Just how overwhelming was Su Min's firepower?
The nickname "Crimson Blazing Bird" might have sounded almost cute, but no one who had faced her in battle was laughing. The sky scorching Nanming Lihuo, combined with her dual element sword strikes, made approaching her a waking nightmare.
Han Chaoyan knew this better than anyone. Even with his divine water artifact, an element that should naturally counter fire, he understood that trading ranged attacks with Su Min would end the same way it had for Luo Changshui, in a swift and humiliating defeat.
So his strategy was simple. He would use the Earth grade treasure he had looted from an ancient ruin to close the distance. If he could force her into close quarters combat, Su Min would not dare to detonate her Vermilion Bird Saint Avatar, as the explosion would injure her, too. With his artifact's protection, any mutual damage would inevitably favor him.
For once, the hunter had become the hunted. Su Min, who specialized in countering others, now found herself facing a tool specifically tailored against her.
"That artifact hard counters her dual attributes," a spectator murmured. "Unless Miss Su reveals something new, she is in real trouble."
"Ranked third for a reason. He has been hiding this trump card. Melee is undoubtedly the best approach against her."
The crowd nodded in silent agreement. Only prodigies like Yao Xian'er or Xie Yingying could possibly outblast Su Min. For everyone else, challenging the walking artillery platform head-on was suicide. Then came Han Chaoyan's transformation.
A massive black serpentine phantom materialized behind him, its aura distorting the very air as he activated his bloodline. Beasts, whether divine or demonic, possessed far greater natural physicality than humans, and his form swelled with that borrowed power.
Su Min's lips curled. She had anticipated this.
Azure light shimmered across her skin, a stark contrast to the Vermilion Bird's flamboyant flames. Compared to that raging inferno, the Azure Dragon's power was restrained, but it was no less potent. It transformed her skin, reinforcing her body with explosive physical might.
CLANG!!!
An ear splitting collision reverberated across the arena. Many instinctively covered their ears. The Soaring Serpent was formidable, an ancient divine beast in its own right, but against one of the supreme Four Symbols, it was simply outmatched.
Their inheritances were different, too. The Vermilion Bird's legacy amplified energy attacks, the path of a mage. Su Min had instinctively refined the Azure Dragon's gift into pure, unadulterated physical reinforcement. Han Chaoyan's Soaring Serpent inheritance was more balanced, capable of both phantom breath attacks and body enhancement. But "balanced" also meant "limited," especially when the base bloodline was weaker.
Once Su Min added the Eastern Azure Wood's comprehensive physical boost, the result was inevitable.
THUD!
Han Chaoyan flew backward faster than he had charged, cratering the ground with a spray of blood.
"Such terrifying strength! Those azure flashes confirm the Azure Dragon's legacy. Vermilion for ranged, Azure for melee."
"With his bloodline active, Han Chaoyan's physique should rival the Great Desolate Holy Body's. Yet she overpowered him instantly."
"A tyrannical goddess in human skin..."
The audience gasped collectively. They had expected Han Chaoyan to lose, but not like this. It was total domination. Su Min's slender, seemingly delicate frame hid monstrous power. There were no bulging muscles, only seamless, integrated lethality.
In a corner, a fiery haired girl nudged the gaunt young man beside her. "Brother, how do you compare?"
The inheritor of the Great Desolate Holy Body kept his expression grave. "I am stronger. But facing her would still be dangerous." Their single exchanged palm strike during their aborted clash had been his full power, and she had matched it. The gap was not large.
Su Min did not let up. As Han Chaoyan struggled to rise, her Vermilion Bird unleashed a concentrated fireblast.
BOOM!
The arena became an inferno. Yet through the flames, a figure charged forward.
"That artifact is Earth grade, plus his divine water's protection. He can tank my flames," Su Min noted inwardly.
Being countered was annoying, but unlike the absolute suppression of that other woman, this was manageable.
CRACK!
A small shield materialized around Han Chaoyan and shattered, absorbing the Nanming Lihuo's fury and buying him a precious moment of breathing room.
"All or nothing," he growled.
Outranged and outmuscled, Han Chaoyan activated his final gambit. The very air twisted and shimmered as an illusionary realm began to unfold around them.
"Yinfire, the Soaring Serpent's innate ability?"
Su Min's eyes narrowed in understanding. The Soaring Serpent was not water aligned, it was one of the Eight Divine Emissaries governing fire. Han Chaoyan's water affinity must have come from his personal physique, altering the inheritance's expression. But now, burning his essence, he was revealing its true, venomous nature.
"He is trying to trap me in an illusion!"
Su Min did not hesitate. She hurled her Vermilion Bird forward in a violent, preemptive strike. She could not risk the illusion fully forming. Even if she might break free later, prevention was far better than cure.
BOOM!!!
The deafening explosion disrupted the spreading Yinfire. Blood trickled from Han Chaoyan's lips from the backlash, but with a desperate roar, he sacrificed two more drops of essence blood to forcibly complete the technique.
Reality twisted. For cultivators, vision and hearing were secondary, spiritual perception was paramount. This realm sought to distort both space and senses, to pull her into a world of deception.
"It is done. Even if you..." Han Chaoyan began, a flicker of triumph in his eyes.
It died in his throat.
A massive, ornate mirror now hovered over the battlefield, its surface glowing with a pure, revealing light. It was a Mystic grade mid tier artifact, and its glow lasted for mere seconds before cracking under the strain of the high level illusion, but that was all the time she needed.
Golden lightning suddenly enveloped Su Min, her form blurring as she channeled a dangerous technique to briefly surpass her limits. She crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, all her power concentrated into a single, heaven sundering strike.
"You?!" was all Han Chaoyan could manage.
His widened eyes were the last thing she saw before the Golden Core Heavenly Ranking's protective barrier activated, whisking his defeated form away.
"Planned for this," Su Min said with a quiet smirk as golden light transported her back to the spectator stand. "Did you think you were the only one who prepares?"
The moment she had seen Han Chaoyan's name on the bracket, she had designed this exact counter. The Mystic grade mirror might have been inferior to his Earth grade treasure, but she only needed a single second of clarity, the moment of an opponent's hesitation when their illusion first takes hold. That single moment, combined with the Thunder Avatar's burst of power, had sealed his fate. His techniques were no secret, his profile laid bare on the Heavenly Ranking for all to see.
"Without the ranking's protection, that strike would have killed you," she thought, the crowd's gazes now holding a newfound layer of reverence.
"You are actually insane," Xie Yingying exhaled sharply beside her, her usual composure cracked. "I might not have reacted in time to that."
Su Min had never used that specific combination against her. Seeing the illusion trap begin to form had genuinely made her sweat.
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Eight Divine Emissaries (八神) – Mythological beings governing fundamental forces in Chinese cosmology.