Severely Wounded?

Beneath the arena, at the central control station.

Screens of all sizes covered the entire space, while figures hurried back and forth, busy maintaining the arena's operations.

At the center of the room, before a massive screen.

Supreme Heaven sat in an enormous chair, one fist propping up his chin. His six eyes narrowed slightly as they remained fixed on the scene displayed on the screen.

As the manager of the Hub Arena, Supreme Heaven had seen quite a few dazzling rising stars during his tenure.

But a madman like Lu Li, who demanded a hundred gladiatorial matches right from the start, was something he had never encountered before.

He had assumed Lu Li was merely an inexperienced calf who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth.

Yet after eleven matches, Supreme Heaven had discovered a terrifying fact.

Lu Li had not fought at full strength.

He had not even revealed one-tenth of his true power!

Aside from using "Shapeshift" in the first match to turn his right arm into a blade—

For the following ten matches, Lu Li had fought his opponents completely barehanded!

Although Supreme Heaven could do the same, his level was far higher than Lu Li's.

Moreover, as a member of the Titan Clan, close-quarters combat was Supreme Heaven's specialty.

If their levels were restricted to be the same, there was a good chance he would not be Lu Li's match!

"Could he be a Realm Chosen?"

Supreme Heaven muttered, then immediately shook his head.

Realm Chosen were not so easy to come by.

Besides, he had investigated Lu Li. He came from some obscure, remote planet.

How could a golden phoenix possibly emerge from such a backwater?

"He must have used some kind of hidden method."

"A hundred gladiatorial matches? Heh, since you like putting on an act, I'll indulge you."

"In the twelfth match, I'll force all your trump cards into the open!"

In the arena.

As Dior made his exaggerated announcement, the iron gate to the passageway opened once more.

But this time, two women emerged, each carrying a scythe and dressed respectively in black and white.

Sharp-eyed spectators immediately recognized them and cried out in alarm:

"It's the Black and White Killers! I never thought they'd send these two gods of slaughter out in the twelfth match!"

"It's over. Lu Li is done for."

"Eleven straight wins... I guess this is where his streak ends."

"What a shame. I rather liked his brutal fighting style."

Dior gave Lu Li a look full of sympathy and quietly warned him, "Kid, you'd better stay on high alert. These opponents won't be easy to handle."

Lu Li nodded, though his expression was not particularly grave.

He could tell what the arena was planning.

Sending out two fairly powerful veteran Players ahead of schedule was simply an attempt to see the methods he had yet to reveal.

Since you want to uncover my trump cards, then I'll show you a few!

This time, before the women could move, Lu Li made the first move.

A red mist rapidly seeped from around his body and shot toward one of the women!

She raised her scythe horizontally before her, seemingly intending to withstand Lu Li's attack head-on.

The other woman launched an attack from the side, intending to disrupt Lu Li's offensive rhythm.

As the three were about to collide, the audience shook their heads and sighed repeatedly.

How could an arena newcomer, even a genius, possibly defeat the Black and White Killers?!

Sure enough, after a burst of clashing weapons, Lu Li's body was viciously pierced by a scythe.

Though it was not a vital spot, in the eyes of the spectators, there was already no hope of turning things around.

"See? I told you! No one can win a hundred matches in a row! Bet on Lu Li losing, and you're guaranteed to profit!"

"Sigh, a newcomer is still a newcomer. Compared to veteran Players, there's still quite a gap..."

"What a pity. Such a talented kid."

The Black and White Killers thought so as well.

Only, they also felt a slight sense of confusion.

Why had this newcomer, who had managed an eleven-win streak, become so reckless in the twelfth match?

Even if he was going to lose, he should not have lost so quickly.

Lu Li gave the two of them the impression that he had deliberately thrown himself onto the blade.

Strange as it was, the scythe had indeed pierced his body.

White Shade exerted force with her arm, trying to pull her weapon out of Lu Li's body.

But at that moment, Lu Li, supposedly "severely wounded," suddenly raised his head and gave her a bizarre smile.

Before anyone could react, Lu Li fiercely gripped the scythe lodged in his chest with both hands and slowly pushed the blade deeper into his body.

"You... you're insane?!"

Even White Shade, who had killed countless people, could not help but cry out at Lu Li's bizarre behavior.

But all she received in answer was a dazzling white light.

He unleashed his ultimate point-blank!

The roar of Lightning Arrow echoed throughout the arena!

Lu Li was blasted away by the force of the explosion, while White Shade paid the price of having her head blown apart.

Black Shade beside her had not even understood what had happened.

Then another black shadow, moving at incredible speed, appeared out of nowhere and cleanly sliced off her head!

In the twelfth match, Lu Li won again!

The entire arena erupted!

Lu Li calmly climbed to his feet and took off his shirt, casually wrapping it around the wound in his abdomen.

As early as the seventh match, Lu Li had Plundered a healing talent from an opponent.

The Platinum-tier [Extreme Regeneration].

However, Lu Li had no intention of immediately treating his injuries.

With the ongoing effects of [Bloody Slaughter], all damage was a benefit to him.

Besides, an injured Challenger Card was more likely to make those Defender Players let down their guard.

Discussion broke out in the stands once more:

"Am I seeing things? Black and White Killers were taken out by Lu Li?"

"What was that white light that exploded in Lu Li's hand just now? It looked like an attack method only the 'elemental type' has..."

"'Elemental type'? Isn't Lu Li's talent 'Shapeshift'? That white light must have been some item he prepared in advance."

"Stop focusing only on White Shade. How did Black Shade die? Can anyone tell me?"

"Was she killed by that Palu?"

"How could that be? That Palu had been cowering in the corner the whole time. It never moved at all..."

"Sigh, if Lu Li had only fought fifteen matches, he might really have succeeded in getting a winning streak. What a pity this idiot demanded a hundred matches and got severely wounded so early."

"Yeah, the remaining Defenders won't even need to attack. They can just stand there and stall for time until Lu Li bleeds to death..."

"A rookie is still a rookie. No experience. He's going to die from his own arrogance..."

Supreme Heaven had clearly realized this as well.

Thus, the Defenders it sent out were no longer sharp-edged rising stars, but relatively ordinary, well-rounded contestants.

Rather than rushing to attack, they adopted defensive stances to stall for time.

What it did not expect was that this suited Lu Li perfectly.

In the battles that followed, because his opponents did not take the initiative to attack, Lu Li was able to fight even more freely.

Several times, he killed them with clean, decisive strikes, leaving the spectators around the arena utterly stunned.

As for Lu Li himself, not only did he complete several advancement quests, but his Soul Points also continued to rise, steadily advancing toward the ten-thousand-point mark.

He was clearly "severely wounded," yet he gave off the feeling that he only grew stronger with every battle.

By the time Supreme Heaven realized something was wrong, Lu Li had already claimed his fiftieth victory.