Demon Baal

An Changqing's expression remained unchanged, his offensive did not stop, and his sword stance changed again.

His figure suddenly rose higher, the golden longsword held high above his head. A sword intent that seemed capable of suppressing mountains and rivers soared into the sky. The sword light transformed into a solid golden phantom of a mountain, crashing down upon Guan Jinyue's head.

Transfer it? Then he would increase the power to a point where it couldn't be transferred, forcing her into a head-on clash.

Guan Jinyue finally put away her indifferent expression, a trace of solemnity flashing in her eyes. The moonlight longsword in her hand let out a clear chime, and the tip of the sword lit up with an extremely dazzling silver gleam.

"Severing Void."

A cold voice rang out.

She raised her sword and slashed upward. The movement was not fast but full of power. The silver sword gleam and the golden mountain phantom collided with a loud bang.

The mountain phantom was abruptly sliced right down the middle by that seemingly slender silver sword gleam. The sword gleam continued forward with unabated momentum, striking straight at An Changqing.

An Changqing let out a muffled groan and blocked with his sword horizontally.

Clang!

With a deafening explosion, An Changqing staggered back three steps, leaving deep footprints on the alloy arena with each step. The golden longsword in his hand hummed continuously, and the protective golden light fluctuated violently.

Guan Jinyue also took a step back. The silver gleam on her moonlight longsword dimmed slightly, but her eyes remained calm.

In their first head-on clash, they seemed evenly matched, but An Changqing was slightly at a disadvantage.

He took a deep breath, the golden light around him retracting. Guan Jinyue had no record of defeat so far. How to deal with her was something he had to explore step by step.

Now, there was only one way left. An Changqing raised his longsword flatly, the tip pointing at Guan Jinyue from afar.

He moved.

The golden longsword thrust forward.

This time, there was no overwhelming myriad of divisions, no unavoidable mountain phantom, only a single, brilliant sword light so pure that it seemed capable of splitting chaos and clearing the universe.

This sword light seemed to lock onto the very concept of Guan Jinyue's existence. No matter where she was, no matter how space twisted and folded, the sword light was bound to reach her.

Who wasn't of the Mythological lineage here?

Guan Jinyue's expression finally changed.

She felt unprecedented pressure. In the face of this sword strike, her spatial abilities were faintly suppressed.

She couldn't dodge it, and she couldn't block it.

Silver light flashed wildly in her eyes, and all the runes on her moonlight longsword lit up simultaneously. The cold sword light instantly turned into a transparent hue bordering on the ethereal and the corporeal.

She was going to forcibly distort the spatial laws in this area, creating a brief void to swallow this unavoidable sword strike.

This was the sword strike she had currently mastered that was closest to the essence of space. It consumed a massive amount of energy and carried the risk of backlash. It was her first time using it in actual combat.

The transparent sword light and the brilliant golden gleam collided in the center of the arena.

There was no sound, no explosion.

There was only a dazzling, distorted, and shattered play of light and shadow.

The space in that area seemed to turn into a shattered mirror, presenting countless overlapping bizarre scenes. The golden sword light and the transparent sword light fiercely strangled each other within.

It lasted for a full three seconds.

The light and shadow dissipated.

On the arena, the two stood ten meters apart.

An Changqing's sword-holding hand trembled slightly, and his aura was sluggish, clearly having consumed a huge amount of energy. But he still stood straight, his eyes as bright as ever.

Guan Jinyue's condition seemed even worse. She knelt on one knee, barely supporting her body by leaning on her sword. The light of her moonlight longsword had dimmed.

Her face was as pale as paper, her silver hair slightly messy, and her breathing rapid. She no longer had her previous aura of eternal composure.

She tried to stand up, but her figure swayed.

"I... lost."

Her voice was somewhat low, but it rang out clearly in the silent martial arts arena.

"Your sword... already has the initial form of a rule, while my space has not yet been able to fully jump outside the rules."

Guan Jinyue slowly stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and sheathed her sword. "You are stronger than me, but why harbor misgivings?"

Except for An Changqing himself, probably no one could understand Guan Jinyue's true meaning.

An Changqing also sheathed his sword. He naturally wouldn't admit it, just laughing, "You let me win. It was a fluke that I won. As for misgivings, naturally there are some. This is just a spar, not a life-and-death struggle. How could I deal a deadly blow to a fellow student?"

The referee announced loudly, "The winner of the finals, Huaqing Academy, An Changqing!"

After a brief silence, thunderous applause and cheers swept through the entire martial arts arena.

An Changqing, the undisputed number one of the younger generation!

Amidst the applause, Guan Jinyue took a deep look at An Changqing. Without replying, she turned around and staggered off the arena.

The finals concluded, and the individual battles ended here. An Changqing was first, Guan Jinyue second, and Long Ao defeated Ross to take third place.

However, as Chen Guan watched Guan Jinyue's retreating back, he felt a faint sense of unease.

She lost magnanimously, but Chen Guan just felt that something wasn't quite right.

The bullet comments he had reopened began to awaken.

[How come Little Brother Guan didn't even make it to the top eight? What a pity.]

[I feel like Little Brother Coffin is pretending to be weak. As a man who runs around carrying a black iron coffin, is this right? It feels like the Rock Lee template from Water Shadow Ninja.]

[Once he throws the coffin aside, he opens the Eight Gates, right? Our Little Brother Guan also has a resurrection trick, Infinite Night Guy. Now he's truly invincible.]

[An Changqing and Guan Jinyue are two cheaters. Brother Ao, the male lead, has lost so much face, being one-shotted in three sword strikes.]

[Don't mention Brother Ao. Actually, Little An can't beat her either. It's just that Guan Jinyue couldn't go all out. She has an unspeakable hidden power.]

[Pulling up a small stool, listening online.]

[A forum guru said it. There's a pattern on Guan Jinyue's arm. After comparing it with the production behind-the-scenes, it was found to come from the demon Baal, one of the Supreme Four Pillars. So, Guan Jinyue is probably related to Baal. Would she dare use power related to demons?]

[There's this thing too? Then needless to say, Guan Jinyue is definitely going to cause trouble. Maybe she'll summon a Baal directly?]

Chen Guan was somewhat glad he had turned on the bullet comments; otherwise, he would have missed important information again.

The demon Baal was one of the strongest demons in this world. Demons were creatures hostile to humans, frequently shuttling through cities to destroy order. It was precisely because of the existence of these formidable external enemies, the demons, that humanity hadn't fallen into internal fighting due to the existence of transcendents.

The individual battles had settled, but the league was not over. Next would be the team cooperation battles and the secret realm point matches, which would test teamwork and comprehensive abilities even more.

The notification of the competition format was quickly issued. For the team cooperation battles, teams of four would form on their own, and could even cross-school. It would be held tomorrow in a special simulated battlefield within the martial arts arena.

The secret realm point match would be the day after tomorrow, held in a low-danger but vast secondary space Barren Proving Ground controlled by the North City Academy. Teams would be formed by academy to explore, collect resources, and complete tasks to earn points.

This gave the contestants from various schools precious buffer and preparation time.

Huaqing rest area.

"Everyone has seen Guan Jinyue's strength."

An Changqing gathered Long Ao, Chen Guan, and Su Yuehe for their usual small meeting.

"Her strength is very high. Even I am not confident I can suppress her. So, what we should pay attention to most is her team."