CHAPTER 329: THE MOON BLADE

Perran casually waved his small hand. The thick, wooden veins, surging with potent Sixth Order vitality, instantly decayed and turned to dust before they could reach him and Matilda.

Sunny frowned, recognizing the difference between his controlled strength and the boy’s absolute dominion. With a precise burst of Controlled Flames, he sent the veins heading towards him ablaze, incinerating the wood into harmless ash.

"So annoying," he muttered, maintaining his posture of bored observation.

The most perplexing display came from Faye. She moved her hand vertically, making a simple cutting gesture. The veins before her were instantly severed cleanly into halves, falling lifelessly to the ground.

’She is only a Second Order. How did she stop a Sixth Order attack so easily?! Is this Pillar hiding her true strength, or does she possess a unique conceptual skill?’ Sunny’s confusion deepened.

He turned to Qin Wei, who, with a swift, powerful slash of her blade, carved the incoming vines into ribbons.

The grim reality of the battle rule immediately became apparent.

"AHHHH!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the arena. Sunny watched as the vines successfully wrapped ten contestants. Before his horrified eyes, the vines acted as monstrous parasites, sucking their vitality dry. In seconds, the ten fighters were reduced to grotesque, shriveled skeletons—no blood, no flesh, no organs remaining.

’Such a powerful, horrific attack. If this Elf were in the Lower World, she would be unstoppable, killing Third and Second Orders like they were ants,’ Sunny thought, the severity of the competition sinking in.

"You!!" Michael Blade roared, drawing his sword. He lunged forward, hacking the vines heading his way into pieces, not slowing down for a second. His aggression galvanized the remaining fighters. With pure, unrestrained killing intent, they all charged the Elf.

Sunny watched as countless balls of chaotic energy—fire, ice, lightning, and pure kinetic force—appeared around the fighters. In one unified, desperate attack, they unleashed everything at the crowned Elf.

"Although you’re a Sixth Order, you’re facing three Sixth Orders and more than twenty-fifth, fourth, third, and second orders. You can’t win easily," a contestant yelled.

The Elf stared at the incoming storm of attacks, her eyes gleaming with manic resolve. "No one can take this crown from me!!" She slammed the butt of her scythe onto the ground, instantly generating a thick, pulsating green shield before her.

BOOOOOM!!!

BOOOOOM!!!

The unified assault was overwhelming. The shield shattered instantly. The remaining force of the attack threw the Elf backward. She smashed heavily onto the ground, the impact causing her to vomit a mouthful of blood. Crucially, the crown rolled several feet away.

"I got it!!!" Michael Blade yelled, sprinting forward and snatching the crown up. He raised it triumphantly into the air, but the victory was instantaneous and short-lived.

The moment he possessed the crown, a dense, suffocating concentration of killing intent and bloodlust from the remaining forty fighters fixed solely on him. Michael Blade froze, the weight of being the singular target for forty vengeful powerhouses crushing his resolve. Slowly, deliberately, he placed the crown back on the ground and sprinted away, abandoning the prize.

"Useless," Xin Jo scoffed. She moved with ruthless efficiency, picking up the crown. Before anyone could react, a dense, shimmering green gas flowed out from her, instantly spreading across the arena floor.

Sunny glanced up at the audience, confirming the presence of a shimmering barrier separating the fighters from the stands, protecting the spectators from the high-order attacks.

"Phew," he sighed in relief for Josephine and his group, as the gas reached his nose.

{Poison detected.}

{Master is immune to all poisons.}

Around him, the arena floor became a scene of chaotic suffering.

"What is this?!"

"Cough!!"

"Poisons!!"

Contestants dropped to their knees one by one, clutching their throats. Patches of skin rapidly began turning black.

"This is my Xin family’s strongest poison, Viper’s Kiss." Xin Jo announced with a smirk. "Even a Sixth Order powerhouse won’t easily survive it."

Matilda, despite her lineage, whispered urgently, placing her hand on Perran’s shoulder. "I don’t think I can last long... I’m not truly at my peak!"

"Huh? Is your power this weak now?" Perran asked, his brow furrowed with annoyance rather than fear.

"You! Although I have gotten all my powers back, I am not truly in my peak state yet!" she hissed at him, frustrated by his casual dismissal.

"Okay. Okay." Perran nodded, bored with the display. With a simple, petulant wave of his hand, the dense green gas surrounding the entire arena instantly vanished, as if the air itself had been forcefully scrubbed clean.

".....?!!"

Xin Jo, Sunny and everyone else in the arena, even the Elders, were stunned into dumbfounded silence.

On the Elders’ platform, the Second Elder slammed his fist down. "Now! He is showing off!"

"Calm down," Elder Nicolette commanded, her gaze cold and unwavering on Perran. "At least he isn’t fighting. If he started, none of these people would even fight back."

"But the three families’ younger generations are in the arena," the Third Elder pointed out with concern.

"That doesn’t concern us," Nicolette dismissed. "They knew what they were getting themselves into when registering."

In Josephine’s platform, Morgana frowned, her attention entirely focused on Perran. "Why is he here?" she muttered.

"You know him?" Josephine asked, mildly surprised.

"Yes," Morgana answered curtly, not bothering to elaborate on the deep-seated history between her and the mysterious boy.

Back on the arena floor, before Xin Jo could recover from the shock of losing her poison advantage, Qin Wei arrived in front of her. With a swift, powerful kick, she sent Xin Jo flying backward.

Sunny watched as Xin Jo smashed onto the ground and vomited a mouthful of blood. He noted Qin Wei’s restraint. ’She could have easily killed Xin Jo, but she chose a debilitating kick. Seems the three big families made a tactical deal, or Qin Wei genuinely doesn’t want to kill anyone without the crown.’

Qin Wei now possessed the crown. She held it in her left hand and raised her gleaming Moon Blade high into the air with her right. She closed her eyes, channeling all her considerable spirit energy.

"As a Fourth Order powerhouse, what is she planning on doing?" Sunny muttered to himself, arms crossed, the spectacle having finally drawn his full attention.

BOOOOOM!!

The people charging at her immediately skidded to a halt. Behind Qin Wei, an ethereal, huge full moon materialized, radiating silver light. From the heart of the light, soldiers made of pure moonlight poured forth, instantly surrounding her. Each of the twenty soldiers emanated the strength of a third Order.

’Huh? She has such a summoning skill? I know the Crown can’t increase anyone’s existing powers, so it must be that sword,’ Sunny realized:

’Is that the reason she sent her brother to get it at all costs?’