Shen Fan's attack rate was still climbing. He refused to believe it — on a stage this large, was there any way this Shao Yuan could simply fly into the sky?
He was certain that as long as he increased his speed, no matter how swift the opponent's movement technique might be, it couldn't possibly outpace the lash of a whip.
Moreover, he had deployed powerful waves of surging qi across the entire arena. Under the violent upheaval of those rolling tides, could the opponent really move as though walking on flat ground?
So Shen Fan kept pushing his speed higher, trying to reach the absolute limit. At that point, when the Furious Flood Dragon Whip launched its area-covering assault, where would the opponent possibly hide?
"Hiding and scurrying about — what kind of skill is that? Come out, come out!" Shen Fan growled, his voice tinged with a hint of manic frustration.
Clearly, his repeated failures to land a hit had stoked Shen Fan's temper to some degree. It wasn't that he lacked composure — it was more that his pride was taking a beating.
He had already deployed the Furious Flood Dragon Whip. Shouldn't victory have been easy by now? Why was he still unable to crush this infuriating opponent?
At this point, most of the other matches had essentially been decided. Young Master Sui Chen, facing
Yan Qingsang had also learned to be sensible. After a probing exchange and sensing the intense killing intent radiating from his opponent, he simply withdrew from the stage of his own accord and forfeited the duel.
Just as
Without question, Yan Qingsang had now realized that some hidden force was indeed targeting the
Aside from Yan Qingsang and Young Master Sui Chen, one other Sacred Land genius managed to eke out a narrow victory after a grueling fight.
But the cost of that narrow win was enormous — it could only be described as a pyrrhic victory, with both sides badly wounded.
Though the Sacred Land competitor had technically won, the injuries sustained meant he was virtually finished for the next round.
And so the Eternal Sacred Land was left with essentially a single seedling — Jiang Chen alone.
No one could have predicted this situation for the Eternal Sacred Land before the tournament. This was only the third round, the battle to narrow thirty-two down to sixteen, and the Sacred Land was nearly wiped out entirely.
Even this lone remaining competitor, Shao Yuan, appeared to be in dire peril.
Over in the Xiahou family's section, Xiahou Ying clenched her delicate fists and cried out: "Shen Fan, you brute! You come boasting to me every single day — if you can't even handle one outsider, don't you dare show your face at the Xiahou family estate again!"
Xiahou Zhen smiled faintly. "Ying'er, don't be anxious. That Shao Yuan has already exhausted every trick he has. The Furious Flood Dragon Whip has a particular trait — the longer the battle goes on and the angrier its master becomes, the more powerful the whip grows. Shao Yuan has been stoking Shen Fan's rage. Once Shen Fan's fury reaches resonance with the Furious Flood Dragon Whip and summons the Spirit of the Furious Flood Dragon, Shao Yuan's time will have come."
Xiahou Ying's eyes lit up. "Is that so? So that Shen Fan fellow actually has some tricks up his sleeve after all!"
"Indeed. Shen Fan is one of the few geniuses in the Eternal Divine Kingdom who can cause your brother a small amount of trouble. Of course — only a small amount."
Xiahou Ying puffed out her chest, her tone brimming with pride. "Naturally. In the entire Eternal Divine Kingdom, the genius who can challenge my brother hasn't been born yet!"
Xiahou Zhen chuckled. On this point, he was in complete agreement.
Within the royal faction of the Eternal Divine Kingdom, His Majesty the Emperor himself was watching this battle with great relish, clucking his tongue in admiration. "When this Shao Yuan fought Wu You earlier, I thought his Divine Ability was nothing special. But now, seeing him against Shen Fan, his true strength is considerably greater than I had imagined. Could this be the legendary phenomenon of growing stronger against stronger opponents?"
"The notion of 'growing stronger against stronger' does hold merit. However, this humble servant still believes that provoking Shen Fan was decidedly not a wise choice. His evasive fighting style is likewise unwise. If I were him, I would have struck Shen Fan down before the rage could build. If he squandered that opportunity, then perhaps he has no opportunity left at all."
His Majesty nodded in deep agreement. "Well said. With the Furious Flood Dragon Whip in hand, this Shen Fan is certain to become one of the figures who will shape the future of the Divine Kingdom."
"Your Majesty's discerning eye is truly impressive. This subordinate is filled with admiration."
"Haha — let us watch on. Perhaps this Shao Yuan has some scheme of his own?"
"He certainly has his own schemes. But he clearly doesn't understand the Furious Flood Dragon Whip. Once the Spirit of the Furious Flood Dragon is summoned, that will be the arrival of his end."
……
Shen Fan's fury was blazing higher and higher. His repeated failures had pushed his rage to what was approaching a boiling peak.
"Shao Yuan, come out, come out! The arena is only so large — did you really think you could evade judgment with just your movement technique? You're far too naive!" Shen Fan snarled, his lips moving in rapid incantation. The Furious Flood Dragon Whip began wildly extending in length once again, and across its surface, a faint golden luminescence and dark, arcane characters grew ever denser. Those strange symbols and the pale golden glow emitted a series of deep, guttural roars — like a savage beast restrained and bound, straining at any moment to break free of its chains.
"Come forth, Spirit of the Furious Flood Dragon! Devour all things, omnipotent Spirit of the Furious Flood Dragon!" Shen Fan's eyes burned with flames of fury.
Those flames surged and intertwined with the Furious Flood Dragon Whip in perfect fusion. In the next instant, from within the golden radiance of the whip, a golden shadow violently burst forth.
The shadow was wreathed in golden light, taking the shape of a flood dragon, tumbling and spiraling through the void as it let out a continuous, piercing cry.
The Furious Flood Dragon!
The Spirit of the Furious Flood Dragon had finally been summoned.