Translator: Jon Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys As soon as the thought came to mind, a wave of horror washed over Huo Liaoyuan. The rules of the Deathmatch Platform were determined by the Heavens, so there could be no mistakes. He should have been released from this space and returned to his original location as soon as Lu Ye died, but he was still here… He instinctively raised his head and glanced forward. The towering flames continued to blaze fiercely, but the strength of the flames had been reduced to remnants by now. It would not take more than two or three more seconds before the flames went out completely. Then, he saw the truth that left him in utter disbelief! A figure brazenly charged out from the remnants of the mighty Spell Technique that could turn even a Ninth Order Cloud River Realm Master into a burnt corpse! “How is that possible!?” Huo Liaoyuan exclaimed in shock. [Lu Yi Ye isn’t dead! How is he still alive!? That was the Prairie Fire Explosion! It’s one of my trump cards! This is a nightmare…] However, what shocked Huo Liaoyuan even more was not the fact that Lu Ye was alive but that Lu Ye was barely injured. Lu Ye looked miserable. His clothes were in tatters, exposing his skin in many spots. Nevertheless, the exposed flesh showed no signs of being burned by the flames whatsoever! In fact, the wounds on his body were the same wounds he received previously. The Prairie Fire Explosion did not seem to have any effect on him… Needless to say, it was impossible for such a powerful Spell Technique to have no effect on Lu Ye. He might have activated the power of the Tree of Glyphs when he was in danger to isolate himself from the damage caused by the flames, but the impact caused by the repeated explosions could not be isolated by the power of the Tree of Glyphs. Despite seeming unaffected by the attacks on the outside, the truth was that his internal organs had been displaced by the impact. Blood churned at the back of his throat, and he desperately suppressed the feeling. In addition, every single muscle in his body was sore and aching. Rushing out of the flames, he wrapped himself in boundless murderous intent and charged toward Huo Liaoyuan. After a brief period of horror and shock, Huo Liaoyuan finally returned to his senses and scrambled to his feet. Then, he hastily raised his hand and shot several Spell Techniques at Lu Ye. By the time Huo Liaoyuan came back to his senses, the distance between them had already been shortened to a mere hundred and fifty meters! This distance was the closest Lu Ye had come to Huo Liaoyuan since entering the Deathmatch Platform, and the distance between them continued to shrink. The weapon holder at Lu Ye’s waist hummed loudly. Nine rays of light shot out in succession, slamming into the Spell Techniques that Huo Liaoyuan released at a high speed. Huo Liaoyuan had not only exhausted himself, but his mind was also fatigued. Hence, the power of the Spell Techniques he hastily released was impressive but far from the strength he displayed at his peak. Several explosions burst forth. The incoming Spell Techniques detonated in unison, scattering sparks throughout the sky. “Ahhhhhh!” Huo Liaoyuan did not know whether he was frightened or encouraging himself. Numerous shouts escaped from his mouth, and every shout was followed by the release of a Spell Technique. At this distance, Lu Ye could control his flying weapons as though they were an extension of his arm. Thanks to his superb control, the Spell Techniques often exploded as soon as they were released. Furthermore, he even had the excess strength to control half of the flying weapons to attack Huo Liaoyuan. The flying weapons launched at Huo Liaoyuan only to be blocked by Huo Liaoyuan’s Spiritual Power Shield They could not harm him in the slightest, but the impact of the explosions had knocked him off balance. A hundred meters… Seventy meters… Thirty meters… Lu Ye leapt upward and cleared the obstacles in front of him with his flying weapons. The Inviolable Saber in his hand ignited with flames, and his right arm holding the blade bulged slightly. At that moment, he resembled a starving wolf pouncing on its prey. Even though Huo Liaoyuan was the one with higher cultivation, his expression became extremely flustered. He naturally knew the consequences of a Spell Cultivator who was approached at a close distance by a Combat Cultivator, especially if the other party was a Combat Cultivator like Lu Ye. In his opinion, Lu Ye was no inferior to an Eighth Order Realm Master