All-rounder = Spatial + Dark + ...?

The livestream's bullet comments exploded again:

[Holy shit! Brother Yao made his move again! That damage number shot straight up to 10%!]

[This Spatial Cutting is way too OP! It ripped the BOSS's defenses to shreds!]

[Everyone else is fighting head-on while Brother Yao sneaks into the back line. Now that's a top-tier sneaky bastard!]

[Lin Chen and Lin Yue are still tanking up front, but Brother Yao stole all the damage. I'm dying!]

Gu Yan drew a deep breath, his voice trembling. "Viewers, did you see that? Xing Yao's way of attacking is completely different from everyone else's. Every strike lands precisely on the BOSS's weak point, and the spatial damage it carries is currently the only means of effectively damaging this gloomy black BOSS!"

Su Wanqing nodded as well. "Exactly. Although this BOSS's black mist defenses are terrifying, they're like a thin sheet of paper before spatial power-one poke and they break. Xing Yao's presence has completely changed the shape of this battle."

Inside the secret realm, fierce winds suddenly rose, and black mist churned.

The Gloomy Black Shadow Demon was thoroughly enraged. Its enormous body shuddered violently, and the black mist around it spread wildly like boiling venom. The ground kept collapsing amid the hiss of corrosion, and rubble swirled into the air alongside black vapor. The entire battlefield lay beneath the shadow of death. The air was suffocatingly oppressive, every breath carrying the pungent stench of blood and rot. Even the light was forcibly swallowed by the dense darkness.

"ROOOAR!!"

The deafening roar tore through heaven and earth. The BOSS swept its massive claw outward, smashing toward the crowd with the force to crush rotten wood and withered branches. The examinees at the front turned deathly pale. Their hastily raised defensive shields shattered on impact, and several were sent flying on the spot. Red lights flashed furiously on their wristbands, and they were immediately declared eliminated.

The scene descended into utter chaos in an instant.

"Everyone, spread out! Maintain formation!"

Lin Chen shouted sharply. Lightning exploded wildly around him, blue flashes tearing through the black mist, yet he could barely open up a small safe area. Veins bulged along his arms as he poured out spiritual power without holding anything back. Arcs of lightning coiled around his arms like frenzied pythons, and every swing unleashed a heaven-shaking crash. Even so, he could only slightly restrain the BOSS's assault.

His movements grew heavier and heavier, his breathing more and more labored. Sweat soaked his clothes and dripped steadily from his jaw, while blood he could no longer hold back had already seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Lin Yue stayed close beside him, her hands rapidly forming seals as the power of vegetation surged from beneath the earth. Thick vines grew wildly, weaving and twisting together into a massive green wall before the others. But under the black mist's corrosion, the vines withered, blackened, and turned to drifting ash at a speed visible to the naked eye. She gritted her teeth and held on, her face as pale as paper. Her spiritual power was already nearly exhausted, yet she still refused to retreat even half a step.

The other examinees were straining with every ounce of strength they had.

Some overdrew their spiritual power, their faces as white as paper, yet still gritted their teeth and launched attacks; some disregarded their own safety and forcibly blocked the shock waves to create openings for their companions; some roared as they coordinated with the formation, just to buy one more second. No one backed down. No one gave up. Everyone fought in their own way, down to their last breath.

Blood, sweat, the faint sounds of shattering spiritual power, desperate cries, and the BOSS's savage roars mingled together. The entire secret-realm battlefield had become a gruesome field of carnage.

Everyone was fighting for their lives, struggling, relying on one another to hold on.

Only Xing Yao seemed utterly out of place amid this chaos.

He gave off no violent aura, no savage fighting spirit, and not the slightest trace of hostility. Instead, he was like a quiet breeze, a silent tree, blending naturally into the world around him. His steps were light and unhurried, his breathing calm, as though he were not fighting a bloody battle but merely strolling through the woods. Spatial power flowed gently around his fingertips-not fierce, not wild, not restless, but precise, calm, and lethal.

