Thus far, the second elimination round was about halfway through, so there were still a number of people who had not yet fought.
Ling Gong appeared in the next match, and to no surprise, her opponent was absolutely powerless to fight back. Even when they released their imprint, it was completely useless.
No. 0007, who had defeated Zhuo Daynight, also easily won his match.
At this point, although there were still a few people who had managed to remain in the competition due to luck, not many of the remaining contestants were able to draw much attention from the audience.
When Liu Tang appeared, Bai Qian was actually the one facing off against the Astral-2 alumnus.
Lu Yin had not expected Bai Qian to also participate in ZENITH, and he was quite curious about the woman. She had been the first person from Earth to discover Nightking Qingyu, the first to leave the planet, and also the first to make it to the Neoverse.
Bai Xue had spoken exceptionally highly about her sister.
For some time, Lu Yin had actually forgotten about Bai Qian, but everything had come rushing back when he ran into her in the CyNet World. She was quite strong, and she had also been a student of Astral-1 for a time.
Her particular match was basically a battle between two students from the Astral Combat Academy’s Astral-1 and Astral-2.
However, the match ended quickly.
Liu Tang certainly was not weak, and his sword qi and battle techniques were executed viciously within his domain, but Bai Qian instantly froze the arena without even taking a single step.
The difference between them was just too much.
Lu Yin had expected Bai Qian to win, but her strength nonetheless still surprised him, stoking his curiosity about her even more.
Nearly half of the people on the second layer of the mountain had been eliminated by now, as the losers were all sent down to the third layer, leaving only the winners on the second layer.
More than half a month had passed since the first one-on-one battle. The chain of victories and defeats had led some people in the universe to make a fortune while others had lost everything.
Many had placed their hopes on a distant star, but would still end up losing in the end. Others would remain skeptical but ultimately emerge as winners. There was a certain element of luck when it came to betting on the contestants.
Whether it was Xia Luo, Lan Si, Feng Liu, Sleeping Prince, Black, or White, every last one of them had suffered bad luck in their matchups. And next to join them was Wendy Yushan, who had been matched up against Zhi Yi.
Anyone who had to fight against one of the Daosource Three Skies had the worst luck.
Wendy Yushan had long since broken through to the Cruiser realm, and she was only a single step away from breaking through to the Hunter realm. Once, she had been ranked within the top thirty of the Top 100 Rankings, but after she revealed her secret technique, public sentiment had placed her within the top ten or even top five.
Xia Tian, who had been ranked first on the Top 100 Rankings, had merged back with Xia Jiuyou. The second ranker, Tai Yuanjun, had been overwhelmed by what he had seen in the Mountain and Seas Zone, and the third on the list, Qing Longlong, had been defeated by the Brahman Realm’s Realmling. Avery and Cang Mu had both been defeated while several of the others in the Top 100 Rankings had already reached the age where they were no longer a part of the younger generation. All in all, nearby the entire echelon of the Top 100 Rankings had been eliminated from ZENITH, with the exception of Cool Sis.
Wendy Yushan was strong enough to place within the top ten of the list, but she had never put any efforts into raising her rank. No one was optimistic about her chances of winning the match, including Lu Yin.
However, the moment the battle started, Wendy Yushan’s strength stunned countless people.
She even managed to pierce through Zhi Yi’s Vitality Qi with her sword.
This surprised not only Zhi Yi, but also Lu Yin.
He was quite familiar with the power of Zhi Yi’s Vitality Qi. That ability was why she had obtained her position as one of the Daosource Three Skies so easily. Her Sky Dipper could not be pierced, but her perfect defense had just been broken by Wendy Yushan, who was not even a Hunter.
Zhi Yi stared at Wendy Yushan’s sword in confusion. The weapon was nothing special, and it possessed no strange power either. Why had it been able to tear through her Vitality Qi? This did not make any sense.
No one from the Sixth Mainland could understand what had happened, especially the Daosource Three Skies.
Vitality Qi was one of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s most powerful abilities, and anybody who successfully cultivated it would instantly become one of the Daosource Three Skies. This showed the value that the Sixth Mainland placed on Vitality Qi, but it had just been overcome by a mere Cruiser.
A bang shook the entire arena.
