“Senior brother Jin Zhang has lost after all…”

“Zhou Xiaoyao is simply too formidable, to think that she is even capable of the extremely rare illusion rune! Moreover, even senior brother Jin Zhang was tricked!”

“Such illusion runes are extremely demanding on one’s Spirit. Since senior brother Jin Zhang fell for it, this means that Yaoyao’s Spirit is stronger than his…”

“It’s no wonder peak master Bai Mei has such a high opinion of her. Her Genesis Rune talent is truly unbelievable.” 

“......”

The area in front of Spirit Rune Hall burst into noise the moment one of the matches ended, the faces of every disciple filled with shock. 

Them had initially been under the impression that Yaoyao had been forced into the defense, and no one had expected that all of it would turn out to be the handiwork of a single illusion rune. Everything they had seen, including Jin Zhang himself, was merely an illusion.

Every single one of his earth-shaking attacks had merely been a waste of his energy. 

Li Qingchan gracefully stood in front of a stone pavilion, amazement involuntarily rising in her eyes as she gazed at Yaoyao’s figure in the mirror. The latter’s victory had truly been both spectacular and bizzare.

None of them expected that she would actually deploy such an unusual tactic to easily secure the boundary core. 

With the core now below her feet, a single thought was all it would take to shatter it. If there had only been one core in the boundary, Yaoyao would have already won.

Unfortunately...

Li Qingchan gently sighed as her eyes rotated to look at the other Genesis Qi mirror. To break this boundary, both cores had to be simultaneously destroyed.

Though Yaoyao had already succeeded, the other core was still firmly under Xia Yu’s grasp. Moreover, it seemed like Zhou Yuan didn’t stand a chance at all.

Li Qingchan regretfully said, “Yaoyao, I’ve already told you earlier that you should not pin your hopes on Zhou Yuan. Although he is fairly talented, he is ultimately still lacking.”

It was such a waste of Yaoyao’s brilliant performance.. 

“What a pity…” Su Wan also shook her head, regret filling her face. 

Beside her, Gu Hongyi’s hands were tightly clenched, her eyes tightly glued to Zhou Yuan’s Genesis Qi mirror as she said, “Senior sister Su Wan, the match hasn’t ended yet!”

Su Wan looked at the Genesis Qi mirror and helplessly shook her head as she watched Zhou Yuan being chased by four stone serpents. 

“You really don’t know when to give up…”

“How can he possibly be Xia Yu’s match…”

...

Boom!

Four stone serpents flew across the sky, Genesis Qi surging around their bodies. Four stone tails were suddenly swung, transforming into blurred shadows as they descended from the sky and viciously swatted at Zhou Yuan. 

Four serpent tails sealed off all possible paths of escape. 

The brush in Zhou Yuan’s hand swiftly darted across the air, drawing stroke after after as the surrounding Genesis Qi was sucked over. 

“Metal Turtle Shell Rune!”

A Genesis Rune extended above Zhou Yuan’s head, rapidly growing into a hundred foot wide glowing turtle shell that gave off a feeling of invincibility. 

Dong!

The four serpent tails slammed viciously against the turtle shell, causing cracks to appear immediately. With a loud bang, Zhou Yuan’s body shot downwards, creating a huge crater in the ground. 

Zhou Yuan could not help but whimper a little as he lay face up inside the crater. These stone serpents were truly ferocious, and each one was likely no weaker than Wei Youxuan. 

With four of them were working together, they became an even more formidable force. 

Roar!

The four stone serpents roared. They did not give Zhou Yuan any chance to catch his breath, charging downwards once again to attack him. The tremendous pressure that pulsed from their bodies made the ground crack and crumble.

Though the four stone serpents rapidly grew in Zhou Yuan’s eyes, there was only calmness on his face.

Boom!

Just as the stone serpents were about to reach him, the ground around Zhou Yuan suddenly crumbled as four earth spikes abruptly shot out. The spikes were covered in glowing runes.

