As the words of the SkyFire Venerable echoed through the colosseum, the vistage of a demonic head appeared behind the mysterious man in black.

And it released a maddening aura into the crowd before bursting into nine crimson skulls that each glowed with a sinister light. The skulls floated in the air, their eyes filled with malice as they surveyed the participants.

Meng Lin's heart raced as she felt an intense aura radiate from the man in black, his aura was even higher than before and she felt that he would attack at any moment.

Zing!!

A loud noise suddenly reverberated through the colosseum and the nine skulls that appeared suddenly dissipated, like flames being smothered by a gust of wind.

Meng Lin turned to where the sound had come from and realized that while she had been focused on the man in black, the man and woman that had appeared from the distortion last had not wasted any time.

They were standing side by side, their bodies glowing with the aura of the early stage of the gold core realm but in their hand were weapons that gave Meng Lin a cold sweat, as she felt her life threatened just by looking at them.

The man held a gleaming sword, its blade reflecting the intricate dragons designed on the sword in a mesmerizing way. The woman, on the other hand, held a biwa instrument, its strings vibrated with an otherworldly energy that caused ripples in the air surrounding her.

Meng Lin felt a familiar sensation once again as her storage ring reacted and she didn’t need to think to know what was the cause.

‘it’s the sword in that guy’s hand’ Meng Lin thought before turning towards Luang Chen who stood beside her, his expression grave, eyes trained intensely on the woman with the biwa instrument.

She didn’t have the chance to ask as the woman with the biwa trailed her finger to one of the strings and plucked it delicately.

Zing.

A ripple of energy spread outwards, distorting the space around the woman and creating an ethereal melody that hung in the air.

The man in black’s eyes widened as he felt his body locked in place and his heart seized with a sudden surge of fear.

Slash

Suddenly, the man with the gleaming sword slashed towards him at lightning speed, his blade glowing as if receiving a command.

The man in black barely had time to react as the blade cut through the air like a comet, leaving a brilliant trail of light in its wake.

The man tried moving but found that he couldn’t, he couldn’t even use his techniques as the space around him seemed to have gripped him in place.

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Even though he attempted to deflect the attack with a wave of his hand, he found his movements sluggish, as if wading through a river of molasses.

The crowd gasped collectively as the sword light made contact, the force of the impact creating a shockwave that rippled through the colosseum. For a moment, everything seemed to stop, with the only sound being the eerie melody from the woman's biwa still hanging in the air.

Then, with a loud, echoing boom, the man in black was sent flying backward, crashing into the colosseum walls. The crowd was silent, stunned by the sudden turn of events.

The nine crimson skulls that had been floating in the air earlier were nowhere to be seen, their sinister light extinguished by the man's gleaming sword.

Meng Lin and Luang Chen exchanged a glance, noticing the worried expression on both their faces.

More so for Meng Lin, she had not expected the man and woman to be so powerful, able to take down the menacing man in black without much effort.

The man with the gleaming sword turned towards the two, his eyes filled with a calm yet ruthless light. “The Soul Shattering Sect," he said, looking towards the woman with the biwa. "Yu Yuna, I remember you said you had a history with them”

Meng Lin’s heart skipped a beat as the man's words hung in the air while Luang Chen held a weary smile remembering the fight he had with the woman.

Meng Lin's gaze hardened as she met the man’s, her grip on her sword tightening, "We didn't come this far to give up now."

Luang Chen nodded, his aura flaring up as he stood beside Meng Lin, "We're not backing down."

The woman, Yu Yuna plucked another string on her biwa, but this time, instead of the ethereal melody, a harsh discordant note rang out, causing the duo to flinch. The ground beneath them shook violently, and the air around them seemed to quiver.

Meng Lin and Luang Chen stood their ground, their auras clashing with the disruptive wave sent by Yu Yuna's biwa, allowing them to not be restricted.

The man brandished his sword, the gleaming blade reflecting the dragons designed onto his blade and pointed towards the duo. "Let's see how long you can hold out then."

Roar!!!

Three dragonic roars emerged from his sword and filled the air, echoing with an otherworldly power that reverberated through the surroundings.

***

The SkyFire Venerable slowly floated in the sky in a blaze of flames and observed the duo of Meng Lin and Luang Chen fend off the man and the woman with the sacred treasures.

He turned to the other participants to see the two men from the Scarlet Demon Sect going against the Woman with silver-white hair and the young man next to her.

His hollow eyes which held apathy had a flash of ruby red light as it landed on the young man before calming down. ‘Soon’ he thought as he turned to the last participant, the young man in golden armor. Xiaoyun.

“An interesting gimmick you have there” his young voice transmitted through the air into the ears of the Skyfire Venerable.

his golden armor gleamed under the colosseum's fights and he spoke once more, his voice carried confidence and calmness as he addressed the SkyFire Venerable, "I didn’t realize it before when I last saw you but now I can clearly see it, who or what are you"

The SkyFire Venerable's gaze shifted towards Xiaoyun, “what do you mean young one”

Xiaoyun shook his head smirking and slowly raised a finger to his eye “What I meant is that I can see through the 36-layer illusion surrounding your real body”

The SkyFire Venerable's expression remained silent, but his gaze flickered as he remained floating in the sky.

Xiaoyun took another step forward and his eyes started to change colors, from their original black to gold and his aura changed as he continued speaking “A spiritual Imprint, no matter how powerful does not have the ability to cause drastic changes to the environment, even if you were connected to some heavenly power source”

The ‘SkyFire Venerable's eyes narrowed at Xiaoyun's words, his curiosity piqued. He had not anticipated anyone being able to see through the illusion he had created.

“Eyes that reflect the sun”. ‘The SkyFire Venerable’, muttered, his voice filled with a mix of surprise and annoyance.