Chapter 612: Chapter 373 Everything I Have Today_2
When the crowd saw the two experts greeting each other, they fell silent. The two stood opposite each other, their eyes locked as they waited for the other to make the first move. Neither of them wanted to take the first step in this battle, as they knew very little about each other’s abilities.
From the very beginning, Yan Xiaobao activated the Velocity Flow skill to ensure his speed wouldn’t fall behind the Black Lightning Cat’s. His eyes no longer held even a trace of amusement as they carefully observed every move the cat made.
Finally, Yan Xiaobao raised his hand, and a stream of Qi emerged from his fingers. However, this Qi seemed unusual—it wasn’t white like Qi normally should be. Instead, it was light blue, the same shade as a blue cloud.
Several gasps could be heard among the audience; even the Queen gasped audibly, while the ranked experts’ faces turned pale and their breathing grew labored. Witnessing the binding energy, terror filled the eyes of certain women, as they associated it with the terrifying cloud that had absorbed energy the previous day. Others glanced at these confused women, but their attention soon turned back to the arena as the energy lines multiplied. The lines appeared on each of Yan Xiaobao’s fingers, slithering forward like snakes, ready to strike at any moment. One after another, they flew toward the black cat, forcing it to rely on its agility to evade them. Though the cat couldn’t discern the exact nature of the blue Qi Lines, as the first one approached him, he felt his fur instantaneously stiffen.
Seeing his opponent evade every attack only made Yan Xiaobao chuckle. He began manipulating the surrounding threads again, never giving them a moment’s rest. He repeatedly attacked the beast in front of him. Despite the constant bombardment of blue Qi Lines, one might expect the cat to panic, but that never happened. The cat cleverly dodged every attack; even when the Qi Lines drew close, none came near enough to strike.
The speed of the Black Lightning Cat was indeed as swift as lightning, but Yan Xiaobao wasn’t the only one astonished. The cat was once one of the fastest creatures around, yet here it was, pushed to the limit by a youth who had just reached the rank of Eight-star King. Not only that, but as the blue lines progressively closed in, the cat could feel cold sweat forming on its back.
Yan Xiaobao knew this strategy wouldn’t work. With an almost imperceptible movement, he deftly wove the ten blue Qi Lines back toward himself, interlacing them to create a net. At this point, the threads detached from his hands, forming a complete network. Now, Yan Xiaobao held the net in one hand, invoking an ability he had learned from a monk. This net, however, wasn’t as simple as it appeared.
The two experts once again stood opposite each other, neither making a move, both waiting for the other to take action first. The one to act prematurely might lose. Noticing the stalemate, Yan Xiaobao took a deep breath. With sharp eyes fixed on the man before him, it suddenly seemed as though the white-haired youth had shot forward like an arrow. He held the net tightly in his hands, yet he hadn’t released it, continuing his charge toward the Black Lightning Cat. The moment the cat noticed this sudden movement, its pupils narrowed. Despite knowing it needed to be cautious of the net in Yan Xiaobao’s hand, hesitation lingered. As the cat distanced itself from Yan Xiaobao, it realized that the burst of speed the youth displayed far exceeded its expectations.
Seeing the cat retreat, a smile appeared on Yan Xiaobao’s face. The fleeting moment of uncertainty visible on the cat’s face was enough for Yan Xiaobao to proceed with his planned attack.
The arena was enormous, capable of hosting battles between more than five pairs of experts simultaneously. This gave the cat enough room to travel a long distance before it realized a mistake had been made.
For a creature as swift and agile as the cat, retreat should’ve been an easy task. However, in its semi-humanoid form, moving backward on two legs was undeniably slower than the young man charging toward it. As Yan Xiaobao advanced, his appearance began to change. Red fur sprouted on his skin, while razor-sharp claws emerged on his hands, transforming his face into that of a wolf—a visage that could shred almost anything.
Witnessing this transformation, the cat finally grasped the gravity of the situation. Despite its opponent being a newcomer to the Eight-star rank who had achieved rapid advancement within just a few days, the youth was far stronger than expected.
As he transformed into a wolf, his already impressive speed surged even higher, leaving the cat with barely enough time to register the surrounding flashes of red. These flashes were accompanied by blurs of blue energy, bringing with them an eerie chill that clawed at the cat’s skin.
The blue flashes blinded numerous observers and vanished as quickly as they arrived. The only thing left standing was Yan Xiaobao, who had returned to his human form, alongside a cat collapsed on the arena floor. The cat sat there gazing at Yan Xiaobao, its eyes wide in shock and its heart pounding out of rhythm.
"How did you do that?" it asked in astonishment, realizing it could no longer access any of its internal energy—all of it was completely sealed. Upon probing its beast core with its consciousness, the cat found a blue net encasing it, entirely locking its internal energy.
The cat was utterly stunned, realizing that its energy was now sealed by the white-haired youth. No matter how hard it tried to forcefully draw on its power, everything dispersed into the net, as if the energy was absorbed before it could leave the core. Knowing this, the cat became overwhelmed with fear—not only worried about how long it would remain energyless, but even more afraid that a being capable of completely sealing another expert’s cultivation base had appeared, rendering a cultivator no better than an ordinary mortal.
"Let me help you," Yan Xiaobao said with a smile after seeing the shock on the cat’s face. He understood what his ability was meant to do but had never expected it to be this powerful. Sealing someone else’s cultivation base entirely excited him beyond measure.
The ability was the fusion of blue cloud energy and Qi—one of the most fundamental energies. However, these strands of Qi possessed the ability to seal any expert’s power. Experts stronger than Yan Xiaobao could break the net or Qi threads, but anyone weaker, or of similar strength, would remain trapped within it.
Yan Xiaobao extended his hand and touched the cat’s leg. The net slowly dissipated, shrinking into Xiao Qi’s Qi Lines. These Qi Lines flowed back into the cat’s meridians, leaving Yan Xiaobao’s hands in their wake.
The entire audience fell silent. All they had seen was the blue net touching the cat. Known as one of the strongest Eight-star Kings in the army, the cat’s speed was legendary, and its attacks were ferocious. Yet, for some reason, the cat had retreated. It appeared to struggle with all its strength to escape the blue energy. As observers, no one was close enough to truly sense the danger the cat had felt. All they saw was the cat retreating until a sudden flash occurred. Afterward, the expert they initially believed would win was slumped on the ground. As for what had happened, nobody knew. Nobody understood the nature of the attack. Seeing the cat nod at Yan Xiaobao, a surprised yet humble expression emerged on its face. "The Great Marshall absolutely deserves his rank," it said respectfully. Only now did it realize this expert carried many secrets unknown to anyone else.
The emperors looked on with furrowed brows. Usually, they could perceive the attacks of lower-ranked experts, but even they couldn’t see through this particular assault. Only the one being attacked could fully comprehend what had happened. The cat was tightly bound and understood that attacks like this were most effective when coupled with an element of surprise.
"Master," suddenly, a voice emerged from the crowd as another Eight-star expert stepped forward. "Master, I would like to attempt to face your attack." "Master, I wish to receive your strike!" The entire arena resounded with a chorus as the cat and Yan Xiaobao turned their attention toward the speaker. The speaker was a tall Horned Eagle, evidently one of the beasts from the Wanqiao Army. It appeared to be of the same rank as Yan Xiaobao and the previous opponent.
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