The Power of Fear


    In the dark space, a pair of eyes burning with blue mes appeared.


    "I have the same skill, it won''t work on me!"


    Mid-air, Xiao Shengyun''s eyes also ignited with fire. The Phantom Prison had no effect on him.


    "No, I don''t need those effects to work. I just needed a space that could block the crowd''s vision."


    "Now, I can finally reveal my true strength without holding back."


    "Are you ready?"


    As soon as he finished speaking, a dark figure with an eerie blue glow emerged from the darkness.


    Xiao Shengyun felt a shiver run down his spine.


    The feeling that Zhou Mingrui gave him waspletely different from before.


    If he thought Zhou Mingrui was like a ferocious tiger before, his threatening aura now could bepared to that of a prehistoric dragon. The atmosphere around him felt incredibly oppressive and suffocating.


    In the blink of an eye, Zhou Mingrui disappeared into the darkness. Xiao Shengyun held his sword in a defensive stance and stood still.


    The darkness could not obstruct his vision because he had also activated the Phantom Prison''s effect. However, it was clear that Zhou Mingrui hadpletely disappeared from his line of vision.


    Xiao Shengyun knew that Zhou Mingrui didn''t have this skill in his skill list, so this was obviously not actually a skill, but rather an expert maniption of his bodily limits.


    Xiao Shengyun had almost never seen anyone manipte their own energy to this extent, such that it is evenparable to a skill.


    "What, you can''t find me?"


    A voice suddenly appeared beside Xiao Shengyun''s ears, but he still didn''t move.


    After a brief moment of silence, Xiao Shengyun stepped forward with his longsword and shed out at the space in front of him. The intense phantom energy on the longsword formed an energy de and shot out.


    There was a buzz, and after a sh of light in the darkness, the ce fell silent again.


    In the darkness, a shadow hidden behind Xiao Shengyun disappeared. Zhou Mingrui then walked out of the darkness.


    "Don''t try these boring methods on me. They''re meaningless," Xiao Shengyun said with a deep frown.


    "You''re trying to hide your fear, right?" Zhou Mingrui replied eerily.


    "Nonsense!"


    Xiao Shengyun was enraged. The phantom energy in his body went berserk as he charged at Zhou Mingrui.


    Both of their weapons shed violently again. This time, they directly battled close ranged. As the de and longsword shed, shockwaves of phantom energy shook the surrounding space, causing countless phantom mes to appear.


    "I know that you''re bluffing!"


    Sensing that Zhou Mingrui''sbat ability had not changed at all, Xiao Shengyun regained hisposure and his confidence re-emerged.


    "Is that so? Looks like you''ve regained your confidence. In that case, I''ll shatter it again!"


    With that, the Nether me Bone de in Zhou Mingrui''s hand turned into a shadow and shed through Xiao Shengyun''s longsword.


    "!?"


    Before Xiao Shengyun could react, the shadow of the de had already reached his chest.


    Subconsciously, Xiao Shengyun was about to dodge, but his strong intuition told him that he shouldn''t. For the first time, his felt conflicted about his choices during a battle.


    Since he could only choose one reaction, Xiao Shengyun chose to believe his intuition that this shadow de was just a cover-up for another real attack.


    However, just as shadow de was about to make contact with his body, it suddenly materialized physically and shed at Xiao Shengyun''s chest.


    Stunned, the impact of the attack sent him flying, and the bone armor protecting his chest also shattered into pieces.


    Xiao Shengyun spat out a mouthful of blood from the force and took several steps back before he finally stopped.


    However, Zhou Mingrui did not stop there. His figure once again slipped into the darkness.


    Xiao Shengyun, who had just stabilized himself, felt a creeping sense of danger.


    Without warning, the familiar Nether me Bone de appeared once again, directly shing towards him.


    This time, Xiao Shengyun narrowed his eyes and chose to dodge. However, he had just taken a few steps sideways when he felt an even more threatening presence behind him.


    Without any hesitation, he turned around and swung his longsword.


    However, Zhou Mingrui''s de once again turned into an intangible shadow. It passed through his longsword and shed toward his chest.


    This time, Xiao Shengyun didn''t dare to take another risk. He chose to step back to avoid the shadow de.


    "Congrattions, you made the wrong guess again."


    As the voice appeared, Xiao Shengyun felt a sharp pain in his back. The bone armor on his back was broken by the de.


    He staggered forward, and blood gushed out of his mouth again.


    "If you have the guts, then fight face to face with me. What''s the point of ying such despicable tricks!"


    Xiao Shengyun was on the verge of a mental breakdown. If this kept going on, he would definitely be defeated. The only thing he could do was to try and provoke Zhou Mingrui to fight him head-on.


    "Since you''ve asked for it, I''ll fulfill your wish."


    Zhou Mingrui emerged from the darkness. Phantom energy erupted around his body as he charged at Xiao Shengyun.


    Wherever his figure passed, the surrounding phantom energy churned like mes shooting out of a rocket, pressing forward with an unparalleled momentum.


    Sensing the overwhelming power of this attack, Xiao Shengyun could only grit his teeth and activate the energy in his body. He focused the energy onto the longsword in his hand, attempting to block the attack.


    Although he could copy Zhou Mingrui''s skills and attributes, he had no way of copyingbat techniques that Zhou Mingrui had worked out by himself.


    As for Zhou Mingrui, he was able to make use of hisbat techniques in this battle to give himself a snowballing advantage.


    With a ng, Xiao Shengyun was once again sent flying. The bone longsword in his hand had cracked the instant it came into contact with the Nether me Bone de, and then exploded into scattered fragments.


    Xiao Shengyun flew backwards, and rolled on the ground for another distance before stopping. He didn''t manage to get up this time.


    Zhou Mingrui removed the Phantom Prison and sunlight from outside shone in. The eagerly waiting people outside finally saw the scene on the arena.


    The referee was the first to react. He rushed forward to check on Xiao Shengyun.


    `"Looks like you were a little harsh on him." Yan Wuyue came to Zhou Mingrui''s side.


    "Hmph, I could still ept it if he used your strength to defeat you, but how dare he use my strength to defeat you. If I don''t teach him a good lesson, how am I supposed to live with myself after this?" Zhou Mingrui scoffed.


    "Alright, thank you for that." Yan Wuyue covered her mouth andughed faintly.


    She knew that Zhou Mingrui was just bantering, but the real reason he was so harsh on Xiao Shengyun was probably because he couldn''t stand the way he bullied her. That was why he tortured Xiao Shengyun so badly to get back at him.


    Yes, Zhou Mingrui waspletely capable of taking down Xiao Shengyun without trouble, but he did not want to let him off so easily.