“It really is Blood Spear!”
Cen Yuno’s eyes went wide.
If it were any other Necromancer, she wouldn’t have given a single damn about some piddly Blood Spear.
Especially now that she had the Lava Armor from her Carnivorous Plants—there was nothing to worry about, because the damage was just too pitiful!
But the stories from Lu Ran’s first-round match had been spread far and wide.
Cen Yuno didn’t dare take any chances.
She hadn’t witnessed Lu Ran’s first-round fight with her own eyes, because back then she’d been locked in her own battle.
Sure, her match had ended pretty quickly too.
But Lu Ran had been even faster back then!
After all, rumors were just rumors—but this had happened just this morning, and Lu Ran really had been the first to finish his match.
Thinking about that—
Cen Yuno felt every hair on her body stand on end.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
…
More and more Carnivorous Plants kept spawning around her, layering Lava Armor onto her one after another.
This was exactly why Cen Yuno ranked among the top summoners—her Carnivorous Plants could stack in number without taking up cooldowns, because all of them counted as a single entity!
And that meant her Lava Armor could be stacked through multiple layers!
Sure, there was a cap.
But among newbie Professionals of the same tier, even against Cong Shuang, Cen Yuno stood her ground without flinching!
And that wasn’t all.
After wrapping herself in countless layers of Lava Armor, a translucent energy shield also shimmered into existence around her body.
Not far away.
Cong Shuang, who was preparing for her own match, looked completely at ease—her opponent was way too weak!
Her arena was so close to Lu Ran’s that Cong Shuang could watch his battle with Cen Yuno in full view.
“Unlimited stacking of shields through Carnivorous Plants… even I’d have a tough time taking down Cen Yuno. We’re both members of the Tianfu Society—if she hadn’t left the capital, I might not even be the one representing us here. How is Lu Ran going to handle this?” Cong Shuang mused to herself.
And that energy shield?
She recognized it too—it was a grade-less Epic-tier defensive necklace.
The shield it provided would cover Cen Yuno with a full health bar’s worth of protection for a full ten seconds, absorbing all incoming damage!
The Cen family had paid a pretty penny to get that as a gift for her!
Stack that with the Carnivorous Plant Lava Armor, and among peers of the same level, even a hidden-class tank wouldn’t have better defenses than Cen Yuno!
As for that Blood Spear flying through the air—
Cong Shuang didn’t think it would do much of anything.
She’d heard the morning rumors too, but even knowing that, against Cen Yuno in her current state—no matter how high the Blood Spear’s damage was, surely it couldn’t one-shot her, right?
Lu Ran must have other tricks up his sleeve!
All of this sounds like a lot when you tell it, but in reality, it all happened in the blink of an eye.
The next second—
Thwack!
The Blood Spear struck Cen Yuno, who was cocooned in Lava Armor.
Crack~
Her energy shield shattered instantly!
Cong Shuang’s pupils contracted sharply, her eyes flying wide open in shock.
Then—
Crunch crunch crunch~
A rapid succession of shattering sounds.
All of Cen Yuno’s Lava Armor layers burst apart like eggshells, one after another!
And finally, there was Cen Yuno herself.
Thump!
In an instant, Cen Yuno froze in place, completely motionless.
Her health dropped to 1%, and the lava-covered Carnivorous Plants spread all over the arena withered and faded away, one by one.
Match over!
Even the host was stunned.
After a few seconds of blank staring, he swallowed hard and announced in a loud voice:
“Arena 12 match concluded! Winner: Blackfire City—Lu Ran!”
At that moment, the entire square fell completely silent.
Especially the voices around Arena 12 that had been doubting Lu Ran—they all went quiet in an instant.
If in the first round they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes and had only heard rumors, thinking his victory was rigged or shady—well, what about now?
They’d seen it with their very own eyes!
Cen Yuno of the Cen family, even while commanding her Carnivorous Plants to protect herself from every angle, had still been one-shot by Lu Ran!
And the method? The exact same pathetic-looking Blood Spear!
“Th-That’s… that’s it?”
“Did any of you see clearly? What the hell just happened?”
“Blood Spear—still the Blood Spear! Holy crap, is this Blood Spear even legitimate?!”
“Is the Necromancer’s Blood Spear really this terrifying?”
“Cen Yuno’s Carnivorous Plants got obliterated in one hit, holy shit!”
“Just how high is the damage on that Blood Spear?”
…
Amidst the endless barrage of questions—
Cen Yuno slowly snapped back to her senses. She looked down at her own body, checking her health bar.
And then at the Carnivorous Plants around her that had completely vanished without a trace.
She lifted her head to look at Lu Ran, and in her eyes, there was no humiliation or unwillingness from defeat—instead, they sparkled with intense excitement.
Hopping and skipping, she made her way over to Lu Ran.
She circled around him twice, tilting her head.
“Sorry about that—I gave it my all, respects to the opponent, friendship first.” Lu Ran said casually.
“Hehe… fair enough.” Cen Yuno stretched out her small hand toward Lu Ran and said, “Let’s reintroduce ourselves. I’m Cen Yuno.”
“Lu Ran.” Lu Ran took her hand and gave a brief response.
“You really are incredible. The rumors from this morning—I was half-convinced, half-doubting. But now? I believe it. Completely convinced, no complaints.” Cen Yuno said sincerely.
Lu Ran gave her a curious look.
He asked, “You just lost, but you look more excited than anything. Why is that?”
“There’s nothing to be upset about—I was outclassed, plain and simple. And I’m not really interested in the prizes anyway. I just got unlucky running into you first—otherwise, I could’ve pushed further. But what gets me more excited is that Cong Shuang is going to run into you soon too. I really can’t wait to see her get knocked flat by you.” Cen Yuno said, sounding like she was critiquing a show.
“You have a grudge against Cong Shuang?” Lu Ran turned his head to glance at Arena 10 not far away.
Cong Shuang was also looking in their direction at that moment.
She didn’t seem to have recovered from the shock of watching Cen Yuno get instantly deleted by Lu Ran either.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, there was no way she would have believed it.
Cen Yuno—one-shot by Lu Ran!
And it really was just a single Blood Spear!
This friend Cong Yu had randomly made—he was way too terrifying!
Before the tournament, Cong Shuang had listed a few opponents she needed to watch out for, and Cen Yuno was one of them!
But now, Cen Yuno had been taken down in a single blow!
Sensing Lu Ran’s gaze land on her, Cong Shuang suddenly felt a pang of guilty conscience.
She quickly looked away.
But inside, she was thinking: “If that had been me just now, I’d have been one-shot too—no way around it!”
Everyone knew—
The Necromancer’s Blood Spear was a homing skill. You couldn’t dodge it; you could only tank it head-on.
But when it came to defensive capabilities—
She, Cong Shuang, couldn’t hold a candle to Cen Yuno!
“Dinner together tonight?” Cen Yuno asked with a beaming smile.
“Tonight… if nothing comes up, sure.” Lu Ran said thoughtfully, not committing right away.
“Great, let’s figure it out tonight then. We’ll wait until after the matches are over. Oh, by the way—where are you staying?” Cen Yuno asked.
“Tiandao Alliance headquarters.” Lu Ran said without hesitation.
Cen Yuno’s pupils shrank abruptly.
Then she smiled and nodded, saying, “Got it. See you tonight.”
With that—
She hopped and skipped her way down from the arena, turning back to stick her tongue out at Lu Ran.
