Noble and Elegant Duel Arena

[You listened to the lilting flute music of Ancient Hero ???]

[Magic +500]

[Mana +10,000]

The flute music abruptly stopped. Countless streams of light gathered around the Elegant Ancient Flute, and then, with a pop, the six-meter-tall statue shattered.

The Elegant Ancient Flute returned to Zhou Heng's hand, but this time, its attributes had changed.

Elegant Ancient Flute

Quality: inferior

Noble and Elegant Fighting Spirit: play any Flute Melody. No one can attack you while you are playing. Once the performance ends, both sides engage in a noble and elegant duel. (Ignores resurrection mechanics. The winner lives, the loser dies.)

Inferior Flute Music: during a Sublimity and elegance duel, both combatants' levels and attributes are affected by the quality of the Elegant Ancient Flute. (Current level: 1) (Equippable items: 1)

Weathered: the inferior Elegant Ancient Flute cannot sustain its effects for long. Cooldown: 6 months

After reading the Elegant Ancient Flute's effects, Zhou Heng finally understood why Fate Hint had chosen it.

Indeed, only this skill could give him any hope of victory against Black Bear Ba and the others.

"Who would've thought a flute I casually bought by the roadside could do something like this?"

"But... what system do the Ancient Heroes belong to? The textbooks never mentioned them."

During his three years of high school, Zhou Heng had learned a great deal, but he had learned absolutely nothing about the Ancient Heroes.

Either the people who wrote the textbooks had no access to that information, or the national system and the Longevity Families had selectively concealed it.

Either way, Zhou Heng had an intuition that the secrets behind the Boundless Endless World were inseparable from the Ancient Heroes.

Putting away the Elegant Ancient Flute, Zhou Heng looked at the walkie-talkie. He now had what it took to contact Black Bear Ba.

But before he could pick it up, Fate Hint appeared on his retina again.

[Fate is mysterious and ever-changing. In the blink of an eye, your enemy has changed from Black Bear Ba to a level 70 sealer.]

[Fate grants you an enhancement.]

[Fate Hint 1: the powerful sealer has already located you. You have little time left. Play any Flute Melody immediately, and make sure you survive until you begin playing.]

[Fate Hint 2: rely on your talent and remain carefree. Wait until you meet your enemy before playing. Of course, you might not manage to play a Flute Melody.]

"A level 70 sealer?"

Zhou Heng's pupils contracted, and he could not help drawing a deep breath.

High-level players faced enormous penalties for killing new players, and those penalties rose drastically with their level.

A level 70 player, and a sealer at that, risking an enormous penalty to kill a new player like him-the Su Family, a Longevity Family, was certainly sparing no expense.

"But... things have changed. I'm no longer the new player anyone could slaughter at will."

Looking at the Elegant Ancient Flute in his hand, Zhou Heng piled up a mound of earth without hesitation, sat down, and began playing a Flute Melody.

Fortunately, students in this world had to learn a little of everything. He had not learned many flute tunes in this life, but they were enough to satisfy the requirement of "any Flute Melody."

As Zhou Heng played the March of Xia Kingdom, a figure appeared at the spatial rift.

"Is this where he disappeared?"

"A level 10 unique secret realm. The kid's pretty lucky."

A cold glint flashed through Wang Lu's eyes, and he stepped into the Deepwater Flood Dragon Worm Secret Realm without hesitation.

[You have entered the Deepwater Flood Dragon Worm Secret Realm.]

Wang Lu followed Zhou Heng's route all the way to the end of the path.

Standing at the end of the path, he gazed across the vast breeding grounds and immediately spotted Zhou Heng sitting on a mound of earth, playing the flute.

"Hmm?"

"Is that... the March of Xia Kingdom?"

The March of Xia Kingdom was an official composition of Xia Kingdom. Its melody was stirring and grand, intended to promote a spirit of resilience and perseverance.

"This kid... what's going on?"

Wang Lu frowned slightly, a bad feeling coming over him.

He leaped down from the end of the path and took a step. The next second, with a whoosh, he was already in front of Zhou Heng.

As he sized Zhou Heng up, a trace of appreciation flashed through Wang Lu's eyes.

For someone this young to make the young master of the Su Family, a Longevity Family, personally order his capture, he must have done something earth-shattering that Wang Lu knew nothing about.

"Zhou Heng, come with me!"

As Wang Lu spoke, he reached out to grab Zhou Heng.

With his strength, dealing with a level 10 youngster should have been effortless.

Yet just as he was about to grab Zhou Heng, his sealing technique was repelled.

"What..."

Wang Lu's pupils contracted, and his bad feeling grew stronger.

Before he could figure out what was happening, lines of text suddenly flashed across his retina.

[You listened to the flute music.]

[The effect of Noble and Elegant Fighting Spirit has activated.]

[Generating the Noble and Elegant Duel Arena.]

An immense curtain of light spread outward with Zhou Heng at its center, soon enveloping both Zhou Heng and Wang Lu.

"What is this?"

As a level 70 high-level player, Wang Lu had never encountered anything like this before.

Anxiety welled up inside Wang Lu. He used his sealing technique again, attacking Zhou Heng.

[You cannot harm your enemy before the Noble and Elegant Duel Arena is established.]

[The Noble and Elegant Duel Arena has been generated.]

[The effect of Inferior Flute Music has activated.]

[Your level has been reduced to 1. Retrieving your level 1 attributes.]

[You may retain one weapon usable at level 1.]

Wang Lu's pupils sharply contracted, and a chilling dread crept over him.

His level had been reduced to 1?

And he could only keep one weapon usable at level 1?

But he was a level 70 sealer! Who would keep a weapon usable at level 1?

Wang Lu looked at his attribute panel.

True name: Wang Lu

Level: 1

Attack: 2-4

Magic: 0-0

Health: 30/30

Mana: 30/30

Armor: 0

Attack speed: 1.0/s

Movement speed: 1.2 m/s

Water damage reduction: 0

Fire damage reduction: 0

Wind damage reduction: 0

Lightning damage reduction: 0

Ice damage reduction: 0

Wood damage reduction: 0

Light damage reduction: 0

Dark damage reduction: 0

Experience: 0/100

Sealing Expert (A): when using sealing skills, success rate +20%, level check +3

Seeing his level 1 attributes, Wang Lu broke out in a cold sweat.

But that was not what terrified him most. What terrified him most was that the Revival Coin section beneath his attributes had been disabled.

This meant it was no ordinary duel arena, but one that could decide life and death.

Live or die!

Wang Lu began to panic. He opened his inventory to check whether he had any items he could use.

He was lucky. A wooden club lay in his inventory, a level 20 weapon that ignored level requirements for equipping, granting +60 attack and 500 health.

At once, Wang Lu regained his confidence.

He looked at Zhou Heng in the distance and closed his hand around empty air. The wooden club appeared in his grasp.

At that moment, Zhou Heng also opened his eyes, looked at Wang Lu, and slowly drew the sword at his waist.

"Sir, I've been waiting for you for quite some time..."