103: Chapter 103 Both Sides Suffer Heavy Losses, Bai Chen Makes His Move!

Exclamations rose from below the stage.

Lin Qingxue covered her mouth, her face turning pale.

Leng Ningshuang clenched her fists, and Murong Bai's gaze narrowed slightly.

Elder Li's brow furrowed, while Elder Wang He let out a cold sneer.

"Kneel before me!"

Xiao Li laughed maniacally. Moving even faster within his Domain, he thrust his spear toward Ye Chen's chest. This strike was as fast as lightning, impossible to evade!

At this critical moment of life and death, a cold light burst from Ye Chen's eyes.

If he couldn't dodge, then he wouldn't!

He actually stopped trying to evade, switching the ice scar sword to his left hand while pressing his right fingers together like a sword. Within his body, his Hunyuan True Essence circulated and compressed at an unprecedented speed!

The Wheel Sea vortex spun rapidly, and the Dark Red Ember at its center shone brilliantly.

A terrifying intent of extinction, termination, and all things returning to nothingness rose from his fingertips!

At his fingertip, a point of extreme gray darkness emerged.

It seemed capable of swallowing all light; as the light of the surrounding Golden Flame Domain approached this gray darkness...

...it grew dim, distorted, and was invisibly annihilated!

"Hunyuan Return to Void Finger!"

Ye Chen pointed his finger. Silently, it met the incoming golden spear tip!

This wasn't the complete "Hunyuan Return to Void."

Instead, it was a killing Move Ye Chen had developed over a month of bitter cultivation, compressing the Hunyuan Return to Void Concept to an extreme degree into a single point!

Although its power didn't match the complete version, it was faster to activate, consumed less energy, and was better suited for pinpoint destruction!

The moment that gray darkness appeared, alarm bells rang wildly in Xiao Li's heart!

It was a fear born of primal instinct!

He wanted to change his Move, but his spear's momentum was already spent; the arrow was already on the string!

"Break!"

Xiao Li roared, pushing his Golden Flame True Essence to its limit. The Golden Flames at the spear tip condensed to their peak...

...transforming into a brilliant, dazzling point of golden light that slammed violently into the gray darkness!

There was no world-shaking explosion.

Only a faint "puff," like the sound of a bubble popping.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Immediately after—

BOOM!!!

Centered on the point where finger and spear met, an indescribable storm of terrifying energy violently exploded!

It was the ultimate collision between the power of annihilation and the power of explosion!

The Golden Flame Domain distorted violently before shattering with a bang!

At the tip of Xiao Li's golden spear, that most concentrated point of golden light...

...was actually silently "swallowed" by a small portion of that gray darkness. The light of the entire spear tip dimmed for a moment!

A massive recoil traveled down the spear shaft. Xiao Li felt a sharp pain in his arm as the webbing between his thumb and forefinger split, nearly causing him to lose his grip on the golden spear.

He was forced back seven or eight steps.

Each step left a deep, charred footprint on the black iron platform. His internal blood and qi were in turmoil, and his Golden Flame True Essence fell into disarray.

Ye Chen fared even worse. Taking the brunt of the impact, he was violently blown away by the energy storm.

He coughed up three mouthfuls of blood mid-air, and the sound of bones shattering came from his right fingers.

The sleeve of his entire right arm was shredded, leaving it a bloody mess. He crashed heavily over thirty feet away and slid several more yards before finally coming to a stop.

Propping himself up with his sword, he knelt on one knee, his face as pale as paper.

But when he looked up, his Battle Intent burned like fire as he stared fixedly at Xiao Li.

The entire audience was deathly silent!

Everyone stared at the stage in stunned silence.

Xiao Li was pushed back?

The Golden Flame Domain was broken?

Although Ye Chen's injuries were more severe... he had actually met the attack head-on and broken Xiao Li's killing Move and Domain?

"This... how is this possible?" a Disciple murmured.

"What kind of finger technique is that? Such a terrifying aura! I feel like my Divine Soul is trembling!"

"Ye Chen was actually hiding such a lethal Move!"

"Both sides are injured? No, Ye Chen's injuries are much worse!"

On the high platform, Elder Wang He stood up abruptly, his face ashen.

A sharp glint flashed in Elder Li's eyes, followed quickly by a look of worry.

Deputy Hall Master Yan Feng sat up straight, his eyes fixed on Ye Chen.

Xiao Li steadied himself. Looking at his split palm and the dimmed spear tip, he then glanced at Ye Chen, who was struggling to stand in the distance.

The arrogance on his face was finally replaced by shock and fury.

He had actually been pushed to this point by a kid at the Fourth Level of the Wheel Sea Realm?

He had even suffered a setback!

What a humiliating disgrace!

"Good! Very good!"

Xiao Li's voice was as cold as a wind from the nine netherworlds. There was no longer any hint of contempt, only a sky-high killing intent.

