Ten thousand I am across the heavens

Mo Chengzi was the biggest dark horse of this competition. However, the audience wasn't particularly optimistic about him. The main feature was that the official betting odds ratio between the two sides was displayed constantly.

In an era where capital can operate with impunity, large-scale betting on official sporting events like this is almost inevitable. It's become a classic feature of major competitions.

The odds between the two sides were almost 5:1. This was also the expectation of many viewers and even professional players regarding the match outcome. Most of the time, these odds were very accurate, and the final result would lead to the casino recouping most people's money.

There are rarely exceptions. However, he has pulled off several upsets, winning matches with near-total dominance despite being at a disadvantage in terms of odds. But his previous opponents are clearly not in the same league as the Celestial King he faces now. The current 5-1 odds are only because he hasn't shown his full potential in any of his previous matches, leaving the audience with expectations for his future.

The Celestial King and the Emperor dominate the top two spots on the list. There's a significant gap between them and those below them; they're simply not in the same league. These two already possess the ability to casually unleash energy waves, as seen in fantasy worlds. The others, on the other hand, are limited to conventional combat, at most possessing some kind of biological mutation-based superpowers.

Normally, the odds for matches between them and other players are almost infinitesimally small. Betting on them is practically pointless. Only Mo Chengzi has displayed overwhelming strength in his matches against others, making it impossible to see the limits of his ability. This is what makes him a contender, barely placing him in the same skill level. Otherwise, there wouldn't even be odds this low.

The Mughals watched the match remotely; because it was a significant event, the level of attention was exceptionally high, making it a rare instance of a match being broadcast live for free.

While charging his phone, he reviewed the dark horse contestant's past resume, unaware that the man was his former boss who had exploited him. He simply felt that this guy's rise to power was like a thrilling action novel, a series of trials and tribulations, constantly growing stronger. Major media outlets were also keen to portray his rise from humble beginnings as a miracle, using his story to generate clicks. As a result, after being embellished by the media, his life story appeared even more dazzling and brilliant.

"We must win! We need to show those privileged kids what we're made of!" Mughal watched the commentator's increasingly inflammatory remarks, and he was slightly influenced himself. Just then, a betting advertisement popped up in front of him, making him frown.

Although he hadn't received any anti-gambling education, and the world wouldn't teach anyone to stay away from gambling, he was still instinctively wary of such activities. After thinking it over, he sighed, looked at his savings, took out 500 yuan, looked at it again, shook his head, then took out 200 yuan—roughly equivalent to a day's wages from collecting garbage—and placed it on the betting pool where Mo Chengzi could win.

"Consider this my way of supporting my family; we must win."

He never placed his bet with the intention of winning back his losses. In fact, all of this was part of the calculations of the host and the organizers. Many ordinary people who are not well-off or have conservative views are unwilling to participate in this kind of betting. Therefore, during the live broadcast and commentary, the host and the officials will intentionally confuse the betting itself with the support for the players. These individual bettors are wary of the betting, but they often don't mind spending a little money to support their favorite players.

Although it's a tiny profit, most companies have grown to this point, and they're unwilling to let go of even this small amount.

Mughal was unaware that his seemingly honest behavior had actually led him into a trap. However, given his mindset, even if he lost, he wouldn't be consumed by greed, and losing 200 rubles wouldn't be a serious blow. Unlike other gambling addicts who, blinded by desperation, try to recoup their losses and throw everything into the game...

Returning to the arena, as the referee announced the start of the match, something completely contrary to the audience's common sense occurred. The Immortal King player raised his hand and released two energy balls, the orbs tracing arcs and flying towards Mo Chengzi's location with unpredictable and erratic paths, seemingly possessing a tracking effect.

However, before the orbs of light could even fall, two bolts of lightning, seemingly possessing a tracking effect, were released from Mo Chengzi's palms, bursting into bright sparks. They struck the two orbs of light, instantly detonating them in mid-air, the shockwave blasting away a bunch of obstacles on the field.

The opening scene was breathtaking, leaving countless spectators stunned. In previous tournaments, such a spectacle was only seen in matches between the first and second-best, most exceptionally skilled competitors. The two would clash like superpowered warriors, unleashing a barrage of dazzling ranged attacks, seemingly without restraint, which would then neutralize each other.

If it were a battle between a Celestial King and an Emperor, no one would be so surprised. But there is actually a third person in this world who has cultivated to this level, and without modifying any prosthetic body. To develop human potential to such an unbelievable degree is truly astounding.

Mo Chengzi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had actually been prepared to run away with his tail between his legs. Because relying solely on the match recordings, he couldn't determine the true function of the light sphere, nor could he understand the principle behind its operation.

What he did wasn't to neutralize the energy sphere's attack with an equivalent amount of power or electricity. Instead, he prematurely detonated the sphere, disrupting the energy projectile's internal balance and allowing it to unleash its full power before hitting him.

As it turned out, his gamble paid off. Even with modifications made to the human body using unknown artificial intelligence technology, the high energy released from the body remained highly unstable.

Based on his observations of the match records, Mo Chengzi roughly deduced a relatively safe distance: approximately 3 meters away from the opponent, there was a chance of detonating the energy blasts they released.

There appears to be an invisible field within a radius of about 3 meters around these two people. This field maintains the connection between them and the high-energy energy they release, and can even exert force within it out of thin air.

