As Hong Xinyuan pressed Libra with his question in the main hall, Kerui quickly signaled Libra to agree—after all, this was a perfect chance to disrupt Muxin's plans.
As one of the Ten Swords of Frost, Libra's combat ranking placed him in the top five. Within the entirety of Zero Wing, only the Guild Master, Black Flame, could hope to match him. Everyone else was simply out of the question.
Yet to everyone's surprise, Libra didn't immediately accept.
"Uncle Hong, would I be allowed to fight at full strength this time?" Libra asked in return.
The Ten Swords of Frost were different from ordinary members. Their true power absolutely could not be revealed to outsiders without explicit orders from upper management. Even if they lost, they were forbidden from going all out.
Duan Hanshan, standing nearby, showed no surprise at Libra's question at all. The Azure Commerce Association operated under the same rules—they had simply lifted the restriction during the Grand Tournament back in the day.
"You may go all out if necessary," Hong Xinyuan said after a moment's thought.
Zero Wing's Guild Master, Black Flame, possessed the strength to contend with a Legendary-tier Sacred Sculpture. If Black Flame himself took the field for Zero Wing, and Libra didn't use his full power, he might actually lose.
That was something Hong Xinyuan had no desire to see. His primary purpose in coming here was to establish authority.
"Then I have no objections," Libra replied, and the fighting spirit in his eyes ignited.
"Good. I'll leave it to you, then." Hong Xinyuan nodded with satisfaction and turned to Duan Hanshan. "Then it's settled, Old Ice Devil."
He had originally been considering how to demonstrate the depths of the Sword of Frost's power to Zero Wing after a quick assessment. Now that effort was saved for him.
"It's a deal," Duan Hanshan said with a smile, then looked toward the blue-haired young man not far away. "Gu Han, step down first. This young man from the Sword of Frost will take your place."
"Him?" Gu Han scrutinized the plain-looking young man beside Duan Hanshan, clearly reluctant. "Can he even hold his own?"
Instantly, both Libra and Hong Xinyuan felt an almost irresistible urge to cough up blood.
Since when did everyone look down on the Sword of Frost like this?
But Hong Xinyuan didn't erupt. He remained silent, simply giving Libra a look—a knowing glance that said, You know what to do.
This battle might just be the perfect opportunity to show the Azure Commerce Association what the Sword of Frost was truly capable of.
Shortly after, the official training match between Zero Wing and the Azure Commerce Association formally commenced in the main hall.
The area outside the virtual combat chamber was packed with spectators. Zero Wing members and Azure Commerce Association members alike buzzed with excitement.
"I heard Gu Han got swapped out for a Sword of Frost newcomer. I wonder how many seconds the newcomer can last."
"From what I've heard, the previous record was sixteen seconds."
"Sixteen seconds? The newcomer should be able to hold on for ten, right?"
"Ten seconds? You're dreaming! Six or seven at most, I'd say."
……
The sudden swap in the training match quickly became the center of everyone's attention. The Azure Commerce Association members in particular were entirely focused on one question—how many seconds Libra could survive. Hearing their chatter, Kerui gritted her teeth in frustration, and even Muxin was left stunned.
"Has it really been so long since the Sword of Frost made any major moves that we've become irrelevant in people's eyes?" Muxin felt as though she had been transported to some strange, alien place.
Setting aside the Sword of Frost entirely—just look at the Azure Commerce Association's own members.
They seemed to treat lasting a few extra seconds against Zero Wing as a badge of honor, completely devoid of any pride befitting true experts. As if every additional second they survived was some supreme glory.
Once Libra sat down inside the virtual combat chamber, a large door on the opposite side slowly swung open. A young girl with delicate features walked in and took Zero Wing's combat seat. She gently put on the neural link headset as if she were a girl next door, without the slightest air of a formidable expert—no sharpness, no intimidating presence whatsoever.
"Are you kidding me?" Libra stared at the girl, and a flicker of irritation sparked in his heart.
He had expected Zero Wing to send a genuine powerhouse who could give him a real fight. He had been nervous for a while, even going so far as to petition Uncle Hong to lift his strength restriction…
And yet not only had Zero Wing failed to send Black Flame, they hadn't even sent either of their vice Guild Masters. They had just tossed out some little girl to face him. They clearly didn't take the Sword of Frost seriously at all.
"Old Ice Devil, is this the Zero Wing you've been so confident about?" Hong Xinyuan studied Ziyan Liuyun and couldn't help but laugh.
Earlier, Duan Hanshan had seemed brimming with confidence—enough that Hong Xinyuan had even started to believe him. But now it seemed he had been overthinking things.
Ziyan Liuyun had indeed reached the Void Realm at such a young age, which made her a rare prodigy. But compared to Libra, she was worlds apart. Libra could probably end the fight in mere seconds.
"Of course," Duan Hanshan replied, smiling right back at the laughing Hong Xinyuan. "What if we raise the stakes a little?"
"Are you trying to back out?" Hong Xinyuan chuckled.
"Not at all. On top of our original wager, how about we add a hundred thousand Mana Crystals?" Duan Hanshan proposed gleefully.
"What happens if I don't want to bet?" Hong Xinyuan asked, still smiling.
In his view, this was Duan Hanshan trying to scare him into submission. After the system upgrade, the value of all materials—Mana Crystals especially—was bound to skyrocket. Every major superpower was frantically stockpiling them and refusing to sell. A hundred thousand was no small sum, and even he found it difficult to make such a decision lightly.
"Not betting is fine too. Up to you," Duan Hanshan said, his expression unchanged, completely nonchalant.
"Alright, then I'll take your bet." Hong Xinyuan watched Duan Hanshan feign surrender and readily agreed.
"Great! I knew you were a good man, Old Hong." Duan Hanshan burst into delighted laughter.
"A good man, huh?" Hearing Duan Hanshan say that, Hong Xinyuan couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
As the two chatted, the virtual screen outside the combat chamber displayed the battlefield for Ziyan Liuyun and Libra.
A desolate wilderness stretched before them. The two combatants stood a hundred yards apart, their stats, levels, and equipment frozen at the last second before their logoff in the Divine Realm.
Of Libra's equipment, six pieces were Epic-grade. The long spear in his hands radiated a dark, obsidian glow—an unmistakable Magic Artifact, its stat bonuses far surpassing those of any ordinary Epic weapon. Every subtle movement he made caused the very space of the battlefield to tremble.
Libra's level had reached 119—a single level short of the critical 120 threshold. In the entirety of the Divine Realm, he stood among the absolute pinnacle.
"Now you see what the Sword of Frost can really do," Kerui thought smugly.
Just as she outside the combat chamber expected the crowd to erupt in gasps of admiration and cries of shock, the entire hall fell into an eerie silence.