Exclamations of regret followed, along with cheers for Li Zhenyue.
However, at that moment, from the old farmer behind Luo Yu, an unusual green glow suddenly began to radiate.
The green luminescence spread outward.
The tower's water and fire, the force of thunder and lightning, could not erode a single bit of it, all were repelled outside.
"What's going on?"
Li Zhenyue also furrowed his brow, "What kind of technique is this?"
"The magnificent force of life, impervious to thunder and flames, such a strong vitality!" Instructor Yang Cang with white hair exclaimed from below the stage.
Only a powerful expert of his age and cultivation could perceive what the magnificent green glow signified.
"What is this young fellow doing? Even I am somewhat curious."
"What kind of technique?" Luo Yu revealed a smile that seemed to disdain the whole world, "Have you ever heard that the earth nurtures all living things, and Shennong..."
"Immortal!"
"What?" Li Zhenyue's pupils shrank sharply.
Teachers and students familiar with ancient legends felt their hearts tremble instantly, while those who did not understand remained confused.
Li Zhenyue frantically mustered his spiritual power, activating the Exquisite Pagoda.
The pressure rose layer by layer, enough to flatten any steel, but it couldn't harm Luo Yu in the slightest.
"Boom!"
When the green glow expanded to its limit, it suddenly transformed, turning entirely into endless golden light, the purest golden radiance.
It was filled with sanctity and majesty.
Luo Yu had an august presence, and his eyes emitted an unattainable majesty, his voice solemn.
"Inviting Li Tianwang is not bad," he said.
"But it's just not bad."
"But to think of suppressing me with this, the authority is still lacking, far too much so."
"Now, I call upon—"
"Shennong, Emperor Yan!"
"Roar!"
Within the Xuanhuang Linglong Tower, a clear dragon's cry echoed, and the majestic golden light instantly transformed into nine distinct Five-Clawed Golden Dragons with clearly visible scales.
The old farmer with his dark skin and hunched figure cleansed off his mortal disguise in an instant, changing his appearance dramatically.
The tattered rags disappeared, replaced by imperial robes, each thread outlining magnificent landscapes, golden dragons, and phoenixes.
He had once bent his body to taste hundreds of herbs for the children of the land of Shen Zhou, blessed the world, and as the leader of the Human Race, he had battled foreign races.
The hunched figure now stood tall and straight, his stature lofty, emitting an indescribable emperor's aura.
His eyes were filled with the vicissitudes of time, radiating a majesty hard for ordinary people to gaze upon.
Luo Yu raised his hand, and the imperial figure behind him did likewise, just like Li Zhenyue earlier, but the aura was more than ten times stronger.
"Ignite!"
At Luo Yu's low shout,
"Whoosh!!"
The flames gathered, and in the palm, a ball of transparent flame congealed, seemingly the first flame that existed at the dawn of creation.
In an instant, all the flames within the Exquisite Pagoda surged over, forming an outer flame around the edge of the transparent fire.
"Rumble!"
Looking at Luo Yu within the Exquisite Pagoda, glowing with divine light, and the imperial phantom behind him,
Whether it was instructors, students, or the seniors watching the live broadcast, everyone was so shocked that their mouths couldn't close. They never would have guessed that the seemingly ordinary old farmer was actually the Progenitor of the Yan Huang Zisun, Shennong, Emperor Yan!
"Whir-whir—"
Students with weaker cultivation uncontrollably had their Ancient Spirits appear on their own, all kneeling down towards Luo Yu, who had summoned Emperor Yan.
The spectacle was majestic.
The more powerful students forcibly suppressed the Ancient Spirits within their bodies to avoid experiencing the same effect.
"Bai Feng!!!! What the hell did you miss out on?" Li Heizi trembled as he spoke to the young man beside him.
Bai Feng's eyes were as wide as copper bells, transfixed to the screen.
"How can this be!"
"How can this be, his Ancient Spirit is also of the God Rank, and it's Shennong, Emperor Yan!!!"
The atmosphere on-site was even more sensational; after a brief shock, there followed an incredulous outcry that shook the heavens.
"This... this... this!!!"
"It's Emperor Yan, actually Emperor Yan! Am I dreaming, or can someone from Great Xia actually summon Emperor Yan?"
"Come on, who just said Xia Luo's talent wasn't up to the mark, that he was a hard-working player, just shut up."
"Damn, this was kept too deep, the trump card is one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Emperor Yan? He is our ancestor in Great Xia."