While the area isn't large, judging from the abilities they've displayed in various competitions, it's already an exceptionally high level of superpower. The simplest explanation is that within this range, they possess telekinetic-like effects. They can unleash kinetic attacks out of thin air, grabbing people with invisible hands. The amount of power their bodies can generate is the same within this area, without them needing to move their bodies at all. This means that within this domain, the opponent essentially has countless hands, which, if manipulated by will, become true weapons.

Even more astonishingly, within this domain, the two of them seem capable of generating extremely high and low temperatures, allowing attacks to occur directly inside the enemy's interior. They can also generate terrifying radiation and create bizarre chemical reactions. In short, all sorts of incredible superpowers can be achieved within this small spherical domain.

Mo Chengzi even suspected that within this small domain, the two of them could tear apart a Gundam with their bare hands. After all, the domain itself could penetrate physical matter. If the mecha operator was less than 3 meters away from the armor surface, the thick armor would have no defensive effect whatsoever, and the pilot inside would have his head pierced by a single finger.

In short, this 3m area is absolutely impossible to approach. For him, entering this area is basically no different from courting death. However, the opponent's ranged attacks are also limited. Once he leaves this area, the control of ranged attacks can only be indirect. The light sphere itself should be a kind of combustible gas aggregated together, and the light is the spark that ignites these combustible gases.

The fire itself has little power; the power comes from the explosion of flammable gas.

The electric current had just pierced the insulating layer, directly igniting the flammable gas. The explosive force wasn't caused by the clash of energies; in fact, the vast majority of the energy was supplied by the Celestial King.

At this moment, the scene looked like a magical clash between the two sides. One side kept throwing fireballs, creating an oppressive atmosphere like a magic machine gun, constantly approaching the opponent. The other side calmly retreated, releasing arc-shaped currents from their hands to precisely intercept each fireball and detonate them in mid-air.

This scene thrilled every spectator. A contestant they had never expected to see displayed such heroic strength on the field. Their anticipation was instantly heightened. Mo Chengzi's performance was unfathomable; even against a top-tier opponent like a Celestial King, he seemed completely at ease. This caused a slight fluctuation in the official odds, but the fluctuation quickly subsided. The professional team could understand the details of the match; possessing a domain made a fundamental difference. The two were practically two different species; there was no fair fight to speak of, only a crushing defeat in combat power.

"So you were trying to detonate my missiles with electricity in advance? I've seen through your little trick. Since you want to create an atmosphere where you can clash with my magic, I'll give you a chance. Come on, I'll let you release your lightning on your own and see what you can do to me."

The Celestial King actually stopped the match on his own initiative; he could see through his opponent's tricks, of course. He wasn't there to win the match, but rather to enjoy himself. The audience couldn't understand the fight at all, assuming they were evenly matched, which greatly displeased him, leading him to stop the match and give his opponent the opportunity.

Leaving aside the absorption effect of his domain on various forms of energy, his body's resistance to electric current is not something that can be overcome by such minute bioelectricity.

Mo Chengzi also stopped. Seeing that his opponent was trying to expose his pretense, he knew he had to show his true skills in this battle, not only to fool the audience but also to fool his opponent. Fortunately, he had been preparing all along, and now he was gathering his strength, his eyes gradually becoming blank. At the same time, he uttered the lines he had prepared beforehand.

"I won't take advantage of you. An opponent of your caliber is not worthy of me. Watch out for my next attack."

As he spoke, his eyes became completely vacant. The energy within his cells was squeezed to its limit and all of it was output to the firing cells. At the same time, the energy storage cells that evolved in his body acted like capacitors, releasing their internal energy as well.

In the next instant, the lights in the entire arena seemed to dim. He pointed, and a thick, tree-trunk-like bolt of electricity shot out, instantly striking a concrete bunker. At the same time, currents converged from all directions, dozens of them converging on the concrete structure. The light that erupted in that instant was blinding, making it impossible to look directly at it.

Once everything had calmed down, Mo Chengzi stood calmly in place, wisps of smoke rising from his fingers. The bunker he had just chosen was now glowing red-hot. The rock had been scalded into a liquid state, exposing the steel reinforcements inside like exposed bones. They were also a fiery red color, clearly having just endured unimaginable high temperatures.

Even the Celestial King was stunned by this scene. Theoretically, this was something the human body couldn't achieve. If it weren't for that, he would have already evolved to a non-human level. His cells had even broken through the nanoscale, and under the black technology of artificial intelligence, they possessed a super-powerful energy storage scheme that surpassed chemical energy storage methods. He couldn't possibly release energy blasts so casually as before.

The attack that could melt rocks was something he wouldn't easily unleash even if he wanted to. Yet this guy, who clearly hadn't been modified by AI black technology, could do the same thing, and even seemed to do it more effortlessly. This instantly put him in a state of hesitation and confusion.

Only Mo Chengzi himself knew that he was merely bluffing. The seemingly powerful attack he had just unleashed was actually a pre-arranged network of threads connecting the power sources inside and outside the arena, channeling external current in. The massive electric current he had just released, seemingly unlocking his genetic potential, was merely a special effect. The vast majority of the power in that impressive display was used to pierce the air and create a light effect; its actual power wouldn't even be enough to defeat an ordinary person. The real source of the current was the silently connected power sources inside and outside the arena. However, this slight loss of current was practically imperceptible to humans who no longer worried about energy. Such an attack could never be directly delivered to an opponent. Yet, it had perfectly fooled the Immortal King.

"If you are confident that you can withstand this blow with your body, then you can continue to let me have my way, and I will not hold back. If you acknowledge the power of this blow, then fight with all your might."

[To be continued]

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