"Both contestants are ready! Let the match begin!"
Riding a coin-operated kiddie ride, the God of Games spiritedly announced the start of the match. At his command, both Yun Ming and the Blaze Emperor shot forward.
Whoosh!
They became two streaks of light, one blazing white and the other crimson-black, and collided at the very center of the Cosmic Grand Arena.
Rumble!
Their figures emerged as the Atlas Spear clashed with a crimson-black flaming saber. The ground beneath their feet cracked layer upon layer, and the arena sank three or four meters.
Lin Huan had cut corners here. There was no helping it; building a stronger arena would have been a major expense, and if the arena never broke while the two fought, the visual impact would have been lacking.
"Ant, your strength isn't bad!"
The Blaze Emperor sneered at Yun Ming, whose veins bulged even in the hand gripping the Atlas Spear, then suddenly exerted his strength and blasted him away.
Yun Ming rode the momentum and retreated twenty meters, considering countermeasures. His opponent's body was stronger than his, and he also wielded divine power, making him extremely difficult to handle.
"Come on! Keep going!"
The Blaze Emperor roared. Countless crimson-black flames erupted from the ground like a volcanic eruption, transforming the surroundings into a realm of fire.
Yun Ming kept dodging, his eyes filled with wariness as he watched these flames from the Abyss. Numerous sparks landed on him, and crimson-black Abyss flames immediately began to burn.
He immediately extinguished them with Soul Power, but these flames originated from divine power. He had to expend more Soul Power to put out these flames from the Abyss.
"So this is how divine power crushes Soul Power?"
Seeing this gulf as vast as heaven and earth, Yun Ming knew this battle would probably be brutal.
Although his spiritual power had reached the Divine Origin Realm, his body and Soul Power fell far short. He immediately began retreating, and the Blaze Emperor caught up at once, bringing his crimson-black saber crashing down.
"Why are you running?! Come fight this emperor!"
Watching the figure hurtling toward him, Yun Ming nimbly dodged. His handling of the Atlas Spear also became circuitous; rather than clash head-on, he chose to overcome strength with finesse.
The blazing-white spear repeatedly struck the Blaze Emperor, but only left marks on his body.
The crimson-black saber crashed down again. Boom! A ten-meter-long saber scar blasted open in the ground. Watching Yun Ming evade his attack once more, impatience flashed through the Blaze Emperor's eyes as he said:
"You're as slippery as a loach. This emperor is tired of playing!"
As his words fell, the surrounding flames began gathering toward him. Yun Ming stood with his spear, staring fixedly at the figure before him.
A suit of crimson-black armor appeared on the Blaze Emperor, and all four of his hands now held weapons. His presence surged again. Then he stomped forward, cracking the ground in layers beneath his foot.
The first weapon to strike was an enormous spear. Yun Ming avoided it with a slight tilt of his head. Then a crimson-black hammer came crashing down, and he swiftly used a sidestep to evade it.
At the same time, the Atlas Spear thrust straight out, precisely striking one of the Blaze Emperor's arms. The arm holding the saber went numb, slowing its attack slightly.
"Law Ban!"
Blazing-white light flowed around Yun Ming. This was his self-created ultimate technique, Law Ban. In an instant, he took control of the momentum of heaven and earth around him to strengthen himself, and his imposing presence soared.
The Blaze Emperor also felt the pressure of heaven and earth's momentum, but the suppression was not particularly strong. At most, his spiritual power was suppressed by fifty percent; almost everything else remained unaffected.
After all, only Yun Ming's spiritual power surpassed his. Neither his blood Qi nor his divine power could match the Blaze Emperor's, so only his perception weakened somewhat.
"Oh? Is this your combat technique? Pretty ordinary!"
The Blaze Emperor appraised Yun Ming's skill. In the next instant, a suit of blazing-white Battle Armor appeared out of nowhere on the diminutive figure before him, while various runes appeared across his body.
"Atlas Avatar!"
He had deployed both his Battle Armor and Martial Soul Avatar, marking the end of his probing attacks. Yun Ming swept the Atlas Spear in his hand and violently launched the Blaze Emperor upward.
Caught off guard by his opponent's sudden surge in strength, the Blaze Emperor was launched five meters into the air.
Then the Atlas Spear struck him with extraordinary speed and precision, creating countless afterimages. The Blaze Emperor shielded himself with both hands as the Atlas Spear stabbed bloody holes into his body.
"Ant! You do have some ability!"
The Blaze Emperor roared, spewing huge quantities of flame from his body. Yun Ming immediately retreated and flew upward. Some flames had clung to him, and he immediately sliced through his robes.
