Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Before the shifting surroundings could stabilize, three sudden bursts of whistling air shot straight toward Adrian Vale!
"Careful!"
Facing Adrian Vale head-on, Raven Shaw spotted the incoming attack instantly.
The livestream chat did too.
"Holy—where did that attack come from?!"
"Someone's ambushing! No honor at all!!"
"Eat-Stream Adrian Vale, watch out—dodge!!"
"Relax. Even if Eat-Stream Adrian Vale gets hit, it's not a big deal."
The audience was frantic, but Adrian Vale barely reacted. He stood there, unmoved, as if the attack wasn't aimed at him at all.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Just as the three strikes were about to land, Adrian Vale's Kagune unfurled behind him with a sharp, metallic-sounding snap.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The three attacks collided with his Kagune, ringing out with crisp impacts.
They posed zero threat.
And the strikes had been so fast that no one could even see what they were.
But the moment Adrian Vale blocked them—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
An even fiercer wave of attacks erupted behind him.
The chat went cold.
"What the hell—again?!"
"Wave after wave! Show yourself, coward!"
"Yeah! Ambushes don't make you tough!"
"Come out and fight head-on!"
"Eat-Stream Adrian Vale will delete you in seconds!"
The jeers couldn't reach the battlefield, of course.
Adrian Vale, however, finally looked mildly annoyed—though his expression didn't change much.
Crack… crack…
His Kagune shifted again, extending wider, spreading like a shield.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
No surprise—the new attacks were blocked too.
And as soon as they were…
Adrian Vale's Kagune shot forward like spears, stabbing straight toward the direction the attacks came from!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The ambusher didn't stop. More projectiles screamed in.
This time, everyone finally saw what they were—
Spiral drills made of pure wind.
No blades. No tools. Just compressed whirlwinds, sharpened into piercing forms.
Yet every time they struck Adrian Vale's Kagune, they still made that clean metallic ring, like steel on steel.
It didn't even make sense—his Kagune wasn't metal.
But nobody had time to dwell on that.
"Whoa—what is that?!"
"Wind blades?! How is this even happening?!"
"No weapon… how are those wind drills forming?!"
"Is it like those S-rank creatures that can control natural forces?!"
"Then this thing has to be at least S-rank, right?!"
"I'm so done—why is it always this kind of nightmare?!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The wind drills scraped against Adrian Vale's Kagune, rang once, and vanished.
But the ambusher still didn't hold back.
A storm of wind blades kept firing—faster, denser—
And now they started angling around the Kagune, aiming directly for Adrian Vale himself.
Adrian Vale didn't retreat a single step. He didn't even flinch, as if none of it mattered.
Shing—!
Raven Shaw moved.
In an instant, she drew her combat saber and intercepted every wind blade headed for Adrian Vale—precise, clean, effortless.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The wind blades rang against her saber and dissipated like smoke.
Raven Shaw flicked her blade, face dark. She clearly didn't appreciate the repeated attempts on Adrian Vale.
Adrian Vale, meanwhile, showed no reaction at all.
Truthfully, even if Raven Shaw hadn't blocked, Adrian Vale could've taken those hits with his body.
Whether the attacks could hurt him at all was questionable—and even if they did, his physique would regenerate in an extremely short time.
But the chat didn't see it that way.
The moment Raven Shaw stepped in with that expression, the mood turned… lively.
"HAHA—Boss Raven is getting protective!"
"It's giving 'don't touch my man.'"
"I'm dying, this is hilarious!"
"Ugh, their couple vibe is insane."
"Please get married on the spot, thanks!"
"Wait—I'm going to carry the civil affairs office over right now!"
While the chat ran wild, Adrian Vale's Kagune finally found the thing hiding behind it all.
Pff! Pff! Pff!
Three sharp impacts—
But there was no scream.
And the sound wasn't flesh being pierced.
It was—
Fwoooom—!!
In an instant, violent winds exploded outward, like they wanted to swallow everything whole.
But these weren't ordinary winds.
A normal storm can't be "seen" unless it drags debris into the air.
This one didn't need debris.
Because the gale itself carried a faint blue-green tint.
Blue-green wind howled and surged toward Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw, closing in from every direction.
Adrian Vale narrowed his eyes, withdrew his Kagune, adjusted his glasses, and muttered,
"Interesting."
