"What the heck?"
"What just happened?"
"Why did Yang Wei's screen go black?"
At first, the audience thought it was just an isolated incident.
Maybe there was a network issue.
But after some exchanges, they realized that everyone watching Yang Wei's perspective experienced a 'black screen,' causing quite a stir.
Above the massive arena, the male host quickly noticed the situation.
Yang Wei, having awakened the sixth-rank Falling Star bloodline, was one of the favorites in this tournament.
Even the host paid extra attention to him.
After noticing the anomaly, the male host swiftly took action.
"Let's see what happened in the last few seconds before Yang Wei left the arena."
Being an experienced host, he knew that a sudden blackout was definitely not due to a network issue.
If it were, all ten perspectives would be impacted together.
A sudden blackout could mean that a contestant has been eliminated.
The audience was aware of this possibility, but given Yang Wei's popularity and strength, no one wanted to believe he could be suddenly eliminated.
His sixth-rank bloodline made such an event seem unlikely.
As the host operated the controls, the playback rewinded to three seconds before the screen blacked out.
Yang Wei had a smile on his face in the playback, likely because he found the location of the next blue crystal.
The next instant, there was a massive explosion!
Yang Wei's entire body burst into a blood mist; his organs had long been shattered, and he turned into nothingness.
The playback showed, with absolute clarity, that after Yang Wei's body exploded, nine blue crystals fell from his body.
Just then, a slender right hand caught the blue crystals.
The perspective shifted, revealing the owner of the hand—it was Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan collected the nine crystals and disappeared again.
The playback detonated an uproar among the audience.
"Lin Yuan?" "Was it Lin Yuan who defeated Yang Wei?"
"How is that possible? Is Lin Yuan really that strong?"
The crowd was abuzz, like a raging storm.
Even if Lin Yuan had defeated Yang Wei, it would only mean he was the dark horse of the tournament, something unexpected.
In past tournaments, such events were not uncommon, where an underestimated contestant suddenly shone.
Yet, typically, it took at least a few exchanges.
For Lin Yuan to defeat Yang Wei so swiftly left everyone questioning what had just happened.
"It turns out it's our contestant Lin Yuan."
The host, even after knowing who defeated Yang Wei, found himself briefly at a loss for words.
It was too unbelievable.
It was beyond comprehension.
"Our contestant Lin Yuan sure kept his abilities hidden well. It must have been with his domain power that he crushed contestant Yang Wei," the host explained after taking a deep breath and checking background data.
In the resting area of the tournament, Yang Wei, who had already been eliminated, understood the cause of his demise through the host's playback and explanation.
"This Lin Yuan..."
Yang Wei tightened his grip, "was hiding his strength all along."
After awakening his sixth-rank bloodline, a dedicated team approached him to analyze his competitors.
They concluded Yang Wei only needed to be wary of Thunder God and Fang Qing.
Yang Wei had even studied Lin Yuan's battle videos and felt he didn't need to take him seriously.
But what now?
With Yang Wei's elimination, more viewers switched to Lin Yuan's perspective—from tens of millions to billions.
Yang Wei alone had nearly 10 billion viewers.
Upon his elimination, these viewers naturally switched to Lin Yuan's perspective.
Even the male host began narrating from Lin Yuan's perspective.
"I must admit, contestant Lin Yuan's speed..."
Just as the male host was marveling, Lin Yuan was found approaching another evolver.
A buzzing sound filled the arena.
The new contestant was a woman with slightly curved eyebrows, her smile resembling a crescent moon.
Her name was Fan Yue.
Her gentle appearance belied her strength; she was fourth on the unofficial ranking list, right after Fang Qing, Thunder God, and Yang Wei.
But in the next moment, Fan Yue transformed into a blood mist, crushed into nothingness.
Lin Yuan swiftly caught the six blue crystals that fell from her.
Exclamations erupted again from the audience.
