The arena had not yet settled from the previous uproar when the instructor’s voice rang out once more, formal and sharp, cutting cleanly through the lingering noise.
"Quarterfinals Opening Match!"
"Lin Yi... versus Tang Yue!"
For a single breath, the world seed to pause, as if even the wind above the arena had been stilled by those words.
Then, the stadium exploded.
The roar of thousands rose like a crashing tide, excitent, and disbelief colliding into a deafening wave. Students leaned forward, so gripping the railings so tightly their knuckles turned white, others half-rising from their seats as their eyes locked onto the battlefield, afraid that even a blink would cause them to miss sothing crucial.
"He really forced the match!"
"He’s actually facing Tang Yue head-on!"
"Is he fearless... or insane?!"
On the arena floor, Tang Yue stepped forward, her presence cutting cleanly through the chaos like a blade through silk. A long, elegant bow lay between her fingers, its form slender.
Tang Yue stood tall, her posture straight, her chin slightly lifted, her expression calm yet cold. The playful mockery from before had vanished completely, erased as if it had never existed. What remained was a hunter who had stepped onto the battlefield with absolute focus, a predator who had no intention of losing.
"Lin Yi," she said, her voice carrying clearly despite the noise, "don’t think for a second that your tricks from before will work on ." Her fingers tightened around the bowstring. "I’ll crush you properly."
Across from her, Lin Yi’s aze remained fixed on Tang Yue, calm and unreadable, as though he had already seen the outco of this battle long before it began.
That calmness, more than anything else, caused a ripple of unease to spread through those watching.
"Why does he look like that...?"
"He’s not even taking a stance..."
"Does he really think he can just stand there against an A-Rank Radiant Archer?"
The instructor’s hand fell. "Begin!"
The instant the signal dropped, Tang Yue released.
SHING!
The first arrow cut through the air like a beam of condensed light, its speed so great that it left a faint trail in its wake.
But her fingers had already moved again before the arrow even reached its target.
Another arrow ford.
Then another.
Then another.
In the span of a single heartbeat, one arrow beca ten, ten beca dozens, and dozens beca a storm that swallowed the sky. Golden streaks rained downward like divine punishnt, each one filled with lethal intent, each one aid with frightening precision.
Tang Yue’s expression remained steady, but her movents accelerated, her arms becoming a blur as she drew and released without pause.
"Let’s see you block this!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the storm as she shifted her footing, twisting her body to change angles mid-fire.
Arrows curved unnaturally through the air, so descending from above, others arcing from the sides, others shooting directly forward in a relentless barrage.
It was a layered assault with no blind spots, no safe angles, no room to breathe.
"That’s insane!"
"She’s controlling every arrow trajectory!"
"That’s not sothing a normal A-Rank can do!"
If an ordinary student stood there, they wouldn’t just lose—they would be erased instantly, overwheld before they could even comprehend what was happening.
At the center of that storm, Lin Yi finally moved.
His hand closed around the hilt, and as the blade slid free, the atmosphere changed. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t explosive. But it was absolute.
A deeper, older radiance erupted outward, drowning even the brilliance of Tang Yue’s arrows, as though a greater sun had risen to eclipse a lesser one.
The Celestial Lord Blade.
The ground beneath Lin Yi’s feet cracked slightly, thin fractures spreading outward as if unable to bear the pressure.
The entire arena froze.
"A Mythical weapon?!"
"No... that aura... that’s beyond rare!"
"That’s not sothing a freshman should have!"
Even the guild scouts rose from their seats, their earlier composure completely shattered. So leaned forward, eyes blazing with interest, others exchanged sharp glances, already calculating value, potential, power.
At the highest platform, Yan Honglie slowly stood, his gaze locking onto the blade with intense focus.
"...Celestial origin..." he murmured, a faint smile forming at the corner of his lips. "...Interesting."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The first wave of arrows reached Lin Yi—
And shattered.
Each swing of his blade was minimal, precise, almost casual, as if he were brushing away dust rather than intercepting lethal attacks. Golden arrows exploded into fragnts of light upon contact, dissolving before they could even co close to touching him.
Tang Yue’s brows furrowed, her breathing tightening slightly.
