Chapter 528 - 231: The Grand Examination Concludes, National Top Scorer

Everyone subconsciously glanced at the other split screens that were still lit up.

As they looked, they realized that at some point, the split screen belonging to Xia Lianxue had also silently gone dark.

The battle was over.

The outcome was undeniable: she had lost.

The exceptionally brilliant girl from Yanjing had ultimately failed to defeat the veteran instructor at the Mid-stage of Divine Realm.

Meanwhile, Dongfang Zhen’s screen was, surprisingly, still on.

Just then, the aide behind Zhu Mingyi, who was responsible for data synchronization, suddenly let out a low gasp, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Chief! A message just came in from the proctoring team. Dongfang Zhen, another candidate sent by Ninghai, had a breakthrough mid-battle..."

"Just now, he broke through from Gang Condensation Perfection to the Early Stage of Divine Intent!"

At these words, Zhu Mingyi and the other two in the main seats were all taken aback.

They snapped their heads up, their gazes locking onto Dongfang Zhen’s split screen.

On the screen, Dongfang Zhen’s originally dimming Thunder Monarch Dharma Aspect suddenly erupted with a brilliant flash of lightning!

The Dharma Aspect’s silhouette instantly solidified. Its features grew more majestic, and its eyes, formed of pure lightning, seemed to hold true consciousness!

A brand-new aura, far surpassing the Gang Condensation Realm, was surging and climbing within him!

He really had broken through!

It was clear that his Dharma Aspect had begun its initial fusion with his Primordial Spirit!

Standing in the back, Li Kai Nian was completely dumbfounded.

He stood there, jaw agape, ecstatic.

’I never would have thought... there’s more than one surprise!’

The dark horse Lin Ye had already brought him immense prestige. And now, another genius from Ninghai Province had achieved a breakthrough mid-battle during the final test of the national exam!

’What incredible luck!’

Zhu Mingyi slowly turned his head, his gaze falling upon Li Kai Nian as he asked with great interest,

"This Dongfang Zhen, he’s from Ninghai as well?"

Li Kai Nian jolted and quickly stepped forward. Suppressing his excitement, he answered respectfully,

"Yes, Chief! Dongfang Zhen is the eldest son of a top-tier martial arts family in Ninghai Province, the Dongfang Family. His Martial Arts Spirituality is the S-rank Purple Thunder Monarch, and he has always been one of the top geniuses in our province!"

Zhu Mingyi nodded slowly and said no more, but his appreciative expression showed that his opinion of Ninghai’s candidates had risen yet another notch.

A breakthrough in the heat of battle required not just talent, but also a demonstration of one’s temperament and willpower.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Dongfang Zhen’s split screen also officially went dark.

The gap between a Martial Artist who had just stepped into the Divine Realm and an elite veteran who had been immersed in the Mid-stage of Divine Realm for years, with immense combat experience, was still a vast chasm.

But it was a glorious defeat!

At this point, every screen inside the massive venue had gone dark.

The only battle still raging was on the main screen that dominated the center of everyone’s vision.

Only the match between Lin Ye and Zhou Ke remained!

No one could have expected it.

Even after using his last resort, Zhou Ke was still locked in a bitter struggle with Lin Ye.

No...

Actually, it seemed that aside from some depletion of his Spiritual Power from maintaining the gravity suppression earlier, in all other aspects, his condition was far better than Zhou Ke’s.

"Lin Ye will win."

Just then, Yi Jiugao suddenly spoke, offering his final judgment.

He Zhenghong was stunned to hear this.

He admitted that Zhou Ke’s current situation looked dire, left in a wretched state by that bizarre acid.

But it was still too early to say the match was decided.

After all, Lin Ye’s own exertion was by no means small.

As if reading his mind, Yi Jiugao added, "That kid still has a few trump cards he hasn’t played."

"That’s my gut feeling."

"But do you remember that bizarre Damage Transfer, or even damage reflection, ability he showed during the endurance test? He hasn’t used that yet either."

"And with this acid ability that can directly harm the Primordial Spirit, he could simply cover himself with it. If he did that, he would be invincible."

His words were a sudden wake-up call!

The expressions on He Zhenghong and Zhu Mingyi’s faces instantly became a sight to behold.

That’s right!

During the endurance test, Lin Ye had withstood an attack from a Celestial Human Realm expert without a scratch. He still hadn’t used that nearly unstoppable ability of the Curse Bone Race!

Just then, the battle in the arena finally began to draw to a close.

Lin Ye felt it was time for this sparring match to end.

「Inside the battlefield.」

Zhou Ke suddenly felt a wave of Soul Power, no weaker than the one he’d unleashed by burning his own Primordial Spirit, erupt from Lin Ye’s body!

He stumbled back several steps, his expression shifting drastically!

At that moment, under the stunned gazes of everyone in the observation hall, Lin Ye’s figure once again began to slowly levitate.

This time, however, it wasn’t the invisible force of gravity that lifted him.

It was... Telekinesis!

A power formed purely from Spirit!

At the same time, a phantom image slowly materialized behind Lin Ye!

The phantom wore a wide, pitch-black robe, its face obscured by a hood. Nothing could be seen clearly, save for two points of ethereal soulfire flickering in the darkness.

The next moment, a sky full of black soulfire suddenly blazed forth from the phantom’s body!

The temperature of the entire virtual battlefield seemed to plummet to freezing in an instant!

Lin Ye extended a finger.

At the same moment, the massive, mysterious phantom behind him slowly raised its right arm, which was nothing but bare, grim bone.