A Card In Hand

Chapter 51: Farewell, Everyone!

Why did Li Ao place so much importance on Ling Long’s dancing?

The reason was simple.

Ling Long’s talent was the “Tide Song.”

When she danced, her movements combined with her talent, unleashing endless waves of tidal energy towards her opponents.

Facing such a cheat-like talent attack, there were only two ways to cope: one was to dance along with her, completely yielding to her will, slowly drowning in the endless tide.

This method of dying was relatively slow and comfortable, as one would perish amidst joyful dancing.

The second method was to forcibly resist her, enduring the cheat-like talent attack with sheer willpower.

However.

In the future, Ling Long would become a terrifying entity capable of defeating the god of art himself.

Her tidal energy connected her to the entire water elemental plane through her battle beast, ensuring it would never be exhausted.

Resisting would only hasten one’s demise.

Most crucially, Ling Long’s Tide Song talent not only provided an endless supply of tidal energy but also her Soul Song of Summoning held an irresistible hypnotic effect.

This Soul Song didn’t hypnotize enemies to do anything other than dance.

The more one resisted,

the stronger the soul-affecting rebound became.

Li Ao, having been reborn, still didn’t know how long he could endure Ling Long’s dance with his current willpower, so he had to initiate an attack. Waiting as before would only lead him into the cunning trap of Ling Long’s dance.

Among all the newcomers, Li Ao’s most troublesome opponents weren’t Shuanghan and Huo Mei, who had juvenile dragon battle beasts, but rather Ling Long and Yue Sha.

Ling Long’s talent was simply blatant cheating.

Unapproachable.

Yue Sha’s talent was even more despair-inducing; it was as if heaven itself was helping her cheat.

Her immaculate and flawless talent, “Moon Essence Force,” could directly purify everything unclean in the world, including souls and thoughts.

On the surface, it appeared to be a healing technique, quite effective in treating injuries and fatigue, but its true power lay in purification.

For an ancient demon like Li Ao, the consequences of receiving such a treatment were unimaginable… Fortunately, Yue Sha, ever aware of the potent nature of her ‘healing,’ kept it a closely guarded secret.

Otherwise, just one wave of her lunar source energy…

Li Ao could assert confidently:

Not only would he not withstand it.

Including Supervisor Lei Bao and the three venerable elders of the Pantheon of Myriad Realms, all would kneel!

Yue Sha, kind-hearted, refrained from misusing her gift, which led Li Ao to disregard her as a threat.

The real danger remained Ling Long, whose dance could be lethal even if she didn’t move a muscle.

“Let’s all dance together!”

Ling Long snapped her fingers, and music sprung from nowhere.

Her hands moved exquisitely.

She twisted her slender waist softly.

Light as a swallow.

Dancing with the wind.

Even during the dance’s preparatory phase.

Her Song of the Soul ensnared the watching trainees, who began to sway uncontrollably.

Take Fuxi, for instance, who had completely lost himself in an awkward dance, his fat buttocks swaying grotesquely, reminiscent of a satiated boar performing a mating dance.

“Damn it, wasn’t Ling Long supposed to attack Li Ao? Why do I feel an urge to dance too?” Qiuye slapped himself, barely suppressing the urge to dance, but the temporary repression only made the inner craving crazier. Qiuye was going mad, was Ling Long’s dance attack indiscriminate?

“I don’t dance, I hate dancing!” Lie Feng jammed his fingers into a wound, grimacing from the pain.

“Quick, block Li Ao’s rock blast!”

Qian Nian saw that Li Ao had finished gathering his energy, and he wasn’t aiming at Ling Long, who was protected under Yue Sha’s Silver Wing Protection, but rather at their own Shuanghan, which scared him witless.

Qian Nian was still gathering his Flaming Long Sword and couldn’t move.

Qiqu was too far away.

With a roar!

Li Ao’s hands, now fully condensed with Rock Source Energy, hurtled at high speed towards Shuanghan.

Just as Shuanghan and the Ice Dragon were about to be directly hit by the intensifying Rock Shockwave, a figure dashed from the side and took the brunt of the impact.

Boom…

The powerful Rock Shockwave, unmatched in its force, sent the blocking shadow flying, crashing into the Stone Isles with a loud thud.

“Is it Tie Zheng? Tie Zheng has been knocked out of the arena; he’s eliminated!”

Lie Feng watched, eyes wide in disbelief.

“What are rules at this point? There’s no elimination unless there’s death!”

Cang Yue roared in anger.

Less than ten seconds later.

Li Ao conjured a second Rock Shockwave.

Cang Yue met it head-on; midway, the image of the Ancient Grey Wolf formed around him.

The Ancient Grey Wolf directly clashed with the Rock Shockwave. With a loud rumble, Cang Yue was blasted away, his body hurled a hundred meters back, his momentum unstoppable as if falling from the sky. His claws dug into the obsidian surface of the arena, tearing deep marks that still couldn’t stop the force of his retreat.

He fell off the broken edge of the arena, crashing into the prep area with a heavy thud.

Amidst the dust.

He stubbornly propped himself up on his claws and crawled back into the arena.

As he crawled, fresh blood gushed from his mouth, marking his path.

“It’s my turn now!”

