Stirring the Dragon's Reverse Scale, the Cauldron Shocks the Entire Arena!

The echo of "Begin the match" had yet to fade when Yan, intimidated by Zhang Bufan's aura and humiliated beyond measure, erupted like a powder keg that had been completely ignited, letting out a crazed roar!

"Flame Lord! Possession!"

Boom! Crimson flames shot into the sky, enveloping his entire body. His frame swelled, magma-like patterns emerged across his skin, and five Soul Rings—white, yellow, purple, purple, black—rose beneath his feet. His berserk aura was several times stronger than before! He would use absolute strength to wash away his humiliation!

"Fifth Soul Skill! Hell Lava Rush!"

Yan completely disregarded tactical coordination, pouring all his rage and Soul Power into this attack. He slammed both fists into the ground, causing the entire arena to shake violently. A terrifying torrent of scorching magma, over five meters in diameter, surged toward Zhang Bufan like a roaring Flame Giant Python, carrying an aura of utter destruction! Wherever it passed, the sturdy arena was easily torn apart and melted, leaving deep ravines behind!

This was his ten-thousand-year Soul Skill, terrifyingly powerful. Even a Soul Emperor would not dare take it head-on!

"Yan! Get back!" Xie Yue's expression changed drastically. He had not expected Yan to lose his mind so completely at the very start and use his highly draining Fifth Soul Skill. This completely disrupted their planned tactics.

Hu Liena's beautiful face also changed slightly, but with things already at this point, she could only quickly say to Xie Yue, "Brother, get ready!"

She could tell Zhang Bufan was truly enraged. Ordinary attacks would likely be ineffective; they had to use their trump card!

Facing the magma torrent capable of melting metal and iron, Zhang Bufan remained standing where he was, utterly motionless. He did not even look at the roaring attack rushing toward him. Instead, he raised his head slightly, his gaze seeming to pierce through space before falling once more upon Huo Wu's worried face beneath the stage.

His eyes remained cold, yet deep within them surged a gentleness shown only to her.

"Apparently, unless I leave you with a profound lesson, you won't understand..." Zhang Bufan's calm voice rang out, clearly drowning out the lava's roar and the crowd's cries of alarm. "...what it means to be beyond insult."

Just as Hell Lava Rush was about to swallow him, Zhang Bufan finally moved.

He neither dodged nor defended. He merely slowly raised his right hand.

As his right hand rose, an ancient, vast, desolate aura—far older and more majestic than Yan's flames, as though it came from the dawn of creation—suddenly descended!

"Buzz—!"

A phantom appeared above his palm.

It was not a complete form, merely an exceptionally solid phantom whose general outline could still be discerned—a cauldron phantom!

The cauldron's body was ancient and simple, as though it bore the weight of endless ages. Faint patterns of mountains and rivers, sun and moon, and stars flickered across its surface, radiating supreme majesty capable of suppressing the eight desolations and stabilizing Heaven and Earth!

The phantom of the first of the Nine Cauldrons—the [Yu Ding]—had appeared before the world for the first time of its own accord!

Though it was merely a phantom, the instant it appeared, the roaring magma torrent seemed to encounter an invisible chasm. Its speed plummeted, its glow dimmed, and it even let out a sizzling wail as the Fire Element energy within it was rapidly stripped away and suppressed!

"What?!" Yan's pupils contracted sharply. He stared at the tiny cauldron phantom in disbelief. He could feel his connection with his Fifth Soul Skill being forcibly severed!

For the first time, Zhang Bufan's gaze locked coldly onto Yan. That look was like that of a god looking down upon an ant.

"Kneel."

He calmly spoke two words, then lightly pressed down with the right hand supporting the cauldron phantom.

Not at the magma, but at Yan himself!

"Rumble—!!!"

It was as though the entire sky had collapsed! The ancient cauldron phantom abruptly expanded. Though it remained illusory, it carried the weight of an entire world as it crashed down in suppression!

There was no sound, no explosion of light.

Only an absolute law of "suppression" descended upon Yan!

The raging flames around his body were extinguished in an instant, as though drenched in cold water. His swollen body seemed pinned beneath an invisible mountain, every cell groaning beneath unbearable pressure!

"Im... possible!" Yan's eyes nearly split apart. He exhausted all his Soul Power in an attempt to resist, his five Soul Rings flashing frantically, but beneath the cauldron phantom's suppression, they were no more than fireflies before the moon—utterly futile.

"Crack... crack..." The arena beneath his feet shattered inch by inch from where he stood, spiderweb-like fractures spreading dozens of meters outward!

