The 1000th Life-or-Death Battle

Mulan Planet.

This was a planet made up of sixty-five percent land and thirty-five percent ocean. Across the vast land, ninety-five percent of the area was covered by all sorts of bizarre plants, and the remaining five percent was occupied by a massive castle.

It was in a concealed secret room deep beneath the castle.

A man sitting cross-legged on the ground furrowed his brows slightly, his teeth clenched tight, his expression contorted and filled with pain.

He did not know how much time had passed when he opened his eyes, followed by a deep sigh.

"Failed again!" His voice carried the hoarseness of long silence, and his tone was full of helplessness and self-mockery.

His name was Li Yilin, and he was a transmigrator.

Three thousand years ago, he transmigrated to Swallowed Star. Back then, the original owner, who had just stepped into the Domain Lord Level, had already signed a contract with the Giant Axe Arena.

The reason the original owner signed the contract was that his home planet, Wunuo Star, had been discovered by space adventurers, but he did not yet have enough money to buy his own home planet. To prevent his home planet from being reduced to a slave planet, his compatriots from becoming slaves, and being traded generation after generation with no freedom for eternity, he had no choice but to sign a contract with the Giant Axe Arena to start life-or-death battles.

If he unfortunately died in a life-or-death battle, the planet would be incorporated into the empire or universe country of the territory it belonged to, and at worst, it would not be reduced to a slave planet. If he survived one thousand life-or-death battles, Wunuo Star would belong to him.

Regrettably, just as the original owner signed the contract, his body was seized by someone from the twenty-first century.

Three thousand years had passed since the original owner signed the contract, and he had also experienced 999 life-or-death battles. His strength had grown from the initial Universe Level to the current Domain Lord Level five-stage, and the intensity of the life-or-death battles was also increasing.

He had no master, no background, and because he had to participate in life-or-death battles from time to time, he was unable to go into the universe for tempering.

Fortunately, he had endured countless struggles amidst life and death. The reason for everything lay in his system.

Yes, he had a system named the Sign-in System, but it seemed a bit dead and had not come to life yet.

Li Yilin glanced at the jumping numbers in the upper right corner of his vision and sighed in his heart.

99.9%.

This was the update progress of the system.

Ever since the system dropped a beginner's gift package for him upon his initial awakening of memories and first sign-in, it began updating. Three thousand years had passed, and it had finally updated to... 99.9%!

Facing this update speed slower than a snail, Li Yilin went from initial excitement to anticipation, and then to... helplessness!

He had never been so speechless!

Now, he did not even dare to hope that this lousy system would finish updating.

Depend on people and they run, depend on mountains and they crumble, depend on the system?

It was still somewhat useful!

"Beep!" The smart optical computer vibrated, prompting that a message was received. Li Yilin lowered his head, tapped on the smart optical computer, and an email popped up, sent by the Giant Axe Arena.

"Respected Li Yilin... Three months later... The 1000th life-or-death battle... will be held. The decisive battle planet will be determined three days before the life-or-death battle starts. Please be sure to remember to go."

Carefully keeping the time of the decisive battle in mind and having his smart optical computer remember to remind him when the time came, Li Yilin then closed the message, only for the helplessness on his face to increase a bit more.

The 1000th life-or-death battle was fast approaching!

He could not capsize in the gutter during this final life-or-death battle. There was still time to go into seclusion once more; being even slightly more proficient in Thunder Dragon Fall would be better. Banishing distracting thoughts, he settled his mind, closed his eyes, and entered a state of cultivation.

The reward for the very first sign-in upon binding the Sign-in System was one percent of the Thunder Dragon Bloodline. After his body fused with the Thunder Dragon Bloodline, his original onefold gene level had risen to a fivefold gene level.

As for the beginner's gift package, it contained two items: the first was two secret arts, which were the cultivation secret art Thunder Dragon Art and the combat secret art Thunder Dragon Fall; the second was a Thunder Fruit.

