The Heart-Killing Lotus beneath Yōu Ye’er’s feet turned ethereal and suddenly shot straight for Cool Sis. As it passed, the frozen air and the Encompassing Lockdown Array both shattered.
Cool Sis watched as the Killing Heart Lotus made its appearance. She was helpless, and the image of the vast ice field that had appeared behind her collapsed.
Suddenly, a loud shout shook Zenith Mountain. “Yōu Ye’er!”
The voice startled many people, and they all looked up at the area with the ten staircases at the person who had just shouted: Lu Yin.
Yōu Ye’er was startled, and she instinctively stopped the Killing Heart Lotus before turning to look at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s face was stern as he stared at Yōu Ye’er with cold eyes. His eyes communicated a strong warning. He was telling Yōu Ye’er to not kill Cool Sis. Cool Sis was the captain of the Great Yu Empire’s Fifth Squadron, which meant that she was Lu Yin’s underling.
Cool Sis was drenched with sweat. The moment the Killing Heart Lotus had moved towards her, she felt as if she had seen hell. She had never been that close to death before.
Yōu Ye’er and Lu Yin stared at each other with complicated eyes. She didn’t know what to think, but many thoughts ran through her mind at that moment. Finally, her Heart-killing Lotus disappeared. “You can give up.”
Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. Yōu Ye’er had given him face.
Across from Yōu Ye’er, Cool Sis felt helpless, and she said, “I give up.”
Yōu Ye’er looked up at Lu Yin again, and Lu Yin’s eyes had softened a great deal. “Thank you.”
Yōu Ye’er did not speak as she disappeared. When she reappeared, she was at the bottom of a staircase that was not far from Lu Yin.
On the first layer, Ku Wei kept slapping his chest. His face was still rather pale. “That scared the shit out of Brother Wei!”
Ku Wei had not been the only one startled by Lu Yin’s sudden shout, and even the fish had been scared.
“That’s too much! Too much, too much I say! Lord Fish is furious! You nearly scared Lord Fish back to the river! You’re dead, two-legged beast! I’ll teach you a lesson sooner or later!”
As he shouted, the fish kept slapping his fins about, constantly smacking Xi Qi. “Stop slapping me! it hurts.”
Nearby, Lightson was also very upset, and he glared at Lu Yin with narrow eyes. He had also been badly startled. His heart was still racing, as that shout had been so sudden that he had not expected it at all.
If not for the fact that Lightson could do nothing to Lu Yin, he would definitely start cursing the bastard.
Ling Gong’s expression was also very bad. She had been startled so badly that her helmet had almost fallen off. She would get revenge against Lu Yin sooner or later and scare him to death in return.
On the battlefield, Bu Kong suddenly appeared.
Many of the remaining contestants’ faces grew ugly, and they became nervous. This was Bu Kong, the person ranked second on the public predictions list. He was widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful people in ZENITH.
Wu Dan appeared in the arena.
Lu Yin was somewhat shaken when he saw Wu Dan appear. This genius from the Lockbreaker World had mastered a sourcebox array at a very young age. Although Qiu Shi and Bu Kong had also both mastered their own sourcebox arrays as well, Lu Yin had always felt that neither of them were really serious about lockbreaking.
Of course, this was just Lu Yin’s feeling. The news that some youths had comprehended sourcebox arrays had shocked the universe when it was released. Still, Wu Dan had absolutely nothing aside from lockbreaking.
Lu Yin still remembered what Wu Dan had said in the Lockbreaker world; he had sworn to show the entire universe the truth about how Lockbreakers fought.
This was also a three-person battle, and the third participant was a Cruiser from the Sixth Mainland.
The Sixth Mainland cultivator knew that he was in the same arena as one of the Daosource Three Skies, and he immediately attacked Wu Dan without any thoughts of ZENITH at all.
Wu Dan’s gaze grew sharp, and he lifted a hand before slapping out at the Sixth Mainland Cruiser.
Although the person from the Sixth Mainland was only a Cruiser, the combination of his imprint and Power Transfer Secret Technique meant that his strength could compare to Cool Sis’s before she used her Iceform Sutra. In other words, he was strong enough to in the top three of the Top 100 Rankings.
