The Unsolvable Spirit Shield

Within the crowd of inner sect disciples, a cold gaze was fixed firmly upon Su Yun, who stood atop the arena.

It was Lin Hao, the personal disciple who had harbored resentment toward Su Yun from the start.

At this moment, Lin Hao's face was etched with disbelief, his heart sinking heavily.

How is this possible?!

A mere three months!

From a newcomer who had just entered the sect, he had surged directly to the eighth level of Qi Refining!

This cultivation speed was simply monstrous to the point of being outrageous!

A flicker of gloom crossed Lin Hao's eyes as he sneered to himself.

"So what if you broke through quickly?"

"Forcing growth like this will surely leave your foundation hollow!"

"Eighth level of Qi Refining may look impressive, but it's just a facade."

"In this grand competition, there are dozens of disciples at the ninth level of Qi Refining alone."

"More than half of them are veteran disciples in the middle to late stages, or even at the peak of the ninth level."

"A newcomer like you, who reached the eighth level through shortcuts and lacks any real combat experience."

"Daring to step onto the stage to show off is simply asking for humiliation."

"I'd like to see how many rounds you can actually last."

In his view, Su Yun's participation in the grand competition was destined to be a disgrace.

Just as the entire arena was shaken and the crowd was buzzing with heated discussion, the referee elder spoke once more.

"Arena Nine, Wang Hui, take the stage!"

From the passage on the other side of the arena, a tall figure stepped out—a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator!

The moment this cultivation level was revealed, the entire arena erupted for the second time!

The wave of exclamations was even more intense than before!

"It's actually a ninth-level disciple!"

"He drew a ninth-level powerhouse in the very first round!"

"It's over! He's completely finished!"

"Eighth level against ninth level is an insurmountable chasm!"

"A newcomer's first time competing, and he gets a hellish start!"

"The Sect Master's personal disciple won't be eliminated in the first round, will he? That would be too embarrassing!"

"He just stunned the whole crowd, only to be knocked back to reality immediately?"

Every eye in the arena was instantly locked onto Arena Nine.

Thousands of spectators held their breath in concentration.

The murmurs gradually faded away.

Everyone was waiting to see the outcome.

On the arena, Su Yun stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm.

To his right, Wang Hui stood tall, his spiritual energy circulating slowly throughout his body.

At the middle stage of the ninth level of Qi Refining, he was firmly in the top tier among the four hundred outer sect participants.

Having roamed the outer mountains for years, he had slain fierce beasts and engaged in dozens of life-or-death battles; his combat experience was incredibly rich.

In his opinion, this match was a guaranteed win.

Wang Hui's gaze fell upon Su Yun as thoughts raced through his mind.

No matter how much the outside world hyped him up, he was ultimately just a newcomer who had been in the sect for three months.

It was true that rushing from the initial intake of Qi to the eighth level of Qi Refining in three months was a heaven-defying speed, but the drawbacks were equally obvious.

With such a rushed breakthrough, his foundation was bound to be unstable.

His spiritual energy density, the capacity of his meridians, and his combat experience were all lacking.

To put it bluntly, he was nothing more than a decorative vase meant for show.

So what if he had a Heavenly Spirit Root?

Cultivation was not merely about stacking realms; ultimately, it came down to actual combat.

With this thought, the desire in Wang Hui's heart grew increasingly fervent.

Defeat Su Yun!

This notion sprouted wildly.

If he could defeat this center of attention with the Heavenly Spirit Root, he wouldn't need to think twice; he would instantly become famous throughout the entire Azure Cloud Sect.

Defeating a genius was worth a hundred times more than overcoming an ordinary ninth-layer disciple.

For years to come, he could use this as a talking point to brag for the rest of his life.

At the edge of the high platform, the referee elder swept his gaze over the two and spoke in a deep voice.

"Both sides, take your positions."

"The match begins!"

As the words fell, Wang Hui's spiritual power erupted instantly. Without the slightest bit of probing, he directly utilized ninety percent of his strength.

He pinched a spell seal with his fingertips, and spiritual power gathered at his fingertips.

