The air felt like it was compressed to its limit before shattering. Lam Minh, in his Dragon God Battle Armor, and Eleventh, in his Holy Body state, crashed into each other like two meteors.
There were no sword techniques, no divine abilities. Only primal power and pure combat instinct.
Lam Minh threw a punch, encased in black and red dragon scales, aiming straight for Eleventh's face.
Eleventh didn't dodge either. He roared, also throwing a punch, his jet-black fist bristling with sharp spikes, meeting the attack head-on.
Two fists, one carrying the domineering might of a dragon, the other filled with malevolent dark energy, collided.
For a thousandth of a second, everything seemed to fall silent.
There was no sound. Not a breath of wind. Time and space around the point of impact seemed to freeze.
Hung Ba and the "Saint Children" watching from a distance, holding their breath, suddenly felt a suffocating pressure, as if a catastrophe was about to occur.
Then...
BOOM... RRRRUMBLE...!!!!
An explosion not of sound, but of spatial shock. A chaotic sphere of energy, intertwined black and red, erupted from the point of impact of the two fists.
Immediately after, a destructive energy wave, visible to the naked eye, spread outwards at a terrifying speed.
Wherever it went, everything was annihilated.
Ancient trees, hundreds of years old, were instantly turned to dust.
Large boulders, swept over, shattered into tiny fragments.
Within a one-kilometer radius, the entire forest was flattened, the ground churned up, creating a massive crater, as if it had just been hit by a tactical nuclear bomb.
The ground trembled violently.
The powerful tremors spread far, reaching the sleeping Lac Hong Academy. All the buildings shook violently, glass windows shattered. Students woke with a start, running outside in a panic, not understanding what was happening.
"Is it an earthquake?"
"No! Look! Towards the back forest!"
They saw, in the distance, a pillar of black and red energy rising to the heavens, illuminating a corner of the night sky.
To Quyen and Quynh Nhu also rushed out of their rooms. When they sensed Lam Minh's familiar energy, mingled with another evil aura, their faces turned pale.
"Lam Minh!"
Back on the battlefield.
Hung Ba and the "Saint Children" were not so lucky. They were standing too close.
When the energy wave hit, they only had time to let out a desperate roar. The defenses of a Peak Foundation Establishment, against the power of a peak Golden Core collision, were as flimsy as paper.
They were thrown like rag dolls, sent flying for hundreds of meters, crashing into the remaining cliffs. They continuously coughed up fresh blood, their bones shattered, their life or death unknown.
With just one collision, all the support forces were eliminated from the battle.
Now, on the desolate wasteland, only two monsters remained, facing each other.
Both Lam Minh and Eleventh were pushed back several dozen meters.
A few scales on Lam Minh's Dragon God Battle Armor had cracked, and faint golden dragon blood seeped out, only to be healed quickly.
Eleventh's arm was in a more wretched state. His fist was deformed, the sharp spikes shattered, and black blood flowed freely.
In the first clash of pure power, Lam Minh, thanks to his Dragon God bloodline, had gained a slight advantage.
"Your strength..." Eleventh looked at his injured arm, the arrogance in his eyes gone, replaced by an extreme frenzy and belligerence. "Very good! Very good! It's been a long time since someone could injure me!"
He showed no fear. On the contrary, he seemed incredibly excited.
"But strength alone is not enough to kill me!"
With that, the six tentacles on his back simultaneously shot out, plunging deep into the ground.
The ground around him began to turn jet-black. Dark energy was drawn up from the earth, healing the wound on his hand at a speed visible to the naked eye. At the same time, the remaining tentacles began to transform, their tips becoming as sharp as drills, and they all shot towards Lam Minh.
Lam Minh didn't dodge. He also let out a roar.
The dragon wings on his back flapped powerfully, not to fly, but to create a whirlwind, blowing away the surrounding dirt and rocks. He used his strengthened God-Slayer sword to unleash strikes carrying the domineering might of a dragon, meeting the tentacles head-on.
The battle between the two monsters resumed.
On one side, a Dragon God descended upon the world, his power domineering and righteous.
On the other, an Evil God awakened, his abilities bizarre and malevolent.
...
The battle between the two monsters had completely turned the forest into a wasteland.