despite only being in the Fifth Order Realm. The difference between one Minor Realm was not as exaggerated as imagined. He was once approached by his Junior Brother in the Arcane Glade, Ming Zhe. It had not only taken great effort for him to escape the other party’s pursuit at the time, but he had been at the peak of his strength back then… In his panic, he stumbled backwards without forgetting to unleash a Spell Technique at the same time. It had to be said that his attainments in the Spell Techniques were extremely remarkable. Even under these circumstances, casting Spell Techniques had become a natural instinct for him. Three arrows shot out in a triangular array only to be destroyed by Lu Ye’s flying weapons. Following that, the blade that had been prepared in advance slashed downward with great momentum. Flash! When the blade came slashing down, the Spiritual Power Shield around Huo Liaoyuan’s body erupted with a dazzling light. It was obvious that he had desperately summoned more Spiritual Power to protect himself. Boom… Following a loud explosion, a burst of Spiritual Power surged violently. Lu Ye felt his arm going numb. At the same time, Huo Liaoyuan was sent flying backwards. The Spiritual Power Shield around his body did not dissipate completely. Although Lu Ye’s blow failed to take his life, the horrifying power contained within the blow struck him in full. Just like how Lu Ye’s Tree of Glyphs could not isolate all the effects of the explosions, Huo Liaoyuan’s Spiritual Power Shield could not fully block the impacts either. Be that as it may, Lu Ye clearly felt the other party’s Spiritual Power Shield hollowing inward as though elastic when his blade made contact with the Spiritual Power Shield That feature should dissipate some of the force behind the blow. Lu Ye had heard that there were two types of Spiritual Power Shields. One was inflexible while the other was flexible. The so-called inflexible Spiritual Power Shield resembled a barrier that would not change shape. As long as the barrier did not break, the cultivator would not be harmed. The same could not be said about the flexible Spiritual Power Shield. This type of Spiritual Power Shield would sag inward when struck by force and reduce some of the impacts. Both types of Spiritual Power Shields had their respective advantages and disadvantages, depending on the cultivator’s choice. However, a cultivator had to have strong control over their Spiritual Power in order to make their Spiritual Power Shield become flexible. In addition, they needed great practice to achieve such a feat. It was not something all cultivators could achieve. In fact, less than twenty percent of the cultivators in the Cloud River Realm could master the flexible Spiritual Power Shield. Lu Ye did not know much about the Spiritual Power Shields. Whenever he needed protection against an enemy’s attack, he would activate the Protection Glyph. After all, the defensive abilities of the Protection Glyph were significantly stronger than ordinary Spiritual Power Shield. There was no doubt that Huo Liaoyuan’s control over his Spiritual Power was amazing, which was why he could wield the flexible Spiritual Power Shield at such a crucial moment. The impact he suffered from that blow would have been at least thirty percent stronger otherwise. Despite the reduced impact, he coughed up a mouthful of blood mist in mid-air. Even if he was a Ninth Order Realm Spell Cultivator, he could not change the fact that his body was weak. Naturally, that was only a relative comparison… After sustaining such an abrupt and violent impact, he felt his bones were about to break. His internal organs churned wildly, and his vision turned blurry. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lu Ye rushing toward him as relentlessly as his own shadow. Lu Ye’s blade came slashing down on him before he even landed on the ground. The attack caused his body to sink downward, crashing to the ground with unbridled force. Lu Ye kicked out at the same time, causing Huo Liaoyuan’s body to spin in mid-air. As a result, Huo Liaoyuan flew nearly a hundred meters through the air and crashed directly into the enchantment barrier of the Deathmatch Platform. Huo Liaoyuan fell to the ground in a crumpled heap and howled in pain. His eyes were filled with fear and pain. Before his experience today, he would have scoffed if somebody had told him that he would be beaten by a Fifth Order Realm Combat Cultivator. Yet, he was actually experiencing that very ludicrous phenomenon right now. Everything had