Silence.
Absolute, suffocating silence.
Across the vast Star Luo Plaza, it was as if the breathing of hundreds of thousands of people had been cut off in the same instant.
Countless eyes stared wide, fixed on the golden-clad figure collapsed at the center of the arena—and on the young man standing behind her, calmly brushing dust from his palms as though nothing had happened.
One second?
Two seconds?
Perhaps not even two full seconds had passed.
The absolute core of the Star Luo Team—the princess who carried everyone's hopes—hadn't even managed to fully activate her first Spirit Ability before she was… finished.
"Boom—!!!"
After the brief stillness, the entire plaza exploded like a collapsing mountain and surging sea.
This time, however, the cheers and cries were tangled with shock, disbelief, awe, and fear.
"Holy—did anyone see that? What just happened?!"
"As expected of Liu Yuan! Without Ma Xiaotao, nobody can even exchange blows with him!"
"That's brutal! That was the princess! Doesn't he have even a shred of mercy for women?"
"So strong! Way too strong! This is the aura of a new king! Princess or not—anyone in his way gets knocked down!"
Spectators leapt to their feet. Some clutched their heads in disbelief, others pumped their fists with near-religious fanaticism.
For a Spirit Master world that revered strength above all else, Liu Yuan's clean, decisive strike—reducing all tactics and coordination to nothing—was the very pinnacle of violent aesthetics.
What formations? What teamwork? What control chains?
In the face of absolute speed and power, all of it was a joke.
"This… this is terrifyingly fast…"
In an inconspicuous corner of the stands—within what was once Shrek Academy's exclusive viewing area—several cloaked figures silently watched the scene unfold.
They were Ma Xiaotao and the others, their injuries only just stabilized, yet still insisting on witnessing the finals in person.
Ma Xiaotao's face was pale, but her eyes shone with an unusual brightness.
Staring at that domineering figure on the stage, a bitter yet relieved smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
"So this is the man who defeated me head-on…"
"He's going to take the championship today…"
Beside her, Dai Yueheng clenched his fists tightly, his nails biting deep into his palms, but he said nothing.
As the son of the Duke of White Tiger of the Star Luo Empire, watching his own empire's princess be knocked down so effortlessly filled his heart with conflicting emotions.
Yet he had to admit—if he were standing there, the outcome would only be worse.
At this moment, the most uncomfortable person of all was the Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, seated at the center of the main platform.
The usually dignified and inscrutable emperor now wore a face dark as the bottom of a scorched pot.
Veins bulged on the hand gripping the dragon throne's armrest, nearly crushing the rare alloy beneath his palm.
"The gap… is it really this large?"
Xu Jiawei sighed heavily in his heart.
He wasn't someone who couldn't accept defeat.
Before the match began, he had already prepared himself for the possibility of loss. After all, even Shrek Academy had fallen—expecting Star Luo to create a miracle was unrealistic.
But he never imagined it would be this humiliating.
Was this even a final match?
This was an adult beating a child—an outright dimensional suppression!
In front of hundreds of thousands of his own citizens, his team's tactical core was casually knocked unconscious like a fly. The burning shame made the emperor's face feel like it was on fire.
…
On the arena.
"Your Highness!!!"
A shrill shout finally shattered the stunned silence of the Star Luo Team.
Huang Heyun, the attack-type Spirit King at the front of the formation, felt his eyes instantly turn bloodshot.
Only when the dull thud of Xu Jiujiu hitting the ground reached their ears did the knights sworn to protect the princess snap out of their shock.
Humiliation.
An unprecedented humiliation.
Right under their noses—inside their tightly guarded formation—the princess they had sworn to protect with their lives had been instantly defeated.
"Bastard! I'll kill you!"
Huang Heyun roared, spirit power erupting like a volcano.
Martial Soul Possession—Dark Devil Tiger!
Roar!
A violent tiger's roar echoed as a pitch-black devil tiger phantom, radiating dense dark aura, appeared behind him.
Two yellow, two purple, one black—five spirit rings flared to life.
Third Spirit Ability—Devil Tiger Vajra Transformation!
Fifth Spirit Ability—Dark Devil Thunder!
No probing. No restraint.
Rage had completely consumed him. Huang Heyun activated his strongest enhancement and his strongest single-target attack right from the start.
His muscles bulged, black lightning condensing wildly around his claws, forming a crackling sphere of lightning over a meter in diameter, carrying destructive power as it hurtled toward Liu Yuan.
"Everyone, charge! Fight him to the end!"
