Zhou Zhe's voice rang beside Roxstar's ears as he questioned his very existence.
"Super Regeneration that regrows severed limbs, coupled with enhanced combat power after injury—indeed, that is a powerful talent."
"However, it can only be used to assist cultivation."
"If you use it in battle..."
"Guess how many times I can kill you in the span of a single breath?"
Zhou Zhe's tone drifted unpredictably as the long blade in his hand sliced forward like a wheel of light, brutally crushing the scales on Roxstar's body.
He gave him not the slightest chance to catch his breath.
As a Super Horned Demon, Roxstar's innate abilities operated every moment. The wounds on his body swiftly stopped bleeding, closed, and healed, becoming tougher than before.
However...
Before an old wound could fully recover, ten new wounds appeared.
The agony of a dull blade sawing through flesh far surpassed that of instant death.
Roxstar's will was tougher than imagined. The wounds upon his body drove him to evolve without cease, making him ever stronger!
His attacks became sharper and fiercer!
His evasions no longer dragged through mud and water as they had before!
Even his combat techniques gradually became more refined.
He was a born warrior!
The battlefield was his finest stage!
Unfortunately...
Everything under heaven came at a price.
The "Dao" had not tampered with this universe's law of conservation of energy and matter. That meant Roxstar had to overdraw energy to repair his body.
Roxstar's originally massive frame gradually grew leaner during the battle.
"Your speed has increased, and your defense has improved too."
Zhou Zhe curled his lips and casually chopped off the opponent's last demonic horn. "But your strength has clearly weakened, and your stamina is declining."
"You need food now, to replenish the consumption and deficit caused by your body's evolution."
"But I won't provide you with any food..."
Before carrying out his Self-Configuration, Zhou Zhe had intended to kill Roxstar as quickly as possible and end the fight.
But now that his way of thinking had changed, he changed his mind.
Roxstar could evolve in battle and was hailed as a Super Horned Demon with limitless potential, one in a hundred million, but...
It was completely fucking useless.
Zhou Zhe had him completely in the palm of his hand.
A Black Iron Two-Star Gladiator...
What kind of rotten fish and shrimp was that?
What Zhou Zhe was considering now was another layer—the Dao!
That lofty "Dao" that toyed with everything was the one he truly needed to watch out for.
Put himself in its shoes...
If he held a competition and specifically chose two contestants as the grand finale, even if he already knew it would be a one-sided stomp, would he be happy if one side actually killed the other with a single slash?
No, no, no!
Absolutely not!
When the Dao was unhappy, it made sure no one else could be happy either.
Over the past two months, Zhou Zhe had watched quite a few Cosmic Arena Combat matches.
Once, two gladiators from different civilizations colluded to throw a fake match, and the Dao discovered them...
And then?
There was no then.
Those two civilizations, more glorious than Earth itself, were utterly destroyed!
More than fifty billion lives in total turned to dust, annihilated in the universe.
Therefore...
Before becoming strong enough to arm-wrestle the Dao, Zhou Zhe knew exactly how he should perform.
"You bastard! You Earth mongrel!"
Roxstar, who was practically being sliced alive, roared furiously, "If I survive today, I will definitely destroy Earth's civilization!"
"I swear upon my honor!"
"No food? Then I'll... eat myself!"
Were the chunks of flesh scattered across the starry arena not food?
Though they all came from Roxstar's own body.
Still, Roxstar did not care.
He still had dreams left unfulfilled. He absolutely could not die here!
Even if he had to stop at nothing, he would defeat his opponent!
Watching Roxstar swallow flesh and blood in a sorry state, Zhou Zhe took half a step back to avoid the blood splattering from him, his expression leisurely.
"Although you may feel very miserable at first, please rest assured..."
"?"
"From here on, you will feel even worse."
Roxstar's face took on the expression of someone who had eaten a fly.
He should have bet his ears on it. He should never have listened to this man's bullshit from the start.
