Death Match!

Seeing Xu Ziming and Shen Xingyue dispose of the two lions so cleanly, Tang Xing felt a wave of regret; had he known, he wouldn't have dropped to his knees.

He had wasted a prime opportunity to attack.

Before him now stood the final lion, the one with the broken leg.

Seeing that its companions were all but dead, the lion's original ferocity had diminished significantly.

Clearly, it hadn't realized its mistake; it simply realized it was about to die.

Tang Xing said nothing more. He vaulted into the air, spinning gracefully twice, and suddenly, flames ignited between his legs.

"A leg specialist?"

Xu Ziming looked up at Tang Xing in the sky.

At this moment, both of Tang Xing's legs were engulfed in raging fire as he shot toward the lion at breakneck speed.

"Meteor Fall!"

With a shout, his feet instantly pierced through the crippled lion, and he landed on the ground, hands in his pockets, looking effortlessly cool.

It was all over.

As if seeing that all three lions were dead, the spectators who had scattered and fled began to gather back together, like respawning NPCs, having completely forgotten that they had nearly died just moments ago.

Looking back, Ma Mingyu had vanished somewhere.

Only Xu Ziming and the other two remained standing in the center of the arena.

"Are the three of you here to participate in our Hell Arena as well?"

A sinister voice echoed from mid-air, followed by the appearance of a cunning face.

Could this guy have been the one behind the lion riot? Did he discover us?

Xu Ziming's mind raced; the lion riot had forced the three of them, who were originally standing on the periphery, to be pulled into the arena.

"That goes without saying. Why else would we be here?"

Tang Xing looked up at the man in the sky with arrogance, his eyes devoid of any fear.

Mostly, it was because Teacher Ma was there to back them up regardless, and he couldn't imagine how they could possibly lose.

"Very well, audience of the arena! Today, we have three... heroes among us!"

"How do you think we should play to make this entertaining?"

The man with the cunning face was clearly the one in charge. He looked down at the spectators and shouted excitedly.

"Deathmatch!"

"Deathmatch!"

"Deathmatch!"

The same chant erupted from all directions, as if the three of them hadn't just saved these very people.

Hearing the roar for a deathmatch, the man with the cunning face was clearly satisfied.

Following that, under everyone's gaze, he pressed a red button.

"Bang!"

A massive iron cage descended from the sky, sealing Xu Ziming and his companions inside.

The entire arena began to expand continuously, and the spectator stands stretched rapidly to both sides, growing several times larger.

"Someone has already signed a contract for you. Regardless of life or death, if you survive the deathmatch assault, you will split one million!"

The cunning man left them with those final words before disappearing completely.

"The trial begins now. Everyone may place their bets!"

As his voice faded, a giant QR code with a two-minute countdown appeared at the very top of the arena center.

Immediately, the betting pool for Xu Ziming and his companions' deaths skyrocketed, reaching over ten million.

The bets on their survival, however, sat at a mere two or three million, one million of which had been provided by a single person.

There was no need to guess; it was Ma Mingyu.

However, the odds for them winning were 1:4, meaning if Xu Ziming and his companions actually won, they would earn four million, plus the one million prize, totaling five million.

Time ticked away second by second. The two minutes passed quickly, and the final betting pool was locked in: over twenty million had been bet on the deaths of the three.

Not a single one of the people who had just been saved believed that Xu Ziming and his companions would survive.

The moment the time ran out, a massive lump of rock fell from the sky.

It looked like a bull, a bull encased in solid rock.

"It's an alien species!" Tang Xing grew excited.

[Rock Bull detected]

[Life Energy Level 5.0, Pseudo-First Life Evolution]

A sound echoed in Xu Ziming's ears.

Damn it, we're in trouble now.

Just then, the iron cage trapping the three of them swung open.

The Rock Bull stared at the three people gathered before it, excitedly raising its hooves.

Before anyone could react, a black shadow beside them shot out first.

It was Shen Xingyue.

"So fast!"

Seeing Shen Xingyue already charging out, Xu Ziming could no longer sit idly by.

He gripped Jinghong in his hand, nearly leaping into the air.

But at that moment, several massive vines suddenly burst from the ground.

[Detected: Demon Vine]

[Life Energy Level 5.1, First Life Evolution]

"Damn it, this place is keeping a monster at the First Life Evolution level, and nobody cares?"

Xu Ziming's body twisted in mid-air, forming an uncanny angle as he barely dodged the vine's attack.

In the distance, Shen Xingyue had already slashed at the Rock Bull; with a thud, several massive chunks of rock were cleaved off.

Tang Xing, standing to the side, looked visibly shaken, knowing full well that those blades used to land on him.

"Tang Xing, don't just stand there! Come over and help deal with this thing!"

Xu Ziming shouted, his sword dancing incessantly, but the Demon Vine was too fast.

No matter how he swung his blade, he couldn't keep up with its expansion speed. He needed someone else to hold back these vines so he could find an opening to attack the main body.

Seeing the situation, Tang Xing, despite lacking a tool to measure Life Energy Level, naturally understood that this vine was far more troublesome than the Rock Bull.

He gave up on watching and turned to assist Xu Ziming.

"I'll handle the vines! You seize the chance to tear its main body apart!"

Flames ignited on Tang Xing's feet once more; although the surrounding vines were aggressive, they dared not approach him.

"Right!"

Xu Ziming slashed through a vine in front of him and leaped, ignoring the vines smashing toward him and leaving them entirely to Tang Xing.

"Get out of my way!"

His flaming feet danced through the air, kicking away one vine after another.

The main body of the Demon Vine seemed to sense their intent and immediately retracted its vines to defend itself.

"How could I let you have your way?" After such a long time, Xu Ziming had reached the side of the Demon Vine.

"Five Prison Sword Art, First Form, Dragon Trap!"

His arm moved so fast it blurred, releasing countless sword auras in an instant to completely seal the monster's main body.

"Tang Xing, give it the final kick!"

In the end, it was just a caged monster; what did it matter if it had undergone a First Life Evolution?

At Xu Ziming's call, the flames on Tang Xing's feet shifted from red to purplish-red.

In an instant, they compressed to the limit, transforming into a purple flash.

"It's done!"

"Zzzzt!" The electric current that had just been on the lion reappeared, actually stimulating the sword auras trapping the Demon Vine until they dissipated.

"Not good, dodge!"