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This thunder wasn’t fake!

The tremendous burst of energy made nearly all the magicians present subconsciously activate their own techniques to protect themselves, with only a very few managing to remain composed.

The Emperor, the red-clothed woman from the Northern Territory, Chen Qing...

Even Chen Baifeng only managed to calm his mind after he saw that Chen Qing had made no move.

Chen Qing looked towards the space above Qiankun Hall.

Outside the great hall, a barrier had appeared—clearly meant to defend against the thunder.

This meant that Zhang Zhiyun’s Thunder Art wasn’t an illusion; it was real and could actually destroy the Imperial Palace, but.

.. it could only destroy the Imperial Palace. ..

Chen Qing smiled faintly, having almost figured out Zhang Zhiyun’s strategy. Now, it would be interesting to see if Shen Yuan could deduce it as well.

Inside the White Tiger Palace, Shen Yun faced the terrifying thunder with tense nerves, his mind racing.

There must be a reason for anything that seemed irrational, but the pressure of the thunder felt so real that it didn’t seem fake. It probably wasn’t an Illusion Technique. If it was real, then the question was, how was it possible?

The opponent was definitely not at the Dragon King level. Shen Yuan was certain of this. Taking this as a starting point, even if the opponent had reached this stage, it had to be through some kind of trickery. But what was the trick?

Shen Yuan, with his eyes closed, took a deep breath. Just as the thunder seemed to engulf the White Tiger Palace, he opened his eyes and once again locked gazes with Zhang Zhiyun.

Zhang Zhiyun frowned in an instant—it was that look again, that indifferently calm gaze.

In truth, he had plenty of ways to deal with someone who only knew Magic Arrays, without resorting to using the highly taxing Thunder Technique from the start. This wasn’t advantageous for the subsequent confrontations with other candidates, but he still used it.

He didn’t know why he did it, just that the opponent’s gaze was irksome and he wanted to destroy that calmness.

But the power he displayed seemed only enough to throw the opponent into momentary disarray...

"Execute!" Without any hesitation, Zhang Zhiyun formed a seal with one hand, and the terrifying thunder, as if alive, poured down, swallowing the entire White Tiger Palace.

But in the face of this god-like force, Shen Yuan didn’t show the slightest bit of panic; instead, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth...

This smile, witnessed by Chen Ying in the second stage of the challenge, made her laugh. She had seen this smile on Shen Yuan many times before—always when he had figured out a vexing technique issue. It was a pure smile, the joyful grin of solving a puzzle successfully!

Bang!!

Under the watchful eyes of all, the most unbelievable scene occurred.

The entire White Tiger Palace suddenly shattered!

Yes, just like a mirror breaking into pieces, it shattered exaggeratedly.

Many magicians stared in shock at the scene, and at that moment Chen Baifeng seemed to have an epiphany about what was happening.

But when he turned to look at Chen Qing and the others, he found their expression unchanged, and his face twitched involuntarily.

Clearly... these three had realized it much earlier.

The dark clouds in the sky shattered, and the terrifying energy dissipated almost in the blink of an eye; moreover, with the fragmentation of the White Tiger Palace, it seemed as though all the dark clouds over the Imperial Palace had vanished.

The daylight sunlight poured in, leaving the magicians puzzled. Could it really have been an illusion?

Within the White Tiger Palace, amidst the rubble of the now broken White Tiger Palace, Zhang Zhiyun stared intently at his opponent. "How... did you figure it out?"

"I kind of guessed..." Shen Yuan began to smile. He was genuinely happy, just as he would be when successfully proving a theory at the academy. At such a life-and-death moment, to be able to resolve the crisis with what he had learned was truly a delightful matter.

"I learned something at Dragon Palace Academy; that is, even if the Dragon King has regained its power, it cannot leave the Dragon Palace, because the spiritual power of this world has yet to reach the level where it can withstand such a monster. I believe that the current most powerful being under heaven, whether it’s Chen Qing or Your Majesty, ranks below the Dragon King. .. and of course, that includes you!"

"It’s impossible for anyone below the Dragon King to wield its power, the Heaven-Cloud Formation is a technique beyond the power of the current world, and you shouldn’t be able to use it normally.

However, the sensation you gave me just now didn’t seem to be an illusion, so I guessed you must have taken some shortcuts.

Since it’s about taking shortcuts, we should start by analysing the origin of the technique.

The Heaven-Cloud Formation requires rapidly gathering moisture from a vast area to form cumulus clouds, thereby altering the celestial phenomenon.

This calls for a vast amount of spiritual power to search and extract moisture on a large scale—something nearly impossible for a single person, which is precisely why only the Dragon King could do it. "

"But on closer thought, there are many ways to achieve it, such as.

.. gathering moisture with multiple people is one method.

However, the level of spiritual power earlier was highly uniform, clearly not of that sort.

That leaves only one possibility, you...

prepared enough moisture around you in advance. "

"Yet here lies another problem; moisture is fluid. Having it prepared in advance doesn’t guarantee it won’t drift away.

If it’s maintained in control, then the vast amount of moisture would need constant support, the spiritual power consumption of which would be almost as much as directly creating a Heaven-Cloud Formation. Obviously, that’s hardly possible."

"Then it hit me—during this Heavenly Master trial, the first two rounds were in separate spaces.

Obviously... your Heavenly Master Mansion possesses highly advanced spatial techniques.

Once I considered that, it made sense. Using a superior spatial barrier to condense ample moisture within a block of space, when needed, just break open that space block, and it becomes readily available. "

Zhang Zhiyun: "....."

"However, this approach has a drawback." Shen Yuan said with a smile, "The space fragments imbued with strong elemental power are difficult to control and even more troublesome to carry. Otherwise, who would still use energy stones to store energy? These fragments can only be prepared in advance atop a spatial barrier, usable only at a fixed location. In fact... it’s the same principle as the Barrier Technique. What you’ve been skilled at has never been Thunder Art, but rather Spatial Technique. "

Clap, clap, clap! The loud applause lingered only within the space fragments where the two of them stood. At this moment, Zhang Zhiyun’s gaze towards the other carried no more of the previous iciness but was filled with admiration.

"Not bad, you’re quite something!"

As soon as he spoke, the fragments of the White Tiger Palace began to dance in the air. In the mere time it took to blink, they had restored themselves to their original form.

This scene made Shen Yuan’s eyes grow solemn.

He could make the White Tiger Palace crumble because it was essentially a spatial barrier, and it was easy to destroy because he found the fragment that the other party used to store moisture on the barrier.

Using that fragment is like breaking a hole in the barrier, no matter how small; for someone like him, a Heavenly Court Magician who specialized in barriers, it was quite easy to find.

That’s why he could effortlessly destroy the White Tiger Palace before the thunder descended, shattering the forming Thunder Technique.

But the opponent’s instant reconstruction of the White Tiger Palace was somewhat frightening.

This level of Spatial Art, even Lady Ziyue of today, might not possess such a skill...

"Are we still fighting?" Zhang Zhiyun asked with a smile.

This kid has talent. Heard he’s only been cultivating in Jiangnan for five years?

His mastery of the Barrier Technique has already reached this level. But I’m sorry, I have been practicing in this area for ten thousand years!

"You’re right about one thing; the world now cannot sustain a King Level existence, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t reached that realm." Zhang Zhiyun said somberly, "Kid, you’re still too green!"