Chapter 884: 8th Rank Challenge Board? No Problem!

Ziziziz~~~

On the arena, a pitch-black SSS-grade Chaotic Divine Thunder danced across Xu Jingming's battle suit.

He had not entered Thunder Extreme State or Thunder Storm State.

Yet even so, the astonishing aura naturally radiating from him plunged the entire stadium into stunned silence.

"Master Zongshi? He's a Master Zongshi?"

"When did he break through? I swear he was only mid-7th Rank a few months ago!"

"Hah! I knew it—Lei Di would never let me down!"

"......"

Hundreds of millions of spectators were swept into wild jubilation.

Young girls who idolized Xu Jingming flushed crimson with excitement, screaming his title name frantically.

"8th Rank?"

In the VIP lounge, Meng Yu's expression turned stunned.

Before the battle began, she had anticipated Xu Jingming would be strong—perhaps even forcing her brother Meng Ke into a grueling struggle.

But she never imagined he had already broken through the 7th Rank and attained the 8th Rank Master Zongshi status!

Beside her, Green, who had been meditating with closed eyes, slowly opened them and gazed at Xu Jingming on the arena.

His previously impassive, tranquil expression finally showed a faint ripple upon sensing that formidable aura.

But only that much...

"Meng Ke will lose this match. Inform the teachers."

After uttering those words, Green closed his eyes again.

"Will lose..."

Meng Yu clenched her pearl-white teeth against her red lips, her beautiful eyes filled with unwillingness.

Their goal was to maintain an unbroken winning streak and complete the High Priest's task.

But she knew the gap between 7th and 8th Rank was like a chasm between heaven and earth.

Both possessed SSS-grade abilities; no matter how powerful their combat techniques, they could not bridge this abyss.

"Understood. I'll notify them right away."

Taking a deep breath, Meng Yu sent messages to all three of her teachers...

"If you've already broken through to the 8th Rank, why choose the 7th Rank Challenge Board?"

In mid-air above the arena,

Meng Ke's dragon-like face had lost its earlier arrogance; instead, it was now grim and dark.

"I didn't choose you—you chose me."

Xu Jingming's voice was steady and powerful, "Besides, didn't you just say yourself?

Anyone younger than you can challenge you.

I'm 21 this year—surely I'm not older than you, the 26-year-old prodigy?"

He deliberately stressed the word "prodigy."

Anyone could hear the sarcasm—Meng Ke included.

"You!"

Meng Ke's once-handsome face instantly turned liver-colored.

He never imagined his own words from a minute ago would now rebound like a boomerang straight to his face.

Worse—he had no way to refute them!

"Lei Di is right!"

"Exactly! You chose this yourself—even as an 8th Rank, you must keep fighting!"

"Phew, that's satisfying—only Lei Di can do this."

"......"

In contrast to Meng Ke's fury, the audience erupted in cheers.

There was no way around it—24 top warriors from various nations had all fallen to Meng Ke.

It was too frustrating!

Now that they finally saw a glimmer of victory, they had to vent it all.

"Since the challenge is valid, let's continue the battle."

Xu Jingming's gaze sharpened; he clenched his right hand in midair.

Crackling—

Endless black thunder surged toward his palm, coalescing in an instant into a pitch-black Thunder Spear!

The spear crackled with lightning, as if Xu Jingming had seized a bolt of lightning in his hand.

The violent aura it emitted caused Meng Ke's face to darken even from thousands of meters away.

Such immense energy!

Can't take it head-on!

"Dragon Scale Blood Armor!"

Without hesitation, he activated his strongest SSS-grade defensive technique.

A massive crimson dragon-shaped shadow enveloped his body.

Then he beat his wings, transforming into a black phantom as he shot off in another direction!

His flight speed was astonishing—already at supersonic levels!

In the blink of an eye, he flew over a hundred meters!

But at that moment, Xu Jingming on the ground moved.

He twisted his waist, using it to drive his entire right arm forward and hurled with sudden force!

Boom!!

A piercing sonic boom rang out as the Lei Mao shot forth like lightning.

The audience couldn't react in time—they saw only a flash of black light, then the Lei Mao struck Meng Ke directly and exploded with a thunderous crash!

Boom-rumble!!

Violent black thunder splashed outward, instantly shredding the Dragon Scale Blood Armor and swallowing Meng Ke's massive form whole!

Electric arcs shrieked, thunder roared!

Meng Ke didn't even scream—he was obliterated on the spot!

"Contestant Meng Ke dead. Winner of this match: Xu Jingming!"

The victory alert echoed throughout the stadium, followed immediately by a roar of shock from the crowd.

"That technique just now—wasn't it the Level-A Lightning technique 'Lei Mao'?"

"Correct, it's definitely a Level-A technique."

"Meng Ke's Blood Armor was an SSS-level technique! Even a Level-A eighth-rank peak warrior couldn't break it back then—how did Lei Mao just erase it?"

"Terrifying. Extremely terrifying."

"......"

An eighth-rank defeating a seventh-rank—Xu Jingming's victory was expected by everyone.

But no one imagined it would be this easy!

"This..."

In the VIP lounge, Meng Yu also looked stunned.

Unlike ordinary spectators, she knew full well the defensive power of that Dragon Scale Blood Armor.

It could withstand a full-force strike from a lower-tier ninth-rank Martial Saint before shattering!

Yet now it was crushed by a Level-A technique.

Even accounting for the rank gap, this power was absurdly excessive.

Moreover, according to the data they had gathered:

Xu Jingming possessed two other enhancement forms that drastically boosted his strength.

If his normal form was this strong, how terrifying would he be when activated?

And yet...

Wasn't the SS-level Doushen Shenlei supposed to be golden? Why was it black?

As she pondered this, Meng Ke was teleported back into the virtual world.

"Brother, are you okay? Just now..."

Seeing Meng Ke's grim expression, Meng Yu hurried forward with her long legs.

But before she could finish, Meng Ke stepped forward and smashed straight through the VIP lounge's floor-to-ceiling window.

His wings unfurled behind him as he hovered in midair, shouting at Xu Jingming still on the arena:

"Xu Jingming, I refuse to accept this! You're only stronger because your rank is higher—if we were equal, you wouldn't beat me!"

The virtual world perfectly simulated reality; for a seventh-rank peak like him, shattering a floor-to-ceiling window was trivial.

At that moment, his booming voice echoed throughout the entire stadium, drawing everyone's attention again.

"Heh, can't handle losing, huh? You set the rules—you've got to accept them!"

"Pathetic. Even a Lei Di at the same rank would crush you!"

"Pathetic Fire God Temple—thought it was so elite, turns out it can't even handle defeat!"

"......"

Meng Ke's remarks naturally drew unified mockery from audiences across nations, in their respective languages.

But Meng Ke's mind was clouded by his crushing defeat—he stared fixedly at Xu Jingming on the arena and continued:

"By rank, you shouldn't have fought me at all!

If you've got guts, challenge the eighth-rank challenge leaderboard!

Only then, if you actually win, will I truly respect you!"

Xu Jingming was only a lower-tier eighth-rank, while Green was a mid-tier eighth-rank!

A single rank difference was enough to crush a genius like them!

He was certain Xu Jingming would never dare challenge the eighth-rank leaderboard!

Thinking this, Meng Ke's face once again wore his familiar smugness and arrogance.

Though he'd relied on his elder brother's influence, at least he'd forced Xu Jingming to back down—somewhat washing away the shame of his crushing defeat.

Just as he thought this, a cold, indifferent voice came from below, from the arena:

"Eighth-rank challenge leaderboard? Fine. I accept."