Chapter 199: Shattering the Weak!

Chapter 199: Shattering the Weak!

But the moment he lowered his hood, everyone involuntarily gasped in shock.

The youth's eyes—no, they could no longer be called eyes.

Two swirling pools of crimson-gold flame burned within his sockets, illuminating his softly contoured face, yet rendering his entire appearance eerie and terrifying, like a Demon risen from the Abyss.

Those eyes brimmed with a sinister, unsettling aura, as if something alien to this world was peering through them at the gathered crowd.

Clone Luo En's aura clashed starkly with his handsome exterior—a tangible, suffocating pressure that made the surrounding air feel leaden.

It felt like a predatory beast stalking its prey, poised to strike at any moment.

"Everyone, watch out!" Elliot barked. "This isn't an ordinary clone!"

"Hmph, just another Potion Master's clone. Let's see how strong it really is!"

Ignoring Elliot's warning, Caesar roared, his right arm swelling further, now covered in thicker crimson scales, as he charged at Clone Luo En.

"Caesar, stop!" Elliot shouted, but it was too late.

Caesar's fist, roaring with rampageous force, lashed out sideways toward Clone Luo En's head.

A single blow like this could crush an ordinary opponent's skull to fragments.

Yet Clone Luo En didn't even glance back. He merely sidestepped slightly, lifting his left hand in an almost casual gesture.

"Clang!"

A sharp metallic impact rang out.

Caesar's punch was halted by a flowing, metal-like barrier—thin as a cicada's wing, shimmering faintly with silver light.

The barrier materialized precisely along the punch's trajectory, dispersing the impact force with flawless precision.

For a moment, time seemed to freeze.

Caesar's fist hung midair, his smug grin hardening into stunned disbelief.

Clone Luo En's right hand traced an odd rune across his chest before pushing forward toward Caesar.

——Sound Wave Oscillation Erosion State

Invisible ripples radiated from his palm, carrying chilling whispers that struck their target like a death knell.

Caesar had no chance to evade. His entire body spasmed as if struck by lightning.

Black specks erupted across his skin, as though corroded by an invisible force.

"Aaargh!"

He screamed, his body hurtling backward uncontrollably for over ten meters before crashing heavily to the ground, convulsing violently, black foam spilling from his mouth.

"Caesar!" Nolen cried, his threads shooting out to drag his comrade to safety.

"Don't go near him!" Elliot snapped:

"That force isn't a normal spell attack—it carries a sinister, corrosive nature!"

At that moment, Clone Luo En raised his hand again, this time not toward any Crystal Spire apprentice…

But directly locking onto Lina, the core sustaining Crystal Spire's spirit link within their defensive circle.

Invisible ripples surged from his palm, wrapped in bone-chilling whispers, homing in on Lina.

The barely audible words seemed to originate from the depths of some distant star, each syllable capable of tearing a soul apart.

Compared to Elliot's "Star Whisperer", this direct application of Whispering was vastly superior—like comparing a candle's flicker to the sun.

This was raw, unweakened power, drawn straight from the universe's deepest darkness.

Lina had no time to react. Her body burned as if submerged in sulfuric acid, black specks erupting across her skin. Black liquid seeped from her eyes, ears, and nose.

Her mouth opened in a silent scream, only a weak, agonized whimper escaping—a sound saturated with pain and terror.

Even worse, through the spirit link, this corrosive effect instantly spread to every connected teammate.

Caesar, Jaclyn, Nolen—all collapsed, writhing and screaming, their bodies speckled with identical black lesions.

Their bodies convulsed uncontrollably, black tears streaming from their eyes, dark foam bubbling from their lips.

Most horrifying was Caesar—double-corroded, his entire body liquefied like black water.

Such complete annihilation of both soul and flesh couldn't even be reversed by Valen himself…

In an instant, bloodcurdling screams and groans filled the platform.