The blue-green storm kept screaming, but even now no one could see the attacker.
Fear spread through the livestream.
"What is going on?!"
"Even Adrian Vale's counterattack didn't do anything?!"
"Also… doesn't this wind feel wrong?"
"Yeah—wind with color is insane."
"And listen—doesn't it sound like… ghost wailing?"
"Don't say that—wait… it DOES!"
The chat spiraled into nervous speculation.
For Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw, it didn't matter whether the thing was human or monster.
Fwoooom… fwoooom…
The gale swallowed everything around them.
Then—
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Under countless stunned gazes, itself began to fracture—black cracks spiderwebbing open in midair.
It looked like the wind was ripping the world apart.
Raven Shaw's brow tightened. She warned without looking back,
"Kid, this thing's not right. Be careful."
Adrian Vale didn't answer.
His Kagune spread again—this time subtly enclosing Raven Shaw within its protection.
Only then did he speak, calm and flat.
"Relax. I can handle it."
With that, his Kagune erupted again—
Not the scaled Kagune he'd been using earlier,
But the Holy Sword Kagune he'd used when fighting S-rank creatures.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
Three or four Holy Sword Kagune lances tore into the blue-green storm, spinning at high speed as they drove forward—like he was matching rotation against rotation.
To an outside observer, it looked like a mantis trying to stop a flood.
But the audience had already seen Adrian Vale butcher SS-rank creatures.
They knew: his Holy Sword Kagune was anything but ordinary.
And sure enough—
Once Adrian Vale began applying force, the storm visibly weakened.
The howl faltered. The pressure dipped.
The two sides locked in a grinding stalemate, but anyone with eyes could tell—
The wind was being cut down, piece by piece.
The livestream erupted in cheers.
"HAHA—see?! That's Eat-Stream Adrian Vale's strength!"
"Don't let the Holy Sword Kagune fool you—this thing is cracked!"
"'Fool you'? Are you insane? It's cool as hell!"
"Yeah! Learn to speak!"
"Eat-Stream Adrian Vale—GOAT!!"
With Adrian Vale's Holy Sword Kagune tearing through it, the storm continued to diminish.
The hidden mastermind clearly sensed it.
The wind shrieked louder, space fractures multiplying—black seams spreading like a canvas being ripped apart.
It was horrifying.
Because even if the storm itself now looked weaker under Adrian Vale's suppression…
The tearing of space was absolutely real.
No one believed an ordinary attack could rip open space like that.
Inside the studio of I'm Watching the Divine Domain, the panel began analyzing.
Sienna Blake rested her chin in her hand, confused.
"These winds don't look that strong—so how are they causing this much damage? They're tearing space apart!"
Captain Ryan Cole nodded grimly.
"Exactly. To tear space, the attack's power should be enormous. But under Adrian Vale's Holy Sword Kagune, we can clearly feel these winds don't seem to have that kind of force."
Dr. Elias Hart took over.
"No—don't underestimate Adrian Vale's Holy Sword Kagune. But… if we combine this with what Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw just experienced—if the space around them is a kind of domain, or an illusion—then breaking the 'space' here may not be that strange."
Captain Ryan Cole suddenly remembered something, eyes widening.
"Wait—why hasn't the Will of Blue Star issued any prompts this time? You know, the ones that always trigger when they encounter powerful Divine Domain creatures?"
That reminder snapped everyone awake.
"Right! Why no prompt?!"
"It's already hitting them in the face and still no warning—Will of Blue Star, your work attitude is terrible!"
"Maybe it's because the enemy never showed itself? Usually the prompt comes when we see it."
"No—based on everything we've seen so far, even if you don't see it, as long as it's nearby, the Will of Blue Star still triggers a prompt."
"Unless…"
"Unless the attacker isn't here at all?"
"Holy—think about that and it's terrifying."
Their analysis was correct.
The space around Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw had already stopped being normal long ago.
Even if the storm hadn't started tearing it apart, the two of them were already planning to find another way out.
If anything, the storm made things easier.
Now, they could use the cracks as a breach, widen them, and destroy this entire pocket space.
And the later guess—that the mastermind wasn't nearby—was also right.
If the attacker were truly close, no matter what it was, it wouldn't have escaped Adrian Vale's senses.
