Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 201 Second Tier - Supreme: Deathmatch?!

You voted? How did you vote?
It wouldn't be accurate to say that you don't care about rankings.

Starlight is willing to spend a piece of purple equipment and a Time-Space Coin, which is definitely a huge investment.

It should be said that they care about it extremely much.

Li Xia suppressed her doubts; if she couldn't figure it out, she wouldn't think about it anymore—it wasn't anything important anyway.

Continue matching!

In the private box of the top ten, Behemoth leaned back in the huge sofa, letting two androids massage his shoulders.

The muscles, as stiff as steel, were taut, and the miniature motors in the bionic robot's hands whirred at high speed.

This finally brought a hint of relief to Behemoth's face.

Lisa pushed a cup of tea towards her and shook her head: "I thought that once you dropped out of the top ten, this private room would be taken back."

"It's a kind of proof that you've been in the top ten before, since the main rewards are all required to be held until you advance."

Behemoth said indifferently, then let out a long sigh:
"I heard the rewards for the top ten weren't like this before. It's good that you get them just for playing. I wish it were like before."

Lisa paused in her tea-pouring, then shook her head with a wry smile.

That's how it used to be in the arena. There were no restrictions on trading, and guilds could freely give low-level members powerful equipment and huge amounts of Hall Points.

That was an era dominated by guilds. The Hall of Fame was still the Hall of Fame, but those guilds were like regional warlords or duchies, possessing an incomparably powerful position.

Those who are independent or disobedient to the guild will only face death.

They manipulated the arena to allow guild members to farm stats and earn rewards, and they 'farmed' by collecting taxes from the output of apostles entering derivative worlds.

These destructive actions ultimately led to the Temple of Light suffering repeated defeats in high-level battles.

This also provoked extreme anger from the Temple of Light, which broke free from a special state.

According to records within the guild, the difficulty of guild quests has increased to an unbelievable level.

Failure results in immediate annihilation, along with a reduction in the guild's inventory; any items that would otherwise exempt you from punishment become ineffective.

At the same time, the newcomers who started from the first rank were also trained at an accelerated pace. After hundreds of years of adjustments, the current balance was finally achieved.

Guilds have their advantages and disadvantages. Guilds of all sizes, adventure groups, and merchant alliances account for 80% of the ecosystem.

But in the end, they were unable to finish it, nor could they touch the remaining 20%.

As a second-tier core seed of the Brotherhood of Steel, Behemoth naturally has the authority to access more intelligence and information.

“Don’t think about it anymore, that era—” Lisa paused, as if recalling the shock she felt when she first saw the records.

"Most apostles know this will only lead to a vicious cycle, but no one can resist the allure of more resources, readily available equipment, and attribute points."

Lisa breathed a sigh of relief: "Let's not talk about that. I'm more curious about why the High Council of Arcane Arts suddenly gave up."

Don't care about rankings?

Behemoth laughed loudly, exhaling two streams of scorching air from its nostrils, and said disdainfully;
"It's not that he doesn't care, it's that he cares to death."

The ninth-ranked player gains 150 mana, which is just enough for him to have a little left after activating his ultimate skill.

If he drops to tenth place, he won't be able to unleash his ultimate move. Do you think he wouldn't be anxious?

Behemoth sat up, and the two androids massaging him behind him immediately lowered their hands and waited quietly to the side.

He chuckled and winked at Lisa, saying:
"What a pity—that kid Starlight majors in electric and fire magic, relying on his talent 'overheating overload' for output."

He must have secretly watched my fight with Xia. Although I don't know the specific stats, just from the performance, I can tell that Xia has extremely high resistance to fire and electricity.

If Starlight were to fight him, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

In particular, the protective shield of starlight is not a one-time use, but a passive effect that accumulates over time. If it is broken, it will take some time to reassemble.

That's why I told Xia to give Starlight a good beating, to stop him from constantly running around the arena and annoying me!

Lisa chuckled, surprised that there was such a secret. If it weren't for Behemoth, a tank who always wanted to challenge the Starlight, she would have been surprised.

No one else could possibly know so much about Starlight's background.

After laughing for a while, he watched as Li Xia reappeared in the arena.

Lisa's expression gradually turned serious, and she asked in a low voice:
"You fought him, how did it feel?"

The private room suddenly fell silent, and Behemoth's abrupt pause in breathing became particularly noticeable.

"powerful"

Behemoth's voice was slightly low, and seemed to carry a hint of fear:

"When that spear pierced my chest, I... I was actually a little scared. It wasn't just the spear that pierced my chest; it also had that force that seemed to want to tear a person apart."

Lisa turned her head abruptly and realized that it wasn't an illusion; she really saw a trace of confusion and fear on Behemoth's face.

