Min Zhiyuan still transformed into a red light, still maintaining a shape pointed at both ends and bulging in the middle. However, this time he did not charge in a straight line but kept rotating. In just a few moments, he had shredded the sphere into pieces.
His speed remained undiminished as he continued to spin towards Xue Nu. From Xue Nu's perspective, it looked like a rolling sphere hurtling towards her.
Xue Nu hurriedly blew out a few more notes. The air vibrated again, revealing several cracks.
The red sphere spun forward, pausing only slightly at the cracks before continuing its rapid rotation.
Xue Nu was greatly alarmed and could not think of a good countermeasure. She could only continue to blow out fragmented notes while retreating rapidly, maximizing the time before Min Zhiyuan reached her.
At this moment, Mo Qi saw Xue Nu gradually showing signs of defeat and couldn't help but worry for her.
If Xue Nu had conceded gracefully, he could have accepted it. However, he was afraid that Xue Nu would stubbornly refuse to admit defeat. The opponent's frantic, all-out magical attack style meant that even if he intended to stop at the right moment, he couldn't.
If Xue Nu did not concede, this was destined to be a battle to the death.
At this critical juncture, he had to step in and stop him, otherwise Xue Nu would be either dead or seriously injured.
But with his cultivation, stepping in while the opponent's ultimate move was fully unleashed would likely be like hitting a rock with an egg.
He thought of a Dragon Pearl he still had in his storage bag, which might be useful now.
So, he quietly retreated to a secluded tree, sat down on the ground, and took out the Dragon Pearl, placing it on the ground.
Then, he placed his right hand on the Dragon Pearl and urged his spiritual power to absorb it. The Dragon Pearl's spiritual energy flowed continuously into his body, slowly seeping into his Sea of Souls, causing the tides of his Sea of Souls to rise and fall. After several cycles of interaction, his profound mysteries were impacted, and his life essence was gradually sublimated.
At this moment, Yuwen Yan also saw that he intended to break through and used her own spiritual power to assist him. Everything proceeded smoothly.
The Dragon Pearl's spiritual energy was fully released, exploding countless times within his body, and his cultivation advanced to the late stage of Mahayana.
At this point, looking at Xue Nu and Min Zhiyuan in the arena, their battle seemed to be nearing its end.
The Zhong Bao and the Kun Long Pillar were still trembling together, locked in an indecisive struggle.
Xue Nu kept retreating, her flute's spiritual power offering less and less resistance to Min Zhiyuan. As one waned and the other waxed, Min Zhiyuan's momentum grew stronger, and he pursued her more closely.
He could barely see anything but a blur of red as he spun through the air.
As he spun, the air emitted a howling sound, as if the earth itself was crying out.
Spiritual energy was unleashed infinitely in all directions, sending waves of heat towards the surroundings. The people around were forced to retreat continuously, and soon the vast square, several miles wide, was empty.
Everyone had retreated to the rooftops in the distance or floated far away in the air.
At this moment, Min Zhiyuan suddenly changed direction, bypassed the cracks, and lunged fiercely at Xue Nu.
In her desperation, Xue Nu had no choice but to change the tune again. White mist billowed in the air, instantly condensing to form a thick ice wall in front of her.
As Min Zhiyuan's spinning body came into contact with the ice wall, it made a scraping sound as he directly pierced it, passing through the wall from the middle.
With no further obstruction, he moved towards Xue Nu's delicate body.
Xue Nu cried out in alarm and retreated rapidly.
At this moment, a figure suddenly blocked in front of her: "We concede!"
Upon hearing the voice, Xue Nu knew it was Mo Qi.
Mo Qi summoned the staff-shaped magical artifact (Mo Qi called it the Yilong Staff, as it was carved with a dragon). The Yilong Staff emitted a mass of black energy that surged outwards, striking towards Min Zhiyuan along with the staff itself.
The black mist surged forward, stirring Min Zhiyuan's body. Min Zhiyuan's body faltered, his rotational speed slowed, but he continued to charge forward, seemingly unable to stop.