He did not join the head-on melee, yet always maintained the most delicate distance from the battlefield, like a hunter quietly awaiting the perfect moment.

The Gloomy Black Shadow Demon lunged furiously once more, its massive claw slamming toward Lin Chen and Lin Yue with destructive force.

At that critical instant, Xing Yao moved.

There was no earth-shaking display of power, no shouting or roaring. He merely raised his hand lightly, and his black spear thrust out soundlessly, carrying gentle yet incomparably sharp spatial power. The spear tip pierced the black mist like a breeze parting the fog, striking precisely at the BOSS's most vulnerable core.

Space tore apart, and black vapor scattered.

An agonized howl of utter anguish rang throughout the secret realm. The Gloomy Black Shadow Demon's enormous body shuddered violently, its movements abruptly freezing. Black blood gushed out. It struggled to retaliate, yet could no longer move so much as an inch.

Xing Yao withdrew his spear and stood there, his figure still quiet and composed, as though that decisive strike had been nothing more than casually brushing away a fallen leaf.

A second later, the colossal creature crashed to the ground, sending dust billowing in every direction.

[System notification: Second hidden BOSS · Gloomy Black Shadow Demon has been slain!]

[Rewards for this BOSS battle will be distributed according to damage percentage:]

[Xing Yao: 40%]

[Lin Chen: 25%]

[Lin Yue: 20%]

The system's cool notification tone echoed as the smoke of battle slowly dispersed.

The entire battlefield fell deathly silent, leaving only heavy breathing and heartbeats.

Lin Chen slowly straightened, looking at the figure standing quietly at the edge of the battlefield. His fists clenched unconsciously. He had given everything, yet could still only gaze at Xing Yao's back.

Looking in Xing Yao's direction, Lin Yue murmured softly:

"He was clearly fighting too, yet it was as though he never belonged amid this smoke of battle..."

Outside the secret realm, the livestream was already in a complete uproar.

[40%! Brother Yao single-handedly maxed out the damage for the whole fight!]

[Everyone else was fighting for their lives. He was harvesting with elegance!]

[That presence is unreal. Gentle, yet ridiculously strong!]

[Lin Chen and Lin Yue had such a rough fight. They really had it hard.]

Gu Yan's voice trembled with excitement:

"This is Xing Yao! He dealt the deadliest damage in the calmest way! A 40% damage share says it all!"

Su Wanqing nodded lightly, a measure of amazement in her eyes. "He isn't indifferent, nor is he aloof. He's just... too special."

No sooner had she finished than she added, "And look at that Spatial Wormhole he used just now. His mastery was simply miraculous. Even Ling Canglan, currently recognized nationwide as the pinnacle of the spatial element, might not have been able to use it so effortlessly at the age of the college entrance exam."

The livestream's bullet comments instantly exploded:

[Ling Canglan?! He's the pinnacle of the spatial element right now!]

[Is Brother Yao about to surpass Ling Canglan?]

[Isn't this talent way too ridiculous?!]

Gu Yan shook his head, however, his tone serious. "No, Wanqing, you're only half right. In terms of purely spatial mastery, Xing Yao and Ling Canglan are actually evenly matched-six of one, half a dozen of the other."

He paused and pointed at Xing Yao's figure on the screen, raising his voice:

"But what's terrifying about Xing Yao is that he isn't just a spatial user at all! He's an all-rounder! Look, he was invisible the whole time just now-that's a dark-element skill. His black spear can tear through defenses-that's spatial power... In the future, he'll only have more and more skills, and his methods will only become more terrifying!"

The livestream erupted completely:

[Holy shit! An all-rounder? Isn't that basically cheating?]

[All-rounder = spatial + dark + ...? How are you supposed to fight that?]

[No matter how strong Ling Canglan is, he's still only a spatial user. Brother Yao is straight-up maxing out multiple elements!]

[Forget the ceiling-he's tearing the entire cultivation system off its foundations!]