Crossing That Threshold

On the enormous black metal arena.

Qi Yuan wore a black Force Battle Suit, with even his head encased in a helmet formed by the suit. In his hand, he gripped an entirely black Tier 2 Force Battle Blade.

Opposite him floated a green-haired man standing atop a strange curved flying disc. He held a battle blade and shield in either hand, while an unusual whip-like Psionic Weapon circled above his head.

By now, Qi Yuan's consecutive victories in the Duel Space had reached a terrifying 523 matches.

Such an astonishing win rate naturally drew plenty of attention. Experts rated seven stars and above had begun challenging him one after another.

And the man before him was the first among those challengers to hold a nine-star rating.

"A newcomer who climbed to a seven-star rating in less than a day—you're strong!"

The green-haired man spoke from afar, seemingly delighted to have found worthy prey. "It's been a long time since I fought a decent Domain expert. I hope you'll put up a good fight!"

"You'll find out whether I can when you try!"

Qi Yuan's tone was calm, but his body remained taut, ready at any moment to meet the other man's attack.

Facing a Psychic Master of the same level with a nine-star rating, he felt a faint pressure as well.

"Heh, quite confident. Looks like you haven't heard my name?"

The green-haired man seemed somewhat surprised.

"Why should I have heard of an enemy who's about to fall at my hands?"

Qi Yuan sneered and launched the first attack!

Boom!

His feet slammed heavily into the alloy floor of the arena, and his body shot toward the green-haired man like a cannonball leaving its barrel.

When a warrior fought a Psychic Master, the first thought was naturally to close the distance!

As long as he could drag his opponent into close-combat range, victory would basically be assured!

"Haha, you've got personality... but getting close to me won't be that easy..."

The green-haired man chuckled and immediately rose higher on his flying disc.

At the same time, the whip-like Psionic Weapon that had been circling above his head transformed into a dark-blue serpent and instantly intercepted Qi Yuan, coiling toward him!

"Hmph, get lost!"

Qi Yuan swept his blade horizontally as he charged forward, carrying boundless lightning power as it slashed at the dark-blue serpent—

Ssshhh—

Yet the instant the lightning battle blade struck the dark-blue serpent, it began moving rapidly, its entire Snake Body seeming to turn bonelessly soft.

Crackle—

The lightning battle blade slid down the Snake Body. Qi Yuan felt as though his full-force strike had landed on cotton, without even the slightest sensation of impact. His charging body staggered slightly.

Meanwhile, the dark-blue serpent twisted and rapidly coiled toward Qi Yuan's neck.

Not good!

Qi Yuan became alert. The Thunder Light secret technique activated without hesitation, and a brilliantly concentrated flash of lightning instantly lit up.

Bang!

With speed erupting to its limit, the dark-blue serpent had no time to dissipate the force this time and was directly sent flying far away.

Qi Yuan seized the opportunity to stomp heavily on the ground, shooting into the sky and lunging straight at the green-haired figure overhead!

"Oh? A secret technique?"

The green-haired man atop the strange flying disc brightened with interest.

While controlling his flying Psionic Weapon to swiftly change direction and evade in midair, he once again directed the dark-blue serpent-like weapon toward Qi Yuan.

Sss, sss, sss—

The dark-blue serpent wound through the air, rapidly twisting and coiling toward Qi Yuan.

At the same time, nearly invisible hazy ripples quickly spread from the dark-blue serpent. In the blink of an eye, they formed a hazy "water region" that covered several hundred meters.

"Such a powerful restraint... is this the Water Domain?"

Qi Yuan's expression changed as he stood within the water region.

He felt as though he had fallen into an incomparably viscous swamp.

Endless resistance surged at him from every direction. Under that powerful binding and suppressive force, every movement he made became extraordinarily heavy.

"This one's tough. Could he be..."

Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, inwardly becoming wary.

This was already the third opponent with a Domain he had encountered today.

However, the first two opponents' Domains had only reached the first level. Their use of their Domains was extremely crude, even inferior to Qi Yuan's.

He had defeated them with only a little effort.

But the moment this third opponent made his move, Qi Yuan understood that he had truly encountered a formidable opponent this time!

Apart from the low-cost, high-traffic main hall, the Slaughter Arena also had several highly private Meditation Rooms.

Inside one of those Meditation Rooms, a petite figure lounged lazily on the sofa.

A floating screen hovered before her, displaying Qi Yuan's ongoing battle.

In the Slaughter Arena's Duel Space, others could watch a battle as well if they paid.

The petite figure on the sofa even possessed the authority to freely view all videos.

"I didn't expect him to run into this little Madman before the person I arranged even got onstage. Fine, then. Let me see just how far these two Little Fellows can go."

At that moment, Qi Yuan's battle with the green-haired man in the Duel Space had already fallen into an extremely passive stalemate.

The hazy water region spanning several hundred meters in diameter was incomparably thick and sluggish.

Within it, Qi Yuan felt as though he were carrying an enormous battleship on his back. Every movement he made had become exceptionally difficult and slow.

Yet the dark-blue serpent Psionic Weapon controlled by the green-haired man suffered no effect on its speed at all and could easily attack Qi Yuan.

Whenever the dark-blue serpent struck, Qi Yuan could only unleash the Thunder Light secret technique at full force. Only then could he barely break free of the resistance and block the attack.

But with each eruption of Thunder Light, Qi Yuan's Force and stamina were rapidly draining away.

If he could not thoroughly defeat his opponent soon, he feared he would only fall into an increasingly passive situation.

"This Domain combines Force energy, psychic power, and his own attribute so perfectly. His mastery of the Domain is probably far beyond mine—at least the seventh level, perhaps even the eighth!"

As Qi Yuan repeatedly blocked the green-haired man's Psionic Weapon attacks, he could not help growing anxious.

He had naturally assumed that this green-haired man had been sent by the Slaughter Arena's upper management to test him, so he was unwilling to be defeated so easily.

"Even if he's at the seventh or eighth Domain level, I have the Thunder Light secret technique empowering me. The gap shouldn't be this large..."

"No, the main reason is that he has combined his Domain with that Psionic Weapon too well. The Water Domain excels at restraint, containment, and Transformation. It perfectly complements that whip-like Psionic Weapon."

"How do I break this deadlock...?"

Qi Yuan repeatedly used Thunder Light to fend off the opponent's Psionic Weapon attacks while his mind began racing.

"Water possesses many qualities. It can be soft or hard. Its softness allows that whip-like Psionic Weapon to flexibly transform and cleverly dissipate force, while its hardness can make the whip incredibly tough—capable of piercing, binding, and strangling..."

"Then what about lightning...?"

"What are lightning's qualities? Is it merely violent and tyrannical... no, that shouldn't be it!"

"Lightning... is born from the interaction of yin and yang. When violent, it can destroy everything in its path and shatter all things. When gentle, it can continue without end and erode everything..."

"Violence, destruction, gentleness, erosion... even that trace of new life bred amid endless destruction... all of it, all of it is lightning!"

"Water is formless. Lightning is formless as well. That is lightning!"

At that moment, Qi Yuan felt as though his mind had suddenly opened up!

At the same time, a wondrous ripple from some distant, unknown place instantly penetrated his heart...

"Hm? That is..."

Inside the Slaughter Arena's Meditation Room.

The petite figure watching this instantly sat upright—

"Haha, looks like I've found a treasure this time..."