In the air, the Primordial Qi of the Thunder and Ice-Fire Attributes fluctuated violently. A deep sense of dread finally appeared in He Long’s impassive eyes. He could sense the Combat Skill Mu Chen was unleashing was nearly equal in power to his own.

’Damn it! What in the world happened to this guy? How could he possess such immense power? I refuse to accept this!!’

As the Crown Prince of a Middle and Upper-Class Empire, a man second to only one and ruler over millions, how could he tolerate such a terrifying anomaly emerging from a bottom-tier Empire?

Gritting his teeth, He Long poured what little Primordial Power he had left into his finger. The lightning in the sky had already formed a sphere nearly tens of meters in diameter, but this was not the Combat Skill’s final form. In the next moment, He Long threw the Thunder Dragon Spear from his left hand high into the air.

The instant the Thunder Dragon Spear rose, the Thunder Ball, which had been gathering for an unknown amount of time, began to roil violently. As if to welcome the spear, the Thunder Ball suddenly exploded, spreading across the entire sky to form a vast web of electricity. The Thunder Dragon Spear was like a stone thrown onto a calm lake, stirring up a thousand waves.

He Long’s lips curled into a smirk at the sight. He laughed heartily. "Thunder Attribute Secret Technique, Thunder Dragon’s Descent!"

With that, He Long fiercely swung down the finger he had been charging for so long. The crackling bolts of lightning that formed the web in the sky rapidly converged on the Thunder Dragon Spear, including, of course, that tiny sliver of Purple Thunder.

At the same time, Mu Chen’s Shattered Star Lock Chain also underwent a tremendous transformation. The Ice and Fire Elemental Power, which had previously remained separate on either side of the chain, suddenly began to fuse. This was no chaotic merger. On the contrary, the power began to revolve around the Shattered Star Lock Chain, instantly forming a two-colored vortex of ice and fire. Though called a vortex of elemental power, its true form resembled a red-and-blue-hued flame, a truly fantastical sight!

Di Cang’s expression turned grim as he saw the Combat Skills the two were unleashing. He suddenly cursed, "What in the world are these two idiots trying to do? Are they trying to destroy the Imperial Academy?!"

Di Cang’s outburst was so sudden that countless students and instructors turned to look at him, wondering why their Vice Dean had said such a thing.

But Di Cang clearly had no intention of explaining. He shot deep into the sky, instantly unleashing an utterly terrifying Primordial Power. In that moment, all the students felt an immense pressure descend from above, making it difficult for them to even breathe.

Even so, the students refused to stop watching the sky. Di Cang’s Primordial Power fully erupted, and a Martial Ring glowing with silver light materialized at his feet. Immediately after, he stretched out his hands, palms open. A wave of purple, Blazing Elemental Power surged from his palms, adding another purple layer to the Elemental Barrier that already surrounded the dueling ring. Still not feeling assured, Di Cang added three more purple Elemental Barriers before descending with a frown.

"This is utter madness! It’s just a duel. Is there any need to risk your lives like this? Madness! Absolute madness!" Di Cang was furious, but his eyes never left Mu Chen’s figure.

In the distance, Qin Garden’s face had gone pale. Besides Di Cang, she was the person who best understood what the two were doing. A Secret Technique that fused the Ice and Fire Elements, a Thunder Attribute Secret Technique that had drawn out Purple Thunder, and both had been accumulating power for so long... Forget a collision between the two techniques; the power unleashed by just one of them would be enough to level a quarter of the Xuanling Imperial Academy!

"Mu Chen... is that guy really Mu Chen?"

Tang Hao’s voice trembled. He didn’t know what Mu Chen and He Long were doing, but just from Di Cang’s angry shouts and the fact that he’d used his Martial Venerable-level strength to reinforce the Seal by several layers, he could guess how terrifyingly powerful their next Combat Skills would be.

Yan Ruoshui’s expression was just as complicated. Even she was shaken. ’Is that white-robed young man really the same crippled boy I met three years ago? Or was his crippled status just a front for his true genius?’

In an instant, the simple image she held of Mu Chen was shrouded in shadow, becoming an enigma she desperately wanted to solve but couldn’t.

Mu Bingling watched the proud, upright figure in the sky with a tender gaze and murmured, "Chen’Er, in this world, there are no permanent cripples, only those who are willing to remain cripples. You... you did it."

As for the Outer Circle Students, Little Tiger could only swallow nervously, unable to put his thoughts into words. Only Ye Shuangshuang still had the presence of mind to quip, "Brother Mu Chen, honestly! To think he hid so much of his strength from us. Looking back now, it was a huge mistake to even think of him as a goal we could chase."

Qing Lei’s face remained pale. His senses were countless times more sensitive than anyone else’s, so he could perceive just what a mad thing that man in the sky was doing.

"This is... they’re putting their lives on the line," was all Qing Lei could finally say.

As for Mo Qing, she simply stood to the side, silently praying that Mu Chen would be safe...

"ROAR!!!"

Accompanied by a majestic dragon’s roar, the Primordial Power accumulated by both fighters reached its final stage. The process seemed long, but in reality, only a few dozen seconds had passed since He Long first activated his Combat Skill. The Thunder Dragon Spear was now completely enveloped in countless bolts of lightning. Under the control of He Long’s will, the barrel-thick tendrils of lightning instantly began to twist, continuously extending and expanding before everyone’s eyes. A few breaths later, to the astonishment of the crowd, a Giant Dragon made of lightning, dozens of meters long, had taken shape. The blue Thunder Dragon roared at the heavens. A sliver of Purple Thunder flickered in its eyes as it coiled around He Long as if alive, glaring furiously at Mu Chen across from it.

