Dust Settles

Shi Feng naturally had no idea that Qin Zhao's move wasn't a simple attack technique, but a force that struck directly at the essence of the Law of Earth: the profound power of the Pulse of the Earth. Vibration was one of the fundamental forms in which matter and energy existed. Drawing a resonance from the domain was well within Qin Zhao's abilities.

Seizing this opportunity, Qin Zhao moved. He lightly stamped his foot and shot forward like a ghost, instantly closing the distance between himself and Shi Feng. At the same time, he thrust out both hands, flicking all ten fingers!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

One needle-thin, ochre Shockwave after another no longer attacked over a wide area. Instead, they shot precisely toward the vital points around Shi Feng's body and several key nodes in the operation of his domain! The Shockwaves were finer than strands of hair, yet contained terrifying penetrating power and a destructive vibration frequency.

Realizing how terrifying these Shockwave attacks were, Shi Feng was both shocked and furious!

He forced the giant hammer and his domain into a steady state, swinging the hammer to block as he urged the power of his domain to form a thick earthen wall in front of him. "Pfft, pfft, pfft..." Most of the Shockwaves were stopped by the wall, but the wall itself quickly cracked and collapsed under the high-frequency vibrations. A few Shockwaves still pierced through his defenses and struck his battle armor.

"Hmph!" Shi Feng grunted. Even with the battle armor weakening the blows, that strange vibrating force still penetrated his body, setting the Origin Force throughout him vibrating in sync. His internal organs churned with discomfort. His formidable physique and Origin Force had allowed him to withstand the attack without immediately losing his ability to fight like his previous opponents, but he was far from unscathed.

"You've well and truly angered me!" Shi Feng roared, a resolute glint flashing in his eyes. He couldn't accept being pressed by an opponent whose domain was inferior to his own, much less suffering minor injuries.

"I'd intended to save this move for a decisive moment, when I could finish off an opponent... Qin Zhao, you can be proud that you forced me to use it!"

Before his words had even faded, Shi Feng's already powerful aura surged once more! The ochre light of the domain around him blazed brightly, its range expanding rapidly as its color grew deeper and its presence heavier!

Seventh layer... Eighth layer... Ninth layer!

Boom!

A domain pressure several times stronger than before descended with a crash! Ninefold Earth Domain! The profound conception of weight, solidity, and bearing all things seemed to become tangible. Under this pressure, the surrounding sand compressed furiously, becoming as hard as metal. Even the air seemed to solidify, making it difficult to breathe.

"Ninefold Domain! Shi Feng was hiding his strength!"

"My god! He has a Ninefold Domain at Planet Level! Was this his real trump card?"

"Qin Zhao's in danger now! A Ninefold Domain is invincible among domains!"

Exclamations rang out from the spectator stands. A Ninefold Domain represented the pinnacle of achievement before the laws; the next step was the mysterious threshold of the laws themselves! Shi Feng's demonstrated power far exceeded everyone's expectations!

"Ninefold Domain... paired with my Thousand Mountain Collapse! You're finished!"

Shi Feng surged with momentum. Gripping the Mountain Splitter Hammer in both hands, he gathered the power of his entire Ninefold Domain into its head. The giant hammer radiated a heart-stopping black light, as if it had truly become an ancient divine mountain on the verge of collapse. With an aura that threatened to destroy everything, it crashed down toward Qin Zhao! The blow was many times more powerful than before! The cosmic energy around them seemed to form a vacuum beneath the hammer's strike.

At the sight of this earth-shattering attack, a hint of seriousness finally appeared in Qin Zhao's eyes. The full force of a Ninefold Domain truly couldn't be underestimated. Earth Pulse Guard alone probably wouldn't be enough to withstand it completely. However, that was all.

"Ninefold Domain... Not bad," Qin Zhao murmured. As the giant hammer, seemingly capable of shattering mountains, bore down on him, he did something no one could have expected. He dispelled the protective barrier of Earth Pulse Guard that he had maintained all along. He didn't even adopt a defensive or evasive stance. He merely raised his right hand slowly, spreading his fingers, and gently pushed upward against the descending hammer.

"Has he lost his mind?!"

"He's taking Thousand Mountain Collapse head-on, with the power of a Ninefold Domain behind it?"

Countless spectators stared in disbelief.

Just as the giant hammer was about to touch Qin Zhao's palm—

"Buzzz!!!"

A domain fluctuation far deeper, grander, and closer to the Origin Law than the earlier Shockwaves erupted from Qin Zhao's palm!

This was Qin Zhao's Ninefold Domain! There was no great crash, only a deep, low hum that seemed to come from the very World Core and made even the soul tremble!

The Mountain Splitter Hammer, carrying the unmatched power of a Ninefold Domain, struck an invisible field of vibrating force in front of Qin Zhao's palm—and seemed to plunge into a bottomless mire of vibration! The terrifying force gathered in the hammerhead melted away like snow, instantly undone, dispersed, and neutralized by the high-frequency, profound, omnipresent vibrations!

The black light scattered, and the domain wailed!

Shi Feng felt as though he hadn't brought down a hammer, but a mountain had slammed into another, far larger divine mountain that was vibrating violently! A tidal wave of backlash surged toward him!

Crack! He heard the bones in his arm break under the strain.

Pfft! The blood he spat out stained the breastplate of his armor red.

The Tier 3 Force Weapon, the Mountain Splitter Hammer, let out a mournful cry. Fine cracks appeared across its head, and it flew from his grasp!

Shi Feng himself was struck head-on by an invisible star. He flew backward even faster than he had charged in, tracing a long arc through the air before crashing into a sand dune hundreds of meters away. He smashed into a deep crater, dust billowed around him, and he lost consciousness completely.

Every spectator in the entire Martial Arts World fell silent. All of them stared dumbfounded at the figure in the arena, who slowly lowered his hand and remained standing calmly. Shi Feng had a Ninefold Domain and had unleashed his strongest attack, yet he had been... defeated in an instant, with such casual ease, in a way they couldn't understand?

What did it mean to crush an opponent like dry weeds and rotten wood? This was what it truly meant!

Qin Zhao's previous fights had also been one-sided, but at least the shifts between offense and defense had been visible. In this battle, facing Shi Feng at full strength, Qin Zhao had revealed an even more unfathomable level of power! That final, casual upward push in particular had utterly surpassed their understanding of what a Planet Level fighter could do.

"Winner: Qin Zhao!" The virtual system's resounding announcement rang out once more, breaking the silence.

In the next instant, deafening cries of astonishment and debate erupted like a tidal wave.

"What... was that just now?"

"I couldn't see clearly! How did Shi Feng's Thousand Mountain Collapse suddenly fall apart?"

"It was vibration! An incredibly advanced use of vibration! It could actually dismantle the full-force strike of a Ninefold Domain?"

"This Qin Zhao... just how far has his understanding of the Law of Earth reached? Could it be..."

Someone thought of a possibility but didn't dare say it aloud—had a Planet Level fighter comprehended a trace of the laws? However, the idea was simply too shocking! Besides, Qin Zhao hadn't displayed any power of the laws in this fight, so most people could only speculate!

Qin Zhao ignored the commotion around him and calmly looked toward where Shi Feng had fallen. Shi Feng was a worthy opponent, but unfortunately, he had come up against Qin Zhao. At Planet Level, Qin Zhao was an existence beyond the norm.

The Longke Race Bloodline Evolution Agent—everything had finally been settled. He turned and walked slowly toward the pillar of light that would teleport him away. His next goal was to use the Longke Race Bloodline Evolution Agent to break through the bottleneck of First Line Flow in one fell swoop.