Han Juefeng’s eyes lit up the instant Li Yun agreed.
"Excellent!"
He threw his head back and laughed wildly, excitement running through every word.
"Very good! Li Yun, you’re destined to lose today, and once this fight ends, your name will vanish from the Genius Training Camp for good."
The moment he finished speaking, Han Juefeng moved, though he did not charge at Li Yun. Instead, he flipped his palm over.
"Purple Heaven Guardian Bell!"
Clang!
A deep toll rolled across the arena as an ancient bronze bell materialized above his head. Mysterious violet patterns covered its surface, and thick strands of violet qi poured down from it like hanging curtains until they wrapped around him completely.
The barrier looked thin and almost translucent, yet the pressure coming off it made many spectators narrow their eyes, because the Purple Heaven Guardian Bell alone was already an astonishing defensive artifact.
Han Juefeng was only getting started, however.
"Ninefold Scarlet Flame Battle Armor!"
Boom!
Roaring crimson flames burst out around his body, and a scarlet suit of armor rose from within them and covered him from head to toe in an instant. Layer after layer of fire circulated across its surface, forming a second defensive field beneath the violet barrier, and only his eyes remained exposed.
Before the crowd could recover from their surprise, a third object appeared in his hand, a deep-blue formation flag.
"Thousand Waves Spirit Barrier Formation!"
He waved the flag violently.
Hualala!
The sound of surging waves echoed across the arena as deep-blue ripples spread out around him one after another. They quickly condensed into layers of flowing water and formed a massive spherical barrier outside both the Scarlet Flame Battle Armor and the violet qi descending from the bell.
Water, fire, and violet qi. Three completely different defensive powers now enclosed Han Juefeng in three separate layers, and in the space of only a few breaths he had turned himself into something close to an impenetrable fortress. A smug smile spread across his face.
At almost the same moment, Lei Xuankong and several others among the spectators traded satisfied looks. Everything had been arranged in advance, and in their eyes Li Yun had already lost.
"That bell..."
Someone in the audience recognized it, and his expression changed sharply.
"Isn’t that Qin Fenglie’s Purple Heaven Guardian Bell?"
Another person stared at the armor around Han Juefeng.
"And that’s the Ninefold Scarlet Flame Battle Armor. It belongs to Luo Changye, and he treats that thing like his own life. He actually lent it out?"
"Look at the formation as well. The Thousand Waves Spirit Barrier Formation is Jiang Haoran’s, and it’s one of the main reasons he made it into the top fifty."
Shock spread through the audience, and then that shock slowly turned into realization.
"So that’s what’s going on."
"No wonder Han Juefeng dared to wager his future in the Genius Training Camp."
"He prepared for this fight well in advance and borrowed defensive treasures from several top-fifty geniuses."
"This was never meant to be a fair match."
The longer everyone looked at Han Juefeng, the clearer the picture became. In pure combat strength he clearly had no confidence in beating Li Yun, so he had taken a different route. If he could not surpass Li Yun himself, he would borrow enough treasures to make up the difference.
The Purple Heaven Guardian Bell had extraordinary defensive power, the Ninefold Scarlet Flame Battle Armor was another peak defensive artifact, and the Thousand Waves Spirit Barrier Formation was even more troublesome, since it could keep weakening incoming attacks through layer after layer of flowing spiritual water.
Any one of them was difficult to break, and with all three stacked together, even an attack from a perfection-stage Spirit Manifestation Realm 3rd level expert would struggle to punch through. Before he had even thrown a single strike, Han Juefeng had apparently placed himself in an unbeatable position.
"Despicable."
Huang Tianze snorted coldly, his expression souring. He had expected Han Juefeng to come with a few tricks, but even he had not imagined this level of shamelessness.
Bai Yuchen’s face turned colder still. His gaze left Han Juefeng and settled directly on Lei Xuankong.
"Lei Xuankong, you certainly prepared well."
Lei Xuankong laughed out loud.
"Brother Bai, what are you talking about? Connections are a kind of strength too. If Han Juefeng can talk others into lending him their spiritual artifacts, that only proves he’s capable." He spread his hands innocently. "What does any of this have to do with me?"
"You..."
Bai Yuchen’s eyes grew colder, since he naturally did not believe a single word of it. Han Juefeng was vicious and arrogant, but he was not the sort of person who could organize something this elaborate on his own, and Lei Xuankong was almost certainly the one standing behind it all.
Bai Yuchen glanced toward Li Yun. If this had been a fair duel, he would have said nothing even if Li Yun lost, but several top geniuses had clearly joined hands behind the scenes to bring down one person, and that was something else entirely.
Strangely enough, Li Yun himself looked calmer than anyone else in the arena. Standing across from Han Juefeng, he quietly studied the three defensive barriers without a trace of anger or nervousness on his face. If anything, his expression only grew more relaxed.
Han Juefeng noticed and frowned.
Then Li Yun spoke.
"So this is what gave you the courage to challenge me?"
Han Juefeng sneered.
"Li Yun, do you think this is my whole trump card?" His laughter grew more arrogant. "Wrong. This is only the beginning."
He lifted his chin slightly. "You should understand something. Inside this Genius Training Camp, far more than two or three people want to see you ruined."
As he spoke, he flipped his palm over once more.
Buzz!
A purple seal appeared in his hand, and dense strands of lightning immediately erupted around it. Purple arcs crawled across its surface like living serpents while an increasingly terrifying energy gathered inside, and the moment it appeared, the air itself turned restless.

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