While the player is in Battle Through the Heavens, the system is in The Great Ruler.

Chapter 67 Second on the Power Ranking, Aiming for the Battle King!
Soon after,

After bidding farewell to Qinglin, Lu Yu took Little Fairy Doctor and returned to the inner courtyard with Lin Xiuya and Liu Qing.

The four of them went straight to the familiar arena, where many students who had heard the news had already gathered.

Lu Yu glanced around, a slight smile playing on his lips—it seemed today's battle was destined to become the focus of the Inner Academy in the near future.

"Seniors, which one of you would like to offer your guidance first?"

Lu Yu stood in the center of the field, turned around and asked with a smile.

Lin Xiuya and Liu Qing exchanged a glance.

"I come!"

Liu Qing responded in a deep voice, and with a backhand, he took the Mountain-Splitting Spear from his back. The moment the spear was in his hand, his entire aura changed abruptly, like a divine weapon drawn from its sheath, its sharpness fully revealed.

His fighting spirit surged, appearing even more formidable than it had been a few months ago.

"The peak of fighting spirit?"

Lu Yu raised an eyebrow. He vaguely remembered that when they last met, the other party was only at the late stage of the Nine-Star Dou Ling realm, but now he had advanced even further.

However, there was no fear in his eyes; instead, a fierce fighting spirit ignited within him.

"I didn't expect it would be the Overlord Spear who struck first..."

"That's not surprising. Senior Lin is ranked higher, so naturally he's the last one."

"Which do you think is better, the Heaven-Burning Finger or the Overlord Spear?"

"It's hard to say. Excluding that brute force king, the top three in the inner courtyard are probably these three..."

……

Amidst the whispers of the spectators in the stands.

On the stage,

Lu Yu and Liu Qing were both well prepared.

Liu Qing was the first to strike, his Mountain-Splitting Spear tracing a perfect golden arc in his hand. Wherever the spear tip passed, the pale golden trace of battle aura lingered in the air for a long time.

"Rain falling on rocks!"

With a roar, Liu Qing's figure suddenly blurred. In an instant, countless golden spear shadows poured down like a galaxy, each spear beam containing the power to split mountains and shatter rocks.

Even more astonishingly, these gunshots were not chaotic, but rather formed a mysterious array that completely blocked all of Lu Yu's escape routes.

"Pretty!"

Lu Yu's eyes lit up; this person's use of combat techniques had reached an unparalleled level.

This ordinary high-level Xuan-rank combat skill, when used by him, actually had a hint of the flavor of a Di-rank combat skill, comparable to a quasi-Di-rank skill.

Third on the list of top performers, truly living up to its reputation.

"Guardian of the Divination Palm!"

Lu Yu was not to be outdone. He crossed his palms in front of his chest and drew circles, with blue and red flames flowing like yin and yang fish.

As the palm strike unfolded, countless fiery palm prints bloomed like lotus flowers, each palm print precisely meeting a spear beam.

The two energies collided in mid-air, unleashing a deafening roar, and the violent gusts of wind carved grooves into the arena floor.

"Come again!"

"Red gold peck!"

Liu Qing moved with lightning speed, his Mountain-Splitting Spear piercing straight forward like a shooting star chasing the moon. The golden light at the tip of the spear was condensed to its extreme, tearing the air in its wake with fine black lines.

"Heavenly Dragon Flame Finger!"

Lu Yu neither dodged nor evaded, but pointed his right hand out with a sword-like finger. Crimson and blue flames intertwined at his fingertip, and a faint dragon-shaped phantom swirled around it, meeting the spear tip with perfect precision.

"boom!"

The moment the two extreme forces collided, a deafening explosion resounded throughout the entire venue.

The violent shockwave spread out in a ring, and the blue bricks beneath Lu Yu's feet shattered inch by inch. He had to take several steps back before he could regain his footing.

Liu Qing was struck as if by lightning, and his entire body flew backward, the Mountain-Splitting Spear drawing a dazzling spark more than ten feet long on the ground.

"Excellent! What a fine Earth-rank combat skill!"

Liu Qing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even brighter. He laughed loudly, "Although I do not possess any Earth-rank combat techniques, I do have a self-created spear technique whose power is by no means inferior! If you, junior brother, can withstand it, I, Liu, will gladly admit defeat!"

He slowly raised the Mountain-Splitting Spear in his hand, and the golden light flowing through the spear body drew a mysterious trajectory in the void.

Lu Yu looked solemn and cupped his hands, saying, "Please enlighten me, senior."

"This move is the result of my more than ten years of painstaking research into the Mountain-Splitting Spear Technique. Watch closely!" Liu Qing let out a long roar, and golden light around him flowed like a hundred rivers into the sea, all of it disappearing into the spear.

In an instant, the dark gun barrel gradually gleamed with a metallic luster, and at the tip of the gun, liquid-like golden energy flowed like a living thing.

