The Decisive Battle Begins

Cao Benqi's fighting spirit surged at these words, his burning gaze fixed on Ling Xuan as if he wanted to swallow him whole.

"Are your eyes twitching?" Ling Xuan glanced at Cao Benqi indifferently; this guy was always staring at him.

"Now, you finally can't escape, can you?" Seeing that Ling Xuan had finally acknowledged him, Cao Benqi spat out his inner thoughts with satisfaction.

"Don't worry, I'll entertain you properly in a moment," Ling Xuan sneered.

"Yanmo, I hope you go all out later. I want to see just how vast the gap between us really is," Feng Lishuang also walked over to greet Ling Xuan.

Looking at Feng Lishuang's earnest expression, Ling Xuan nodded solemnly, "I will certainly satisfy you later."

The round-robin tournament among the top five progressed quickly.

Ling Xuan defeated Yuanmo Austin and the wild blade Alister in succession.

These two were considered the weakest of the top five, and having now lost to Ling Xuan, they could only compete for fourth place.

In the third match, Ling Xuan faced Feng Lishuang.

As soon as the battle began, Feng Lishuang tapped her toes lightly, her fiery red combat suit rustling as the Nine Phoenix Divine Fire Spear transformed into a streak of red light in her hands.

"Let me see just how deep the chasm is between a genius born once in ten million epochs and a mortal."

The Nine Phoenix Divine Fire Spear, wrapped in rolling heat waves, pierced straight toward Ling Xuan's throat like a crimson bolt.

Before the spear even reached him, the scorching airflow had already ruffled the hair on Ling Xuan's forehead.

Ling Xuan's pupils constricted. He flicked his wrist, and the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear drew a cold, sharp arc, precisely meeting the fire spear.

"Clang!" The sound of metal colliding was deafening, and sparks flew everywhere.

Feng Lishuang seized the opportunity to twist her waist, the fire spear whipping out like a flexible lash, sweeping toward Ling Xuan's neck.

Ling Xuan dodged sideways, his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear following through with an upward diagonal strike, the fierce blade wind cutting through the air.

Their figures intertwined like ghosts, a dense web of blade light and spear shadows filling the space.

Seizing an opening, Ling Xuan channeled his surging origin power into the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear and unleashed "Flame Blade First Bloom" with a diagonal slash.

In an instant, the blade ignited with roaring crimson flames, carrying immense power as it slashed toward Feng Lishuang's neck.

Feng Lishuang's willow-leaf brows arched. Instead of retreating, she advanced, slamming her Nine Phoenix Divine Fire Spear upright to block the lethal strike head-on.

The powerful impact made her arms go numb, but she used the force to press forward, the spear tip lunging straight for Ling Xuan's chest.

At the critical moment, Ling Xuan suddenly twisted his blade. The flames spread along the weapon, entangling and colliding with the fire light erupting from Feng Lishuang's spear.

Ling Xuan's gaze sharpened. He swept his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear horizontally, the flames turning into a hundred-meter-wide curtain of fire like a surging tide, sweeping toward Feng Lishuang with the force of a cataclysm.

Seeing this, a flash of determination crossed Feng Lishuang's beautiful eyes. The power of the origin law of fire within her surged wildly, and the Nine Phoenix Divine Fire Spear erupted with nine dazzling pillars of light. Nine phantom fire phoenixes shrieked as they emerged, merging into a massive golden fire phoenix—this was "Nine Phoenixes Facing the Sun"!

The fire phoenix, charging headlong into the curtain of flames, collided with Ling Xuan's attack, erupting with an earth-shattering roar. The powerful energy fluctuations churned the air around the arena into chaos.

Wave after wave of fire crushed the phoenix instantly, the remaining torrents rolling relentlessly toward Feng Lishuang.

However, knowing that Nine Phoenixes Facing the Sun was no match for her opponent, Feng Lishuang had already dodged to the side. Taking advantage of the aftermath of the "Burning Wave Horizontal Slash," she danced with her spear, the tip erupting with thousands of tiny sparks.

"Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix!"

Countless fire birds shot toward Ling Xuan, covering the sky. Ling Xuan's expression was grave as he danced his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear into an impenetrable, scorching net of blades, shredding the fire birds one by one.

During the melee, Feng Lishuang suddenly changed her tactics, the butt of her spear sweeping out like a meteor and forcing Ling Xuan to lean back to dodge.

Immediately after, she pivoted the spear, unleashing a surge of firepower as she thrust directly at Ling Xuan's abdomen.

