In the vast virtual coliseum, hundreds of thousands of eyes, the observers from the four major factions—all gazes were focused on the final triangular zone.

The very air was frozen, as if breath itself had been stolen.

Fine beads of cold sweat slid down Zhou Kai’s temples.

His roar vibrated the surrounding air. His heavy saber, carrying a fierce and unrivaled gale, swept toward Li Wen like a ceaseless, raging tide.

However, no matter how crazily Zhou Kai attacked, the figure opposite him was like a steadfast rock, like flowing water.

Li Wen shifted his feet lightly, his long saber moving with only the slightest, most precise angles to parry and redirect, cleverly deflecting and dispersing attacks powerful enough to shatter stone.

That ordinary saber in his hand seemed to have a life of its own, always managing to steadily intercept Zhou Kai’s attacks at the very nexus where his offense was at its peak, yet also at its most vulnerable.

Another dozen or so moves passed. Not only had he failed to harm Li Wen in the slightest, but Zhou Kai felt his own movements becoming trapped in a sticky, invisible web, growing more sluggish and heavy.

A shock he could not suppress rose in his heart.

He, a prodigy ranked eighteenth in the provincial mock exam, was actually unable to move this guy from Bluestone County—someone previously seen as barely a top-twenty contender—in the slightest.

Li Wen completely ignored the change in Zhou Kai’s state of mind.

His gaze, sharp as an eagle’s, pierced through the fierce melee, remaining locked on the most dazzling battle circle in the center.

There, Chu Feng’s dark silver spear was as steady as a mountain, yet when it thrust out, it unleashed a shriek that seemed to tear through space.

Meanwhile, Nangong Xue’s ice crystal longsword danced, creating a sky full of hauntingly beautiful, cold snowflakes of light—beautiful, yet deadly.

And there were also the figures of Wang Shuo and the others, desperately fighting to hold on.

Whether he could take one of the top three provincial spots and seize the coveted S-rank contract resources depended on whether he could overpower Chu Feng, Nangong Xue, and their companions.

Half a minute felt like an eternity in the chaotic battle.

Figures from all three sides continuously vanished into motes of white light amidst the flashes of blades and swords.

The one suffering the most was, without a doubt, the loose third-party alliance Li Wen belonged to.

The roars and clashes of weapons coming from Wang Shuo’s direction showed they were under immense pressure, being jointly crushed by Chu Feng’s and Nangong Xue’s forces. People were being eliminated every second.

’It’s about time. I can’t wait any longer.’

A decisive glint instantly flashed in Li Wen’s eyes.

If he kept holding back and waited for his third-party allies to be completely wiped out, he would be trapped in a desperate situation, besieged by both Chu Feng and Nangong Xue. All hope would be lost.

’I have to make my move!’

’It’s not time to reveal all my cards yet, but what I have is more than enough for the likes of Zhou Kai.’

In the span of a thought, a wave of Spiritual Power—imperceptible to ordinary people and originating from his powerful Primordial Spirit—suddenly spread out.

An invisible "gaze" precisely penetrated Zhou Kai’s wild saber strikes, scanning every inch of his body’s force trajectory, every twitch of his muscles.

In an instant, several extremely subtle flaws in Zhou Kai’s seemingly profound and fierce saber technique—flaws even he himself was unaware of—were projected into Li Wen’s mind with perfect clarity.

CLANG!

With a flick of his wrist, Li Wen’s long saber cut in from an unbelievable angle, once again easily batting away Zhou Kai’s downward slash.

The moment their blades met, he didn’t meet the immense force head-on, but cleverly redirected it.

Zhou Kai’s ferocious momentum inevitably stalled, exposing a tiny, momentary opening in the transition between his waist and arm movements.

’Now!’

Li Wen’s eyes narrowed, his entire aura changing in a flash. An extremely condensed killing intent erupted from him.

The long saber he had been using to parry and deflect suddenly pivoted from defense to offense. The flash of the blade was like a viper striking from its den, letting out a piercing whistle as it plunged with unerring accuracy into the barely perceptible opening that had just been exposed.

PFFT!

The blade’s edge touched a weak point in the defensive Source Power, making a soft sound like a popping bubble.

The thick layer of protective Source Power around Zhou Kai’s body vibrated violently, instantly losing its balance and fluctuating wildly like a pricked soap bubble.

An intense feeling of losing control washed over Zhou Kai.

"Not good!" Zhou Kai was horrified. He hurriedly tried to pull his saber back to defend, but his center of gravity had already been slightly upset by that single thrust.

How could Li Wen possibly give him a chance to breathe?

He moved like lightning!

His long saber unleashed a continuous torrent of slashes like a violent storm. Each strike was as fast as lightning, as fierce as a thunderclap!

These blade flashes were no longer probes, no longer parries, but cold, sharp edges that existed only to end the fight.

Guided by the detection of his Primordial Spirit, they locked onto those fundamental flaws. Each slash was faster than the last, each heavier than the one before, striking with unparalleled precision at the unstable points in Zhou Kai’s stance, the stagnant spots in his Source Power flow, and the momentary gaps as he tried to recover his breath and change his move.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG... PFFT!

After a dozen or so impacts of weapon on weapon and blade on flesh—so dense they almost merged into a single sound—Zhou Kai was left in a pathetic state.

The durability of his virtual armor was completely depleted by the chain of precise strikes. His defense had utterly collapsed, and his saber movements had fallen into complete disarray.

The final cold glint of light flashed and was gone.

Shadow-Stealing Form!

The ultimate technique that had instantly killed the demonic wolf, faster than anyone could follow with their eyes, appeared once more.

This time, the target was a person!

The gray blade aura suddenly converged into a deathly thin line that almost vanished, as if space itself had been sliced open by a nearly invisible seam.

Zhou Kai only felt a chill on his neck, and then his vision suddenly spun, the world turning upside down.

He even saw his own headless body slowly toppling over, his face still frozen in disbelief and confusion.

He couldn’t understand. His heavy saber, which he regarded as a Divine Weapon, his fierce and powerful saber style that was his pride—why had they been so fragile before that person?