Everyone knew that this fellow could not unlock any more sourceboxes, but now, he was not letting anyone else continue their lockbreaking attempts either.
Deng Pu spat out a mouthful of blood, and his face went pale. That scoundrel!
Serpent Queen paused in her lockbreaking and looked up into the sky as a flash of fear flickered through her eyes. This person was terrifyingly powerful.
Ku Wei’s lockbreaking was also interrupted, and he was even ruthlessly attacked by the formless danger of his sourcebox. He grimaced in pain and looked upwards in anger.
Everyone’s attention was drawn to Cai Jianqiang, no matter if they were one of the Lockbreakers competing within the mountain range, an audience member outside, someone inside the Hall of Insight, or an Outerverse denizen who was watching the broadcast. Everyone was focused on Cai Jianqiang.
Lu Yin casually sat down. Now this was an interesting development, and no one had anything that they could do about it. He had planned to look around for two more sourceboxes to unlock, but that seemed unnecessary now.
“Seventh Bro, this guy’s a real man! One against all the other competitors,” the monkey marveled.
Lu Yin smiled. “He certainly has the ability to do so.”
Cai Jianqiang swept out in all directions with his strength in the Hunter realm, and not a single Lockbreaker dared to stand up against him. The entire mountain range trembled continuously as all of the available star energy was forcefully seized by him, making it difficult for anyone to try to lockbreak.
Deng Pu shouted in anger, “Cai Jianqiang, this is the Lockbreaker Competition! We are competing in unlocking sourceboxes, not in our combat ability!”
Cai Jianqiang did not pay Deng Pu the slightest bit of attention, and the mountain range seemed to boil.
Countless people in the outside world were excited by this development, as this would become a major talking point. Things might turn explosive if all of the other competitors united to challenge Cai Jianqiang. Untold numbers of people were waiting for that moment to occur.
Xi Qi helplessly walked out of her cave, as she also could not continue lockbreaking.
The fish swatted its tail. “This is the way, that’s right. Lord Fish appreciates that one, that two-legged beast. Go and make friends with him.”
Xi Qi rolled her eyes. She would rather not, as that person was obviously not someone to be pushed around.
A Lockbreaker’s perception of star energy was much clearer than a regular cultivator’s, and so, they were naturally more accurate in perceiving other people’s strength. Cai Jianqiang’s strength made the Lockbreakers unable to even think of resisting.
Within the Hall of Insight, Saul trembled in anger, and he suddenly stood up as if he wanted to forcefully intervene. However, he was stopped by Fiend Li. “This person hasn’t harmed anyone. You have no authority to meddle in this matter.”
Saul replied in a deep voice, “So are we just going to let him ruin this competition? Will we allow this season to become a joke?”
Fiend Li answered solemnly, “So what if he does? That’s allowed so long as it’s within the permissible scope of the rules.”
“We can only blame the quality of this season’s Lockbreakers as there’s no one who can stand up against him. In previous seasons, there would always be more than one Hunter participating, and they were able to restrain each other. But in this competition, even all of the other competitors combined can’t match up to a single Hunter. Thus, there’s no choice,” Yi Feng observed coldly.
Felynn smiled bitterly. “With Cai Jianqiang’s strength, it would be hard to resist him even for previous seasons. He’s someone who’s invincible within his generation, and he still hasn’t revealed his true strength yet. Once he gets serious, even our combined might may not be able to resist him.”
Yi Feng could not retort, as this was indeed the truth. A serious Cai Jianqiang was something truly scary.
Saul endured his rage and sat back down.
Felynn glanced over at him. Who was to blame for this? The truth was that there had been several other Hunter realm Lockbreakers who had intended to join the competition, but they had been prevented from participating by Saul’s dishonest methods intended to allow his disciple, Deng Pu, to win. This was just him reaping what he had sown.
Felynn looked at Cai Jianqiang, as this person was also a variable. But fortunately for her, he was not someone on Saul’s side.