Ling Xuan's legs bent sharply, and he leaped high like a spring, his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear descending with the crushing force of Mount Tai.

Feng Lishuang raised her spear to parry, but she saw Ling Xuan twist his body in mid-air. The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear drew three illusory blade shadows, weaving together to form an airtight net.

"Blade Domain Whirlwind Kill."

Feng Lishuang frowned, swinging her Nine Phoenix Divine Fire Spear with all her might, layer upon layer of spear shadows attempting to block.

But the third stage of the Fire God Absolute Domain Blade was far beyond the power of the first stage, "Flame Blade First Bloom." The moment the blade shadows enveloped Feng Lishuang, they completely shattered her spear momentum, turning her entire body into streams of data.

Below the arena, Cao Benqi watched Ling Xuan, who had tangled with Feng Lishuang for so long, a cruel smile hanging on his lips. "Although I don't know how you managed to clear the Trial Tower, looking at you now, you're nothing special."

"Pfft! Big Bad Cao is talking nonsense again!" Ren Yaoli popped up, bouncing around. "Ling Xuan is clearly super strong! Lishuang is so powerful and she was still beaten to a pulp; if it were you up there, you probably wouldn't even be able to take three moves!"

As she spoke, she made a face at Cao Benqi, making the hand gripping his halberd tremble slightly with rage.

"Still, Ling Xuan, aren't you being too ruthless? Lishuang is such a pretty girl, and you were willing to hack her to pieces."

Leng Yanqiu let out a delicate huff. As the only one of the three women who hadn't fought Ling Xuan yet, she felt she should be special in his heart. Since he hadn't held back at all against Ren Yaoli and Feng Lishuang, would he show mercy when facing her?

Ling Xuan scratched his head, looking innocent. "Didn't Lishuang ask me to go all out? I couldn't exactly throw the match, could I?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Feng Lishuang's figure was also teleported out, her eyes as cold as ice. "Ling Xuan, next time, I won't lose again."

Now, only Ling Xuan and Cao Benqi remained to fight. This battle would determine the first-place winner of this year's genius tournament.

After resting for a while, the two were teleported onto the arena together.

"Ling Xuan, I've waited a long time for this moment. Today, you won't have a single chance." Cao Benqi stood ten meters tall, clutching a crimson halberd, a look of excitement flashing in his eyes as he looked down at Ling Xuan.

"You're so eager to get beaten up; do you have some kind of sickness?" Ling Xuan quietly mobilized his Xiantai realm cultivation.

In terms of law comprehension, the gap between the two was immense, but the gap in their cultivation time was even greater. Cao Benqi was older than Ling Xuan's great-grandfather; relying on external forces to fight for now was nothing to be ashamed of.

Hearing Ling Xuan dare to pick faults with him again, a sinister glint flashed in the depths of Cao Benqi's eyes, and the vortex of flames gathering at the tip of his halberd flickered with a ghostly light: "Die!"

His massive body moved like a thunderbolt, the crimson halberd carrying the force to split mountains and crack rocks as it smashed down toward Ling Xuan's head like a pillar from the heavens.

Ling Xuan did not retreat but instead advanced, his figure as agile as a swallow; he tapped his toes against the ground and vaulted into the air, the crimson blade light appearing exceptionally dazzling beneath the shadow of the giant halberd.

"Clang!" Amidst a spray of sparks, the small Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear collided heavily with the giant halberd.

Cao Benqi used the momentum to flip and leap up, the giant halberd hacking down from above with such force that the wind it stirred up formed a small hurricane.

Ling Xuan twisted his waist to the side, his blade slanted upward; though the immense force sent him flying backward, he used the momentum to flip in mid-air and landed steadily.

Cao Benqi landed and used the force to sweep horizontally, the dark red flame blade trailing from the great halberd stretching dozens of meters long; Ling Xuan spun and retreated rapidly, the flame blade grazing his hem and plowing a scorched trench several meters deep into the ground.

"Burning Wave Horizontal Slash!" Ling Xuan roared, sweeping the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear outward as a hundred-meter-wide curtain of flames surged forward.

Cao Benqi raised his giant halberd to block, the collision between the flames and the halberd blade erupting with a heaven-shaking roar.

Ling Xuan used the force to leap into the air, his figure moving nimbly around Cao Benqi's massive frame as a second curtain of flames slashed down immediately after, even wider and more scorching than the first.

Thanks to Qin Xianlin for the 500 Qidian coins tip, and thanks to President Qin.

Almost forgot to update.