Chapter 552: Who's Faster

The clash between the Eldest Princess and Lan Lan escalated into a white-hot confrontation at a speed beyond everyone's imagination. The two had already fought before, so there was no probing whatsoever now—every strike was a lethal move, utterly merciless.

"High-rank Dragon General Art, Blue Luan Sword Art."

The Eldest Princess was the first to unleash her strongest killing move. In her commanding cry, azure light swept across the heavens and earth, and faintly, a thousand-zhang massive Blue Luan seemed to take form. As the Blue Luan spread its wings, nine streaks of azure feather-light shook loose and fell.

The nine streaks of azure light transformed in an instant into nine sword-lights. Each sword-light radiated an overwhelming sharpness and a bone-chilling aura, and with every rotation, the void was torn apart.

Among the mountain ranges, some of the prying gazes felt a stinging pain.

The Eldest Princess's strength truly could not be overlooked—even among the many four-star academy students in the Holy Grail War, she was absolutely among the very top tier.

Lan Lan likewise did not underestimate the Eldest Princess. Seeing the other party bring out such a trump card, his expression also grew much more solemn. His hands formed seals at lightning speed, leaving afterimages one after another.

Behind him, that blurry, enormous mysterious shadow began to grow increasingly distinct.

"Blue Luan Sword Lotus!"

The Eldest Princess's phoenix eyes were icy. At the tip of the jade-green scepter in her hand, an azure rune flew out. The rune spun, and then the nine azure sword-lights were drawn to it. Centered on the rune, in an instant they formed a slowly rotating azure sword lotus.

This azure sword lotus released terrifying power. As it spun, it seemed to swallow all the energy of this stretch of heaven and earth, and wherever it was, the void kept splitting apart.

The next instant, the azure sword lotus pierced straight through the void, shooting toward where Lan Lan stood.

The azure sword lotus was extremely fast—in a single flash, it seemed to collide with Lan Lan's figure.

The gazes from within the mountain forest also looked on tensely.

Boom!

At the instant of impact, ten thousand streaks of azure sword-light swept outward. The ground was instantly torn open with countless deep holes, and the mid-air where Lan Lan stood showed signs of a void collapse.

Azure sword-light blotted out half the sky.

The Eldest Princess's phoenix eyes also stared coldly at the collapsing void. After roughly a dozen breaths, her expression suddenly shifted slightly.

Because as the void healed, a sudden wave of unfathomable power swept out from where Lan Lan stood. That power was as mysterious and vast as an abyss, and wherever it passed, the sky-filling azure sword-light scattered one after another.

In a brief moment, the sword-light transformed from the azure sword lotus was completely neutralized, and Lan Lan's figure stood in mid-air.

Behind him, that enormous mysterious shadow had already fully revealed itself.

A heaven-shaking might radiated outward in its wake.

The prying gazes within the mountain forest also became filled with wariness.

Lan Lan's Ming Wang Sutra had finally been successfully unleashed.

"Senior Gong, Lan Lan has already unleashed the Ming Wang Sutra. If we don't step in to help now, the Eldest Princess will probably be eliminated!" Duze Duze Honglian's expression also turned solemn and tense at this moment, and she couldn't help but speak again.

Gong Shengjun's expression was stern as he stared at the field. "I told you, once I make a move, the situation will become even more troublesome. Rather than counting on me now, it's better to hope that Senior Jiang can capture Lu Lu Jinci before Lan Lan makes his move, and use that as leverage."

Hearing this, Duze Duze Honglian's gaze couldn't help but follow many other gazes toward Jiang Jiang Qinge's side.

Bang!

Lu Lu Jinci's figure was grazed by a light-phase power attack at this moment, and his body immediately flew backward as if struck heavily, directly smashing a giant rock by the road into pieces.

But he paid no attention to his injuries at all. His palm pressed against the ground, phase power erupted, and his body turned into streaks of afterimages as he continued to flee.

The moment his figure moved, a beam of light descended from the sky, viciously stabbing into the spot where he had just been.

