The stick of incense continued to burn down until it was half gone. Jingyu Taiyi still remained frozen, raised hand and all. Spectators could see some particles moving out from the Luminary's opened palm like a desert heatwave. Sweat dripped down from his face and stained the concrete floor. Taiyi was doing his best to keep Shin locked inside of his illusions, and the audience could see that clearly. Unlike the easy-going atmosphere that he boasted at the beginning of the match, Taiyi was struggling to even keep his hand up.
Shin, on the other hand, was as calm as can be. It looked like he was merely meditating under normal circumstances. There wasn't the tension of being inside a stadium filled with a hundred thousand people, and neither did he felt strained by the illusions that were messing his mind. His expression was as calm as can be, which was odd given the capabilities of Jingyu Taiyi.
"Taiyi is struggling..." Jingyu Shenxian whispered, observing the face of her junior. "Does your new golden boy have some experience dealing with Mind-Elements?"
Longyu Dao's lips curled upwards, "His little girlfriend has three elements, Fire, Wind and Mind." The bearded man pointed at Kanari, who had both her hands interlocked. "If anything, she would have prepared Shin for the fight against Taiyi."
"Right, the Witch in the South..." The Chancellor nodded her head. The Luminary from the Jingyu Clan continued to struggle. His face had turned completely vermillion. Veins popped, and muscles cramped. With a sigh, the lady crossed her legs. "Looks like it's only a matter of time before Taiyi loses."
"Hehe, have I convinced you that Shin should take the Trial of the Celestial Dra-"
Before Longyu Dao could gloat, the entire audience gasped as thousands jumped to their feet. Jingyu Shenxian was no different. No, all of the Jingyu Clan members leapt up, some even pointed their shaky index finger.
"Damn it! Stop the match!!!" A Jingyu Clan High Elder screamed, barging out from his cubicle. The barrier that barred his path opened a hole in itself, giving the old man free passage into the arena. Many other Spirit Venerates left their seats as well. Jingyu Shenxian, Longyu Dao, Lady Seph… They all congregated onto the ring where the two youngsters were competing. Why?
"Eeeee… Rrrrr..."
Jingyu Taiyi had collapsed onto the floor, his entire body convulsing in a spasm. Foam bubbled out, staining his robes with saliva and dirtying the cleaned floor. The Luminary's whole body had lost control over itself, and the man was now a struggling patient waiting for someone to save his life. The High Elder was the first to check on him. Holding the shaking youth in place, the Spirit Venerate slapped his palm against Taiyi's back, sending neutral mana into the body and calming the spasming muscles. At the same time, he checked on the youth's mana reserves.
"This is!" The elderly man cried out, his two eyes widened as veins popped. Taiyi's mana pool… They were entirely emptied. A Spirit Spectre that bypassed the first barrier of mortality could store crazy amounts of spiritual energy. Not only that, since their Spectre Soul has taken one step closer to nature, even by doing nothing, they could replenish mana at an astonishing rate. In theory, if the Spirit Spectre knew what he was doing, it was near impossible to empty out every single ounce of mana in his body. Yet, Jingyu Taiyi was close to that threshold.
Panicking, the High Elder instantly sent a surge of spiritual energy into the young Luminary's body. At the same time, he barked: "Prepare a room and fill it with mana crystals! Summon Elder Healer Yin Fu!"
Jingyu Taiyi had climbed too high to the sun. If he didn't bring up the illusion of Ariel, Shin wouldn't have subconsciously pulled the man into his Spectre Soul. However, it wasn't entirely his fault. No one could have anticipated that Shin would have the ability to absorb the Mind-Element and suck another's mana clean. In fact, not even Shin himself knew of his capability. Targetting Shin's mind was a bitter mistake, one that Taiyi would have to pay the consequences for.
"What did he do?" Jingyu Shenxian tilted her head, puzzled. She looked straight at the young boy, who was still bearing a tranquil expression and raised both her brows. Shin wasn't a Mind-Element user. The most that he could do was resist Jingyu Taiyi's illusions. In the worst-case scenario, Shin would have lost to the illusions and Taiyi would have taken the match. Yet, the results were far different from what everyone was anticipating.
Not only did Shin resist Jingyu Taiyi, but he countered the man by absorbing every ounce of his mana. That was unheard of, especially against someone who possessed the Mind-Element!
Alas, none of the Spirit Venerates could get an answer just by guessing. They had to wait for either party to wake up, and fortunately for them…
"..." Shin's eyelids flickered as his nose crunched inwards. As if he had just taken a long and nice nap, the youth took multiple deep breaths in and stretched both his hands out. That casual movement stunned the audience. He wasn't strained by that match at all?
"Shin! Shin!" Longyu Dao was the first to tap on the young boy shoulders. The lazy eyes that he had were forced to pop open. When he was fully conscious, the youth found many Spirit Venerates staring right at him. No, it wasn't limited to those on the ground. Everyone in the stands had glued their eyes on him. Some were glaring daggers, such as those from the Jingyu Clan. They demanded answers for what the foreigner had done to their treasured son. Others were just amused and were willing to sit back and watch the show.
"W-What's going on?" Shin faltered in his speech as he asked the Spirit Venerates.