"Big Split Rock!"

boom!
The heavy spear, reaching for the sky, crashed down with a deafening roar. A terrifying, hidden force swept across the ground, and the golden light at the spear tip erupted like a volcanic eruption, transforming into a destructive torrent. Wherever it passed, the giant rocks of the arena were shattered to pieces!

"Well done!"

Lu Yu's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He raised his right hand slightly, his fighting spirit surging wildly within him. The Earth Core Flame intertwined and condensed at his fingertip into a thin, yet dazzling, crimson-blue fire line.

Boom!

Amidst a deafening roar, the golden torrent was ripped apart by the crimson-blue fire lines. Liu Qing groaned, thrown dozens of feet away along with his spear, flying backward.

Lu Yu, however, only had his robes fluttering as he took seven steps back to regain his footing.

"I lost."

Liu Qing struggled to his feet, leaning on his gun, but a broad smile spread across his face as he laughed loudly, "The name 'Burning Heaven Finger' is truly well-deserved!"

A commotion erupted in the stands. At that moment, Lin Xiuya, dressed in white, gracefully descended, the green-edged longsword at his waist emitting a clear, resonant sound.

"Junior Brother Lu is indeed remarkable."

He smiled gently, lightly pressed his right hand on the hilt of his sword, and said, "I also have a 'sword aura technique' that I would like to ask you to teach me, my junior brother. The power of this move... is even greater than Brother Liu's spear technique."

He paused for a moment, then asked considerately, "Junior, you must be quite exhausted from all those fierce battles. How about we settle this with one decisive move?"

"Senior, please!"

Lu Yu's expression hardened, and his fighting spirit began to circulate rapidly around him.

Lin Xiuya nodded slightly, and in an instant, the sound of wind in the entire arena stopped.

The next moment, a violent gale arose out of nowhere, and the energy of heaven and earth converged wildly, instantly condensing into a three-zhang-long azure giant sword in mid-air. The wind swirled around the sword, tearing the air with a piercing shriek.

"call out--"

A streak of azure light pierced the air as the giant sword, entirely formed from gale-force energy, swooped down at terrifying speed. Even before its blade reached the arena, the sharp sword energy had already carved deep gashes into the arena floor.

Azure Whirlwind Kill!

"A half-step Battle King?! A Earth-rank Battle Technique?!"

Lu Yu's pupils shrank sharply. He could clearly feel the fluctuations of the power of heaven and earth in that sword aura. This Lin Xiuya had actually touched the threshold of the Dou Wang realm!

He took a deep breath, and his fighting spirit surged like a river. The Earth Core Flame condensed in his right sword finger had become extremely concentrated. The blue and red energies intertwined and entwined, and it even faintly transformed into the shape of a dragon, emitting a deafening dragon roar.

"Roar!"

As the blue and red energies compressed and condensed, a phantom of a fire dragon soared out. The fire dragon's scales were clearly defined, its whiskers fluttering, and a deafening roar resounded through the sky, causing the battle qi of many students in the stands to momentarily stagnate.

"Boom——!"

The moment the azure greatsword collided with the fire dragon in mid-air, the entire arena trembled. Blinding energy waves exploded like the sun, illuminating the entire arena as bright as day.

As the light faded, Lu Yu was seen standing at one end of the arena, his clothes fluttering in the breeze, his hands clasped behind his back.

Lin Xiuya, dressed in a green robe, stood quietly at the other end, sword in hand.

The two of them maintained a calm aura, as if the earth-shattering attack had never happened.

"A tie?"

Lin Xiuya thought for a moment, then shook his head. With a clang, he sheathed his longsword and chuckled, "I, Lin, have lost."

He looked intently at Lu Yu, his tone sincere, and said, "If you had used that secret technique from a few months ago that could temporarily boost your strength, the outcome of this battle would have been decided long ago. Moreover..."

He gently stroked the longsword at his waist and said, "Just now, I also used this Azure Nether Sword, which is inlaid with a fourth-tier wind-elemental magic core, for that attack. In fact, I took advantage of you quite a bit, junior."

These words were like a thunderclap, and the stands erupted in uproar.

The students looked at each other in disbelief. No one had expected that Lin Xiuya, who was ranked second on the leaderboard, would admit defeat in front of everyone.

"These 1,000 fire points belong to the junior."

Lin Xiuya flicked his wrist, and the fire energy card shot through the air like a sharp arrow.

He laughed heartily and said, "From today onwards, the second place on the ranking list will also be handed over to my junior."

Lu Yu casually caught the incoming fire energy card between two fingers, a slight smile playing on his lips. Three thousand nine hundred and fifty points of fire energy in hand were enough for him to remain in seclusion at the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower for over four months.

"The Realm of Battle Kings..."

He looked up at the sky, his eyes burning with intensity. "It's time to break through."

(End of this chapter)