Chapter 386

Chat group: A loving family (online: 33 people).

The Throat of Reversed Fate: Family, the situation is dire—I need the strength of every bloodline now. Abandon hesitation, offer your faith, and climb the peak of the arena with me. This battle's glory shall forge our clan's eternal renown, etched into player history… With me, fight!

Outsider: Lord of Fate, after all that, you're just after money (eating dirt, slapping table. jpg).

Outsider: So how much this time? Just give the number. Here's my balance screenshot—take what you need. No extra coins, can't conjure more. (Balance screenshot) (Explorer clasps hands in prayer. jpg).

Miracle of Gahawa: Lord of Fate, if I weren't afraid you'd unplug the internet, I'd already left the clan. You demand funds every few days—no matter how much I earn, you're plucking me bare. You promised early investment would make us rich, but I've seen not a single coin. Shou Shou Jili keeps flowing to you, and I'm at my limit. I want to grow stronger (Explorer bursts into tears. jpg).

A Dog of Brother Di Zhao: So this is the clan's depth—more accurately, we're just part of the Lord of Fate's perception of clan depth. Fundamentally no different from some races capturing outsiders to slave them underground mining. We're just here to be plucked. Forgive me for being blunt, Lord of Fate, tone it down. You show off, we pay. Can we even live like this? Why not rename the group "The Slave Exchange Group of the Dragon-Phoenix Lord of Fate"?

…

After muting the chat display in the livestream, Brother Ming Hou sent a message to the clan.

The next second, replies flooded in—every member venting.

But talk as they might, complain as they might, their transfers came without hesitation.

One after another, fiery challenger alerts rang in Brother Ming Hou's mind.

Soon, they coalesced into a substantial sum.

The clan members grumbled aloud, yet their hearts were clear as mirrors.

They all knew Brother Ming Hou stood at the final critical moment of his 15-win challenge, the precise moment he needed maximum resource support.

Every unit of Shou Shou Jili could become a boost in power at the decisive instant.

Beyond loyalty to the Lord of Fate, this was also for the clan's future.

They understood Brother Ming Hou's strategy—he aimed to emulate the Coin Guild, gaining influence on the forum.

The core purpose of challenging the Ancient God Arena lay here.

The invisible prestige and popularity gained would yield future opportunities and collaboration potential far beyond the Shou Shou Jili invested now.

Thus, every "investment" they paid was paving the way for the clan's broader future.

Later, they too would reap a share.

So after venting, not a single unit of Shou Shou Jili was withheld.

…

On the other side: Death Arena.

Preparation Room.

Brother Ming Hou watched the accumulating Shou Shou Jili and the clan's hypocritical complaints, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

Though he still had stored Shou Shou Jili, those were dedicated funds for the initial investment in the Fate Casino project.

Previously, he had already diverted some for the Ancient God Arena challenge.

The remainder—he'd rather lose the challenge than touch again.

This concerned the clan's vital future industry layout—no room for failure.

Thus, he could only seek the clan's aid.

The clan's response again proved the critical importance of having a reliable clan as a backbone—deeply satisfying him.

Without hesitation, he summoned the Jiao Yi Xing Jie interface and began bulk-purchasing Jin Hua Dan to directly elevate Painful Painful Minghun levels.

Shou Shou Jili flowed away like water, instantly transforming into raw power injected into his star veins.

Soon, a surging energy surged and coalesced within his body.

His primary Painful Painful Minghun, the Hawk-Head Beast, ascended one level; his perception and control over elements soared, his spiritual force becoming denser and more potent.

"Too bad… the number of clan members with player status is still too low. The pace of earning Shou Shou Jili remains limited." Brother Ming Hou sighed inwardly.

This was the absolute limit achievable in such a short time.

Next, he reconfigured his star vein arrangement.

His previous setup prioritized efficient harvesting, but the next arena challenge was too difficult—he needed to embed powerful Painful Painful Minghun suited for one-on-one combat.

After completing the star vein modification, he took a deep breath, suppressing all distractions, his eyes now holding absolute focus.

He lifted his head, gazing at the empty ceiling, voice calm:

"Barbarian Slave, I am initiating the 15-win challenge."

"As you wish." A cold voice echoed in his mind as expected.

The next second, a spatial teleportation rune rapidly formed beneath his feet.

Intense Weightlessness surged, space shifting violently.

When Brother Ming Hou regained his footing, he found himself in a complex environment.

There was no sky, no ground, no clear sense of direction.

Around him stretched boundless, slowly flowing void currents.

Countless shattered mirrors floated like islands—varying in size, reflecting bizarre, twisted, ever-shifting scenes.

Silence was the dominant melody here.

Information in his mind revealed this was the Death Arena's final ultimate challenge: The Void Arena.

Its feature: extreme spatial instability; mirrors distort perception.

But to Brother Ming Hou, this scene posed no threat.

After all, the Hawk-Head Beast's rule perception could not be affected by scenes crafted by the Ancient God Clan.