"It turns out that in addition to the God's Child, there are so many people in Great Xia who possess Deity-level Ancient Spirits, it's terrifying."
"Just a moment ago, I felt a bit sorry for Xia Luo, thinking that his old farmer spirit wasn't as good as mine, but now... the joke's on me?"
Dajiuer had been very calm, but after witnessing Luo Yu's trump card, she couldn't close her mouth, shaped like an O.
The old farmer was in the front, and after a change of form, it was revealed, "I am Shennong Yandi?"
This dramatic contrast deeply shocked everyone present.
Huo Tongtian swung his fist excitedly and said,
"Damn, I knew I wouldn't be defeated so easily. Turns out it was Emperor Yan. Losing to him is nothing to be ashamed of."
"That said, I'm not sure who's tougher, Xia Luo or the God's Child."
The students were incessantly shocked, and the teachers didn't fare much better, gasping for air.
Yang Cang couldn't help but say,
"Principal, did you know beforehand that this young man was so remarkable?"
Shi Kai's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word.
He knew Luo Yu was strong, but he hadn't expected Luo Yu to invite Emperor Yan to a campus newcomer competition.
Wasn't this like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Too extravagant.
What had he, Li Zhenyue, done to deserve this honor?
Li Zhenyue was now utterly bewildered, extremely so. As the person involved, he had a thousand curses in his heart he wasn't sure should be spoken.
From the beginning till now, he had posed all he could, displaying his superiority and confidence of possessing a God-Level Ancient Spirit to the fullest.
And then...
His opponent nonchalantly revealed their hand, my Heroic Spirit is Emperor Yan?
It made him look like a clown, as if his opponent had always been laughing at him?
"How could it be."
"How could it be Emperor Yan."
Li Zhenyue shook his head repeatedly, gritting his teeth, "Let me try again!"
No sooner had he readied himself to exert force than Luo Yu achieved Human-Spirit Fusion, with nine golden dragons shrinking and circling, transforming into a true dragon armor that covered his body.
He casually threw the original green plant on the ground.
"Break!"
At Luo Yu's command, the green plant grew wildly and instantly turned into a towering tree, like the legendary Jianmu reaching heaven and earth.
The entire Exquisite Pagoda was instantly stretched larger.
But it still couldn't withstand the Flame Emperor's Divine Ability, with a loud boom, the entire Exquisite Pagoda was forcibly burst open.
Turning into golden specks of light that dissipated.
"Pfft!"
Li Zhenyue spat out a mouthful of blood, suffering a strong backlash.
After all, such an Exquisite Pagoda couldn't just be conjured at will.
But compared to the physical pain, the mental blow was greater, feeling like he was a clown.
"I adm..."
Before he could finish, a dazzling golden fist hammered into his stomach.
"Admit your ass!"
Simplicity in vulgarity, the ultimate pleasure.
Li Zhenyue wanted to concede but couldn't manage to; one punch had him curling up like a shrimp, crashing downwards, causing the solid arena ground to crack and shake unstoppably.
Seeing Li Zhenyue hammered into such a state, everyone's lips trembled and their limbs twitched.
"Fierce!"
"So fierce!"
Shennong was more than just a cultivator. In the brutal age of survival of the fittest and surrounded by foreign tribes, one couldn't be an emperor without real strength.
Li Zhenyue climbed up from the ground, and as someone known as the Military God, how could he not have a temper?
He continued, "I ackn—"
"Bang!"
Luo Yu, swift as a gust, flashed forward, grabbed his opponent's neck, hauled him up, and mercilessly drilled him into the ground.
It frightened everyone watching.
"If I don't speak, you have no chance to surrender."
The other instructors wanted to step in and stop the fight, only to be stopped by Principal Shi Kai.
"Principal, if we don't intervene, Li Zhenyue might be beaten to death."
Shi Kai shook his head:
"Don't worry, that won't happen. Xia Luo knows his limits."
"Besides, someone like Li Zhenyue with that temperament needs a tough peer to temper him. Unpolished jade can't become a piece of good craft."
The middle-aged instructor's mouth twitched.
If they didn't intervene now, the poor fellow would be polished to death.
Wasn't this blatant favoritism?
"Don't play dead, I've been holding back," Luo Yu roughly picked Li Zhenyue up again, tossing him to the ground like a piece of ragged cloth.
He then turned his head to look down upon the assembly of proud talents below, before revealing a gentle smile.
"Anyone else unsatisfied with me standing here?"
"Then come up."
As he spoke, he agitated the intense flame in his palm that he had yet to unleash...