At first, Adrian Vale had found it odd. He hadn't smelled even a trace of that "scent," yet attacks kept appearing from nowhere.
If not for his sharp instincts, he might've actually gotten caught.
But when his Kagune struck something earlier and returned a strange, unnatural feedback, he confirmed his suspicion.
The one behind this wasn't here.
As for why it targeted him… it likely had ties to whatever the treasure map was pointing toward.
Adrian Vale didn't care.
After his Holy Sword Kagune shredded the remaining storm, everything fell eerily quiet—like nothing had happened.
But everyone knew it hadn't been an illusion.
Adrian Vale made it look easy, sure.
Swap him out for almost anyone else, and those early wind blades alone would've killed them on the spot—never mind escaping the illusion.
Once Adrian Vale realized the mastermind wasn't nearby, he prepared to leave.
Then a man's voice echoed through the space itself.
"Human! This is not a place you may set foot in. Leave at once! This is your last chance!"
The voice was imperious, carrying overwhelming authority.
Even without seeing the speaker, everyone could feel it—
This was no ordinary existence.
The chat froze, then exploded.
"Who the hell is that?! Show yourself!"
"Identify yourself!"
"Damn—this voice sounds strong as hell."
"This has to be SS-rank at minimum!"
"No—this feels way above the Mountainrock Titan!"
"SSS?!"
Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw barely reacted.
Whether the thing could "see" them from afar didn't matter.
Adrian Vale lifted his gaze and stared into empty air.
Of course there was nothing there.
But everyone watching understood—he was looking at the hidden figure beyond the veil.
Raven Shaw did the same.
Then they both withdrew their gaze, turned, and headed for the cracks the storm had created.
The audience didn't know those cracks were the exit.
All they saw were pitch-black fractures that looked lethal.
"Wait—what are they doing?! Going straight into the crack?!"
"That looks dangerous as hell—don't go!"
"Novels say space cracks have spatial turbulence! You'll get shredded!"
"Eat-Stream Adrian Vale might be fine, but Boss Raven can't take that!"
Then someone in chat hesitated, thinking aloud.
"Or… those cracks might be the real exit. Dr. Elias Hart said it was probably an illusion, right? That could be the flaw in it."
"Exactly. There's no way Adrian Vale would drag Boss Raven somewhere truly suicidal."
Under countless tense stares, Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw stopped before one crack.
Adrian Vale's Holy Sword Kagune surged again.
He slashed down without hesitation.
Boom—!
The black crack expanded, spreading outward as space splintered in layers.
Then—
a bright white light burst from within.
As if everything was under control, Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw remained calm, faces unshaken.
Crack… crack… crack…
The surrounding space continued to fracture with crisp snapping sounds.
The livestream erupted in awe.
"I KNEW it—Eat-Stream Adrian Vale saw something!"
"So that really was the exit? I'm speechless."
"Dr. Elias Hart called it!"
"Dr. Elias Hart is cracked! Dr. Elias Hart W!!"
The crack widened further, and the space began to roar—like the entire pocket world was collapsing.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Then the "world" shattered into countless fragments, flickering outward like broken glass.
In the end—
the entire pocket space collapsed completely.
The illusion dissolved.
And what replaced it was…
A dense forest.
But it wasn't the same forest they'd been in earlier.
This one looked almost unreal—vivid, multicolored, dreamlike.
Strange plants stood everywhere. Trees grew twisted, leaning at impossible angles. Some were wrapped around each other in clusters like braided ropes.
Even the shrubs came in every shade imaginable—so many colors you could practically assemble a rainbow out of them.
The livestream gasped.
"Holy—this place looks magical!"
"This is like a fairy tale forest!"
"Wait… is this another illusion?!"
"Damn… think about that and it's terrifying."
"Honestly, it could be. This is the Forbidden Zone—anything can happen."
Whether it was another illusion didn't seem to matter much to Adrian Vale or Raven Shaw.
But Adrian Vale could clearly sense something ahead—an intensely attractive "scent" drawing him in.
He didn't know if it was connected to the earlier attacker.
He didn't care.
He wasn't letting this opportunity go.
"Old woman. Move."
He said it and walked off immediately, not waiting for Raven Shaw's reply.
She caught up in a few steps, grinning as she spoke.
"Kid… you feel different than before."
Adrian Vale didn't respond.