At this moment, he raised his head—before him, a hundred meters away, a mirror's surface revealed an energy-formed silhouette.

It was a slender, elongated figure, entirely translucent deep blue; scanning revealed its body woven from pure shadow energy.

Its face bore no distinct features. In each hand, it held a uniquely shaped weapon.

The weapons, too, were composed of highly condensed energy, their forms constantly shifting.

Sometimes coalescing into short swords, sometimes flickering like twisted lightning, their ever-changing edges exuded black-edged sharpness.

Brother Ming Hou activated the analysis scan.

Instantly, relevant information about the target floated into his mind.

【Nightmare Thorn (Shadow-Light Clan)】:

Hunting Rank: Level 152

Target Introduction: A reaper of the Shadow-Light Clan. This clan masters the dual rules of light and shadow, walking in the gaps between them. They excel at distorting the environment to conceal their forms and assassinate targets. The "Nightmare Thorn" is an outstanding example among them. The "Shadow-Light Twin Blades" in its hands can easily tear the stability of space, ignoring conventional flesh-and-blood defenses. Its hunting record includes many powerful creatures far stronger than itself. It views hunting as an art and enjoys seeing targets collapse in confusion and chaos.

……

Seeing the opponent's hunting rank, Brother Ming Hou immediately felt it was a tricky situation.

This was also an assassin-type unit, not easy to deal with.

When the suspended arena token vanished.

In the next instant, a pitch-black, light-absorbing short blade had silently appeared beside Brother Ming Hou's temple.

No wind sound, no energy fluctuation, not even killing intent—only an extreme cold aura of death.

Brother Ming Hou's pupils suddenly contracted.

The opponent's speed had reached the limit beyond visual capture.

Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively activated the Extreme Speed trait.

Just a split second before the blade tip was about to touch his skin.

His head tilted slightly by a hair's breadth.

Whoosh!

The pitch-black short blade grazed his skin, stirring a faint airflow that blew a few strands of silver hair on his forehead.

Bone-chilling cold slapped his cheeks, drawing blood trails.

Missing the strike, the Nightmare Thorn did not linger in battle; it instantly retreated, vanishing in a flash of its form.

Brother Ming Hou snorted coldly and lightly stomped his right foot on the mirror surface beneath him.

Buzz!

Centered on his feet, an invisible spatial ripple instantly spread out, sweeping across a thousand meters in all directions.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The mirror surfaces swept by the spatial ripple, regardless of size, were instantly covered with a layer of frost.

The smooth mirror became rough; after the environment changed.

The Nightmare Thorn, which had merged with the environment, suddenly froze. Its concealment effect was instantly broken, revealing its slender form shrouded in shadow.

The Nightmare Thorn reacted extremely quickly; its form blurred again as it attempted a short-distance shadow jump.

But Brother Ming Hou's follow-up attack was even faster.

His ten fingers danced rapidly in the air like playing an instrument!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Feathers composed of "Sha Yang" energy materialized out of thin air, covering all shadow areas and landing points where the Nightmare Thorn might jump.

In an instant, it was as if ten thousand arrows were fired simultaneously.

The feathers rained down like droplets.

The Nightmare Thorn's form was forced to manifest again; it clumsily dodged the feathers, its action rhythm disrupted.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, light flared intensely in Brother Ming Hou's silver eyes.

He joined his fingers like a sword and pointed downward from the air toward the Nightmare Thorn's location.

Sha wind gathered, forming invisible chains.

Combined with the "Binding" trait, the space around the Nightmare Thorn instantly became as hard as steel, forcing its body into a stiffened state.

Although this imprisonment could last only an extremely short time, it was enough for Brother Ming Hou.

He suddenly widened his eyes.

Instantly, an intangible and formless mental shockwave, moving faster than sound, struck the imprisoned Nightmare Thorn.

Puff!

The shadow shield on the Nightmare Thorn's body was torn apart as if made of paper; the power of the mental shockwave penetrated directly into its body.

The Nightmare Thorn's body trembled violently, feeling its consciousness being crazily torn and resonated by invisible forces.

While feeling dizzy and disoriented, a crack opened on its chest, spewing a burst of blood that turned into ice crystals in the air.

When the binding sensation faded, it prepared to leave.

At that moment, the unbreakable stiffened state reappeared, hard-controlling it in place once again.

At this time, Brother Ming Hou was also under immense pressure.

The opponent's life strength was extremely high; continuously releasing bindings consumed too much spiritual energy.

No enhancement items could be used in the Dou Soul Arena; otherwise, the supervising Champion Fighter would intervene.

Once his spiritual energy was exhausted, he would be instantly killed by the Nightmare Thorn.

Facing the fully bound Nightmare Thorn, Brother Ming Hou decisively attacked again.

A dot of ink-colored spark, conducted through the "Binding" trait, quietly appeared on the Nightmare Thorn's chest, then erupted with a boom.