However, that Cruiser was instantly defeated by a single palm from Wu Dan. The unsuspecting Cruiser did not see anything approach him and simply collapsed to the ground. The only surprising thing was that there was no star energy left within his body.
This scene shocked many people. Wu Dan was not even a Hunter yet, so his combat strength should not be much better than a Sixth Mainland Cruiser with an imprint and Power Transfer. But while the attack that he had just used looked like a soft and weak palm, the results had been shocking.
On the battlefield, Bu Kong looked up at Wu Dan in surprise. “Interesting. That was a star energy attack.”
Not many people were able to understand Bu Kong’s comment, but they could tell that Wu Dan had done something through his mastery of star energy control.
Wu Dan’s star energy control was also in the Worldliness realm, just like Bu Kong, Lu Yin, Xin Nü, and Qiu Shi. Still, even if they were all in the same realm of control, the way that they used that control varied from person to person.
Obviously, Wu Dan had better control of star energy than the others. At the very least, this was what Lu Yin believed; he had understood what had happened when Bu Kong had waved a hand and dispersed the star energy from Lei Nü’s body.
Lu Yin knew the secret behind this, but the others did not.
When people saw that Wu Dan’s palm had managed to disperse a Cruiser’s star energy, they felt as if they had seen a repeat of that previous event.
The only one who was not very concerned was Liquor Hero; her control of star energy far surpassed everyone else’s in ZENITH.
“You’re one of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Three Skies, and you’re also an Advanced Lockbreaker,” Wu Dan said solemnly.
Bu Kong stared at Wu Dan. “You are too, and you’ve also mastered a sourcebox array.”
Wu Dan answered with some fear in his voice, “I can disperse that person’s star energy, but I can’t deal with someone like Lei Nü. I still can’t compare to you in terms of my star energy control.”
Bu Kong’s brows rose up. He was aware of what he had done to Lei Nü, and it had not been through his control of star energy. “In that case, will you give up?”
Wu Dan answered in a serious tone, “I won’t admit defeat. I want to see the distance between me and you and compare our star energy control. I know that I’m not as good as you, but this is how I fight.”
Bu Kong frowned; compare their control of star energy? How could he possibly compare to this guy?
At the bottom of a staircase, Lu Yin smiled. He had learned from Xia Luo that Bu Kong had relied on his mastery of a sourcebox array to disperse his opponents’ star energy, and that array was the only reason why Bu Kong had been able to do that to Lei Nü. Bu Kong’s control of star energy was not as impressive as it appeared to be, but that false veneer had stunned Wu Dan.
When it came to their control over star energy, it was possible that Bu Kong could not compare to Wu Dan.
“I don’t have time to compete with you, so either admit defeat or I’ll attack and force you to give up.” Bu Kong’s voice was cold and threatening.
Wu Dan’s expression turned ugly. “You’re a Lockbreaker, and this is how Lockbreakers compete. Since you’re not willing to accept the challenge, then do you not care about your identity as a Lockbreaker?”
“Bullshit!” Bu Kong disappeared for a moment, and when he reappeared, he was right in front of Wu Dan. Without any hesitation, he attacked Wu Dan’s chest with the full strength of an Enlighter.
Star energy gathered in front of Wu Dan, though some of the star energy refused to move. Still, it was not enough to make up for the difference in strength, and Wu Dan spat out a mouthful of blood as he flew through the air, shouting. As his voice fell, the ground beneath Bu Kong erupted with an incomparable explosion of star energy.
Everyone was wondering when Wu Dan had set this up.
Lu Yin was surprised at this sight, as this had clearly been caused by a sourcebox array, but like everyone, he had no idea when Wu Dan had set it up. Lu Yin had never noticed a thing.
All sourcebox arrays contained extraordinary power, and this was naturally true of Wu Dan’s Earth Starburst as well.
This array was not as simple as it appeared to be, and only someone facing the array like Bu Kong would understand the power of this particular sourcebox array.