Although Wendy had managed to break through Zhi Yi’s Vitality Qi, the gap in strength between Wendy and Zhi Yi was simply too great. Wendy’s sword was shattered by a single finger from Zhi Yi. Then, the Daosource Three Skies member waved a hand, unleashing a blast of Vitality Qi that forced Wendy Yushan back.
Blood could be seen leaking out from the corner of Wendy’s mouth. She stood there, a broken sword in hand, staring at Zhi Yi.
“How did you do it?” Zhi Yi asked sharply.
Wendy’s long hair drifted in the wind above her broken sword, and a few strands were cut off. It gave others the impression that she was both helpless and unwilling. “I admit defeat.”
Zhi Yi stared at Wendy Yushan and shouted, “Tell me, how did you do it?”
As she yelled, Zhi Yi moved to grab Wendy. However, Wendy Yushan’s figure had faded away and reappeared down on the third layer.
Zhi Yi turned her head to stare down at the third layer. Inexplicably, she then turned to look at Lu Yin, who happened to be staring at her.
Was it him? Was he the one behind whatever it was that had allowed that woman to break through her Vitality Qi? Lu Yin was the only person that Zhi Yi could think of, as he was the only one who had ever ignored her Vitality Qi.
If Lu Yin had the means to allow others to overpower Vitality Qi as well, then he had just become her worst enemy.
Zhi Yi glared at Lu Yin with cold eyes.
Lu Yin was confused; why was that woman staring at him? He could not understand the situation, and he was similarly clueless as to how Wendy had managed to pierce through Zhi Yi’s Vitality Qi. If Vitality Qi was so easy to overpower, then Zhi Yi would have never become one of the Daosource Three Skies.
On top of everything else, there was a gap of two realms between Wendy Yushan and Zhi Yi.
Life was truly amazing sometimes. In order to help Xin Nü, Lu Yin had stunned Shang Qing with his spiritual force, but Shang Qing had believed that Yao Xuan was the one behind that attack.
At this moment, Zhi Yi had misread Lu Yin’s intentions.
Almost half of the contestants on the second layer had been removed now, and there was only one match left.
Many people turned to look at White Silkworm with sympathy in their eyes.
The only two people on the second layer who had not yet fought were White Silkworm and Yao Xuan.
“That kid’s so unlucky!” Ku Wei’s face was filled with schadenfreude. He had been incredibly lucky so far, as none of his opponents had been very strong, which was why he was still a contestant in ZENITH.
Qian Zou’s eyes were full of sympathy, as he had also been quite lucky.
Gu Xiao’er also believed himself to be lucky, though he was also much stronger than these two. Initially, he had been concerned that he had not been predicted to be a finalist on any of the prediction lists, but he honestly believed that he had an excellent chance of reaching the final ten.
He was not the only one with such confidence as Wu Dan, Cursewind, Bai Ling, and others were similarly confident in their own strength. Out of everyone, the most confident was actually Xi Qi, or rather, the fish atop her head.
“A group of two-legged and four-legged beasts can’t possibly compare to Lord Fish! Lord Fish has taught you two tricks to settle things properly.” The fish kept slapping the top of Xi Qi’s head.
Xi Qi had been quite lucky as well. She had been paired up with someone who had only been a mere Melder, so she had easily won.
It was truly amazing that Xi Qi had managed to last so long through the contest while only being a Melder herself.
Not far away, God Taiyi gave Xi Qi a strange look as he stared at the fish on her head. After a moment, God Taiyi blinked strangely. The fish could talk, so was it a creature from the Astral Beast Domain?
“Hey, what are you looking at, you ugly two-legs?” the fish shouted as he glared at God Taiyi while flapping his fins all about and jumping all over.
God Taiyi blinked. Two-legs?
“Ha, it’s a stupid two-legged beast! When you see Lord Fish, how dare you not rush to kowtow and be a mount. When Lord Fish is happy, I can give you anything! The ability to break through to new realms, cross the shores, marry the daughter of a Progenitor, and leave now. When you reach the pinnacle of your life, your life will shine—it won’t even be impossible to become a Progenitor!” the fish shouted.
God Taiyi was stunned and dumbfounded by the fish’s proclamation.
On the other side, Wu Taibai commented, “How can one of us marry the daughter of a Progenitor? The age difference would be too big.”
The fish turned to stare at Wu Taibai. “Stupid! Even if she’s an old hag, you’ll have to marry her, as that will allow you to reach the pinnacle of life in the future! Life, that’s life. Don’t be fooled by appearances.”
