In the semifinals, they could no longer afford to lose. A single loss would mean they were out of the tournament. So, even though they knew Lin Yun was the strongest among the freshmen, Zhou Sicheng and his team had no choice but to grit their teeth and face him.
"Zhou Sicheng, Class 9 of the freshman division." Zhou Sicheng extended his right hand, and a tome appeared in his grasp. Two yellow spirit rings rose from his feet and lit up simultaneously.
With Lin Yun's keen eyesight, he could clearly see that when Zhou Sicheng activated his spirit skill, two pages of the tome flipped open. On them were depicted a golden bear and a flaming tiger.
The two spirit beasts corresponding to the pages of the tome emerged from the light and stood guard beside Zhou Sicheng.
"Cao Jinxuan, Class 9 of the freshman division." A clock-shaped arch appeared above his head, and two yellow spirit rings lit up around him.
"Long Xiangyue, Class 9 of the freshman division." This handsome guy pulled out a large boomerang, and two yellow spirit rings also appeared around him.
The only question was whether his boomerang would return and hit him in the forehead after he threw it.
Three Great Spirit Masters with two yellow spirit rings each, and their spirits were quite impressive.
Lin Yun glanced at Cao Jinxuan and Long Xiangyue before losing interest. Cao Jinxuan's Time Flies Clock sounded impressive, but its actual performance was lackluster. He couldn't withstand the backlash of manipulating time, and his spirit skill only slowed down the flow of time for a single target.
Even then, he would suffer severe backlash, with nosebleeds being the least of his worries. If he tried to control Lin Yun, he'd probably die before Lin Yun was even affected.
As for Long Xiangyue, his boomerang spirit wasn't even worth mentioning.
Lin Yun looked at Zhou Sicheng and suddenly laughed. "Hey, you can control spirit beasts too? What a coincidence, so can I. Wanna compare?"
With that, Lin Yun reached into his robe and, under Zhou Sicheng's stunned gaze, pulled out a jade-green scorpion.
The moment Qing'er appeared, the two spirit beasts Zhou Sicheng had summoned immediately wilted.
The golden bear shrank in size, trembling as it crouched on the ground. The flaming tiger was even worse off—its flames were completely extinguished, and it looked more like a sickly cat than the majestic beast it had been moments ago.
Even Zhou Sicheng, who had summoned them, was heavily suppressed. If he hadn't quickly reached out to steady himself on Cao Jinxuan's shoulder, he might have collapsed to the floor.
"A… a real spirit beast?" Zhou Sicheng's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
This overwhelming pressure, this feeling of staring death in the face—any spirit master who had faced a spirit beast before would never forget it.
Except Qing'er's spirit beast aura was countless times stronger.
"Yep, this is my little treasure. Her name's Qing'er." Lin Yun reached out and gently stroked Qing'er's carapace, and Qing'er affectionately interacted with him using her small pincers.
Zhou Sicheng and his team were petrified.
The referee teacher was petrified.
Yan Shaoze, watching from the shadows, shook his head helplessly, wanting to say something but holding back.
"Teacher, is this kind of thing even allowed?" Cao Jinxuan asked the referee teacher, one hand supporting his weak-kneed friend Zhou Sicheng while pointing at Qing'er in Lin Yun's hand.
"Huh? Uh… well…" The referee teacher was sweating bullets, stammering and unable to form a complete sentence.
Fortunately, Yan Shaoze came to his rescue. A voice transmission reached the referee's ears, and though his scalp tingled, he also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ahem, just like how your spirit allows you to summon spirit beasts to fight, the freshman assessment only prohibits the use of spirit tools in combat. Using a spirit to tame a spirit beast and having it assist in battle, as he's doing, doesn't violate the rules," the referee teacher said, polishing Yan Shaoze's words before speaking.
"Any other questions?"
"Uh, n-no…" Zhou Sicheng and his team stiffly turned their heads to look at Lin Yun, who was smiling with a nuclear-level kind expression.
"Alright then, the match continues!" The referee teacher quickly retreated.
"Qing'er, use Ice King's Wrath!" Lin Yun said with a smile.
Seeing the jade-green light suddenly glow on Qing'er's body, Zhou Sicheng grabbed Cao Jinxuan.
"Old Cao! This is an emergency! Use your invincible Time Flies Clock and think of something!"
"?"
Cao Jinxuan rolled his eyes in annoyance, his expression instantly turning serious. The Time Flies Clock, which had been floating above his head, descended into his palm. The two yellow spirit rings circling him wrapped around the clock and lit up simultaneously.
"Time, stop—"
Za Warudo!!!
Ding!
The hands of the Time Flies Clock, which had been moving, suddenly froze. A strange wave of energy descended upon Lin Yun.
Qing'er simply flicked her tail, and the time control effect was completely shattered. Cao Jinxuan suffered the backlash of his spirit skill, blood gushing from his nose and mouth.
Then, Cao Jinxuan's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Lin Yun, trembling as he pointed at him.
"You…"
Crack… crack…
A crack instantly appeared on the Time Flies Clock, and the two yellow spirit rings wrapped around it shattered. The spirit power aura around Cao Jinxuan vanished completely, and he passed out, his eyelids fluttering shut.
"Old Cao!!!" Zhou Sicheng panicked, holding Cao Jinxuan's body and calling out to him in terror.
On the other side.
Lin Yun could have easily broken free from the time stop like Qing'er did, but the strange time fluctuation seemed to trigger a hidden power within him, instantly sending him into a state of enlightenment.
How long the enlightenment lasted, Lin Yun couldn't remember.
He only remembered frolicking in a glowing river, the water of the entire river seemingly drawn to him. Beyond that, he knew nothing.
This enlightenment surpassed the limits of Lin Yun's current strength. It was related to the power of time, something a mere Spirit Ancestor like him couldn't fully comprehend. However, this enlightenment brought him significant benefits—even immense ones.
It was a seed, a seed destined to grow into a towering tree in the future.
Lin Yun slowly opened his eyes. In the outside world, he had only stood still with his eyes closed for three seconds after being controlled. But in Lin Yun's perception, he had been immersed in that river for who knew how long.
As for Qing'er in his hand, upon sensing that Lin Yun had entered a special state, she stopped preparing Ice King's Wrath and instead focused on protecting him.
"…What happened to him?" Lin Yun asked, bewildered, as he looked at the unconscious Cao Jinxuan.
(End of Chapter)
────────────────────────────────────
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [One Piece: General Blue]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Naruto: Starting with Tsunade-san]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Battle Through the Heavens: Heavenly comprehension]."
"If you want an early access join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"