An utterly unheroic smile of Madness Aura curled across Zhou Zhe's lips. Cruel ghostly light surfaced in his eyes, and the movements of his hand grew increasingly savage.
"Delightful despair."
Although some veteran Horned Demon gladiator had put a lock on the EX Gene, Roxstar's body itself was excellent scientific research material.
At worst, the corpse of a legendary Super Horned Demon, one in a hundred million, could be used as equipment material, could it not?
Zhou Zhe had complete faith in China's scientists.
At this moment, the livestream chat had completely exploded.
"This alien super soldier is seriously killing me. A legendary Super Horned Demon? What the fuck, are you acting in Dragon Ball Z?"
"Alas, your daddy has no education; one 'holy shit' carries me through the world!"
"This Zhou Zhe... is he really an Earthling?"
"Terrifying... As a veteran psychologist from Lithuania with twenty years of experience, I can say with one hundred percent certainty that he has a very typical antisocial personality! But he doesn't seem purely evil. He has convictions, things he loves—there's still hope for him."
"He really is an Earthling! I just checked Zhou Zhe's record and found something interesting—he only joined Swift Wind Pavilion a week ago and began coming into contact with supernatural power then. During that time, he cultivated the 'Wind Element Body Tempering Technique' to the Perfection Realm, earned Lin Ye's approval, and was taught the 'Wind Riding Blade Technique.'"
"One week??? I've fucking trained for two months, and my 'Wind Element Body Tempering Technique' is only at the first level! Every level after that is harder than the last! How did he do it?"
"That is a good question! It's good because it touches upon a gap in my knowledge!"
"Compared to his strength, isn't Zhou Zhe's personality more terrifying? It feels like he's enjoying every second of this!"
"Was he a killer before?"
"Motherfucker... this guy is too scary! What kind of life could shape someone like this?"
"No! Zhou Zhe's displayed personality completely does not match the information I found! My intelligence system cannot be wrong! So... is this self-hypnosis? A second personality? Or something else?"
"Go, Brother A Zhe! I'm the Support Group Leader of your fan club! Fellow fans, join group 602814829!"
"Trash. Other than being handsome and pretty good at fighting, what else does he have?"
"So sour... were you reincarnated as a lemon? Is it that hard to admit someone else is outstanding? I'm eating lemons! You're fucking five-tier trash! If you can't control your mouth, hide your mother, okay?"
"Yo, yo, yo, Zhou Zhe's fans only have this much class? At least I'm certain I'll live longer than him! Enough said, Zhou Zhe haters, join group 1098288033! Let's form an alliance! Brain-dead fans must die!"
"Just a passerby offering an opinion—given Zhou Zhe's personality, I think he'll eventually get himself killed showing off..."
"You can't call that showing off! That's expanding his influence and raising Earth's deterrence! Brother Zhou Zhe means well! He's contributing to his fellow Earthlings, so why can't you understand?"
"??? Zhou Zhe is already an idol? I suddenly understand why those traffic-star pretty boys are so popular... I'm despairing at this face-obsessed world, quack! OTZ"
In the brief moments the viewers spent posting Bullet Comments, Roxstar had already fallen.
Covered in blood, he had even closed his eyes, his breath as weak as a thread, looking as though he could die at any moment.
Zhou Zhe slowly paced toward him.
Ten meters, five meters, three meters...
Two meters, one meter...
Suddenly, Roxstar opened his eyes!
Green, gray, and black—the three colors that jointly represented death—mixed together and burst forth!
This was Roxstar's hidden trump-card killing move!
Death Feedback—all damage suffered within the span of thirty thousand heartbeats erupted at once, returned in full to the opponent!
Originally, Roxstar had planned to use this move after becoming stronger, when challenging the "Absolute Ruler" of Sigma Star.
Now, he could no longer hold back his trump card.
So long as this move landed, forget a Black Iron Gladiator—even a Bronze Gladiator of a higher level would certainly die!
However...
Zhou Zhe merely tilted his head and lightly evaded the certain-kill strike!
