"Is this some kind of illusion? Zui Yan actually lost just like that?"
"No way, that's ridiculous! Don't tell me that girl is some old monster from a super guild in disguise?"
"That can't be right. I think she might be an NPC disguised as a Zero Wing member. Otherwise, how could a third-rank Class possibly control thirty-six Shadow Swords with fourth-rank power?"
……
It took everyone a good while to recover from the result of the match, and one after another they began to question what they had just witnessed, feeling that Ziyan Liuyun couldn't possibly be human.
Zui Yan's overwhelming strength had long been seared into everyone's minds. Not a single person present had believed Ziyan Liuyun could win — they hadn't even thought it was possible for Zui Yan to be forced to fight at full strength.
Yet now Ziyan Liuyun had not only pushed Zui Yan to his limits, but had actually defeated him.
And it wasn't even close. Zui Yan had been beaten so thoroughly that he had no choice but to concede voluntarily. The gap in combat power between them wasn't even on the same level — who on earth would believe such a thing?
After all, a powerhouse of Zui Yan's caliber already represented the absolute peak of the Divine Realm. To exceed that peak by an entire tier — and in a fight where a young girl had matched Zui Yan in base attributes, no less — was practically an insult to their intelligence.
They had seen geniuses before, and even geniuses had their limits. What they had just witnessed could no longer be explained by talent alone. It was something no player should have been capable of.
At this moment, not only the various major factions in the spectator stands refused to believe it, but even the members of the Azure Commerce Association — the organizers themselves — were in disbelief. In particular, Gu Han and Duan Hanshan, who were watching from just below the arena, stared with eyes full of bewilderment.
"What Wuyin said was… actually true!" Gu Han recalled what Miao Wuyin had told him earlier, and felt his mind go completely blank. "Just what kind of organization is this Zero Wing?"
He had originally thought that Miao Wuyin's claim — that there were plenty of people her age who were stronger than him — was nothing more than advertising bluster, a ploy to elevate Zero Wing's reputation.
After all, during his time training with the Sword of Violets, he had sparred with countless prodigies from that ancient guild. Even among their ranks, the number of geniuses who could match him could be counted on one hand, let alone surpass him.
That Miao Wuyin had exceeded him was already nothing short of a miracle. Zero Wing, at best, was merely a guild on the Eastern Continent that could hold its own against a superpower — so how could they possibly produce some random young person even stronger than Miao Wuyin?
But now Zero Wing had produced not only someone stronger than him, but someone who had beaten Zui Yan himself. How was he supposed to believe that?
"How can a girl from Zero Wing possibly be this powerful?" Duan Hanshan stared at Ziyan Liuyun on the arena, then glanced toward Pang Wushang and the others nearby, and suddenly felt a flash of understanding. "Could this be why the Pang family has been insisting that Miao Wuyin stay with Zero Wing all along?"
He knew Miao Wuyin's combat talent well. Forget about the Pang family's Lingyue — even compared to Ruan Xiaoqian, Miao Wuyin fell short, to say nothing of Gu Han, who devoted himself entirely to combat.
Before, Miao Wuyin's victory over Gu Han could be attributed to a sudden breakthrough in comprehension. After all, Miao Wuyin was a talent in her own right — just one whose combat instincts were somewhat weaker than the other geniuses in her family. But now that Ziyan Liuyun had appeared, no matter how you looked at it, this had little to do with Miao Wuyin's sudden epiphany. It was far more likely that it was Zero Wing's help that had allowed Miao Wuyin to progress so dramatically.
And this thought planted a seed in Duan Hanshan's mind.
The younger generation represented a family's future — and equally, a guild's future. Nothing was more important than cultivating the next generation.
In the world of virtual gaming, strength alone was enough to guarantee a path forward. And in the current Divine Realm — a place that had become virtually a second world, one that could even extend a person's lifespan several times beyond normal — it was a golden age for anyone with real power.
This was precisely why the various families within the Azure Commerce Association were so eager to gain the support of the Zeus Corporation.
Strength was everything. Everything else was merely illusion.
Yet even as Duan Hanshan was lost in these thoughts, Pang Wushang in the distance wore a dazed expression, completely at a loss for words.
His feelings at this moment were utterly conflicted — he didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.