had instead exhausted most of his stamina and spiritual energy! He finally stopped, panting like an ox, his eyes bloodshot, his arrogant face contorted with impotent rage!

He felt like a strongman swinging a giant hammer, unable to hit a fly, filled with endless frustration and humiliation!

"Have you dodged enough?" Lin Xiao finally stopped his steps as well. He looked at the enraged Li Tianyi and asked calmly, "If you have, then it's my turn."

"You're seeking death!" Li Tianyi thought Lin Xiao was about to unleash some earth-shattering ultimate move and immediately adopted a tight defensive posture.

However, Lin Xiao's figure instantly vanished from his spot!

The next moment, he appeared like a phantom to Li Tianyi's left side!

No flashy techniques, no astonishing aura.

He simply pointed his fingers together like a sword and lightly tapped towards Li Tianyi's left ribs!

This seemingly ordinary finger strike was as fast as lightning!

Li Tianyi didn't even have time to react. He only felt a numbness in his ribs, followed by a piercing pain that caused his slashing stance to falter!

"Bang!"

Immediately after, Lin Xiao's other hand transformed from a palm into a fist. A most ordinary basic punch—a straight punch—landed squarely on his sword-wielding wrist!

"Clang!"

In pain, Li Tianyi couldn't even hold onto his battle saber, and it flew out of his grasp, clattering to the ground!

Before he could recover from the shock, Lin Xiao's figure closed in again!

Basic Palm Technique: Pushing Window to Gaze at the Moon! Basic Leg Technique: Sweeping Army! Basic Grappling Hand: Reverse Joint Lock!

For a moment, everyone witnessed a scene they would never forget in their lives!

Lin Xiao, like the most rigorous martial arts instructor, circled Li Tianyi, who was a size larger than him, conducting a dazzling "lesson"!

All he used were the basic martial skills that Body Refinement Realm students of the first or second level would practice!

But in his hands, these simplest moves seemed to come alive! The fluidity of the transitions, the cunning of the angles, the precision of the timing—it was simply art!

Li Tianyi, a powerhouse at the peak of Body Refinement Eighth Level, was now like a clumsy puppet being toyed with by Lin Xiao!

He possessed immense strength and spiritual energy but had no way to unleash it!

The moment he tried to raise his hand, his wrist was deflected by a subtle force! The moment he tried to kick, his knee was struck hard! The moment he tried to gather spiritual energy, a sharp pain would erupt from some acupoint on his body, causing the gathered spiritual energy to instantly dissipate!

Humiliation!

Unprecedented humiliation!

The audience below had long since gone from initial shock to complete stupefaction.

Their brains were completely unable to comprehend everything happening before their eyes.

A Body Refinement Seventh Level cultivator, using the most trashy Basic Movement Technique, had actually beaten a peak Body Refinement Eighth Level genius to the point where he couldn't retaliate?

What was wrong with this world?!

"Aaaah—! I'll kill you!"

After being hit in the chest by "Black Tiger Steals Heart," a move from the Basic Fist Technique, by Lin Xiao, causing him to stumble back seven or eight steps, Li Tianyi's arrogant self-esteem was finally utterly crushed!

He roared to the sky like a beast, his eyes filled with crazed bloodshot veins!

"You forced me! You forced me!"

He suddenly pulled out a blood-red pill from his embrace and swallowed it without hesitation!

"It... it's a 'Mad Blood Pill'!" Chu Tianxing's expression on the referee's stand changed drastically! "This pill can burn one's vital essence and blood for a short period, forcibly boosting combat power by one realm! But the after-effects are immense; at best, cultivation regresses, and at worst, the foundation is destroyed! Is this Li Tianyi insane?!"

"Boom—!"

As the pill entered his mouth, a terrifying aura several times stronger than before erupted from Li Tianyi's body! His skin turned a bizarre blood-red, and his muscles visibly swelled by a full circle!

Body Refinement Ninth Level!

Stimulated by the drug, he had actually briefly entered the final stage of the Body Refinement Realm!

"Die! Die for me!"

Li Tianyi felt the unprecedented, world-destroying power within him, a ferocious and crazed smile appearing on his face. He kicked the battle saber on the ground up, grasped it again, and transformed into a bloody afterimage, charging at Lin Xiao once more!

This time, his speed and strength were more than a notch above what they were before!

"Blazing Blade Final Secret - Body Burning Fury!"

He poured all his strength into this single strike! The crimson battle saber was instantly enveloped in a thick, inky blood-red flame, and a ferocious phantom of a fiery beast even appeared on the blade!

This strike had already surpassed the scope of Profound Tier martial skills, infinitely approaching Earth Tier!

This strike was enough to instantly kill any cultivator below Body Refinement Ninth Level!

The entire Life and Death Stage was enveloped by this terrifying blade intent! Everyone felt a tremor from the depths of their souls!

It's over!

There was no way the young man named Lin Xiao could dodge this time!

However, facing this world-destroying strike, Lin Xiao's face still showed no trace of fear.

He simply sighed softly.

"I originally wanted to play with you a bit longer."

"Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish."

His gaze instantly became as sharp as an eagle's!

His previously calm aura finally erupted completely, without reservation!

A condensed, pure True Meaning of Martial Dao, filled with unyielding dominance, shot up into the sky!

He didn't dodge.

Because he was waiting for this very moment!

This moment when Li Tianyi burned everything to unleash his strongest strike, exposing all his flaws!

His body sank slightly, his right fist slowly retracted behind his waist.

He concentrated all his strength into this single point.

He integrated the profound meanings of all thirteen hundred and twenty-four basic martial skills into this punch.

He entrusted his unyielding True Meaning of Martial Dao, daring to throw a punch at the entire world, into this punch!

Then.

He faced the incoming blood-red blade energy, which was like a volcanic eruption.

He simply threw out a punch!

This punch had no name.

This punch was plain and unadorned.

But this punch seemed to condense the most fundamental principle of "shattering" in the world!

Time seemed to slow down at this moment.

Everyone clearly saw.

The fist of the young man in green, with seemingly slow but actually extremely fast speed, arrived later but struck first, accurately and precisely landing on the world-destroying blood-red blade energy!

There was no earth-shattering roar.

There was no world-ending explosion.

Instead, there was only a light "crack" sound, like shattering glass.

Immediately after, under the astonished gazes of everyone present, as if they had seen a ghost.

That blood-colored blade aura, capable of cleaving mountains, the ferocious, roaring fiery beast, began to crack inch by inch from the point where the fist made contact!

Fine cracks spread across the entire blade aura like a spiderweb in an instant!

The next second.

"Bang--!"

The sky full of blade aura shattered violently!

It turned into billions of scattered sparks and dissipated into the air!

And Lin Xiao's fist, its power undiminished, passed through the rain of fire and lightly landed on Li Tianyi's face, which was contorted in terror.

"Pfft--!"

Li Tianyi's burly body was like being hit head-on by an ancient ferocious beast. He was sent flying backward, spitting a long stream of blood in mid-air before crashing heavily onto the stage dozens of meters away, his fate unknown!

Instant kill!

An instant kill with a single punch!

The entire venue fell into dead silence.