Decisive Battle in the Void

After mastering the second combat form of the Lightning Shuttle, a day had passed. Luo Zhiyuan exited the Virtual Universe and had the Universe First Bank deliver some food. As a planet-level nine-stage spirit reader, he could technically go without eating for a while, but considering he was not even three years old and currently in a growth spurt, he had to eat!

The food delivered by the Universe First Bank was packed with energy and exquisitely prepared. Luo Zhiyuan gorged himself on the local delicacies of Biyan Planet, then sighed with regret and said to Bulieni, "Bulieni, although I cannot tell you where I come from, you should know that my homeland is known as the Great Foodie Empire."

"Hehe, the various delicacies we have there might not contain much energy or have magical effects, but after being prepared by our brilliant chefs, the taste is absolutely top-notch! The food delivered here is rich in energy, but the taste is really just average."

"Who cares about the taste? It satisfies your body's growth and development needs and assists your cultivation; that's already good enough," Bulieni's indifferent voice replied.

Luo Zhiyuan sprawled out on the sofa in a famous pose and said, "Sigh, as an intelligent life form, you don't understand, Bulieni. On this point, Babata is better than you; at least he likes to eat apples."

"You mean that little brat? Don't compare me to him. You're lowering my status, you know?"

Luo Zhiyuan grinned, ignoring the trivial matter of age, and continued to mutter, "Speaking of which, I really have a connection with senior Chenxi. He loves delicious food, and so do I, but it's a pity we never had the chance to exchange culinary experiences."

"I don't know what those energy fruits he likes to eat taste like. The only one left was given to my dad, and I don't even know what it tasted like."

"To be honest, I kind of regret giving it to him now. He definitely wouldn't have paid attention to the taste of the Purple Star Fruit. What a waste."

Bulieni's voice rose slightly as he said, "You've got issues. Back in the day, that old charlatan offended quite a few people over this hobby. But his strength was there, so most people didn't dare give him a hard time. As for you, kid, don't let such a trivial hobby cause you more trouble than it's worth."

"I know, I know. I don't have the capital for that right now; I'm just lamenting a bit." Luo Zhiyuan immediately changed the subject. "Oh, right, Bulieni, my account has been upgraded to five stars. I should be able to see a lot of information now."

"Help me check if there are any auctions coming up recently. I want to join in the fun, broaden my horizons, and maybe buy a spaceship for you to pilot so you can have a body to control in reality. How about that?"

"Oh? That makes sense. Why didn't I think of that? Wait a second, let me look," Bulieni exclaimed in surprise.

A moment later, Bulieni informed him that there were no auctions in the Ganwu Universe Kingdom in the near future. However, as a five-star client, he had many privileges, such as being able to participate in auctions in other universe kingdoms. Bulieni said that several universe kingdoms were holding primary or intermediate auctions soon, but there were no high-level auctions in the near future.

Luo Zhiyuan wanted to experience it as soon as possible, so he had Bulieni pick the nearest auction, note the time, and remind him when it was time to participate.

After his break, Luo Zhiyuan logged into the Virtual Universe and returned to the Killing Field. On a whim, he said to Bulieni, who was sitting on his shoulder, "Bulieni, I haven't fought a real human of the same level yet. How about we go to the Battle Space and spar a few times to see what level I'm at among ordinary humans?"

Bulieni curled his lips and said disdainfully, "What level? At the planet level, as long as you possess a domain, you are basically invincible. You're already at the fourth level of the domain; why are you bothering with ordinary people?"

"But it is true that you can go fight a few matches to gain some combat experience. However, we must make an agreement and set some restrictions."

Luo Zhiyuan asked, confused, "What agreement and restrictions?"

Bulieni squinted and said, "When you are fighting, you cannot use your domain. You must rely solely on your own combat talent and combat secret techniques. Also, you cannot use your Soul Fusion technique. We don't know what might happen if you use it here, so it's better to be cautious."

Luo Zhiyuan nodded in agreement and walked toward the hall of the Killing Field. To hide his identity in the Battle Space, one could choose any name and send a battle request; the fight would only proceed if the opponent agreed. He gave himself the name "Light" to commemorate the Light Beast God.

Standing at the counter in the Killing Field hall, he read through the introduction and then sat down to the side, preparing to start issuing challenges.

He glanced at the combat information of the planet-level nine-stage seven-star, eight-star, and even nine-star fighters. Luo Zhiyuan didn't try to challenge them because he knew they wouldn't fight a pure newcomer like him who hadn't had a single match. So, he randomly selected a one-star opponent and sent a battle request.

There was no rejection; the request was accepted immediately. Following the prompt from the Virtual Universe system, Luo Zhiyuan was teleported to an incredibly vast grassland. On the grassland stood a black metal arena about ten kilometers long and wide. As Luo Zhiyuan was selecting his weapons and gear, his opponent appeared on the other side of the arena—a planet-level nine-stage spirit reader.

Luo Zhiyuan chose the Lightning Shuttle. As for the battle suit, he could only choose one of his own level, so he picked a white first-grade Force Battle Suit.

The spirit reader on the arena waited patiently without rushing him. It wasn't until Luo Zhiyuan was fully equipped and standing on the other side of the arena that the opponent said in an arrogant tone, "First time in the Battle Space? How unfortunate to run into me. This is my third match, and if I defeat you, I can reach two stars. Hope you have better luck next time."