Ch!

The four earth spikes were as swift as thunder. They pierced directly into the bodies of the stone serpents, shattering the runes within them. 

Zhou Yuan grinned as he watched the four stone serpents crumble. However, his smile had barely surfaced when his eyes abruptly widened. He had just discovered that as the four serpents crumbled, invisible Spirit undulations were rapidly gathering together, ultimately transforming into a giant transparent Spirit stamp that immediately descended with a loud rumble. 

Rumble!

Even though there was no visible disturbance from the ground, Zhou Yuan’s expression rapidly changed the instant the Spirit stamp fell.

He never expected the meek looking Xia Yu to be formidable in battle. It turns out that the stone serpents from earlier were merely decoys, and the real killing move was the giant Spirit stamp hidden within them. 

This wasn’t an attack aimed at killing him. Instead, she clearly intended on purely using the might of her Spirit to suppress him, and leave him with no way of retaliation. 

Zhou Yuan sat up as the spot between his brows began to flicker. A Spirit slowly rose from within, coming to a stop above his head. This Spirit looked exactly the same as Zhou Yuan, and was fairly corporeal. It was his materialized Spirit. 

Zhou Yuan’s Spirit raised both of its arms as Spirit force spread from it, unwaveringly resisting the slowing descending Spirit stamp. 

Atop the mountain peak, Xia Yu looked at Zhou Yuan before she slowly said, “Senior brother Zhou Yuan, my Spirit has already stepped into the mid Corporeal stage, while yours is only at the initial stage. It is useless no matter how you resist.”

Zhou Yuan did not answer. The Spirit above his head continued to circulate its Spirit power to push back the giant Spirit stamp. 

Xia Yu did not say anything else when she saw this. Her hand formed a seal, and the giant Spirit stamp slowly began to descend.

As the giant Spirit stamp slowly descended, Zhou Yuan could feel an enormous pressure. He frowned slightly as his eyes flickered in thought. A moment later, a cold expression surfaced on his face.

“Mid Corporeal stage huh…”

He muttered to himself, before he took in a deep breath and slowly shut his eyes. 

All of his Spirit power poured out. Due to the tremendous pressure from above, a faint light began to appear on the Spirit above his head. 

The Saint Spirit Crystal revolved between his brows as strand after strand of a cooling aura poured out, before being absorbed by the Spirit above his head. 

Though the giant Spirit stamp’s descent was extremely slow, there seemed to be no way to stop it as it slowly inched downwards. At this rate, Zhou Yuan’s Spirit would eventually be suppressed. 

Anyone could tell that Zhou Yuan had completely fallen into a disadvantage. 

However, Zhou Yuan looked as if he was oblivious to his plight. Despite the overwhelming pressure from above, his Spirit continued to face the slowly descending giant Spirit stamp. 

Countless disciples in front of Spirit Rune Hall secretly shook their head. Zhou Yuan had caused so many commotions previously, but it seemed that he had finally met his match this time...

“He’s finally going to suffer!” A smile had already emerged on Lu Xuanyin’s face. She never imagined that she would see Zhou Yuan hit his first setback, not by her hand but at Spirit Rune Peak. 

Beside her, Xu Yan smiled faintly. Zhou Yuan was ultimately only a new disciple, and even though he was quite talented, he still lacked experience and maturity. After today, he should finally learn that in the Cangxuan Sect, a mere gold-sash disciple had no right to do as he pleased...

Nearby, Su Wan gently patted Gu Hongyi’s shoulder, indicating that she should look on the bright side.

However, Gu Hongyi tightly bit her lip, her gaze never straying from the Genesis Qi mirror. 

In front of Spirit Rune Hall, numerous disciples watched the slowly descending giant Spirit stamp above Zhou Yuan’s head...

All of them knew that the moment it landed would also be the moment of Zhou Yuan’s loss.