If Yang Wei's defeat left many clueless because they were focused on him without noticing Lin Yuan's move, Fan Yue's defeat was witnessed by many.
Summed up in two words: Overwhelming force.
It was as if an invisible force had crushed Fan Yue as soon as Lin Yuan closed within ten meters of her, seemingly turning her to dust under his power without her ever having a chance to struggle.
Next.
Under the watchful eyes of all viewers, a third, fourth, and fifth contestant were inexplicably crushed.
The audience found their screens naturally switching to Lin Yuan's perspective.
With each elimination, more switched to watching Lin Yuan.
After a brief silence, hundreds of billions in the audience erupted in excitement, bordering on madness.
"That's Lin Yuan?" "So powerful?" "Who the hell ranked Lin Yuan just ninth?"
Discussions raged as viewers speculated his true prowess.
In the history of the tournament, rarely had someone like Lin Yuan emerged, who easily crushed other contestants.
After all, a prerequisite for participating was to be under a hundred years old, at most showcasing initial third-rank strength.
Anyone stronger would have been poached by interstellar factions for galaxy-level tournaments.
Seated in the audience section, Bing Yan remarked, "It's maddening—I thought I could beat him."
He had also ranked among the top twenty evolvers this tournament and had battled Lin Yuan before.
Back then, Lin Yuan hadn’t exhibited today's terrifying prowess, making Bing Yan confident in his chances of winning.
In hindsight, his expectations were laughable.
"Wow, Brother Lin's this strong?"
Zong Bai, Cao Rong, and others stared wide-eyed.
President Liao, sitting beside them, wore an equally incredulous expression.
When sending the footage to other contestants, the President had thought Lin Yuan uninterested because he believed he couldn’t win.
In hindsight, Lin Yuan really wasn't interested because of his overwhelming strength.
On the island.
Thunder God was encased in a domain of purple lightning stretching across hundreds of meters.
He was moving swiftly in one direction, having collected fifteen blue crystals using his budding Lightning Domain.
"Huh?" Thunder God suddenly stopped, shocked as his Lightning Domain was instantly suppressed, shattering completely.
"You're… Lin Yuan?" Thunder God's pupils constricted as he noticed a figure appearing out of nowhere in the distance.
"That's me," Lin Yuan replied while observing Thunder God.
Unlike other evolvers, Thunder God's physique, transformed by lightning, was unique.
Lin Yuan was interested in studying it further.
Already at fourth-rank nine-section, Lin Yuan could quickly comprehend his opponents, especially those at the third-rank, by merely observing for a few moments.
Only Thunder God and Fang Qing required more scrutiny.
"You?" The anxiety in Thunder God's gaze was palpable.
Around Lin Yuan, a suppressive power loomed, far surpassing his Lightning Domain's embryonic form.
Instinctively, Thunder God realized Lin Yuan's power was overwhelming, beyond his capacity to resist.
Like a towering mountain opposed to an ordinary man, the thought of challenging Lin Yuan seemed laughable, like asking a child to duel a giant.
"I can take your attacks," Lin Yuan spoke, his eyes glinting with an inscrutable light.
"Attack you?" Thunder God's lips twitched.
Lin Yuan felt as towering as a mountain, while he was merely an ordinary person.
Facing a mountain, how could he attack? With what could he attack?
"No." "I am Thunder God."
"I can lose but not fear."
With a deep breath, Thunder God transformed.
His skin, flesh, organs, and bones instantly became purple lightning, his entire being turning into lightning.
Against other opponents, Thunder God rarely used this ability first.
But the pressure from Lin Yuan was immense, so immense he had to turn to his lightning form, or his will might shatter.
"Physical energy transformation?" Lin Yuan's eyes gleamed.
Such a rare ability, unique among the many evolvers he had encountered in the tournament.
Boom!
Thunder God charged at Lin Yuan, transformed into purple lightning.
Buzz! The lightning shattered when it was within ten meters of Lin Yuan, reforming into Thunder God immediately after as fine purple arcs coalesced.
