Chapter 24: The Entire Audience Shocked, Senior Brother Liu Yuan, Are You Still Human?
A suffocating silence blanketed the competition arena. Not a single breath could be heard. The only thing lingering in the air was the thick, metallic stench of fresh blood.
Panic gripped the surrounding Body Sect disciples. Several of the younger members clamped their hands over their mouths, their eyes wide with raw horror as they stared at the gruesome scene.
The reality of the situation crashed down on them. To a Spirit Master, the hands were everything. Without them, channeling spirit power, executing martial techniques, or engaging in close-quarters combat became impossible. Even an ordinary mortal would be reduced to a helpless cripple. To see a peerless genius reduced to this state was a tragedy beyond words.
"Senior Brother Liu Yuan..." Chen Lu muttered, all the color draining from his face. "Is he really ruined? Just like that?"
Beside him, Wang Yanfeng trembled. "He is a Gold-grade peerless genius. Why would he resort to such a suicidal tactic?" He stared at the blood on the stone floor, completely unable to comprehend the sheer madness Liu Yuan had just displayed.
Across the arena, Long Aotian remained slumped against the protective wall. The immense kinetic force of Liu Yuan's eye beam had blasted him entirely out of bounds. Yet, he ignored the sharp, burning ache radiating from his chest.
Pushing off the ground, Long Aotian vaulted over the boundary line. He moved like a madman, his heavy boots slamming into the stone tiles right in front of Liu Yuan.
The sight of the severed limbs and the pooling crimson tore at his conscience. The normally stoic and composed Chief Disciple looked utterly devastated. His rugged features twisted into a mask of extreme guilt.
"Junior Brother..." Long Aotian's voice cracked. His fists clenched so tightly at his sides that his fingernails bit into his own flesh, drawing blood. "I am sorry. I swear I tried to pull back..."
A simple sparring match. A session meant for guidance and mutual improvement. He never imagined it would end in such a permanent, tragic mutilation.
"Liu Yuan!"
A roar of absolute fury shattered the silence. The oppressive aura of a top-tier powerhouse crashed down on the arena, heavy enough to buckle the knees of the surrounding disciples. Poison Undying descended from the sky like a raging green hurricane, slamming into the center of the stage.
The Level 98 Super Douluo was livid. The usual fervent pride in his eyes had been entirely replaced by a storm of wrath and deep heartache.
He whipped his head toward the bleeding youth, his voice booming like thunder. "Foolishness! Absolute foolishness! A spar between fellow disciples is meant to stop before the breaking point. Do you not understand the rules of engagement?"
Poison Undying took a heavy step forward, his aura flaring wildly. "Why would you be so reckless? To throw away your entire future for the sake of a meaningless victory! Are you even worthy of the heaven-defying talent you possess?!"
The sheer force of the Sect Master's anger caused the very foundations of the arena to tremble. The spiritual pressure of a supreme expert washed over the crowd in suffocating waves.
Yet, in the face of his master's thunderous rage and his senior brother's crushing guilt, the blood-soaked youth did not cower. Instead, the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
A low chuckle escaped his lips, quickly building into a hearty, unbothered laugh.
Liu Yuan raised his head. His complexion was pale from the rapid blood loss, yet his strange, overlapping Double Pupils held no trace of despair. Instead, they gleamed with the sharp, calculating light of a hunter who had just watched his prey step perfectly into a trap.
"Master, Senior Brother," Liu Yuan said, his voice steady despite the agonizing pain flaring from his ruined arms. "There is no need to be so anxious. Just watch."
Poison Undying furrowed his brows. He opened his mouth, fully prepared to continue berating this arrogant, reckless disciple.
But the words died in his throat.
At Liu Yuan's feet, a deep purple spirit ring suddenly flared to life. The thousand-year ring pulsed with a dazzling, hypnotic radiance.
"Second Spirit Ability," Liu Yuan declared, his voice cutting through the stunned silence. "Undying Body."
A vibrant, emerald light erupted from his Double Pupils. The aura of life force was so dense it almost looked like liquid jade, cascading down from his eyes and instantly enveloping his entire figure.
Then, the impossible happened.
Under the wide, disbelieving eyes of thousands of Body Sect disciples, the jagged, bone-exposed stumps of Liu Yuan's wrists began to shift. Countless fine granules of flesh and muscle fiber squirmed and extended outward, weaving together at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Shattered bone fragments lengthened and reshaped themselves. Severed meridians knitted back together, pulsing with fresh spirit power. Muscle, tissue, and flesh rapidly regenerated, blooming outward like a flower of pure vitality.