Lu Lu Jinci glanced sideways. Within that beam of light was a Demon-Sealing Nail burning with light-phase flames. Back in the previous academy-level tournament, Lu Lu Jinci had suffered greatly from this thing, so he knew that once he was nailed by it, the phase power within his body would be gradually sealed.

Having phase power sealed under these circumstances—even if only partially—would be enough to decide the victor.

"Senior Lan, move quickly, I can't hold on!" Lu Lu Jinci, drenched in cold sweat, hurriedly roared.

Lan Lan also heard Lu Lu Jinci's voice and immediately understood the situation was urgent, so his expression also turned cold and fierce. His gaze locked onto the Eldest Princess, and he said indifferently, "Since you still refuse to retreat, then you can't blame me."

His hand seals shifted, and the enormous mysterious shadow behind him began to move.

A terrifying pressure descended from the sky, enveloping the Eldest Princess.

The Eldest Princess's delicate frame sank. Under that pressure, even she couldn't help but feel a trace of fear, but she did not concede. Instead, she clenched her silver teeth, gripped the jade-green scepter, and pushed her own phase power to the limit.

The seven heavenly beads behind her also erupted with extremely resplendent radiance at this moment.

Clearly, she intended to fight the opponent to the very end.

Although the Eldest Princess was a woman, at this critical moment her ferocity was—

—even stronger by several degrees than an ordinary man.

Lan Lan took a deep breath, no longer hesitating. The enormous figure rippled with layers of waves, and the energy between heaven and earth also began to churn wildly at this moment.

But just at the instant he was about to urge the Ming Wang shadow to bow down, a voice suddenly rang out: "Senior Lan, please hold on for a moment. I have someone here!"

This voice came too suddenly—even Lan Lan was stunned for a moment. His gaze followed the voice, and then his pupils sharply contracted.

He saw, among the scattered rocks in the distance, Li Luo standing tall. At this moment, he held the Profound Elephant Blade in his hand, and the blade rested against the chest of Jing Jing Taixu, who was kneeling on the ground before him. There, a Spirit Mirror hung.

This scene, even with Lan Lan's composure, caused a momentary lapse in focus.

Jing Jing Taixu… had actually lost?

And lost to Li Luo this quickly?!

How could this be? In the previous academy-level tournament, although Li Luo had defeated Jing Jing Taixu, it had been a mutual loss where he only narrowly won by a fraction. Yet now, Li Luo didn't look like he had been through a bitter fight at all.

Then how did he win?!

Lan Lan looked at Jing Jing Taixu. The latter was also deathly pale, his gaze somewhat dazed.

Among the mountain forest, some exclamations rang out.

Clearly, they had all witnessed Li Luo's sudden victory here.

They actually all understood that Li Luo and Jing Jing Taixu were evenly matched in strength, and that deciding a victor would require a bitter fight. So at the start, they hadn't paid any attention to the two of them at all—all their focus was on the Eldest Princess, Lan Lan, and Jiang Jiang Qinge and Lu Lu Jinci.

But who could have expected that, before Jiang Jiang Qinge had managed to capture Lu Lu Jinci, Li Luo had already ended the battle here.

Moreover, he had forced Lan Lan to stop just before he unleashed his ultimate move.

Duze Duze Honglian and the others in the mountain forest also saw the situation here, and immediately a look of shock couldn't help but appear on her cheeks. Beside her, Senior Zhu Zhu Xuan's eyes widened even more, his face full of disbelief.

"How could he defeat Jing Jing Taixu so quickly?" Senior Zhu Zhu Xuan couldn't help but say.

Duze Duze Honglian, however, breathed a sigh of relief. Although she also didn't understand exactly how Li Luo had done it, now that Li Luo had captured Jing Jing Taixu first, if Lan Lan still wanted to act, he would have to consider the gains and losses of points.

Beside him, the heroic face of Gong Gong Shenjun also showed a flash of surprise at this moment. He stared intently at Li Luo's figure, then revealed a smile.

"Our Junior Brother Li Luo really does surprise us time and again."