"I… actually lost?"
Libra woke up in the battle room with a blank expression, completely unable to process what had happened in that final instant.
"What happened to Libra?"
"Why did she suddenly lose?"
Outside the battle room, Ke Rui's small mind was racing with questions. Just a moment ago, Libra had been blocking all the magic blades perfectly. The next, she was struck by countless magic blades — it felt as unreal as a dream.
After all, Libra had fused a Bronze-rank defensive combat skill with a third-tier defensive skill. Her defense was so formidable that even a fourth-tier Legendary monster wouldn't be able to wound her in the slightest.
How could Ziyan Liuyun, a mere third-tier Priest, possibly hurt Libra?
Yet everyone present — and especially the members of the Azure Commerce Guild — felt no surprise at this outcome whatsoever. In fact, they felt it was perfectly reasonable.
"It's Mana Domination!" Mu Xin stared at Ziyan Liuyun on the virtual screen, took a deep breath, and explained slowly. "Her control over mana has reached the fourth tier. Within her domain of control, all surrounding mana answers to her command. Players below the fourth tier have no way of using mana to fight against her."
In the Divine Realm, players began to interact with mana circulation upon reaching the second tier. By the third tier, they constructed a Mana Body to draw upon the surrounding mana and power magical skills, dramatically increasing their effectiveness.
But if one couldn't draw upon the surrounding mana, then the magical skills one used would be significantly weaker.
Conversely, when mana control reached the fourth tier, one could mobilize all mana within a fifty-yard radius. The resulting power and effect were simply incomparable to anything a third-tier Class could produce.
With one side growing stronger and the other weaker, even though Libra's combat level was far superior to Ziyan Liuyun's, in terms of true power she simply couldn't be a match…
Ke Rui's eyes lit up with sudden understanding as she looked at Ziyan Liuyun with an incredibly complex expression.
"She can't be much older than me, can she?" Ke Rui couldn't help muttering under her breath. "She's not some fourth-tier NPC in disguise, is she?"
Reaching the Vacuum Realm was one thing, but achieving fourth-tier mana control — that was something even those old monsters who had mastered Domains still couldn't accomplish.
Meanwhile, Hong Xinyuan, who had been watching from the sidelines, was remarkably calm. In fact, there was even a hint of admiration in his gaze toward Ziyan Liuyun.
"Old Hong, not such a bad loss after all, huh?" Duan Hanshan stroked his beard and said with a smile.
"So you figured it out ages ago." Hong Xinyuan wasn't angry about losing the S-grade Nutrient Potions and a hundred thousand Magic Crystals. Instead, he shook his head with a rueful laugh.
"Of course. Any superpower worth its salt with decent intelligence channels would know about that, wouldn't they?" Duan Hanshan nodded. "You didn't lose for nothing this time. Our guild's own Elder Zui Yan stumbled at this young lady's hands during the internal family tournament. You should count yourself lucky."
However, what Duan Hanshan didn't know was that Ziyan Liuyun was now even stronger than when she had faced Zui Yan. She no longer relied on her staff to artificially boost her mental level to the fourth tier — she had reached it entirely on her own.
Her mastery of mana had leapt up an entire tier.
"That's right, not a bad loss at all. A good loss, even." The corner of Hong Xinyuan's mouth curved into a smile. "This trip wasn't in vain."
"Uncle Hong?" Ke Rui looked at the happily smiling Hong Xinyuan, her heart full of confusion.
That was fifteen bottles of S-grade Nutrient Potions and a hundred thousand Magic Crystals — even for Frost Sky Sword, that was no small sum.
"Exactly. A good loss." Mu Xin beside him suddenly smiled as well.
This operation by Frost Sky Sword was of critical importance — it could even affect the future balance of power across the entire Divine Realm. The stronger the outside help they recruited, the better.
Although part of Libra's strength couldn't be expressed in the virtual battle room, the methods Ziyan Liuyun had demonstrated were more than enough to prove her worth.
"Mu Xin, you did well this time." Hong Xinyuan turned to Mu Xin and praised her.
"I was just helping the guild." Mu Xin smiled faintly. Getting praised by Uncle Hong was no easy feat.