The waves surrounded Lin Tao as he stood on the stage to exhibit his might. Even now, the crowd remained silent. They were terrified of Lin Tao’s strength since it could create such a phenomenon.

But the impact from this phenomenon was nothing compared to Lin Tao’s challenge. The thumbs down was meant to humiliate Lin Yun and express Lin Tao’s disdain. When the flames were extinguished, Lin Tao looked at Lin Yun, who disappeared in a flash.

“What a terrifying phenomenon. How did he manage to do it? Isn’t his cultivation a little too strong?”

“This is no longer his cultivation alone. Even a Heavenly Soul Realm expert might not be able to accomplish what he just did. This might have something to do with the Profound Yang Art. Lin Tao might’ve reached the pinnacle twelfth stage.”

“Indeed, his control over his origin energy is terrifying. An ordinary Heavenly Soul Realm can’t do what he just did. But that blazing mountain range was really terrifying.”

“Hmmm, Lin Tao’s actions aren’t that simple.” An uproar broke out after Lin Tao left. As of right now, everyone’s impression of the veteran geniuses had changed. The veterans had four additional years to grow, so their foundations were stronger than the newly risen geniuses. The same couldn’t be said for Ji Feng since he didn’t come from an overlord force..

The actions of Nangong Wanyu, Li Mubai, and Lin Tao were ruthless. They were blatantly telling Lin Yun that he wasn’t qualified to compete for the seeded position. Yan Long’zi, who was watching from the Heavenly Demon Pavilion’s seats, smiled in surprise.

“Senior brother, what is Lin Tao trying to do?” Asked one of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion’s disciples.

“Simple. Li Mubai and Nangong Wanyu are both swordsmen, so Lin Yun can sense his gap with them easily. Even if Lin Yun didn’t compete to be the seeded participant, he can easily be promoted with up to two losses. But it’s different if he loses three rounds. So he will naturally fight someone with all his strength, which will probably be Lin Tao,” smiled Yan Long’zi.

“I see…” Everyone instantly understood what Lin Tao was doing. After all, losing three rounds would exhaust most of Lin Yun’s profound amber aura, which Lin Yun wouldn’t accept.

“Then won’t Lin Yun be in a difficult position? After all, Lin Tao isn’t any weaker than the other two.” Someone asked quickly.

“So what? He can only surrender. Otherwise, he will be heavily injured or even crippled. At that time, it will be impossible for him to make it into the top ten or top twenty anymore. He’s just a clown in our eyes,” said Yan Long’zi coldly. He was filled with disdain and made it a point to express this disdain, even though he had to eat his words multiple times. Yan Long’zi was confident that Lin Yun would have to surrender three times whether he liked it or not.

“Is that really the case?” asked another Heavenly Demon Pavilion’s disciple.

Yan Long’zi glared at the disciple who spoke before he spoke coldly, “How many more trump cards does he still have after coming this far? I don’t believe that piece of garbage will prove me wrong!”

Yan Long’zi’s voice was loud and attracted many gazes, but he merely snorted and ignored their gazes.

As for the Great Qin Empire’s party, their faces had turned ashen. After all, Yan Long’zi basically said that Lin Tao was trying to humiliate Lin Yun.

“Damn it, that guy is too much! So what if Lin Tao is one of the seven elites?” Feng Ye spoke angrily, but he had no confidence that Lin Yun would defeat Lin Tao. After all, Lin Tao’s strength was shocking.

“It doesn’t matter. They wouldn’t provoke Lin Yun if he wasn’t strong. After all, no one else received this kind of provocation,” said Situ Yi as he comforted everyone, but his attempt naturally failed.

“Lin Yun, why aren’t you saying anything?” Feng Ye asked anxiously.

“What does their indifference have to do with me?” replied Lin Yun. He knew that it was futile to say anything, so he ignored the taunts. So what if someone looked at him with indifference? He would just slay them with his sword.