The chat laughed knowingly.
"Yeah—Eat-Stream Adrian Vale is getting more and more 'gentlemanly' with Boss Raven."
"That's called… feelings growing over time. (smirk)"
"Your 'growing' is it… normal?"
"Normal or not, it's definitely tight."
"??"
"Bro you're not right."
While Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw made progress inside the Forbidden Zone, the internal nation Free-for-Alls across Blue Star finally neared their end.
For smaller nations, there wasn't much to say. They had fewer competitors—or fewer truly top-tier fighters.
Relative to ordinary people, their contestants were still powerful.
But compared to the major powers, their Free-for-Alls were far less brutal.
Most of them had already produced their final ten.
Now, the entire world's attention fixed on the true giants.
Their Free-for-Alls were where the real monsters fought.
And no matter how fierce it got, the brawls would still end.
Starting with Dragon Nation—
After hours of nonstop fighting, Dragon Nation finally produced its ten strongest representatives.
First, the one already introduced before: the Longhu Mountain Celestial Master, the so-called "One Pinnacle"—
Zhang Zhiwei.
In the brawl, anyone who dared step within three body-lengths of him ended up either crippled or eliminated.
He looked like an ordinary harmless old man.
But no one dared underestimate him anymore.
Second, another Daoist—Wudang's genius priest:
Wang Ye.
Wang Ye's style was different. After entering the arena, he barely moved from his spot.
Whether that was simply the nature of his Tai Chi, or just his lazy temperament refusing to start trouble—no one knew.
As long as nobody came for him, he didn't go after anyone.
Yet this "immovable mountain" still stood among the final ten.
His strength spoke for itself.
Third, from Jinshan Temple's Buddhist sect—the Tianlong Abbot:
Fahai.
Fa Hai's fighting posture was nothing like his usual warm, approachable demeanor.
When he fought, it was pure physical dominance—every strike heavy, every blow carrying brutal force.
A walking "physical deliverance."
Unforgettable.
Fourth, to everyone's surprise: the strange hairstylist with the goofy look—
Wu Liuqi.
After seeing him fight early on, most people assumed he'd be eliminated somewhere mid-brawl.
He clearly had some skill, but no one could tell what kind of "expert" he really was.
And yet, somehow, he made it to the end.
In the end, the audience could only chalk it up to absurd luck… and hidden strength.
Fifth, without surprise—the "immortal" beauty everyone was hyping:Infinity.
His fighting style was ethereal and fluid, rarely meeting opponents head-on.
Even against hardened, iron-body types, he could subdue them with ease.
People summed him up with one word:
"Immortal."
Paired with that face, the title "Immortal Lord Wuxian" spread like wildfire.
Sixth, a woman who looked utterly unremarkable.
After the panel's introduction, people learned her name:
Feng Baobao.
She wore an oversized work uniform that didn't fit, hair messy and draped behind her, eyes dull as if she was always half-asleep.
Even in battle, she rarely showed emotion.
People could tell she had strength—but nothing about her made sense.
No one knew how to judge her.
Seventh, another mysterious figure—
Zhang Qilin.
Aside from being handsome, the only phrase people used for him was:
Decisive slaughter.
Anyone who faced him head-on was cut apart by his ancient blade.
Weak ones were split in two.
Stronger ones—congratulations, you'd get diced into eight pieces.
His fights were pure violence and blood.
Yet he showed no emotional ripple at all.
If you didn't know better, you'd think he was born to kill.
But since he would represent Dragon Nation in the upcoming Deathmatch, Dragon Nation viewers still supported him fiercely.
The remaining three… came from Dragon Nation's legendary, mysterious Dragon Group.
All three were clearly not ordinary.
The public speculated endlessly about Dragon Group, but the officials never revealed even a shred of detail.
All anyone truly knew was that Dragon Group was a powerful secret organization working in the shadows to protect Dragon Nation.
That was it.
And if even Dragon Nation—the world's strongest—had concluded its Nation Brawl…
Then the other major powers would have their results as well.
Right as Dragon Nation's final ten were confirmed, the Will of Blue Star spoke directly into everyone's mind.
[All nations' Free-for-Alls have ended. The Blue Star Deathmatch will now begin.]
[Countdown begins now: 30 minutes.]
[29:59]
[29:58]
[29:57]
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