Min Zhiyuan instantly swept away the black mist with his rotation, but the next moment, the Yilong Staff struck fiercely. A clear clang could be heard.
Min Zhiyuan's body was sent flying backward, still spinning, for a great distance. His rotational speed slowed, and his true form gradually became visible as he fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood, seriously injured.
Mo Qi, standing in front of Xue Nu, was, as expected, also swept by the turbulent spiritual energy flow and sent flying backward. He twisted his body in an incredible evasive maneuver in mid-air, managing to avoid colliding with Xue Nu.
After a few stumbles, he regained his footing.
The Yilong Staff flew back into Mo Qi's hand.
The treasure bell and the dragon-binding pillar also shrunk and returned to Xue Nu and Min Zhiyuan respectively.
The people from the Heavenly God Academy immediately protested upon seeing a non-competitor enter the competition grounds, shouting, "Is this still a competition? Are you trying to fight? Are you trying to gang up on us?"
Mo Qi said calmly, "I have no intention of intervening in the competition, but if in that situation just now, I had not stopped him, my friend would have been beaten to death by you. Moreover, we have already conceded."
With that, he looked up at the sky.
The celestial maiden in the sky slowly said, "The third magical competition, Heavenly God Academy wins."
Since the divine maiden had spoken and made the ruling, the Heavenly God Academy members had nothing more to say, and a silence fell.
At this moment, Min Zhiyuan was still on the ground, unable to get up, which caused another wave of indignant voices: "We won, but our person was attacked! Isn't this revenge?"
"Are you bullying us because we traveled from afar?"
Mo Qi was speechless and walked over, handing a healing pill to Min Zhiyuan: "This is a healing pill I refined. Try it, it might have a miraculous effect."
Min Zhiyuan snorted coldly and did not reach out to take it.
A group of well-meaning people appeared around him, urging, "Eat it, his pills are very effective. We witnessed it firsthand just now, the effect was immediate, truly immediate, no exaggeration at all."
Min Zhiyuan then took the pill and swallowed it hesitantly.
Under the gaze of everyone, could they still poison him?
A moment later, to everyone's astonishment, Min Zhiyuan stood up.
Everyone was greatly surprised: "This is too magical."
"As expected of someone who won three consecutive alchemy competitions, the pills he refined are truly extraordinary."
Min Zhiyuan was also greatly shocked. There was such a pill in this world!
No wonder our people would lose!
Xue Nu's shock subsided. Although she was a little disappointed to hear that she had lost, she also understood that she truly couldn't defeat the opponent. It was just that during the fight, her emotions had been fueled by the heat of battle, and she had even forgotten about winning or losing.
Now that she had calmed down, she felt a sense of lingering fear and had to admit that Mo Qi had saved her.
"Are you alright?" Mo Qi walked away from Min Zhiyuan and went straight to Xue Nu.
"I'm fine, thank you," Xue Nu said.
"I already said we're on the same side, why are you still so polite?"
Xue Nu habitually rolled her eyes.
Then she lowered her head and said in a voice so low that only she could hear, "Always saying sweet talk, always being slick with everyone. Who knows if you're sincere?"
Little did she know, Mo Qi heard her.
Mo Qi was stunned for a moment. Of course, he was sincere.
However, when sincerity was delivered too often, even the most pleasant words became synonymous with flippancy, fickleness, dissoluteness, and womanizing.
At this moment, in the audience, Xing Mian's expression gradually became solemn again. Today had been too agonizing. At first, he was despairing, believing they would lose every magic battle. Later, when Wei Jianfei and the other returned, he saw a glimmer of hope. However, Wei Jianfei and the other both suffered defeat, and his heart sank to the bottom. But Mo Xin's three consecutive victories in alchemy competitions seemed to offer some hope. Then Xue Nu suddenly emerged, dazzling everyone, almost allowing him to grasp the fruit of victory. Yet, Xue Nu still lost! His heart sank again.
In the current situation, it was difficult for their side to win even one magic battle. This was like a mountain, insurmountable!
What was infuriating was that if they were to lose, they should have done so decisively. Why did they have to give him hope?