In the span of a few short breaths, the hands that had been completely obliterated by Long Aotian's axe were back. The newly formed skin was smooth and pristine, carrying a faint, jade-like luster that made it look even more resilient than before.
The entire audience froze.
The sheer visual impact of watching a human regrow their limbs from nothing caused a collective mental shutdown across the arena.
The Body Sect specialized in the mysteries of the human form. They were the absolute authority on physical enhancement. Yet, not a single disciple present had ever heard of a spirit ability capable of achieving instant, flawless limb regeneration in such a domineering manner.
'Senior Brother Liu Yuan...'a collective thought echoed through the crowd.'Are you even human anymore?'
Poison Undying and Long Aotian stood rooted to the spot. The two mighty experts stared at the pristine hands, completely stripped of their ability to speak.
Poison Undying was the first to snap out of his daze. He closed the distance in a single stride and grabbed Liu Yuan's newly regenerated wrists. His large, calloused hands squeezed the flesh, his fingers pressing deep into the muscle to feel the steady, powerful pulse of blood and the flawless texture of the skin.
"Intact..." Poison Undying muttered, his voice barely a whisper. The raging storm of anger in his eyes vanished entirely, replaced by a burning, fanatical amazement. "It is actually perfectly intact!"
He traced the flow of energy beneath the boy's skin. "Not only has the physical flesh grown back, but the meridians are flawless. There is absolutely no lag in your spirit power circulation. This... this is a miracle!"
Long Aotian stumbled forward, his gaze locked onto the hands he had just destroyed with his own martial soul. "Junior Brother..." he rasped, his throat dry. "What exactly is going on? Is that the power of your second spirit ring?"
Liu Yuan slowly flexed his newborn fingers, curling them into a fist and releasing them. He could feel a noticeable drain on his mental force, but his physical state was perfect. He looked up at the two men. "That is correct, Senior Brother. This is my second spirit ability, Undying Body."
He gestured to the purple ring fading at his feet. "I obtained this ring from a thousand-year Soul Spider. Its core attribute is extreme regeneration. The activation condition is tied directly to my spiritual sea. As long as my mental force is not completely exhausted, no matter how catastrophic the physical trauma my body sustains, I can achieve infinite rebirth."
Liu Yuan shifted his gaze to Poison Undying, a faint, confident smile playing on his lips. "So, you see, Master. I was not being reckless at all."
"I know the exact upper limits of my own abilities. During that final clash, my mental force was still incredibly abundant. With that level of reserves, a mere double amputation could not kill me, nor could it leave me crippled. It was a calculated trade."
Poison Undying, Long Aotian, and every single disciple listening from the stands were struck dumb.
Everyone in the Body Sect understood that Body Martial Souls were bizarre and highly varied. But an ability that essentially granted a true immortal body as long as the user's mind remained intact? It completely shattered their understanding of the spirit master world.
, Liu Yuan's martial soul was his Spirit Eyes. What possible connection did an 'Undying Body' have with a pair of eyes? The sheer absurdity of the mutation left them reeling.
"If his mental force is inexhaustible, then his physical body is undying..." Gu Tong muttered from the crowd, shaking his head with a bitterly amused smile. "How is anyone supposed to fight a monster like that? We both possess eye-type martial souls, but his existence is just completely unfair."
As the reality of Liu Yuan's miraculous recovery settled in, the suffocating tension that had gripped the arena finally shattered.
The disciples let out long, shuddering exhales, releasing the pent-up dread from their lungs. Many reached back to find their robes entirely soaked in cold sweat.
"You nearly scared us to death!" Chen Lu shouted from the edge of the stage, his voice cracking slightly. "Senior Brother Liu Yuan, can we please not play for such high stakes next time?!"
His outburst drew a chorus of relieved laughter and good-natured agreement from the surrounding crowd.
The joy in the air was genuine. If a peerless genius—a monster rarely seen even once in ten thousand years—had truly been ruined over a simple spar, it would have been an incalculable, devastating loss for the entire Body Sect.
Liu Yuan turned his attention back to Long Aotian. He extended his newly regenerated right hand toward the older youth, a teasing glint in his Double Pupils. "Senior Brother, I admit I relied on a rather extreme trick at the end. But you saw the result. I believe that makes me the victor of this match."
