A Chaotic World

Roar-!

A majestic roar reverberated across the arena once more, just like when Xuan Ming activated Inscription Master Qianling's inscription earlier.

However, there was a distinct difference between this and that.

While Inscription Master Qianling's inscription sounded like the menacing roar of countless beasts, Lu Tianzi's inscription let out a roar that seemed to come from a single apex predator, one that stood at the very top of the food chain.

And along with this majestic roar came an shockwave of overwhelming pressure that erupted with Xuan Ming at its epicentre.

The Iron Fist Overlord reacted immediately, vanishing from his seat and reappearing in the air above the twins before anyone could react.

He pushed downwards with an open palm, and an invisible barrier of pure energy formed around the twins.

When met with the expanding shockwave, the barrier shook violently as ripples appeared all over it. Yet despite how risky it looked, the barrier still held strong in the end.

This stopped the shockwave from propagating any further, preventing it from reaching anyone in the audience seats.

Unfortunately for Xuan Meng, he was trapped in the barrier created by the Iron Fist Overlord, and was thus unable to hide behind it for protection.

He was caught completely by surprise as he ran straight into the explosion of pure pressure, with a boost in his speed no less.

Of course, it was on purpose as well.

Since he was part of the demonstration, he naturally had to deal with it himself. But by the time he realised what was going on, it was already too late for him to turn around.

The overwhelming pressure swept over him, and he almost screamed in pain.

It felt as though he had ended up in the hands of a divine giant, and the pair of hands were closing upon him, forcibly crushing him into mincemeat.

His face contorted as he desperately tried to retreat.

However, something that would have usually only taken him a split second to do took much longer to complete this time.

Under the effect of the inscription skill, his reflexes drastically slowed.

No, it was not just his reflexes.

His psyche had taken a direct hit, causing even his thoughts to slow down.

The audience watched on in confusion as Xuan Meng grimaced in pain, yet continued standing there like a fool.

Did the inscription skill bind him to the spot?

Just as they were wondering that, Xuan Meng finally seemed to have regained his senses and started retreating.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The sword inscribed by Lu Tianzi landed on Xuan Meng's shoulder, pressed against his neck.

It was over.

"The victor – Manor Lord Lu!" Xuan Ziying announced.

This time, her announcement was met by silence, a huge contrast to the applause and cheers that had filled the arena when the previous victors had been announced.

Why?

It was because the audience did not fully understand the events that just transpired.

All they saw was Xuan Meng rushing towards Xuan Ming, followed by a loud roar when the latter activated his inscription.

What happened next was the Iron Fist Overlord quickly creating a barrier. And then Xuan Meng simply stood there like a retard while Xuan Ming came forward to press a sword against his neck.

It was obvious what Inscription Master Peilun's inscription did, but when it came to Lu Tianzi's inscription, the audience could only guess even after seeing it in action.

Even the more perceptive ones could only fall into deep thought as they carefully contemplated the different possibilities of what could have happened.

Meanwhile, the more cynical ones even suspected that Xuan Meng had deliberately thrown the fight by not reacting like how any Eighth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist should!

Of course, just like before, they dared not openly voice out their unhappiness for fear of being blacklisted by the Timeless Flame Sect.

Lu Tianzi closed his eyes and secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Despite it being an simplified version, the inscription seemed to be working well. The only question now was whether it would be enough to last till the very end.

Seeing his look of relief, Grandmaster Xiqin snorted in disdain.

To already be struggling this much before facing him... how pathetic!

This time, the twins were given a longer time to rest than before.

Xuan Meng had taken a direct hit to his psyche, and this required more attention than physical injuries of the same level.

Fortunately, the Timeless Flame Sect had no lack of capable physicians.

After taking a good rest and some rare medicine, Xuan Meng had recovered well enough to fight at his maximum potential.

The audience had no complaints about this either. It was only normal for the demonstrators to have to rest up after each round. That was necessary to ensure the fairness of the Inscription Meet.

On top of that, now that all inscriptions had been revealed, members of the audience were busy discussing among themselves, each trying to predict the overall victor of the Inscription Meet.

"Thank you everyone for the wait," the arena quietened down at Xuan Ziying's words. "Now, let us take a look at how the submission from Grandmaster Xiqin fares against the submission from Inscription Master Guiheng!"

Anticipation built up among the audience once more.

It was time for the confrontation between victors of the first round.

Grandmaster Xiqin glanced over at Inscription Master Guiheng and said with a smile. "May the best man win."

Inscription Master Guiheng wore a veil that covered her face from the nose downwards, but her bright eyes and fair skin were telling enough of her beauty.

