Chapter 82: A Desperate Struggle (2)

It was precisely because of the appearance of the tattered shadow of the Yanluo Hall that Xiao Yan’s aura began to surge wildly.

[Detected: Fragmented Yanluo Hall of the Plane. Spend one hundred thousand Soul Points to devour it. The effects after devouring are unknown. Would the host like to spend twenty thousand Soul Points to devour it?]

Just as Lin An was pondering, resolved to risk everything, the system’s prompt sounded suddenly in his mind.

“What’s going on? Can this thing be devoured by the system directly?” Lin An was a bit dumbfounded. If that were truly possible, it would save him no small amount of trouble.

At the very least, the only reason Xiao Yan still retained any strength was because of the power granted by the shadow of the Yanluo Hall.

If he could directly devour this shattered Yanluo Hall, Xiao Yan’s trump card would be gone, and he might be instantly reduced to his original state.

With that, Lin An issued his command in his mind, spending one hundred thousand Soul Points to devour the Yanluo Hall under Xiao Yan’s control.

One hundred thousand Soul Points was nearly all Lin An’s reserves, yet after using them, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of regret.

He believed that once the Yanluo Hall was successfully devoured, the rewards he would reap would far exceed the value of those points.

Seeing Lin An frozen in place, Xiao Yan thought he had already resigned himself to defeat.

He would not waste this chance to kill Lin An outright.

Although this was not quite like what he imagined when he first came to the Misty Cloud Sect—he hadn’t managed to utterly crush Lin An without resistance—so long as he was the final victor, everything would be worth it.

With a humming sound—

Three kinds of Heavenly Flames were once again summoned by Xiao Yan. Along with them, a dragon’s shadow appeared behind him.

Its mouth opened to spit out a terrifying phantom flame, which merged with the three Heavenly Flames, finally transforming into a lifelike crimson true dragon.

The energy contained within the true dragon was terrifying beyond measure. At Xiao Yan’s feet, the ground rapidly melted into boiling magma at a speed visible to the naked eye, all due to proximity to the crimson dragon.

At the same time, the magma slowly spread outward.

Yet even now, Lin An remained rooted to the spot, not daring to move a muscle.

“What’s going on? Why is Lin An just standing there? Could it be that after the recent battle, he’s already lost his strength to fight?”

Even Nalan Yanran, watching from the sidelines, could feel the dreadful heat and energy. If Lin An stayed where he was and allowed the crimson dragon to touch him, he would likely be reduced to dust on the spot, dying instantly.

“Don’t worry. I believe that, no matter the situation, young master will always find a way. When have you ever seen young master give up easily?”

“He must have his own plans.”

Yao Chen’s words rang hollow even to himself, but to comfort Nalan Yanran, he held on to hope until the very last moment, not knowing what the outcome would be.

“Brother Lin An, why are you still just standing there? Kill this traitor Xiao Yan already!”

“No way! Has Brother Lin An really lost the will to resist? Otherwise, why would he just stand there and wait for death?”

“Though I hate to believe it, the victor and loser may soon be clear!”

...

Many among the spectators, who could still bear to watch, looked worriedly at Lin An, unable to understand why he would suddenly give up.

Some even shouted Lin An’s name, hoping he would snap out of it and strike Xiao Yan down.

If Lin An had died in the heat of battle, they might have accepted it. But to die like this, they could not bear to witness.

“Out of strength and waiting to die, are you?” Xiao Yan felt something was off, but couldn’t pinpoint it.

Soon, his concerns faded. As long as Lin An was struck by his attack, even a celestial immortal would be doomed.

With that conviction, the flame dragon, formed from the perfect fusion of dragon flame and Heavenly Flames, flew straight at Lin An.

Many couldn’t bear to see Lin An turned to ash and closed their eyes.

Even Yao Chen could find no words to comfort Nalan Yanran at this moment.

He even considered intervening to save Lin An from Xiao Yan’s hands, but in the end, he restrained himself.

Just when everyone was certain of Lin An’s imminent death, and the mighty true dragon was about to reach him—it suddenly vanished.

Leaving the crowd utterly dumbfounded.

Even Xiao Yan was stunned.

Clearly, not even he had expected such a bizarre disappearance of his attack.

“How did you do that?” Xiao Yan hadn’t finished speaking when another shock came to his ears.

[System has been stripped. Everything the host gained from the system will now disappear...]

It was gone. The system he’d always believed made him unique among all those on the Continent of Battle Qi had disappeared. Along with it vanished the Heavenly Flames, battle techniques, and the Dragon Transformation, leaving only his true cultivation and alchemist rank.

If not for today’s life-and-death duel, as a sixth-rank alchemist and a one-star Dou King, he could have lived well on the continent, respected by all. But now, without the Heavenly Flames and his trump cards, he was doomed to die by Lin An’s hand.

In that instant, the entire situation was reversed.

“This can’t be. What did you do to me?” Xiao Yan roared at Lin An in disbelief, no longer caring about pride.

What had happened?

That was what everyone wondered. From the start, Lin An had done nothing at all—in the eyes of the crowd, his death was a foregone conclusion.

Who could have predicted such a reversal at the final moment?

But seeing Xiao Yan’s rage and panic, no one believed nothing had happened.

“I knew young master would turn danger into safety in the end.” Yao Chen’s worst fears had not come to pass, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Nalan Yanran felt likewise. If Lin An had died, she would have lost the will to live on.

Yet she could not understand how Lin An had done it.

Had he stored the Heavenly Flames inside the Yanluo Hall?

That seemed the only explanation to Nalan Yanran.

“In the end, it seems my skills surpassed yours, Xiao Yan... You have lost,” Lin An said, looking at Xiao Yan.

“So what if the Yanluo Hall is gone? Do you really think you can defeat me now? Even if I die, I’ll take you with me.”

As Xiao Yan finished speaking, another figure appeared beside him—a puppet, one with the strength of a Dou Sect.

At this moment, Xiao Yan was making his final, desperate struggle.