Chapter 961: The Live Target

In the arena, the sand was stained with blood, and the spectator seats buzzed with noise; the combat had lasted over twenty hours, and these spectators certainly hadn’t watched the entire time.

As the sun rose, spectators gradually returned, and the second round of matches was about to begin.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you all rested well last night—Hak has been too excited to sleep! The matches of the Nullifier, the Wind Prince, and the Bug Clan’s Bank, among others, must have left a deep impression. The first round has already weeded out the weak; the second round will be beyond imagination…”

The devil commentator Hak began stirring up the crowd’s excitement, while Su Xiao sat on the contestant bleachers, gazing straight ahead, lost in thought about alchemical knowledge.

No more nonsense—let the first match of the second round begin! Please welcome the competitors…

Su Xiao’s attention was not on the match; his mind was simulating catalytic reactions of alchemical materials.

“Contestant No. 106, the Nullifier—hey!”

Hak’s shout snapped Su Xiao back to reality.

“So soon.”

Su Xiao hadn’t expected to be scheduled first—this was good.

He rose and walked toward the sandy arena, where a golden-haired man had already entered, arms outstretched in a mock embrace toward the crowd.

“Yulu, fight on! The Divine Wings protect you!”

“The Nullifiers are nothing—this is no longer their era.”

Over eighty percent of the female spectators cheered for Yulu; compared to these fervent women, the demonic spectators’ cheers clearly lacked vigor.

“Nullifier…”

A young male demon was about to cheer for Su Xiao when the female Winged One beside him shot him a glare—this female Winged One was the young demon’s goddess, the one he had pursued relentlessly for years; her pure white wings and beautiful face were undeniably divine.

Between ally and goddess, the young demon chose the goddess without hesitation.

“Yulu, go… go!”

The demon boy’s weak, half-hearted shout made the female Winged One burst into laughter.

Hearing that feeble cry, the surrounding demons turned their heads—their glares clearly said: one of us has become a traitor.

“Audiences, you’ve all witnessed the strength of the Winged One Yulu and the might of the Nullifier. Let the bloodshed begin—match… START!”

Hak dragged out his announcement as the match began.

Su Xiao and the Winged One Yulu locked eyes from afar; Yulu, having observed Su Xiao’s fighting style in the first round, deliberately kept his distance.

Hssss~

A pair of pure white wings unfurled; Yulu flapped them and rose into the air, while Su Xiao remained rooted to the spot, lost in thought.

“Distracted in battle? The Nullifier is nothing special.”

Yulu flapped his wings, sending a torrent of white feathers hurtling toward Su Xiao—each feather wrapped in an invisible energy, rigid as needles.

As the feathers came, Su Xiao sidestepped, shifted his foot, and evaded the barrage at an impossible angle.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…

The feathers plunged into the sand and vanished, but Su Xiao immediately sensed something was wrong—their threat remained.

“As long as I maintain distance and wear you down, after a thousand falling feathers, it’ll be your death.”

Yulu muttered, flapping his wings higher.

Su Xiao looked up at the winged man—his flight speed was extreme, and he was charging some technique; once completed, even Su Xiao couldn’t escape unscathed.

For enemies who preferred distance and aerial mobility, Su Xiao had many countermeasures—he chose the simplest and most brutal one.

A heavy sniper rifle nearly two meters long appeared in Su Xiao’s hands: the Spider Empress, long unused for killing.

Su Xiao first adjusted the “Optical-Infrared Scope 4–28x (Passive)” to 4x, estimated wind speed and air humidity, then pulled back the bolt.

Click.

The Spider Empress chambered a round; Su Xiao raised the rifle with both arms, tilted his head, pressed his eye to the scope—and locked onto Yulu in midair after two seconds.

The instant he was locked by the Spider Empress, Yulu’s pupils contracted, his heart pounded, and his mind raced: What the hell is that? A sniper rifle? Its length is absurd—it looks more like a high-tech sniper cannon.

Seeing the black-and-red barrel of the Spider Empress, Yulu felt it was a savage, brutal weapon; if struck directly, he’d be shot down like a bird.

Bang!

A deep, muffled gunshot echoed; Su Xiao recoiled slightly, his boots carving furrows in the sand.

A 17.36mm bullet exited the Spider Empress’s muzzle, piercing the air with a sharp tip that sent ripples through the atmosphere.

In midair, Yulu felt only one thing: terror. If he did nothing, he would be shot down.

Actually, Yulu overestimated the danger—his risk of being hit was low; with the Spider Empress’s power, three direct hits would shatter him completely.

As the bullet neared, Yulu flared his wings, using the air resistance from their motion to alter his position.

Hssss!

The bullet whistled past, ruffling Yulu’s golden hair—just as he was still reeling, a dark shadow lunged at him.

“Caw, caw, caw…”

A jet-black crow landed on Yulu’s back, its talons tightening, aiming to pierce his flesh.

Yulu whipped his wings—CRACK!—the crow shattered, no blood spilled, only “flesh fragments” scattered; more accurately, this was pseudo-living material.

The shattered creature was an Alchemical Raven—designed for reconnaissance, not combat.

Though instantly destroyed, the Alchemical Raven completed its mission: a gelatinous substance stuck to Yulu’s back.

On the sandy arena, Su Xiao, through his scope, kept Yulu locked in sight, while releasing dozens of Alchemical Ravens from his storage space—he could only control one at a time, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t activate many.

Nearly a thousand Alchemical Ravens activated, swirling around Su Xiao; some even perched on his shoulders.

“Caw, caw, caw…”

Ravens flew and circled the arena; Su Xiao stood at their center, never breaking his lock on the enemy.

Once all Alchemical Ravens were activated, he triggered the “Array Coordinate Receiver” on Yulu’s back—a pre-deployed signal, designed to initiate attack.

Instantly, every Alchemical Raven turned toward Yulu; their eyes, inscribed with alchemical arrays, held no emotion.

“This is bad.”

Yulu spread his wings and soared higher—but he wasn’t the only one who could fly; the Alchemical Ravens were equally adept.

Whoosh!

Thousands of Alchemical Ravens surged toward Yulu, a sky-blackening swarm.

The scene unfolded thus: a white-winged birdman flew rapidly high above, pursued by a vast horde of ravens. Yulu could fly high, but he couldn’t exceed the arena’s vertical boundary, and above that, an energy barrier blocked him—he could ascend no higher than five hundred meters.

What is a live target? Yulu, right now, is a live target.