Second-Round Ability Pool

Lu Bai could tell at a glance that one of the two people fighting in the arena had not yet embarked on the path of cultivation, and the other had only barely reached the Qi Refining Layer Two.

Theoretically speaking, a cultivator who absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into their body and reaches the Qi Refining Layer One has already created a gap between themselves and ordinary people in terms of life level.

However, in terms of combat power, cultivators in the early stage of Qi Refining do not yet have enough Mana to support them in using any combat techniques or supernatural abilities. In terms of physical strength alone, they are not much stronger than ordinary people.

Under these circumstances, even in a battle between cultivators and mortals, the outcome is still uncertain.

It's clear that the two fighters are primarily showcasing their individual combat skills, each move aimed at vital points, making the process extremely dangerous.

It was just a bit boring in Lu Bai's opinion.

As expected, the battle soon came to an end.

Anyone who's ever been in a fight knows that this all-out, adrenaline-fueled state is impossible to sustain; even a minute of stalemate is considered a long time.

In the end, it was the fighter at the Qi Refining Layer Two who, relying on spiritual energy to nourish his body, managed to drag the fight out until his opponent was the first to run out of strength.

He slammed a powerful punch into the opponent's chest, and taking advantage of the moment when the opponent's body was shaken by the blow and temporarily unable to fight back, he quickly stepped forward, turned to the side, grabbed the opponent's arm, and slammed him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw, like waving a scarecrow.

Knowing the outcome was already decided, Lu Bai activated his Mana mark, as it was a matter of course.

To ensure the unlucky one dies without suffering, while also guaranteeing that you can pocket the points.

[Bite!]

[Points +2, Current Points: 88, Current Rank: 1/129]

After confirming his opponent's death, the Qi Refining Layer Two fighter realized he hadn't gained any points and subconsciously glanced at Lu Bai.

He roughly guessed what was going on, but dared not ask or express any dissatisfaction. He simply nodded to Li Mu, who was in charge of maintaining order, and then retreated into the crowd.

Li Mu, of course, didn't see anything wrong. He picked up the megaphone and shouted, "Please, the second pair of competitors, come forward!"

Soon, two more fighters stepped forward and began to fight desperately.

All Lu Bai needs to do is activate the Mana marks he placed on these combatants when the winner is decided.

With his current level of cultivation, achieving this would be a piece of cake.

"Please, the two teams in Group 23, come forward."

"Please, the twenty-fourth pair of opponents, come forward."

Li Mu's voice rang out intermittently, and the entire process appeared orderly and efficient.

However, as more and more fighters perished in the arena, the overall atmosphere became increasingly grim, and even the air seemed to be tinged with the smell of blood.

When the deathmatchers reached the thirtieth group, a small incident occurred, forcing the assembly-line-like pair battles to come to a halt.

Because the number of remaining deathmatch fighters has been reduced to one hundred.

The mechanical notifications from the Deathmatch System simultaneously rang in the minds of each of the surviving deathmatch fighters.

[Bite!]

The current elimination rate for deathmatchers has reached one-half.

[Note! The second Ability Pool is now open and you can select one.]

Lu Bai shifted to a more comfortable position and then checked his current Ability Pool.

[Green Clown (Colorful): Selects an attack type ability. The first use of the selected attack ability within one hour permanently increases its damage. If it is not used within one hour, its attack power is permanently reduced.]

[Iron Fist Breaks Wind (Color): Using this ability, explosive power is channeled into the fist. Upon impact, the explosive force surges into the target's body, causing tens of thousands of segmented damage.]

[Needle Woman Spirit Control (Rainbow): Each attack initiated by the user has a 20% chance to trigger the Needle Woman effect, dealing true damage equal to 10% of the target's maximum HP.]

After quickly reviewing his Ability Pool for this round, Lu Bai chose [Iron Fist Breaks Wind] without much hesitation.

For him right now, only black-level abilities can significantly improve him; having a few more color-level abilities would just be icing on the cake.

In his view, abilities like [Green Clown], which are rather cumbersome to use, are actually a negative improvement.

As for the remaining two, it's quite obvious that [Iron Fist Breaks Wind] and [Needle Woman Spirit Control] can be paired together to achieve the effect of One-Punch Man.

The reason why Lu Bai chose the former instead of the latter was simply because his "discard pile" already contained the ability [Needle Woman Spirit Control].

If he hadn't happened to see it at this moment, he would have almost forgotten that he could use this ability.

But to be honest, Lu Bai felt that even if he made the wrong choice, it wouldn't matter.

It's just a single color-level ability; there are plenty of those in the "discard pile."

However, the second Ability Pool, which was not very important to Lu Bai, was seen by the other deathmatch fighters as their only chance to defy fate in the current situation.

Even if the other fighters 'Ability Pool are only at the Gold level this round, if they use them well, they might be able to win in the one-on-one battles and survive this round of Deathmatch Showdown.

As you can see, none of the fighters present continued their battle; instead, they each stood still and checked their own Ability Pool for this round.

To onlookers, this scene looked like some kind of bizarre collective daze.

The fighters gradually selected their abilities, and to avoid revealing their true strengths, they generally maintained a calm demeanor.

However, upon closer inspection, one can still find that some of the deathmatch fighters, despite their calm expressions, unintentionally exude a sense of dejection.

Unfortunately, the Ability Pool system is inherently more about luck than choice.

If you're lucky, you can choose any of the abilities that appear in the refresh without any problems.

But regardless of whether the ability chosen in this round is good or bad, everyone knows their own limitations. No one in the deathmatch dared to step forward and say they wanted to deal with Lu Bai after choosing their ability.

"Has everyone finished making their selections?"

Lu Bai kindly reminded him, "Let's continue after you've made your selection."

Li Mu chimed in at the opportune moment, "That's right, let's not waste everyone's time."

As he spoke, he picked up the megaphone, put it to his mouth, and continued shouting, "Please, which group is it...? Anyway, the next pair of opponents, hurry up and come up!"

Before long, two more deathmatchers stepped into the arena. Both looked relaxed, seemingly more confident after gaining new abilities.

Strictly speaking, Gold level ability isn't bad; it can at least bridge the gap between the Qi Refining and Qi Cultivation stages.

Because he possessed the ability to "load saves," Lu Bai was actually more aware of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the opposing sides than they were, making the outcome of the duel completely predictable in his eyes.