The robes carrying the Abyss flames fell away, his outer garment burning up in an instant, saving him some of the Soul Power needed to extinguish the flames.
"So strong..."
Yun Ming murmured. His opponent's body was stronger than a human's at the same level, and he possessed divine power. Even going all out, he seemed unable to inflict much effective damage.
"Little mouse! I'm coming for you!"
Below, the Blaze Emperor revealed a bloodthirsty smile before shooting skyward, charging with boundless firelight. Yun Ming immediately dodged, and the crimson-black flaming meteor streaked past him.
Then the flaming saber struck, and the Atlas Spear blocked it. Clang! With a crisp ring, the impact numbed Yun Ming's hands, but he still managed to block it.
But that was not the end! More weapons came smashing toward him. A flaming spear, hammer, and halberd rained down like a horde of demons dancing wild.
Yun Ming fought as he retreated, his Atlas Spear continually intercepting the storm-like attacks. Facing the four-armed Blaze Emperor, he struggled to keep up for a time.
Seeing Yun Ming suppressed, everyone's heart at Shrek Academy rose into their throat.
"The Abyss Plane is truly powerful. It actually has beings who wield divine power."
Mu En's expression was grave. Watching Yun Ming locked in a bitter struggle, he too felt wary of the Abyss Plane. If he faced this Blaze Emperor, he would certainly die, without any chance of survival. He could only try self-detonating to take his opponent down with him.
This was the only countermeasure Mu En could currently think of. Xuan Zi also felt the disparity between Limit Douluos. The Abyss was simply too powerful.
Humanity's greatest expert of the age was fighting the expert sent out by the Abyss, and Yun Ming had clearly fallen into a disadvantage.
However, Mu En and the others merely assumed this Blaze Emperor must be the strongest Limit Douluo-level expert on the Abyss's side. They could not imagine what kind of monster their strongest would be if even the Blaze Emperor was not the strongest.
Not far away, Holy Spirit Douluo Ya Li also watched Yun Ming's bitter struggle on the enormous screen with a worried expression. Her small hands tightly clutched her skirt as she prayed inwardly for him to win this battle.
Meanwhile, at the Spirit Pagoda, Qiangu Dongfeng watched Yun Ming's bitter struggle on the enormous screen and prayed inwardly that he would hurry up and lose.
Although Yun Ming's defeat would put this god's wish in the Abyss's hands, that was still better than letting Shrek Academy have it, wasn't it?
Seeing Yun Ming obtain a god's wish and advance even further would feel worse than being killed! Hurry up and lose!
The War God Temple.
Guan Yue, the War God Temple's deputy temple master and Yue Tian Douluo, watched the enormous screen in the sky with a worried expression.
"Brother Ming, you have to win."
Speaking of which, don't you think Yun Ming, Guan Yue, and Qiangu Dongfeng are so shippable?
Look, Qiangu Dongfeng is just like a tsundere, his heart and eyes filled with Yun Ming, itching to blast him into the sky with a Godslayer Missile.
Then look at Guan Yue, forming the Twin Heavenly Spears duo with Yun Ming, a pair of twin stars. A childhood friend and a tsundere who drops into his life-so sweet, so shippable!
Reader: What about Ya Li, then?
Author: She can go have a hundred years of wedded bliss with Leng Yaozhu. Their hundred-year bliss is such a delicious ship!
In the Cosmic Grand Arena, Yun Ming kept retreating. The Blaze Emperor's four-armed assault was so formidable that he could only be beaten back again and again.
Several more bloody wounds had appeared on Yun Ming, and crimson-black flames burned across him. He could only spare some attention to suppressing these flames with Soul Power.
"Ant from the Douluo Plane! This emperor acknowledges you! You are the only expert in the Douluo Plane who can exchange over five hundred rounds with this emperor!"
The Blaze Emperor laughed wildly as he swung his weapons, his crimson-black saber crashing heavily against the Atlas Spear.
The webs between Yun Ming's thumbs and forefingers split open around his grip on the Atlas Spear, blood spraying out. Then the Blaze Emperor kicked him, sending him flying over fifty meters before he barely managed to stop.
Yun Ming looked utterly bedraggled, crimson-black flames still burning on him. He lowered his head to look at the boundless universe behind him and finally revealed a trace of a smile, though he quickly concealed it.
"Expert of the Douluo Plane, tell me your name. As a reward for letting this emperor enjoy this fight to the fullest, this emperor will remember you."
The Blaze Emperor slowly flew over, his face still hungry for more. Seeing this, Yun Ming chuckled and said:
"Then remember it well. Atlas Douluo, Yun Ming."