The specific use of the Thunder Fruit was unclear, but only by consuming the Thunder Fruit could one acquire the qualifications to cultivate Thunder Dragon Art.

Li Yilin guessed that the Thunder Fruit should be similar to the "Inheritance Soul Mark" that Luo Feng absorbed in the original work. However, the "Inheritance Soul Mark" could only change genetic energy, whereas the Thunder Fruit should change the soul characteristics or body bloodline, allowing him to possess a trace of the Thunder Dragon's bloodline before he could begin cultivation.

He actually leaned toward the former; if it were the latter, it would conflict with the bloodline reward from the sign-in.

However, whether it was the one percent Thunder Dragon Bloodline, the secret arts, or the Thunder Fruit, they were the biggest contributors enabling him to survive 999 life-or-death battles.

They played an irreplaceable role in his achievements today.

At the same time Li Yilin received the email notification for the thousandth life-or-death battle, countless people in the virtual universe also received similar email notifications.

The virtual universe.

"Domain Lord Level life-or-death battle? This Li Yilin actually has 999 wins. Doesn't that mean that as long as he wins the final life-or-death battle three months from now, our empire can have one more Domain Lord Level Giant Axe Warrior?"

"A Domain Lord Level Giant Axe Warrior, this is much rarer than Universe Level life-or-death battles. Such a grand event calls for joining in the fun!"

"Wagers are open, wagers are open! This time I'm betting on Li Yilin. 999 wins, Domain Lord five-stage, Thunder Domain ninth level—a seasoned expert of the Giant Axe Arena, such a rare opportunity!"

"Vida isn't bad either, you know. He's also at the ninth level of his domain, with 927 wins."

"The odds given by the Giant Axe Arena for Li Yilin are 1:1.27; Vida's are 1:56. Who is stronger goes without saying."

"I'm betting on Vida. I saw ultimate light in Vida; his Light Domain is very pure, and it gave me a profound sensation."

"Li Yilin's Thunder and Lightning Domain is extremely violent. Purple lightning covers a radius of tens of miles, turning him into the incarnation of the Thunder and Lightning Domain. It's simply too cool; I'm willing to call him Thunder God!"

"Hahaha!"

On a desolate planet, gray and almost completely concealed in the pitch-black space of the universe.

Li Yilin stood on a meteorite pitted and eroded by cosmic hurricanes, holding a large black saber in his hand. No sorrow or joy could be seen on his face.

Whoosh!

A black longspear tore through the void, the terrifying speed generating sharp sonic booms in the air that shook the soul!

The longspear pointed straight at Li Yilin on the meteorite.

Seeing the longspear appear beside him and arrive before him in the blink of an eye, Li Yilin's eyes narrowed as his knees bent slightly and his soles kicked off with force, his body darting out like a ghost while his sabre slashed back diagonally, batting away the incoming longspear!

Clang!

With the sound of metal colliding, the longspear was swatted away, vanishing back into the void in the blink of an eye.

Watching the longspear disappear, Li Yilin had not the slightest thought of pursuing it, landing instead on a rocky mountain to stand firm.

He was consuming, consuming the stamina of the person hiding in the darkness.

Releasing a large-scale domain cost a tremendous amount of consciousness, energy, and stamina. Against an opponent skilled in concealment, waiting at ease for the exhausted enemy was the best method.

On the desolate planet, pitch-black without a shred of starlight, Li Yilin gripped his sabre in a reverse hold, his sharp gaze sweeping the surroundings as he held the weapon without the slightest bit of relaxation.

Though cautious and on guard, there was not a trace of tension on his face, only coldness—ultimate coldness.

A kilometre away in the void, Vida, whose entire body was completely concealed within his domain, saw this scene and gritted his teeth.

Too cautious!

He could not find a single flaw at all!

Virtual Universe.

Martial Arena.