Meanwhile, the fusion of ice and fire around the Shattered Star Lock Chain had also reached its limit. Guided by the chain’s own consciousness, the fused, ice-blue flames twisted and expanded. Within a few breaths, a Binglan Flame Dragon, also dozens of meters long, had formed, completely enveloping Mu Chen.

The spectacle was so visually stunning that a torrent of discussion erupted from the crowd.

"Is that a Combat Skill? How can a Combat Skill be so enormous?" a scrawny student asked.

"I think this is beyond the scope of a Combat Skill. It’s probably some kind of Secret Technique," a tall, sturdy young man replied. He was clearly the one the first student was addressing.

"What?! A Secret Technique? Does our Xuanling Empire even have something like that?" an Outer Circle Student asked, skeptical.

"Maybe he had a fortuitous encounter?" another student guessed.

"I bet it was a fortuitous encounter, too. Otherwise, how could Captain Mu Chen be this strong? His opponent is a Third-Ring Martial King, and the Crown Prince of a Middle and Upper-Class Empire, no less! Yet Captain Mu Chen forced him to use a heaven-defying Secret Technique. It just shows how terrifying Captain Mu Chen’s power really is," a student from the Demon Castle chimed in.

"..."

The discussions below gradually died down. At the same time, the final confrontation in the sky finally began. He Long said gravely, "I never expected you to have a Secret Technique as well. It seems you’ve had quite the fortuitous encounter. Otherwise, a bottom-tier place like the Xuanling Empire could never have produced a talent like you."

Mu Chen just smiled. "What if it was a fortuitous encounter, and what if it wasn’t? I am a citizen of the Xuanling Empire. That is a fact that will never change. Come on. Let this be the final blow. Let’s see who is stronger: you, the pampered, resource-rich Crown Prince of a Middle and Upper-Class Empire, or me, a commoner from a bottom-tier Empire."

With a mere thought, the Shattered Star Lock Chain conveyed the name of the technique to Mu Chen. He roared, "Dragon Slayer Break!"

The Red-Blue Fire Dragon surrounding Mu Chen let out a furious roar and spiraled into the sky, hurtling toward He Long. The surrounding elements fell into chaos; the fusion of the Ice and Fire Power was terrifyingly potent. A drop of cold sweat trickled down He Long’s temple. He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but he had a terrible feeling that he would be the one to lose this clash.

But the decisive moment had come. He could not retreat now, no matter what. He Long jabbed his lightning-wreathed finger toward the sky. The Thunder Dragon, dozens of meters long, surged upward to intercept, tangling with the Red and Blue Flame Dragon in the air.

The moment they made contact, the two Giant Dragons began to tear and claw at each other like mortal enemies. Each ferocious collision sent a shower of red-and-blue flames and blue lightning raining down, which set off violent explosions as they struck the protective shield. If not for the multiple barriers Di Cang had erected, these stray flames and bolts of lightning alone would have been enough to cause casualties among the students below.

"ROAR!!!"

"ROAR!!!"

The two giant dragons of Primordial Power were no longer content with merely biting and colliding. The Thunder Dragon was the first to act, erupting in a dazzling blue light as the sound of space itself trembling echoed through the air. Not to be outdone, the Red and Blue Flame Dragon followed suit, its body radiating both intense heat and extreme cold as it prepared to launch its final assault.

This sight made Di Cang’s heart leap into his throat. The two giant dragons were now locked together. If the Secret Techniques detonated at the same time, the destructive power would be far more than just the sum of its parts.

’I hope this barrier can withstand the force of that terrifying explosion. But those two kids... they will surely be hurt...’

"BOOOOM!!!"

A heaven-shattering BOOM erupted from the dueling ring. Like an exploding star, a red-and-blue shockwave of Primordial Power instantly tore through the barrier Di Cang had set. It swept across the entire Xuanling Empire, even reaching several small towns near its borders. The sheer force of it triggered a small-scale earthquake in the Imperial Capital.

Fortunately, the shockwave was high enough in the sky that it only blew the clouds away, revealing a vast, clear expanse. The surrounding buildings and the Empire’s residents were unharmed.

Di Cang breathed a sigh of relief. However, after the explosion, the two giant dragons of Primordial Power had not completely vanished. To everyone’s astonishment, the Red and Blue Flame Dragon instantly coiled around the now-dimmed Thunder Dragon, bit down on its neck, and with a ferocious roar, tore its head clean off.

"CRACK!"

With a sharp crack, both the Thunder Dragon and the Flame Dragon vanished. All that fell from the sky was a chain shimmering with a brilliant metallic luster and a blue spear, snapped in two. He Long, still standing in the air with a deathly pale face, felt his vision go black. He coughed violently, spraying a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs, a clear sign of the severe internal trauma he’d suffered from the blast. Having exhausted his power to cast Thunder Dragon’s Descent, He Long had no Primordial Power left to maintain his Elemental Wings, and his body plummeted powerlessly toward the ground.

While he was still falling, four or five masked guards in black robes shot into the sky with a SWOOSH, catching He Long and cradling him in their arms. Another guard quickly produced a vial of pills from a ring, poured out a few, and stuffed them into He Long’s mouth. The guards said nothing. They simply shot Mu Chen a single, deathly glare with their bloodshot eyes before taking He Long and the broken Thunder Dragon Spear and vanishing from the dueling ring.

Mu Chen was not faring well either. Though he still had enough Primordial Power to keep himself aloft, the damage he’d taken from the shockwave was no less severe than He Long’s. He was simply forcing himself to endure it.

"PFFT!"

Only when He Long was gone did Mu Chen finally spray a mouthful of blood. His vision went black, and he plummeted from the sky.