Lie Feng’s blood boiled with excitement. Why should Cang Yue, just a young wolf, fight so hard, while I, the rightful future King of Lions, just stand by and watch? This isn’t me!

Boom!

He leaped to intercept another of Li Ao’s Rock Shockwaves.

Only then did Lie Feng realize the intensity of the impact, which was vastly different from his own Lion’s Roar Blast.

Li Ao’s Rock Shockwave was almost solid in form.

The impact was many times stronger.

Had it not been for the Windstorm Lion’s Windstorm Armor protecting him from head to toe, his life might have ended right there.

Boom!

The next challenger was also mercilessly blown away.

“Shuanghan, aren’t you ready yet?” Lie Feng roared at Shuanghan.

“Wait until Li Ao loses control; attacking now is useless!”

Shuanghan was more anxious than Lie Feng, but he knew that attacking Li Ao now would be ineffective.

Li Ao could dodge as long as he was not in disarray; why would he foolishly withstand it head-on?

They had to wait until Li Ao’s mind was distracted by Ling Long’s dance, even if it was just for a hundredth of a second.

That brief lapse would be enough for him and Huo Mei, who was also waiting for her chance, to strike.

“Next, it’s my turn…” Qiqu flew over on his curious sphere, taking the brunt of Li Ao’s rock shockwave with his body.

Qiqu was not known for his defensive capabilities.

A single rock shockwave.

Sent him out of the ring.

Blood spurted from his mouth as he nearly lost consciousness.

Had it not been for the curious sphere catching him with its mouth and floating him back to the ring, Qiqu would have had no strength to return on his own.

“When will this ever end?”

Lie Feng saw on the other side of the ring, Li Ao’s rock shockwave blasting Long Ying away.

And that wasn’t all; Li Ao’s hands swiftly gathered another rock shockwave, one wave barely ended before the next arrived, instantly sending Wu Ying and Tang Guo, who were fully defensive, flying.

Behind Huo Mei, a flaming giant, nearly eighteen meters tall, rose up.

Its form resembled hers.

But it was covered in flaming thorns.

The little red dragon Feier had a pale golden dragon flame swirling in its mouth, slowly forming a small golden fireball.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Li Ao’s rate of launching rock shockwaves was increasing.

Those still clear-minded could tell that Ling Long’s dance was affecting Li Ao; he probably had only one more wave of attacks left.

If Shuanghan and Huo Mei could last until the end, the twenty challengers on the Challenge List might win. Otherwise, Li Ao would wipe them all out before losing control of his mind.

Now, it was a matter of who could hold on till the end.

“Fire Shield!”

Huo Mei pointed her jade finger, and as Long Ying charged back into the arena, a giant shield formed from flames appeared in her hands, solidifying almost completely.

Long Ying held up the fire shield bolstered by Huo Mei, single-handedly withstanding Li Ao’s rock shockwaves.

She clenched her teeth and stood her ground, refusing to retreat.

Yue Sha tried to transfer the Silver Wing Protection over, but Li Ao immediately launched a rock shockwave towards Ling Long’s side, forcing her to focus on protecting only Ling Long.

“Shuanghan, give us an Ice Shield too.” Seeing that Long Ying’s Fire Shield was effective, Lie Feng quickly asked Shuanghan to reinforce him with one.

“I can’t!”

Shuanghan gave him a despairing answer.

“What will we do without the Ice Shield?”

Lie Feng didn’t know if he could continue to withstand the attacks.

“…”

Clenching his teeth, Shuanghan held the Ice Dragon’s breath between his palms, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

If Li Ao showed even the slightest loss of control, he would burst forth with all his power.

Alas, Li Ao was still vigorous, showing no signs of losing control.

“I’ll handle it!”

Qian Nian, wielding a Flaming Long Sword, stood guard in front of Shuanghan.

“And me!”

Suddenly standing up after being unconscious for a long time, Man Huang struggled to his feet, bloodied all over.

Step by step, he walked forward.

Blood.

Dripping onto the platform.

The bloodied giant, his eyes resolute, voluntarily stood even further in front of Qian Nian, spreading his arms wide: “I probably only have the strength to take the last hit… Shuanghan, please, you must defeat Li Ao! Everyone, thank you for fighting alongside me. I am honored to have fought with you all… Perhaps, I will vanish like a shooting star, after all, I am still too weak… But, I have no regrets about coming to this world, I did not come here in vain…”

Lie Feng, moved to tears, responded, “Man Huang, are you giving us your last words? Why are you showing off? If you can’t handle it, I’ll take over. Why gamble with your life?”

With a slight smile, Man Huang replied, “This is also my battle! Everyone, goodbye!”

A Rock Shockwave came thundering down, larger than any before.

Man Huang spread his arms wide and braced for impact.

Boom~!

Apocalyptic.

The explosive force swept across the entire mini-world in an instant, shaking heaven and earth.

Time passed unknowingly, and when the smoke finally cleared, Man Huang’s giant figure still stood upright.
Lie Feng thought he was unharmed, but upon closer inspection, the smile that had just appeared vanished in the next second: “No!”

Amidst Lie Feng’s anguished cries, the bloodied Man Huang, his five-meter-tall figure, slowly tilted…

Like a falling column.

Finally.

The giant who fought until the last moment crashed down onto the platform.