"Atlas Douluo Yun Ming? This emperor will remember. I rather like you. Unfortunately, for my lord's sake, I can only kill you."
Regret flashed through the Blaze Emperor's eyes. Meeting a powerful expert filled him with admiration, while Yun Ming merely felt a chill run through him.
"Then die, Yun Ming!"
Without another word, the Blaze Emperor charged again. Yun Ming also charged with his spear. The moment they clashed, the latter shifted aside, causing their figures to cross and their positions to switch.
When the Blaze Emperor turned, he saw flames ignite on Yun Ming. An embryonic demigod godhood manifested and began to burn.
"That's... a demigod godhood?!"
The Blaze Emperor's eyes immediately widened in disbelief. As Yun Ming began burning his demigod godhood and Battle Armor, his presence soared. In that instant, he stepped into the True God realm.
"You're the one who should die! Atlas! Shoot down the sun!!!"
Yun Ming roared, his figure striking the Blaze Emperor like a long rainbow. The Atlas Spear pierced through the Blaze Emperor's body as he simultaneously activated his Innate Domain, Air Ban!
The Blaze Emperor, who had intended to channel divine power to hold himself aloft, suddenly felt a flight-prohibiting restriction dragging him down. Sensing the threat of death, he finally panicked.
"Impossible! How could you possess an embryonic godhood?! Even our lord hasn't managed to condense an embryonic demigod godhood!"
He had never imagined his opponent still had such a killing move hidden away for him. Yun Ming merely sneered in mockery:
"Then this lord of yours isn't much either!"
As his words fell, his presence surged once more. With unstoppable momentum, the Atlas Spear pierced through the Blaze Emperor's body. The two figures slammed into the Cosmic Grand Arena, punching straight through its hundred-meter thickness.
"Haaaaah! Atlas Pierces the Sun!!!"
Yun Ming shouted himself hoarse, driving the Blaze Emperor through the hundred-meter-thick marble floor while burning his embryonic demigod godhood and Battle Armor, on top of using his eighth Soul Skill, Atlas Pierces the Sun.
Countless cracks appeared across the Blaze Emperor's body, his eyes filled with disbelief. He had never imagined that a being from the Douluo Plane, who could live for only a little over two hundred years at most, could unleash such power!
"No! I refuse to accept this!!!"
The Blaze Emperor howled, two hands clutching the Atlas Spear while the other pair smashed their weapons viciously into Yun Ming. Blood sprayed everywhere, but his opponent seemed to feel no pain and continued driving the spear into him with all his might!
The God of Games intervened, teleporting the two who had fallen out of the arena back onto it and reinforcing it in passing. Yun Ming once again drove the Blaze Emperor violently into the arena.
Rumble!
With an immensely deep, thunderous crash, the two blasted a ten-meter-deep crater into the arena. Broken stones flew, and countless crimson-black flames scattered.
At that moment, every spectator in the Douluo Plane, as well as the many beings of the Abyss Plane, stared fixedly at the screen.
Under countless gazes, the enormous screen's view slowly shifted, revealing the scene inside the crater.
The Blaze Emperor lay on the ground, his crimson-black armor smashed apart. A blazing-white spear had pierced his chest where his heart was, blasting a huge hole through it as blood flowed freely.
Yun Ming's hair hung loose, his entire body drenched in blood. Crimson-black and blazing-white flames still scorched his body. His back was mangled beyond recognition, covered with bloody wounds left by the Blaze Emperor's dying counterattack.
Soon, the blazing-white flames on Yun Ming stopped burning. Unable to hold on any longer, he sank to his knees, though his right hand still gripped his Atlas Spear tightly.
His embryonic demigod godhood had burned away, and his Four-Word Battle Armor had burned to nothing. Only that had bought him a chance to kill the Blaze Emperor. Otherwise, defeat would have been his only outcome.
The Blaze Emperor was too strong, particularly in his mastery of divine power. His offensive power also exceeded Yun Ming's, and his body was stronger. Yun Ming had only this one chance to win.
Yun Ming gasped for breath. He could no longer remember the last time he had been in such a wretched state. Apart from Cao Dezhi and Chen Xinjie, he had never suffered defeat in his life. This was the first time he had encountered an opponent he had to risk his life to overcome.
The Blaze Emperor's life was slipping away. He stared fixedly at Yun Ming before him, his eyes unwilling to close in death. He had never expected his opponent to have an embryonic demigod godhood hidden away, much less burn it without hesitation.
"Losing to you... was no injustice..."
