Su Chen looked at the Susanoo before him in despair, his eyes filled with terror and hopelessness:
"No! No! No!"
"I cannot fail! I absolutely will not fail! And I will never fail!"
"I want to win! I want to win!"
"I want to prove myself to this world! I want to devour it all!"
Under Su Chen's frenzied shouts, the Demon Sword Swallowing Heaven suddenly transformed into a mass of dark liquid, enveloping Su Chen.
At that very moment, Lin Ran could sense that Su Chen's soul seemed to have found a brand new vessel.
Simultaneously, Su Chen lost all human characteristics, his transformation rendering him indistinguishable from a demon.
"How laughable, is this your final struggle for survival?"
"You just said you wanted to eliminate evil, right? Then I will teach you what true elimination of evil is!"
Without a trace of hesitation, Lin Ran swung the energy sword in his hand.
This sword was not merely a surge of Susanoo's energy.
It also contained the life essence from the Golden Dragon and the shockwave from the Surgery-Surgery Fruit.
Although Lin Ran's Susanoo had completely finished its first stage and was advancing towards the second, with a complete skeletal structure and flesh and meridians growing, it was more than enough to crush Su Chen in this state.
However, Lin Ran's intentions were not limited to this.
His true target was the malevolent soul hidden within Swallowing Heaven.
Hiding in the shadows, using an unfortunate soul as a puppet? I'd like to see how you plan to hide now.
The Surgery-Surgery Fruit was already extremely sensitive to soul transference, and coupled with the keen observation of the Eternal Mangekyo, this soul could not possibly remain hidden.
To the malevolent soul, both the life essence of the Golden Dragon and the shockwave from the Surgery-Surgery Fruit, capable of directly severing souls, were extremely fatal.
It was now impossible for it to retreat back into the sword.
Therefore, this blow, it had to endure!
Evil soul, where do you think you're going?
Boom!
With another intense, spark-flying explosion, Su Chen's figure was also consumed by the endless dust.
However, unlike Lin Ran, he did not possess his monstrously extreme defense. He was immediately blasted out of the arena's protection and enveloped by a streak of green light.
As for the evil soul that had possessed him, it was severely wounded by Lin Ran's sword. It miserably dragged its broken body, burrowing back into the sword, no longer daring to emerge.
"Beep beep! The winner of this elimination match is Lin Ran!"
The arena AI meticulously announced the match's outcome.
The audience, who had been stunned by the continuous string of dramatic events, were initially bewildered.
These sword strikes, capable of destroying heavens and shattering earth, were truly part of a freshman challenge?
If they had been told it was a World Championship, they would have believed it!
He won? Lin Ran won?
It wasn't until the AI's broadcast that they finally reacted.
"Ooooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh!"
Lin Ran's supporters cheered, and began to chant his name in unison.
"Lin Ran! Lin Ran! Lin Ran!"
"Lin Ran! Lin Ran! Lin Ran!"
"..."
Meanwhile, Su Chen's supporters, who had been singing and dancing with great enthusiasm moments ago, became dejected and speechless.
Damn it! Weren't we cheering just a moment ago?
How did this excitement and pride suddenly shift to the other side?
This feeling of falling from heaven to hell was truly unbearable.
Even more unbearable, however, was Wang Yuanqing, who was watching from the stands.
At this moment, his eyes were wide open, his gaze fixed on the stage, and his brain had completely crashed.
Even after such a world-shattering sword strike, Su Chen could still lose?!
And lose so thoroughly!
Not only did Lin Ran perfectly block Su Chen's attack, but he also retaliated with a single sword strike, instantly defeating Su Chen again...
This roller-coaster-like experience, back and forth, nearly cost him his life, he who had a weak heart!
At this moment, Lu Qiufeng chuckled leisurely:
"Heh heh, truly from the same school, aren't they? Both the teacher and the student are the same."
"No other skills, just very tough mouths!"
"Without the arena's protection mechanism, they'd be crushed into dust by others, yet they still claim they can crush the opponent..."
"Alas, I wonder where they get such audacity!"
Hearing Lu Qiufeng's words, Wang Yuanqing felt as though he was truly going to spit blood and die.
These were precisely his own words!
The mockery he had directed at Lu Qiufeng and his companion earlier now boomeranged back at him, a profound humiliation.
But no matter how dejected he was, he could only grit his teeth and swallow it, silently accepting it.
Who could he blame when his student wasn't as competitive as the opponent's?
Both of them had popped the champagne early, but the others succeeded, while he repeatedly suffered humiliation. Truly infuriating...
After Lu Qiufeng's remark, the other teachers present looked at Wang Yuanqing with a fair amount of mockery and amusement.
No one liked an ungrateful wretch, and no one liked a ridiculous clown who spoke nonsense.
Unfortunately, Wang Yuanqing happened to embody both.
Through Wang Yuanqing's clownish performance, these teachers from different schools had become utterly convinced of what Lu Qiufeng had said.
This Wang Yuanqing truly was like the person Lu Qiufeng had described.
When Wang Yuanqing noticed the burning gazes of these teachers, no matter how thick his skin, he could no longer bear to stay.
He had tried to open his mouth multiple times, to say something to regain some face, but finding that no one was paying him any attention, he could only sheepishly leave the stands.
As for Su Chen, who was on the stage, he had fallen into a state of unconsciousness and was taken off the stage for treatment.
The Demon Sword Swallowing Heaven was also removed from the scene.
Watching the Demon Sword Swallowing Heaven move away from him, Lin Ran remained completely unfazed.
With the sword strike that combined the three powers of Susanoo, he had used the ability of the Surgery-Surgery Fruit to forcibly sever about 15% of the evil soul's essence and sealed it within his Soul Ring.
Lying next to this soul fragment were the hearts of Zhao Wudi and others.
This special sealing effect, achieved through the Surgery-Surgery Fruit, was absolutely safe as long as Lin Ran himself did not tamper with it, so Lin Ran had no need to worry about Zhao Wudi and the others.
On the contrary, because their hearts were constantly receiving nurturing within Lin Ran's seal, the cultivation speed of Zhao Wudi and the others had actually increased, which could be considered an unexpected joy for them.
The evil soul was already in a state of ruin. Forget 15% of its essence, it wouldn't give up even 1.5%.
Therefore, this evil soul would definitely try every means to approach him, using negotiation or force, to reclaim the portion of its soul that Lin Ran had taken.
It would be too late to deal with it slowly then!
Lin Ran stretched leisurely.