Victory!

In the Virtual Universe's Duel Live Broadcast's private arena, Zi Wu watched the two fight from the stands and couldn't help imagining himself in their place. To his horror, he realized that against either of them, even if he went all out, he probably wouldn't last a hundred moves.

He felt a little bitter and turned to look at Jian Bi beside him. He saw a few beads of cold sweat on Jian Bi's forehead too. Clearly, he was in the same predicament.

He nudged Jian Bi with his elbow. When Jian Bi came back to himself, Zi Wu said quietly, "It's only a fight to the death..."

Jian Bi wiped his forehead and smiled wryly. "Yeah, but I can't help putting myself in their shoes..."

The two exchanged a silent look.

"Why hasn't Luoluobai Muye used that trick where he turns his Domain into a whip?" a spectator beside them grumbled unhappily. "If he had, the fight would've been over ages ago. I could've won back some of my losses..."

He had clearly bet quite a lot on Bai Muye. His fists were clenched, and he looked like he wished he could go up there himself and block the opponent's spearpoint.

"This opponent's different from the last one," Zi Wu explained kindly, shaking his head. "The last opponent was a Psychic, fighting from a distance. He only had to guard against Telepathic Weapons. This time, his opponent's a martial artist—and a martial artist with exceptionally skilled spear techniques. In a fight between martial artists, victory or defeat is often decided in an instant. With Luoluobai Muye fully focused on responding, how could he spare any attention to turn his Domain into a whip..."

He pursed his lips slightly. "I'm afraid that before he could use the Domain Whip, the moment he contracted his Domain, he'd be crushed by the other man's Domain and his movements would be thrown off. Then he'd take a spear through a vital spot... Oh, Nan Qi's about to unleash his power..."

Although Nan Qi hadn't shown any signs of defeat yet, every time spear and staff clashed, his hands shook violently. The power in Bai Muye's staff was extraordinarily concentrated, and Nan Qi couldn't perfectly deflect it every time.

The White Dwarf Star's tremendous gravity made the ground unusually hard, yet even so, Nan Qi had left countless footprints in it. Clearly, he was redirecting some of the force beneath his feet.

Nan Qi knew he couldn't keep this up. His hands were already starting to grow numb. If things went on like this, sooner or later his movements would falter—and then he would die.

He forcibly roused the Origin Energy within him. A glimmer of light appeared along the secret patterns engraved on his spear. The patterns spread to the spearhead, sharpening its edge. But although Bai Muye's Thunder Staff was only a Tier 3 Force Weapon, it was exceptionally sturdy. Even as the extraordinarily sharp spearhead repeatedly cut into it, the staff remained unharmed.

As his advantage gradually became clear, Bai Muye grew even more cautious. It wasn't that he didn't want to use the Domain Whip to kill his opponent quickly. But as Zi Wu had said, Nan Qi was no weakling. To use the Domain Whip, he first had to contract his Domain.

But the moment he did, he would be caught beneath the pressure of Nan Qi's Five-Fold Domain. If there was even the slightest flaw in his staff technique, a Universe Rank martial artist would react in the blink of an eye. The Domain Whip might not even have time to lash out before Nan Qi put several holes in him.

Once Nan Qi had filled the secret patterns on his spear with Origin Energy, the speed at which he wielded it surged. His spear techniques grew even more fierce, and the power behind each strike increased as well—

It was actually a Tier 4 Force Weapon!

The sudden change increased the pressure on Bai Muye, forcing him to focus entirely on defense.

Nan Qi's Light Domain erupted with it. The area it covered plunged instantly into darkness, as though all the light had been drawn into his spear.

The bright white spearpoint shot toward Bai Muye like a meteor.

In the darkness, a flash of lightning suddenly blazed. A hint of green mingled with the silver-white bolts. The silver and green intertwined, then transformed into pale green arcs of electricity that exploded in an instant, dazzlingly bright!

Nan Qi was shocked. He hadn't expected his opponent's Lightning Domain to become so much stronger that it could completely nullify the Domain he had unleashed with his secret technique.

The burst of light briefly forced back the pressure of the Light Domain. Bai Muye stopped holding back. His Wind-Thunder Domain instantly contracted and flowed through his hands into the Thunder Staff.

