"Let's go and take a look!" The initially enchanting face of the Magic Phoenix Empire's queen suddenly
grew very serious, revealing the graveness of her position.
Felicia nodded at once. Then, turning to glance at Rocky and the three women, she nodded slightly at
them, too. Then, she went with the queen to the square of the martial arts contest first.
"Basil, then shall we..." Sabina looked to Rocky inquisitively.
"Let's go and have a look, too," Rocky said after thinking for a while. After the abnormal phenomenon
last night, he had a hunch that something was going to happen. Now that the spirit manipulator had
gone crazy at the martial arts contest, he was somewhat concerned.
Thus, Rocky and the three women followed after the queen and Felicia.
When they arrived at the square where the martial arts contest was held, they saw that it was a total
mess. At that time, many spirit manipulators present were staring at the battle ring where Erica was.
Erica's delicate face looked pale and she kept panting. She had been seriously injured, but was still
fighting with a man who looked about forty years old garbed in a cyan robe. The man looked gentle, but
upon a closer look, they found that his eyes shone with green light. His face was ferocious, and his
body emitted a strange aura that shouldn't have belonged to a spirit manipulator.
When the queen and Felicia arrived, they could do nothing but sit before the hall at the front of the
square and wait, since the competition was still going on.
Soon, Rocky noticed that the other spirit manipulators standing on the other battle rings were also in
the same situation. They looked completely different from ordinary people. The ferocious look in their
eyes was enough to make people shudder, as though they were crazed from hunger.
Most of the phoenix spirit manipulators on the battle rings were injured, and some of them had already
retreated. This scene didn't make any sense; the entire martial arts contest was in chaos.
"These spirit manipulators are a little strange. We'd better stop the martial arts contest right away and
send someone to investigate..." Felicia said to the queen urgently.
"But if the contest is terminated, people will spread word that our Magic Phoenix Empire can't afford to
lose!" the queen hissed, her tone filled with concern.
"But if we don't stop them, something bad might happen. We don't know. These spirit manipulators are
definitely abnormal." Felicia frowned slightly.
Just as Felicia and the queen got into a heated discussion as to what they should do, the man in the
cyan robe smiled coldly at the exhausted Erica.
"There is something wrong with the auras of these spirit manipulators. These are not the auras of
normal spirit manipulators..." Rocky, who had arrived with the three women, studied the man in the
cyan robe and the spirit manipulators on the other battle rings. It didn't take long for him to realize that
something was wrong with them.
"This is not the normal aura of a spirit manipulator. What is it?" Sabina said in a low voice.
"It can be likened to the aura of a furious spirit-manipulated beast, but it seems to be stronger.
Moreover, those spirit manipulators seem to be unable to control themselves, and the spiritual power in
their bodies is also very chaotic, as though they are being controlled by some kind of force..." Rocky
voiced his observations coldly. Perhaps it was because he himself had been controlled by the evil
power for many times, and he could tell at a glance that these spirit manipulators were controlled by
some hidden power in their bodies.
At that moment, Erica was completely at a disadvantage and was fighting back desperately, like a
cornered, wounded animal.
The man in the cyan robe suddenly revealed a pained expression. Blue veins protruded all over his
head, and his eyes became even crazier. He madly pounced on Erica, as if he had endless strength to
hit her again and again. Erica gritted her teeth and braced for the impact.
All of a sudden, a shrill scream sounded from a competition area. Many spirit manipulators, including
Rocky and the three women, turned their heads towards the sound.
What they saw terrified them. A phoenix spirit manipulator's opponent had undergone a terrible
change. His eyeballs were popping out of his skull; blue veins all over his body were bulging, and saliva
was spilled out of his mouth—he looked like a wild beast.
The next moment, the robe on the spirit manipulator's body suddenly bulged and tore completely to
reveal his ripped skin, ghastly white bones peeping through. The skin on his body gradually hardened,
like the scales of a spirit-manipulated beast. Under the rapid changes, the spirit manipulator quickly
turned into a half-human, half-beast chimera.
In the blink of an eye, the monster rushed directly to the phoenix spirit manipulator in the area. Its face
was so ferocious and terrible, the phoenix spirit manipulator was frozen in fear.
Watching this scene unfold shocked everyone present. They too had no idea what had happened!
Just as the phoenix spirit manipulator was about to be devoured by the demonic monster, a delicate
figure suddenly appeared in front of the monster at lightning speed. The strong spiritual power gushed
out like a waterfall, directed right at the spirit manipulator monster.
With a loud bang, the monster's whole body exploded, his flesh splattering everywhere across the
arena. When the dust cleared, only a few pieces were left scattered on the ground. At that moment, a
red light with an aura instantly flew out of the monster's remains and vanished into thin air.
"Preceptor Felicia!"
The delicate figure was Felicia, the imperial preceptor of the Magic Phoenix Empire.
After she killed the monster, almost at the same time, the other spirit manipulators who had been
exuding demonic auras on other battle rings began to transform terribly, just like the deceased spirit
manipulator did just now. They screamed and turned into half-human, half-beast demonic monsters in
full view of the public. Then, they rushed into the crowd and attacked them. Some unfortunate, weak
spirit manipulators were left dead in their path.
To everyone's horror, many spirit manipulators from the crowd also underwent horrendous
transformations, turning into ferocious monsters.
Complete and utter chaos broke out as random spirit manipulators transformed into bloodthirsty beasts.
The queen's and Felicia's expressions darkened as they saw what was happening.
Felicia immediately ordered the spirit manipulators of the Magic Phoenix Empire and a large number of
guards to surround and suppress those monsters, and then proceeded to organize the evacuation of
the spirit manipulators from various empires.
However, these monsters were not only extremely strong, but also were difficult to kill. Even the
Supernal Stage masters of the Magic Phoenix Empire might not be able to kill them, and the Heavenly
Stage spirit manipulators could not hurt them at all, let alone the ordinary guards.
In the blink of an eye, under the crazy attacks of these monsters, countless corpses littered the ground.
Piercing screams and cries for help filled the air.
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