"The winner of this battle is Max and with that, it is our Great Ruler Empire who will own the mana pool now," Elder Drew finally announced, his voice ringing with satisfaction as a proud smile spread across his face. He couldn’t help but glance sideways at Elder Bras from the Thunder Monarch Hall, as if silently asking—What now?
The defeat of the Thunder Monarch Hall’s chosen genius had sealed the outco of the competition in their first ga and Elder Drew made no effort to hide the satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.
Elder Bras, however, responded with only a cold snort. "Hmph," he grunted, clearly suppressing the storm brewing in his chest. His pride had taken a hit today, and it showed in every sharp line of his expression. "It seems your force has found itself a new genius. Nurture him well," he said in a flat tone, but the coldness couldn’t be masked.
Without sparing another glance, he turned and shot into the sky, disappearing into the distance with a trail of lightning behind him, leaving behind only the sting of his defeat.
Not long after, Travis stepped forward, his expression an awkward mix of defeat and forced politeness. He bowed slightly toward the elders of both sides and said with a tight, embarrassed smile, "Elders, we will also take our leave."
Without waiting for a reply, he took out his void shuttle, helping the unconscious Kai into it. Monts later, the shuttle flickered with light and ascended into the sky, vanishing from sight like a defeated shadow retreating from the battlefield.
With that, the Thunder Monarch Hall’s presence had completely vanished—leaving behind only the silent proof of their crushing defeat and the undeniable rise of a new na: Max.
"What is the ability you used just now?" A calm but ancient-sounding voice rang out suddenly, startling Max. In the blink of an eye, Elder Heng from the Bright Buddha Palace appeared directly in front of him, as if he had simply materialized from thin air.
Max instinctively took a step back, his heart skipping a beat. He hadn’t even sensed the elder’s approach—and that alone spoke volus of the man’s terrifying strength. But what truly sent a chill down Max’s spine was the imnse pressure that descended upon him the mont Elder Heng arrived.
It was suffocating, overwhelming, like a towering mountain collapsing upon him, ready to crush him into nothingness. The air around him warped, and even breathing beca a struggle.
Max could feel his legs trembling, the urge to kneel bursting through his instincts as if the laws of the world demanded his submission. For a brief mont, it felt as if a slap from this elder could reduce him to ashes.
But then—click—sothing inside him shifted. The effect of his title "Primordial" activated, and in an instant, the pressure vanished as if it had never existed. The crushing weight was gone. The sky brightened.
Max stood tall once more, his gaze eting Elder Heng’s with calm resolve.
Elder Heng raised his brows, a clear glint of surprise flashing through his otherwise serene expression. He had just exerted pressure that would make even Legend Rank experts tremble, yet the young man before him stood completely unaffected—as if his presence ant nothing.
No shaking knees, no forced bowing, not even a flicker of discomfort. It was as though his overwhelming might had been swallowed by the void. That anomaly alone caught the old monk off guard, but now was not the ti to dwell on it. He had more pressing questions.
"What is the ability you just used now to defeat Noah?" he asked again, his voice calm but with an underlying force that demanded an answer.
Max, still reeling from the abrupt intrusion and pressure, narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t in the mood to entertain questions from soone who had just tried to crush him under a mountain of invisible force.
A sharp retort was already forming on his tongue, sothing less than respectful.
But before he could even open his mouth to respond, a figure descended like a gust of wind between them. Elder Drew appeared, his face stern, voice laced with restrained anger.
"What is the aning of this, Elder Heng? I thought the Bright Buddha Palace preached kindness and tranquility. Is this what kindness looks like? Threatening a junior with your strength?" His eyes glared into Elder Heng’s, unwavering.
The tension between them crackled like dry branches in a storm. Max felt a subtle warmth bloom in his chest seeing Elder Drew stand up for him.
For a mont, the quiet forest clearing seed to freeze, caught between a looming conflict of words and principles.
Noah froze on the spot, completely stunned. He had never, not once in his life, seen Elder Heng like this. The old man had always been the embodint of calm, the pillar of patience and serenity within the Bright Buddha Palace.
Yet now, standing a few paces in front of Max, there was sothing unfamiliar in the elder’s deanor—sothing sharp, focused, and almost... disturbed. It was like a veil had been lifted, revealing a side of the elder that Noah never imagined could exist. A side that was intensely inquisitive, even confrontational.
Lyra’s expression had darkened as well. Her brows furrowed, and without hesitation, she discreetly activated a small button between her fingers, sending a distress signal straight to her father.
She didn’t know what Elder Heng intended to do, but instincts scread that this had crossed the line. When one of the strongest expert of the Bright Buddha Palace or even the Middle Domain suddenly turns hostile after a junior wins a competition, sothing wasn’t right.
Amid the thick tension, Elder Heng’s voice rang out, quiet yet slicing through the air like a blade. "That vile... evil... demonic aura he released the mont his strength overpowered Noah," he said, his eyes locked onto Max with a predatory calm, "I want to know where it cos from."
His tone remained as gentle as always, but behind that stillness was an unmistakable glint in his gaze—sharp, discerning, almost surgical—as though he were trying to peel apart Max’s very soul with his stare.
His eyes scanned Max slowly from head to toe, not missing even a flicker of breath, as though searching for cracks in the boy’s existence.
Max stood still, his expression steady, but inside, he could feel a tight coil forming in his gut. ’Does he know sothing about infernal energy?’ That was the only thing running through his mind at the mont.
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