Targeting Lin Yun caused a decent commotion that didn’t stop until another heavyweight battle was announced.

“First group, Wu Xiaotian VS Ji Feng!” Ji Feng was ranked tenth in the previous banquet and he defeated Jue Chen in the elimination round. Although he was defeated by Lin Yun, he hadn’t revealed any trump cards. Ji Feng managed to benefit by keeping his strength hidden, but a loss was still a loss.

On the other hand, Wu Xiaotian was ranked seventeenth in the previous banquet and he hadn’t lost yet. When he walked to the stage, he was filled with fighting spirit.

But Ji Feng was filled with disdain as he spoke coldly, “Wow, do all of you think you’re qualified to fight me? Wu Xiaotian, the reason you didn’t make the top ten last isn’t because of Jiang Ziye. You didn’t make the top ten because you aren’t qualified.”

“You’ll know if I’m qualified or not after this battle,” smiled Wu Xiaotian.

“Hahaha, you’re going to be disappointed.” Ji Feng smiled. “You’re still not qualified to make it into the top ten in this banquet and you certainly won’t get past me!”

Ever since he lost to Lin Yun, Ji Feng was hoping for a heavyweight battle to redeem himself. In Ji Feng’s eyes, Wu Xiaotian was a suitable opponent. With a bark, Ji Feng charged forward and sent a palm towards Wu Xiaotian. This was Ji Feng’s palm technique, the Heavenly Flame Palm.

“Break!” Wu Xiaotian smiled with disdain and charged forward.

“Misty Rain Fog!” Ji Feng attacked once more as rain drizzled on the stage. The rain contained pure flames that could easily burn the stones. Paired with his flame intent, the rain was terrifying.

Wu Xiaotian defended with his hands, but the clothes covering his torso were incinerated. Additionally, the origin energy that was covering his body had holes. The rain continued to damage the origin energy protecting Wu Xiaotian and left terrifying wounds on his body.

“Soul Breaking Purgatory!” But Wu Xiaotian didn’t panic as his crimson aura instantly turned into Purgatory. With a sinister smile, he roared and charged at Ji Feng. With every punch, Wu Xiaotian’s Soul Breaking Purgatory attack became even more refined. Soon, the eerie execution stage looked like a genuine cosmic artifact.

His attacks kept pushing Ji Feng back and suppressed the latter to the point where Ji Feng couldn’t catch his breath.

“That’s enough!” Ji Feng roared and started punching Wu Xiaotian’s attack. An ancient warship condensed from the flaming clouds in the sky accompanied his punch.

When the warship made of flames clashed with the execution stage, sparks and explosions filled the sky. The phenomenon above Ji Feng and Wu Xiaotian had become terrifying. Relying on his violent attacks, Ji Feng finally managed to stabilize the situation and gain the upper hand.

“Heavenly Rage!” Ji Feng attacked once more, trying to prevent Wu Xiaotian from counterattacking. A pair of flaming wings condensed behind Ji Feng and raised him into the sky.

When the wings stretched across the sky, the flames enveloped the entire stage and dyed the entire sky red. But just when everyone thought the battle was about to end, a crimson light soared into the sky. The crimson light naturally came from Wu Xiaotian.

The crimson aura blazed around him before condensing into nine different 300 meter long pythons. Before Ji Feng could even unleash his attack, Wu Xiaotian’s punch had already reached him. This made Ji Feng throw up a mouthful of blood and caused him to fall from the sky.

“Winner, Wu Xiaotian!” The judge announced the outcome and Ji Feng’s dragon projection shrunk in half. Seeing this, Ji Feng wore an ugly expression.

“What a piece of trash. Now do you know who isn’t qualified to make it into the top ten?” Wu Xiaotian looked at Ji Feng who was lying on the ground with disdain. He was the type of person who had a bad temper, which was exacerbated since he cultivated a demonic technique.

Hearing this, Ji Feng nearly fainted from rage.