Lam Minh and Eleventh clashed, holding nothing back.
The Dragon God's fist collided with the Dark tentacles.
The sword qi of God-Slayer met the twin swords of Ya Ying.
The roar of the dragon countered the shriek of the demon.
With every clash, the ground trembled more violently. Earth-shattering explosions thundered across the sky, dispersing the clouds above. The light from their attacks, sometimes the golden hue of Dragon Qi, sometimes the jet-black of dark energy, flashed continuously, illuminating a corner of the night sky and making the area brighter than day.
At Lac Hong Academy, not far away.
All the students and instructors had gathered in the square, watching in horror at the trembling forest. They couldn't get any closer, as the shockwaves from the battle were already powerful enough to tear an ordinary person to shreds.
A few brave students, those accustomed to using tech devices, had taken out their phones. They were trembling, but they still tried to zoom in as much as possible, pointing their cameras towards the flickering light in the distance.
"Everyone! Look! It looks... it looks like Headmaster Lam Minh!" a student shouted.
Although the image was very blurry and shaky, they could still vaguely make out a figure encased in black and red battle armor, fighting a grotesque monster.
"It really is the Headmaster! He's fighting!"
"What is that monster? It looks terrifying!"
Without a moment's hesitation, that student started a livestream. "LIVE! HEADMASTER LAM MINH'S EPIC BATTLE WITH MYSTERIOUS MONSTER TO PROTECT THE ACADEMY!"
Instantly, that livestream, along with dozens of others, was shared at lightning speed across the social networks of the entire ASEAN bloc.
In a flash, millions, then tens of millions of people flooded in to watch.
An entire community, peacefully asleep, was suddenly awakened.
Their screens shook with every explosion. The light from the attacks flashed dazzlingly. Although they couldn't see clearly, they could feel the destruction in every frame.
In the chat channels, comments flew by continuously.
"Oh my god! Is this the power of cultivators? Unbelievable! It's like two gods are fighting!"
"That's Headmaster Lam Minh! He's our hero! He's protecting us!"
"Look at that monster! It's so scary! I pray for the headmaster's safety!"
"Thank you, Lam Minh! Without you, who would humanity rely on to fight these forces?"
"I've made up my mind! I'm definitely applying to Lac Hong Academy next year!"
Overnight, Lam Minh once again became the center of the world's attention. But this time, he wasn't just a hero; he was a symbol of power, the brightest beacon of hope.
In the supreme strategic meeting room of ASEAN.
General Khang and other high-ranking leaders were also holding their breath, watching the battle through the clearest satellite images.
Everyone's face was grim, cold sweat trickling down their foreheads.
"His opponent... is a Peak Golden Core," a general said with a tremor in his voice. "Their power has far exceeded our calculations."
"That boy... he's shouldering too much on his own," another leader sighed.
They wanted to order reinforcements, to launch missiles. But they knew that in a battle of this level, conventional military forces would be mere cannon fodder. Their intervention might even hinder Lam Minh.
They could only sit there helplessly, watch, and pray.
In a small house in Zone Z-7.
Mrs. Mai and Mr. Dao were also watching the livestream. When she saw the familiar figure of her son fighting for his life, tears streamed endlessly down Mrs. Mai's face.
"My dear... our... our son..." she sobbed.
Mr. Dao held his wife tightly, his eyes also red, but he tried to remain strong. "It's alright, my dear. Minh is very strong. He'll be fine. He'll come back safely."
His little sister An An also sat beside them, her hands clasped together, her innocent eyes filled with worry, murmuring prayers for her brother.
And in a place far, far away, on the peak of Dragon's Domain.
Lac Long Quan was also sitting there, a water mirror before him clearly reflecting the entire battle.
He just watched in silence. There was no worry in his eyes, only seriousness and a hint of... satisfaction.
"Good job, kid," he murmured. "Only by facing an opponent like this can you be forced to reveal your full potential. This is a path you must walk on your own. Show me, where exactly are your limits."
He knew this was the best training for Lam Minh. He would not intervene unless Lam Minh was in truly life-threatening danger with no way out.
The entire world was holding its breath, watching this earth-shattering battle.
And at the center of the storm, Lam Minh was completely unaware of it. He only knew one thing.
He had to win. At all costs.