She increased the intensity imdiately, refusing to hesitate.
"Don’t look down on !" Her voice sharpened as her spiritual energy surged, pouring into her attacks in greater quantities.
The sky above the arena turned completely gold, a blinding storm that seed ready to crush everything beneath it.
Yet—
Lin Yi didn’t move from his spot.
His blade rose and fell again and again, each motion clean, each strike final.
Every arrow was destroyed.
Every attack was neutralized.
The rhythm didn’t change.
The outco didn’t change.
The crowd slowly fell silent, the earlier excitent replaced by sothing heavier, sothing harder to describe.
Because they understood now.
This was domination.
Tang Yue dashed sideways, her feet striking the ground in rapid succession as she repositioned again and again, her figure blurring across the battlefield. She fired while moving, twisting her body mid-air, releasing arrows from impossible angles.
"Break!" she shouted, her voice carrying strain now as she forced more power into each shot.
Arrows split mid-flight, multiplying into smaller projectiles that rained down in dense clusters.
She shot low, targeting his legs.
She shot high, aiming for his head.
She layered delayed arrows behind faster ones, creating traps designed to strike after his defenses shifted.
Techniques she had honed through countless battles, countless hours of training, executed flawlessly.
And yet—
They were useless.
Lin Yi adjusted slightly, a step forward, a slight turn of his wrist, a shift in angle.
That was all it took.
Everything collapsed.
Why...?
Tang Yue’s breathing grew heavier, her chest rising and falling rapidly now.
Why isn’t he attacking?
Why is he just standing there?
Her arms trembled slightly as she drew again, her spiritual energy beginning to strain under the continuous output.
The realization struck her like a hamr, making her chest tighten painfully.
He’s letting try everything.
He isn’t waiting for an opening. He isn’t being cautious. He is simply allowing to exhaust myself. Worst, he’s allowing to try all my powerful attacks to claim victory at my strongest.
Her pride burned violently.
"I’m not done yet!" she shouted, her voice breaking through the tension as her aura surged once more, forcing out even more arrows despite the strain.
The crowd reacted instantly.
"She’s pushing past her limit!"
"Her energy is going to collapse!"
"She’ll injure herself at this rate!"
Her arrows beca faster, sharper, more desperate, their glow intensifying as she poured everything she had left into the attack.
But desperation had no place against absolute power.
To Lin Yi, this was no different than swatting away falling leaves.
An ant trying to shake a great tree.
No matter how fiercely it struggled, the tree would not move.
Her final arrow left her fingers.
The golden light flickered, then dimd.
Her bow trembled, its radiance fading as her spiritual energy reached its limit.
Then—
Nothing.
Silence fell like a curtain.
Tang Yue stood there, her body heavy, her arms weak, her breathing uneven.
Across from her, Lin Yi lowered his blade slightly.
Then—
He vanished.
[Phantom Void Step.]
The distance between them disappeared instantly, space folding as if it had never existed.
Tang Yue’s pupils shrank, her body trying to react on instinct—
But it was too late.
CRACK!
Her scream tore through the arena as her arm bent unnaturally, the sound of bone breaking echoing clearly.
Before the pain could even settle—
A second CRACK followed.
Both arms broken.
Her bow dissolved into fading particles of light as she collapsed to her knees, her body trembling violently.
Her eyes burned with fury and humiliation as she glared up at him.
"You...!"
Her voice shook, filled with hatred.
"You’ve made an enemy of !"
"I will kill you... one day... I swear it!"
Lin Yi looked down at her.
No anger.
No satisfaction.
No excitent.
Only cold indifference, as if her words carried no weight at all.
Then, he moved.
His hand reached out, gripping her hair without hesitation, and slamd her face into the ground.
BOOM!
The impact echoed like thunder, dust rising as cracks spread across the arena floor.
The stadium fell completely silent.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Tang Yue lay motionless, defeated, broken, humiliated beyond recovery in that mont.
Lin Yi lifted her head, his gaze locking onto her barely opened eyes. In that mont, Tang Yue’s posture was like that of soone kneeling before a greater power. It was done. Lin Yi had made Tang Yue kneel before him.
User Comments
0 comments from readers