Based on the score, it seemed that Heavenly Rank Academy still had a chance to win, but in terms of the strength of the participating members, there was almost no possibility of winning.
The last person to appear on the opponent's side was even more formidable than anyone before.
And on their side, he had once placed his hopes on Mo Qi. Therefore, before Wei Jianfei and the other returned, he had also arranged a magic battle for Mo Qi.
He had also witnessed Mo Qi's duel with Yuwen Changsha. Based purely on strength, Mo Qi was completely outmatched by Yuwen Changsha. However, in the end, it seemed that he had used the explosion of the alchemy furnace to break the opponent's technique, forcing Yuwen Changsha to retreat, which did not mean he had won.
It was even more impossible to form a clear understanding of his strength.
He had previously investigated with his divine sense, and Mo Qi's cultivation was only at the early stage of Mahayana. This level of cultivation was inferior even to Wei Jianfei. Since Wei Jianfei and the other had lost, Mo Qi would likely lose even more miserably.
However, with one match left, it had to be fought. Since they were going to lose anyway, it seemed like it didn't matter who went up.
He cast his gaze back and forth between Dugujun and Mo Qi. Dugujun was even less reliable than Mo Qi, but he couldn't disregard him, especially considering the pressure from the forces behind him.
Dugujun suddenly said loudly, "Dean, let Mo Xin participate in the last magic battle. He will definitely win."
Du Gu Sheng glanced at his cousin, a complex expression in his eyes.
Xing Mian looked at Du Gu Sheng for his opinion, and Du Gu Sheng nodded.
Xing Mian immediately announced, "Heavenly Rank Academy's fourth magic battle participant is Mo Xin."
On the Heavenly God Academy's side, Jiang Xia also announced, "Heavenly God Academy's fourth magic battle participant is Li Sanlang."
Mo Qi was also conflicted at this moment. He really wanted to fulfill Dugujun's wish, but if Dugujun went up, he would most likely lose.
At this critical juncture, the competition between the two academies involved the honor of both academies and even two continents. Everyone's sense of honor was ignited, including Mo Qi.
Moreover, he had already won three consecutive matches. This foundation of victory was built by himself, and he did not want this victory to be ruined by others.
Even if Fen Tian, Jing Lei, Le Yu, and the others returned now, he would not back down.
Just as he feared, as Mo Qi took a few steps forward, several figures suddenly descended from the sky, bowing respectfully to Xing Mian.
There were a total of five people: Fen Tian, Jing Lei, Le Yu, Ming Yue Ye, and Murong Jing.
Each of them radiated brilliance and possessed an imposing aura. They walked with a swagger that attracted countless eyes.
Many people began to shout wildly: "Ah! Aren't those the legendary Fen Tian, Jing Lei, Le Yu, Ming Yue Ye, and Murong Jing? We finally get to see them alive today!"
"Heavenly Rank Academy is guaranteed to win! Any one of them going up will win!"
Xing Mian was also overjoyed. He had watched the Heavenly God Academy's magic battles and had a relatively accurate understanding of their strength. With these people going up, the chances of winning were still not high.
However, while the chances of winning were not high, there was a significant difference between that and simply playing along.
Xing Mian immediately stood up: "Your return is perfectly timed. Let Murong Jing go up for this match."
The cultivation of these five people was even higher than that of Wei Jianfei and Zhuang Shaokun.
Mo Qi, however, was annoyed. Why did they have to return at this exact moment?
If they could definitely win against the opponent, he could understand. But the problem was that these people going up would basically not win.
He had made a preliminary assessment. The people from the Heavenly God Academy, with their monstrous physical cultivation as a foundation and their super-powerful magical artifacts, could defeat opponents much stronger than themselves, regardless of who it was.
They decided the order of appearance based on strength. The previous participant, Min Zhiyuan, had already displayed heaven-defying strength. What level of strength would the last participant possess?
And the so-called prodigies of Heavenly Rank Academy, like Wei Jianfei, had proven to be all show and no substance. These recently returned individuals were probably not much stronger than them.