The Blaze Emperor's scarlet eyes remained fixed on Yun Ming, his breath already barely perceptible. Watching life slowly leave him, Yun Ming also spoke weakly:
"You're very strong too, the strongest being below god level I've ever seen. Though I don't know how you compare to Beast God Di Tian, if you used the Heavenly Sacred Abyssal Halberd, I wouldn't have any chance of winning."
"...I will... return... the Abyss endures forever!"
The Blaze Emperor left those final words before losing all signs of life. After his death, he became energy and flew back to the Abyss Plane, including the thumb ring formed from the Heavenly Sacred Abyssal Halberd.
Hearing those words, Yun Ming's pupils shook violently, and he stared blankly at the Atlas Spear planted before him.
The Blaze Emperor's parting words sent a jolt through his powerful frame. He would return? That suggested his opponent seemed to have a means of resurrection. At the thought of that possibility, he began trembling all over. If that were true, did humanity really still have hope?
"Then congratulations to contestant Yun Ming on winning the final pinnacle match. And congratulations on advancing another step."
Just then, the God of Games' congratulatory voice rang out. Numerous spotlights simultaneously fell on the battered Yun Ming, displaying his dreadful condition to everyone.
They had never expected the Douluo Continent's greatest expert of the age to suffer so terribly against that Blaze Emperor from the Abyss. Just how powerful was the Abyss?
As that thought settled, everyone felt chilled and terrified, feeling as though humanity really might have no hope left.
Yu Xiaogang, however, did not think so much about it. Watching the victorious Yun Ming, his eyes filled with excitement. He immediately snatched Ya Li's phone and began sending message after message.
Ding, ding, ding!
Numerous messages arrived on Yun Ming's phone. The notification tone for this specially followed contact instantly brought him back to his senses. He immediately took out his phone and looked, and his vision went black.
The messages were from Yu Xiaogang, all telling him to give away his wish. Reading them, he thought that Yu Xiaogang was, after all, the Sea God's teacher. Surely he had some ideas of his own?
"Yun Ming boy, come on. Tell me your wish."
The God of Games snapped his fingers, signaling for him to state his wish. After a brief silence, Yun Ming spoke.
"May I transfer my opportunity to make a wish?"
"Of course."
"Then, Your Holiness, God of Games, please transfer the opportunity to make a wish to Ancestor Yu Xiaogang."
"As you wish."
The God of Games directly chose to fulfill this request. With a snap of his fingers, Yun Ming vanished and returned to the Sea God Pavilion, where Ya Li immediately began treating him.
Seeing him covered in wounds, large tears fell from Ya Li's eyes as the holy Angel of Hope healed him.
"Brother Ming..."
"I'm fine... let's see how the ancestor maximizes the benefits..."
Yun Ming weakly waved a hand. Supported by Ya Li, he raised his head toward the enormous screen. Yu Xiaogang appeared in the Cosmic Grand Arena, then straightened his back and clasped his hands behind him, looking every bit the lofty expert.
"God of Games, have you heard of the Sea God?"
He spoke first, staring sharply at the God of Games opposite him. Lin Huan raised an eyebrow slightly before replying.
"Of course I know him."
Hearing the reply, wisdom flashed through Yu Xiaogang's eyes. A confident smile appeared on his face as he activated his world-shaking wisdom and delivered a world-shaking statement.
"Good. I am the Sea God's teacher, Dragon God Douluo Yu Xiaogang! God of Games, if you choose to assist Shrek Academy and follow my orders, I can put in a few good words for you before my prized disciple, Sea God and Asura God Tang San, and have him promote you."
As Yu Xiaogang finished speaking, the entire audience fell silent. The Abyss, Shrek, the Tang Sect, the Federation, the Spirit Pagoda, the War God Temple, Spirit Hall, the Holy Spirit Cult, and the Soul Beast Clan were all stunned.
That was possible?! Bringing the God of Games directly under their command? Wouldn't that make Shrek Academy invincible?
At that moment, countless people sucked in a breath of cold air, their gazes full of shock as they looked at Yu Xiaogang. Everyone from Shrek Academy was the same, unable to help marveling.
"As expected of Ancestor Yu Xiaogang, the Sea God's teacher. He actually thought of a way to bring the God of Games under our command."
"The ancestor's wisdom surpasses ours!"
Mu En and Long Yeyue could not help sighing in admiration. Truly worthy of being their ancestor. Yun Ming also looked at Yu Xiaogang in surprise. He had not expected him to actually have some ability. It seemed the rumors that Yu Xiaogang was a fame-fishing fraud were false. He was clever, after all. Otherwise, how could he have become the Sea God's teacher? Right?