Inside the huge martial arena, the dense rows of seats surrounding the central open ground were packed with members of the human race of all shapes and sizes. Most of them wore excited expressions, their minds completely focused on the arena in the center.

"Ooh ooh ooh! Li Yilin is too cautious, Vida's probing is completely useless."

"Vida, stop playing hide-and-seek and pierce the enemy with the golden spear in your hand!"

"Only Universe Coins won with blood are my absolute favorite!"

"Thrilling!"

"Vida, who comprehends the Light Domain, is as fragile as paper before Li Yilin, who comprehends the Lightning Domain. I can already see the Universe Coins flying into my arms!" A gambler who bet on Li Yilin's victory cried out excitedly with arms spread wide.

"Li Yilin's speed is as terrifying as his lightning. I suspect he has comprehended teleportation."

"Didn't Vida comprehend the Light Law? Why is his speed no match for Li Yilin?" The gap was still so huge!

"Why else, different focuses of course!" Just as some practitioners of the Space Law excel at clone phantasm attacks, while others excel at strength or defense.

"Oh, Vida you trash, go on, what is he doing?"

"I want to see scenes of slaughter; it makes my blood boil. This kind of play where you slash me and I slash you back is only something cubs would do."

"I bet on Li Yilin, ten million Universe Coins at odds of 1 to 1.27. As long as he wins, it will bring me a return of at least 2.7 million, hahaha!"

"Vida, you trash, oh, my Universe Coins, my money! My brain must have short-circuited when I placed the bet. Why did I think he could pull off a desperate counterkill?"

The people in the spectator stands discussed animatedly about the contestants they favored most, either cursing loudly or praying for the bets they placed to win.

In a private room on the third floor of the martial arena.

Aodeyu lay half-reclined on the sofa with his legs crossed, his hands wrapped around two scantily clad bunny girls. The virtual projection before him displayed the scene of Li Yilin and Vida's life-and-death battle.

"Master, Li Yilin is a Domain Lord, and he is about to obtain the title of Giant Axe Warrior." Behind Aodeyu, a slave named Seren, whose entire body was wrapped in black battle armor, said respectfully.

"Should we recall the people we deployed on Wunuo Star?"

"No, not only are we not recalling them, but we are also adding more manpower."

"Only we know that there is a D-grade metal mine on Wunuo Star. Given the preciousness of that D-grade metal, a mere Domain Lord like Li Yilin, even with the title of Giant Axe Warrior, is not worth us giving up—unless..."

"...he can join the core layer of the Giant Axe Arena!" Speaking of this, Aodeyu could not help gnashing his teeth. "Damn it, how did this timid fellow cultivate to the Domain Lord level?"

For a full thirty thousand years, unless a life-and-death battle was initiated, he never left Mulan Planet by even a half-step. Moreover, Mulan Planet was under the supervision of the Giant Axe Arena, leaving them with no opportunity to make a move against him.

Otherwise, how could it have come to this point, leaving them caught in a dilemma?

"Given Li Yilin's talent, if he joins the Giant Axe Arena, he will definitely be able to enter the core layer and catch the eyes of some higher-ups. If we make a move in the shadows, accidents might happen," Seren reminded him.

"Moreover, Li Yilin values the existence of his mother planet even more than we imagined. The strange thing is that in the past nearly thirty thousand years, he has never returned to his home planet, otherwise our actions on Wunuo Star might not have remained hidden."

"Hmph."

Hearing his words, Aodeyu grew even more furious, his hand exerting force as the bunny girl held in his embrace trembled all over from the pain, yet she dared not make even the slightest sound.

He had cultivated for dozens of epochs, struggling through the mud and resorting to flattery, tasting every kind of hardship just to barely breakthrough to the Domain Lord level. That brat, possessing neither background nor resources, relied solely on participating in life-and-death battles to become a Domain Lord in a mere thirty thousand years.

The universe was truly too unfair!