Crystal Spire's elite squad was nearly wiped out in a single blow from Clone Luo En.

Those geniuses, moments ago brimming with combat prowess, now lay like shattered dolls, utterly helpless.

Only Elliot, who severed his spirit link in time, escaped unscathed. Yet seeing his comrades' plight, despair clawed at his heart.

He couldn't believe a single spell had wrought such devastation.

The golden-haired youth wanted to rush forward to save Lina, but his legs instinctively recoiled.

Oppressive pressure bore down on his chest like a mountain, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

This was primal fear rooted in his very soul—an instinct screaming for him to flee from this terrifying existence.

Clone Luo En spared not a glance at the apprentices littering the ground, treating them as mere ants by the roadside.

His gaze locked onto the clones still resisting, though weakened.

What followed made Elliot's blood run cold.

Clone Luo En moved like a phantom across the battlefield—every step precise, every strike lethal, with no wasted motion.

His expression remained blank, as if performing routine maintenance rather than reaping lives.

He reached Holt's clone, who desperately tried to activate an Earth Elemental Golem defense.

The golem's fist had barely lifted when Luo En appeared before Holt's clone.

A single, clean hand-chop.

Holt's clone's neck snapped midair, his head twisting at an unnatural angle, the light in his eyes extinguishing instantly.

The once-fearsome Earth Elemental Golem crumbled into rubble, scattering like dust.

Clone Luo En didn't pause, already turning toward Cui Xi's clone.

She poured every ounce of power into summoning vines—dozens as thick as a child's arm, interweaving into an impenetrable green wall around her.

The vines glowed purple, infused with Abyss mana, far tougher and deadlier than those Caesar faced earlier.

Yet these formidable vines, nearly indestructible against Caesar, were as fragile as paper before Clone Luo En.

His hand pierced through the layers effortlessly, as if they didn't exist, slamming into Cui Xi's clone's chest.

No flashy spells, no complex moves—just the simplest, most direct strike.

"Ugh!"

A choked sound escaped her lips as blood erupted from her mouth.

Her body flew several meters, crashing against a wall before sliding down, lifeless.

Her eyes remained wide open, frozen in extreme terror, as if witnessing some incomprehensible horror in her final moments.

Clone Luo En's movements never faltered, already advancing to the next target.

Each strike delivered instant death—efficient, precise, with no unnecessary flourishes.

Within dozens of seconds, every clone lay vanquished, dissolving into motes of light that dissipated into the air.

All the light particles were devoured by Luo En himself.

Elliot stood frozen at a distance, his clothes soaked in cold sweat.

Though Clone Luo En moved with lightning speed, Elliot's keen ears caught disturbing details:

When Clone Luo En absorbed the mana from other clones, his body trembled slightly, as if enduring some painful baptism.

Stranger still, Elliot glimpsed something in those crimson-gold flame-filled eyes…

Yes—fear. A bone-deep, visceral fear.

This terrifying being who had obliterated all opponents… was afraid of something.

As Elliot listened closely, he noticed irregularity in Clone Luo En's breathing rhythm.

After each mana absorption, the clone's eyes involuntarily flickered toward the platform's entrance, as if vigilant for some approaching presence.

"He's afraid… afraid of what?"

A terrible thought struck Elliot:

"Could he be fearing the real Luo En?"

The realization sent ice down his spine.

If even this monstrous clone feared its original, what kind of monster was the true Luo En?

After absorbing all clone mana, Clone Luo En slowly turned, those crimson-gold eyes sweeping the battlefield before settling on Elliot.

"Hearer of Winds." His voice was unexpectedly soft, yet carried an indescribable authority:

"Your ears truly live up to their reputation."

Elliot's entire body tensed.

This clone not only knew his nickname but seemingly understood the essence of his innate talent—a level of awareness far beyond ordinary clones.

He suppressed the storm of emotions within, observing Clone Luo En with cold calculation.

