Ten thousand I am across the heavens

"I've pretty much got a feel for your strength. Now, let's settle this with this one strike!" Mo Chengzi soared into the sky, looking down at his opponent. At the same time, lightning began to flash across the sky.

"That's... you actually built an electric grid in the sky." Only now did he realize the true meaning of those light, fluffy threads.

If the threads are light enough, they can levitate in the air with even the slightest updraft. The intense combat between the two on the battlefield converted their kinetic energy into heat, which in turn heated the air, creating updrafts that supported the massive network of threads, forming an even larger electrical grid in the air than on the ground. At this moment, the interconnected grids of heaven and earth contained an astonishing amount of stored electrical energy. Even the lightning summoned and released was enough to send chills down one's spine.

"Zhou Tian Xuan Magnetic! Yin Yang Polar Electricity! Activate!"

Faced with his opponent's powerful attack, the Immortal King finally unleashed his full power. His body surged with immense energy, which he had been gathering and compressing within his domain.

Mo Chengzi observed his opponent through the distortion of the air. He judged by sight that his opponent's accumulated energy was more than a hundred times that of his own. However, the lighting effects weren't as exaggerated as his own, making it appear as if they were evenly matched.

But that's enough. He doesn't need to defeat his opponent in a direct confrontation of energy. He only needs to create an opportunity for himself with his own attacks. What he needs to do now is to make this battle between heaven and earth look high enough so that his opponent can make a dignified exit.

Then they saw lightning bolts filling the sky, converging on him. Together they swooped down, like a giant bird formed of lightning, spreading its wings of thunder.

At this very moment, the Celestial King unleashed his attack. A massive pillar of light, several meters thick, formed from raging flames and shot skyward with a force powerful enough to melt steel. The sight sent shivers down the spines of countless cybernetically enhanced spectators. Their expensive equipment would likely withstand such an attack for only a few seconds. They couldn't even imagine what commercially available gear could possibly defeat this being. This being in a fighting tournament was practically cheating. He was clearly using his overwhelming strength and loopholes in the rules to enjoy the competition and revel in the thrill of dominating his opponents.

But who would have thought that a powerful figure capable of rivaling him would emerge from among the commoners? The audience couldn't discern so much. They couldn't see the vast difference in the stats on paper. They simply perceived them as evenly matched. Even the Celestial King himself was taken aback. Only a few members of the professional teams still questioned the strength of this dark horse.

At that very moment, the heavenly thunder stirred the earth's fire, and the giant bird formed of lightning plunged headlong into the flames. Amidst a burst of flashing light, it was completely engulfed by the flames, as if swallowed up and vanished.

Just when everyone thought the battle was finally over, and the pillar of flame was about to die out, a weaker bolt of lightning flashed out again. It fell from the sky like divine punishment, striking the Immortal King who was recovering his strength.

Having just unleashed his ultimate attack, even a Celestial King, a being modified by unknown artificial intelligence technology, needed a moment to recover. Under these circumstances, being struck by an attack concentrating all the current from both the celestial and terrestrial power grids left him momentarily stunned.

That was enough. Mo Chengzi knew very well that he was at a significant disadvantage in this battle. The massive lightning bolts were mostly special effects. The created thunderbirds were merely a decoy. As the lightning formed its brain, he activated his second awakened superpower, entering an optical cloaking state and altering his flight path to avoid the pillar of fire. After the pillar of fire dissipated, he reappeared, now carrying almost all the accumulated electrical energy, launching a surprise attack from the sky. Releasing all the stored energy in an instant allowed him to break through the opponent's defenses when they were weakened.

This move conveniently masked his weakness. It's natural that the power of an attack would decrease after clashing with the opponent's ultimate move; it's perfectly normal to be slightly weaker upon entering the domain at that moment.

The electric current was just right, enough to break through the opponent's defenses and paralyze them. But to truly defeat him, he needed to deliver the final blow—his third superpower, evolved through Evolution 1. It was also a type that any living being could evolve: potent poison.

However, he didn't choose a deadly poison. Even if it were extremely lethal, it wouldn't be effective in a fighting arena if it didn't take effect quickly enough. In fact, it might be neutralized directly within the body by the opponent's controlled domain.

Moreover, if he were to actually poison someone to death, it would be a huge problem for him. He currently lacks the capacity to handle trouble of that level.

Therefore, it chooses to secrete a potent anesthetic. It has an extremely strong anesthetic effect targeting the nerves. Even evolved humans would be completely paralyzed and collapse, losing all control over their bodies.