Star energy had exploded. The universe was full of ambient star energy, and this Earth Starburst practically caused all of the star energy in an area to explode. Once the array was triggered, a series of explosions would detonate in one ring after another, and the total power unleashed would far exceed the initial explosion.
The power of this Earth Starburst easily surpassed a power level of 300,000.
Zenith Mountain itself shook.
In terms of ZENITH’s participants, the only people who could unleash an attack with a power level of over 300,000 while still a Hunter were Lu Yin and Wu Dan.
Lu Yin relied on his physical strength to unleash such a powerful attack while Wu Dan relied on a sourcebox array that he had surreptitiously set up without anyone noticing.
On the battlefield, Bu Kong felt rather embarrassed, and his face fell. He had actually been outschemed. This Wu Dan must have set up the sourcebox array while they were talking, as he had had no other time to set up a sourcebox array. What a bastard.
This was the first time that Bu Kong had been embarrassed during ZENITH.
However, Wu Dan had already collapsed. He could not stand up to another one of Bu Kong’s attacks, and a single strike from Bu Kong had been enough to defeat Wu Dan.
Still, even though being defeated by a single attack made Wu Dan look rather weak, he had succeeded in humiliating Bu Kong.
This was how Lockbreakers fought. A single slip-up could lead to a complete loss. Using a single sourcebox array at the right time could reverse the entire situation, and it all depended on what array was used and if anyone could discover it.
Wu Dan had shown everyone how Lockbreakers fought. Although the fight had been short with only one exchange, it had been enough. He had done as he had said and shown the universe the power of Lockbreakers.
In the current universe, what Hunter possessed the strength to humiliate Bu Kong? That was precisely what Wu Dan had accomplished. Although he was rather arrogant, his strength could not be underestimated.
Lu Yin looked at Wu Dan and remembered when they had first met in the Lockbreaker World. That battle had opened Lu Yin’s eyes; he certainly did not possess the ability to set up a sourcebox array without anyone noticing. It had to be acknowledged that there were several other Advanced Lockbreakers in ZENITH, but when it came to sheer lockbreaking ability, it was likely that no one measured up to Wu Dan!
This thought led Lu Yin to glance over at Liquor Hero, but unfortunately, even though she was an unparalleled genius at controlling star energy, managing to reach the Creation realm of star energy control, she was not a Lockbreaker. Actually, this was quite puzzling.
Bu Kong appeared beneath another staircase with an ugly expression on his face. He was one of the Daosource Three Skies, and he was confident that he would compete for the title of Pinnacle Youth, but he had just been humiliated by a Hunter. The worst part was that Bu Kong himself was an Advanced Lockbreaker who had also mastered a sourcebox array. Despite that, he had not noticed anything when Wu Dan had set up an array. This was extremely embarrassing.
“What are you looking at?” Bu Kong shouted fiercely as he stared at Skinny Bro some ways away.
The thin man was rather intimidated as he asked. “Do you want clothes?”
“Leave me alone!” Bu Kong shouted.
At that moment, a barrel of wine smashed over from the opposite direction, and Bu Kong reflexively grabbed it before turning to look at Liquor Hero. She waved at him. “Take a drink and refresh your body.”
Bu Kong snorted coldly and threw the wine barrel away.
Liquor Hero’s face fell, and she stared blankly at Bu Kong. “Little brother, do you really dare to keep this sister’s wine barrel from me? This sister will remember you.”
Bu Kong snorted again. Although Liquor Hero’s star energy control had reached the Creation realm, Bu Kong did not care about her. Even though star energy was the foundation of cultivation, it was not the only thing that one needed. Bu Kong already had the means to deal with this woman. He moved on to Lu Yin. “I forgot to ask, but why is Zhi Yi so concerned about you?”
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed as he retorted, “I’ll tell you when you grab that barrel of wine and take a drink.”
“Hahaha! Little Brother, this sister likes you! Do you want a drink?” Liquor Hero laughed. At this moment, she greatly admired Lu Yin.
Bu Kong was infuriated and humiliated, so he simply stopped talking and looked at the battlefield.
