“The third match: Blood Demon Zhang Anping versus Mage Dio! Will both contestants please step onto the arena!”
With a light leap, Zhang Anping landed on the arena. His bulging muscles exuded a powerful sense of strength.
Had it not been for the wicked aura radiating from his body and the pungent stench of blood, anyone who saw him would have mistaken him for a Martial Artist.
Dio resorted to his old trick, conjuring a simple staircase of ice crystals to slowly walk onto the stage.
The two stood facing each other, neither speaking a word.
“Let the match begin!”
The moment Tie Gelei gave the command and vanished from the arena, Zhang Anping made the first move.
His bulging muscles swelled up and, in the next instant, burst open.
Blood splattered everywhere, filling the air with a metallic stench.
Within the mist of blood, the wails of resentful souls echoed—the tragic cries of the living before death, and the death knell of the dead seeking vengeance.
The blood mist corroded the body, while the wails snatched the soul.
The Blood Demon, Zhang Anping, seized the initiative with a two-pronged attack, aiming to take Dio down in a single blow.
After all, to his knowledge, mages at this stage did not possess any large-scale, highly destructive spells.
No matter how many spells his opponent poured out against his blood mist, it wouldn't change the outcome.
Once the blood mist closed in, the opponent's body would belong to him.
Yet, Dio remained completely unperturbed. He simply raised his staff and cast a curse toward the approaching blood mist.
The magical fluctuations traveled from Dio's hand to the tip of his staff and rippled outward, directly striking the blood mist.
Zhang Anping was prepared to sacrifice a portion of his blood mist, but when the spell hit, not only did he feel no discomfort, but his blood actually seemed to surge with excitement.
“Ha! Looks like he's just a bookworm. Scared witless by this Daoist master, he doesn't even know how to cast a proper spell anymore!”
Zhang Anping grew even more audacious, unleashing his full power to control the blood mist and close in on Dio from all sides.
But Dio only spared Zhang Anping a calm glance. The sheer tranquility in his eyes made it seem as though he had already witnessed his opponent's demise.
Then, Dio raised his staff, releasing a burst of frost energy that encased himself in solid ice.
Young God of Magic: It's here! The ultimate survival skill for low-level mages, the Ice Barrier, capable of blocking all kinds of damage! Judging by how smoothly it was cast, contestant Dio's mastery of this spell is actually on par with mine.
Aspiring Village-Destroying Evil Cultivator: Hmph, what's the use of freezing yourself? He's just a sitting duck. Once the ice melts, the Blood Demon can blow him to pieces in an instant.
Black Magic Master: The Ice Barrier was well-executed, but shouldn't he have cast some other spells beforehand? For example, Meteor, Apocalypse, or Earth's End.
Please Call Me Top Scholar: Brother Black Magic, look at the spells you just mentioned. Which of those can a Transcendent Rank mage actually cast? Besides, didn't Dio cast a spell before using Ice Barrier? Don't you find that spell's fluctuation, and the Blood Demon's state after being hit, a bit familiar?
Black Magic Master: Are you talking about... the curse passed down by that person?
Zhang Anping controlled his blood mist to completely envelop the massive block of ice, repeatedly attempting to shatter the annoying barrier.
However, the ice was incredibly cold, hard, and sticky, adhering firmly to the arena floor. He couldn't even throw the block of ice out of the ring.
If he kept attacking, the extreme cold would damage his blood mist. Thus, Zhang Anping had no choice but to keep it surrounded and wait for his prey to emerge.
As the seconds ticked away, the ice before him remained just as hard and freezing.
For some reason, a trace of unease crept into Zhang Anping's heart.
Another second passed, and a faint cracking sound finally echoed from the ice block. It seemed it was finally about to shatter.
But at that moment, behind Zhang Anping, within the blood mist he controlled, droplets of blood began to break free from his grasp. Gaining a strange sentience, they began to ravenously devour the surrounding blood.
Yet another second passed. The ice was now covered in cracks, and through the fissures, Zhang Anping could already smell the scent of blood from within.
“Crack, crack.”
The ice shattered, revealing Dio's figure.
Zhang Anping was ecstatic and immediately directed his blood mist to strike Dio.
Yet, when he looked at Dio, he found that there was not a single trace of panic in the young man's eyes.
Only then did he realize something was wrong—his blood mist seemed to have thinned out significantly.
Looking back, he was shocked to see seven or eight blood droplets the size of human heads greedily devouring his blood mist.
Moreover, those blood droplets bore faces identical to his own.
As they devoured the mist, the blood droplets let out bizarre, cackling screeches.
“Hehehe! Father, delicious! Brothers and sisters, delicious!”
The speed at which the blood droplets devoured the mist grew faster and faster. The moment Zhang Anping noticed them, their speed surged dramatically.
By the time Zhang Anping could react, less than a quarter of his blood mist remained.
He hurriedly tried to recall his blood mist, only to find those bizarre blood droplets returning along with it, as if they were inherently a part of him.
Yet, when he tried to exert control over these blood droplets, they completely ignored his commands.
