One-shotted. What else is there to say?

The middle-aged Soul Saint half-squatted, channeled his strength through his legs, and with a loud bang, lunged straight at Zhong Yan.

Seeing the middle-aged Soul Saint charging toward him, Zhong Yan did not dodge at all. He raised one of the hands that had been kept behind his back, and with his gesture, a series of stone walls rose abruptly from the ground, standing right before the middle-aged Soul Saint.

"Bang!" "Bang!"...

Just as the middle-aged Soul Saint was about to shatter the final stone wall, a wild and brazen smile appeared on his face. "Got you."

However, things did not turn out as he expected. There was no one behind the stone wall; he could only see Xue Qinghe sitting calmly in the distance, leisurely sipping tea.

"Where are you looking?" A voice came from behind the middle-aged Soul Saint. By the time he turned around, Zhong Yan was already standing beside the young girl's iron cage. He grabbed a corner of the cage and, with just a slight exertion of force, tore it right off.

"Thank you, please... please run away quickly, I am not worth such trouble from a lord like you." The girl said with a crying voice. Still shaken with fear, she threw herself into Zhong Yan's arms, her body trembling uncontrollably. A pair of cat ears on her head twitched slightly with her tremors, and her tail wrapped instinctively around Zhong Yan, making her look precisely like an insecure little kitten.

"Don't worry, they are nothing more than a flock of mere chickens and dogs." Zhong Yan gently patted the girl's shoulder, comforting her.

"Very well, you have successfully provoked my anger." Seeing Zhong Yan treat him as if playing with a beast, the middle-aged Soul Saint could no longer contain his fury. "Spirit, avatar! Savage Bull!" With that, a huge yellow bull head phantom appeared above his head, his muscles expanded violently, and even his height shot up by more than a meter in an instant, transforming his entire physique into something exceptionally massive and robust.

"Seventh Spirit Ability—True Spirit Avatar! I'm going to grind you into pieces, you little brat! First Spirit Ability—Colossal Strength!" Surging and torrential spirit power erupted from his body.

Immediately, the middle-aged Soul Saint swung his fists, leaped high into the air, and smashed down toward Zhong Yan.

"Boom—" The middle-aged Soul Saint's massive body, augmented by his True Spirit Avatar, slammed heavily into the ground, sending up clouds of dust and scattering debris everywhere.

All the distinguished guests in the seating area naturally assumed this brat was dead beyond a doubt, feeling only a pang of pity for the lovely maiden. Yet when the dust cleared, everyone discovered that the original podium had been reduced to ruins, leaving behind only a colossal crater.

Looking closely, the only occupant of the huge crater was the middle-aged Soul Saint, squatting in place and covered in short brownish-yellow fur. There was none of the blood, gore, and scattered limbs they had anticipated.

"Where is that brat?"

The middle-aged Soul Saint stood up, his brownish-yellow eyes scanning the spot where Xue Qinghe had previously been. Following his gaze, the crowd turned their eyes toward the VIP box.

Sure enough, Zhong Yan had already placed the girl safely beside Xue Qinghe, while he himself held a cup of clear tea, sipping it delicately.

Being played with like this twice by Zhong Yan—the first time could be chalked up to an accident, but twice clearly indicated something more. Coupled with Crown Prince Xue Qinghe comforting the girl right next to them, the middle-aged Soul Saint's heart began to beat a retreat.

Zhong Yan closed his eyes and took a light sip. When he opened them again, they had transformed into completely different, dazzling dragon eyes, with diamond-shaped patterns faintly shimmering within them.

Feigning that he had only just noticed Xue Qinghe, the middle-aged Soul Saint let out a couple of dry laughs and said, "I never expected Your Highness the Crown Prince to be present, and this person happens to be a friend of Your Highness. If Your Highness desired this young maiden, you only needed to speak a word to the auction house. Why go to all this trouble?"

Yet Xue Qinghe acted as though he hadn't heard a thing, keeping his attention solely on the young girl beside him. A trace of resentment flashed across the middle-aged Soul Saint's eyes upon seeing this, though it vanished almost instantly, replaced once again by a smiling facade.

"I originally intended to play a little longer with you, this savage bull," Zhong Yan said calmly, sensing the rapidly increasing number of spirit power fluctuations surrounding the auction house. "It's just that time is running short. If we wait for the rest of them to arrive, it will only lead to more tiresome bickering, and I have zero interest in such things. I can only finish you off in a single move."

The middle-aged Soul Saint slowly formed a question mark.

He scoffed derisively, "You want to wipe me out in a single move? Are you trying to laugh me to death?"

Meanwhile, in another private box, Sword Douro, who had been watching everything unfold, suddenly uttered a single word: "Not good."

Then, grabbing Ning Fengzhi, he vanished from the spot.

Zhong Yan put down his tea cup, and a jade shield rose, enclosing both Xue Qinghe and the girl. He then crossed his arms over his chest, his cold gaze looking down with utter contempt upon the rabble before him.

"Falling Star."

Boom——————

Looking at the once-prosperous building now reduced to ruins, Dust Heart shook his head and remarked, "This kid really has quite some ability. I thought for sure it would be a bitter battle."

"Indeed, Uncle Jian. It seems we made the right choice this time," Ning Fengzhi said, his mood exceptionally buoyant. After all, an auction house that had been such a thorn in his side was now gone, and on top of that, he had witnessed the capabilities of this new Holy Son of the Spirit Hall.

While previously he had merely seen Zhong Yan's potential, transforming potential into actual strength requires conditions. But now, he had not a single doubt left.

Before long, numerous figures appeared around the perimeter of the former auction house, every single one of them drawing in a sharp breath of cold air at the sight before them. These individuals were all at the Soul Saint level, with quite a few Spirit Douros among them as well. As for those of even lower strength, they had already been driven away before the falling star struck.

The surrounding crowd cast strange looks toward the three figures of Zhong Yan walking out leisurely. The once towering auction house was now reduced to a completely flat plain—this was the precise effect of Zhong Yan's control, leaving the original foundations undamaged.

In this vast open space, apart from the three of them, everything and everyone else was trapped in a bizarre state of petrification. Someone stepped forward, intending to hold them accountable, but upon spotting Xue Qinghe, he abruptly swallowed his words, turned to the side instead, and interrogated Zhong Yan: "You..."

Before he could finish, Salas hurried over with a troop of knights, dropping to their knees before Zhong Yan and shouting in unison, "Greetings, Your Holiness the Holy Son."

Oh? Someone even harder to mess with.

The moment their voices fell, a chorus of cracking sounds echoed from the statues behind Zhong Yan, as if the sheer vibration of their voices had shattered them.

Following the sound, the others looked over, only to see that the once flesh-and-blood people were now turning into ash amidst those cracking sounds. As a gentle breeze swept past, the very last proof of their existence in this world vanished into nothingness.