Uh... Luo Zhiyuan didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he could only say, "Alright, I wish you good luck too."

Then, the spirit reader opposite him waved his hand, controlling a second-grade telepathic weapon to attack Luo Zhiyuan. Luo Zhiyuan stepped on the Lightning Shuttle and instantly dashed forward at high speed for 5 kilometers toward the front left. At the same time, he unleashed a Mental Shock composed of 20 strands of telepathic power at his opponent. Just as he was about to continue controlling the Lightning Shuttle to attack, he discovered that the spirit reader opposite him had actually suffered a mental collapse and vanished from the arena.

This... After exiting the Battle Space, Luo Zhiyuan hadn't fully recovered yet. He had thought that the spirit reader was a real opponent; the declaration before the battle had actually made him a bit cautious, but he hadn't expected the guy to fail to withstand even a single Mental Shock.

Bulieni looked at Luo Zhiyuan and asked flatly, "Won? What kind of opponent was it?"

Luo Zhiyuan came to his senses and said to Bulieni, "Didn't you say that qualified warriors would know some soul defense techniques? How come I ran into a spirit reader controller who couldn't even block one of my Mental Shocks?"

"Then he just wasn't qualified," Bulieni said dismissively.

"Hurry up and continue. You got lucky this time."

Luo Zhiyuan looked at his combat information, which read: "1 win, 0 losses, planet-level nine-stage spirit reader, illusionist, two stars."

It seemed the previous opponent must have had some special qualities; otherwise, he wouldn't have reached two stars after just one battle. That was fine, too; it meant he could choose from more opponents.

After thinking this over with satisfaction, Luo Zhiyuan selected another opponent, this time a two-star warrior of the same level. He didn't pay attention to the name; he figured he wouldn't run into them again anyway, so he didn't waste the brainpower.

The battle request was quickly accepted. This time, Luo Zhiyuan appeared directly on one side of the Battle Space arena. The planet-level nine-stage warrior on the other side didn't say a word and immediately launched a charge—not a straight-line charge, but a continuous Z-shaped movement. It seemed he was an experienced warrior, likely guarding against a spirit reader's telepathic weapons.

However, Luo Zhiyuan unleashed another Mental Shock, naturally still composed of 20 strands of telepathic power. After all, using 20 times the telepathic amplitude was no pressure for him now, and he still had 12 times the amplitude left to control the Lightning Shuttle for high-speed flight and dodging. So, he decided to lead with a Mental Shock.

According to Bulieni, if they couldn't even withstand his Mental Shock, they weren't qualified warriors, and there was no need to engage in a prolonged battle because it wouldn't provide him with any combat experience.

As a result, this aggressive warrior was still directly shocked into a mental collapse.

Like this, after more than a dozen consecutive battles, not a single opponent could withstand his Mental Shock, earning him a 15-match winning streak and an upgrade to three stars. However, Luo Zhiyuan lost interest. He didn't feel like he was actually fighting; it just felt like a waste of time. He might as well go back and continue practicing the Lightning Shuttle's combat secret techniques; he still hadn't mastered the third layer.

He left the Killing Field hall with Bulieni and headed straight into the Killing Space. Along the way, Bulieni kept asking, "What's wrong, kid? Not going to continue fighting?"

As an intelligent life form, Bulieni's identity in the Virtual Universe replaced his auxiliary light brain, so he knew that Luo Zhiyuan had achieved a 15-match winning streak without losing a single one. Why would he suddenly lose interest?

Luo Zhiyuan told Bulieni the reason, and Bulieni just asked him one question: "Hmph, what's there to be proud of? Illusionists are indeed hard to deal with when they lack defensive means. For example, you—do you have a way to defend against soul secret techniques?"

That really stumped Luo Zhiyuan. He truly didn't, because the soul defense secret techniques of the Yunmo Planet lineage required changing the characteristics of one's mental power to practice, and he hadn't had enough time to complete that transformation, so he didn't have any soul defense secret techniques.

This meant that Luo Zhiyuan wasn't actually a qualified warrior either. However, soul defense secret techniques were generally exclusive to various factions and were not taught to outsiders. With his current authority, he couldn't even buy a soul defense secret technique in the Virtual Universe. So, he couldn't blame those opponents who couldn't withstand his Mental Shock, because he couldn't do it himself either.

Once he understood what was going on, Luo Zhiyuan didn't want to go to the Battle Space for the time being. He wanted to continue practicing the Lightning Shuttle and Godly Evasion. These two were the combat means he could use for self-protection, and he still had a lot of room for improvement in both, so he planned to master these two secret techniques to the highest level as soon as possible.

Bulieni certainly didn't object to Luo Zhiyuan practicing, but he would remind him at the appropriate time to leave the Virtual Universe to replenish the necessary nutrients for his body. As for the taste, in Luo Zhiyuan's words: "Bland and tasteless, but better than nothing."

Therefore, every time he returned to the Virtual Universe, Luo Zhiyuan would go to the Battle Space for about 10 matches as a way to vent his frustration over the lack of good food and to clear his mind. After all, he could occasionally chat with an opponent for a few sentences.

PS: It's a bit late today. I just saw that I only gained about 20 followers, which is a bit depressing. It seems my writing isn't good enough to keep more brothers around. I won't say much more; I'll keep writing. I hope everyone likes what I write. Gentlemen, I will continue to work hard, don't give up on me!