There were nine enormous magma dragons, each two to three hundred meters long. Their menacing heads stared at Qi Tian, and "magma" dripped from their gaping jaws.
Qi Tian watched the nine dragons formed from his opponent's origin force. The force pouring out of them seemed almost limitless; after this strike, Lie Yan would likely have little left inside him.
But Qi Tian was in much the same situation. After half an hour of fighting, they had more or less figured out each other's basic strength.
Whether it was physical combat ability or the use of origin laws, they were evenly matched.
The Heaven-Imprisoning Lotus Platform that Qi Tian was now wielding with his psychokinetic weapon had also consumed most of his origin force.
Lie Yan flicked his spear upward with one hand. The nine magma dragons rolled and surged through the Magma Sea, then opened their vicious jaws and rampaged toward Qi Tian.
Qi Tian remained still. The golden lotus platform's origin-force petals folded together, protecting him completely without leaving the slightest gap.
"Boom!"
The nine magma dragons lunged at the Golden Lotus, their jaws snapping against it with a tremendous crash. Then their long bodies coiled, and their tails lashed furiously at the petals.
Standing at the center of the platform, Qi Tian could still feel the intense heat from the fire origin law radiating off the magma dragons, even with the origin-force petals between them.
Then, with a thought, he made the golden petals slowly unfold. At the same time, they began to spin faster and faster.
The power of the gold origin law covered the petals. As the platform spun, they became countless razor-sharp blades, repeatedly slicing into the magma dragons' bodies.
The two forces ground against each other, neither gaining the upper hand.
When Lie Yan saw that his move had failed, he immediately shot into the air, moving at a terrifying speed. His spear swept up the magma, and in an instant, he struck the spinning, cutting lotus.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
Each strike rang out like metal clashing against metal. The blood-red spear drove the magma dragons into the platform from every angle. Petal after petal was torn apart, only to reform at once.
Meanwhile, the petals' cutting wore away at the magma dragons' origin force. Both sides' forms were visibly shrinking.
"Whoosh!"
Lie Yan suddenly stopped attacking with his spear and flashed above the platform. Looking down at Qi Tian, he said:
"I didn't think I'd still be unable to beat you after using this move. Looks like we'll just keep stalemating each other if we go on. How about we decide the winner with one final move?"
"Sure. We're only sparring in the Decisive Battle Space, not fighting to the death. There's no need to use every trump card we have. Let's settle it with one last move."
Qi Tian didn't object. He smiled as he replied, and Lie Yan threw back his head and laughed.
"You're my kind of man. When we're done, I'm buying you a drink."
Lie Yan laughed, his eyes—shrouded in blood-red light—now gleaming with bloodlust.
The secret patterns on the blood-red spear stirred. The nine magma dragons left the Golden Lotus and coiled around Lie Yan.
In the blink of an eye, they had formed one enormous magma dragon, hovering above the lotus platform. Fire origin law surged across its coiling body.
Qi Tian looked up. The gigantic dragon head had opened its fearsome jaws, and terrifyingly hot energy was condensing and compressing inside its mouth, then condensing and compressing again.
The red fire origin force gradually turned yellow as it compressed, then white. The heat it contained made Qi Tian's scalp prickle.
"Whoosh!"
The Heaven-Imprisoning Lotus Platform that had been shielding Qi Tian dispersed. Golden light flashed across the secret patterns on its 108 petals. At Qi Tian's command, they transformed into 108 small lotuses.
With his previous experience in the Slaughter Space, he immediately flashed back to the edge of the arena, putting several kilometers between himself and Lie Yan.
At that distance, the explosion from the third form, "Hundred Flowers Bloom," would still reach Qi Tian.
But it was much farther than last time. Even if the blast affected him, he could withstand it with his own strength.
Seeing Qi Tian disperse the Heaven-Imprisoning Lotus Platform protecting him and put distance between them, Lie Yan assumed he was trying to evade the attack that way.
But in the next moment, he saw the golden lotus petals under Qi Tian's control transform into 108 small lotuses and fly toward him.
Lie Yan watched the small lotuses draw closer, uncertainty rising in his heart. At the same time, his final move was ready, so he unleashed his attack.
"Fire Demon Spear Breath!"
"Hum!"
The Fire Demon Spear in Lie Yan's hand carried the terrifying power of the fire origin law. It shot from his grasp in an instant, streaking toward Qi Tian.
The scorching flames were released. The terrifying yellow-white heat generated by the Fire Demon Spear as it left Lie Yan's hand burst from the magma dragon's mouth like a fiery breath.
At the same time, the consciousness within the 108 small lotuses was stirred, and the volatile golden origin force inside them erupted.
One after another, the small lotuses bloomed. The combined explosive force of all 108 layers reached its peak in an instant.
"Boom!"
The moment the two terrifying forces collided, the scorching heat and rampaging origin force formed a powerful shock wave. With world-destroying force, it swept beyond the arena.
Apart from the black metal arena, which was made of special alloy, the surrounding grassland was tossed by the shock wave. Dirt flew everywhere, and some of it was even broken down into molecules by the intense heat.
At the corner of the arena, Qi Tian released all his origin force to form a protective energy barrier.
His Force Battle Suit, which had taken the form of a white robe, tightened instantly, shielding every part of his body without leaving a gap.
Even so, he still felt the terrifying shock waves striking him again and again, each impact like a tremendous force crashing into him.
Lie Yan, caught at the center of the collision between the dragon's breath and the might of "Hundred Flowers Bloom," was engulfed by the terrifying energy in an instant.
He couldn't withstand it for even a second. The terrifying heat and volatile origin force shredded Lie Yan into molecules, and he vanished from the Decisive Battle Space as data.
After the Virtual Universe System determined that the battle was over, the energy fluctuations in the arena disappeared instantly, and the surroundings returned to normal.
Only after hearing the system notification beside him did Qi Tian withdraw his origin force and restore his Force Battle Suit, which had been wrapped around his body, to the form of a white robe.
"Finally, I won."
Standing on the arena, Qi Tian let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
In the Slaughter Arena's hall, Tegages stared intently at the screen. Beside him, the external commissioner Weitz looked utterly dumbfounded.
"Universe Level, ninth rank, with combat strength beyond Domain Lord, third rank. Their final attacks even reached the power of Domain Lord, fourth rank."
Tegages commented quietly, his expression blank, though inside he was overjoyed.
This would all count toward his performance. As long as he recommended them, once the Virtual Universe Company recruited them, he wouldn't be far from returning to headquarters.
"Lord Tegages, are these two qualified to join that place?" Weitz asked, swallowing nervously.
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