Though the clone displayed near-omnipotent Mage-tier power, Elliot keenly detected instability in its mana fluctuations, as if this strength was borrowed, not truly its own.

“What exactly are you?” Elliot finally demanded, his voice trembling but still clinging to a thread of rationality.

Clone chuckled faintly. “What I am doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I’ll soon have a ‘guest.’”

His gaze shifted toward a direction on the platform, as if anticipating something’s arrival.

That wave of fear and unbearable tension surged through him again, even more intense than before.

………………

Meanwhile, on an open ground outside the Bloodline Altar, two figures stood locked in confrontation.

One was Valen, clad in Crystal Spire’s signature robes. The oppressive aura of a Dusk Sun Rank mage silently radiated, thickening the air around him.

The other was a woman of surreal beauty, her pink hair cascading like a waterfall to her waist, her emerald eyes blazing with resolve.

Though she appeared no older than twenty, her presence brimmed with vitality—a stark contrast to the aged, frail image Madame Ellen usually projected.

“How many years has it been, Ai Lun? Eighty? A hundred?”

Valen’s voice remained calm, though his eyes flickered with complexity.

“The last time I saw you like this… was during the final Ascension Struggle at Crystal Spire.”

“Eleven hundred and seventeen years, four months.”

Madame Ellen replied coldly. “Ever since you stole from me the Dusk Sun Ascension qualification I deserved.”

Valen shook his head. “You know it wasn’t theft. It was the result of fair competition.”

“Fair?” Madame Ellen scoffed. “If I had been willing to sign that Soul Contract, binding my entire life to Crystal Spire’s war machine like you did, do you think I’d have lost to you?”

The mana fluctuations in the air grew tauter, the atmosphere between them like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

“That’s the responsibility every Ascender must bear, Ai Lun.”

Valen sighed. “After all these years, you’re still so stubborn. Crystal Spire nurtured us, provided resources and knowledge—we naturally owe it our return.”

“Return?” A flash of mockery crossed Madame Ellen’s eyes. “Or become puppets? You and I both know the elders behind those families have grown increasingly excessive. It’s not just Soul Contracts anymore—mandatory marriages, bloodline breeding duties, even Memory Branding! This isn’t gratitude—it’s slavery!”

Valen fell silent for a moment, clearly unable to refute her words.

“Regardless, you shouldn’t have left the Herbal Medicine Shop without permission.”

He finally spoke. “You know the rules. Without the upper echelons’ approval, you’re forbidden from leaving designated areas.”

“I was simply fulfilling a teacher’s duty to aid my disciple.” Madame Ellen refused to yield.

“Don’t play dumb, Ai Lun.” Valen frowned. “Surely you’re not trying to sneak away during the Bloodline Altar’s chaos?”

Madame Ellen stiffened, clearly taken aback by Valen’s assumption.

A flicker of calculation crossed her eyes as she countered, “If you were imprisoned for over a century, wouldn’t you try every means to escape?”

“This isn’t imprisonment—it’s for your own good.” Valen replied helplessly. “You know how severe your injuries were back then. Without the Potion Master Association’s Grandmaster intervening, you might have—”

“Might have what? Died?” Madame Ellen’s voice turned icy. “I’d rather have died then than live like this—trapped in this corner of Black Mist Jungle, treated as a harmless old crone!”

Her emotions flared, the air temperature around her spiking sharply.

A surge of mana erupted from her body, trembling the ground beneath.

“Calm down, Ai Lun.”

Valen stepped back cautiously, his right hand already resting on an alchemy device at his waist. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Of course you don’t.” Madame Ellen spat. “Because you know even a Dusk Sun Rank mage can’t guarantee victory against a Moonlight Rank pushed to the brink—especially when that Moonlight Rank is a potion master.”

With that, she withdrew an exquisite crystal vial from within her robe, its contents shimmering with a rainbow glow.

