At that moment, wrapped and wreathed in blazing red aura, Shi Jin's hair was dyed red in an instant and his pupils turned to Crimson Eyes, his spirit energy flaring like the flames of the sun, glittering and radiant. In that instant his whole frame seemed at once more gaunt and more powerful, as though he had stepped into the realm of gods.

Such a transformation left the watching beast tamers speechless; for a brief while they could only stare, blank and still.

"Thirty-one seconds."

From then on, every second counted, each one a critical moment. Counting it off himself, Shi Jin kept bursting with might—and now, having helped Eleven withstand the lord-level intimidation, Eleven in his suppressed state joined the fray, leaping down as his body slowly began to grow.

"ROAR!!!"

Shi Jin was up front holding off the intimidation. Behind him, Eleven went in an instant from a little Iron-Eating Beast of some thirty centimeters to a colossal beast over a dozen meters tall, and all of it happened within half a second. Amid the flame-lit aura, Shi Zhuo raised his head slightly and his body floated up of its own accord; at the same moment, Eleven the colossus reached out an arm, extending an enormous palm for Shi Jin to land upon.

"In the middle of a fight that might be hard to pull off. But right now..."

"Thirty-two seconds!"

BOOM!

The intimidation intensified further. In his Possession state, Shi Jin again felt the immense pressure, sensed that he and little Crimson Eye could not quite bear it—but in that instant, the light of evolution blazed directly upon Eleven.

Once more a sight that made every eye go wide: beneath the white light of evolution, the little Iron-Eating Beast's body swelled further still, and in the blink of an eye reached a towering height of fifty or sixty meters, rivaling the stone pillar itself—an immense bulk that left all who saw it shaken.

"This..."

And all the while, Shi Jin still stood upon the palm steeped in the light of evolution, pitting the Yang Flame of himself and Crimson Eye against the deterrent force. The next instant, Eleven's evolved form stood revealed in full: a colossal beast fifty or sixty meters tall, its whole body clad in armor of interwoven black and silver, its blue pupils surveying the stone pillar with a look of disdain.

Now, as the light of evolution faded, what replaced that white radiance was violent thunder bursting from within the Nine Li Battle Beast—blue-white lightning that in an instant condensed into armor of the Thunder God, sheathing Eleven from head to toe and streaming in unison toward Shi Jin standing upon its palm!

In that moment, Shi Jin's expression was composed; he raised his arm high, a blade of flame gathering in his hand, and slowly brought it down.

With a great crash, the flame aura upon Shi Jin instantly merged with the lightning. In that moment Shi Jin was wreathed both in blue lightning and in the flowing orange-red Yang Flame; beneath the braiding of these two crossing powers, Shi Ying's momentum rose to yet another height!

With the Sword of Interlace at its core, the sword-pressure that fused the power of thunder and the power of Yang Flame unleashed strength beyond all limits in an instant.

BOOM!!!

In a flash, the domain of thunder-flame sword-pressure bloomed before Shi Jin; the vast thunder-flame force, piercing the heavens, ground against the earth-brown intimidation condensed by the stone pillar, and the stunning clamor of their collision rang out without cease, leaving the crowd staring dumbstruck at Shi Jin atop the colossal beast's palm.

Many knew that Shi Jin was an Iron-Eating Beast rider.

But in their minds, they still pictured him riding a giant panda, a wooden sword in hand.

Now, though, borne up by a colossus dozens of meters tall, with the power bursting from Jue's body, the sight in this moment shook their whole worldview.

"Energy value: one point five million."

Even Lu Heng, that jewel among prodigies, contracted her pupils. With the fusion of the Sword of Interlace, the lightning of Eleven's full-level giant-form blade and the Yang Flame of Crimson Eye produced an effect of one plus one far greater than two, forming a thunder-flame force of absurdly high power grade, and Shi Jin's energy underwent a qualitative change!!

"Thirty-three seconds!"

Shi Jue Gu's body was gradually taking serious injuries under the tearing of the thunder-flame power, yet he spoke with some excitement. This pressure was nothing next to Mu Huiyin's trial; he could bear it. He stared straight at the stone pillar, thinking that to match Bai Xi might be hard, but to come close—surely not impossible?

BOOM!

In that second, the clash of the two forces reached a truly preposterous pitch, leaving the spectators slack-jawed and the record-keeper hardly able to believe it, glancing sidelong at Shi Yun.

In this moment, every millisecond was worth revisiting. Golden flame filled the sky, lightning flickered, and the thunder-flame force erupting from Shi Jin wove directly against the intimidation emitted by the stone pillar to produce black lightning!!!

Rumble—the stone pillar shook!

The violence of the collision was even more exaggerated than Lu Heng's had been.

Yet no one noticed that within the great stone pillar atop the arena, a special program had, at this moment, unexpectedly been activated.

As though Shi Jin, challenging the deterrent atop the arena, had by chance met some hidden condition.

At this very moment, Shi Jin was willing to call the Iron-Eating Beast Rider's Thunder-Flame Form the strongest tactic of all!!!

"Is that all? Next..."

Just as Shi Jin meant to press on toward the thirty-fourth second, just as everyone was watching Shi Jin's dazzling display atop the Nine Li Battle Beast's palm in utter disbelief, a sudden anomaly arose!

RUMBLE!

"Crack."

Upon the great arena, the stone pillar suddenly gave a "crack"—and split open.

At the same time, the pillar's deterrent force frantically withdrew, and its trembling grew more pronounced, cracks appearing upon it without cease, striking the entire crowd dumb and blank-faced.

"Holy shit!" At the sight of this change, Shi Cen was jolted with fright.

The mighty and domineering Eleven and he alike gave a violent shudder, instantly cowed, with no idea what had suddenly happened.

The beast tamers watching from the crowd, and the two masters recording the results, all gaped in an instant.

Holy shit.

What just happened?

The trial stone left behind by the Martial Emperor—the stone pillar has cracked?

Even if Shi Jin is fierce, surely not to this extent...

Below, Bai Xi had been marveling at Jue's performance, but as the anomaly unfolded before her eyes, she too froze abruptly, somewhat dumbfounded, unable to tell what had happened.

Only Lu Heng spoke up calmly from the side: "You can go explain it to Feng Jin yourself. You were the one who wanted to bring Shi Jin to the Martial Combat Tournament, and the ones responsible for guarding the Martial Emperor Ruins... are your Bai family as well. I know nothing. I know nothing at all..."

Bai Xi: ???

She looked at the stone pillar on the arena, shedding bits of debris, and at Shi Yan, who stood there utterly dumbfounded. Though she had no idea what had happened, the mask of agony instantly slid into place. Shi Jin... Shi Jin...

Thinking back on Feng Jin's instructions, on how Feng Jin had said it would be better for Shi Jin to stay quietly at school—Bai Xi had thought it an overreaction at the time, but now, in an instant, she understood. What a painful understanding...

"Ah!!!!"