The remaining Star Luo Team members finally reacted as well.
Fear still lingered, but the rage of their core being instantly defeated—and their pride as the imperial team—forced them to fight.
In an instant, the arena erupted in dazzling light.
The five remaining Star Luo Team members launched their Spirit Abilities without hesitation, hurling everything they had at Liu Yuan.
However—
At the center of the storm, Liu Yuan's expression didn't change at all.
Faced with the oncoming barrage, he merely tilted his head slightly, as if avoiding an annoying insect.
"Too slow."
The familiar verdict echoed once more.
In the next instant—
Whoosh!
Under Huang Heyun's horrified gaze, his supposedly unavoidable attack passed straight through Liu Yuan's body and slammed into the empty ground.
Boom!
The arena shook as a massive crater was blasted open, rubble flying everywhere.
An afterimage?!
Another afterimage?!
Before Huang Heyun could even register where Liu Yuan's real body was, a gust of wind brushed past his cheek.
Extreme Speed.
Those two words had become the death sentence of this match.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
No fancy techniques—only the terrifying kinetic force of speed pushed to its absolute limit.
Liu Yuan's figure flickered through the Star Luo Team like a phantom.
Every brief stop was accompanied by the dull sound of flesh being struck.
"Ah!"
"Pfft!"
Three cries rang out almost simultaneously.
Three agility- and attack-type Spirit Kings, who had been rushing in aggressively, were struck as if hit head-on by a high-speed train.
Their bodies flew through the air like broken kites, tracing tragic arcs before crashing onto the edge of the arena and falling unconscious.
One strike—three instant knockouts.
Including Xu Jiujiu, only three members of the Star Luo Team remained standing.
"This… how is this possible…"
Huang Heyun stood frozen mid-swing, his entire body chilled to the bone.
In that split second, he hadn't even seen the corner of Liu Yuan's clothes.
In the time it took for a single breath, more than half his team had fallen.
Was this even human?
This was a ferocious beast wearing human skin.
"Is this your full strength?"
Liu Yuan stopped, standing less than five meters from Huang Heyun, casually brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve.
His gaze was calm—no triumph, no mockery.
As if the Spirit King prodigies he had just defeated were nothing more than wooden stakes blocking the road.
"If you're not satisfied, I can give you another chance," he said indifferently. "Use your strongest moves. Let me see the backbone of the Star Luo Empire."
The words were the greatest humiliation imaginable—and the final provocation.
"Aaaaah! I'll fight you to the death!"
The last remaining defense-type Spirit King finally snapped, his mind collapsing under the sight of his fallen teammates.
He roared, lifting his heavy tower shield and charging forward like a madman.
"Even if I lose, I'll take one of your teeth with me!"
Huang Heyun clenched his teeth, resolve flashing in his eyes.
"If I can't dodge, I'll face you head-on!"
Pouring out every last drop of spirit power, he unleashed countless black orbs of light that rained down like meteors, sealing off all possible paths of evasion.
The remaining support-type Spirit Master frantically layered every buff he had onto the two of them in a final, desperate gamble.
The struggle of a cornered beast was fierce.
But in the face of an absolute gap in power, bravery was nothing more than tragic decoration.
Facing this final counterattack, Liu Yuan shook his head.
"Boring."
This time, he barely moved.
His body swayed slightly.
Extreme Speed—activated once more.
The falling black meteors slowed to a crawl in his eyes, riddled with openings and gaps.
He strolled effortlessly through the dense attack net and appeared before the shield-bearing Spirit King.
"Too fragile."
Liu Yuan extended a single finger and lightly tapped the seemingly indestructible tower shield.
Clang—!
A terrifying vibration exploded outward.
The defense-type Spirit King felt an overwhelming force slam into him. The shield flew from his hands as he was hurled more than ten meters back, his eyes rolling up as he lost consciousness.
In the next instant, Liu Yuan pivoted—and vanished.
He reappeared behind Huang Heyun.
At that moment, Huang Heyun had just finished releasing his Spirit Ability, trapped in the brief stiffness where old strength faded and new strength had yet to form.
A chill ran down the back of his neck.
"Sleep."
Those were the last words he heard.
Thud.
A precise hand chop.
Huang Heyun—the strongest fighter of the Star Luo Team—collapsed limply to the ground.
As for the final support-type Spirit Master?
Seeing this, his legs gave out. He slumped to the floor, raising both hands as he shouted shakily,
"I… I surrender!"
The outcome was decided.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy Team claimed the championship.