"So I subconsciously transformed. I can't even understand why Xia is so strong. Perhaps his attributes aren't outstanding, but his aura, fighting style, and even his skills are."

They far surpassed us, as if he regarded every battle as his last.

"Win or die!"

Behemoth leaned back again, gazing at the starry ceiling, and murmured:
"I'm starting to understand why Starlight isn't playing anymore. Perhaps he doesn't want his pride to be shattered."

"I'm not a lunatic! Why would I go up there looking for trouble???"

A young man wearing a robe embroidered with flames and lightning stood on an exquisite low table in front of him.

He picked up his glass and gulped down a large mouthful of wheat juice.

"How could I not know the strength of Behemoth?"
He's ranked tenth because he's exactly the one I counter, and I'm ranked ninth because that bastard in eighth place counters me.

The eighth-ranked guy can only bully me. If it hadn't been such a coincidence, his ranking would have been different.

Behemoth is completely dumbfounded by that kid, wouldn't I just be giving up for nothing?

The second-tier leader of the Arcane High Council shook his head helplessly, his white beard swaying as he did so.

"Sigh, whatever, but your mana—never mind, I'll increase my acquisition efforts and see if I can get any equipment that increases your mana cap."

"Hehe—no need!"

Xingguang slammed his wine glass on the table with a 'duang', pinched his chin, and his high intelligence of 24 points allowed him to quickly arrange and combine possible models in his mind.

He narrowed his eyes, a smug smile playing on his lips:

"Old man, I've wanted to change the rankings for a long time, but Behemoth has blocked all the potential challengers—you're saying I'm admitting defeat and deliberately dropping out of the top ten?"
"Will that bastard get beaten to a pulp?"

Starlight's eyes sparkled; he had wanted to do this for a long time, but due to certain reasons and unstable factors, it could only remain a concept.

Now is the time to seize the opportunity!
Night Silence was pulled from his chest, bringing with it a spray of blood.

The short man in front of him looked at Li Xia with resentment.

"bang"

The corpse hit the ground with a dull thud, then gradually faded and disappeared.

[Executioner, you have defeated the eighth-ranked player in the Arena's top ten.]

[Special Phase Mission: Path of Glory Completion Progress Increased]

[Effect of the Top Ten Honor Badge in Competition]

Something's not right, why is this eighth place so weak?
It can't be said that he's weak; the eighth one is quite agile—but unfortunately, he's still a little slower than himself.

He also possesses highly skilled close-combat techniques, which, according to the conventional classification of apostles, would be at least at the specialist level in close combat.

Unfortunately, he is still far inferior to me.

He also has considerable resistance to energy attacks and can even reflect them.

So Li Xia rushed up and stabbed him into a leaky pot.

Overall, the eighth place is quite balanced, but none of them are particularly outstanding.

In the preparation room, Li Xia was about to check the attributes of the eighth honor badge when he received a private message from Starlight.

Starlight (High Council of Arcane): "That was awesome, bro!"

He somehow got his hands on a Pokémon's 'Mirror Coat,' it's disgusting! It can bounce spells back almost anything.

I almost threw up from disgust, but anyway, thank you.

A mirrored coat?

Li Xia frowned as he recalled the skill. Could humans actually learn Pokémon skills?

I'm guessing it's a skill that's been specially modified for the Hall of Fame.

Aowu and Heitan rushed over, one carrying a towel and water, the other using their ancestral "kneading" technique to massage the muscles. Li Xia:
I simply clicked "Continue Matching" and then opened the Arena panel.

【summer】

[Ranking: Top 10, Number 8 (Tier 2)]

[Win rate: 100%]

Average playing time: 1 minute 46 seconds

The badge for eighth place remains unchanged.

The extra Hall Points gained at the end of the World Championship have been increased to 2000.

It's roughly equivalent to a few combat recovery potions or a regular small blue item.

It's still better than nothing.

In terms of attributes, Li Xia still only has 1 point of comprehension, which he values ​​most.

However, the number of free attribute points has been increased from five to seven.

If we calculate it by adding one point for each place you advance, getting first place should give you 14 attribute points!

It's definitely not a small amount; it's only slightly less than one's own world.

An opponent has been found.

Li Xia closed the panel and slowly stood up.

Keep pushing!
Several hours later
Li Xia grasped the Night Silence that had transformed into electric current and returned, when a long black arrow pierced his chest.

It looked quite horrifying, but the core seed of the Freemasons of Light was already lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back.

Health: 46%
This was the first time Li Xia had suffered such a serious injury in the arena.

Nearly 40% of the damage is dealt by the final hit.

The Freemasons of Light seem to have a unique system of inheritance, similar to divine magic.

Finally, the beam of light that descended from the sky caused Li Xia considerable trouble, immobilizing him for a full three seconds.