"Ye Chen, you have successfully enraged me. I will show you the meaning of true despair!"

He thrust the golden spear into the platform beside him and rapidly formed a complex hand seal with both hands.

The Golden Flame True Essence around his body erupted like a volcano, condensing and compressing above his head as a heart-palpitating wave of destruction spread out.

The fire-attribute Spiritual Qi in the world converged frantically toward him, even affecting the weather as faint flickers of fire appeared in the sky.

"It's one of the ultimate killing Moves of the Golden Flame Heaven-Burning Technique—the Heaven-Burning Great Handprint!"

An Inner Sect Disciple who recognized the Move cried out in shock.

"Senior Brother Xiao Li was actually forced to use this Move? This consumes his Origin True Essence!"

"Ye Chen is finished! Even someone at the Sixth Level of the Wheel Sea Realm might not be able to withstand this Move!"

Seeing this, a ruthless look appeared in Elder Wang He's eyes.

Elder Li's expression changed drastically as he stood up abruptly.

"Xiao Li! This is just a sparring match; there's no need to use such a lethal Move!"

He could see that this Move was too powerful. In his heavily injured state, Ye Chen would definitely be unable to block it and might even lose his life.

Deputy Hall Master Yan Feng also frowned deeply, ready to intervene at any moment.

Although duels on the Heavenly Punishment Platform didn't forbid death, the Law Enforcement Hall had the right to intervene if one party was clearly intent on murder.

Xiao Li turned a deaf ear to Elder Li's questioning.

His eyes held only Ye Chen and the thought of completely incinerating the person who had brought him such shame.

The hand seal was complete. Above his head...

...a massive hand seal, several yards wide and composed entirely of dark gold flames, had formed. Its palm prints were clearly visible.

It emitted a terrifying heat capable of boiling seas and burning mountains, firmly locking onto the large area below.

"Ye Chen! It is your honor to die under my Heaven-Burning Great Handprint! Perish!"

Xiao Li sneered and slammed his hands downward!

Carrying the power to destroy everything, the dark gold flame seal descended slowly but unstoppably...

...pressing down toward Ye Chen!

Before the seal even reached him...

...the terrifying heat and pressure had already caused the platform for several yards around Ye Chen to crack and melt!

Ye Chen's bones creaked throughout his body, and blood seeped from his nose and mouth again as if he were carrying a mountain on his back.

Impossible to evade! Impossible to block?

Countless people below the stage held their breath. Lin Qingxue's vision went dark, and she nearly fainted.

Leng Ningshuang already had her hand on her sword hilt, and Sword Qi flickered around Murong Bai.

Elder Li even took a step forward, about to intervene.

At this critical juncture, Ye Chen, who was kneeling on one knee, slowly raised his head.

There was no despair or fear on his face, only a nearly indifferent calm.

And deep within his eyes, a spark of cold madness.

His right hand was useless, but his left hand still tightly gripped the ice scar sword.

Facing the descending Heaven-Burning Great Handprint, he didn't try to dodge, nor did he use his sword to block.

He simply and slowly thrust the ice scar sword into the ground in front of him.

Then, he painfully raised his hands, left hand above and right hand below.

He formed a strange hand seal that seemed to both encompass and terminate all things.

Within his Wheel Sea, the Chaos vortex reversed frantically, and the Dark Red Ember at the center shone brilliantly.

The Ice Lotus Imprint floating above it...

...trembled voluntarily for the first time, emitting a gentle chaotic light and pure cold qi that merged into his True Essence.

All the remaining Hunyuan True Essence in his body, along with the Concept of extinction and return to void...

...as well as the Chaos and cold qi from the Ice Lotus Imprint...

...began to merge, collapse, and condense in a mysterious and unpredictable way.

Between his hands, an indescribable "Origin point" was forming.

It was neither light nor darkness, but a chaotic "nothingness" that seemed like both the beginning and the end of all things.

It was tiny, yet it seemed to contain the power to create worlds and the extinction to return them to void.

An aura even deeper, more ancient, and more terrifying than the previous "Hunyuan Return to Void Finger" quietly spread out.

The firelight in the sky seemed to dim for a moment, and the speed of the descending Heaven-Burning Great Handprint slowed imperceptibly.

On the high platform, Elder Li stopped abruptly, his eyes bursting with unbelievable shock.

"This is... impossible!"

The sneer on Elder Wang He's face suddenly froze, turning into shock.

Deputy Hall Master Yan Feng stood up abruptly, staring fixedly at the tiny point of "Chaos" between Ye Chen's hands.

Ye Chen's face was as pale as paper, and blood flowed from all seven of his facial orifices.

His body trembled violently because it couldn't withstand this power, looking as if it might collapse at any moment.