And that's exactly the situation now. Nearly a liter of anesthetic has been injected directly into the bloodstream. Even blood itself, which contains its own domain and can directly affect the microscopic level, is no longer able to break down this massive amount of anesthetic.

Once their figures separated, the Immortal King had lost consciousness, lying unconscious on the ground, unable to get up. According to the rules of the fighting competition, if the person lying on the ground cannot get up after a countdown of ten, then they have lost.

At this moment, all the spectators felt it was utterly surreal. In this magical clash of fighting, they were actually witnessing the rules of a real fighting match taking effect. The referee, with a strange expression, counted down from ten. The anesthetized Celestial King, fast asleep, didn't hear the countdown at all, and after the ten-count was completed, he was declared the loser.

The entire arena was stunned. Although they had already overestimated this dark horse, they had never imagined that it could actually defeat the former king head-on. Moreover, judging from the beginning of the match, the two sides had been exchanging blows head-on, with the Immortal King even being suppressed and at a disadvantage the entire time. This was truly astonishing.

In the past, every underdog who rose from humble beginnings relied on desperate efforts, unexpected moves, and the opponent's underestimation to gain even a sliver of a chance to turn the tide and carve out a path to survival from dire straits. Never before has anyone like this emerged, effortlessly crushing top professional players, even a spoiled rich kid sent by a large corporation to experience life, and effortlessly securing victory.

Even the members of the professional team began to lose confidence. They started to doubt whether their judgment was wrong. According to their analysis, the lower-level contestants indeed had no relevant expertise or any advanced AI technology modifications. Theoretically, there should be an insurmountable gap between them, a significant difference.

But data can be deceiving, while battle records don't. These are battle records that instill despair in anyone who looks at them. Anyone who sees them would think that there is no difference in the hard power between the two sides, or even that the Celestial King's hard power is weaker.

It's unclear who started it, but deafening cheers and applause erupted at the venue. The live stream chat was also filled with jubilation. Those ordinary people who had chosen to support their favorite players could finally cheer without restraint, celebrating the emergence of a true dark horse that had made it to the finals.

Meanwhile, in another arena, behind the scenes of the betting industry, countless people were jumping up and down in protest.

Although the odds opened with a 5:1 ratio, which seemed incredibly high, the vast majority of people still chose to bet on the former king to win. History had repeatedly shown them that no matter how attractive the odds were for the underdogs, they had no chance of winning, so betting on them was pointless.

But the result of the competition was a complete upset. Suddenly, countless people went into a frenzy. Many had poured their life savings into this gamble, thinking it was a sure-fire investment. They never imagined their funds would be devoured by the bookmakers. What started as a small profit of less than 20% has now resulted in the loss of their entire principal. Some even went so far as to use leverage. After losing their initial investment, they were left with enormous debts they couldn't repay.

Mughal wasn't one of these unlucky ones. On the contrary, he was the one who won the bet. He only wagered 200 rupees, about a day's wages. But the odds of nearly five times gave him almost 1000 rupees. This was a pleasant surprise for him.

Mughal hadn't expected that his simple gesture of support would actually turn into money. However, he wasn't surprised and decided to try his luck in the betting market again. He was very clear about his limits; he wouldn't bet a second time in the near future. Whether he won or lost, each bet would never exceed a day's wages.

Once such a personality trait is analyzed, artificial intelligence will label it as a "money-loser." Even related advertising will be reduced to some extent. However, the reduced portion will be replaced with an equal amount of other types of ads.

"Once I get this money, I can probably consider bringing my daughter out. My job and daily passive income should be enough to support the two of us, and she can still go to school. I just don't know if her robot body can get into the school. Not only that, I also need to find out where her mother is. She's probably like me back then, socially dead. We can't find her through conventional channels. We'll have to find someone in the hacker community to gather information. That'll be another considerable expense."

As he was envisioning the future and considering the days after his daughter's resurrection, a fierce gunshot rang out, jolting him awake from his recharge.

"If I'm going to die, then you'll all die with me! Hahahaha! My principal of three million, my three million with 100x leverage! And just like that, the shady dealers swallowed it all up. Since you don't want me to live, then you'll all die with me."

An antique heavy machine gun, its origins unknown, was unleashing a torrent of bullets through the streets of the lower town, causing building after building to collapse.

The madman, blinded by greed, wielded a machine gun in each hand. His mechanically modified arms easily withstood the recoil, and he advanced directly towards the Mughals.

[To be continued]

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