been within his control. He could have killed Lu Ye and washed away the shame of yesterday by making up for his mistakes with a significant contribution. He could have obtained an inexhaustible supply of wealth and riches for his contribution. So, how did things end up like this? “Bleurgh…” The sound of somebody throwing up blood came from nearby. Huo Liaoyuan endured the severe pain coming from every part of his body and climbed to his feet. When his blurry vision came back into focus, he saw Lu Ye half-kneeling on the ground with a blade in his hand and a pool of crimson blood in front of him. The sight made his eyes brighten with hope. [He is injured too! He isn’t as invulnerable as he looks on the surface!] From being confident and in complete control of the situation to being concerned over his gains and losses to rejoicing over the fact that his opponent was injured and vomiting blood, Huo Liaoyuan himself failed to realize that his mind had changed drastically during this battle. On the other hand, Lu Ye was feeling very uncomfortable. He originally planned to take Huo Liaoyuan down in one fell swoop, but his overly vigorous actions had worsened his internal injuries. Therefore, he was forced to halt his relentless pursuit of Huo Liaoyuan. After purging the stagnant blood in his body, he finally felt a little better. He looked up and glanced in Huo Liaoyuan’s direction. Likewise, Huo Liaoyuan was looking in Lu Ye’s direction. The look in his eyes was fierce, and the Spiritual Power around him surged wildly. There was no communication between them, but both of them moved at almost the same time. As always, Lu Ye used his flying weapons to clear his path and bravely charged forward. In contrast, Huo Liaoyuan unleashed various different types of Spell Techniques. It was just that matters regarding one’s aura were often very similar. Once weakened, one’s aura would remain weakened for some time and would not recover quickly no matter what was done to boost recovery. Despite a difference of four Minor Realms in their cultivation, Huo Liaoyuan’s various Spell Techniques were blocked by Lu Ye’s flying weapons. The distance between them rapidly closed once more. A trace of panic appeared on the calm expression he forced himself to make. It was not until Lu Ye was within ten meters of him that an overwhelming airwave swept out into the surroundings in the wake of a Spiritual Power explosion. Lu Ye felt as though a wall had slammed against him, and his body was involuntarily pushed away. It was a Spell Cultivator’s final trump card for protection. Lu Ye did not know the name of the Spell Technique, but almost all the Spell Cultivators he encountered in the past had cultivated the same Spell Technique. Once the Spell Technique was cast, they could push everything around them into the distance. Seeing as Spell Cultivators were generally most afraid of being approached by others, the Spell Technique had undoubtedly saved the lives of many Spell Cultivators. If this were in the wild countryside, Huo Liaoyuan could have used this opportunity to escape. Unfortunately, this was the Deathmatch Platform he summoned. The space was only one kilometer wide in length and width. Where could he run? Pushing Lu Ye away was nothing more than his final struggle. After three short seconds, Lu Ye came close once again. He agilely dodged the attacks of several Spell Techniques and simultaneously slashed the Inviolable Saber down on his opponent. The Inviolable Saber gleamed with a cold and bright blade light. Like a broken ragdoll, Huo Liaoyuan was sent flying once more from the huge impact. The Spiritual Power Shield wrapped around the surface of his body dimmed considerably. Stuck in mid-air, he clearly felt the aura of death lingering around him. He once experienced a similar feeling when he was in the Spirit Creek Realm. At the time, he was lucky enough to be rescued by a Senior Brother who helped him resolve the crisis. The feeling remained fresh in his memory, but he was now all alone. The Senior Brother who saved him in the past had also passed away many years back… In any case, he knew. The moment Lu Ye broke out of his shackles and rushed toward him, he had lost the battle. Time seemed to stretch out forever at this moment. Various distracting thoughts swiftly flashed through his mind. Suspended in mid-air, he turned to look in the direction where the source of danger was located and saw Lu Ye charging toward him at a high speed. The powerful sense of oppression radiating from Lu Ye left him unable to breathe.