He had clearly been on guard all along!
In the distance, a bleak gray-green glow emerged upon the gleaming white dragon bones. The dragon bones, which had never shown the slightest scratch no matter what impact they endured, slowly softened until they resembled jelly. Wisps of green smoke rose amid corrosive hissing sounds.
"I already felt something was off earlier."
Zhou Zhe looked delighted, laughter misting in his eyes. He did not look at all like someone who had just brushed past death. "You clearly had enough stamina to counterattack, yet you kept passively taking hits and refused to make a move."
"All for this little trick?"
At this point, Zhou Zhe said in a teasing tone, "I've read more female-targeted palace-intrigue novels than you've seen female creatures in your entire life. You want to play mind games with me?"
"You're still far too green..."
"But the game should end here."
"Die!"
The instant his words fell, an incomparably dazzling blade light swept forward, wrapped in a dense cyclone of Wind Element!
Roxstar's eyes split wide as he let out a heart-rending roar. "My dream hasn't been realized yet! I'm a man who will become the Absolute Ruler! I absolutely cannot fall here! Body, move for meeeee!"
Splurt!
Roxstar's head was cleaved in two by a single slash, killing him on the spot!
After killing his opponent, Zhou Zhe sharply noticed a slight change in the Black Sword Shield Brand on the back of his hand—five five-pointed star marks had appeared on it, three already filled in, leaving only two blank.
Glancing at the Super Horned Demon who was dead beyond all doubt, Zhou Zhe let out a soft sigh and released his Self-Configuration.
People with dreams were always worthy of respect.
Had he not encountered Zhou Zhe, perhaps this Roxstar would one day have become an overlord roaming freely across some starfield.
Unfortunately, Roxstar was not an Earthling.
The enemy's hero was my foe.
Only a dead enemy was a good enemy!
After picking out the EX energy essence hidden in Roxstar's right ear and collecting, piece by piece, the Super Horned Demon body materials that had been enhanced many times during battle, Zhou Zhe saw the trace of the mysterious notebook appear before his eyes.
Wind Riding Blade Technique (3/3), Perfection—medium increase to damage dealt while wielding a blade.
After the tempering of a life-and-death battle, Zhou Zhe had now cultivated the "Wind Riding Blade Technique" to its utmost limit.
"A medium increase to damage?"
Zhou Zhe raised his brows slightly, then relaxed them again.
After all, the "Wind Riding Blade Technique" itself was not some particularly profound supernatural inheritance. The fact that it could be regarded as a skill and gain the mysterious notebook's recognition was already quite good.
At this point, everything Lin Ye had taught Zhou Zhe had reached complete fruition.
After a rough estimate, Zhou Zhe concluded that after the Wind Riding Blade Technique broke through to the Perfection Realm, his overall combat power had increased by around thirty percent!
A moment later, the mysterious notebook vanished without a trace.
"The talent of Self-Configuration really is terrifyingly powerful..."
Recalling the previous battle, Zhou Zhe praised it inwardly. "Although Roxstar's attributes were a bit weak, considering his combat techniques and hidden trump-card killing move, his overall strength was many times greater than Rare Beast Blood Scale's! Yet without much increase in my own hard power, I forcibly achieved a crushing result!"
"Besides, the scope of Self-Configuration's talent absolutely should not be limited to combat alone. It still has immense room for development!"
At this moment, the Dao's voice resounded throughout the universe.
"A pursuer of dreams has died miserably at the hands of the Miracle Annihilator!"
"A brilliant and entertaining one-sided stomp!"
"The One Who Strangles the Protagonist..."
"You are worthy of this reward!"
Zhou Zhe: I don't flame when behind, don't get cocky when ahead, and promote positive energy—starting with me! Friends who think I'm being overly cautious, please vote for me. Thanks!
Burning Cold Light: This chapter has 3,500 words! Pretty damn generous, right! Brothers and sisters, bookmark it so you won't get lost!
Before you continue