In the Wei family’s manor, Wei Rong bent over to study Cai Jianqiang’s information on his gadget. Suddenly, he frowned and looked up. There was actually someone so troublesome here, and the Innerverse had appraised this person as a Realmbreaker. He was a Hunter, an actual peak Hunter, and being a Realmbreaker meant that he could fight against Enlighters.
This person had terrifying strength, which was disturbing.
In outer space, above the planet, an elder looked down at Sourcepeak Planet with a serious gaze.
To Cai Jianqiang, forget a mountain range—even if it was the entirety of Sourcepeak Planet or even this entire region of space, he could crush it easily. There was nobody present who could resist his strength.
If he wanted to render everyone unable to lockbreak, then no one would be able to do so. This was the confidence that he had in his own strength.
When it came to lockbreaking, he was no one’s match, but when it came to cultivating, no one was his match.
The final day of the Lockbreaker Competition’s first stage had completely shifted in tone from the previous two days, and it had actually become nothing more than Cai Jianqiang’s personal show.
Deng Pu, Ku Wei, and those who had saved up sourceboxes to lockbreak on the last day of this first stage were unlucky. The rest of the contestants were still alright, as the results had already been finalized, though it was more as if the stage had finished a day early.
The last day quickly passed by, and at the critical moment right before the stage ended, Deng Pu reluctantly threw away the three sourceboxes that he still had on him, as did both Ku Wei and Xi Qi. Keeping them would only decrease their score.
Lu Yin was fine, as he did not have any extra sourceboxes.
The stage ended, and with Felynn’s announcement, fewer than fifty Lockbreakers ended up passing this first round. Many Lockbreakers protested the results, as they had used the first two days to look for sourceboxes, planning on unlocking them on the final day, but they had been prevented from doing so.
Unfortunately, their protests proved ineffective.
Cai Jianqiang passed, as he had unlocked two sourceboxes, which was a decent result.
Out of everyone, Deng Pu had the best results with seven unlocked sourceboxes, followed by Lu Yin and Ku Wei with five. Next was Xi Qi, Serpent Queen, and two other Discerning Elementary Lockbreakers who each had four. Most of the remaining people who had passed the first stage had only completed one.
With his tyrannical strength, Cai Jianqiang had managed to raise his results to be above average, and he was quite satisfied with these results, despite drawing quite a bit of resentment.
The second stage of the Lockbreaker Competition would also be held in the mountain range.
The eliminated Lockbreakers left the region, causing the mountain range to tremble. The middle portion of the mountain range caved in, and those who had passed stood around and watched on curiously.
Inside the Hall of Insight, Saul glanced around. “The second round is meant to compare their ability to evade and defend against sourceboxes’ danger. Everyone knows that Lockbreakers face much harsher dangers than what normal cultivators encounter. Any given sourcebox carries the risk of death, and the ability to avoid or defend against such dangers is especially important for us Lockbreakers. So, who’s willing to act for the second round?”
The crowd exchanged glances, but no one spoke up.
Mr. Jun suggested, “I think that it’d be better if the vice president acted himself.”
Saul shook his head and smiled. “I did my part in the last Lockbreaker Competition that was held in the Innerverse, so now, it’s someone else’s turn.” He looked at Fiend Li. “Brother Li, do you wish to go?”
Fiend Li replied, “There’s no need.”
Saul looked at Mr. Jun. “How about Mr. Jun? Do you wish to try?”
Mr. Jun pondered the question, but then, Yi Feng suddenly spoke up. “This season’s Lockbreaker Competition has had a great deal of color added to it, and the atmosphere has become more on edge. I think that it’d be most suitable for Felynn to go.”
The others also approved.
Felynn was the only female among them, and her mien emulated the gentleness of water, so the masses generally had a good impression of her.
Saul’s face changed, but then he looked at Felynn and smiled. “Executive Felynn, would you like to go?”
Felynn smiled. “Since Executive Yi Feng has suggested it, then there’s no harm in me trying.”
Saul forced out a smile. “Please.”
