Aiden Zhou's eyes widened as he shouted sharply.
As his words fell,
The chill across Coldspire Peak suddenly intensified.
A bone-piercing cold surged out from the mountain itself, erupting toward the outside.
Wisps of chill, intangible yet pervasive, filled every inch of space around them.
"Careful!"
Bound tightly, Yvette Locke raised her hoarse voice and shouted toward Evan Lin.
She hadn't eaten or drunk anything for days; hunger had drained her badly, her face pale as snow.
Her voice was rough and raspy.
But when Yvette looked at Evan Lin, her eyes brimmed with an indescribable excitement.
She wasn't worried that Evan Lin would lose.
Ever since this Seacrest Master Lin had taken her out of the Locke family, and personally cut down that monstrous Locke ancestor,
In Yvette Locke's eyes, Evan Lin was nearly invincible.
Her shout of 'careful' was purely because she didn't know what else to say at the moment.
But if she said nothing, it felt like something was missing.
But if she stayed silent, it felt like something was missing.
Girls' thoughts are always a puzzle—subtle, elusive, impossible to fully understand.
“Come on, fight me!”
Aiden Zhou's eyes suddenly blazed, his expression overflowing with wild, manic arrogance.
The moment his words landed,
Aiden Zhou stomped both feet onto the Dao Discussion Platform.
His feet sank into the platform, as if he'd fused with it—and with Coldspire Peak itself.
"Now the Coldspire Grand Array is fully activated, and you're standing right at its strongest point!"
"I can't wait to see you, Master Lin from Seacrest, bawl your eyes out and beg for mercy!"
"I want to see what kind of loser face you'll make."
"I'm even looking forward to ripping off that 'I don't care about anything' look of yours!"
Aiden Zhou laughed wildly.
With the array empowering him, his confidence soared.
Even Aiden's bald head gleamed even brighter under the sunlight.
"Is this all your array can do? Just these little tricks?"
Evan Lin looked at him from midair, raising a finger.
Inner force condensed into a blade.
One blade split into a thousand.
In the blink of an eye, a dense web of qi blades formed in front of Evan.
With a flick of his finger,
A thousand blades pointed forward.
The entire web of qi blades tore through the air straight toward Aiden Zhou.
"Nice!"
Seeing the sky filled with blades, Aiden Zhou's eyes burned with fanaticism.
"Absorb!"
He shouted again.
Every qi blade slammed into him, crashing down on his body.
Yet, despite being struck by a thousand blades, Aiden Zhou showed not a single scratch.
The crowd saw Aiden's eyes snap wide open, and after a muffled grunt, his whole face lit up with energy.
"Did you see that?"
Aiden Zhou laughed loudly, feeling power surge through his body.
That thousand-blade web of qi had surprised him at first.
But soon, the array converted all that force.
Now, every bit of that qi was his to use.
"Inside the array, your qi can't hurt me at all!"
"Come on! Hit me!"
Your qi only makes me stronger!"
Aiden Zhou grinned widely.
With a casual wave, the same web of qi blades appeared before him, identical to Evan's earlier attack.
"Master Lin from Seacrest, you probably don't realize that once you step into the array, no matter how strong you are, it's useless!"
The array's core is the entire Coldspire Peak!
Every stone, every blade of grass, every stream on Coldspire Peak helps me refine your qi and make it mine!
And that's just the beginning—there's way more you haven't seen yet.
He sneered coldly.
"Go!"
Aiden Zhou swept his arm wide.
The web of qi blades shot backward, straight at Evan Lin.
"The Coldspire Grand Array is like a mire, and Master Lin from Seacrest has already stepped into the mud. Getting out is easier said than done."
Lucy Bai watched, her tone flat: "This Master Lin from Seacrest has overwhelming talent and strength that his peers can't even dream of, but he's way too arrogant."
A flicker of disappointment flashed in her eyes.
"To think the one my Bai clan waited for is just some brainless, reckless guy."
She gritted her teeth, feeling fate was increasingly unfair.
If the Bai clan had waited generations for a peerless hero, a world-shaking king, or some legendary powerhouse, Lucy could accept that.
But seeing this Master Lin from Seacrest, who looks powerful but acts so infuriatingly, just makes her angrier.
He acts like no one else matters.
He thinks way too highly of himself.
Arrogant to the point of absurdity.
From the very moment she met Master Lin, Lucy Bai felt more and more indignant on behalf of her clan.
She clenched her fists.
You Mingdao, You Han, and Zhou Tiantong all watched intently.
They saw the web of qi blades returning toward Master Lin from Seacrest, getting closer and closer.
As it was about to hit,
Standing there, Master Lin from Seacrest tapped a finger in the air.
Moments later,
Everyone watched as an invisible qi barrier instantly appeared in front of Master Lin.
The qi blades, sharp and deadly, aimed straight ahead.
In less than a second, over a thousand blades slammed into the qi barrier.
Ripples spread across the void.
The storm of qi whipped up dust all around.
Dirt and stones flew everywhere.
Everyone saw the youth standing behind the barrier, his face calm as a still lake.
Moments later,
The blades vanished.
The qi barrier disappeared along with them.
"Not even a scratch?"
Aiden Zhou stared at Evan Lin, not the least bit surprised.
His face twisted into a sinister grin, his voice full of mockery: "Master Lin from Seacrest really is impressive."
"Anyone else would've lost their nerve by now."
"Inside the Coldspire Grand Array, facing an unbeatable opponent, you haven't wet yourself yet—you're truly a dragon among men. I admire you."
Aiden's words dripped with ridicule, his gaze full of unspoken scorn.
"But now it's time for you to feel real despair."
Aiden's expression turned cold: "I forgot to mention."
"Inside the Coldspire Grand Array, I can absorb not just the qi you use against me, but also the qi barriers you raise yourself!"
"As long as we're on Coldspire Peak—even high above it—any qi you use only makes me stronger!"
"And I bet you've already noticed."
"Even if you just stand there without moving, the qi inside you will keep draining away!"
"Master Lin from Seacrest, what do you have to compete with me?"
Aiden Zhou laughed wildly.
His aura surged explosively.
Whether it was the qi from the thousand-blade web or the barrier Evan Lin created, he absorbed and assimilated it all.
"Interesting."
As Aiden Zhou grew stronger,
Everyone heard not cries for mercy or shock from the youth,
but the same calm, steady voice as before.
Not even his tone changed.
"But if that's all you've got,"
"Then you'd better prepare for your journey."
The youth's tone remained steady.
He stood there, seemingly unmoving.
Inside the Coldspire Array, his attacks only made Aiden Zhou stronger.
Yet even in these circumstances, the youth remained as confident as ever.