Then, under countless horrified gazes, Yan—the Soul King-level powerhouse of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation—was like a fly struck by an invisible giant hand. Before he could even scream, he was blasted backward at a speed ten times faster than when he had charged out!

"Bang—!!!!!"

With an incomparably muffled boom, Yan's body slammed viciously into the protective light barrier around the arena, set up by a Soul Douluo-level expert!

The sturdy barrier, capable of withstanding a Soul Sage's attacks, rippled violently like fragile glass and released a strained hum. Fine cracks even emerged across its surface!

Yan's body slid down the barrier like a rag doll before crashing heavily onto the ground. Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and he had completely passed out, unconscious.

Meanwhile, the terrifying Hell Lava Rush he had unleashed, having lost its Soul Power support, completely collapsed less than a meter from Zhang Bufan, turning into scattered sparks before vanishing.

From the moment Zhang Bufan raised his hand, to the cauldron phantom's appearance, to Yan being suppressed, sent flying, and knocked unconscious, the entire process had taken no more than an instant!

Fast! Too fast! Strong! Too strong!

The entire Pope's Palace plaza fell into deathly silence.

A pin drop could be heard.

Everyone stood with mouths agape and eyes wide, as though they had all been struck by a freezing spell. Whether ordinary spectators, elites from the various academies, or even Pope Bibi Dong and the Titled Douluo elders atop the high platform, every face was filled with unconcealable shock and horror!

Defeating Feng Xiaotian with one finger? Breaking the Seven-in-One Fusion Skill without even using his Martial Soul?

Compared to what they had just witnessed, those feats were simply child's play!

What kind of power was that?! What Martial Soul was that cauldron?! It was only a phantom, yet with one casual press, it had suppressed a Soul King who had activated his Fifth Soul Skill?! It had even nearly shattered the protective barrier?!

(Famous scene: One Cauldron Shocks the Entire Arena!)

"Gasp—"

No one knew who was the first to suck in a cold breath, breaking the suffocating silence.

Then came an uproar that swept across the entire venue like a tsunami!

"My god! What did I just see?!"

"Yan... Yan was defeated in one move?!"

"What kind of cauldron was that?! That's terrifying!"

"Nine Cauldrons Douluo! Was that his true strength?!"

"He was just playing around before this!"

On the Imperial Fighting Team's side, Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, and the others had long since turned to stone. They knew Zhang Bufan was strong, but they had never imagined he could be this strong! It was an absolute gap so vast that they could not even summon the thought of catching up!

Below the stage, Huo Wu covered her small mouth, her beautiful eyes shimmering as she stared at the godlike figure on the arena. Her heart was filled with an overwhelming sense of security and an indescribable pride. It was him—under the eyes of everyone present—who had displayed such thunderous methods for her sake!

The referee stood dumbfounded in midair for a long while before finally coming to his senses. He hurriedly descended to inspect Yan's condition. Only after confirming that Yan was merely severely injured and unconscious, rather than dead, did he announce with lingering fear, "Martial... Martial Soul Hall Academy Team's Yan has lost the ability to fight!"

Zhang Bufan slowly withdrew his right hand, and the cauldron phantom that had suppressed the entire arena vanished along with it. As though he had merely done something insignificant, he calmly shifted his gaze toward Hu Liena and Xie Yue, who remained.

"Now it's quiet," he said flatly. "Your turn."

Hu Liena and Xie Yue looked incomparably grim, their eyes filled with solemnity and even a trace of... fear. The strength Zhang Bufan had displayed had completely surpassed the bounds of their understanding.

"Nana!" Xie Yue barked, his voice filled with determination.

Hu Liena took a deep breath, suppressing the raging turmoil in her heart as pink light flared brightly in her eyes!

She knew ordinary methods no longer held any meaning. If they wanted to win—or even merely force out more of what he possessed—there was only...

(Inner thoughts — Zhang Bufan: It's quiet now. Next, it's time to deal with the remaining noise. Wu'er, watch carefully. I'll let everyone know the consequences of provoking you.)

(Inner thoughts — Xie Yue: Monster! This guy is absolutely a monster! We can only use that move!)

(Famous quote, Zhang Bufan edition: "No one can defeat me when my BGM is playing." — At that moment, his silent BGM seemed to resound throughout the entire arena.)

(Commentary — Spectator C: I declare that from today onward, Nine Cauldrons Douluo is my god! What Golden Generation? Before him, they're nothing but worthless trash!)

(Commentary — Spectator D: Yan really stepped on a landmine this time... So don't run your mouth for no reason, especially don't insult someone's girlfriend right in front of him.)

Because of Yan's foolish provocation and Zhang Bufan's thunderous retaliation, the course of the finals had been completely pushed in a direction no one had ever anticipated!