Come On!

Zi Wu had just left the Training Room when he received a message.

"Over the next seven days, the Giant Axe Arena will broadcast 5,349 Universe-level Life-and-Death Battles on Duel Live Broadcast..."

One piece of information in the message stood out, displayed in especially bold type: the details of a match unlike any other.

"The most anticipated match is scheduled for five days from now. Both combatants are Universe Rank Fifth Order, with Fifth-Level Domains: Luoluobai Muye and Xia! Here are the details of the two contestants..."

"Luoluobai Muye, warrior, 924 consecutive victories..."

"Xia, Psychic, 932 consecutive victories. Her Telepathic Weapon is the Thunder God Sword, a weapon said to be a simplified version of the Thunder God Weapon, one of the Nine Great Divine Weapons. It is extremely difficult to wield..."

"For both of them, the other is the greatest obstacle standing between them and the title of Giant Axe Warrior. Whichever one makes it past this opponent will have a nearly unimpeded path to the Universe Rank title of Giant Axe Warrior..."

"It's Xia. Luoluobai Muye's in trouble..." Zi Wu thought. He had watched many Duel Live Broadcasts, including quite a few featuring Xia. To him, she seemed even stronger than Luoluobai Muye.

"Brother Jian Bi, did you get the Duel Live Broadcast message?"

He hurriedly contacted Sharp Nose, who replied soon after. The two agreed to watch the match together in five days.

Bai Muye trailed a step behind Bastian as they headed toward the spaceship.

"I wonder what the Giant Axe Arena was thinking, dragging its feet for nearly two years before scheduling this..." Bastian grumbled as he walked ahead. "And now that they've finally scheduled it, they've put it somewhere so far away..."

The Life-and-Death Battle was set to take place on a desolate planet. Since the two combatants were extremely far apart, the arena had randomly selected a spot midway between them so they could arrive at roughly the same time.

It was a long journey. The spaceship flew through the Dark Universe for more than three months before reaching its destination.

As was customary, the spaceship remained at a distance while the combatants flew to the battlefield on their own.

Dressed in black battle clothes and holding the Thunder Staff, Bai Muye slowly descended to the ground. A slender figure landed in the distance.

She was a graceful woman wearing a silver mask that revealed only her eyes.

More than a hundred kilometers apart, the two landed and slowly advanced toward each other.

As soon as Bai Muye took his first step, he began building up his momentum. It was a technique he had learned from Nan Qi's memories. If he could build his momentum to its peak, the power of his first attack would far exceed normal.

But Xia had more consecutive victories than Bai Muye and was vastly more experienced in combat. How could she fail to see what he was doing? Before he had taken a third step, she attacked.

At Universe Rank, a hundred kilometers was no different from face-to-face. A shuttle-shaped flying weapon appeared beneath her feet. With a forward burst, she crossed dozens of kilometers in an instant.

Nine golden sword beams shot from behind her, piercing toward Bai Muye like they could split clouds and shatter stone. Streaked with lightning, they moved at incredible speed and reached him in an instant.

His Domain had already unfolded, but even under its pressure, the golden sword beams still moved swiftly. They came at him from different angles, sealing off every avenue of escape.

Judging from their aura alone, their power was beyond comparison with Sweep's Moon Disk and Arc Blade.

Bai Muye darted rapidly from side to side, his movements shifting constantly. He raised his staff and knocked away the two golden swords coming straight at him with a pair of clangs.

Feeling the force behind the swords, his heart sank.

He had fought Psychic opponents with Fifth-Level Domains before, including many times in the Virtual Universe. Yet none of them had ever put him under this much pressure.

The nine golden swords were clearly under Xia's effortless control. She was plainly still holding back.

Under Xia's control, the nine golden swords constantly changed their angles of attack. Sometimes the others sealed off his escape routes while one sword struck, and sometimes three or four attacked together.

Meanwhile, Xia stood leisurely atop the Dark Thunder Shuttle in the air, several thousand meters away.

"It looks like the Lightning Domain alone won't cut it. I have to suppress the speed and force of those swords..."

A streak of blue secret-patterned light suddenly appeared in Bai Muye's Lightning Domain, like a drop of blue ink falling into white mercury. The entire Domain turned pale green.

The Domain's power instantly rose to another level. Xia's nine golden swords faltered, and Bai Muye swept his staff across, knocking away the four swords at his side.

Seizing the rare opening, Bai Muye burst forward, covering several thousand meters in an instant. He brought his staff crashing down over her head.

Xia had anticipated Bai Muye's attempt to close in as soon as his Domain's power surged, and had already begun retreating. But a warrior's burst speed was every bit as fast as a Psychic's, if not faster.

Psychics had the advantage of maneuverability when riding flying weapons, but their straight-line speed was not necessarily greater than a warrior's.

Though Bai Muye had closed the distance in an instant, Xia showed no sign of panic. A blade appeared in her right hand, and a shield in her left.

Facing the staff crashing down at her, Xia angled her shield with her left hand, intending to deflect the blow. Her right hand turned the blade halfway around and swept it upward. Even before its edge reached him, a chilling aura emanated from it.

At the same time, under the force of her telekinesis, the nine golden swords turned back like nine shooting stars.

Xia had underestimated Bai Muye's strike. Her shield technique was good, but how could a one-handed shield possibly withstand such a powerful blow?

Just before staff and shield met, the staff in Bai Muye's hands quivered slightly. Seven successive bursts of force slammed into the shield one after another.

With a sharp hiss, the shield flew from her hand. Xia's left hand, from fingers to wrist, twisted like a strand of hemp. It was as good as crippled.

Just before the shield and staff collided, Xia had sensed something was wrong and adjusted her posture. Using the rebound to retreat, she let her upward slash miss.

Bai Muye pressed his advantage, quickly catching up. Holding his staff like a spear, he jabbed toward Xia's chest and abdomen, the tip darting like a venomous snake.

With a clang, Xia used the blade in her right hand to block. Her whole body was sent flying, but she used the momentum to retreat as well. The Dark Thunder Shuttle beneath her feet traced a zigzag path, evading Bai Muye's third strike.

His three strikes had failed to kill her. Bai Muye knew things were going badly: the nine golden swords had already returned to defend her, forming several lines of defense between him and Xia.

After suffering once in close combat, Xia would never give Bai Muye another chance to get near her.

Bai Muye stopped pursuing her. Strangely, Xia didn't immediately send the golden swords to attack either. Instead, she lowered her gaze to her twisted left hand, then to the twisted shield lying in the distance.

"I've won 932 consecutive Life-and-Death Battles. I've gone unscathed in more than 200 of the most recent ones. I kept reminding myself not to let my guard down, yet I still couldn't help growing a little complacent..."

Xia looked at Bai Muye and spoke for the first time since the fight began. Her voice, filtered through the mask, sounded slightly hoarse. "You're strong. Nothing like the warriors I've faced before..."

Bai Muye stared at the nine golden swords between them and said nothing.

"I'd planned to keep my trump card hidden and not reveal my true strength, in case I ran into a formidable opponent on the way to becoming a Giant Axe Warrior..."

Her eyes gleamed behind the mask. "You crippled my left hand, but you also crushed my complacency. To thank you, I'll give this everything I've got and send you on your way with my full strength..."

Bai Muye hovered at the same height as her, watching calmly. He held his staff at his side in his right hand and raised his left palm, beckoning with his index finger.

"Come on!"