Outside the arena.
"Ah! What a pity! If this Ling Xiao doesn't perform a blood sacrifice, the portal will be finished!"
A teacher angrily slammed his thigh, watching with more intensity than anyone.
"The Fallen are truly inhumane..."
"To stop Lin Ran's assault, they've actually drained so many lives."
"These guys are even more insane than cultists..."
Another teacher, who hadn't dealt much with the Fallen, watched in stunned silence.
"It's okay! Lin Ran still has a chance! That Ling Xiao is greatly depleted!"
"It won't be easy to replenish in a short time."
"If we can launch a few more decent offensives, there's a good chance we can break the portal before the teleportation is complete!"
Another teacher clenched his fists, comforting himself while cheering up the others.
"That's right, that's right! We must have a few more waves!"
"As long as the portal can be destroyed, those Fallen who participated in the blood sacrifice will be severely hit..."
"This way, our students in the City of Ruins won't be completely defenseless!"
"At least, the survival rate will greatly increase!"
A group of other teachers' eyes also lit up.
But just then, Ling Xiao unleashed that terrifying-looking demonic spirit.
"Holy crap! How did this Ling Xiao summon such a behemoth! How can we fight this!"
Upon seeing Ling Xiao's demonic spirit, the flicker of hope that had finally ignited in the hearts of the teachers began to extinguish.
"Ah! Lin Ran has one too!"
Someone exclaimed upon seeing Lin Ran's Susanoo.
In these short few minutes, they felt like they were on a rollercoaster.
Many teachers watched with bated breath, their hearts nearly leaping out of their chests, paying more attention than if they were fighting themselves.
"But, isn't Lin Ran's a bit small? Its height is less than half of the other's."
"Yeah, and Lin Ran's is just a bust. Is that really enough to fight?"
Some teachers were still worried.
"However, one thing must be said, Lin Ran's has a full set of weapons, with a sword and shield."
"Compared to that, Ling Xiao's is bare-handed. He'll probably be at a disadvantage."
"In this case, the gap isn't that large, and we might even have an advantage!"
Besides the pessimistic faction, there were also optimists outside the arena.
"Hiss... Just, why is the sword in Lin Ran's energy body so strange? It seems different from the ones he summoned before..."
"That's right! Why does this sword look like a limp, soft sword, and the hilt is a gourd?"
Other teachers, with keener observation, noticed other issues.
"This..."
The teachers looked at each other, none of them knowing what was happening, and could only continue to watch Lin Ran engage Ling Xiao in battle.
...
Inside the arena.
Seeing Ling Xiao's whistling demonic claws, Lin Ran smiled faintly and met them with the floppy gourd sword the teachers were talking about.
The moment their energy bodies collided, Lin Ran's sword erupted with a powerful devouring force, directly severing one of Ling Xiao's demonic spirit's arms and drawing it in.
Ling Xiao's eyelids twitched violently, and he quickly manipulated the demonic spirit to retreat.
After absorbing and killing several more Fallen, he finally reshaped the demonic spirit's right arm.
"What kind of sword is this?!"
Ling Xiao gritted his teeth, clearly wary of the gourd sword in Lin Ran's hand.
Lin Ran naturally wouldn't tell him that what he held was the renowned Totsuka Blade from the God of Uchiha. Instead, he pressed his advantage and charged again.
After absorbing the Youfeng Puppet, his combat power further increased, and Lin Ran's eyes evolved.
It wasn't just his other skills that were enhanced; Susanoo was also improved.
Besides already reaching the second form of wearing external armor, he also unlocked two weapons from Itachi Uchiha's Susanoo.
Totsuka Blade, Yata Mirror!
Totsuka Blade – can attach dream-like illusionary effects to whatever it pierces, and also possesses the power to permanently seal it; the blade can extend and retract in energy form, and the blade itself contains sealing techniques.
Yata Mirror – an "ethereal weapon" without physical form, possessing all property changes; it can change its own properties according to the attributes of the attack, rendering the attack ineffective.
The two, one offensive and one defensive, were practically invincible.
Take another sword from me!
Now Lin Ran's Susanoo also had rudimentary wings, allowing him to soar freely in the air. Naturally, he pursued Ling Xiao's demonic spirit relentlessly.
Ling Xiao was immediately put in a sorry state by Lin Ran.
His attacks were always seen through by the almost prescient Lin Ran and completely blocked by the Yata Mirror.
And the Totsuka Blade's attacks always tore off a piece of his demonic spirit's body, sealing it within the gourd that served as the hilt.
If it weren't for the purpose of stalling for time, Ling Xiao would have fled in disarray.
What a joke!
If this unequal exchange continued, how many Fallen wouldn't be enough for him to absorb!
What if the Fallen weren't all here yet, and the ones in front were drained to death? Then what's the point of fighting?
Fortunately, Lin Ran's sword, although incredibly powerful, was still restrained and didn't devour him completely with a single strike.
Each time he was struck, only a few people were absorbed and killed...
This loss was bearable compared to the grand plan of teleportation.
Once all twenty thousand plus people had descended, Lin Ran would surely know what cruelty meant!
Ling Xiao, while painfully defending against Lin Ran's onslaught, accumulated rage and laughed wildly:
"Kid, enjoy your victory for now!"
"Most of the power of the blood sacrifice is being used for the portal right now, otherwise, how could you be so arrogant here?"
"Heh heh, when the teleportation is over, I'll crush you like an ant!"
Outside the arena, the teachers, although happy to see Lin Ran gain the upper hand again, were also a bit anxious.
After all, they had watched with their own eyes as the Fallen teleporting in were steadily increasing.
The numbers were already climbing past ten thousand!
Once the teleportation was complete, and the Fallen had no worries, the trouble would be immense.
Upon hearing Ling Xiao's words, their mental state almost collapsed.
By then, not only would Lin Ran have to face blood sacrifice power on a scale many times larger, but all the students in the city would be mercilessly slaughtered...
"This is bad! Although Lin Ran has firmly gained the advantage in the battle, it's not so easy to completely break through Ling Xiao."
"These Fallen are too despicable! They're infinitely using the lives of their compatriots to fill the void! They are truly cold-blooded and ruthless to the extreme!"
"What to do? What to do? What to do?"
"The advantage isn't big enough! I just want to see the blood sacrifice portal explode now!"
"Damn it! The duration of this Silent Meteorite is just too long. Now we can only watch from the sidelines!"
"It's too difficult, really too difficult..."
"It's already a miracle that Lin Ran has come this far..."
"Expecting him to single-handedly destroy the portal is too much to ask of him..."