Amidst the roar, Chen Jieqi slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and deliberately dispelled the " Holy Light Domain ".
The platinum-gold realm receded like the tide, and he, pale-faced, leaned on the ground with the Ashbringer as his support.
A burning pain and emptiness emanated from the Naaru Brand between his eyebrows.
Maintaining high-intensity domain combat and command has consumed far more resources than anticipated.
His first glance fell on the core of the team, Ye Lingling.
The girl stood quietly in place, benefiting from the amplification of her Third Spirit Ability given to her by Chen Jieqi.
Although the light of the Nine-Heart Begonia in my hand had dimmed considerably, it still stood tall.
Yu Tianheng, Shi Mo Shi Mo, and Yu Feng Osler helped each other to gather around, all of them injured.
Though their spirits were low, the fire of victory and the camaraderie burning in their eyes shone brighter than any other light.
They naturally centered around Chen Jieqi and Ye Lingling.
It formed a small, battered, yet indestructible circular formation.
Cheers surged like a tsunami over the arena, but in the center of this small circle belonging to the victors,
Yet it strangely maintained a weary tranquility.
There was only heavy breathing and unspoken comfort in each other's eyes.
Chen Jieqi did not look at the boiling stands.
His gaze first bypassed the noise and precisely locked onto the dim window of the Shrek Academy rest area.
Tang San remained standing there, like a sculpture blending into the shadows.
Beneath his excessively long black hair, Chen Jieqi could clearly feel the gaze directed at him.
There was no warmth, no emotion, only a bottomless stillness.
That wasn't observation; it was more like... surveying.
It was as if Tang San was measuring his weakness, inch by inch, with his gaze as his Soul Power was exhausted.
They assessed the limits of Dugu Yan's control skills and calculated the impact of Yu Tianheng's right arm injury on the battle.
Then, that gaze slowly moved upwards, meeting Chen Jieqi's gaze in mid-air.
There were no sparks, no fighting spirit, only a cold, icy confirmation.
Chen Jieqi understood.
Those eyes seemed to say, "I saw it. Your light, your weakness, everything about you. I remembered it."
Tang San nodded to him almost imperceptibly.
That wasn't a greeting, but rather like a butcher marking his livestock.
Then, he withdrew his gaze, turned around, and disappeared into the deep darkness of the lounge, as if he had never been there.
But a chilling aura, even colder than the Demonic Charm on the arena, had already quietly spread from afar.
The chill felt almost tangible, like some invisible spider silk, scattered by the night wind, yet a few fine strands had already clung to the back of his neck.
Chen Jieqi slowly shifted his gaze to the VIP seats.
His gaze first fell on " Xue Qinghe ".
The Heaven Dou Crown Prince maintained his dignified posture, his face calm.
There was even a hint of just the right amount of relief that came from the victory of the Heaven Dou Empire team.
However, Chen Jieqi's pupils contracted slightly.
He saw it.
Beneath Xue Qinghe's flawless princely bearing, his fingers holding the teacup...
It turned bluish-white due to excessive force.
The surface of the water in the cup was rippling with extremely subtle waves, the kind of ripples that should never appear in the hands of a Soul Emperor-level expert.
Xue Qinghe's gaze,
He was "calmly" watching as Hu Liena, unconscious, was hurriedly carried away on a stretcher by medical staff below the stage.
In the depths of that gaze, there seemed to be nothing, yet also something extremely complex and difficult to understand flashed by.
It wasn't sadness, nor joy, but rather an almost divine, detached assessment, and a hint of... closure.
Then, her gaze shifted to Bibi Dong on the throne, and a very faint smile curved her lips.
It's less of a provocation and more of an understanding that "we've finally come to this."
Immediately afterwards, Xue Qinghe seemed to notice Chen Jieqi's gaze, and her eyelids lowered slightly.
When it was lifted again, it was a perfectly gentle expanse.
She nodded almost imperceptibly toward the ring, a flawless, approving smile of authority playing on her lips.
Only his other hand, hanging limply in his sleeve, emanated the scent from the scorched feather in his palm.
The intense heat, almost scalding to the soul, could only be sensed by Chen Jieqi from afar.
Finally, Chen Jieqi's gaze fell upon the supreme figure at the very center of the VIP section.
Pope Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong remained seated on her throne, her exquisite face as if covered by millennia-old ice, utterly unmoved.
Beneath the magnificent Pope crown, a pair of deep purple eyes were silently gazing at Hu Liena as she was carried off the stage.
And Xie Yue was also unconscious beside him.
There was no outrage, no concern, no disappointment.
There was nothing there.
The surrounding noise was deafening, but when it reached within three feet of her, it seemed to be swallowed up by something invisible, leaving no echo.
It was as if what had fallen was not the " Golden Generation " she had painstakingly nurtured, nor the face of the Spirit Hall.
But they were just two... defective tools.
But the Naaru Brand between Chen Jieqi's eyebrows suddenly sent a sharp pain through him the instant his eyes met Bibi Dong's!
That was not an attack, but a response of the individual, an instinctive warning from light to ultimate darkness.
He seemed to see, deep within those Ice Seal purple eyes, in the shadow of the Pope's robes,
Some vast, ancient being, filled with endless malice, is using the eyes of this Pope.
Greedily licking the aura of pain, resentment, and the dissipation of Soul Power that permeated the arena,
And... the "ashes of light" left behind after his own excessive bloom.
Then, Bibi Dong's gaze, seemingly very casually, swept over him, and over all the members of the Huangdou Clan.
Finally, almost imperceptibly, it lingered for a moment in the direction of the Shrek Academy's rest area.
The corners of her mouth seemed to curve into a tiny, imperceptible arc.
That wasn't laughter; it was a chess player seeing the two most valuable pieces on the board.
The cold pleasure revealed when finally forced into a position where a life-or-death struggle was inevitable.
She slowly rose, not looking at the ring again, nor at anyone else.
He simply touched the ground lightly with that scepter.
"Go back to the palace."
These two simple words, yet carrying an undeniable authority, brought this earth-shattering semi-final to a close.
She turned and left amidst the bows of the crowd, the crimson hem of her Pope robes sweeping across the polished floor.
Without a trace of lingering affection, only a silhouette shrouded in endless power and secrets remained.
And the increasingly heavy, suffocating sense of fate in the air.
Chen Jieqi withdrew all his gaze, lowered his head, and looked at his hand, which was still tightly gripping Ashbringer and trembling slightly from exhaustion.
We won.
But why does it feel like I've stepped from one battlefield into a much larger, darker arena?
At the other end of the arena, the silent black figure and the pair of cold purple eyes at the highest point of the stands were both making a silent declaration.
The real war has only just begun. And how long can your light burn?
As the sun finally sank completely below the horizon, the lights of every household in Spirit City began to illuminate the city.
The Angel God Statue statue was bathed in a hazy, dreamlike light.
All the thrilling events of the day seemed to be gently swallowed and concealed by the deep darkness of the night.
But some things, once broken, are difficult to mend.
For example, now that the outcome is already decided.
For example, a future destined for confrontation.
The night wind, carrying distant cheers and the stench of blood nearby, swept across the arena.
Chen Jieqi slowly straightened his extremely tired spine.
Surrounded silently by his teammates, he turned around and led this battered but still radiant team toward the exit of the players' tunnel.
The finals will be held three days later.
That dark figure, those purple eyes, will be waiting for him there.
A night breeze swept over me, and the starlight was cold and clear.