In addition, its unique light-attribute burning effect meant that even the dragon scales on its body could not completely defend against it.

Moreover, the black arrow that was shot made Li Xia discover something very interesting.

That is, when a crisis occurs, one's luck increases to the point of being swallowed by misfortune, but these do not happen simultaneously.

There is a subtle time difference in between, less than a second.

But that's enough time to make a judgment!

Therefore, the Black Arrow's finishing move failed without any doubt.

The joy of accident!

[Executioner, you have defeated the third-ranked player in the Arena's top ten.]

[Special Phase Mission: Path of Glory Completion Progress Increased]

[Effect of the Top Ten Honor Badge in Competition]

"Your Highness, does this mean that kill-type or probability-based judgments will be less effective against you in the future?"

As soon as he returned to his private lounge, Aowu couldn't wait to ask.

“Yes, that’s very likely.” Li Xia nodded and thought for a moment before saying, “But it’s not certain. Luck doesn’t guarantee success; it just increases the probability that things will turn out well.”

"That's quite impressive!"

It circled around and howled: "Can't stay still, can't run away, can't fight back, the opponent's despair—!"

Li Xia didn't reply, but instead closed her eyes and lay down on the chair, taking the time to rest.

The arena can restore physical injuries and skill cooldowns, but it cannot restore mental energy.

Or perhaps the Temple of Light believes that this fatigue after consecutive battles is also part of the competition.

After defeating the eighth-ranked player, he played five consecutive matches.

As it turns out, even with the strength of the fault line, the few who stood out from over 100,000 apostles were by no means pushovers.

Each has its own unique skill; for example, when playing the fifth match, the opponent simply burrowed into the ground.

I don't know how deep they've burrowed, but it seems they're trying to stay hidden and wage a war of attrition.

The ground is like a hedgehog; every now and then, thorns of earth will sprout and fly over.

Standing on the ground, it will gradually sink, and the spikes will grow incessantly, as if it has taken some kind of medicine.

Li Xia didn't have any good solutions either; neither fire nor lightning could overcome the earth.

This is also the longest battle Li Xia has ever fought in the arena.

I've seen people who are sneaky, but I've never seen anyone sneaky like this.

No wonder people say that the top ten aren't necessarily all about pure skill; they might also be just too suited to PvP.

For example, if you use the ability to burrow underground to fight a boss, the boss might just turn around and leave, but that won't work in the arena.

Finally, Li Xia simply sat cross-legged and floated in the air, where the ground spikes only had a damage strength of around 5.

Aside from getting covered in mud, it can't do anything else.

The amount of true qi consumed by the Flying Dance technique is even less than that recovered through meditation.

Finally, the people who were burrowing underground ran out of energy first and chose to surrender right there underground.

Li Xia, who was seething with anger, didn't even get to meet him, and then he was unlucky enough to be fourth.
Fourthly, he was even somewhat connected to me; he was a core seed of the second-tier guild, Time Scavengers.

The system he built was none other than the Swamp-Swamp Fruit. His already considerable strength, combined with the Swamp-Swamp Fruit's enhancement, allowed him to climb from 7th to 4th place.

Unfortunately, this fruit was completely countered by Li Xia, and the swamp it formed wasn't very large. He simply threw the electric gun in and then called Aowu over.

Every now and then, bolts of lightning would strike, quickly paralyzing and revealing the target. After being brutally beaten, the target simply chose to surrender.

As for the other top ten, neither ranged archers nor melee fighters caused much trouble.

Right now, the top spot in the arena is within reach!
[Matching successful]

[Audience size: 99]

[We have found opponents with similar current rankings; awaiting their confirmation!]

[Current opponent ranking: 2th]

[The opponent refuses to fight!]

[Executioner, the ultimate arena in the second tier challenges you with a special challenge: Deathmatch]

[Bet: 1 Hall of Fame Point, Comment: Trash, dare to take the bet?]

[Note: Deathmatch Challenge is a special challenge. Victory will reward you with your opponent's Bloody Key and betting prizes.]

[Note: There is no penalty for refusing to engage in deathmatch; you can continue with regular ranked matches.]

Li Xia narrowed his eyes as he stared at the notification floating in front of him.

"Your Highness—"

"I know there's a trap."

Li Xia's face showed no unusual expression, not even a trace of emotion.

"Ow"

"I am here"

"Tell me, what if I choose to refuse—"

"Of course, it is Your Highness's calm and self-possessed nature that allowed you to see through the enemy's schemes and tricks. You are truly worthy of being called Your Highness!"

Li Xia suddenly smiled, and without hesitation, he nodded in agreement amidst Aowu's almost lit-up gaze.

"Then... kill him!"

"Meow!"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

It's Saturday today, and the store has been so busy that I'm only getting around to writing this now.
(End of this chapter)