Chapter 143
Chapter 143
Such an enormous range and so many targets placed a heavy burden even on Qin Lan’s current strength.
After all, those people possessed tier-three Curse Cores. To ensure Verbal Condemnation’s control effect influenced them, Qin Lan couldn’t conserve a single drop of curse energy.
Amplified by Qin Lan’s high Spirit, the final effect was astonishing.
“Aaargh!”
The lava giant transformed by the contestant Mo Qiong wailed and collapsed on the spot. His original body emerged and fell to the ground, face pale.
Li Jianxing screamed even more miserably. He fell from his flying sword and struck the ground amid a thick cloud of dust.
The others fared still worse. Every one of them was intimidated by Qin Lan’s voice, their hearts filled with terror and their minds on the verge of collapse.
Some fell and curled into balls, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Others released incoherent wails and convulsed as though they had seen something horrifying beyond description.
This chaotic scene was projected with perfect clarity before every spectator.
The competitors who had looked so glorious moments ago lost their ability to fight in rapid succession, becoming lambs awaiting slaughter.
Such a method made everyone’s heart pound. Cold breaths hissed through the audience.
“What’s happening? Why did they all fall?” someone asked a companion in confusion.
Those with more expertise were horrified. “It’s a mental skill! What terrifying mental power!”
“His skill covers the entire stadium? How is that possible?!”
As everyone knows…
If you don’t know, that’s fine. Allow me to explain.
Mental skills differed fundamentally from other skills.
Most attacks depended solely on the strength of the curse energy supplied.
For instance, the shadow army summoned by Su Xiaoyue’s Shadow Incarnation, or Qian Yang’s Blue Silver… Ahem, vines. Their core was curse energy.
Qin Lan’s Verbal Condemnation, however, received additional amplification from his Spirit.
The lower an opponent’s mental power, the more obvious that amplification became.
Mental power also happened to be an extraordinarily difficult attribute to increase. Muscular strength could be trained, and both Agility and Constitution could be improved through a Curse Codex.
But aside from natural gifts, increasing mental power after birth was nearly impossible.
Even the Soul Tower cultivated by Qin Lan only strengthened his soul to provide a bonus to Spirit. It didn’t change the base value itself.
By now, everyone had surely noticed…
Yes. Qin Lan possessed an advantage in this respect that no one else could match.
His base attributes could increase without limit.
Normally, even physical strength eventually hit a bottleneck. The longer someone trained, the more slowly their strength grew–the human body had limits, after all.
Even a Curse Codex needed years of accumulation to transform physical strength.
Fang Yue, the four-star Anomaly Hunter who fought the Mourning Remains alongside Lu Xingshan, had actually entered the four-star level long ago.
But progress became increasingly difficult. It had taken him over a decade to reach his present achievements.
Qin Lan? He only needed to get worked up and die a few times.
One hundred points of Spirit and mental power over a hundred times that of an ordinary person made Qin Lan a “peerless genius” even among experts who specialized in the mind.
And for him, this was only the beginning, not the limit.
…
Inside the lounges of the various academies…
Many people slammed the table and sprang to their feet when they saw the contestants lying helplessly on the ground.
They were senior mentors from their respective academies and had seen countless young geniuses, yet never anything this explosive.
“He destroyed the minds of more than a dozen people simultaneously through pure mental power?!”
“Where did Clear Spring Academy find this monster?!”
Others turned pale and collapsed into their chairs.
“We can’t win. A monster at this level… We absolutely can’t win!”
The roars and sighs remained trapped inside those rooms, unknown to outsiders.
But Qin Lan had already guessed their reactions.
After all, that was his purpose from the beginning. He wanted the other eight academies to learn of his existence and believe he possessed overwhelming strength.
Only then would they follow his script.
Inside the arena, Qin Lan surveyed his surroundings and shook his head regretfully.
“Too weak.”
“Is there truly no one capable of fighting me?”
The declaration was outrageously arrogant, yet no one could refute it.
Those from the various powers and academies of the Central Region had only one word left in their minds.
“Invincible.”
Through this pre-tournament exhibition, the name Xue Chuan was branded deeply into their hearts.
Even years or decades later, whenever the Nine Academies Tournament was held, someone would sigh and recall,
“Back then, there was a peerless monster named Xue Chuan. With only a few words, he made countless geniuses collapse…”
After their brief shock, many people sprang into action, afraid to waste even a second.
All of them began investigating the origin of this “Xue Chuan.”
A previously unknown man in the Central Region suddenly rising to crush every genius of the younger generation?
Why did this plot sound so familiar?
Could he be the next Luan Zimo?
That chosen daughter of Tianming Academy had displayed astonishing talent and shattered countless assumptions. Was another new monster about to emerge?
If so, whichever power recruited him would gain a top expert in the future!
Qin Lan couldn’t be bothered with any of that.
After stirring up a towering wave, he leisurely returned to the lounge and lay down.
“I don’t understand you. You insisted on going down there to show off and terrified everyone, yet you used a fake name…”
Xu Minghu scratched his messy hair in confusion. “Do you simply have too much free time?”
Qin Lan crossed one leg over the other and grinned.
“Don’t rush. Let the bullet fly for a while.”
“They should arrive soon, right?”
Almost the instant Qin Lan finished speaking, his communicator began chiming repeatedly.
Beep, beep.
Beep, beep.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep!
“See? The fish have taken the bait.”
Qin Lan smiled.
He had registered under a false name but submitted his real communication number upon entering.
In principle, the tournament organizers couldn’t casually disclose academy personnel’s information… but everyone understood. Principles existed to be broken.
Clearly, those people couldn’t restrain themselves. They had found Qin Lan’s contact information by every available method.
Qin Lan glanced through the messages and immediately filtered out ninety percent, keeping only those sent by the other eight academies.
“Shh. Everyone be quiet.”
Qin Lan raised a hand, signaling the others to remain silent, then replied to one message.
Several seconds later, a communication request appeared. Qin Lan swiftly accepted it.
“Student Xue, would you like to discuss a deal?”
Lu Ming’s voice came through.
Xu Minghu looked stunned, then rapidly understood Qin Lan’s so-called “plan.”
His eyes widened. He silently mouthed, “Fucking brilliant,” and raised a thumb toward Qin Lan.
So…
You wanted to extort them!