In the backyard of the Lu family, the spacious and imposing martial arts arena stood silently.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the arena was tense and deadly.
Fei Duan and Lu Yuan faced each other, their weapons drawn and ready for combat.
Meanwhile, a "spectator trio" consisting of Lu Li, Ye Chen, and others eagerly awaited the thrilling showdown, their faces filled with excitement.
With a loud and commanding cry of "Begin!" from Lu Li, Fei Duan shot forward like an arrow, instantly launching his attack.
He gripped the Blood March Scythe, which exuded a sinister aura, his steps as swift as the wind as he charged toward Lu Yuan.
Fei Duan's eyes sparkled with fervor, his gaze as if Lu Yuan were no formidable opponent at all. To him, Lu Yuan seemed more like a sacrificial offering to the evil gods, the madness in his movements sending shivers down the onlookers' spines.
Lu Yuan, known as a cunning and powerful figure, was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator with a Fire Elemental affinity.
As Fei Duan came charging with ferocity, Lu Yuan remained calm, a glint of cunning flashing in his eyes.
While retreating a few steps, he muttered words under his breath, as if weaving an invisible web around them.
Suddenly, Lu Yuan opened his mouth wide, and three blazing fireballs shot out like cannonballs, roaring toward Fei Duan.
The fireballs moved at incredible speed, leaving bright and searing trails in the air. Wherever they passed, the air crackled and sizzled as it was scorched.
However, Fei Duan faced these fireballs with no fear.
He gripped the Blood March Scythe with both hands, pivoted sharply, and swung the scythe like a black streak of lightning to meet the fireballs.
A series of sharp "crackling" sounds rang out as the fireballs were cleaved in half, scattering into sparks that fluttered through the air.
Though Fei Duan appeared somewhat foolish on normal days, his true combat power was formidable once he entered a fight.
At this moment, the Blood March Scythe whirled through the air, sending forth vicious black beams of light with each strike, resembling a ferocious beast charging toward Lu Yuan, every beam brimming with destructive force.
Though Fei Duan was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, his immortality and damage-reflecting abilities made him a terrifying combatant, able to challenge opponents beyond his cultivation level without hesitation.
Lu Yuan noticed Fei Duan's fierce attack and the ineffective fireball test, his eyes gleaming with even more cunning.
He quickly opened his hands and began chanting an ancient and mysterious incantation, the words seemingly drawn from an ancient abyss.
As he completed the chant, a small formation slowly materialized before him. The formation glowed with a mysterious red light, its intricate and elegant patterns resembling a finely crafted work of art, aimed directly at Fei Duan.
With a sudden surge of energy, Lu Yuan activated the formation, and from its center, a wild and ferocious flame shot forth like a dragon, carrying a scorching wave of heat that rushed toward Fei Duan.
The flames were intensely hot, melting the stone floor beneath them and sending up plumes of smoke, as if even the earth itself bowed before the heat.
Yet, Fei Duan faced the raging inferno not with fear but with excitement.
Like a madman, he spread his arms wide and charged into the flames, his face expressing a twisted satisfaction.
It seemed as though this were not a deadly fire, but rather a comfortable baptism.
The flames instantly enveloped him, fiercely burning his skin with a sizzling sound. The air filled with the smell of burning flesh, and the scene resembled a hellish torture.
But as the fire ravaged his body, his terrifying counter-damage ability activated.
In an instant, Lu Yuan felt an immense backlash.
The majority of the damage he had inflicted on Fei Duan was returned, unstoppable like a crashing tide.
Lu Yuan's clothes suddenly caught fire, the flames seeming to ignite from within his body, rapidly spreading over him, tightly wrapping him up.
"What!"
A look of disbelief appeared on Lu Yuan's normally calm face. His eyes widened in shock.
He instinctively reached to put out the flames, but no matter how hard he tried, they seemed to have a life of their own and refused to be extinguished.
Panicked, he glanced at Fei Duan and inwardly cursed: Such a terrifying ability to transfer damage!
At that moment, Fei Duan, like a crazed beast, roared and charged at Lu Yuan. With his eyes lowered, Lu Yuan concealed the cold gleam in his gaze.
With the screech of the Blood March Scythe cutting through the air, Lu Yuan seemed to retreat like a fragile reed in the wind.
As his clothes fluttered, his fingertips secretly formed twelve hidden seals, what seemed like a desperate retreat was actually a carefully crafted trap.
What a ruthless character, Lu Yuan thought with a half-smile on his lips.
The array flags in his sleeves shifted subtly as he moved, positioning themselves precisely as he predicted.
Each of Fei Duan's attacks was measured, the seeming chaotic counterattack actually weaving spiritual energy into invisible threads, forming an unseen cage around his opponent.
As sparks flew, Lu Yuan's composed face reflected the quiet confidence of a strategist, his hawk-like eyes disassembling and reorganizing his opponent's attack patterns.
When Fei Duan's scythe swiped near his ear, Lu Yuan intentionally stumbled half a step and fell onto the edge of the stage.
This carefully timed opening sparked a brief moment of triumph in Fei Duan's eyes, and his attack grew even fiercer.
But just as the scythe was about to slice through Lu Yuan's throat, twelve array flags shot out from the ground, creating a phantom blue fire wall at the stage's corner.
The flames seemed to form chains in midair, radiating a suffocating pressure.
Four fire serpents rose from the blaze, their eyes glowing with an eerie light.
As they coiled around Fei Duan's limbs, Lu Yuan flicked his fingers, and instead of ordinary flames, fine golden threads like strands of hair erupted from the fire snakes' mouths, trapping Fei Duan in a web-like cocoon.
"Fei Duan's ability to reflect damage is truly impressive," Lu Yuan mused, walking forward and casually running his hand over the heated scales of the fire serpents, reinforcing the array's key points.
Fei Duan's twisted form struggled desperately within the fire cocoon, but Lu Yuan, unhurried, calmly adjusted his torn sleeve.
"Bastard, let me go! If you have the guts, let's do this again!" Fei Duan roared.
...
Elsewhere, Sakasaki had achieved fifty consecutive victories in the deathmatch arena.
His fame was rapidly growing, and his lava-based abilities made him nearly invincible in the arena.
He had also reached the peak of the Qi Refining stage, just one step away from reaching the Foundation Establishment realm.
With his rising renown, many factions had attempted to recruit Sakasaki, but all had been refused. His true goal, however, was to join the army.
Indeed, what Sakasaki truly sought was to become part of the military. His personality was strikingly similar to that of one of the five generals, Black Dragon General.