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There was no time to care about what was happening, nor could Chen Qing afford to ask; he directly activated the technique, grabbing a group of Jiangnan Academy students in a sweep.

In an instant, everyone, including Shen Qi, shrank to the size of dust and was captured by Chen Qing in one swift motion, then promptly stuffed into his sleeve!

This scene left many of the older generation magicians stunned.

In storytelling, there often exists such a motif: some high-level immortals wield divine skills; with a mere wave of their sleeves, it seems anything could be stored inside those wide sleeves. In the world of storytellers, there’s a term for it: "Sleeve Divine Skill!"

For such motifs, the insiders of the Sorcerer Families usually scoff, as only Spatial Techniques can achieve that effect. The worst attribute of Spatial Techniques is their instability; most of the time, they rely on Barrier Techniques to be executed in a fixed location.

Just as the Jiangnan Academy students previously demonstrated, to be able to carry Rune Stones at all times and deploy space as a shield, was a technological marvel beyond their wildest imagination.

It can be said that those students from Jiangnan had given them a thorough lesson this time, showing them how barrier masters could battle.

But even having witnessed the Spatial Art used by those magicians from Jiangnan, they were still shocked by Chen Qing’s move.

Those with sharp eyes could see how Chen Qing did it: he first enlarged the space in his hand, then instantly shrank it.

This operation, akin to kneading dough, simply overturned their common understanding.

Space isn’t easy to control; compressing space requires extremely complex runes and multi-point designs, and yet with Chen Qing’s move, he directly manipulated the fixed runes to expand the space, then immediately retracted it.

And this operation took less than the time of one breath—seemingly casual, but the level of technical skill involved was sky-high!

At this moment, everyone realized that Jiangnan was crafted by Chen Qing’s own hands, and the capabilities of so many under him were all nurtured by Chen Qing. So what level would the mentor himself be?

The outbreak of war was imminent, and the Emperor also moved into position in an instant. Despite the sudden and intense turn of events, his expression didn’t change much. Instead, Chen Qing’s move made him take a few more glances.

"This young man is something special..." King Xiang, who had been following the Emperor’s shadow and had retreated to the edges, whispered, "Even in my era, not even the Western Sea Dragon King, who was most skilled in Spatial Techniques, necessarily had his level.

Be careful, this youngster... his ability to act now might be on par with King Chu Jiang! "

"That’s no small praise from you..." The Emperor said with a faint smile, his eyes looking towards Chen Qing held a hint of complexity, his thoughts unknown.

Shenyue also gazed solemnly at Chen Qing.

As an incarnation of a top-tier fighter, her vision was exceptional, seeing deeper than most. Chen Qing’s move relied on on-the-fly manipulation to alter the runes of the spatial barrier within his sleeve, then instantly switched them back.

Such precision in operation, not even the master-level Spatial Sorcerers in her guild might be capable.

Setting aside Chen Qing’s true identity, this guy... was an extraordinary manipulator.

"Boy... Do you really think you can keep those kids of yours safe here? Are you underestimating us a bit too much?"

The Old Celestial Master’s sinister voice came through.

Unbeknownst to the others, he had already closed the distance on Chen Qing with incredible speed, a pace at which they couldn’t tell he was a stooped old man.

All the Dragon Transformed Sorcerers found their eyes couldn’t keep up with the Old Celestial Master’s velocity.

Chen Qing’s expression also darkened; why had this old man targeted him? And wasn’t his speed a bit too fast? There was no elemental fluctuation at all; it was entirely physical. Had he undergone some kind of modification? He feared that even Ao Zhen would not match his speed...

Bang!

The two collided abruptly, and at the instant of their clash, blood energies were in upheaval, and fearsome Elemental Powers burst forth, causing severe spatial disturbances that tore open the grand hall of Qiankun Hall!

The surrounding Nanhai Sorcerers initiated their Dragon Transformation, but they were all pushed back several meters by the shock, causing nearly ninety percent of them to feel their blood energies churn and a wave of discomfort.

The Four Holy Guard inside the hall also retreated in turn, giving the two combatants space.

As for the Emperor and Shenyue, the only ones who could keep up with the speed of the two, they had no intention to intervene. They both took advantage of the disturbance to distance themselves and observed the situation.

Chen Qing cursed inwardly but had no time to think, only to deal with the sudden attack of the old monster.

A group of magicians, including Chen Baifeng, who had stepped back, all took a cold breath when they saw the two clashing.

Originally, after the Dragon Transformation, even when facing a transcendent warrior, their eyes could keep up.

Even in the recent sparring, Zhang Xiaoyun was incredibly formidable, but at least they could grasp what was happening.

But the two before them were on a completely different level. It felt as if any one of them, had they targeted the magicians in the hall, not a single one of them would have been able to walk out alive!

For a moment, there was a sense of relief that their target was Chen Qing.

"Lu Mings didn’t lose unjustly..."

After retreating, the Emperor watched the two of them exchange blows with an even more complex gaze. When they first met, the other person was a scholar without any power to resist. At that time, he could feel that his opponent was extraordinary, but when facing himself, he was almost like an ant.

But now... Setting aside the strength of Jiangnan, just on a personal level, this young man was probably already among the top figures of the world.

Now he thought about it, if a year ago in the Northern Wasteland, this young man had assisted those guild members in striking against him, could he have won?

"His Highness King Qin has hidden his strength deeply!"

The two had only exchanged blows for a few breaths, but they were already beyond a thousand moves. The Old Celestial Master had a trace of astonishment in his crimson eyes.

There were many reasons why he chose to strike at Chen Qing first. Firstly, the fact that the soldiers of Jiangnan had managed to quietly get here disrupted his plans. Now it looked like not only did the plan in the Northern Territory fail, but it probably failed in Jiangnan as well!

Shenyue, after all, had a huge background.

Even with the constraints of the rules, the Old Celestial Master was not sure he could defeat her.

Comparatively, Chen Qing had a thin foundation and, based on various intelligence reports, seemed to be a newcomer.

Compared to the dangerous Emperor of the Siao Family and the substantially backed Shenyue, Chen Qing was the one he was most confident about capturing.

But unexpectedly, this young man was also so difficult to deal with.

Whether it was close-quarter combat moves, techniques, or the use of elements, this was the first time in ten thousand years that he had encountered someone who could use them so smoothly.

By comparison, Zhang Xiaoyun, who had trained for ten thousand years, was not just a bit behind Chen Qing!

This made him somewhat puzzled. According to intelligence, Chen Qing was a new Reincarnator. Many of the martial skills he demonstrated were freshly learned. He remembered the intelligence that someone had seen the Princess Royale personally instructing Chen Qing in martial techniques.

At that time, he seemed completely like a newcomer.

Even after he had won the duel with Lu Mings, in the Old Celestial Master’s eyes, it was mostly through cunning tricks. In terms of real martial technique, there was still a significant gap between him and Lu Mings.

But how did he transform so completely in just a few years?

Especially this combination of Spiritual Power with close-quarters martial techniques, it was completely the work of an experienced fighter proficient in both magic and martial arts.

His level was not inferior to the Western Sea Dragon King of old.

This young man... could it be that he had been hiding his true skill?

The Old Celestial Master was astounded. In the Qiankun Hall, Zhang Xiaoyun and Zhang Zhiyun, secretly watching everything, were also shocked. They hadn’t really taken Chen Qing seriously before, but they didn’t expect him to be able to fight the High Priest to such an extent.

Others might not know, but they were aware that the inheritance the High Priest had was from the... Martial God of old!