But his eyes were terrifyingly bright as he locked onto the giant flaming hand descending from the sky.

Using the last of his strength, he croaked out word by word:

"Hun... Yuan... Return... to... Void—Ice... Fire... Tribulation!"

He slowly pushed his palms upward.

That tiny chaotic Origin point left his palms and silently...

...drifted toward the descending, overwhelmingly powerful Heaven-Burning Great Handprint.

In the next moment, the chaotic Origin point and the dark gold giant flame hand lightly touched.

There was no sound.

There was no light.

There was only an absolute, all-consuming—as if even time and space had frozen—

Gray darkness.

At the instant that tiny chaotic Origin point touched the overwhelmingly powerful Heaven-Burning Great Handprint—

There was no world-shaking explosion, no dazzling light.

Only an absolute grayness, seemingly able to swallow all light and heat, rapidly spread and expanded at the point of contact.

That grayness was not deep, yet it carried a terrifying intent of all things returning to void and time-space freezing.

The peerlessly powerful dark-gold flame great handprint, the moment it touched this grayness, was like an iceberg gnawed by an invisible giant mouth.

Starting from the point of contact, it silently melted, disintegrated, and annihilated!

The violent Golden Flame True Essence that made up the great handprint seemed to have met its natural enemy, without even a chance to struggle.

It was "swallowed" and decomposed by that chaotic grayness, turning into the most fundamental particles and returning to nothingness.

The speed of annihilation was incredibly fast.

In just a single breath.

That Heaven-Burning Great Handprint, sufficient to suppress and kill a Sixth Level of the Wheel Sea Realm Cultivator, was nearly half "eaten."

The remaining part's light dimmed, its structure became unstable, and it showed signs of collapse.

"No—! This is impossible!!"

Xiao Li let out an unbelievable roar mixed with terror.

He felt his connection with the Heaven-Burning Great Handprint being forcibly cut and swallowed.

Furthermore, a terrifying intent of extinction and termination followed that connection, backlashing against him and impacting his Divine Soul and Wheel Sea!

He wanted to control the great handprint to erupt with its final power or retract it, but it was already too late.

That power of chaotic grayness not only swallowed True Essence but also seemed to be "terminating" the Dao technique itself!

"Pfft!"

Suffering the backlash, Xiao Li's face turned pale, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura instantly withered significantly, and his eyes were filled with horror.

What kind of evil technique is this?

To be able to annihilate his Golden Flame True Essence so overbearingly?!

Below the stage, there was a deathly silence.

Everyone watched the incredible scene in the sky, dumbfounded.

The illustriously famous Heaven-Burning Great Handprint was actually being "eaten" by that inconspicuous grayness?

This was completely beyond their scope of understanding.

On the high platform, Elder Li's pupils constricted as he murmured.

"Chaos, extinction... this is no longer a simple suppression of True Essence attributes. This is the power of annihilation that touches upon the 'Dao'..."

His gaze toward Ye Chen was filled with shock and unprecedented importance.

Elder Wang He's face was ashen, his whole body trembling slightly, whether from anger or shock.

Deputy Hall Master Yan Feng's eyes were sharp as knives, staring intently at the spreading grayness and the tottering Ye Chen.

He seemed to want to see through its essence.

"Crack... Boom!"

Finally, the remaining Heaven-Burning Great Handprint completely lost stability, collapsing with a bang in mid-air and turning into a sky full of gold-red light spots.

They were then swept away by the residual chaotic grayness, completely annihilated without leaving a trace.

As for Ye Chen, who had released that point of Chaos Origin, he was completely exhausted the moment his palm pushed out.

His body swayed violently, darkness completely enveloped his vision, and he fell straight backward.

The ice scar sword fell beside him with a "clang."

His aura was weak to the extreme, like a candle in the wind; he was bleeding from his seven orifices, and his right arm was a bloody mess, his life or death unknown.

The grayness slowly dissipated, and the sky regained its clarity.

On the Heavenly Punishment Platform, only Xiao Li remained, kneeling on one knee, spitting blood, his aura withered, while in the distance, Ye Chen lay unconscious, his fate unknown.

Had the victory been decided?

No, it seemed more like both sides were wounded, perishing together?

No!

Although Xiao Li was seriously injured and his aura was withered, he was still standing!

While Ye Chen had already fallen!

After a brief deathly silence, a massive uproar erupted below the stage!

"Senior Brother Xiao Li... won?"

"Ye Chen fell! Is he dead?"

"What Move was that? Too terrifying! It could even annihilate the Heaven-Burning Great Handprint!"

"Ye Chen's last Move must have come at a huge price; he's probably done for now..."

The Disciples of Golden Flame Peak showed wild joy on their faces, but seeing Xiao Li's pale face and withered aura, they were also somewhat uncertain.

The Disciples who supported Ye Chen or remained neutral were filled with regret and shock.