Cyan spiritual light took shape abruptly, and dozens of sharp Wind Splitting Blades hovered in mid-air, the wind whistling and tearing through the air.

"Wind Splitting Blade!"

With a low shout, dozens of wind blades, accompanied by piercing whistling sounds, bombarded Su Yun from all directions in a dense formation, sealing off every angle of evasion.

A chorus of exclamations erupted from beneath the stage.

"Going straight for the ultimate move right from the start? Wang Hui is too ruthless!"

"Is he planning to end the match in one second?"

In the center of the arena, facing the dense barrage of wind blades rushing toward him, Su Yun curled his lips into a smile and raised his hand casually.

The spiritual power within his body, vast as the sea, moved at his will and instantly gathered before him.

A circular spiritual barrier, clear and transparent, took shape abruptly.

It was simple—the most basic spiritual shield.

The next second, the dense wind blades collided with the surface of the transparent barrier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Continuous explosions rang out one after another.

The cyan wind blades tore and bombarded the surface of the spiritual shield frantically, causing spiritual light to burst forth.

After the attack ended, the spiritual shield remained unscathed; it hadn't even touched the hem of Su Yun's clothes.

The entire arena fell silent instantly.

Wang Hui's pupils shrank violently, and for the first time, a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

Impossible!

His wind-element technique, fueled by ninety percent of his spiritual power, should have forced even a ninth-layer perfection cultivator to use an ultimate move.

Yet, it couldn't even break a basic spiritual shield?

There was no time to think; Wang Hui gritted his teeth and held nothing back.

"I want to see how long that shield of yours can last!"

He formed seals with both hands, and the spiritual power within his body poured out without reservation.

Ten percent of his spiritual power was fully unleashed!

Wind blades, Wind Spikes, and Wind Prison—three wind-element techniques took shape in succession.

The offensive layered one after another, and a gale swept across the entire arena.

One fierce technique after another surged forward, smashing madly against the spiritual shield.

Violent spiritual shockwaves scattered, and the surface of the stone platform was blasted with dense, shallow pits.

Everyone could see the spiritual storm raging across the arena.

But that simple, transparent shield remained as sturdy as before.

From beginning to end, it did not deform in the slightest, nor did it waver.

All the violent attacks vanished like stones cast into the sea.

Su Yun looked relaxed, even leisurely stretching his wrists as he looked through the protective shield at Wang Hui, whose face was livid, and teased him.

"Junior Brother Wang, this level of strength is not enough."

"Bring out your strongest attack, otherwise this match will be too boring."

These words were like needles, piercing fiercely into Wang Hui's self-esteem.

Wang Hui's face turned a bruised blue, filled with both shame and rage.

He slapped his storage bag with his left hand.

A palm-sized azure jade flute shot out and hovered in mid-air.

A mid-grade magical artifact—the Azure Wind Flute!

This was his trump card, an offensive artifact he had spent years of savings to acquire.

He pressed his lips against the jade flute and poured his spiritual power into it frantically.

A low, piercing flute melody suddenly resonated across Arena Nine.

An invisible wind domain instantly spread out, and countless fine threads of wind condensed into a slender wind spear.

The wind spear was solid throughout, glowing with intense azure spiritual light, and carried a terrifying momentum capable of crushing everything as it pointed straight at Su Yun!

"Let's see how you block this move!"

This was the strongest strike he could currently unleash, exhausting all ten percent of his spiritual power and bolstered by the artifact's might; even a disciple at the ninth level of Great Perfection would not dare to take it head-on.

The disciples below the stage instantly held their breath, their hearts rising to their throats.

The outcome would be decided by this single strike!

The wind spear tore through the air, reaching the front of the protective shield in an instant.

A violent explosion echoed throughout the entire venue!

Blinding azure spiritual light covered most of Arena Nine, and dust rose, obscuring everyone's vision.

A few breaths later.

The dust slowly dissipated.

That clear, transparent spiritual shield was still hovering in front of Su Yun.

Its surface was pristine, without even a single crack appearing.

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