The wilderness two hundred kilometers outside the Sigma District had been reduced to a devastated wasteland by the fighting.
Beyond the main battlefield between Zone 1 and the others, smaller battles raged between pairs of combatants, with people dying constantly.
In an area where no one disturbed them, Jiang Hao and Lu Daoxing faced each other in battle.
Intricate patterns of intertwined gold and silver light flowed across Jiang Hao's armor. Its extraordinary quality was obvious at a glance; it was clearly a top-tier artifact forged from yellow-silver star ore.
His gaze swept over the surrounding spatial barrier, which distorted and blurred the scenery outside. He raised his hand, and a small sleeve crossbow on his armor's right arm silently fired a bolt, sending a streak of crimson light diagonally into the sky.
But the bolt had barely traveled any distance before a patch of hazy, viscous air swallowed it, making it disappear.
Jiang Hao said, "Lu Daoxing, this artifact of yours that seals us off from the outside can actually devour attacks too. It even swallowed an attack from my Tier Four Artifact. How unusual."
"I'm glad you find it unusual," the haggard Lu Daoxing said slowly. "I chose this burial ground especially for you."
Jiang Hao's voice sounded aged and drawn-out. "I told you, you're only sequence level seven, while I'm sequence level eight. With level suppression working against you, how do you expect to beat me?"
Lu Daoxing replied, "You don't necessarily have to rely on yourself to kill someone."
Absolute confidence filled Jiang Hao's words. "Perhaps you have great confidence in your artifact research. I admit your research is impressive, but you weren't among the first batch of chosen ones. You began your research five years later than Guan Fuhai and Zhong Dingming, and you lack