A wild pressure crashed down upon everyone, causing the barrier to ripple as waves of devil pressure passed through it, unfurling throughout the spectator stands.
“What a terrifying pressure!” Frightened cries rang out. Most Divine Venerates felt suffocated by this pressure, and some of them felt like their heads were splitting apart.
“The twenty-first stage’s pressure is too strong! The pressure inside the barrier would probably crush me to death!” exclaimed a Divine Venerate.
According to the star cloud martial stage’s rules, the realm of the spectators could not be lower than the participants. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be allowed in. In truth, this was to protect them as weaklings would be directly crushed by the pressure.
“Most terrifying of all, this is just the start. It’s going to get worse.”
The Divine Venerates continued to bitterly endure the pressure. They had no choice but to do so as they had already bought their seats. While there was a button in their seat that would safely send them out, once they left, they wouldn’t be allowed back in. Also, the price for these seats was so high that even rich Divine Venerates felt pain at the thought of wasting it.
As the martial stage continued to shake, more runes lit up on the bricks. The space on the stage started to twist as the pressure continued to climb.
Long Chen simply stood there with his arms behind his back. This kind of devil pressure barely affected him, and no one knew what kind of power he was using to negate it.
Having fought against the devil race for so many years, Long Chen was impervious to the devil pressure on this level. He simply stood there, staring at the fully equipped Cao Shaoqing.
“Long Chen, do you think others can’t see that you’re using tricks to shield yourself from the devil pressure? There’s no way that you’ll be leaving the martial stage alive,” taunted Cao Shaoqing. His helmet concealed most of his face, leaving only his scarlet eyes visible. The vertical pupils in his eyes were particularly eerie and intimidating.
“You think I’m unaffected by the devil pressure because I’m cheating?” Long Chen sneered. “Alright, you can think it’s cheating. To tell the truth, I actually thought that you were somewhat strong. Now, I am just disappointed.”
“You think you can taunt me this way? How foolish,” sneered Cao Shaoqing.
“You overestimate yourself. Boss Long San disdains doing such a thing. In truth, you already lost the moment you put on that battle armor,” replied Long Chen lightly.
“Hahaha!” Cao Shaoqing laughed. “How interesting. I’ve never seen someone so arrogant before. Let’s see if your mouth can remain so tough as I tear you apart piece by piece.”
Suddenly, Cao Shaoqing took a step forward, causing the space around him to twist. He visibly struggled against the terrifying devil pressure, with runes seemingly pushing against him.
In response, Long Chen also took a step forward, causing the space around him to twist similarly. However, when Long Chen moved, the spectators—including Cao Guofeng, Gao Jianli, and the masters of the Yellow Spring Pavilion and Heaven Heart Hall—gasped in astonishment.
As Cao Shaoqing stepped forward, he repelled the devil pressure runes around him. However, when Long Chen advanced, those devil runes fled from him as if afraid.
“Interesting.” Xing Wujiang smiled beneath his cloak.
With a satisfied smile, Yu Luo explained, “Long Chen has slain countless experts of the devil race, which allows him to establish an indomitable domain. Those runes are now completely subdued in his presence.”
“Race Leader, I have a question. Long Chen is only a Divine Venerate, but those runes originated from Heaven Saint devil creatures. How did he fend them off?” asked Lu Ziqiong.
This was the question in many people’s heads. How could a Divine Venerate disciple suppress Heaven Saint runes? It simply didn’t make sense and did not fit in the laws of the cultivation world.
Yu Luo responded, “For such a phenomenon to appear, I believe that there are two possibilities: one is that Long Chen has killed so many devil creatures that it triggered a qualitative change. The other possibility is that while these devil runes originated from Heaven Saint devil creatures, those devil creatures are already dead, so their will has long since vanished. While the stage can produce the Blood Qi pressure, it lacks the soul pressure. As a result, in front of Long Chen’s devil slaughter domain, they instinctively run. That is why there is such an inconceivable phenomenon playing out.”
Mo Nian nodded when he heard her explanation. Her deduction should be correct.
Mo Nian could also sense that while the devil pressure was strong, it was unable to pose substantial harm, perhaps for everyone’s sake. After all, if the will of the devil creatures survived, this kind of pressure could be fatal to many of them.
Long Chen and Cao Shaoqing continued to move forward. Long Chen’s footsteps were incredibly light, like a dragonfly touching the water. On the other hand, Cao Shaoqing’s footsteps were incredibly heavy, shaking the earth with every step.
However, in either case, neither of them paused. As they continued onward, the pressure of the martial stage gradually climbed.
The barrier around the stage also started to swell as devil qi spread from the barrier. Even though it was just a bit, it still horrified the spectators. If the barrier wasn’t there, this pressure would crush them flat.
“Shut your mouth and watch! The barrier won’t explode!” roared Cao Guofeng, annoyed with all the ruckus coming from the spectators.
Those spectators instantly went pale and shut their mouths, not wanting to anger him.
At this moment, Gao Jianli said, “Gate Master Cao, you are wrong. The star cloud martial stage isn’t yours; it is the public property of Devil Fall City. Others can say whatever they want here, as long as it is within the rules of the star cloud martial stage. No one has a right to order them around. For you to be so anxious and temperamental, others might think that you’re afraid of Long Chen.”
Cao Guofeng was instantly enraged and leaped to his feet, causing everyone’s nerves to instantly tense.