"Brother Ye!" Zhao Feng and Duan Tianya's eyes nearly split as they prepared to rush onto the stage.

"Silence!"

Deputy Hall Master Yan Feng's voice, infused with True Essence, resounded through the field, suppressing all commotion.

His gaze was like lightning, scanning the field before finally landing on the stage.

Just then, Xiao Li, who was originally kneeling and seemingly withered, suddenly had a flash of malice and madness in his eyes.

He saw Ye Chen fall, and he saw the dropped ice scar sword.

More importantly, he saw Elder Wang He's cold, suggestive gaze from below the stage.

He cannot be allowed to live!

This boy's Cultivation Technique is too strange, and his potential is terrifying. If he isn't eliminated today, he will surely become a major threat in the future!

While he's unconscious, finish him!

He could just say he couldn't stop in time, or that Ye Chen died from backlash!

Once the killing intent arose, Xiao Li ignored his injuries.

Forcing out his last bit of True Essence, his figure lunged forward, grabbing the golden long spear stuck nearby.

The tip of the spear flickered with a dim but still sharp Golden Flame, turning into a streak of red-gold light that stabbed fiercely toward the heart of the unconscious Ye Chen!

"Ye Chen, go to hell!"

This change happened in the blink of an eye!

No one expected that with Ye Chen already down and the match decided, Xiao Li would suddenly lash out with a killing blow!

"Stop!"

Elder Li's expression changed drastically as he shouted sternly, his figure already moving.

"Xiao Li! How dare you!"

Deputy Hall Master Yan Feng's face also darkened as he struck out with a palm.

A condensed ice-blue palm print arrived first, aiming straight for Xiao Li's back to force him to defend.

But Xiao Li seemed determined, completely ignoring the attack from behind, only pushing his protective True Essence to the limit as the spear's momentum increased rather than decreased!

He was willing to take a palm strike from Yan Feng just to kill Ye Chen!

Just as the spear tip with the Golden Flame was about to pierce Ye Chen's heart—

At this critical moment!

Another change occurred!

A white figure appeared before Ye Chen like a ghost, without any warning.

No one saw how he arrived; it was as if he had been standing there all along.

He reached out a slender, clean hand that looked as if it were carved from ice crystals.

With two fingers, he gently caught the golden spear tip that was stabbing forward with unstoppable force.

"Ding."

A soft sound, like gold and jade clashing, crisp and pleasant.

That Golden Flame spear tip, which contained Xiao Li's final strength and was enough to pierce through metal.

Just like that, it was caught effortlessly by two fingers.

Motionless.

The Golden Flame on the spear tip silently extinguished and dissipated the moment it touched those fingers.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Xiao Li's forward momentum came to a dead stop.

He remained in the stabbing posture, his eyes wide, looking at the suddenly appearing man in white in disbelief.

Then he looked at his spear tip, held by the other's two fingers, unable to Move.

An indescribable chill, seemingly able to freeze the Soul, traveled up the spear shaft, instantly spreading through his entire body.

It made his blood almost freeze and his True Essence completely stagnate.

Below the stage, everyone held their breath again, looking at this abruptly appearing man in white.

He was tall and slender, wearing a speckless white robe, with an ordinary and wooden face.

His eyes were calm and rippleless; it was indeed Bai Chen!

"It's, it's him?

The one who gave up his spot in the Secret Realm..."

"When did he get up there?"

"So strong! He caught Xiao Li's killing strike with just two fingers?"

On the high platform, the attacks launched by Elder Li and Yan Feng quietly dissipated the moment Bai Chen appeared.

The two looked at Bai Chen on the stage, their eyes showing unprecedented solemnity and a hint of wariness.

They actually couldn't see through this person's cultivation!

Furthermore, the timing and manner of his appearance were far too strange.

Elder Wang He's face changed even more drastically, staring fixedly at Bai Chen as if trying to see through him.

"The match has been decided, why strike to kill?"

Bai Chen's voice was calm and rippleless, showing no emotion, yet it carried an unquestionable indifference.

His two fingers shifted slightly.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, the tip of that high-grade golden long spear was actually snapped off by him! The break was as smooth as a mirror.

"Pfft!"

His Life-bound Spiritual Artifact being destroyed, Xiao Li suffered another heavy blow, spitting blood wildly, staggering back, and falling onto his backside.

The look he gave Bai Chen was filled with fear, as if he had seen a ghost.

Bai Chen didn't even look at Xiao Li, casually tossing the broken spear tip onto the ground with a "clang."

He leaned down, checked Ye Chen's condition, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Then, he took out a snow-white Medicinal Pill, placed it in Ye Chen's mouth, and tapped several major acupoints on Ye Chen's chest with his fingers.

The pill entered the stomach, turning into a pure and gentle icy medicinal power that spread out.