"Mm," Inscription Master Guiheng nodded indifferently, drawing a forced chuckle from Grandmaster Xiqin.

Youngsters nowadays truly do not know how to respect their seniors, but that's all right.

After two more rounds of demonstrations, it would be obvious to all just how much better he was as compared to these young fledglings.

At that point, they would have no choice but to acknowledge his superiority!

The fully recovered Xuan Meng and Xuan Ming stood face to face on the stage once more, the former held Grandmaster Xiqin's sword while the latter held Inscription Master Guiheng's.

A fiery devil appeared once again as Xuan Meng activated the inscription on his sword.

Even though this was not its first appearance, those in the audience still could not help but sigh in admiration as they took in the sight of the fiery devil.

Standing at over three men's height, just its appearance alone would have been intimidating enough, but its strength was not lacking in comparison, as had already been proven earlier.

In fact, it was so domineering that most of those among the audience had already concluded that Grandmaster Xiqin would be the eventual victor of the Inscription Meet.

Grandmaster Xiqin smiled in satisfaction as he watched the fiery devil rush towards Xuan Ming.

Do it!

Show the world just how magnificent I truly am!

This might only be a demonstration, but Xuan Ming still could not help but feel intimidated when faced with the fiery devil, especially since he had already witnessed for himself just how powerful it was.

Nevertheless, this did not stop him from doing his best.

He channelled his Origin Force into the sword in his hands, into the inscription by Inscription Master Guiheng.

A white mist immediately emerged from the inscription symbol and shrouded over the entire blade.

This was the same plain-looking inscription skill that had shown itself earlier.

Plain, but effective.

That was how it helped Inscription Master Guiheng eliminate her first opponent.

But now that this plain inscription was pit against the gigantic fiery devil born from Grandmaster Xiqin's inscription, it suddenly seemed far too lacking in comparison.

No matter how one looked at it, it was like a mantis trying to block an oncoming horse carriage.

The outcome was obvious.

The fiery devil reached out with both arms, wanting to pull Xuan Ming into an embrace of fire.

Xuan Ming gritted his teeth and valiantly pressed on forward, thrusting his white sword towards the fiery devil.

A sword shrouded in pure white mist that seemed to be untouchable by the darkness.

A fiery devil that seemed to wish to subject all of the living to a baptism of hellfire.

The fiery devil pulled Xuan Ming into its embrace, but at the same time, the white sword in his hand stabbed into the body of the fiery devil.

A wild energy storm was formed from the clash of the two, sending powerful gusts in all directions.

It had not become a matter of whether the sword of white energy would be able to overcome the fiery devil first, or if Xuan Ming would collapse from the embrace of fire first.

The audience, participants, and judges all watched on with their fullest attention, not wanting to miss a single moment of this confrontation.

That was especially the case for those of the Timeless Flame Sect.

Right now, Xuan Ming was using his own natural defences as an Origin Core realm martial artist to mitigate as much damage from the fiery devil as possible.

But if things got dangerous, they would need to step in to rescue Xuan Ming immediately. After all, he was a valued member of the sect, and they definitely did not wish for him to suffer any serious injuries for a reason like this.

And then it happened.

The tip of the sword shrouded in white mist emerged from the back of the fiery devil, followed by more and more of the blade, until the entire sword of white mist could be seen.

Xuan Meng's eyes widened in shock.

Xuan Ming's eyes widened in surprise.

Grandmaster Xiqin's eyes widened in disbelief.

Inscription Master Guiheng's eyes widened in excitement.

Before everyone's eyes, a gaping hole appeared where the chest of the fiery devil was, then rapidly expanded until it swallowed up the entire fiery devil, reducing it to nothing but a cloud of smoke.

The fiery devil had succumbed to the white sword!

Freed of its constraints, the sword shrouded in white mist continued towards Xuan Meng, whose attempt to parry only resulted in his sword being knocked right out of his hand.

The next thing anyone knew, the sword shrouded in white mist was pointed towards Xuan Meng's face, its wielder Xuan Ming panting in a mixture of both adrenaline and exhaustion.

It had not been easy, but armed with the sword inscribed by Inscription Master Guiheng, Xuan Ming had come out on top of this confrontation, defeating Xuan Meng who wielded the sword inscribed by Grandmaster Xiqin.

This also meant that Grandmaster Xiqin, one of the two main characters of the Inscription Meet, as well as a hot favourite for winning the entire thing, had been eliminated.

The entire arena fell into silence – a silence brought about by absolute shock!