"Impressive," Lin Yuan nodded.
"Again," Thunder God said, spitting blood and re-transforming into lightning.
This continued three times.
On the last transformation, Thunder God's physical form shattered, leading to his voluntary departure in front of Lin Yuan.
"So, his lightning transformation ability can only be used thrice in quick succession," Lin Yuan mused.
The experience allowed him to gain much insight as he collected the fallen blue crystals and went off in search of the next evolver.
"So strong."
"Lin Yuan, we love you!"
"Thunder God was strong, but next to Lin Yuan, he was like a child."
"Indeed. If Lin Yuan didn't find amusement in toying, the battle would have ended like it did with Yang Wei."
The audience buzzed with discussion.
Where earlier they debated which evolver was strongest, now the consensus was evident.
Lin Yuan stood unmatched.
Watchers couldn’t help but draw analogies, like a fierce father chastising his children.
"Huh? Why is it so quiet?" Fang Qing wondered aloud.
Behind him, a towering shadow of an 'Ancient God' loomed, sensing in all directions.
The ‘Ancient God’ phantom could precisely sense within two or three miles around Fang Qing, allowing him to perceive every subtlety.
Yet suddenly, Fang Qing noticed an eerie calm across the island, almost as if he was the only one active.
"What's happening?"
Puzzled, Fang Qing wondered but couldn't communicate with the outside during the competition.
Moments later, Fang Qing emerged in the resting area, his expression complex and tinged with fear.
Earlier, Lin Yuan found him.
What ensued was a relentless clash, despite Fang Qing's futile resistance and elegant 'Ancient God' evolution path.
Against Lin Yuan, it was complete suppression.
The strangest part was that Lin Yuan, capable of swiftly killing him, chose not to.
This confirmed Fang Qing's suspicion—Lin Yuan chose to 'play' with his opponents.
"You're all eliminated," Fang Qing noted, noticing not just himself, but Thunder God, Yang Wei, and other evolvers shared the space.
"That Lin Yuan..."
Yang Wei gritted his teeth, restraining words that painted Lin Yuan as a bully; remembering the tournament rules hinted Lin Yuan might not even be older than him.
Understanding dawned on Fang Qing as he absorbed the scene—everyone had been eliminated by Lin Yuan.
"You see," advised a palm-sized, white-bearded old man perched on Fang Qing's shoulder.
The elder was reviewing the match footage, disapproving of Fang Qing.
"Lin Yuan is surely fourth rank, beyond it, and masters an entire domain. He leaves your talent in the dust."
"Above fourth rank, nine sections?" Fang Qing shrunk back.
Even with his teacher's legacy and the intelligent life form's guidance, reaching fourth rank would take him a century.
Ninth section strength seemed impossibly far.
When all nine contestants were vanquished, Lin Yuan, the island's sole survivor, naturally became the ultimate victor.
Compared to previous tournaments, the twists this time were astounding.
Fang Qing, Thunder God, and Yang Wei, in any regular tournament, would have had clear paths to victory.
Yet this year, they converged, only to face a juggernaut like Lin Yuan, who swept away others effortlessly.
The tournament's anticipation waned into a unified interest: Lin Yuan's performance.
As for other evolvers, they merely set the stage, highlighting Lin Yuan's strength.
With the scoring tournament concluded, next was the battle stage.
Yet Fang Qing and the others, facing Lin Yuan, chose immediate surrender.
Why risk torment when defeat was the only outcome?
This left Lin Yuan a bit disappointed; he had hoped to explore more about lightning transformation and ancient divine evolution paths.
Days later, the personal tournament rankings were revealed.
Lin Yuan claimed first place, hailed as Azure Wave Star's champion.
With personal contests over, the tournament officials commenced reward distribution, beginning with the prize for being world number one.
"What are these?" Lin Yuan observed the reward list, a subtle change flickering across his face.
(End of Chapter)