Valen’s pupils constricted. “No… that’s the ‘Seven-Color Star Dew’ from the Forbidden List? How did you get that?”

“A hundred and seventeen years of imprisonment gave me ample time to study and prepare.”

A resolute light burned in Madame Ellen’s eyes. “I won’t be controlled by anyone ever again—not even Crystal Spire’s Archmage!”

With that, she downed the vial’s contents in one gulp.

Instantly, a rainbow glow enveloped her, her power surging exponentially.

Within moments, she reached the peak of the Moonlight Rank, her aura hinting at an imminent breakthrough.

Valen’s expression darkened. Immediately, he unleashed a defensive barrier while retrieving several alchemy devices from his Storage Bag.

“Ai Lun, you know the side effects of Seven-Color Star Dew! Your spirit pollution will accelerate manifold, possibly reaching collapse within days!”

Unexpectedly, Madame Ellen could feel the rising spirit pollution being swiftly erased by stored Boons.

“Of course I know.”

A triumphant smile curled Madame Ellen’s lips, her radiant glow intensifying. “But for freedom, this is a price worth paying.”

The two titanic forces clashed on the field, the mana-saturated air twisting and distorting. Trees nearby toppled or ignited under the strain.

“Crystal Spire isn’t the cradle of talents it once was, Valen.”

A trace of sorrow laced Madame Ellen’s voice. “It’s been hollowed out by those mage clans, obsessed only with preserving their privileges, monopolizing knowledge and resources, forcing every new genius into their control.”

Valen remained silent, his expression betraying his awareness of this truth.

“They’ve even begun forcing geniuses into marriages with clan members, ‘purifying’ bloodlines as if we were livestock.”

Her voice brimmed with quiet fury. “This utterly violates the Primordial Ancestor’s original tenet—equality before knowledge, freedom for innate talents to develop as they will.”

Valen finally spoke. “I won’t deny what you say… but this is the current tide, Ai Lun. It’s not something one person can change.”

“Ah, because you’re a beneficiary now.” Madame Ellen mocked. “You married the Mentor’s grand-niece, binding yourself completely to their war machine. You reap their rewards—you naturally have no desire to change anything.”

Valen’s expression grew increasingly complex. “Ai Lun, it’s not that simple—”

“It is that simple.”

Madame Ellen cut him off, continuing her verbal provocation while rapidly adapting to her mana, now surged to Dusk Sun Rank levels.

“If I hadn’t refused to sign that soul-selling contract, would your Ascension qualification ever have landed in your hands? Where are you superior to me? Innate talent? Strength? Research achievements? Name one area where you surpassed me?”

Valen had no retort, for Ai Lun’s words were truth.

Ai Lun had been recognized as a genius—a once-in-a-century prodigy at Crystal Spire.

As second-in-command, Valen had been merely an outstanding apprentice among many, his gap to Ai Lun’s chief position a chasmic divide.

Had Ai Lun not refused to sign the Soul Contract, resulting in her disqualification, Valen would never have had the chance.

As tensions reached their breaking point, both poised for a decisive clash—

Valen suddenly frowned, retrieving a small leather-bound book from his Storage Bag.

Etched with Crystal Spire’s insignia on its cover, each page bore tiny flame patterns representing the vitality of each apprentice.

Three pages had already dimmed to gray—their flames extinguished.

The remaining flames flickered uncertainly, teetering on the edge of collapse.

Only Elliot’s flame remained relatively stable, though noticeably dimmer than before.

“Something’s happened…” Valen’s face darkened. “Damn it, in previous trials, the maximum casualties were two. I must go see what’s happening.”

“It seems your precious apprentices are in trouble.” Madame Ellen said coldly, though concern flickered in her eyes. “What’s the situation?”

“I don’t know.” Valen glared at the life-register book. “Bloodline Altar is dangerous, but deaths shouldn’t come this quickly. Not to mention so many near-death states simultaneously. Unless…”

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end