"That's our question!" The High Elder from the Jingyu Clan snapped. "What the hell did you do to Taiyi, boy?!" He was this close to taking the youth by the neck, but Shin was now heavily fortified with protection. Longyu Dao and Lady Seph stood right by his side, with many Longyu Clan Elders ready to jump in if need be.
Forced to hold back, the elder swung his clenched fist down and returned back to tending Taiyi. It was Jingyu Shenxian, the Chancellor of the entire Lantis Republic, who followed up on that question. She walked forwards, calm as can be and stopped just a metre away from the recovering youth. "Shin Iofiel, could you elaborate on what just happened between you and Taiyi?"
"W-What happened?" Shin had just woken up, so he didn't grasp the gravity of the situation.
To that question, Jingyu Shenxian pivoted her head back, pointing straight at the downed Luminary. He had stopped convulsing, but the jester was definitely out cold. Not only that, his body seemed to have thinned as the healthy complexion that he had was sucked out entirely. Naturally, Shin was taken aback by the condition of Taiyi. Back in the illusion, he felt hate against the man, but he never really thought of injuring him to this extent. In fact, after his rage took over, Shin was unaware of anything else that happened.
Shin vaguely remembered that he was pulled into his Spectre Soul, but that was it. After that, spiritual energy kept pouring into his soul, and he entered into his cultivation mode to nourish it. So, that's what he told the Spirit Venerates.
"You broke through the illusion and began to absorb the Mind-Elements?!" Jingyu Shenxian raised her voice. Everyone else wore incredulous faces as well. It was the law of nature that a Spirit could only ingest their own elemental affinities. Water Spirits absorbed water elements, Fire Spirits absorbed fire elements… That's why Shin did so well in cultivation when he was exposed to the ocean, which was basically the world's largest source of water elemental energy. However, if what Shin said was right, the young man would have broken the very law that governed Spirits.
"I think that's what happened… I'm not sure..." Shin cringed and dropped his shoulders. He didn't really like all the attention that was directed his way. As he peered over the Spirit Venerates, the youth caught sight of the unconscious Taiyi. Concerned, Shin asked, "I didn't mean to harm Senior Brother Taiyi… Is he going to be okay?"
The Spirit Venerates, including the Jingyu Clan's High Elder, all calmed down after Shin's explanation at the very least, they knew that it wasn't a deliberate ploy on Shin's part to cripple Taiyi.
"He's quite weak now. The mana that had been drained would take some time to recover. However, his life isn't in danger." Lady Seph spoke out, drawing all the eyes of the Spirit Venerates onto her. The woman didn't even need to conduct an examination to accurately diagnose Jingyu Taiyi's health. That's right! Why did they have to call over an Elder Healer when one of the world's best physician was in their presence.
Annoyed by the dirty gazes the Jingyu Clan Elders were giving her, the Divine Healer snapped. "What?!"
"Venerate Seraphim! Could you treat Taiyi?!" The old man, who seemed the closest to Jingyu Taiyi, started to beg the woman.
"As I said, there's nothing to treat!" Lady Seph slapped the elder's hand away. "Just leave him in a mana-rich chamber and supply him with enough spiritual energy to supplement his deficit. In time, he'll recover all by himself." The Divine Healer scoffed.
"Ah, but it'll at least take a few days. Mana exhaustion usually puts a cultivator into a comatose state, so don't be alarmed if he sleeps for extended periods." Typically, Lady Seph wouldn't offer her advice to idiots that attempted to challenge Shin. However, to defuse the possible time-bomb on her disciple's shoulders, the Divine Healer decided to bend her own rules for once.
"Thank you, Venerate Seraphim!!!" The Jingyu Clan Elder bowed down in respect. Before he left, his eyes moved towards the sitting black-haired boy. The contempt in his eyes was hard to miss. Shin's spine shivered, and he abruptly sat upright. Evidently, the High Elder still held a grudge.
The Jingyu Clan wanted to stop Shin from ever reaching anywhere near the Celestial River, to prevent the Longyu Clan from gaining yet another Spirit Saint. Thus, they had navigated behind the scenes multiple times, hoping to at least delay the process. However, Shin kept bulldozing past their attempts and had shocked the Lantis Republic time and time again. He defeated two of their best Luminaries and had even brought Jingyu Taiyi, the Jingyu Clan's brightest young talent, down on his knees. At this point, the Jingyu Clan was just fighting fate. It was in Shin's destiny to attempt the Trial, and everyone in the Yingxiong Amphitheatre had begun to agree.
"I look forward to your future, Shin Iofiel..." The High Elder sneered before flying away with Jingyu Taiyi. To the uninitiated ear, it was a friendly gesture. However, when Shin heard those words, his entire body shivered in fear.
'H-He… w-won't attack me for revenge, right?' The young man thought, his face as pale as a sheet.
No one around noticed the youth's fear. Instead, Longyu Dao turned back to Shin and asked him a question with the most courteous tone that he had. "Shin… Can you continue, or do you want to forfeit the remaining two matches?"
Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Shin had two more matches lined up. The audience universally gulped. Shin had fought three hard bouts with some of the toughest Spirit Spectres there was. No one could blame the youth if he said that he wanted to go home. However, the spectators had paid good money to be here. They wanted to witness the rest of the youth's grandeur.
'Continue, or give up?' Shin's eyes glistened in azure light. Did he even have the option to quit? Taking a deep breath in, the youth replied resolutely:
"I'm going to continue!!!"
✵✵✵
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