He swept the staff across. Nan Qi hurriedly retreated.

A faint, almost illusory Domain Whip, formed from pale green secret patterns, suddenly extended from the tip at the far end of the staff and lashed out.

Caught off guard, Nan Qi raised his spear to block. The middle of the whip struck the spear, but its tip curled around behind it and lashed Nan Qi across the back.

Even with his battle suit protecting him, Nan Qi staggered from the blow and spat out a mouthful of blood.

His gaze sharpened. He rolled to the side, pouring Origin Energy into the spear as if it cost him nothing. The secret patterns on it suddenly blazed with light. The muscles in his arm swelled until they pressed the outline of his body into his battle suit. He raised his arm and hurled the spear—

The spear shot forward like a swimming dragon, crossing the short distance between them in an instant!

This was Nan Qi's trump card. He had killed countless opponents with it in fights to the death.

Bai Muye held his staff in his right hand to block. At the same time, he pulled his left hand away from the staff, drawing with it a pale green Domain Whip.

He flicked his hand. The whip's front end extended segment by segment, crossing the distance between them in an instant. Its tip snapped against Nan Qi. Even with his battle suit protecting him, Nan Qi's powerful body was torn open by the whip's tail!

Bai Muye's right hand failed to deflect the dragon-like spear, only changing its angle by a fraction. The spear vibrated violently as it flew past the right side of his body.

Bang!

Bai Muye's entire right arm and half his right shoulder exploded. His neck had nearly been blown off too.

Ignoring his grievous injuries, Bai Muye pressed down with his left hand and whipped again. The lash tore Nan Qi, already split in two, into four pieces!

The Light Domain vanished, and blinding white light filled the arena once more.

"Luoluobai Muye wins!"

The Domain Lord Rank referee appeared. After confirming Nan Qi was dead, he announced the winner as a matter of routine, then shut down the Virtual Universe broadcast. A flicker later, he disappeared.

Bastian brought his people to the White Dwarf Star. Looking at Bai Muye's injuries, he felt a pang of heartache—but not because his slave had been grievously wounded. He was dreading the cost of repairing such injuries.

"Well, anyway, it's good that you won..." Bastian said stiffly, then gestured for his men to collect the spoils.

But a towering, muscular giant suddenly appeared in front of them. With a single swipe of his hand, he sent the slave who had tried to pick up Nan Qi's spear flying.

"Who are you?" Bastian narrowed his eyes. The feelers on his forehead turned faintly red—a sign of extreme nervousness.

He could sense how powerful this man was. Although they were both Universe Rank, the other man was undoubtedly among the very strongest at that rank.

"This is my son..." The giant stood with his back to them before Nan Qi's corpse. His eyes seemed to glisten as he spoke in a low voice.

Without turning around, he reached out and beckoned. The spear some distance away sprang into the air and flew into his hand.

Turning around, he ignored Bastian and the others and stared straight at the only injured person in the arena. Under his gaze, Bai Muye felt as though a tiger had set its eyes on a sheep. His whole body tensed.

As if he had remembered something, the fierce light in the giant's eyes gradually faded. He sighed softly. "It was a fair duel. He died as he should have..."

He silently gathered up Nan Qi's body, didn't spare the others another glance, and flew away.

Under his powerful presence, Bastian and his men stood frozen in fear. He had no doubt that if the giant had attacked, even with the grievously injured Bai Muye on their side, they would have been as helpless as clay chickens and paper dogs. A few punches and kicks would have been enough to wipe them all out, as easily as eating or drinking.

Perhaps wary of the Giant Axe Arena's rules, the man had ultimately done no more than collect Nan Qi's remains and take his belongings before leaving.

"Phew..." Bastian let out a long breath and waved his hands repeatedly. "Let's go, let's go. Back, quickly..."

With that, he flew toward the spacecraft first.

Most of those who took part in fights to the death had little in the way of powerful backing, so Bastian rarely encountered this sort of "close call."

One of Bastian's men had taken the Thunder Staff. Bai Muye glanced in the direction the giant had flown, then headed toward the spacecraft, battered and in pain, dragging his broken body along.