Mark kept his gaze fixed on Lan Yuxuan, neither flinching nor stepping back.
The murmurs hadn’t stopped; if anything, they grew louder. Dozens of eyes, hundreds of glares, accusations flying as swiftly as blades.
He calmly dusted off his robe, despite the lingering ash and frost. "Proctor Yuxuan," he said, tone even. "Your question was a thing I needed to answer in private or when I was on trial. Aren’t you still standing on the tournant platform? Shouldn’t your first action be to declare the victor?"
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried with the weight of authority she always had, piercing the noisy atmosphere.
Lan Yuxuan’s brows twitched. "Don’t change the subject, Lan Zhen."
"I’m not changing it," Mark replied. "But I do know protocol. And I also know this..." His eyes flicked briefly to the holographic screen. His reserves were filled by more than 40%.
Just a little more ti... he needed.
"You all couldn’t simply digest the fact that I defeated Lan Xia. First, there’s a thing about using my own creations, deaning by stating I depend on artifacts to win matches when others can use swords and spears, whatever. And then, you painted as evil by bringing up my father’s bloodline, and now that I won it fair and square, you guys are here once again, trying to void the competition results by doing this. Just accept the fact that you aren’t willing to hand over the clan to soone who ca from the mortal realm. You aren’t willing to hand over the clan to the grand of Lan Gengxin, whom you lot brutally sacrificed to please your emperor and make it seem like he is a criminal whom you righteous fellas exiled as punishnt. Why don’t you just admit the truth instead of keeping painting others as villains?"
Perhaps, due to his high charm stat, as Mark amplified his voice, making sure the entire arena heard it, his words affected the listeners with cultivation lower than his. The noise was significantly lowered and lowered, only leaving whisperings and murmurings instead. However, those with high cultivation were more offended than felt guilty.
One of them was certainly Lan Yuxuan herself, one of the two grand elders of the sect.
Her Qi trembled around her, thin veins of crackling light forming in the air. Her patience, already brittle, snapped. "Insolent!"
With a flick of her wrist, she conjured a spear of translucent blue-white energy, pulsing with sharp intent, and she motioned it backward, intending to hurl it.
However, Mark instantly acted, activating the skill. "Gravity Do, 1000x! Restrict the range to 300 ters."
The invisible do spread out from him, covering the arena, but not affecting the spectators.
BOOM!
Lan Yuxuan’s lance arced in midair, veering downward as the sudden spike in gravitational force bent its trajectory. It smashed into the marble floor, exploding harmlessly away from Mark.
Yuxuan’s form lurched at once, and her knees buckled.
*Thud!
She crashed down hard, face twisting in pain as she fought against the suffocating weight.
Mark hovered calmly at the center, unaffected by it. "Interesting," he said, peering down at her. "You Lan Sect elders really need therapy. All of you have this ridiculous impulse to attack first at the slightest offense. To be honest, you have too much pride but no intelligence."
The arena grew silent again. All eyes now turned toward the elder on the grandstand, Lan Yujin, the Sect Master.
A few elders below him had already risen from their seats.
"This is getting out of hand," one muttered, stepping forward.
"That brat is going to die."
"Well, he asked for it."
"Arrogance clouds one’s judgnt."
"Should we intervene?" another asked.
But Lan Yujin only chuckled softly, stroking his long beard. "No, no. Let them play it out."
He leaned forward, eyes twinkling with interest. "Interfere only when it seed like one of them was going to be killed."
The Elders couldn’t help but gaze at their sect leader. They wonder whether he was on Lan Zhen’s side or Lan Yuxuan’s.
Back in the arena, Yuxuan’s body shuddered. Veins bulged under her skin as her Qi surged once again.
"Not yet... you damn brat..." she hissed, her feet cracking the stone beneath.
A blinding aura burst out from her core.
A thick, glowing armor of Qi wrapped around her fra, reinforcing every limb, every tendon.
With a defiant roar, she stood up straight, inch by inch, forcing her way through imnse gravitational force. The pressure strained her bones, but she rose and resisted it.
"You scrooge... disgrace... You must be eliminated at all costs!" she howled, glaring at him like a beast denied its prey.
Mark narrowed his eyes. So she’s still got so juice in her. At this rate, I’ll burn more energy than I can afford...
A flicker on his User Interface warned him, Ether Reserves at 43%. Recovery was slowing as 1% per second was being consud to maintain the gravity do, while 1.43% of his ether reserves were being recovered at the sa ti. So, it is like the recovery process is cut in half.
Since the other party is already resisting the gravity do anyway, Mark found it useless. He raised a hand and, with a breath, dismissed the Gravity Do.
The pressure lifted instantly. A few cracks on the arena floor snapped back into place with the release of tension. No one knows what Lan Xia’s condition was.
Lan Yuxuan gasped sharply, the relief flooding her muscles. But her mont of triumph was short-lived.
She was about to charge forward to reduce their gap and hit him at close range, but Mark had already moved his hand again.
"Activate, Absolute Freezing."
BOOM.
The air howled as a sudden drop in temperature struck the arena.
Frost erupted outward like a blooming lotus of glaciers. It was quite an instantaneous technique
At -272C, a wave of crystalline frost surged across the entire coliseum stage, freezing the very moisture in the air. Even sound seed to fade.
Lan Yuxuan’s eyes widened, but only for a second. Her Qi lashed out instinctively in defense.
But it was too slow.
The frost clamped onto her like living chains, encasing her in solid, crystalline ice. Her armor cracked, then stopped completely, sealed in a blue-white prison.
She stood mid-step, frozen solid.
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