“How bold! You’re nothing but a fish, so how dare you speak in such a manner?” God Qingguang snorted as he shot a threatening glare at Xi Qi.
Xi Qi panicked, as she had not been the one to speak.
The fish turned to stare at God Qingguang. “Bah, get out of the way, you dead two-legged beast! You and the other two-legged beasts around you actually have the audacity to put the word “God” in your names! Hurry up and become a mount for Lord Fish for eighteen million years. Then, Lord Fish might be able to forgive you.”
Not far away, Qing Zhiyu pursed his lips as he watched things play out. That fish was an absolute menace, and Qing Zhiyu did not dare to take a second look for fear of being dragged into the mess.
Lu Yin had heard everything. That fish had created far too many enemies for Xi Qi, and Lu Yin could not understand where the fish’s confidence had come from.
At this moment, White Silkworm and Yao Xuan had already appeared on the first layer.
White Silkworm did not hesitate, and his imprint immediately appeared as he charged at Yao Xuan. Coincidentally, White Silkworm had climbed up the northern face of Zenith Mountain, and Yao Xuan had been the gatekeeper of that side’s checkpoint.
Although the Sixth Mainland’s cultivators generally had excellent spiritual force, Yao Xuan’s spiritual force made White Silkworm panic, as he felt powerless against it.
White Silkworm was from the Blackblood Domain’s Sightless Clan. Their family possessed the bloodline of the eyeless silkworm, which was hailed as an invincible bloodline. No matter how many injuries they suffered, they could restore their body by entering a cocoon, later being reborn in perfect condition. It was somewhat similar to how the people from the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory could use the Secret Technique of Resurrection. The greatest strength of the eyeless silkworm bloodline was that it could metamorphosize, and after each transformation, one’s strength would improve by leaps and bounds.
White Silkworm was the Sightless Clan’s inheritor, and he believed that his strength was sufficient to put him on the same level as Shang Rong, the Realmling of the Blackblood Realm. White Silkworm’s power was practically the same as that of the Realmlings, which made him a top powerhouse in ZENITH.
On the first layer, White Silkworm rapidly approached Yao Xuan.
Yao Xuan’s mouth had curved up into a strange smile.
White Silkworm approached closer and closer. Five meters, four meters, three meters, two meters, until he was only one meter away from Yao Xuan. Then, he passed by and rushed away from Yao Xuan.
Everyone stared at White Silkworm strangely as they watched White Silkworm oddly attack the empty air. Many people’s expressions changed. This battle was already completely under someone’s control: Yao Xuan was controlling White Silkworm with his spiritual force.
At this moment, Bu Kong, Zhi Yi, Wu Taibai, and all of the others grew solemn.
It was only possible to seize control of someone’s spiritual force if there was a massive gap in power between the two’s spiritual forces.
White Silkworm was as strong as a Realmling, but he was being completely controlled by his opponent. Yao Xuan’s spiritual force was completely unfathomable.
Lu Yin frowned; the Celestial Beast Empire’s crown prince had a terrifyingly powerful spiritual force!
There was a thud as White Silkworm collapsed to the ground without any sign of resistance. From the beginning to the end of the match, Yao Xuan had not moved a muscle, still wearing that strange smile on his face.
But despite his strange smile, the crown prince was charming and handsome. With his alluring charisma, he had won over many women, even Ling Que’s cheerleaders—they could not help themselves from cheering for the prince.
In the western area of Chaos Flowzone, in the Upper Realm, the people from the Sixth Mainland were completely at a loss for words when they saw White Silkworm’s loss.
The disdain and contempt that they had once held for the Fifth Mainland was gradually disappearing.
White Silkworm was a top elite from the Sixth Mainland, second only to the Realmlings, but he had been toyed with like a fool. Other than him, Little Arrow Saint, Tong Zhan, Mojiang Xiao, and many others had already been eliminated. The Fifth Mainland might not have any Progenitors, but they had truly hidden their strength deeply.
When the Sixth Mainland had invaded both the Fifth Mainland’s Human Domain and Astral Beast Domain, they had never encountered any young powerhouses like Shang Qing or Yao Xuan. This sudden reveal of power was proof that the Fifth Mainland was more complicated than what the Sixth Mainland had initially believed.