Long Aotian stared at the offered hand for a long moment. Then, the tension bled out of his shoulders, and he let out a loud, magnanimous laugh.
Reaching out, he slapped his palm against Liu Yuan's in a heavy, resounding high-five.
"I lost," Long Aotian declared, his tone shifting to one of solemn respect. "And I am utterly convinced of my defeat."
He offered no excuses. It was true that he had fought with a cautious mindset from the very beginning, constantly holding back his lethal power out of fear of permanently injuring his junior brother.
But the reality of the battlefield cared nothing for intentions. Liu Yuan had ruthlessly exploited that hesitation, forcing out Long Aotian's fourth spirit ability and using a terrifying, suicidal resolve to blast him entirely out of the arena bounds.
"Junior Brother, you are far more terrifying than I ever anticipated," Long Aotian said, his voice thick with genuine admiration.
"I am three years older than you. I possess an entire world of cultivation and two more spirit rings over you. Yet, you still managed to force me into such a miserable state."
He shook his head, a wry smile forming. "I dare say, if we were fighting at the exact same spirit power rank today, you would have beaten me so badly I wouldn't even know which way the sky was."
Poison Undying stood to the side, watching his two most outstanding disciples exchange words of mutual respect. The fervent, burning pride returned to his eyes. He could hardly contain the immense satisfaction swelling in his chest.
However, as one of the supreme powerhouses of the current era, he would never allow his disciples to grow complacent with blind praise.
"Liu Yuan," Poison Undying spoke up, his tone sobering instantly. "You fought with the true, unyielding aura of our Body Sect today. But you must guard your heart against arrogance and impetuosity."
The Sect Master's gaze turned sharp, dissecting the battle with terrifying precision. "During that final clash, at the exact moment you activated your eye beam at point-blank range, there was a microscopic delay in your spirit power circulation. A gap of roughly zero point three seconds. That flaw was born from your insufficient proficiency in the 'Circulation Guidance' route detailed within the Body Secret Method."
Liu Yuan immediately dropped his teasing smile. He stood up straight, his expression turning solemn as he absorbed Poison Undying's critique, etching every single detail into his mind.
To him, the victory over Long Aotian was merely a secondary bonus. The true wealth of this sparring match lay in these exact moments—the direct, uncompromising guidance from a Super Douluo that cut straight to the core of his weaknesses.
With the conclusion of the sparring match, the Body Sect slowly returned to its usual, secluded tranquility.
However, the shockwaves of that battle lingered. Liu Yuan's terrifying display of instant limb regeneration and that devastating scarlet ray became the stuff of legend. It was the sole topic of conversation among the disciples during their meals and evening breaks.
In the days that followed, Liu Yuan completely shut out the outside world. He rejected all social visits and external interference. He did not even spare a second glance at the official documents from the Heavenly Soul Empire, which formally granted him the noble title and fiefdom of 'Baron Qinghe'.
Instead, he secluded himself within the quiet walls of Tingtao Pavilion. He sat upon his meditation mat day and night, his mind entirely focused on his cultivation, as still and unmoving as an ancient monk.
His routine became absolute. Every day, he consumed massive quantities of high-rank spirit beast meat to replenish his vital qi and blood. The moment the fiery energy hit his stomach, he would frantically circulate the Body Secret Method. He pushed his body to the absolute limit, constantly tearing and widening his meridians to accommodate greater volumes of spirit power, all while continuously refining the terrifying ocular power hidden within his bewitching Double Pupils.
The seasons shifted outside his window, but inside the pavilion, time seemed to blur into a single, monotonous cycle of grueling hardship and steady growth.
In the blink of an eye, an entire month quietly slipped away.
Deep within Tingtao Pavilion, the statue-like figure of Liu Yuan suddenly snapped his eyes open.
Within his irises, the two distinct pupils instantly overlapped, locking together with a sharp, mechanical precision. A heavy, suffocating wave of spirit power erupted from his core, sweeping outward in a concussive ring that sounded faintly like the deep, rumbling roar of a dragon.
He took a slow, measured breath, feeling the dense river of energy surging through his widened meridians. It was thicker, faster, and infinitely more powerful than before. A satisfied smile curled the corners of his mouth.
At this very moment, his spirit power had officially broken through to Rank 27.
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