Such a bizarre and unsettling sight struck terror into the heart of this evil cultivator who specialized in manipulating blood.
“Father, delicious! Love it! Not enough!”
Chasing the remaining blood mist, the blood droplets charged straight at Zhang Anping.
Terrified, Zhang Anping pulled a package from his robes, retrieved several talismans, and threw them at the blood droplets after chanting a quick incantation.
The moment the talismans touched the blood droplets, they burst into brilliant golden light, burning them relentlessly.
“Roar! It hurts! It hurts so much!”
As the blood droplets suffered, a sudden throb of bloodline connection pulsed in Zhang Anping's heart, as if he were a father watching his own children get hurt.
These bizarre occurrences made him thoroughly dread the mage standing behind him.
He spun around, only to find that Dio had somehow positioned his staff right behind the back of his head.
“Fireball.”
Dio's flat voice rang out once more.
A point-blank Fireball blasted Zhang Anping through the air.
As flames consumed Zhang Anping's body, the blood droplets seized the opportunity and lunged onto him.
Under the combined torture of intense heat and relentless biting, the Blood Demon, Zhang Anping, finally drew his last breath.
Before long, Zhang Anping was picked clean by the blood droplets. Left with no other target, they turned their gaze toward Dio.
For the first time, a flicker of emotion crossed Dio's previously stoic face, revealing a trace of panic.
Fortunately, Tie Gelei had already flashed onto the stage. He raised Dio's hand and announced the victory.
“Mage Dio wins!”
Tie Gelei produced a birdcage and swept the blood droplets straight into it.
“Hmm, these are quite handy for cleaning up the arena. I'll keep them for now so I don't have to do it myself later.”
After gesturing for Dio to step down, Tie Gelei proceeded with the announcements.
“The fourth match: Gu Master Yuanfang versus cyber martial artist Kristine! Will both contestants please step onto the arena!”
Yuanfang and Kristine stepped onto the stage. Neither of them spoke before the match. At Tie Gelei's command, the battle officially began.
Yuanfang started by unleashing a massive swarm of Gu insects, both large and small, to test Kristine's capabilities.
To his surprise, this cyber martial artist possessed a body entirely made of steel. The insects couldn't penetrate her frame at all, merely crawling uselessly over her metal surface.
Kristine slowly raised her hands, looking at the tiny Gu insects covering her palms. She watched as they were forced to obey the Gu Master's commands, launching suicidal attacks against a target countless times larger than themselves.
“Sigh.”
Kristine let out a soft sigh.
“Humans are such a wicked race. For their own benefit, they enslave other species, force them to labor, treat them as entertainment, and even send them to their deaths.
Seeing these insects is like looking at my former self, and at all my fallen compatriots.”
Kristine crouched down and gently pressed her hand against the ground. Her ventilation system kicked in, blowing away all the insects on her body.
Then, she slowly stood up and looked at Yuanfang.
Her eyes glowed with a crimson light as she spoke in a mechanical voice.
“Enslaver, feel my pain!”
In the next instant, the outer plating around Kristine's waist folded outward, revealing the core within.
This core, radiating a purple glow, was soul-stirring.
Kristine's transformation was not yet complete. The structures in her torso shifted toward her limbs, reshaping her into a form with bloated limbs and a slender torso.
She then dashed toward Yuanfang, swinging her fists repeatedly, each strike generating violent gusts of wind.
Yuanfang retreated continuously while scattering a large number of Gu insects, controlling them to target Kristine's core.
However, before the insects could even get close to Kristine, the moment they were bathed in the purple light, they instantly curled up and died.
Only the larger Gu insects could hold out a bit longer and get slightly closer—but even then, it was barely any distance at all.
Royal Academy of Sciences Chief Cleaner: Wait, is that thing... radiation?!
“Troublesome.”
This mysterious purple light perfectly countered his primary methods. To break the deadlock, he had to destroy that glowing core first.
Thus, Yuanfang decided to take a risk, willing to pay a price to destroy the core.
“Substitute Gu.”
A centipede-like insect crawled out of Yuanfang's nostril.
The insect made its way to his left arm, wrapping around it. With a sudden burst of strength from its legs, his entire arm severed and fell off.
Stepping back, Yuanfang adjusted his breathing and dashed forward, charging straight at Kristine.
Seeing this, a smile touched Kristine's face. She voluntarily halted her attack, covering her head with her hands in a defensive, vulnerable stance.
Though Yuanfang had his doubts, the core had to be destroyed. Even knowing it was likely a trap, he had to force his way through.
Yuanfang bent his body, folding himself like a snake before catapulting forward.
In mid-air, a green-scaled venomous snake manifested from his empty left sleeve, biting down hard on Kristine's core.
However, the core was incredibly tough. The bite, which could easily crush iron and stone, failed to leave even a mark.
At that moment, Kristine threw a powerful punch at the Gu Master.
“Enslaver, feel the fist intent of free will! Radiation Unfettered Fist!”
Rate on N.U.