Instantly transforming into a devouring, silent-extinction ink flame that completely engulfed the Nightmare Thorn's body.

Spiritual energy continued to be consumed.

The Nightmare Thorn let out a silent scream within the ink flame; its body rapidly blackened, carbonized like ignited paper, and finally turned to ash, dissipating into the Void Mirror Domain.

From the moment the Nightmare Thorn launched its attack to its complete counter-kill, the entire process took only a little over ten seconds.

Brother Ming Hou stood still the entire time, his feet not moving a fraction, yet he completely crushed a highly dangerous Nightmare Thorn warrior of 14 Wins rank.

But Brother Ming Hou's expression did not relax; instead, it became extremely Solemn.

The perception granted by the Eagle-Headed Demon allowed him to see clearly that amidst the ash incinerated by the ink flames, a point of light pure to the extreme was rapidly gestating and expanding.

Whoosh!

Just then, a column of searing white light erupted from the ash, and after the radiance dispersed, the figure of E Ci reappeared intact.

Only his appearance had changed drastically.

His originally deep-blue, semi-transparent body had transformed into a form composed purely of blinding white light.

The phantom dual blades in his hand had become searing white whips that constantly leaped, and the heat and fury radiating from his body were the exact opposite of the previous cold and deathly silence.

Brother Ming Hou suddenly understood the meaning of the "Rule of Dual Birth of Light and Shadow" in the analysis.

The rule granted E Ci two life forms, existing in different spaces respectively.

The instant the Shadow Form was slain was the moment the Light Form awakened, descending to replace the Shadow Form.

Its aura was even more powerful and violent than before.

If this were in the outside world, when encountering an opponent impossible to defeat, the other life could choose to flee quickly or launch a fatal sneak attack.

But within the Battle Soul Arena, even the other life had to manifest and fight according to the rules here.

There was nowhere to escape to even if one wanted to.

Facing E Ci in his second form.

Brother Ming Hou hesitated not at all, raising his hand to point from afar.

But E Ci moved with even greater speed.

Shoo!

In an instant, it transformed into a straight searing white ray, abandoning the mysterious assassination to launch a violent frontal assault.

Wherever it passed, the surrounding mirrors were vaporized by the high temperature.

Brother Ming Hou's pupils suddenly contracted; he raised his hand to draw spatial array patterns beneath his feet and flashed to the left.

Boom!!!

The mirror surface where he had been standing was struck directly by the searing white whip, exploding instantly into countless molten fragments.

A terrifying shockwave instantly blasted Brother Ming Hou, who was in the midst of a spatial jump, away.

Hanging in mid-air, Brother Ming Hou forcibly twisted his body and pushed both hands forward.

Immediately, a thick crystal rock shield and a rotating water vortex shield instantly overlapped and formed.

Almost at the same moment the shields formed, E Ci's figure appeared like a ghost directly in front of him, the twin whips strangling forward like venomous snakes.

Crack!

Snap!

The crystal rock shield supported itself for only an instant before exploding and shattering with a boom.

The water vortex shield twisted violently, barely deflecting part of the whip's force, but the remaining impact still slammed hard into the wall of evil wind gathering before Brother Ming Hou.

Puff!

Brother Ming Hou's throat tasted sweet; his body flew backward at an even faster speed.

He crashed hard into a huge floating mirror, causing spiderweb-like cracks to spread across it.

There was no time to catch his breath; E Ci's pursuit had already arrived.

At this moment, E Ci had completely abandoned defense, transforming into a violent searing white storm; the twin whips lashed wildly, and countless scorching light rays covered every possible space for Brother Ming Hou to dodge like a storm of wind and rain.

The deadly light sweeping across the sky was reflected in Brother Ming Hou's pupils, yet his expression remained calm.

Relying on the evil wind enveloping his body to shift sideways continuously, his hands danced wildly at a speed that dazzled the eyes.

Ice mirrors instantly condensed before him, only to be instantly blasted apart by the light whips.

Earth walls appeared out of thin air, only to instantly vaporize and dissipate as earth elemental particles.

Even distorted spatial barriers were torn apart by the violent energy the moment they formed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out continuously in the void arena, and the light flashed violently.

Like a small boat in a storm, every block and dodge by Brother Ming Hou was perilous to the last millimeter.

Before the violent E Ci, he was completely suppressed.

He could only rely on endless elemental manipulation techniques and combat instincts to struggle on.

Several times, the scorching light whips grazed vital points like his neck and heart, the high-temperature burning sensation making his skin sting.

During this, a white ray penetrated the three layers of defense he had hastily set up, leaving a charred hole in his shoulder blade, and intense pain surged.

But Brother Ming Hou's eyes were cold; the intense pain only made his mind clearer.

Although E Ci in the Light Form was violent in attack, he had lost the concealment and unpredictability of the Shadow Form, making his attack pattern single-minded.

Although in a state where he was close to the enemy, it was difficult for him to find an opportunity to release the binding trait.