Felynn stood up and stepped forward, her body vanishing. She soon appeared over the mountain range, where she glanced over at the remaining few dozen competitors. She spoke with a gentle voice. “The second round of the competition will test whether or not you can avoid and defend against the formless dangers of sourceboxes. I ask that all competitors enter the pit, after which I will unleash attacks. Those who cannot endure the attacks must step out of the pit, being eliminated.”
When the remaining people saw that it was Executive Felynn, they all relaxed, as Felynn’s reputation was indeed good in the society.
Tong Mi’er was the first to jump in the pit, followed by Deng Pu, and Cai Jianqiang. Soon everyone had leaped into the pit. Lu Yin and Felynn exchanged glances before he stepped in as well.
The pit was massive, but it felt rather small once dozens of cultivators were all standing inside it.
Felynn towered above them in the sky. “Is everyone prepared? I’m going to begin.”
The crowd focused their energies and intently watched Felynn in the air.
Suddenly, there was a howl of grief as one of the Lockbreakers’ face received a vicious laceration. He covered his face and crouched down on the ground. Fresh blood flowed down from the wound, and blood-curdling cries followed closely. Felynn’s domain had long since enveloped the entire region, and she created formless attacks that swept around to attack all of the competitors.
Not only was she a three star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, but she was also a Hunter. This was different from Cai Jianqiang’s star energy which had caused the mountain range to quake endlessly; her fine control of star energy allowed her to soundlessly launch attacks in such a way that even Lockbreakers found it hard to see her attacks.
Lu Yin’s gaze grew solemn, as this degree of star energy control had already surpassed the Cloudwalk realm, and it might have even reached the Skywise realm. If he could not see the rune lines, then he would only discover these attacks right when they were about to strike him unless he supplemented his domain with the Cosmic Art and improved his perception.
Felynn’s attacks were randomly scattered about the pit. Although the intensity was not very high, the attacks were formless and frequent, and they caused many of the competitors to quickly leave the pit with parted flesh.
“The dangers that Lockbreakers face should be familiar to everyone. If I show mercy, then you all might end up misjudging the danger posed by sourceboxes, and you might even die as a result. Hence, in this round, I will not show any mercy. May everyone take care of yourselves.” Felynn’s gentle voice sounded in all their ears.
Within the pit, Lu Yin was having a relatively easy time. He could see the attack’s rune lines, and so, none of the attacks were able to approach him as he fluidly dodged them all.
Xi Qi also evaded them all with ease. She, Ku Wei, and many other Lockbreakers relied on their keen perception of star energy to discover the danger in advance, and of course, many of them had lockbreaking tools as well.
Cai Jianqiang stood in place and did not move at all. Felynn’s attacks were of no threat to him.
As for Deng Pu, few of the attacks targeted him. He was almost like someone outside the pit. Quite a few people noticed this and discussed it spiritedly, and many of them commented that Felynn was being biased.
Saul frowned, as while he had been hoping that Deng Pu would become the champion, he had not requested for Felynn to act this brazenly biased. Since when had Felynn been so tactful?
Deng Pu was in a daze as well. Was his luck really that good?
“Everyone, be careful. I’m going to get serious now,” Felynn’s voice called out, and in the next moment, a formless pressure enveloped them all. This was her domain, and in just an instant, a few competitors were overwhelmed. The void warped as traces of spatial cracks extended outwards; soon, everyone in the pit was within Felynn’s realm of control.
Lu Yin could feel the pressure from Felynn’s domain. He had relied on his universal armor to face off against Hunters in the past, and although he could use his own abilities to fight against them, doing so was not that simple, especially against a powerful Lockbreaker like Felynn. This was the same as fighting against Mr. Jun, where any attack that used star energy would be quickly dissolved.
One competitor fell after another, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they had exited the pit. In any case, there were only a bit more than ten people remaining in the pit now, and even worse of them was a four star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker.
It had taken less than two rounds of the competition to whittle the numbers down from more than a thousand to barely over ten.
