Second Battle

"Brother Zi Wu, did you get the announcement from the Virtual Universe? There's a fighter in this match you might be interested in..."

Purple Eyes received a message from Brother Pointy Nose.

His interest piqued, he opened his messages and sure enough, found the list of life-or-death matches scheduled at the Giant Axe Arena over the next seven days.

Among the most eagerly anticipated matches was one featuring the fighter who had caught his attention last time—Luoluobai Muye.

"Let's see how strong his opponent is this time..."

Zi Wu opened the list and pulled up the details of the upcoming match.

Luoluobai Muye's opponent was named Nan Qi, an Outer Member of a mid-sized faction in the Wild Peak Universe Kingdom.

The faction was led by a Peak World Lord. It also had several World Lords and dozens of Domain Lords. The organization wasn't especially powerful overall, but its members were all extremely battle-hardened.

The leader himself had once been a Universe Rank Giant Axe Warrior and a Domain Lord Rank Giant Axe Warrior. At those ranks, he had been an opponent few could match.

After breaking through to World Lord, he began building his faction and recruiting subordinates. He had only one rule: they had to be Giant Axe Warriors!

No matter how strong anyone else was, to become a Core Member of the faction, they first had to compete in a life-or-death match at the Giant Axe Arena and earn the title of "Giant Axe Warrior." Otherwise, they could only remain Outer Members.

Nan Qi's father was a Core Member of the faction. Influenced by his father from childhood, Nan Qi had resolved to join the same organization. So once he reached Universe Rank and had spent some time training hard, he had thrown himself into a life-or-death match without hesitation.

905 victories in life-or-death matches, a Universe Rank Fifth Order warrior, and a Fifth-Level Domain.

That was Nan Qi's strength.

It seems that the closer you get to a thousand victories, the stronger your opponents become... Zi Wu mused. He had once considered competing in the life-or-death matches himself, but after passing the Universe Mercenary Alliance's assessment, he had ultimately abandoned the idea. Now, he couldn't help feeling both relieved and a little shaken.

Although he had never competed in a life-or-death match, he was still extremely interested in the Giant Axe Arena's Duel Live Broadcasts. Whenever he had time, he watched every single one.

And watching the Duel Live Broadcasts had indeed taught him a lot.

After watching so many matches, he knew his own abilities best. With his strength, he could probably get through the first five hundred matches. From five hundred to eight hundred, though, every match would be a toss-up, and he could die in defeat at any moment. As for the opponents after eight hundred, he didn't think he could beat even one of them.

"It's tomorrow. I'll be watching. Want to come with me, Brother Jian Bi?"

Jian Bi replied quickly: Let's go together.

The next day, the two met up in the Virtual Universe and entered the Plane Space specially created for the Duel Live Broadcast.

"Last time, Luoluobai Muye used his domain to turn it into a whip," Zi Wu sent telepathically, sounding wistful. "I haven't managed to do it even once, all this time..."

"Me neither!" Jian Bi shook his head with a bitter smile. "I haven't managed it even in the Virtual Universe, let alone in reality..."

"I wonder if he'll surprise us again this time?" Zi Wu said, feeling a faint sense of anticipation.

"We'll see," Jian Bi said indifferently with a shrug.

By then, the two had entered the stands. Looking up, Jian Bi exclaimed in surprise, "This battlefield is interesting. It's a White Dwarf Star!"

In a desolate region of the Wild Peak Universe Kingdom, a lone, incandescent star revolved in solitude. Every other celestial body in the star system it had once belonged to had been torn apart and destroyed by its immense gravity.

The spaceships of both contestants had stopped tens of thousands of kilometers away. The contestants flew to the White Dwarf Star alone, while the Domain Lord overseeing the match had already taken position on its surface.

After landing on the White Dwarf Star, Bai Muye tested the immense gravity beneath his feet. Universe Rank fighters could battle on a White Dwarf Star, but its tremendous gravity still affected their movement speed to some extent.

The entire White Dwarf Star was only a few thousand kilometers across. It looked almost perfectly round.

He looked toward his opponent, several hundred kilometers away. The man wore white battle armor and had a massive build, standing nearly two and a half meters tall.

He had a thick beard and a pair of bright, gleaming eyes, like two little lamps.

A long spear rested in his hands, swaying gently as he walked. Its razor-sharp blade glinted, seeming almost to slice through the air itself.

Seeing the faintly rippling domain runes around the man, Bai Muye's heart tightened. Light Domain, Fifth Level!

The Giant Axe Arena didn't necessarily match opponents in life-or-death battles by rank alone. It weighed a variety of factors to ensure that the two sides were roughly equal in strength.

For instance, Psychic fighters were sometimes ranked below warriors, since Psychics usually had an advantage over warriors of the same rank.

Neither of them moved very fast. It took nearly a minute to cover the several hundred kilometers between them.

"I'm Nan Qi. You'll be the 906th opponent I've killed in a life-or-death match, another stepping stone toward earning the title of Giant Axe Warrior..."

His coarse voice reached Bai Muye through vibrations in his Origin Force.

Nan Qi took one measured step after another. Though his pace was slow, his aura continued to rise.

After his last life-or-death match, Bai Muye had finally absorbed and fully digested the combat instincts within him. All his battle experience had become instinct, so he could naturally see what Nan Qi was trying to do. How could he let him build his aura to its peak?

With ten kilometers still between them, Bai Muye stamped his foot and charged.

Universe Rank speed was astonishing. Even on the White Dwarf Star, with its tremendous gravity, he crossed ten kilometers in an instant. His long staff came crashing down toward Nan Qi's head with immense force.

Though Nan Qi's buildup had been interrupted, he didn't panic in the slightest.

Opponents in life-or-death matches might be rookies at first, but by the later stages, every fighter had extensive combat experience. They would hardly ever give him the chance to build his aura to its fullest.

He angled his spear upward, deflecting the thunderous blow, then launched into his spear technique, thrust after thrust aimed at his opponent.

As spear and staff clashed, their domains clashed as well.

After exchanging blows, Bai Muye finally understood why the Giant Axe Arena considered Nan Qi's strength comparable to his own—

Nan Qi had a Fifth-Level Domain, but his Force Amplitude was somewhat weaker, only a little over thirty. After assimilating Sweep's memories, Bai Muye had improved in every respect, and his Force Amplitude had already surpassed fifty. Since both were warriors, in close combat, a Force Amplitude more than ten times greater could easily make up for the gap of one domain level.

Nan Qi knew his Force Amplitude was inferior, so he did everything he could to avoid meeting Bai Muye's strength head-on. Instead, he tried to gain an advantage with his more sophisticated spear technique. But he was alarmed to find that his opponent's staff technique was no worse than his spear technique—in fact, it seemed slightly better.

What made his heart sink even further was that, despite his domain being a level higher than his opponent's, he couldn't gain the slightest advantage in their clash. His Fifth-Level Light Domain was evenly matched against his opponent's Fourth-Level Lightning Domain.

After more than ten exchanges, Nan Qi's spear technique flowed like a dragon, but Bai Muye's staff technique was utterly natural. Every move carried tremendous force, bold and sweeping, yet without a single flaw.

Both fighters kept their feet firmly on the ground. With the tremendous gravity, if they rose into the air, they would have to divert some of their Origin Energy to resist its pull. In the midst of such an intense battle, wasting even a little Origin Energy could put them at a disadvantage, and then, like an anthill giving way and bringing down a whole embankment, they could find themselves in an irreversible defeat.